REMEMBER: Mnemoneue (2SPAM):
(see notes
Hebrews 12:2;
12:3)
See Topics related to remember
-
Memorizing His Word;
Application - Meditation;
Primer on Biblical Meditation
Remember
(3421) (mnemoneuo
-
present imperative) means
to cause to be mindful of, call to mind, recall information.
Paul gives Timothy a command (imperative
mood) to keep on remembering
(present
tense) that Jesus is alive speaking of His divinity (power over
death) and Christ is the prophesied Messiah, the seed of David.
Wiersbe
writes that...
"Remember
Jesus Christ!"... sounds almost like a war cry, like "Remember the
Alamo!" or "Remember Pearl Harbor!" Jesus is the Captain of our
salvation (see note
Hebrews 2:10),
and our purpose is to bring honor and glory to Him. What an
encouragement Jesus Christ is to a suffering Christian soldier! For He
died and rose again, proving that suffering leads to glory, and that
seeming defeat leads to victory. Jesus was treated as an evildoer, and
His soldiers will be treated the same way. (Wiersbe,
W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor
or
Logos)
Barclay has
an interesting thought on the meaning of the
present tense
writing that...
The tense of the Greek does not imply
one definite act in time, but a continued state which lasts for ever.
Paul is not so much saying to Timothy: "Remember
the actual resurrection of Jesus"; but rather: "Remember
your risen and ever-present Lord." Here is the great Christian
inspiration. We do not depend on a memory, however great. We enjoy the
power of a presence. When a Christian is summoned to a great task that
he cannot but feel is beyond him, he must go to it in the certainty that
he does not go alone, but that there is with him for ever the presence
and the power of his risen Lord. When fears threaten, when doubts
assail, when inadequacy depresses,
remember
the presence of the risen Lord... So Paul kindles Timothy to heroism by
calling upon him to remember Jesus Christ, to remember the continual
presence of the risen Lord, to remember the sympathy which comes from
the manhood of the Master, to remember the glory of the gospel for
himself and for the world which has never heard it and is waiting for
it. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press
or
Logos)
Harry Ironside
writes that...
When pressed by the foe, even to the
point where one despairs of life, let us remember Him who could not be
overcome by death, but arose in triumph from the grave. It is He who
beckons us on to ultimate victory. His promises never fail of189
fulfilment. Jesus Christ went down into death, bore the judgment our
sins deserved in order that we might be saved, and then came up in
triumph from death as the Captain of our salvation.
Adam Clarke
writes that Paul...
seems to say: Whatever tribulations
or deaths may befall us, let us
remember
that Jesus Christ, who was slain by the Jews, rose again from the dead,
and his resurrection is the proof and pledge of ours. We also shall rise
again to a life of glory and blessedness.
Albert Barnes...
Think of the Saviour, now raised up
from the dead after all the sorrows of this life, and let this encourage
you to bear your trials. There is nothing better fitted to enable Us to
endure the labours and trials of this life, than to think of the
Saviour.
Bible
Background Commentary...
Appealing to examples was one of the
main hortatory methods of ancient parenesis (moral exhortation); Paul
here appeals to the example of Jesus, who endured much but received
eternal glory
Paul focuses our
attention upon the one Object which deserves the preeminent place in the
picture gallery of our mind. Paul's
injunction is not just to remember facts about Christ, but to remember
the
Person
Himself; the risen, living One who became man. The vivid
remembrance of Him and all that He is and that He has done keeps our
relationship with Him vital and effective in all the circumstances and
vicissitudes of our life, motivating steadfastness in those times we may
suffer for our Lord.
John MacArthur
has said it well that we should continually
remember
that...
Jesus’ path to a crown glory was marked by pain before
pleasure, sorrow before joy, humiliation before glorification,
persecution before exaltation, death before resurrection,
earthly hatred before heavenly worship. To remember those truths about
our Lord’s earthly life will protect us from the foolish and ungodly
promises of the so-called health and wealth gospel, which vitiates His
command to take up our cross daily.
