Forgetting Those Things (Part A)

It is easy to be busy with many things to narrow it down. One thing so that the many things do not cause us neglect that one thing, now understood. We have many things we have to do many responsibilities we have to be careful that we don't allow ourselves to major and minor things that we major in the major things in our quest for Christian perfection. This is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching a special message called forgetting those things. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching, but for now let's join Pastor Rick in Philippians chapter 3 as he begins his message, forgetting those things you have your Bibles please turn to Paul's letter to the Philippians chapter 3 Paul's letter to the Philippians chapter 3 verses seven through 14 and then I'll give the title in the text, beginning at verse seven. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ yet. Indeed, I also count all things lost with 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 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 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, forgetting those things. That's the title of the message, and after reading that its use.

Nothing left to say. Just want to close in prayer or just keep reading it. How do you and improve upon any of that. What you cannot yet God has ordained preaching and the text is verse 13. But one thing forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead such an inspirational letter. This letter of Paul. It is one of my favorites of this one in second Timothy or just always so inspiring to me here in the beginning of our text in verse 13, Maurice's brother and I do not count myself to have apprehended. He admits to having imperfect devotion to God and yet he speaks of this devotion and we reading it. Knowing the background of this man's life. We are often just so impressed by how much devotion we lack in comparison to a servant like Paul. Yet even though he is imperfect with his devotion. He has formulated a response is formulated a response to being imperfect is better just to have little. I don't have what it takes like I cannot achieve the goals that Christ is set before us. I might as well just not even try.

Instead of doing that is what I'm not perfect, but this is what I can do this is one thing this one thing he has narrowed things down. In spite of this, downside of his walk as he sees it when we who believe can identify with that very easily that phrase. One thing it is an important Christian phrase it shows up quite a few times in Scripture enough times to get our attention and hold it in Mark chapter 10 Jesus said one thing you lack. He said that two of a searching heart.

Someone who was searching to devote more of their life in Christ and that's what Christ said one thing you lack again. He said one thing is needful. As he explained to Martha who was criticizing her sister for not doing enough to help her.

It was a blind man who received the site and he said to the Pharisees.

One thing I know I was blind but now I see because Jesus touched me and then there is David the psalmist of Israel, the sweet psalmist of Israel.

He said one thing I've I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after he went on to express his desire to behold the beauty of the Lord.

And so this is something that we should be interested in. But one thing it is easy to be busy with many things what to narrow it down to one thing, so that the many things do not cause us to neglect that one thing, now understood.

We have many things we have to do many responsibilities we have to be careful that we don't allow ourselves to major and minor things with that we major in the major things in our quest for Christian perfection and were speaking about forgetting those things that we had to identify what those things are so we can concentrate on that one thing so again, forgetting those things which are behind, while looking at his own pass. He had it was blasphemous.

He persecuted the church is all recorded their next seven and acts eight next chapter 9 we read of his conversion on his way to further persecute the church. And he talks about this in first Timothy also. He says I was a blasphemer.

I persecuted the church what Paul takes dead seal that he had against the church and uses it to uphold the church to build the church spread the church when we say church of course would mean of those things that belong to Christ, he is a man who was not enslaved by his past.

Some people are. If anyone if anyone in the New Testament, in the Scripture of anyone made Satan pay for lying to him about Jesus Christ. It was Paul, and assuming others were doing YouTube would music you cannot escape that truth that he made Satan pay for lying to him about Jesus Christ and in doing this he had to refuse to allow his past to paralyze him. He could have said that you know I'm just not worthy to preach the gospel, I'm not worthy to serve Christ.

I persecuted the church and he could have been paralyze right there instead he counterattacks with his life. He spends his life going against Satan by going for Christ, our memories, they can be determined and tenacious to replay over and over some injury of the past some slight of yesterday. We have to learn to fend off these things grows, we will grow in resentment.

We will be paralyze. We won't be able to serve someone did not say hello to me the right way. Someone didn't do this or something didn't happen. One thing that I find that helps me fend off resentment in life is remembering that every misery missed is a blessing. There are so many miseries that God has shielded me from and because some make it through. I have to settle that in my head what's going on with this and that's what were going to talk about because if you don't settle it.

