18/10/2020 [Thematic Message 117] www.lifechurchmissions.com
Reconcile with Your Past <1 Ti 1:12-17> <Phil 3:13-16>
A person's past definitely brings vivid imprints to his heart. Whether we are dealing with matters in our general life, or with our current relationships, or even in our current serving, we are subtly influenced by our own past. Some people are very lost because of their past failures. In fact, what is deadlier than the sense of loss is the belief of defeat which failure brings us, such that we continue to think that we cannot do some things well. The shadow of failure and the voice of helplessness hence continue to dominate in our hearts. Possibly, such failures and helplessness are not things that happened ten years ago, they could have happened last week or yesterday. Some people seem to accumulate their failures day by day, becoming more and more disappointed in their relationships, or becoming more and more helpless in the things they are doing. Sometimes, this is like a helpless state of mind. It stays in our hearts and is not something we can get rid of by our own will. Because such a person has been living under the blows of past failures, he becomes very weak (cowardly and fearful). If not, he becomes very stubborn (does not heed advice). In this way, instead of learning from past failures, he fails even more as a result of his past failures. In addition, some people are overly confident or complacent because of their past. Because they had some small achievements or positive experiences in the past, they consider these as good chances of tomorrow's success. They actually do not see how small their current success is, or what they know is so limited. This is like some parents thinking that there is a method to teach their children such that they have excellent personality and that method also seems to have temporary outcomes. But maybe in the process, they forget to clearly teach their children the biblical worldview and the values of Christ. Therefore, in the children's growing years, they may be excellent in front of others, but when they face various aspects of life and an increasingly attractive world, they will eventually compromise in the path of faith. They start to stray away from God's grace, and may gradually not go to church, marry non-believers, set up a worldly family, with increased misery and a contradictory faith living. In fact, with our shortsightedness, there are many things we cannot see clearly. Over time, such a person allows his past success to become a bottleneck to him gaining wisdom. Therefore, God has given us His truth so that we can see beyond the reality which the carnal eyes can see. In addition, some people overly believe their own set of methods because of some of their small achievements, but they never thought that these methods would not work for another person or in another situation. Possibly, they will gain a little more self-confidence because of their own success, but that itself is definitely not enough for them to face this changing world, let alone influence generations. They may only become one of the many successful people. Why is that so? Because they did not make use of past success to become more enlightened, but they let their heart of complacency lead them to become narrower. In fact, many people who serve the Lord are made obsolete by the times in this way. They did not let their past achievements give them the wisdom to move forward, but instead let them become a hindrance and make them complacent. It is true that the influence (shadow or positive) brought to us by our past is so real, but few people really understand their past and also reconcile with their past. Some people always wanted to be set free from the shadows of their past, while some people want to go back to the joy and satisfaction of their past. In fact, neither of these are possible. Think about it, can we forget what happened in the past? From the time we are born on this earth, we continue to accumulate memories and live under the influence of memories. Think about it, will those with children forget the process of bringing up their children? The bittersweet process remains in our hearts and affects us from time to time. Well, some people want to immerse themselves in pleasant times and experiences of the past. That is also impossible. Some have gone through a lot of parenting pains in raising their children, so they want to return to the joy of raising children when they were younger. But that is impractical. Because true joy lies not in the past memories, but in the present victory. No matter how we try to think of ways to be set free from the pain or find the good feelings from our past, they are not in line with the teachings of the Bible. Today, there are many healing and deliverance movements in the church which aim at helping those who have not reconciled with their past receive liberation, but they only give temporary soothing to people’s heart and spirit. Paul clearly said, “forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal.” <Phil 3:13-14>. Indeed, our past is not something for us to remember. Whether it is good or bad, it only becomes a tool for us to move forward, so that we rely on the Lord to move toward a better future and live out more glorious lives. That is a faith which has truly reconciled with our past.