To remember those truths about our
Lord’s earthly life will protect us from the foolish and ungodly
promises of the so called health and wealth gospel, which vitiates (Ed:
makes defective or ineffective) His command to take up our crosses as He
took up His. If Jesus’ perfect and sinless obedience of His heavenly
Father did not bring Him earthly prosperity and well-being, how much
less can we expect to receive those things because of our imperfect
service of Him? If our Lord Jesus Christ, “although He was [God’s]
Son,… learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (see note
Hebrews 5:8),
how much more should we? (MacArthur,
J. 2 Timothy. Chicago: Moody Press
or
Logos)
Hiebert has written that if we neglect this command
it is quite possible for us as Christian workers amid the very stress
and noise of religious work to forget Jesus Christ until we lose vital
contact with Him and our lives become powerless and ineffective.
The
present tense
which means that this is to be our practice or habit. And so as we go
through our day we must discipline ourselves to bring back straying
thoughts and head them in the direction of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus
Christ. How easily we let our thoughts wander away from the greatest of
all meditations, that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is urging us to
return to our first love. See
Fix Your Eyes on Jesus, Ann Ortlund's
wonderful devotional that relates to Paul's command of keep on
remembering Jesus.
Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus
by Helen Lemmel
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Refrain
Turn your eyes
upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!
Refrain
His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!
Refrain
Walter Hampel
(Ashland Theological Journal 34, page
1, 2002) writes about this charge from Paul to
remember Jesus
noting that...
Memory serves us individually as
well. It roots us to our community, family and even ourselves. It is not
uncommon to find family photographs on our desks at work or stuffed
inside a wallet. We do this not because we cannot remember these loved
ones without such photographs. Rather, we do it because the photos serve
as a periodic reminder during the day of those who love us and of our
life beyond the confines of work.
Christians need memory too. Without it, we begin to forget the One who
loves us and died for us. The world has a way of trying to force its
attention and its priorities into our daily lives. David Wells likens
the world’s influence on us to a constant pounding. He writes that such
a pounding
is made up of the pressures, demands,
and expectations of our modern culture that combine to deliver the
message that we must belong to it, not simply in the sense that
we must live in it, but rather that we must live by it. (Wells, D:
Losing Our Virtue—Why the Church Must Recover Its Moral Vision Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998) (Bolding added)
Barclay writes that...
Falconer calls these words: "The
heart of the Pauline gospel." Even if every other appeal to Timothy's
gallantry should fail, surely the memory of Jesus Christ cannot. (Barclay,
W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press
or
Logos)
In a similar way Paul placed great
emphasis upon remembering the death of Jesus in the celebration of the
Lord's Supper. Paul used the word remembrance twice in his description
of the last meal Jesus shared with His disciples before His death: once
in connection with the bread, once in connection with the wine (1 Cor.
11). Here is a visual reminder of the unique sacrifice of Jesus.
23 For I received from the Lord that
which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which
He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, "This is My
body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup
is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of Me."
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until He comes (see
Table comparing Rapture vs Second
Coming). (1 Cor 11:23-26)
Note that the verb proclaim is
translated preach in other contexts and thus it appears Paul is
saying that when we celebrate the Lord's Supper we are in effect acting
out or preaching a sermon the message being one that looks back to the
Lord's victory on Calvary which will be consummated when He returns as
King of kings and Lord of lords. One application point of the "sermon"
would be for all believers to live now in the power of the word of the
cross (1 Cor 1:18) and in light of the imminent return of the Bridegroom
for His Bride the Church, to celebrate the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb. Living in the light of His return serves to motivate believers
to be zealous to live God glorifying lives of holiness rather
seeking passing worldly happiness!
At the Last Supper Jesus told His
disciples...
But I say to you, I will not drink of
this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new
with you in My Father's kingdom (see the
Millennium).
(Mt 26:29)
Constable explains that...
As the first Passover looked forward
to deliverance and settlement in the Promised Land, so the Lord’s
Supper looked forward to deliverance and settlement in the promised
kingdom. Disciples are to observe the Lord’s Supper only until He
returns (1 Cor. 11:26). Then we will enjoy the messianic banquet
together (Isa. 25:6; cf. Matt. 8:11). Probably Jesus spoke these words
after drinking the third cup of the Passover ritual. (Tom Constable's
Expository Notes on the Bible) (Bolding added)
JESUS CHRIST RISEN
FROM THE DEAD: Iesoun Christon egegermenon (RPPMSA): ek nekron:
(See Torrey's
Topic "The
Resurrection of Christ")
(Mt 1:1;
Acts 2:30;
13:23;
Ro 1:3,4;
Rev 5:5,
1Cor 15:1-4) (Lu 24:46;
Acts 2:24;
1 Co 15:1,4,11-20)
Jesus Christ
- Paul has given us a continuous command not just to remember the name
but the Person of Jesus Christ. Because He is now our life (see note
Colossians 3:4)
we must constantly recall the Scriptural truths about Him, especially
that He is not a dead Messiah but the resurrected, living Messiah, and
because He is the resurrected Messiah He is our Source of everything
needed for life and salvation.
