PHIL.3:13-14 “GET OVER IT!”
A) So, here you sit tonight, as a child of God, and the Bible says that you are to forget
everything behind you! * You should be reaching forward!
* This is why people are failing in life! * We are either living in the past, or we are living
for now, and we are not obeying what the Bible says!
* We must learn how to let go of the past! * Paul says, “Forgetting those things which are ...”
* To forget something means that we no longer are influenced or affected by it!
* There are some of you here tonight that will tell me that you forgot some incident long ago,
but you haven’t, because you’re still affected and influenced by it, and you won’t let it go!
B) Until you learn to come to the place in your life where you’re not affected or influenced
by it, you have not really forgotten anything from the past!
* The Bible says that we ought to “Forget those things in the past and then reach forth unto .......”
* Paul goes on and says in v.14, that in reaching forth, “We press toward the mark for the .......”
* This means we put our greatest efforts into the future, not in the past!
C) When Paul wrote this, he was 60 years old and in prison!
* He didn’t know if he was gonna be acquitted or lose his life, but he had a desire to serve God!
* Our age or our circumstances should not affect our desire to serve God!
* No matter who your are, there ought to be a future in your life tonight!
* I don’t care who you are, there ought to be something out there in front of you, that makes you
get up in the morning, drives you, motivates you and moves you!
D) If you’re gonna find victory in this life you live now, you’re going to have to forget the past!
* And ... You’re gonna have to do what Paul did in our text!
* Paul warns us here of some things! * He tells us in v.3, that we had better .......
(1) WATCH OUT FOR THE FLESH! * Your flesh will discourage you!
A) Your flesh will tell you that you can’t do it!
* Your flesh will tell you the same thing happened to you in the past will happen to you again!
* The same thing that hurt you before is going to hurt you again!
* The flesh will rob you of your future and victory for God! * We must watch out for the flesh!
(2) WATCH OUT FOR OUR FRIENDS – V.17-19!
* You have to be very careful about who your friends are!
A) You don’t need friends who are not going anywhere!
* You don’t need friends who say their best days are behind them!
* You don’t need friends who’ve decided that this is it, and all they can do is be miserable, and
sit around sharing their misery together and talking how bad and hard it is for all of us!
* You don’t need friends like that!
* Those kind of friends may try to keep you from serving God! * Choose the right friends!
* So, watch out for the flesh and watch out for our friends!
(3) THEN PAUL GOES ON TO SAY WE NEED TO WATCH OUT FOR FAILURE – V.12!
A) I may have failed in the past, but I do not have to fail now!
* Your life may be one miserable story of failure after failure after failure .......
* But your life doesn’t have to be a failure if you put the past behind you!
* Get a future and press toward the mark as hard as you can with all your strength!
B) Then he said that the future drives him!
* What would make an old man in jail say, “Let ‘em cut off my head, I still have a future?”
* What would make anyone that had been beaten like Paul had all these years, that would make
him say that he still had a future? * Look at v.20-21.
* That sounds like a pretty good future, don’t it? * That’s your future if you’re saved tonight!
* You are supposed to be looking at life the same way that Paul looked at life!
C) You’re not supposed to be sitting here mad tonight at what somebody did to you 5 years ago!
* You’re not supposed to be sitting here tonight upset at something that happened in your past!
* You’re not supposed to be sitting here tonight feeling unappreciated for something you’ve done!
* You have to put the past behind you! * Forget people of the past!
* Forget those who hurt you in the past ... Forget those who lied to you in the past!
D) Forget those who wronged you!
* Some people say they won’t come to church because they were hurt in the last church
they were in! * Change churches ... Forget it ... Everybody has been hurt!
* Everybody has been disappointed ... Everybody has been upset!
* Everybody has had something not work out the way they planned it to!
* But you can’t let that rob you of the present and the future ... We’ve come too far!!!
E) We cannot change the past and Paul teaches us not to worry about the past!
* Let me tell you about Paul’s past ... He was a murderer ... He killed preachers!
* He murdered people who went to church ... He killed Christians ... That was his past!
* He was a blasphemer ... He cursed God’s name ... He cursed Jesus!
* He had nothing to do with Christianity ... He hated it!
F) But Paul said, “It is past!” * He forgot it all! * You have to forget your past!
* Besides, God does! * Heb.8:12 “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and .......”
* Remember ... Forgetting means we’re no longer affected or influenced by it!
* Paul had a present ... He said he is now running hard ... “I press myself.”
* I push myself ... I drive myself ... I give myself ... Everything!
* Forget the past ... You have a future with Jesus in heaven!
(4) WE NEED TO APPLY THESE PRINCIPLES IN OUR HOMES!
A) Do you know why marriages are unsuccessful today?
* It’s because the husband or wife can’t forget something!
* Can’t forget the disappointment ... Can’t forget the hurt that came!
* Can’t forget the harsh words he or she said ... Can’t forget the unfaithfulness .......
B) We have to come to the place where we do what the Bible says to do!
* It says to forget the past and now, in the present, you must live for the future!
* When you made that marriage vow, it was for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness or
in health ... TILL DEATH DO YOU PART!
C) Listen to me ... You didn’t just promise man, but you promised God that!
* You have a responsibility to keep your promise, but you won’t be able to do it if you don’t
apply this principle!
* Forget the past ... Press hard to the future ... Keep your eyes on the finish line!
(5) LET’S ALSO APPLY THIS PRINCIPLE TO THE MISTAKES OF LIFE!
* Our text says, “Forgetting those things which are behind.”
* All of us have made mistakes ... Some of us have made serious mistakes!
* You have to put them behind you and forget them! * DAVID ... JONAH ... PETER ...
CLOSE
A) Why don’t you forget your hurt?
* People say, “I’m not going to that church because I went to that church one time and somebody
hurt me and done me wrong.”
* Or, “I’m not going to that church because of the way the people are at that church.”
B) Why do you go to Ingles ... Bi-Lo ... Winn Dixie ... WalMart? * You go to other places!
* Anywhere you go there are a bunch of sorry people!
* This would be a great world if it were not for the people in it!
* You have no right to use people as an excuse!
C) I’m not gonna die an old miserable prune! * I’m gonna have the time of my life!
* I’m gonna enjoy my ministry ... I’m gonna enjoy my wife! * Chase her around the house!
* I might not can run as fast, but I can still chase her! * I’m gonna enjoy life!
* You know why? * Because I’m not gonna live in the past!
D) Some sit around and say, “Why did this happen?”
* It happened, so get on with it ... Get over it! * Why worry about it now?
* If you’re saved, you have a future, so you might as well get a smile on your face!
* Not because of the past or present ... But because of the future!
E) Even if the present is not working for you, you can still smile because of the future!
* Paul said, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those ...”
* He said, “I press myself, I push myself, I drive myself, I motivate myself!”
* He said, “I reach for it ... I live for it ... I long for the future!”
* Forget the past ... Get over it ... Get yourself a future!!!
