FORGETTING THE PAST
Philippians 3:12-21
Kelly Hudnall
There is a very good reason why God instructs us through the words of the Apostle Paul, to be joyful always. And it’s not simply b/c God doesn’t like a sour puss!
I remember when I was growing up, if I got upset or pouted over something my dad would say this, "you better wipe that sour look off your face and quit crying right now, or I’LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT."
This isn’t at all why God instructs us to be JOYFUL ALWAYS! He doesn’t say this b/c He can’t tolerate sad sacks and sour pusses, okay?
The Apostle Paul tells us why it is important to BE JOYFUL ALWAYS in verse 1 of chapter 3.
The NIV says telling you to be joyful always
is a safeguard for you.
The NLT says telling you to be joyful always
is for your own good
The Word of God makes it very clear here that we are to be JOYFUL ALWAYS for our own good or as a safeguard! For our own well-being.
I also remember when I was growing up, that many times my dad would tell me to do something and I (being the non-compliant person I am) would reply, "why?" "Why do I have to do this?" or "Why can’t I do that?" And many times, in frustration and anger dad would simply reply back, "BECAUSE I SAID SO!"
Paul is NOT saying, "be joyful always, no matter what! BECAUSE God SAYS SO!"
GOD ONLY instructs us in what will be best for our lives. God never tells us to do something just b/c HE SAID SO. God is love and God has all knowledge and wisdom. He knows what is best for us and He wants what is best for us even more than we want it for ourselves!
God tells us to be joyful in all things because there are many, many blessings attached to being JOYFUL! And He wants us to be blessed! BUT HE ALWAYS GIVES US THE CHOICE.
I. WHY
God tells us to be joyful because...
A. THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH.
Neh 8:10 "Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."
1. If we lose our joy, we lose our strength.
a. We become depressed, hopeless and weak.
b. We lose our drive to keep going.
c. Have you ever worked with someone who is full of joy? They move about with a spring in their step, whistling, humming, singing all the while.
And then on the other hand, have you ever worked with someone who has lost their joy? They move very slowly, all slumped over with a frown on their face like they’re about to keel over.
Which one would hire to get a job done? The one who is joyful, right?
2. IF we lose our joy, We lose our ability to stand against the powers of Satan and win!
God tells us to be joyful because...
B. A JOYFUL HEART IS LIKE GOOD MEDICINE!
Prov 17:22 "A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones". (NKJ)
1. A joyful heart brings healing to your whole being (spirit, soul & body).
a. I remember Todd telling of a man named Norman Cousins who was diagnosed with cancer and given only a few months to live. He was healed after watching several comedic movies and laughing throughout each of them.
2. A sad heart can lead to a broken spirit, soul & body.
a. I read a medical article that said that most sickness and disease is psychosomatic.
b. Definition of psychosomatic "illness caused or aggravated by mental stress."
c. I don’t know of a better way to get rid of mental stress than through joy and laughter.
d. Rodney Howard Browne.
I went through 3 ½ yrs of deep depression, went to the Brownsville Revival services and after much holy laughter, I was healed and set free from depression! I had never experienced anything quite like that. As I laid on the carpet of the Brownsville Assembly of God sanctuary, I laughed hysterically and uncontrollably. These words kept rolling over and over in my spirit, "laughter doeth good like a medicine, take another drink."
God tells us to be joyful because...
C. A JOYFUL PERSON’S LIFE IS A NON-STOP PARTY.
Prov 15:15 "All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast." (NKJ)
1. Your life can be a continual party!
a. JOY is based on choice, not circumstances!
b. Therefore, like Paul, we can choose JOY no matter the circumstances.
c. Paul was chained to a guard 24 hrs a day in a Roman prison cell, awaiting possible execution, but you read his letters and it’s obvious that the man was having a "CONTINUAL FEAST"! Right there in that prison cell w/his captors!
d. "Base your happiness on your hope in Christ," Rom 12:12 (PH)
II. THE HOW
In vs. 12 Paul tells us
We can be joyful always by...
A. Keeping our eyes on the goal.
Phil 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. (NIV)
1. Keeping God’s perspective.
a. Paul was able to maintain a supernatural level of joy b/c he looked at things on earth from God’s point of view.
b. The result: He was not upset by the things behind him (past), he was not depressed about the things around him (present) and he wasn’t worried about things ahead of him (future).
2. When you and I find ourselves upset over things behind us, around us or before us, we can be certain that we have taken our eyes off of the goal.