1. Know oneself and one’s past <1 Ti 1:12-16>
1）Know that we are eternal entities
God has determined our yesterday, which is what we cannot turn back. God also determines our tomorrow, which is what we cannot know. However, God also determines our today, which is affected by our yesterday (memories) and our tomorrow (hopes). In a little while, our tomorrow will become today, our today will become yesterday. Thus, our yesterday will pass in an instant, but our tomorrow is always starting, until the end of our lives, even all the way till eternity. God is concerned about our eternal existence, and He leads our whole life for the sake of this. However, we humans are always short-sighted, such that we are only concerned about our today, and we view the success, failure, gain and loss of our today most seriously. Therefore, we often hear people say, “No matter how the past is, what is most important is the present.” Yet very soon, the moment our today does not go well or we encounter failure today, we will very quickly be haunted by our yesterday. This is like: A person failed in marriage and later remarries. He thinks that it is not necessary to be bothered by the past marriage, as long as his current marriage is happy. Yet very soon, he will realize that shadows of his past marriage or certain traits of his past marital life will surface in his marriage today. Or some people see that they have done many wrong things in the past, and they are reaping what they have sown now, so they cannot help but lament about their past. In fact, these are all a result of a person not knowing about his eternal existence. He thinks that as long as he does well now, it is enough. However, when he practically continues to move on, he realizes it is not so simple. Because we humans are weak, and we will commit wrong or encounter unoptimistic things; in those moments, the evil one will use our past mistakes to torment us. Thus, there are often voices of “I fail again, I cannot do it again, I repeat the same mistake again, I encounter the same thing again, etc” surfacing in our spirits. Hence, what God has determined for a person in Christ is not “erase past memories, just do well today”. God gave the gospel truth, so that we can use it to understand our yesterday, look forward to our tomorrow, such that we can live our today on a firm footing, and in the midst of it, keep yearning for the eternal crown.
2）Understand one’s past
Concerning this, the most important answers the Bible gives us are, today in Christ: (1) how can we explain our past?; (2) how can we learn from the past?; (3) how can we use what we have experienced in the past? Over here, Paul spoke about his past. Even though his past did not seem too glorious in human eyes, he did not shun from speaking about his past. However, he viewed his past as the channel by which he received God’s grace and mercy. Indeed, no matter if in the past we are murderer, rapist, a divorcee, a bankrupt, a failure, a rebel, etc, those are the labels given us by a world which does not know grace. However, God wants us to understand from our past that we are actually beneficiaries of God’s immeasurably great grace, and we are vessels meant to showcase all of God’s patience. Today, many people (including believers) feel sorry or regretful because of their past. In fact, from our past, we must understand how hardened we have been (worst of sinners), yet God shows us grace, such that we can know the grace of the everlasting God. Moreover, our past certainly has the function of warning us. It does not merely tell us, “Oh, I have done wrong, now I must start doing right”, but it also clearly tells us “God cannot be mocked” <Gal 6:7>, thus we know that we cannot do whatever we want and go against His truth. Finally, we must firmly know that the most valuable part about our past is to be able to be used by God as an example for those who believe in God later. Our failures become warnings for them, our successes also become references for them. Therefore, we can eventually give glory to the Lord who predestines, controls and fulfills all things.
3）All these come from the Lord’s abundant grace
Because God has abundant grace, no one can say, “What I had done in the past was too terrible! Thus, I cannot shake off the consequences.” No one can also say, “I had done so well in the past! Thus, I need not improve.” From a person’s terrible past, God’s grace can let him know the greatest blessing – salvation, such that he can be humble and teachable, thus receiving a wisdom which is higher than that of the ordinary man. God’s grace can also let someone who has past achievements not feel self-satisfied, but continue to seek more wisdom, so that he can have wisdom upon wisdom. Therefore, we should not feel regretful or self-conceited about our past. A person who knows God’s grace will only be humbler. His regrets and boasting are not about his past, but he only keeps seeking the Lord’s grace and also teaches God’s grace to people around him or to the next generation. Actually, all along, a most common problem of humans is once they fail a little, they fall into disheartenment and cannot brace themselves up; otherwise, once they have a little success, they are so pleased with themselves and over-confident. Therefore, when a Christian recounts his past, what he should think about is none other than the Lord’s immeasurably great grace.