You may turn against God or yourself or others. This man Paul. He was stone or when he was stone or when he was caned when he was scourged he had to forget that traumatic moment with those traumatic moments and move forward. Ursula would've stopped were amazed. We see him get stone believed to death and he gets up and he goes into the very city from where the people who throw the stones at him came from. He turned his back on those things that hindered his ministry for Christ anything contrary to Jesus Christ found in his education prior to Jesus Christ. He kicked out. This is not often practiced or maybe it is more often than what I could ever determine, but I know that some don't do this.

Some seek to salvage some come to Christ and they want to mix and they want to mingle and they want to maneuver. Somehow into their theology.

Some favorite error that they picked up along the way. So to Christianize some human teaching and this is something that Paul makes it very clear that that that wasn't the case with him. Look at verse four.

If you still have your Bibles open in Philippians chapter 3 and there he says, though I also might have confidence in the flesh.

If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so circumcised the eighth day the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews concerning the law Pharisees concerning zeal, persecuting the church concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless, but what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ so rubbish is all trash if it is contrary to Christ at an kit where I got it from, how much work I put into it.

If it goes against Jesus Christ. It is junk. That's how he lived his life in the Holy Spirit who authored this in this man's life wanted us to know about it wanted us to think about it, to meditate on these things and reaching forward. He says to those things which are ahead, serving Jesus better off without those things that hinder that paralyze the teardown. Instead of building up by this time in his life he had achieved so much in his serving Jesus Christ you're already written so many letters and establish so many churches there are some that can be said of them as one author said when they look back it is with regret when they look ahead it is with fear when they look around.

It is with complaint. I want to be that guy. I don't want to have my life managed by regret. I do not want to live in fear and I don't want to be that person that turns lights off in the room by my incessant complaints is always something to complain about. I think one of the men, perhaps more so than the women have to guard against this when it comes to church. I think that the men may be more prone to complaining on the way home about the service about the church than the women. As a rule I have no way to prove that, but it is something to consider. Nonetheless, Paul reaching forward without looking backwards at those things that harm will there were things to look backwards at that. You don't want to lose. Of course there are other things and we know what they are. We don't need a teacher to come along and they don't look back at that.

We already know he still has to visit Rome. He still has to write first and second Timothy as we know them, and Titus and Hebrews. He hasn't gotten to those things yet but he will.

He never would've gotten to them. If he Dragging up the past, letting it interfere with his present yesterday's failures we all have.

We are shaped by them will forged by how we handle those things that have been against us in our lives. Some yesterday loss that may be chewing on you. Still, it could've been decades ago and you younger Christians have not been around long enough to stack up there yesterday regrets their coming. Get ready now have the resolve now that you will forget those things that are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead, Samuel, the great prophet of God.

The only review that Samuel received that we know of, or that is in Scripture was for his excessive sorrow over Saul in first Samuel chapter 15 we read Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul. Now Yahweh said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for Saul seeing I have rejected him from raining over Israel, fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse, the Bethel might rye have provided myself a king among his sons. There it is, there is those things for Samuel. It was the regret over Saul that he had to forget he had to get past that if he was going to continue to be used by God, at least in Large Way, Samuels can continued morning over Saul kept him from reaching forward mourn for Saul because he had anointed Saul. This was personal for him. He had such high hopes for this call man who was the first king of Israel taught him.

He directed him told him how to conduct himself in it all collapsed at all failed.

All he had left rashes and it hurt it hurts.

Samuel deeply and that's why we find this great man of God morning over yesterday. He was sick with failure. He was sick with disappointment.

If God had only those kind of thoughts can tear us down is heard before God showed up and began to encourage him to go forward is hurt made him useless in service at least greatly diminished Samuels frozen because he could not forget the thing behind to forget those things behind does not mean that we fail to remember we have very little control over many things that come into our memory, but it does mean to go forward with out their interference that I find to be key we can make zombies of yesterday harmful memories that are still alive and they shouldn't be alive live to the point of blocking with the Holy Spirit wants to do through us forget those things.

What things useless things hindrances forget as in disallow being dominated and enslaved, ruined or otherwise afflicted by yesterday in the Bible is loaded with these kinds of stories, Naomi Naomi was paralyzed by the past.

She came home to from from across the Jordan and she said I went out full, and I've come back empty. God breathed life back into Naomi.