3. "I press on"
"press" is taken from the greek word: dioko-
a. to run swiftly in order to catch a person or thing, to run after
b. To press on: figuratively, used of one who in a race runs swiftly to reach the goal
c. To pursue (in a hostile manner)
d. To be mistreated, to suffer persecution on account of something
e. To pursue, to seek after eagerly, earnestly endeavor to acquire
In vs. 12 Paul says, I certainly haven’t arrived or become perfect, but I’ve learned that I have got to keep my eyes on the goal and go after Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and let nothing distract or stop me.
In vs. 13 Paul tells us...
We can be joyful always by...
B. FORGETTING THE PAST!
V. 13 " No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead," (NLT)
1. FORGETTING THE GOOD.
a. We must CHOOSE to forget all our good works.
It would have been very easy for Paul to look back fondly upon his past. He was a Pharisee! He was blameless in keeping the law. To the Jew’s of Paul’s day a Pharisee had reached the summit of religious experience.
They were the closest to God of all men on earth b/c they kept the law perfectly. THEY DIDN’T SIN (OUTWARDLY). If anyone was going to Heaven, it was the Pharisee!
· But Paul realized that In light of knowing and serving Christ ~ All his good works meant absolutely nothing!
· And if he was going to reach the goal, he had to forget his accomplishments of the past.
We have to forget all the GOOD that we’ve done. The Bible says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags.
Isa 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
b. Looking back on the good that we’ve accomplished can lead to pride and the Bible sternly and continually warns that Pride comes before a fall.
Have you ever met or known people who were kind of like saved Pharisees? Their past is pretty clean. They were good people before they surrendered to Christ. They don’t have a past filled with sex, drugs, alcohol, abuse...prison, divorce, adultery, etc....
And you can always tell when they are looking back on their "righteous" and relatively "sinless" life b/c they come across as very self-righteous and condemning twds those of us who don’t have a squeaky clean past.
Listen Saints, IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR PAST LOOKS LIKE, IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW BAD OR HOW GOOD IT IS...GOD WANTS US TO FORGET IT...AND MOVE ON!!!
JUST remember, the next time you’re tempted to become puffed up with pride over the good accomplishments in your past, that the Bible says that they are as filthy, stinking rags.
c. Looking back on the good that we’ve accomplished in the past will keep us from reaching our potential in the present and the future.
* as a church we’re in a dangerous place right now.
* God has brought about supernatural growth and an incredible number of conversions in the church the past 10 years. For the past few years we’ve been named one of the fastest growing churches in America.
* It would be very easy for us to keep looking back at the past 10 years of blessing and growth and just pull back and take it easy for a while.
* We need to praise God for the past blessing, but then we need to forget about the past blessing and "press on" toward the present and future blessing.
2. FORGETTING THE BAD
a. We must CHOOSE to forgive and forget the wrongs others have done to us.
* God can’t forgive you if you don’t forgive others
Jesus taught us in Matt 6 to pray, "Father, forgive us our sins AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO SIN AGAINST US."
* As long as you and I hold unforgiveness in our hearts toward other people, we have locked ourselves in a prison and turned ourselves over to the tormentors.
* There can be no real joy for the person who keeps dragging up old hurts.
* There can be no real joy for the person who holds a grudge.
The Bible says that love covers over a multitude of sin-love forgives and chooses to forget it.
Love does NOT keep an account of wrongs suffered.
· Paul could NOT keep rehearsing the persecution he had suffered at the hands of his persecutors.
· He had to choose to forgive those who stoned him and left him for dead.
· He had to also choose to forget that incident.
· He had to choose to forgive those who had him thrown into prison and choose to forget all the wrong they’d done to them.
Remember, Satan doesn’t want you to forget the past and he will continually try to bring it up. Because if he can get you to focus on the past, he can get you to take your eyes off of the goal.
You and I must choose to forget the wrongs done to us.
You must choose to forgive and forget:
the hurtful words your husband or wife, or mother or father spoke to you. You must choose to forgive and forget how your friend betrayed you. You must choose to forgive and forget the physical abuse, the verbal, emotional and yes, even the sexual abuse that you endured in the past.
Because as long as we keep looking back at the bad things others have done to us in the past, we can’t go any further into the future that God has for us.
b. We also must CHOOSE to forget the painful memories that hold us in the past.
I had an incident in my life a few years ago after the death of my brother Matthew.
