Reaching Forward

September 8, 2024

Sermon Title: Reaching Forward

Text: Philippians 3:7-14

It is great to be back in Palmyra this morning. Good to see familiar faces and hear familiar voices singing praises to the risen King. Can you believe that we have been retired for 6 years now. We haven’t retired from ministry. We just retired from full time ministry.

As I look around the room, I can tell each one of you this – you have made an impact on our lives and we will always hold your memories dear in our hearts.

Most of us can look back on our 16 ½ years of ministry here and remember a lot of really good times. There were some not so good times as well. But what happened in the past, though it may have had an impact on our ministry, well, the past does not define who we are today.

In Philippians chapter 3, the apostle Paul writes to the church about just that thing. He reminds the church of his past religious experiences and who he was according to the Law.

But, starting in verse 7, he says this.

Philippians 3:7-14(NKJV)

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Lord, thank You for Your Word. I pray that today You would open ears and eyes and hearts and minds to receive what You have for Your people.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

So, let’s break this down in a way we can understand it; I promise I won’t keep you for more than three hours… (smile)

I. The past does not determine your future. You all can look at the history of this church – things that have happened both good and bad. There have been some struggles between pastors and members. And there have been wonderful times of spiritual renewal. We often talk about “spiritual” happenings we experienced here. And we should. Our personal experiences with the Lord through the Holy Spirit are things we should talk about.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7(NKJV)

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

Paul reminds his readers that he was the perfect Jew. He did all the right things. He knew all the right ways. He memorized all the right words. And this same Paul thought that he was doing God a favor by going around and arresting Christians and having them put on trial and even put to death. Something changed. It was that Damascus Road experience when Jesus appeared to him. And it changed him so much that now he says, But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…

I want you all to listen to me… All the bad stuff from the past stays in the past should stay there. You have no need to drag it around with you now. You can’t change the past. Oh, but I remember the good old days of Pentecost… all the spiritual manifestations that we saw; people being slain in the Spirit and being drunk in the Spirit and Jericho marches and jumping pews… I’m going to step out on a limb here and take a risk… Those manifestations that we saw back in the good old days – if there was no fruit that came out of it – we were just doing religious stuff – the same way that Paul did religious stuff. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. I’m not saying that our past experiences weren’t valid. But what I am saying is this. Did those experiences change you? When Paul encountered the risen Lord he fell to the ground. When he got up he was changed. We put the bad stuff behind us because it shouldn’t have any control over our lives. We leave our religious experiences there because God has something better for us.