Looking Back; Looking Forward and Standing Firm

Q: What does the Bible say about forgetting the past?

The Bible teaches us to forget past transgressions while remembering our need for grace, as seen in Philippians 3:13. In Philippians 3:13, the Apostle Paul encourages believers to forget what lies behind and to reach forward to what lies ahead. This does not imply erasing our memories, especially our sins; rather, it emphasizes the importance of not being governed or paralyzed by our past failures. Instead, we should find joy and freedom in the grace of God that covers our sins, allowing us to press on toward our heavenly calling. Paul exemplifies this by acknowledging his past as a blasphemer and persecutor, yet he did not let it hinder his pursuit of Christ. Likewise, we are encouraged to acknowledge our depraved nature while rejoicing in our redeemed status in Christ, who provides forgiveness and a new identity.

Q: How do we know God's grace is sufficient for our past sins?

God's grace is sufficient as evidenced by the redemptive work of Christ, which validates our forgiveness and justification, as stated in Romans 5:1. Romans 5:1 assures us that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, indicating that His grace is sufficient for our past sins. The grace that saves is not only sufficient for our initial conversion but continues to uphold us as we face our sinfulness. The Apostle Paul, reflecting on his own past sins, found assurance in Christ's redemptive work, which allows believers to live in the freedom of grace rather than guilt. Through Christ's atonement, we are justified and reconciled to God, thus affirming that His grace is more than sufficient for any of our transgressions. Thus, we are called to trust in His sufficient grace while actively remembering both where we came from and what He has done for us.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to remember their past?

Remembering our past helps us appreciate God's grace and encourages humility, as highlighted in Isaiah 51:1. Isaiah 51:1 prompts the faithful to remember the rock from which they were hewn and the pit from which they were dug, emphasizing the significance of recalling our past. For Christians, remembering our unworthy state before God helps cultivate a spirit of humility and gratitude. It allows us to acknowledge our complete dependence on God's grace and mercy for salvation. Like the Apostle Paul, who recognized his past as the chief of sinners, we too must remember where we came from to understand the depth of Christ's love and grace toward us. This remembrance should not lead us to despair but to hope and thanksgiving, fostering a more profound love for Christ who has redeemed us from our past.

Q: How should Christians navigate their past failures?

Christians are to acknowledge their past failures without being governed by them, as Paul illustrates in Philippians 3:13. In Philippians 3:13, Paul illustrates a balanced approach to past failures by encouraging believers to both acknowledge their past and not be dominated by it. While it is essential to recognize our past shortcomings, such recognition should aim at fostering a deeper appreciation for God's grace rather than leading to condemnation. Many Christians struggle with guilt over past sins; however, the gospel assures us that our failures are covered under the blood of Christ. Thus, we are encouraged to identify ourselves as redeemed and to live in light of that truth, moving forward in obedience and faith. Believers should reflect on their past with a view to growth, allowing their experiences to deepen their understanding of grace while pressing on toward their divine calling.