This verse is the only time Paul uses the order "Jesus"
before "Christ" which would seem to call attention to the
fact that the Man Jesus, Who walked this earth and suffered opposition
and death, was in His resurrection revealed to be the Christ, the
fulfillment of Messianic prophecy.
Risen
(1453) (egeiro) means to waken, rouse from sleep, from
sitting or lying, from disease, from death, lift up, raise again or up
arise again, stand, take up.
Literally egeiro means to rise from sleep, implying also the idea of
rising up from posture of sleep and in context speaks of "waking"
from the dead, of which "sleep" is often a metaphor (see Jesus' words "Lazarus
has fallen asleep... going on to explain that Lazarus is dead."
John 11:11-14). Egeiro is in the
perfect tense which signifies Christ arose at a
specific point in time over 2000 years ago and that He continues in His risen
(glorified) state, still alive.
Vincent writes that
The perfect
(tense) marks the permanent condition — raised and still living.
The risen, glorified Christ still has the marks of covenant on His
hands, side and feet. John recorded that he was weeping because he could
see no one who was worthy to open the sealed scroll and...
one of the elders said to me, "Stop
weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of
David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals." And I
saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a
Lamb standing, as if slain (sphazo - put to death by violence;
perfect tense),
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God,
sent out into all the earth. (See notes
Revelation 5:5;
5:6) (To quote
Tony Garland's quote
- It has been said, “the only man-made thing in heaven will be the scars
of the Savior.”)
From (ek)
means out of - “out from dead", out from among the dead people.
When our Lord was raised from the dead, the rest of the dead stayed
dead.
Dead (3498) (nekros)
which is from nékus = a corpse and gives us our
English words necropsy, necrophobia, etc).
As Hiebert emphasizes the crucial point in the gospel is
Not the vision of a crucified Jesus but the vision of a risen Lord is
held up before Timothy.
Especially for those facing suffering and possible
death, there is great encouragement in remembering that even the Lord
Jesus Himself reached the glory of heaven by way of the cross and the
grave.
Because He lives the promises are carried into effect in Him and by Him.
The servant of Christ is, then, entirely dependent upon Him for the
effect of his labor, and if he would be a good soldier, a
successful spiritual athlete, and a faithful farmer, he must
remember the One in Whose service he is engaged.
Lk 24:46 — and He said to
them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again
from the dead the third day;
Acts 2:24 — "And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the
agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
DESCENDANT OF DAVID: ek spermatos Dauid:
Mt 1:1 — The book of the
genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Acts 2:30 — "And so, because
he (the patriarch David) was a prophet, and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO
HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS UPON HIS THRONE,
Acts 13:23 — "From the offspring of this man ("David...a man
after My heart"), according to promise, God has brought to Israel a
Savior, Jesus,
Romans 1:3 (note)
— concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David
according to the flesh,
1:4 (note) who
was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the
dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord,
Revelation 5:5 (note) —
and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that
is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as
to open the book and its seven seals."
Descendant (4690l)
(sperma) refers literally to seed sown as containing the
germ of new fruit. In secular Greek, sperma rarely signifies descendants
collectively, but primarily refers to the individual offspring.
As discussed above, this statement clearly alludes to the humanity (fully
Man) of
Christ (see notes
Romans 1:3;
Philippians 2:7).
As the writer of Hebrews says because He although God became fully
Man...
He Himself was tempted (peirazo)
in that which He has suffered (perfect
tense
= emphasis the
continuing effects), (and thus) He is able (present
tense indicating
that Jesus is continually able)
to come to the aid (boetheo
=
literally pictures one who runs on hearing a cry of those in danger to
give help and assistance) of those who are tempted. (see note
Hebrews 2:18)
ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL: kata to euaggelion mou:
(2Th 2:14;
1Ti 1:11;
2:7)
What Paul has just
stated is a summary of the gospel, even better summarized in 1
Corinthians 15...
