"GOD DOES NOT FORGET!"
Written and preached by David P. Nolte

LUKE 1:46-55

We all forget things. There are various reasons for forgetting, but a missionary gave one excuse when he said, "My forgetter works too good." Another friend of mine had an answer for lapse of memory when he couldn't remember a person, "I always forget a name, but I never remember a face." And then there is my excuse, "I have too much to think about and too little to think with!" Someone said there are three signs of old age. First, the legs begin to fail, second the memory begins to fail, and - and - well, I can't seem to recall the third. It is vexing, disturbing, embarrassing, troublesome, and yet so very human to forget! In her song of praise, Mary rejoiced that God had not forgotten! How good know: God still doesn't forget!

1. GOD DOESN'T FORGET HIS PEOPLE:
1. The whole passage speaks of His awareness of His people: Mary the virgin, generation after generation of those who fear Him, the nation Israel, the lowly and the hungry. Not one of them is forgotten. Listen:
1. God said, "Yet Jerusalem says, 'The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.' Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on My hand. Ever before Me is a picture of Jerusalem's walls in ruins." Isaiah 49:14-16 (NLT).
2. David rejoiced, "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close." Psalms 27:10 (NLT).
2. People forget. They forget promises; they forget appointments; they forget who we are; they forget so easily.
1. When my brother, Howard, returned home from the Navy after a 2 or 3 year absence, my sister, Barbara, had grown up from a little girl to a teenager. He entered the home, greeted everyone with a hug - except Barbara, who said, "Don't forget me!" He didn't recognize her. He thought she was the neighbor girl. In a sense, he forgot her.
2. I used to take Keri and John calling with me. If there were children in the home, they would go off and play. Two or three times I started to leave without them. One lady said with mock sternness, "Hey, buddy, if you want me to baby sit just ask me; don't go sneaking off without your daughter!"
3. Mistakes we make:
1. We may think God forgets about us when we are outside church building in secular, mundane activities:
1. When you are on a date or at party or socializing with friends, God is aware of you! He never forgets!
2. When you are on the job or at school or in the marketplace, God remembers you! He never forgets!
2. We think God forgets about us in our labors and ministries for Him!
1. Not so! The writer of the Hebrew letter said, "For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints." Hebrews 6:10 (NASB).
2. And, "So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless." 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NLT).
3. We think God forgets when trials mount, pressures crush, prayers seem unheard and unheeded, and when we are so tired, so labored, so overworked we can't bear it! Never!
1. Like the Psalmist we wonder, "O Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You look the other way?" Psalms 13:1 (NLT). But, like him, we need to conclude, "But I trust in Your unfailing love. I will rejoice because You have rescued me. I will sing to the Lord because He has been so good to me." Psalms 13:5-6 (NLT).
2. Like Jeremiah we lament, "Why do You continue to forget us? Why have You forsaken us for so long? Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to You again! Give us back the joys we once had! Or have You utterly rejected us? Are You angry with us still?" Lamentations 5:20-22 (NLT). We need to say as he did, "Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!'" Lamentations 3:23-24 (NLT).
4. He is aware of you! Has not forgotten! He knows who, where, what, how, you are! He reaches to you in your bondage, despair, weakness and fear. He remembers you! Christmas is annual evidence that God has regard for His people! He has not forgotten them.

Isn't it great to realize that God does not forget His people? He does not forget you. God's memory does not fail Him.

2. GOD DOESN'T FORGET HIS PROMISE:
1. From the earliest, God promised a Savior! He made a covenant with His people and never in eternity will He forget it! Over and over God assures us: "I will remember My covenant!"
2. God's promise is good!
1. Joshua mentioned God's promise, saying, "Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the Lord your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!" Joshua 23:14 (NLT).
2. Peter mentioned God's promise, saying, "As we know Jesus better, His divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, He has given us all of His rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in His divine nature. So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life." 2 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT).
3. God is as good as His word! People will lie to you; people will back out; people will renege; people will fail; people will forget! But God doesn't forget His promise! But, remember: delay is not denial! God's fulfillment never comes late..or early! God promised a Son and centuries passed before Jesus was born!
4. An aged saint couldn't remember God's promises clearly and she was deeply troubled. Her pastor visited her and soothed her with these words, "Sister, you may not remember His promises, but God doesn't forget a one of them!"

Isn't it great to realize that God does not forget His promise? Not one of them! And in addition,

3. GOD DOESN'T FORGET HIS PITY:
1. Mary said it, "He has not forgotten His promise to be merciful!" The word translated "mercy" means, "the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it." God's pity is clearly manifested in His action toward us in Christ. Pity is not a condescending, patronizing thing; it is compassion, kindness, and help in time of need.
2. Our sins weigh heavy on the scales of God's justice! But God's pity weighs heavier on the scales of His mercy!
1. Justice cries out: "Away from Me!" "You are guilty!" "You are cursed!" "You are condemned!"
2. Mercy invites, embraces, and sees us as needy and then goes to work to fill need! "Come to me, thirsty, weary, sinful, I will save you!" says the voice of God's tender mercy.
3. Let me remind you once again of the way grace and mercy team up to deal with our guilt.
1. Grace is charity in its highest form. It is undeserved, unearned, unmerited love from God. It is His activity in our lives though we don't deserve it. It is getting what we do not have any natural right to.
2. Mercy is divine restraint of justice. It is not getting the condemnation and wrath which we have come to deserve.
4. A woman was sorely distressed with guilt. She was a believer, but had no sense of forgiveness. Her pastor told her to go to the beach and pile up a heap of sand on beach just below high tide mark. She did it and then watched as the entire heap was washed away by as the tide rolled in. That tide is like God's mercy! God's ever flowing mercy rolls over our heap of guilt, to remove our sins, when we come to Him in Jesus Christ!

There is something that God does forget: forgiven sin. But one thing is for sure. Though God doesn't forget us there is a grave danger that we might forget God! Hear these words from Job, "Can papyrus reeds grow where there is no marsh? Can bulrushes flourish where there is no water? While they are still flowering, not ready to be cut, they begin to wither. Such is the fate of all who forget God. The hope of the godless comes to nothing. Everything they count on will collapse. They are leaning on a spiderweb. They cling to their home for security, but it won't last. They try to hold it fast, but it will not endure." Job 8:11-15 (NLT). To answer that, Solomon wrote, "Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor Him in your youth before you grow old and no longer enjoy living." Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NLT). Remember Him; He has remembered you! That's why there's a Christmas! That's why there is Jesus! That's why there's hope! That's why there's peace with God! He came to be the Savior of all who put their faith in Him. Remember Jesus this morning and find place for Him in your heart and life! (Only By Grace) [Blessed Assurance]