We get our word January from
a mythical Roman god named Janus. In fact, most of the days and
months that are on our calendars come from pagan deities. January
comes from this Roman god Janus. This in Roman mythology, Janus
was a god facing both ways, forward and backward, had two heads,
one looking forward, one looking back. He was considered by the
Romans to be the god of doors and gateways. So you'd see him
entering into buildings or entering into a path and you'd see these
ugly two-headed gods standing up for folks. Perhaps that's
the reason that January is called by his name the beginning of
the year, the beginning of the calendar, because it is a time
when we tend to look back and to look forward. Well, January
is almost here. This will be the last time most
of us see one another before the end of the year, before the
new year begins. And I want, if the Lord will
enable me, to talk to you this evening from the word of God,
from my heart, from my experience, about looking back, looking forward,
and standing firm. Turn with me, if you will, to
Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, verse
13. What a blessed, blessed word,
brethren. One family, one father, one elder
brother, one inheritance, one nature, brethren. I count not
myself to have apprehended. That is, I haven't yet gained
the things I'm talking about. I haven't yet arrived at that
which I've been describing to you. But this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth
unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling or the upward calling of God in
Christ Jesus. First, let me talk to you about
looking back, and I'll spend a good bit of time on this. The
Apostle Paul once wrote of himself as the least of all the apostles. He said he was a man unworthy
to be considered or called an apostle. And he said that because
he had persecuted the church of God. Paul then later spoke
of himself as less than the least of all saints. And before he
left this world, as he matured in the grace of God, as he grew
in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, he grew
in the knowledge of himself. And he had this to say about
himself. He said, I am the chief of sinners. Not I was, I am the
chief of sinners. He was made more and more to
see himself for what he truly was by nature, as he was made
more and more to see himself as he truly was in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Paul never forgot what he was
and where he was when the Lord sought him out and saved him
by his grace. Neither should we. Three times
in the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 9, Acts chapter 22, and
Acts chapter 26, God the Holy Spirit holds the apostle Paul
up for us, actually Saul of Tarsus, and his conversion by God's grace,
transforming this persecutor into the apostle Paul. He holds
him up before us as a pattern. an example of that which all
believers experience in the grace of God. Taking Paul as our pattern,
as God the Holy Spirit holds him before us, we ought to look
at ourselves as he did and look at things around us as he did
and look upward toward our Redeemer as he did. Paul said, I was a blasphemer. I was a persecutor
of God's church. I was injurious to the cause
of Christ. He never forgot what he was. Let us never forget what we are
by nature. What we were when God saved us
by his grace. where we were when he sought
us out and called us by his grace. The scriptures describe us this
way, dead in trespasses and in sins, dead, dead in trespasses,
dead in sins, dead in all relationship to God, in all relationship to
all things spiritual, utterly void of life, light, or understanding
of any kind. For some that death, which is
the depravity of our hearts, the corruption of our natures,
manifest itself in an outward defiant rebellion with an open
defiance of God Almighty and outward acts of every propagacy
and evil men could imagine. With others, that defiance and
rebellion shows itself in a more subtle way. self-righteousness
by which we attempt to make ourselves good and prove ourselves good
not just to men but to God as well. I hope never to forget
what I am by nature. Turn to Isaiah chapter 51. I
want us to look at three or four passages in this regard. Isaiah
chapter 51. The Lord God is here addressing
his people. Hearken to me, ye that follow
after righteousness. Those who follow after righteousness
are those who trust Christ, who follow Christ. They're followers
of the Lamb. They follow him whithersoever
he goeth. They pursue Christ. They seek
Christ. They look to Christ and look
for Christ. Ye that seek the Lord, Look unto
the rock which ye were hewn. We are made living stones, living
stones in the temple, the living temple of the living God. But
we were hewn out of another rock. We were hewn out of the rock
of fallen humanity. Look to the rock which you were
hewn, hewn by omnipotent grace, and to the hole of the pit which
you were dig. Look back to where you were. Look back to what you were and
don't ever, ever, ever forget. Now, let's see what we were.
First Corinthians chapter six. First Corinthians, the sixth
chapter. Verse nine. No, you're not. that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God. You fit in there somewhere. Me
too. And such were some of you, but
ye are washed, washed from all your sins. Ye are sanctified. Made holy is the word. You've been washed in the precious
blood of Jesus Christ from all your sins. You've been made holy. But ye are justified just with
God. Equal to all that God requires. Equal to all that God demands. dare I say it, equal to all that
God is. Imagine that. You, you who were
all this evil, you from whose hearts all this evil springs,
you're washed and sanctified and justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. Now look at verse
19. What does all that mean? Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which
is in you, which you have of God, and you're not your own. You bought with a price. Therefore
glorified God in your body and in your spirits, which are God's. I've told you many times, it'll
bear repetition. A young pastor visiting one of
the older men in his congregation who had been very successful
