INTRO.- I was, I did, I will. I’d call those: past, present and future. Everyone has these.
ILL.- One man said to his friend: "Say, you look depressed. What are you thinking about?" "My future," was the quick answer. "What makes it look so hopeless?" "My past."
What’s the application or moral of the story? Some people just can’t seem to overcome their past no matter how hard they try. And without the Lord, no one can overcome their past: good, bad or otherwise! And a person has to overcome any kind of negative past in order to make progress in the future.
ILL.- Preacher Warren Wiersbe said, "Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past."
But what do we learn from our past? Hopefully, we learn what to do and what not to do.
ILL.- Harry S. Truman said in 1948, "Men who live in the past remind me of a toy I’m sure all of you have seen. The toy is a small wooden bird called the ’Floogie Bird.’ Around the Floogie Bird’s neck is a label reading, "I fly backwards, I don’t care where I’m going. I just want to see where I’ve been."
I’ve never heard of a Floogie Bird and I sure don’t want to dwell or stay in the past. I’ve had some good days but I’ve also had some bad days and I don’t want to stay there. I want to look to the future and do better, go higher, do more, and seek the Lord as never before.
THE SONG SAYS IT WELL. SAYS IT BEST.
I’m pressing on the upward way
New heights I’m gaining every day
Still praying as I’m onward bound
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
Lord, lift me up and let me stand
by faith on Heaven’s table land
A higher plain than I have found
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground
My heart has no desire to stay
where doubts arise and fears dismay
Though some may dwell where these abound
my prayer, my aim, is higher ground
Higher ground in Christ should be our prayer, our aim in life!
PROP.- In our text, Paul rehearses his background, conversion and future. 1- I was 2- I did 3- I will
I. I WAS
3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison.
ILL.- Someone said, “People who live in the past are doomed to failure in the future.” Living in the past (even a good past) can taint your future if you’re not careful.
Paul said, "I was a Jew, born in Tarsus. I was trained in the law. I was zealous for God."
Paul looked back. Paul had both a good and a negative past. The good was the fact that he was zealous for God even though he didn’t truly know God. He basically only knew the law.
And we need to remember that people can know ’about’ God but still not know Him personally. We come to know Him through our relationship to Jesus.
John 14:6 "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Paul also had a negative past and that was persecuting Christians, although he thought he was doing right. This is not much different from many people today. They think they are blessing the world by persecuting those who follow Christ.
It’s inevitable that we will look back a times. That’s not bad, as long as we don’t stay there. Looking back can either depress you or excite you, depending on what you did. But we can’t let past failures drag us down nor can we rest on our laurels if we’ve had a good past or did some good things.
ILL.- Recently, Tim Russert of "Meet the Press" died suddenly from a heart attack at the age 58, in spite of taking blood pressure medication, cholesterol lowing medication. You just never know, do you? Seemingly healthy but overweight. Apparently, he was a devout Catholic and very devoted to his wife, son, and elderly father. And he was very good at what he did but he’s gone. LIFE CAN END SUDDENLY FOR ANYONE.
Here is something about his wife and family that I read on the internet: Leaving their hotel room in Italy ahead of his wife and son to go back to Washington, D.C., so he could tape that Sunday’s Meet the Press, Tim Russert was grabbed by his wife.
"I said to him, ’I want to give you a hug; maybe I’ll never see you again,’ " said journalist wife Maureen Orth, 65, speaking publicly about her husband. She said, "I don’t know why I said that to him. I just had a feeling."
Russert was under extra stress at the time of his death: covering this year’s presidential election, flying to Buffalo to visit his widowed father, Tim Sr., 84, in an assisted living facility – which his wife called "a huge psychological strain for him."
Then there were his three days in Europe, part of the graduation present for the Russerts’ son, Luke. "It was very hot and humid in Rome," said his wife. "I was so tired. I told him, ’I don’t know how you do it.’ "
What are the lessons by looking back on Tim Russert’s life? Take care of your family, which he did. Thank God! Take care of your health. Baby boomers are getting worried since Russert’s death. Anything can happen to seemingly fairly healthy people. And the most important lesson of all: be prepared. That is, be prepared to die! There is only one way to do that. We must give ourselves continually to Christ!
II Tim. 4:7-8 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."
Now if you were to look back on your life, what lessons have you learned?
II. I DID
Vss. 6-15
From this passage, I think Paul was saying, "here is what happened to me or here is what I did." Sort of present tense.
He was still looking back but it was what led him to where he was presently. It was as though he was saying, "Here is what I did. Here is how I came to believe in Christ. Here is how I surrendered to Christ and this is where I am right now."
How did Paul come to Christ? Everyone has a conversion story and they are often, not the same. God brings us to Him in a variety of ways. Variety of the spice of God’s life in our lives.
First, God had to knock him down before he ever looked up. This part is true for many. Often, some kind of hardship or tragedy has to happen before we ever see our need for the Lord.
Could this be why we are seeing so many natural disasters, as people call them? It may not be global warming at all! Or it could be but most certainly, God is trying to tell people something! LIFE ON EARTH IS NOT LASTING! We need Him and we need to prepare for eternity!
