DON’T ALLOW YOUR PAST TO ROB YOUR JOY
A. I Timothy 1:12-16 (READ and COMMENT)
ILLUSTRATION:
In 1955, the New York Yankees chose 22 year-old John Malangone as the probable REPLACEMENT for VETERAN catcher Yogi Berra. Though he could THROW a BALL from HOME PLATE and HIT the left field FENCE 368 feet away with a SOLID POP and had consistently BATTED over 300 through the MINOR LEAGUES, John had a HANDICAP he couldn’t overcome--his PAST.
When John was five-years-old his BEST FRIEND was his Uncle Orlando, age seven. The two were INSEPARABLE. One day John, Orlando, and some other boys made a makeshift JAVELIN out of a BROOM HANDLE and on old UMBRELLA SPOKE. A pile of SAND was the TARGET. When John’s turn came, he HURLED the JAVELIN farther than anyone thought he could. It sailed past the SAND PILE and STRUCK his Uncle Orlando in the HEAD.
This HORRID scene HAUNTED John’s every waking moment and often TORTURED him through his DREAMS at night, for John believed he had MURDERED his Uncle Orlando. Although YEARS had PAST, that BELIEF was LITERALLY driving him CRAZY. After repeated STINTS in the MINOR LEAGUES, John was finally CUT from the Yankees in 1959. For the next 32 years, John remained a PRISONER of his PAST. He DRANK heavily to FORGET.
B. Our PAST can THREATEN our JOY if we allow it.
1. For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been taking at look at the THIEVES THAT TRY TO ROB US OF OUR JOY from the book of Philippians.
2. We’ve already looked at two of the THIEVES: CIRCUMSTANCES and PEOPLE.
COMMENT:
The REAL THIEF behind it all is the DEVIL. Satan is a JOY STEALER! He doesn’t want the WORLD to know that Christians POSSESS a JOY that no one else has claim to. So in an attempt to ROB us of our JOY Satan will use anything in his POWER, including our PAST.
C. Philippians 3:13- “One thing I do, is FORGET the PAST and PRESS on to what’s AHEAD.”
ILLUSTRATION:
That’s what John Malangone did. In 1991, with the help of friend Ron Weiss, John was finally able to FACE his PAST. He spoke of the ACCIDENT for the first time with his 80 year-old mother. He looked up the DEATH CERTIFICATE and read the medical examiner’s REPORT: the contributing cause of death was “ACCIDENTAL.” A week later, John told Ron, “I wanna play BALL with a clear mind, for the first time in my life.” The two joined a New Jersey LEAGUE for men over 40. John’s strong ARM and ACCURACY won him a job as a PITCHER. In 1994, they were playing in the Roy Hobbs World Series. John won two games on the MOUND and singled home Ron for the RUN that won their team the NATIONAL TITLE.
1. John learned the SECRET of FORGETTING and PRESSING ON that the apostle Paul PERFECTED.
COMMENT:
We just read where Paul said he was once a
“BLASPHEMER, PERSECUTOR, and VIOLENT MAN.” He HATED the CHURCH of Jesus Christ with a PASSION, and did everything he could to DESTROY it--even TORTURE Christians forcing them to BLASPHEME the name of Christ.
2. After becoming a Christian himself, Paul could have ALLOWED his violent PAST to ROB his JOY, but instead he knew that by the GRACE of God his PAST was FORGIVEN and FORGOTTEN.
MESSAGE:
COMMENT:
If you could go back in TIME, are there some things that you would CHANGE—things that you would DO DIFFERENTLY? There are things in my PAST that make me CRINGE when I think about them. I wish they never happened, but they did. Isn’t that TRUE of your PAST as well? It was certainly TRUE of the apostle Paul. However, he learned to LET GO of the PAST and LIVE for Christ TODAY, and looked FORWARD to his VICTORY in the FUTURE.
I. THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS IN OUR PAST THAT CAN ROB US OF OUR JOY
A. REGRETTABLE EVENTS
1. These can be relatively MINOR EVENTS that can THREATEN our JOY--at least at the time.
ILLUSTRATIONS:
I REGRET wrestling with the high school and college boys at Camp Letoli, a Christian camp in North Texas, during the summer of 1988. They were DETERMINED to make me and two other COUNSELORS (who also happened to be PREACHERS) eat SHAVING CREAM. One of the preachers, Bob Conkling, had TORMENTED them all week. So late FRIDAY night was PAY-BACK time. It was all in GOOD FUN -- I THINK.
While WRESTLING with one of the BOYS, he and I ROLLED down this HILL. (He was the SMALLEST one of the BUNCH, so I knew I could TAKE him.) As I started RUNNING back up the HILL, another young man who played FOOTBALL in College, TACKLED me from the side. As soon as he hit me my right KNEE went POP!
The next MORNING I was in EXCRUCIATING PAIN from my TOENAILS to the HAIR on top of my HEAD (even my EYELASHES hurt). I was taken to the EMERGENCY ROOM where it was DETERMINED that I had three BRUISED RIBS and a SHATTERED CARTILAGE in my right KNEE. (In RETROSPECT, I DON’T THINK SHAVING CREAM WOULD HAVE TASTED ALL THAT BAD! IT WAS MENTHOL) I will be at Prairie States Camp this week preaching in the mornings. So pray for me.