in life, made a good living, and the pastor was being shown
around the house on the first visit there, and they saw this
room and that and this thing and that, and finally, a pass-by
room on the bottom floor of the house went in there, and it was
just a plain, dirt floor, bare walls, unpainted, little oil
on the walls, just bare crude furniture. And the pastor said,
what is this? And the fellow said to him, said,
that's my remembrance room. I don't ever want to forget where
I came from. Children of God don't ever forget
where you came from. You came from the muck and mire
of hell in human form. That's our nature. That's where
we were and what we were when God called us by his grace. And
that's what you are and what I am right now by nature. Nothing
more. Just the muck and mire of hell
itself in human form. But you're washed. and you're
sanctified and you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. Now, you're not your own. Glorify God who bought you with
the price of his son's own blood in your body and in your spirits
which are God's. When the Lord God brought the
children of Israel out of Egypt On the day he brought them out,
Moses said to the children of Israel, remember this day in
which you came out from Egypt and out of the house of bondage
for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 15,
verse 15. And one of my messages recently,
I think it was Sunday evening, I referred to an incident with
John Newton, and I had forgotten the details. I went back and
looked them up. Forgive me if I repeat myself again, but I
want you to hear this. William Jay, who pastored in
a place called Bath in England during the days of Newton, this
is better than 300 years ago, came over to Olney, where Newton
was pastor, to visit with John Newton wrote Amazing Grace, How
Sweet the Sound, and so many of our great hymns. He came to
visit with Newton. Well, Newton, before God saved
him, was a slave trader. He made his living capturing
and selling human beings. He was himself once captured
and enslaved, treated as a dog staked outside. And God saved
him by his grace. over his desk but in front of
him. William Jay wrote in his diary,
he said, I saw that he had these words written out in large letters
so that as he prepared his sermons, he always had these words before
him. Deuteronomy 15 verse 15, thou
shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt. and the Lord thy God redeemed
thee. When Jay came in, sat down, Newton
greeted him and he said, he said, I'm glad to see you. I had just
received a letter from a gentleman in Bath. Do you know? And he called the man's name.
And Jay said, oh, I know him well. He once was a member of
the church where I pastor and he has become a horrible profligate. He'd become a horrible, blaspheming
God. Terrible, terrible reputation.
And Newton said, oh, maybe the Lord has saved him. He writes
a very good letter. And William Jay said, I can only
say, if ever he should be converted, I should despair of no one. And
that's when Newton replied, I've despaired of none since God saved
me. His knowledge of God's goodness
to him was ever on his mind. And if you read his hymns and
you read his sermons, you'll discover that he never forgot
where he was and what he was when God called him by his grace.
And he preached like it, and he wrote like it. It made him
tender toward men and earnest for the salvation of their souls.
Oh, Spirit of God, constantly bring to our memory the rock
from which we are here and the hole of the pit from which we
are digged by your omnipotent grace. Yet, as we look back, always
remembering, there's a sense in which we ought to forget.
Turn to Romans chapter 6. In our text, Paul says, forgetting
those things which are behind. And this is every bit as important
as remembering. Paul, though he was a blasphemer,
though he persecuted God's church. Imagine, imagine living with
the awareness. Imagine living with the awareness
that you were the instigator of the first martyrdom of God's
saints in this world. Imagine living with that. Saul
stood holding clothes of those who stole Stephen to death. Imagine
living with that all your life. And Paul says, forgetting those
things which are bad. What's he talking about? Well,
Paul was never governed by the past. He was never ruled by the
past. He never, never put it out of
his mind. Never did he want to forget what
he had been and what he had done, and never denied it. He didn't
erase it from memory, but he didn't linger on it, and he didn't
look upon himself as one under the wrath of God still. There
are those who seem to look at the past, their great failures
and their terrible acts of sin, and they're paralyzed by the
memory. Sadly, there are some preachers
who actually teach that such a thought or such thoughts are
godliness. They read, blessed are they that
mourn. They read it like this, blessed are they that mourn and
mourn and mourn and mourn and mourn and mourn. Blessed are
they that mourn. They shall be comforted. Oh,
if God teaches you to mourn what you are, God has some comfort
for you. And we who have been forgiven
of our sin ought to live not only in the awareness and acknowledgement
of what we are by nature, but in the conscious joy of what
God has made us in Christ Jesus the Lord. Look here in Romans
chapter 6, verse 8. Paul is talking about our baptism.
He's explaining to us why we're baptized, what baptism signifies.
We're crucified with Christ. We're risen with Christ. We're
made new in Christ. Now, verse 8, if we be dead with
Christ, dead with Christ, not dying with Christ, dead with
Christ, crucified with Christ, when he died, we died. If that's
the case, if that's the case, we believe that we shall also
live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth
no more. Death hath no more dominion over
him. That is to say, death can't touch
him, has no right to him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once. Did we die with him? We died
unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. Now look at verse 11. Likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a word. What a word. Children of God
learn this. Oh, learn this and learn it.