Finally one night as tears soaked my pillow, I cried out in desperation again, "Lord, please heal this memory. Why aren’t you answering my prayer?" God spoke to my heart so clearly and said, "Kelly, only you can choose what thoughts you will dwell upon. I cannot choose your thoughts for you. You must choose to dwell upon the good memories and refuse to dwell upon the painful ones." Then the Word of God from Phil 4:8 rolled over and over in my mind as I drifted peacefully to sleep,
Phil 4:8
3. FORGETTING THE UGLY
a. We must choose to forgive ourselves and forget the ugly sins in our past.
Micah 7:19
19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (NIV)
Corrie Ten Boom says God throws our sins in the sea of forgetfulness and then puts up a NO FISHING sign.
Jer 31:34
For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (NKJ)
Heb 8:12-13
"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." (NKJ)
Heb 10:17-18
then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. (NKJ)
· Once Paul was saved, it might have been easy for him to forget his good works of the past w/o any condemnation from Satan.
· If all he would have had to deal with was the fact that he tried to be a "GOOD PHARISEE" and live a perfect, righteous, sinless life before God and man.
· However, once Paul realized and acknowledged that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, God in the Flesh. He had some greater sins in his past that he would have to choose to forgive himself for and forget.
· Paul was a great persecutor of Christians! We have the recorded account of Paul assisting in the stoning of Stephen and the persecution of the church. Paul assisted in murder of one of the great patriarchs of the faith.
So, not only did he have the good works that he had done, the bad others had done to him, but he also had the ugly sins he had committed against others.
And he knew that he would never be able to successfully run the race if he kept looking back on these things of the past. Looking back to the past THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, only keeps us from the prize of the present and the promise of the future.
He whom the Son sets free is free indeed! When we are born again, we are freed from the past! The good, the bad and the ugly! A wonderful transaction took place. Along with the Apostle Paul and every other born again Christian, we lose our past and everything that we trusted in before and gain so much more!
Paul’s past (his good works as well as the bad) had been transferred to Christ’s account on the cross. God promised to never write his sins against him again. And God promises the same for you and me! Now this is reason to be joyful.
· But we have to CHOOSE live like believers! You can be born-again, but not live like you are.
· You can be forgiven and released from the past, but not live and act like you are.
· TRUE JOY comes in believing, receiving and acting on the TRUTH!
· The only way this can be experienced is through FORGETTING THE PAST! THE GOOD WORKS YOU HAVE DONE. THE BAD OTHERS HAVE DONE TO YOU. THE UGLY SINS YOU HAVE COMMITTED AGAINST OTHERS.
CONCLUSION:
Phil 3:14-16
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
To "press on toward the goal for the prize", gives us the picture of running in a race in order to gain a prize.
Have you ever tried running race while all the while, looking behind you? If it weren’t so dangerous, I’d have all of us get up and try it tonight to prove how destructive it is.
Listen, if you want to win the race, you have to stay focused on what’s ahead (the finish line) AND NEVER, NEVER LOOK BACK!
15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect (Mature), have this
attitude
(this attitude of joy that comes from focusing on what is ahead and not what is past);
and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
(NAS)
Let us keep living with our eyes focused on the goal that is ahead and forgetting the past!
AND FINALLY, IF YOU HAVE NEVER RECEIVED JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR, YOU NEED TO COME AND HAVE SOMEONE PRAY WITH YOU TO REC’V CHRIST INTO YOUR LIFE.
B/C WITHOUT HIM YOU CANNOT KNOW TRUE JOY AND FREEDOM FROM THE PAST.
A few yrs. Ago the Lord spoke something to my heart concerning the past, that I’ll never forget. One day Satan was trying to drag up stuff from the past and bring back the guilt and shame again and I remember hearing these words so clearly in my spirit, "Remember what happened to Lot’s wife." My thoughts were immediately redirected to the destruction of Lot’s wife WHEN SHE LOOKED BACK! The angels kept telling them as they fled Sodom and Gommorrah, "don’t look back". But she didn’t listen. She looked back and was immediately reduced to a pillar of salt.
If you and I don’t stop looking back at the past, our effectiveness will be like that of Lot’s wife, we’ll be reduced to a pillar of salt. No good to anyone and unable to experience the joy of God’s plan for us.
SO WALK IN THE ABUNDANT JOY OF CHRIST BY FORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND AND PRESSING ON TO THE GOOD THINGS IN THE FUTURE.
FOCUS ON THE GOOD TO COME, NOT THE GOOD, THE BAD OR THE UGLY THAT IS BEHIND!