2. The most critical thing for a person who serves: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal <Phil 3:13-16>
1）Forgetting what is behind
Today, not just believers, but in fact for many who serve, their handicap originates from their past. Their lives keep repeating certain weaknesses, or they cannot serve well all because of many past failures or shadows. Examples: They may have met very terrible churches, leaders, co-workers or people in their serving, such that later on when they get involved in the Lord’s work again, there are always barriers in their hearts. In fact, the past has already become a nature of their thinking and judgment. This nature is different from the ordinary nature. For most of us humans, our nature is a weak one, such as: lazy nature, undisciplined nature, irresponsible nature, etc. Of course, these natures come from some bad habits, and we should deal with them. But to some people who love the Lord and serve Him cheerfully, they are willing for their nature to be dealt with and can even serve the Lord relentlessly. However, because certain past experiences formed some of their thinking patterns, so as they serve, they are always affected by some negative thinking. In fact, such thinking is very hard to eliminate. Also, a person who serves can also fall into a state of pride or complacency because of what he had done well in the past. In fact, this is one of the greatest traps for a person who serves. Why is that so? Because the service of many people is not built upon their obedience to the Lord’s will, but upon the fruits of their serving. Today, many people who are popular yet preach the wrong gospel all find affirmation from the success of their serving, thus they lack a heart to reform. They think they can bring people into the church, increase the offerings the church receives, expand the scale of the church, and thus view these as proofs that their serving is pleasing to the Lord. Actually, Satan often uses the servers’ past as a trap to hurt the church. Thus, Paul said, “but one thing I do.” In other words: The person who serves must focus his most earnest prayers here. A person who serves must clearly know the importance of forgetting the past. Even if it is the serving just one week ago, we also cannot let its success or failure affect us. Every battle is new, it needs our full attention, and we need to put in sufficient prayers and efforts.
2) Straining toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal
Humans have memories, and we have minds and emotions that are constantly influenced by our memories. Therefore, our focus cannot be just on forgetting what is behind. Concurrently, we must strain toward what is ahead, press on toward the goal. A person who can forget what is behind more, can have the capacity to advance. He must have a goal and mission that propel him forward. This is like a person running a race, the faster he takes the next step, the faster he leaves the last step behind. Those who are parents will surely encounter various challenges when they are raising their children; when their children are disobedient, they will feel discouraged. However, as parents continue to strive and participate in the children’s growth, and use all kinds of wisdom to educate them, then the parents will not feel helpless about the children’s ignorance and stubbornness. But if parents only think, “Why are my children so disobedient, when they were so obedient in the past?”, then they will keep remaining in past failures. The heartbreak and disappointment from their children will accumulate in their hearts. Serving the Lord is the same. Today, many believers request to stop serving when they encounter hurts and setbacks in their serving. Actually, many believers like these are unable to return to their roles, and they slowly become outsiders in church. That is because they stop advancing, and thus their heart also stop receiving the illumination of the Holy Spirit. No matter what others think about the performance of our ministry, Paul told us that believers must constantly press on so that we can obtain the reward Jesus Christ calls us to receive from above. If we are receiving the reward each day, we will naturally forget our past weaknesses and failures. However, if today we are not constantly receiving the reward from serving and following the Lord, the past failures and shadows will rule over us.
3）All those who are perfect must have this heart
“Perfect” person is someone who is willing to submit to God, and always has this heart. In other words, those who submit to God should use such truth to pray, so that they can have the right attitude to face their past, and move forward. Sometimes, when we temporarily cannot overcome the weakness in our hearts, but if we obey God’s will to pray, ask, give thanks and submit, and we live up to what we already attained, Holy Spirit, in His timing will carry out the work of healing and deliverance. But if we use the wrong methods to resolve the problem in our spirit, yet we do not seek the truth, but only seek the temporal soothing of our heart, then we will all the more not be able to reconcile with our past. Therefore, we hear those who are influenced by modern new age teachings always say, “we don’t want to look at the past, we only focus on the future!” Actually, such people do not have the assurance and courage to face their past, and they cannot derive from what has happened to them in the past the answers to serve the Lord today.
3. Ultimately, to God be honor and glory <1 Ti 1:17>
A server who knows how to forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead will surely see how God is using him to bear fruit. Even though his past is filled with challenges, from an overall view, his whole life is a manifestation of God’s glory and works. This is because all the good works in him is from God and through God and for God, and to God be the glory <Ro 11:36>. This is as what the Lord said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit…this is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit <Jn 15:5,8>. Imagine there is a branch that bears many grapes, we will not say that the branch has many grapes, we will say that the vine has many grapes. All the fruit on the branch is attributed to the tree, not a particular branch. After a branch has borne fruit, it will be pruned so that it can bear more fruit. Therefore, when we serve, we must remember this principle. Even if we have led many people to Christ, or cared for and shepherded many people, or brought about beautiful outcomes from our ministry, we must remember that the credit and glory do not belong to us, but to the Lord who gives us grace. He sanctifies our past, gives us the strength to move forward, so that our feeble “branch-life” can bear fruit. Therefore, we have nothing to boast about. Even after we have borne fruit, God will “prune” us, so that we forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. This way, we can continue to bear more fruit. If we are not willing to be pruned, but only want to indulge in past accomplishments and rely on own experiences and methods, we will quickly become a branch that does not bear fruit.