ILLUSTRATION:
One of my wife’s REGRETS is when she decided to BLEACH an awful PINKISH COLOR looking pair of PANTS, WHITE. She WORE her now WHITE pants the very next day to SOUL
LIFT at Six Flags over Texas. About 30 people from the CHURCH went with us.
Did you realize that BLEACH can WEAKEN fabric? Brenda found out the HARD WAY. Her PANTS began to DISINTEGRATE starting from the BACK and working it’s way to the FRONT. Every time she took a STEP, the TEAR would get larger and larger. So she just sat there on a BENCH at Six Flags in the HOT SUN just hoping that she would see somebody from church to HELP HER.
Nobody came by. Finally she gave a complete STRANGER some MONEY and asked if she would go to the SHOP around the CORNER and buy her a TEE SHIRT long enough to cover up her PANTS. After a few MINUTES the LADY came back with a LONG NIGHTSHIRT with WORDING on the FRONT that read: “PIG OUT AT SIX FLAGS.”
2. On the other hand, there are those EVENTS that happen in our PAST that we DEEPLY REGRET.
ILLUSTRATION:
A BUSINESS DEAL that went SOUR costing you THOUSANDS of DOLLARS.
The SHARP ARGUMENT you had with your Dad just before his fatal HEART ATTACK.
The CAR WRECK that PARALYZED your five-year-old daughter, all because you took your eyes off the ROAD for just a BRIEF MOMENT to CHANGE the RADIO STATION. (There are so many REGRETS that ROB people of their JOY.)
B. SINFUL ACTIONS OR MISTAKES
1. As Christians who LOVE God more than anything, it’s our PAST SINS that HURT us most.
COMMENT:
Although we are in a room full of Christians, most of us, if not all, have committed certain SINS that simply make us SICK when we think about them. The SHAME, the GUILT, the DISGRACE would be UNBEARABLE if we DWELL on it. If only we could go back in our PAST and UNDO what we DID, we wouldn’t HESITATE.
This TIME we wouldn’t have GONE on that DATE. We wouldn’t have ALLOWED those WORDS to leave our LIPS. We wouldn’t have ENTERED that PLACE. We wouldn’t have CLICKED on the PORNO SITE. . . . . We would have STOPPED at the FIRST DRINK. We would have given HEED to the WARNING. We would have TURNED and LOOKED the other DIRECTION. We would have said “NO!”
2. However, since SINFUL ACTIONS cannot be UNDONE there are those who can’t seem to move BEYOND their PAST and, consequently, can never EXPERIENCE the JOY that God wants them to have.
ILLUSTRATION:
There’s the YOUNG Christian WIFE and MOTHER who still CRIES herself to SLEEP most nights over the BABY she ABORTED when she was only 15.
There’s the Christian HUSBAND who cannot FORGIVE himself for the AFFAIR he had YEARS before, even though his WIFE and GOD had FORGIVEN him long ago.
COMMENT:
Satan keeps reminding us of how BAD we’ve BLOWN IT in an effort to ROB our JOY.
C. GLORY DAYS
1. Yes, even GOOD MEMORIES can be a DETERRENT from ENJOYING your LIFE today.
COMMENT:
There are those who YEARN for the GOOD OLD DAYS when they were YOUNGER, when LIFE was less COMPLICATED, when they were more POPULAR, when the KIDS were SMALL, when their HUSBAND or WIFE was still ALIVE, when the CHURCH was 300 strong.
They look at those DAYS as being the time when they were most HAPPY and CONTENT. Over the YEARS they’ve TRIED to RECAPTURE that GOOD FEELING but couldn’t. And now they simply MOPE around LAMENTING over the GOOD DAYS gone by.
2. GOOD MEMORIES is a WONDERFUL GIFT that God has BLESSED us with, but we are not to allow the GOOD OLD DAYS to ROB us of the JOY we have TODAY. -Psalm 118:24- “THIS is the DAY the Lord has made; let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it.”
II. PAUL’S SECRET TO MAINTAINING YOUR JOY IN SPITE OF YOUR PAST
A. “FORGET WHAT IS BEHIND”- Philippians 3:13a (READ and COMMENT)
1. The Greek word that Paul uses for the phrase: “Forgetting what lies behind,” is an ATHLETIC term.
COMMENT:
It was used of a RUNNER who OUTRAN another in a RACE. Once he got into the LEAD, he would never TURN AROUND and LOOK BACK. He would FORGET about the runners BEHIND him and FOCUS on the FINISH LINE.
ILLUSTRATION:
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first man in history to RUN a mile in less than 4 minutes. Within 2 months, John Landy eclipsed the RECORD by 1.4 seconds. On August 7, 1954, the two met together for a HISTORIC RACE. As they moved into the LAST LAP, Landy
held the LEAD.
