Ezekiel 23:35 - Homiletics.

(first half of verse)

Forgetting God.

I. FORGETTING GOD IMPLIES THAT HE HAS FORMERLY BEEN KNOWN . We cannot forget what we have never known. The lower animal, which is incapable of entertaining a thought of God, cannot forget him. If I forget much, I must have known much.

1. Men have a natural knowledge of God . Few races, if any, are without a trace of religion. The Andaman islanders and the Fuegians are said to have been discovered in that state. If so, they are just the exception that proves the rule. The science of comparative religion reveals an underlying primitive theism beneath the tangled growth of later mythology. St. Paul appealed to the natural knowledge of God among the heathen ( Acts 17:28 ; Romans 1:21 ).

2. They who have seen the Jewish and Christian revelation have a larger knowledge of God . Israel had known God by his special manifestations in the Law, in his providence and miracles, in the prophets. All Christendom is open to the higher knowledge of God in Christ. Children in Christian homes and Sunday schools have known God, though they may have forsaken him in later days.

3. The people of God have the fullest knowledge of God . True Israelites and Christians know God as he is never known to the outer world. They have the knowledge of experience, spiritual sympathy, and fellowship ( John 14:7 ).

II. THERE ARE MANY INDUCEMENTS TO FORGET GOD .

1. He is invisible . The knowledge of God is held only by faith. The decay of faith leads to forgetting God. It requires some spiritual effort to keep our hold on the Unseen.

2. Earthly interests distract our thoughts . These things are seen, present and pressing; they crowd about us and force themselves upon us. They make themselves felt as intensely real. Pleasures of life and cares of life, fascinating delights and absorbing anxieties, all tend. to put out the thought of God.

3. Sinful inclinations rouse an aversion to the thought of God . He is holy; lie disapproves of sin. It is not pleasant to think of God when we are choosing the evil way.

III. FORGETTING GOD IS ITSELF A GREAT SIN . We can control our memory by fixing our thoughts upon God. This is not a case of mere brain failure. There is a moral defect behind it. Apart from all active deeds, the very forgetting God is itself wicked on several grounds.

1. God has never forgotten us . He has provided for our daily needs, while we have been ignoring the hand from which the provision came. He is our Father. Gratitude and love should keep the thought of God warm in our heart. To forget God implies gross unthankfulness and a base lack of natural affection.

2. God claims our attention and obedience . He is our Lord. He expects us to listen to his voice, give heed to his commands, and obey his will. But to forget God is to ignore these duties.

IV. FORGETTING GOD IS HURTFUL TO MAN . They know not what they miss who forsake their true life and forget their Father in heaven. Seeking liberty, they court death.

1. This is the loss of the best blessings of Heaven . The light of God's countenance is despised. His guidance, comfort, support, and salvation are neglected. The joy of communion is renounced.

2. This incurs a fatal doom . God cannot let us forget him forever. If we do not remember his love today, we may encounter his wrath tomorrow ( Psalms 44:20 , Psalms 44:21 ).

V. GOD MERCIFULLY INTERFERES TO SAVE US FROM FORGETTING HIM .

1. He reveals himself in his Word . The revelation of nature is daily spread before us. But when that is despised, God adds the more clear voice of prophecy. We have the open Bible to remind us of God.

2. God comes to us in his Son . As men had forgotten him, God came right down among them, looked at them through a human countenance, and spoke in a human voice. Christ comes to save us from forgetting God.

3. God rouses us by his providence . We are forgetting God while all goes smoothly. Then his thunders burst over us. They startle and alarm, but they awaken. Thus God saves us from forgetting him.