Well, ask God to remind you of it every day. The past is past. The past is past, no matter what
you've been, no matter what you've done. Oh, but now, Brother Don,
what about after God saves a man? The past is past. It's done. Yesterday's done forever. And the Lord God Almighty, who
has forgiven us our sin, is to be believed. People talk about
you need to forgive yourself. You know, I found out fellows
don't usually have trouble doing that. I don't know anybody who
has trouble forgiving himself. It's forgiving me they have trouble
with. And I had the same trouble too. No, no, no, no. But we ought to recognize God's
forgiveness and rejoice in God's forgiveness. That which is past
is done. Don't dwell on it. Don't stew
over it and don't act as if your transgressions were greater than
God's grace. Paul put the past behind him. He had blasphemed Christ. He
had persecuted the church. But everything was under the
blood. Oh, bless God, it's so. Everything
is under the blood. We have a song in a long time.
Maybe later you can remember it and sing it for us. I would
try, but I'm not a singer, so I won't embarrass myself or you.
Under the blood of Jesus, safe in the shepherd's fold. Under
the blood of Jesus, safe while the ages roll. Safe, though the
worlds may crumble. Safe, though the stars grow dim. Under the blood of Jesus, I am
secure in him. Just as we're never to forget
past, never to, or we are rather to forget past transgressions
and failures, we ought also to forget past successes, past experiences,
past triumphs, past usefulness. He had preached in Turkey, in
Asia. But he didn't sit back and say,
somebody else can go to Achaia and Macedonia. Somebody else
can go to Greece. I've done what I sit here to
do. Oh, no. He said, forgetting things behind.
I pressed with the mark. Just keep plugging at this race. There are good many folks who
paralyze themselves because they dream that at some time or another
they did something good. They dream that at some time
or another they have done what they were sent here to do, and
they talk about it a great deal. Don't live on yesterday. You
can't. You'll starve to death. All right,
here's the second thing. Whatever our failures are, whatever
our successes are, put those behind us and press on. was single-minded. He was governed
by just one thing. Look at our text again. Governed
by just one thing, he pressed on toward the mark for the prize
of the upward high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, reaching forth into those things
which are before, I press, I put forth the last strain of
effort toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus. One thing, as that man Lord healed in John
chapter 9 about the Master, he said, one thing I know, I was
blind now I see. said one thing have I desired
of the Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord forever to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. Our Lord Jesus said of Mary,
she's chosen the one thing needful. God make me a man of just one
thing. But what is that one thing that
Paul saw, the one thing he just had to have, the one thing to
which he continually pressed, the one thing to which Bobby
Estes and Don Fortner ought to be pressing, the one thing that
ought to occupy our minds, our hearts, our attention, our emotions
all the time, the very thing he'd been talking about. Look
back at verse eight. Yea, doubtless, and I count all
things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but done, that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness of God by faith, that I may know him in the power
of his resurrection. in the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ Jesus. Let me again refer to John Newton.
He once preached a sermon in which he had these three points.
He said, everything that I know about the grace of God, everything
that I've experienced about God's grace, everything I know about
God, everything I know about his son, everything I know about
God's spirit, everything I know about God's grace revealed to
me in this word and in my experience in life presses upon me. Three great consuming desires. Three great ambitions. These things compel me to seek
three things, which I know I can never attain in this life. He
says, first, I'm compelled to seek total commitment to Christ. I can make that my own. Everything I know about God's
grace compels me to seek more grace from Him that I may be
totally, totally, totally committed to Christ. He said second, I'm
compelled by everything I've experienced, by everything I
know of the gospel to seek total communion with Christ, to walk
with Him in His will, in His company all the time, enjoying
sweet communion with Him all the time. And Newton said thirdly, I'm
compelled to seek total conformity to Christ, conformable unto His
death. Our Lord Jesus gave himself entirely
to the will and glory of God to this last degree. Not my will,
thy will be done. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit. Total commitment, total communion,
and God give me that kind of conformity so that I bow everything
to God's will and God's glory. That kind of conformity so that
at last I am without sin and without duplicity. These things
I'll never have here, but soon. Oh, soon. When I see him, I will
be totally committed to him. Have no thought for anything
but him. I will live in total communion
with him. And I will be in total conformity
to him. Paul looked backward and forward
as he walked with God by faith. And the fact is, that's exactly
the way we're to view all of history. The coming of Christ
was the fullness of time. Paul calls it the fullness of
time. He calls it due time. Turn to John chapter 12. Let
me show you something here. Even the ordinances of the gospel
teach us to look both backward and forward. In baptism, we look
backward to our dying with Christ and look forward to our being
raised with Christ in resurrection glory. In the Lord's Supper,
we remember the Lord's death, that which is back in the past,
until he come in his glorious second advent, that which is
yet to be done in the future. All of history, all of history
is divided into these two things, B.C. and A.D., before Christ
