Scripture Memorization (A.N. Martin / Tom Welsch)

Driving home: Anything in or about me that does not call for divine judgment and condemnation has been given to me. What I have, I have received through infinite mercy alone.

Tom Welsch quotes a statement from a 1600s Christian's correspondence: 'One being in a dark place hath exceeding much refreshment in it. Blessed be his name for shining upon so dark a heart as mine.' This illustrates his personal testimony of God's grace and light in his life.

Because he who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, has freely with him given me all things. And this morning, a brother had given me a book to borrow and read, and in some of my spare time, this is a Christian, some of his correspondence from the 1600s. And this statement in one of his letters struck me this morning, and I'm adopting it as my own. He said, One being in a dark place hath exceeding much refreshment in it.

4:25 - 5:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Anything in or about me that does not call for divine judgment and condemnation has been given to me. What I have, I have received through infinite mercy alone.

Welsch reads a five-line anonymous poem from an old memory book, 'Satisfied and full of favor by my King I stand...', to express the spiritual satisfaction and blessings found in Christ, affirming its truth after 30 years.

And in going through this again, I came upon Assignment 3, which I would just like to share the first part. The title of the assignment is, Christ Satisfies Our Spiritual Thirst and Hunger. And there are passages in this assignment taken from John Chapter 4, The Woman at the Well, and John Chapter 6, I am the Bread of Life. At the very beginning of this assignment, there is about a five-line poem, which doubtless I read over 30 years ago as I began this assignment.

6:34 - 7:08 Read in full sermon

The point: If convinced that Bible memory is a duty and privilege, use memory books to offer guidance and direction on what to memorize and how much.

Welsch uses the analogy of digging ditches from 2 Kings 3:16 to explain the purpose of memorizing 1 Peter before a sermon series: to prepare hearts to receive and retain the preached Word, preventing it from 'running off'.

And in particular now, though it's only been the last several months, that verses, and we won't turn into this one, its reference is 316, 2 Kings 316, where the prophet tells the king of Israel of the armies of the Edomites and Israel and Judah, they were out of water, and so the prophet instructed the kings to dig ditches, and that God would provide water, and that water which God provided not only refreshed, the troops and the animals and all that were with them, God used that to defeat the enemy as well. But that reminded me of what we want to do in anticipation of this series of preaching,...

16:20 - 17:46 Read in full sermon

The point: Be willing to make yourself accountable to fellow mortals in your Scripture memorization efforts.

Welsch uses the story of Aaron and Hur supporting Moses's hands during the battle with Amalek (Exodus 17) as a vivid example of the principle of mutual accountability and support among believers.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up. Then we have a picture of that, please, in Exodus, chapter 7. Exodus 7. I left out a one. Exodus 17, please. Yes. And verse 9.

21:19 - 22:16 Read in full sermon

The point: If you haven't been memorizing Scripture, confess the sin of ignorance, repent, and begin modestly to bring forth fruits meet for repentance.

Welsch introduces the metaphor of 'the little foxes that spoil the vines' from Song of Solomon 2:15 to represent the common objections or excuses ('yeah buts') that hinder Christians from engaging in spiritual duties like Scripture memorization.

Hmm. The clarity and force of these scriptures cannot be denied, Pastor, but perhaps we may have to do a little fox hunting, for we read in Song of Solomon chapter 2 and verse 15, and I'm going to have to quickly turn here to make sure I quote it right, Song of Solomon 2, 15, Song of Solomon 2, 15, Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. There's a type of little fox that Pastor Martin already mentioned at the beginning. It's called the yabut fox. Now, for those more refined, it's the yes-but fox, but we're talking about the same animal.

41:08 - 42:15 Read in full sermon

The point: If you haven't been memorizing Scripture, confess the sin of ignorance, repent, and begin modestly to bring forth fruits meet for repentance.

Martin uses the analogy of someone starting an exercise program after neglecting their body: if they try to run five miles on the first day, they'll get discouraged and quit. This illustrates the need to begin Scripture memorization modestly and stretch the 'muscles of the brain and heart' gradually.

There was provision in the Old Covenant for sins of ignorance, and when the Scripture tells us that if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, even the unrighteousness of unfulfilled duties born of ignorance, and then to repent of the sin and the sins that no doubt have been fathered and mothered by the failure to memorize the Word of God and repenting of that to bring forth fruits meet for repentance, which is to begin, to begin modestly as the person who's convinced he's abused his body because he hasn't exercised. If he goe...

43:19 - 44:39 Read in full sermon

The point: Be discerning, critical listeners of preaching by being acquainted with, at home in, and having treasured up the Scriptures in your hearts.

Martin shares his personal testimony of how enrolling in the Navigators Tropical Memory System (TMS) as a young Christian helped him discern error by immediately bringing multiple Scripture texts to mind when he heard or read something questionable, acting as a 'tightly woven sieve'.

In that they received the word with readiness of mind, Acts 17, 11, and searched the scriptures daily whether these things were so. Well, if we are unacquainted with the scriptures and we are not at home in the scriptures, and if we have not treasured up the scriptures in our hearts, we will not be able to be the discerning, critical listeners that we ought to be. And I want to testify here in closing of the tremendous benefit that this has been to me over the years. As a baby Christian, one of the first disciplines I submitted myself to was getting enrolled in the Navigators TMS.

51:51 - 52:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Prayerfully consider signing up for the available Scripture memory program to enrich yourself and the entire congregation.

Martin uses the proverb 'a bird in hand is worth two in the bush' to encourage participation in the readily available memory program, despite it being an 'unscriptural proverb' with 'good sense'.

That's an unscriptural proverb, but it has a lot of good sense in it. And the bird in hand is right there in the foyer, and we'd urge you prayerfully to consider signing up. Many benefits. Others I'll just have to stop.

54:01 - 54:16 Read in full sermon

The point: Prayerfully consider signing up for the available Scripture memory program to enrich yourself and the entire congregation.

Martin quotes Donald Whitney from 'Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life' to highlight the common perception of Scripture memorization as 'modern day martyrdom' and then challenges this by asking if a financial reward would change attitudes and abilities, emphasizing the greater value of God's Word.

And I close with this quote. Many Christians look on the spiritual discipline of memorizing God's word as something tantamount to modern day martyrdom. It is like requesting volunteers to face Nero's lions. How come?

55:28 - 55:44 Read in full sermon