Paul was knocked to the ground, literally. Sometimes this happens. At other times, it happens in other ways. But when he hit the ground, he heard the Lord speak audibly. This was a special conversion for a special man. Not everyone hears the Lord speaks to them audibly. In fact, few do! I would like to hear the Lord speak audibly at times but never have. And then, there may be times when I wouldn’t want to hear him, if you know what I mean!!!
Saul, who became Paul, asked, "Who are you?" Jesus made Himself clear to Saul. Most people need a clear message from the Lord as to what’s going on in life and what to do, etc. And that message is in the book! God’s basic or general will for all mankind is revealed in His Word. And His word and will is for all to be saved in Jesus!
I Tim. 2:3-4 "...God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
ILL.- "Congratulations my boy!" said the groom’s uncle. "I’m sure you’ll look back and remember today as the happiest day of your life."
"But I’m not getting married until tomorrow." Protested his nephew. "I know," replied the uncle. "That’s exactly what I mean."
For Paul, the happiest moment of his life was when he surrendered to Christ in faith and obedience. Paul asked the Lord, "What do you want me to do?" He was told, "Get up and you’ll be told what to do." Of course, Paul had to be led by the hand because he had become blinded by the bright light when the Lord knocked him to the ground.
God sent a man named Ananias to tell him what God wanted of him and what to do. He told him to open his eyes and he would be able to see again. He did and he could. Next, Ananias told him that God would use him as a witness. He said, "Get up and be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name." And Paul did that.
All people who believe in Christ and confess His name need to do the same today. After all, Jesus commanded us to baptize all disciples in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And that happens to be the only command in the New Testament to be done in the name of the Godhead. IT MUST THEREFORE BE IMPORTANT. Surrendering to Christ in baptism is an act of obedience, which disciples need to do. If they are not willing to do this then their faith is somewhat questionable.
ILL.- Wayne Dyer, American writer: “Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed.”
Paul did that day what God wanted. We all only have one day at a time to do what God wants us to do.
Eph. 5:15-16 "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil."
Instead of contributing to the evil of this world, we all need to do the will of God and do some good in this world. Every day we have a choice. And we may only have today! We can do evil. We can do little or nothing. Or we can do what we know is God’s good will for our lives!
III. I WILL
21"Then the Lord said to me, ’Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ "
The Lord told Paul what he wanted him to do in life. And in a sense, Paul said, "I WILL do what the Lord wants."
ILL.- John Wesley said, "When I was young I was sure of everything; in a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before; at present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me."
If we’re sure of only one thing, it should be the will of God!
ILL.- Vance Havner was a Southern Baptist preacher who lwas born on Oct. 17, 1901 and passed on to glory in 1986. Havner was a man who was both certain and determined. He said:
- Plenty of church members are shaky about what they believe, while not many are shaken by what they believe.
- Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, ’’Shake well before using.’’ That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them well before they are ever usable.
- You can’t tell it like it is, if you don’t believe it like it was.
- Most church members live so far below the standard, you would have to backslide to be in fellowship with them.
Havner said, "I feel like American humorist, Josh Billings, who said, ’I’d rather know a few things for certain than be sure of a lot of things that ain’t so.’"
Vance Havner was CERTAIN about many things, not just a few! He wrote a book and preached a sermon entitled, "On This Rock I Stand." That sounds like he was certain of some things.
Havner said, "My wife and I were making a bus trip one time through the mountains and the bus broke down right in front of a hill billy grocery store. The woman who ran the store had apparently never been much of anywhere. My wife said, ’I don’t believe she knows what’s going on in the outside world.’ I said, ’Well, don’t tell her. I wouldn’t want the poor soul to know. Just let her die in peace."
Havner said, "We must not keep silent in an evil time." He said, "I’m tired of hearing sin called sickness and alcoholism a disease. It’s the only disease I know that we’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to spread. I’m tired of experts who know all the answers when they don’t even know what the question is. I’m tired of all this excitement about living on the moon when we have never learned how to live on earth. I’m tired of the artificial wealth by which America is riding to the poorhouse in a Cadillac. I’m tired of this joke called progress. We’ve learned how to lengthen life but we don’t know how to deepen it."
Havner was a man who knew the will of God and was certain about it! WHAT ABOUT US?
If there is one thing that we should be sure about it should be the will of God! WE ALL NEED A STRONG DETERMINATION TO DO THE WILL OF GOD however we accomplish it: preaching, teaching, singing, playing, witnessing, etc. We must say, "I will do God’s will no matter what. This is God’s will for me to do this and I will do it!"
CONCLUSION---------------
ILL.- Some guy said: "When I was first allowed to mow the lawn, my dad taught me how to mow between our yard and our neighbor’s yard.
"The goal was to mow in a straight line between our two yards. He told me that in order to mow a straight line, I was to first pick a point at the upper corner of our property.
"At that time it was a pine tree. He told me to fix my eyes upon the tree and walk. Don’t look at the ground or where I just mowed, but on the tree. I was to walk straight to the tree without looking back.
"I must confess, I didn’t always keep my eye on the tree. Did I ever feel dumb when I looked back and saw a line that wove back and forth. I had to go back and do it again."
Brothers and sisters, if we don’t keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the path of our lives will not go straight!
Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