and in the year of our Lord. All of history is divided that
way, and properly so. Look here at John chapter 12.
You see, our Redeemer, in His great work of salvation, in the
great work of redemption, is the one upon whom all history
hinges. John 12, verse 31. The Lord Jesus
says, now is the judgment of this world. The word judgment
there might be translated as it is here, judgment. I'm certain
that's primarily the intent. Now is the condemnation of this
world. When Christ died, the world was
judged. God's elect throughout the world
had their sins punished and judged in him. And when the spirit of
God comes in salvation, he convinces men of judgment, convinces us
that judgment is over. But this word judgment might
be translated crisis. It might be translated hinge. When you have somebody in the
hospital and they're critical, they're critical, a doctor will
say to the family, the next hour, the next day, the next week is
critical, critical. This will be the turning point.
This will determine whether this fellow gets better or whether
he dies or whether he gets worse. This is the turning point. Christ
Jesus, when he died in our stead at Calvary, is the one on whom
all history hinges. This is the turning point. What's
this? Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto me. Satan's head now crushed. And I, being lifted up in the
resurrection, lifted up in the preaching of the gospel, draw
sinners to myself, being lifted up on the tree, crucified in
our stead. We are those upon whom the ends
of the world have come. And we look backward, backward
to all that God in Christ has done for us. His mercy, what was it Bob read
back in Psalm 103, is from everlasting to everlasting. Reaches back
to everlasting and reaches forward to everlasting. And looking on
all things in Christ Jesus the Lord, Him being the turning point,
Him being the hinge of all history, we see everything in exact proportion
as it ought to be because it's in exact proportion as God has
ordained it to be and God is accomplishing his purpose of
grace for his people. We look back at his purpose and
we look forward at his promise. He's done all this for us that
in the ages to come, Paul said, he might show the exceeding riches
of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Taking what he hewed out of the rock and dug
from the pit of fallen humanity, the very and mire of hell itself, and makes his people chaste virgins
in Christ, and spreads us before wandering worlds forever, and
says, look here what I've done, to the praise of the glory of
his grace. Now, turn to Romans chapter 5. We look back And we look forward
with confident faith. He will present us thoughtless
before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. We're looking
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And
we do so confidently in faith because we have a firm standing
point. Because Christ was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Now we
stand fast in Him. Look at verse 1, Romans chapter
5. Therefore being justified, since we're justified in Christ,
this is the result. By faith in Him, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's something else,
by whom also we have access, access by faith into this grace,
access to God, into this marvelous grace of free justification,
of complete salvation, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope,
in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we glory in
tribulation also, knowing that Tribulation worketh patience,
patience, experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh not ashamed. He that believeth on me shall
not be ashamed, our Lord says. Hope maketh not ashamed, because
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given unto us For when we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for
a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more, being now justified
by his blood, We shall be saved from wrath through him. Since
he redeemed us, since he died for us, we're justified by his
blood. No question about it. God's not
done yet. We shall be saved through him.
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom we have now received
the atonement." Now, now, we're at one with God. What it means
to receive the atonement. Atonement is complete reconciliation. It was accomplished by Christ's
blood. Having received Christ the Redeemer, we've now received
this one union with God, and we are at one with God. We're
no longer opposing Him, no longer fighting Him, no longer hating
Him, but one with Him. And bless His name. He is one
with us. The atonement is ours. If you'll
forgive me for referring one more time to Mr. Newton, he described what I'm trying
to tell you better than I can. When he looked to where he was
heading at the end of his life, the old man said, I'm not what
I ought to be. Oh, how imperfect, how deficient. I'm not what I wish to be. I
abhor what's evil. I would cleave to that which
is good. I'm not what I hope to be. Soon, soon I shall put
off mortality, and with mortality, all sin and all imperfection. Though I'm not what I ought to
be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly
say, I'm not what I once was, a slave to sin and Satan. And
I can heartily join with the apostle and acknowledge, by the
grace of God, I am what I am. Newton knew what it was to look
back. and to look forward and stand
firm in God's grace. Oh Larry, God teach us to do
that. Amen. And Happy New Year. God bless
you.

Looking Back; Looking Forward and Standing Firm

What does the Bible say about forgetting the past?

How do we know God's grace is sufficient for our past sins?

Why is it important for Christians to remember their past?

How should Christians navigate their past failures?

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Looking Back; Looking Forward and Standing Firm

What does the Bible say about forgetting the past?

How do we know God's grace is sufficient for our past sins?

Why is it important for Christians to remember their past?

How should Christians navigate their past failures?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

Comments

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