How can I remember all that I hear?
I take it for granted that you have reference to Bible teaching and sermons, which go from your mind sometimes almost as soon as you have heard them. At any rate, after hearing hundreds of Bible readings and Gospel sermons, you find yourself unable to recall any of them in particular.
You will doubtless be surprised when I tell you that I do not think this is to be regretted. A great memory is not an unmixed blessing. If you could remember the whole of any sermon you hear, so as to be able to repeat it to your friends in just the order that it was given, and in almost the same words, it would be a thing to be deplored, rather than to be proud of.
I recall a man of my acquaintance who had a wonderful memory for Scripture texts, so that he could quote all that he had heard or read, and could give the reference accurately, yet his real knowledge of the Scriptures was very limited. The saving truth of the Word was not written in his heart. He had a wonderful memory for words, but not much hold of the Word. He could talk glibly to others, quoting texts and putting them together in very good order; but what he said did not take a deep hold of his hearers.
On the other hand I have known some persons with poor memory, as they would tell you, meager attainments in educational lines, and what some would call limited mental capacity, who had the Word so hidden in their hearts that it was a great blessing to them and to others.
Memory is only a part of the mind, not by any means the whole of it. To have a great memory does not necessarily indicate the possession of a great mind. In saying this I do not depreciate the value of a good memory, but only urge that it be used in the right direction, and not allowed to degenerate into a mere recorder of words. A really good memory is something far different from the tape in a telegraph instrument or the cylinder in a phonograph.
Let me tell you that no true Bible teacher or Gospel minister desires to have his hearers store up his words so that they can give them back to him. No man wishes this, except the one who is giving his own words, fine phrases and sentences built up with great care, and these are usually not worth remembering.
But if the minister is a preacher of the Word, one sent from God and therefore speaking the words of God, he desires a far different evidence that his work has been successful, than the hearing of his words repeated in a testimony meeting. What is this evidence? It is simply the changed life.
The Word of God is good seed. Now no farmer ever wishes to get the same seed back that he sows in the earth. He knows that if it does not die, "it abides alone; but if it die it brings forth much fruit." (John 12:24)
If the earth should hold the seed for months, and then return it to the farmer just as he sowed it, he would say that he had labored in vain.
In like manner we give food to the hungry, not expecting and not declaring ever to see it again. If the food we give to our children be retained by them for a time, and then should appear just as they received it we should be alarmed. We should know that there could be no growth under such conditions. The food that is eaten must never again appear in the same form, but must show itself in increased strength and activity. Then we know that it has been received to profit. Thus must it be with the Word of God upon which we feed.
The hearers of the Word are not to be mere echoes. The Gospel plan is that everybody should be original, an original, independent thinker, in the proper sense of the term. No person is to build upon any other person, but upon the one foundation, Jesus Christ: "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:11)
The promise is: "They shall be all taught of God." (John 6:45)
True thinking, right thinking, is the product of the Spirit of God in the soul, the expression in words of the experience of the life. This is all the real originality that is possible. True originality is the working of "that one and the selfsame Spirit, distributing to every man severally as He will." (1 Corinthians 12:11)
Thus there is no ground for anybody to complain of lack of education, nor any reason for one to ape another, for the Gospel itself provides the highest education for all. There is no teacher like God. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." (Psalm 19:7)
This wisdom is not on the surface, but is in the life and character. "A good understanding have all they that do His commandments." (Psalm 111:10)
You may have heard the story of the poor washerwoman whose pastor, not so wise as she, chided her because she could not recall even the text of the sermon he had preached the day before. She was bleaching cloth on the grass, and she pointed to it saying: "You see this cloth? I pour water on it, and the cloth does not hold any of it, yet it keeps getting whiter; so it is with the Word that I hear; I am not able to keep it all in my memory, but it leaves me whiter."
The Gospel sermon that has been of more service to me than all others combined, changing the whole course of my life, and furnishing a constant supply of strength and courage, was one that I heard many years ago, and of which I cannot remember a single word. More than that, I could not have told the text or repeated a single sentence five minutes after the talk was finished. Indeed, there has never been any impression in my mind that I heard a word of it; but the influence of it will last through eternity. In it I saw Christ crucified for me, and that so completely absorbed my mind that every human utterance was obliterated. I have never regretted not being able to recall the words of that discourse.
But you may say that you would like to able to recall and use some of the words of the Bible, and it is well that you should; for I do not wish to be understood as meaning that our knowledge of Divine truth is to be hazy and indefinite. It is possible for every person to be able to recall all the Scripture texts that he needs. God's method of instruction is such that all may learn, and He teaches us to profit. "Commit your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established." (Proverbs 16:3)
It all depends upon what is assimilated and incorporated into the life. If you would get the most benefit from the food you eat, you must chew it a long time. It is not the great quantity that you eat, that determines the amount of strength you will have, but that which you assimilate.
All the food that you can transform into flesh and blood and bone, does you good, and is available for use all the time. That which your system does not appropriate is of no use to you. And thorough mastication, chewing the food for a long time, is the surest way to provide for its assimilation.
Even so it is with the Word, upon which we are to feed, that we may grow thereby. It is not by reading or hearing a great deal, that we grow spiritually, but by meditating a great deal on a little until we extract something from it that feeds our souls. "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper." (Psalm 1:1-3)
You may never be able to recall at will all the Scripture texts that you have thus assimilated, and it is not necessary that you should. When the proper time comes,--when you need them in your own conflict with Satan, or to help some other struggling soul,--the Spirit of God will bring them to your remembrance, and you will be astonished to find how many you know, and how aptly they come to mind.
And you will remember not only the exact words, but often the location of them as well. The experiences that affect one's life are not only remembered, but they carry with them the impress of their surroundings. You have no difficulty in remembering just where certain things occurred in your life. Deaths, marriages, the meeting with or parting from friends, and a thousand other things, not only stand out prominently before you, but you can see every detail of the places where they occurred, although you have never made any effort to do so.
So as you feed upon the Word, those portions that mark an era in your life will remain with you, and will carry with them the picture of their place in the Bible. So be of good courage, knowing that God has chosen the weak and foolish things of this world: "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" (1 Corinthians 1:27)
And that Christ is made unto us wisdom, as well as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption: "But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)--Present Truth, October 18, 1900.