Now I make known to you, brethren,
the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which
also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast
the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that
He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures, (See notes
1Corinthians 15:1;
15:2;
15:3;
15:4)
Paul goes on to emphasis the crucial
importance of the truth of the resurrection to the gospel message
writing that...
if Christ has not been raised,
then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. (1Cor 15:14)
Gospel (2098) (euaggelion
from eú = good + aggéllo
= proclaim, tell) is literally good news or glad
tidings)
(Click
for word study of
euaggelion)
A CONCISE DEFINITION OF
THE GOSPEL
1
Now I make known to you [since it seems to have escaped you], brethren,
the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you
hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain
(does not teach that true believers are in danger of losing their
salvation, but it is a warning against non–saving faith -- could be
translated "unless your faith is worthless" -- holding fast was the
result and evidence of genuine salvation). 3 For I delivered to you as
of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He
appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (See notes
1Corinthians 15:1;
15:2;
15:3;
15:4;
15:5;
15:6 ;
15:7 ;15:8)
Spurgeon's Sermons on
Gospel...
1 Timothy 1:15 The Glorious Gospel
Proverbs 25:25 Good News
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 The Heart Of
The Gospel
Lamentations 4:22 A Message From God
For Thee
Acts 20:21 Two Essential Things
Psalm 51:7 The Wordless Book
This is the gospel that His
Lord had entrusted to him and which he ceaselessly proclaimed. Paul uses
this same phrase, my gospel, in (see notes
Romans 2:16;
Romans 16:25)
In secular
Greek it originally referred to a reward for good news and later
became the good news itself. The word euaggelion was commonly
used in the first century as our words "good news" today. The idea then
and now is something like this - “Have you any good news
(euaggelion) for me today?” This was a common question in the ancient
world.
Our English word
Gospel is from the Old English or Saxon
word gōdspell (gōd = good + spell = message) which
is literally "good tale, message". When I was a young man Godspell
was actually the name of a popular musical play (See
description). I
wonder if they really understood the meaning of this word which is the
very foundation stone of Christianity.
In modern secular
use gospel has an interesting meaning of something accepted as
infallible truth or as a guiding principle (e.g., such and such is "the
gospel truth"). This is not a bad Biblical definition either!
In ancient secular
Greek as alluded to above, euaggelion described good
news of any kind and prior to the writing of the New Testament, had
no definite religious connotation in the ancient world until it was
taken over by the "Cult of Caesar" which was the state religion and in
which the emperor was worshipped as a god (see more discussion of this
use below).
The writers of the
New Testament adapted the term as God's message of salvation for lost
sinners. Euaggelion is found in several combination phrases, each
describing the gospel like a multifaceted jewel in various terms from a
different viewpoint (from the NASB, 1977):
the gospel of the kingdom (Mt
4:23)
the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son
of God (Mk
1:1) because it centers in Christ
the gospel of God (Mk
1:14) because it originates with God and was not invented by
man
the gospel of the kingdom of God (Lu
16:16)
the gospel of the grace of God (Acts
20:24),
the gospel of His Son (see note
Romans 1:9)
the gospel of Christ (see note
Romans 15:19)
the gospel of the glory of Christ (2Co
4:4)
the gospel of your salvation (see
note
Ephesians 1:13)
the gospel of peace (see note
Ephesians 6:15)
the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2Th
1:8)
the glorious gospel of the blessed
God (1Ti
1:11)
In
Ro 16:25,
26 (see
note) Paul called
it “my Gospel” indicating that the special emphasis he
gave the gospel in his ministry.
For a rewarding
study, study the preceding references in context making notation of the
truth you observe about the gospel (Download
InstaVerse.
to enable you to read the verse in your favorite version and in
context... anywhere on the Web!) If you would like a special blessing,
take an afternoon to go through all 76 uses of euaggelion in
context making a list of what you learn about the gospel. The Spirit of
God will enlighten your heart and encourage your spirit in a very
special way...and you'll want to share the "good news" with someone
because of your "discoveries"!