The change the story use Ruth to do it to remain besieged by past defeats past hurts and disappointments is to miss the one thing and is so easy to do. It is so easy to say to our hurt feelings. Here are the keys here is the control to the rest of my life. You just take over from here on, that is disastrous. It's not being careless about the past that I'm talking about. It's having a disregard for those things in the past that stop us from plowing. Paul said, for the love of Christ compels us, not the regrets not the failures but it is the love of Christ. Love can see long distance off. Love can see very far. The prodigal son. We are told in Luke. He arose and came to his father but when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Love can see long distance in the Scriptures constantly encouraging us to find that in ourselves to the spirit of God but of love can see afar also can hate hate can see a long way to this was a story with Joseph. Genesis 37. His brothers hated him. We pick it up there in the 18th verse now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near.

They conspired against him to kill him, which will it be, let's talk about Joseph a little bit because here is a man that demonstrated the very thing that Paul is writing to the Philippians about forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead later after being sold by his brothers.

He was then sold to Potter for most of you know the story. Then he was jailed for obeying God holding true to God.

He was jailed for obeying God in the house that he contributed so much to it was a blessing where he was. We read in Genesis 39, and his master saw that Yahweh was with him and that Yahweh made all he did to prosper in his hands, his own brothers sold him and then he is sent to jail for refusing to sin. What taste did that leave and Joseph's mouth. What did that due to his religion is belief in God to be so abandoned by God.

No blessings going on.

In fact, when something seemed to be a blessing it turned into a disaster. But those things could not enslave his faith to bitterness. It did not work if hell was trying to destroy the faith of Joseph fail one of the best ways to cure our personal sorrow is to take interest in the service. Even the sorrow of others, and that's why we read I read it again. Genesis 39 verse three and his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand so there's Joseph, sold by his brothers, never knowing if he's going to see his father ever again or his young brother Benjamin and where he is. He serves and he blesses that household. He blessed others is a simple thing that these things give to us that we better not be controlled by yesterday's hurts today is not to our advantage. In the end, when Jacob had died. Those brothers that sold Joseph into slavery. Of course Joseph is now one of the leaders in Egypt next to the Faro. He is the leader and when Jacob died. As I said the brothers were afraid when Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said. Perhaps Joseph will hate us may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him. They did not forget those things which are behind, but this is a significant part of the story about this man, Joseph, so they sent messengers to Joseph saying before your father died he commanded, saying, thus you shall say to Joseph I beg you please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father. Now here comes an Joseph Webb when they spoke to him and her him that they would think that he was a vicious man, it hurt him to think that they thought that he was a petty man.

He had put those things behind him.

He had moved forward he want gone out of his way to bring his family and to bless them and to establish them there in the land of Goshen and in the end, they missed it because they didn't put it to rest, but he did and so Joseph went on to say.

As for you, you meant evil against me.

You see it's not to pretend that something did not happen.

It's what you do with what happened you allow it to clobber you to death of the rest of your life would you put it in its place. Joseph goes on, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. In order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive see. Joseph said God was in this I can explain all of it, but I can explain enough of it through my hardship. Many people were made alive. Their lives were sustained by avoiding the famine.

These lessons are all over Scripture and when we read them and when we hear of them. They are supposed to make a stronger because they can make a stronger and less you become so jaded in your faith you think nothing awful place to be if you are that way. I encourage you to get around strong Christians so they can shine that stuff out of you. That is the way to remember and also forget the hard and bitter things of the past to see them as God sees them to see the hand of God in them, and to trust that he will make it good, regardless of what others meant by their action. What is God admittedly is very difficult sometimes to know what God is and can take years to find out as it did with Joseph would buy mainly persevere, forgetting, and forgiving a very big part of our faith move.

Thanks for tuning in to cross reference radio for this study. In God's word. If you've missed any part of this message or would like to explore more teachings you can hear them by going to cross reference radio.com Pastor Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville, Virginia. To learn more about this ministry. Visit our website cross reference radio.com again. That website is cross reference radio.com would also like to encourage you to subscribe to our podcast by doing so you will be notified each new edition of cross reference radio that we upload. It's a great way to stay connected to God's word. Just search for cross reference radio in your favorite podcast. That's all for today. Thanks for joining us here on the cross reference radio