I - Past:
Deuteronomy 4:32.a
“Now, therefore, ask the past times that preceded you...”
Psalms 77:5
“I consider the days of old, the years of ancient times.”
Acts 14:16
“Who in times past allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.”
II – Reflection
Judges 6:13
“Gideon answered him: Alas, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this befallen us? and where are all his wonders that our fathers told us, saying:...”
Ecclesiastes 7:10
“Say not: Why is it that the former days were better than these; for it is not from wisdom that thou askest this question.”
III – Promise
Exodus 34:10
“Then the Lord said: Behold, I make a covenant; I will do wonders before all your people such as have never been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; ...”
Zechariah 8:11
“But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days, says the Lord of hosts;”
Micah 7:15
“I will show them wonders, as in the days of your departure from the land of Egypt.”
Joshua 3:5
“Joshua also said to the people: Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
IV – The Immutability of God
Job 9:10
“who does great and unsearchable things, and wonders that cannot be numbered.”
Job 5:9
“who does great and inscrutable things, wonders without number.”
Hebrews 13:8
“Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, and today, and forever.”
V – Publish (declare, proclaim with faith)
1 Chronicles 16:24
“Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples.”
Interpreting this, we have that Remember the past means: do not forget the wonders that God has already performed.
And for this we have the testimonies of God's Word.
There was a day when:
From the invisible God created the heavens and the earth, by the power of his Word. An unforgettable and singular day.
But, other days came:
Day when God confused the languages;
Sent the flood;
Called Abraham,
Chose Jacob,
Set apart Joseph,
Saved Egypt,
Spoke from the midst of the burning bush;
Freed Israel;
Opened the Red Sea;
Walked with his people through the desert;
Was on the mountain in fire;
Gave them commandments;
Gave them sustenance (40 years), there was no lack of food or drink, he sent manna, quails, water of unsurpassable quality;
Protected his people, by day, with the cloud and, by night, with the pillar of fire, and their sandals and clothes did not grow old (does anyone have clothes here over 02 years old, that have been worn every day????);
Opened the Jordan River;
Put the people in the promised land;
Prepared judges, prepared kings, sent prophets;
Gave them miraculous victories: Fortress of Ai, Jericho (2 times), Bashan, Moab, Philistines, Hittites, Hivites, Jebusites, Midianites, Egypt,
AND IN THE LIVES OF HIS SERVANTS?
Signs and wonders in the lives of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, Ruth, Samuel, David, Solomon, Hilkiah, Elijah, Elisha, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Mordecai, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos, and so many more in the Old Covenant.
AND IN THE NEW COVENANT?
Second temple, reality of the shadow pointed to in the Old Testament, is it possible to count everything from memory?
What to say of John, the Baptist?
And the signs and wonders of Christ's Ministry?
Do you remember the miracle of Christ's birth?
And the events that followed?
Preservation of the life of the child, and of the God-child in his Temple?
Do you remember the calling of the first disciples?
The commissioning of the 12? And the 70?
The water that he turned into wine?
The blind man he healed when he made clay and anointed his eyes?
And the blind man of Jericho?
And the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes?
The miraculous catch of fish?
The money in the fish's mouth?
You cannot forget that he healed the paralytic whom they let down through the roof? Can you?
He healed the one who waited for the angel to stir the waters?
Have you not forgotten that he freed people possessed by many demons?
He wept for Lazarus, his friend, whom he raised from the dead, is it possible to forget?
And the widow of Nain who was bringing the body of her son to be buried, do you remember how he was raised?
The man with the withered hands, do you remember him?
Would it be possible to remember all the greatness of God?
Would it be possible to forget all of them?
Do you remember the Mount of Transfiguration?
And the storm on the Sea of Galilee?
And Peter walking on the waters?
Do you remember how our God revealed the secrets of hearts? He is the same today.
Do you remember how he wept over Jerusalem?
Do you remember how he allowed himself to be led like a silent lamb to the slaughter?
His imprisonment, his scourging, his stripes, our cross that he bore, is it possible to forget?
Whoever forgets, does so because he has never seen him, or because he has a poor memory, or poor faith, or because he is ungrateful and does not love him.
But, he loved us first. Do you remember Isaiah chapter 53?
Do you remember the crown of thorns, the spear piercing his side?
Do you remember when he gave up his spirit?
Do you remember when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb?
When two of the disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus?
Do you remember when Peter ran and arrived first at the tomb?
And when he presented himself in the midst of them, when they were closed and said to them: Peace be with you, have you already forgotten?
Do you remember that he ascended to heaven in the presence of more than 500 brothers who saw until the cloud concealed him?
And the men in white who appeared to say to you: In the same way that you saw him ascend, he will return, do you remember?
And how the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, when they waited in Jerusalem? Ah! this cannot be forgotten.
And Peter being released from prison by an angel?
And Saul on the road to Damascus?
And Ananias praying for Saul so that he might recover his sight?
And Paul being lowered through the wall of the city in a basket?
And the signs and wonders that God was performing in Samaria by the hands of Philip?
And James? Peter? Judas not Iscariot? Barnabas, Timothy? ....
It is not possible to remember everything.
But this is not news, it seems to me that someone has already tried to do it, for we find recorded in the Letter to the Hebrews: “...we would not have time to speak...”
There are so many wonders of God. The paper and ink of the universe are insufficient to contain all the riches of his wonders.
And in recent times?
Has God not been acting?
Do the acts of the apostles not continue? Of course they do.
Examples are found in the history of the contemporary Church.
Examples are brought from the history of the martyrs of the Church (from the times of the Reformation).
Of dedicated missionaries who crossed oceans, opened new horizons, revolutionized nations by the power of God's Word...
They fell asleep in Christ, leaving us an example...
Example of the power of God, whose remembrance of the manifestations in their lives, sounds to us as a challenge to seek to experience the same grace, the same anointing, the same power.
Among others, we speak of the examples of the lives of Luther, Wesley, Calvin, Jan Hus, William Carey, George Muller, Sadhu Sundar Singh, Watchman Nee...
All this, although you know it is real, may seem to you distant because you did not live with these brothers...
But to prove that it is the same, and by his immutable Word, God has been restoring the Church, since the days of Martin Luther, without being committed to the denominations that succeeded him, but always honoring genuine faith in his glorious Word of Promises...
Thus, we can see, know and understand that in the days of a recent past, which we now pause to recall, with longing, we remember the signs and miracles performed by God...
The anointing, power and manifest glory in Ibitinga at the beginning of this work. People concerned only with the Work of God, taking care to mend the nets, to be a fisherman, to announce the time of restoration of all things.
Lives freed, healings, baptism with the Holy Spirit, strange tongues and prophecies, restoration of the Word...
All this doctrine that we received with the awakening of the Church, for the promised restoration is complete.
No, definitely, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO FORGET.
But, it is not enough to remain in remembrance, for the past days were not better than TODAY.
Today is the Lord's day!
He manifests himself, as he promised, in his ineffable Word...
He manifests himself to treat, to heal the afflicted soul, to save lives, to raise the fallen, to free the captives, to renew strength, to give new courage, to create in us a new purpose.