It looked as if he would WIN, but as he NEARED the FINISH he was HAUNTED by the question, “Where is Bannister?” As he TURNED to look, Bannister took the lead. Landy later told a Time Magazine REPORTER, “If I hadn’t LOOKED BACK, I would have WON!”
2. That’s what Paul is DESCRIBING. He is simply saying, “I will not allow my PAST, GOOD or BAD, to cause me to take my EYES off of my GOAL.”
ILLUSTRATION:
Did Paul have REGRETTABLE EVENTS in his life? You better believe it! ONE hardship ANOTHER.
Did he make SINFUL MISTAKES? I don’t think he would call them MISTAKES. Paul deliberately TORTURED and MURDERED Christians in an effort to STAMP out the CHURCH.
GLORY DAYS? Paul presents his VICTORY LIST as a Pharisee in vv. 5-6 (READ). He had CREDENTIALS that any GOOD JEW would long to HAVE. He was a leading Pharisee.
Yet, Paul said: “he considered his victory list as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.”- v. 8.
3. By saying that he FORGETS THE PAST, Paul didn’t mean that he had a BAD MEMORY.
ILLUSTRATION:
A story was told when George Bush was President he, along with his SERVICE MEN and REPORTERS, visited a NURSING HOME in Houston, Texas—his hometown. He went around shaking everybody’s hands. He walked up to an ELDERLY man PLAYING dominoes. “Do you know who I am?” he asked. The man studied his face for a moment and then said, “No. But, don’t fret mister. If you ask that NURSE standing right over there, she’ll TELL you.”
COMMENT:
I have no DOUBT that Paul could REMEMBER the FACES of the Christians that he TORTURED. I’m sure he REMEMBERED the CRIES of the CHILDREN clinging to their PARENTS as they were BOUND and HAULED AWAY to Jerusalem to be TRIED as BLASPHEMERS and then EXECUTED. I’m sure he REMEMBERED watching Stephen, the very first Christian MARTYR, being STONED to DEATH by the ANGRY MOB and hearing his final PRAYER, “Lord, do not hold this SIN against them.”
As Christians we don’t FORGET the TERRIBLE SINS we’ve committed. We don’t FORGET the PEOPLE we have HURT. Every ACT, WORD, EVENT, SITUATION, and CIRCUMSTANCE is IMBEDDED forever in our MINDS. But like Paul we FORGET in the sense that we will not allow our PAST to CONTROL our LIVES any longer. And I know that’s easier SAID than DONE. And we can’t do it by our own STRENGTH. That’s why we have to follow Paul’s SECOND STEP.
B. “PRESS ON TOWARD THE GOAL”- Philippians 3:14 (READ and COMMENT)
1. Paul is saying, “I don’t keep my EYES on my PAST, I keep them on JESUS.”
a. I don’t care what you have done in your PAST.
COMMENT:
If you are in Christ having had your SINS washed away by His BLOOD in BAPTISM, then your PAST—whether it’s LONG PAST or something you did this MORNING—is FORGIVEN and FORGOTTEN. God will NEVER hold our SINS against us, as long as we KEEP our EYES on Jesus.
b. Hebrews 8:12- “For I will FORGIVE their WICKEDNESS and will REMEMBER their SINS no more.”
COMMENT:
God will never bring up that AFFAIR. He will never REMIND you of what you SAID and DID in ANGER. He won’t make you RELIVE the HURT you caused your FAMILY during the times you were DRINKING.
c. God FORGETS, and He wants us to FORGET—to not DWELL UPON our PAST.
2. In spite of his SINFUL PAST Paul is able to say, “REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS.”
COMMENT:
Was he SORRY for what he had done? CERTAINLY. Did he LEARN form his SINFUL PAST? YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT! When he TALKED about his PERSECUTION of the CHURCH to make a POINT, did it SADDENED him to THINK about it? NO DOUBT!
But what he REMEMBERED most every day of his life was how God bestowed upon him, the “WORST of SINNERS”, His abundant GRACE and MERCY.
CONCLUSION:
ILLUSTRATION:
Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. One day a friend REMINDED her of a particularly HATEFUL thing someone had done to her YEARS before. When she IGNORED the comment and acted as if she had never heard of it, her friend called the CONVERSATION back.
“Don’t you remember that?” she asked. “No,” said Barton. “I distinctly remember forgetting it.”
COMMENT:
FORGIVENESS really does involve REMEMBERING to FORGET. When God FORGAVE you and me for something we did YESTERDAY or SIX WEEKS AGO or FIFTY YEARS AGO, he FORGOT it. Ever since that day, he has VIEWED us as if it NEVER happened.
Even if we’ve had to live with the CONSEQUENCES of it, God has never once considered putting it back on our RECORD or calling us to ACCOUNT for it.
Even if others who say they have FORGIVEN us have not been so GRACIOUS, God will not PULL IT OUT of a DUSTY FILE on JUDGMENT DAY.
He FORGAVE it – “put it as far away as east is from west, buried it in the depths of the sea”- Psalm 103:12. He distinctly REMEMBERS to FORGET it. And He wants us to do the SAME.
IS THERE SOMETHING IN YOUR PAST THAT HAS BEEN ROBBING YOUR JOY.
