Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

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Have you ever met someone who was “living in the past.”

You know the type – someone who would rather go back to the better days of the past - because for them it was better than their present life.

Whenever I think of someone who “lives in the past” I think of Uncle Rico.

How many of you know who “Uncle Rico” is – raise your hand.

Well, it’s time to meet him.

· Video clip – “Uncle Rico” (Napoleon Dynamite)

Some people “live in the past” like Uncle Rico.

Some people are paralyzed by the past – they can’t seem to move forward because something from their past hinders their progress.

Some people want to escape their past – they take great pains and go to great expense to cover up their past (decisions & reputation).

Our past can be celebrated – we cherish the monumental moments from the past like getting married, the birth of our children, reaching the milestones of graduating from high school or college, a special trip, or the celebration of 50 years of marriage.

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Our past can be a powerful thing – we can learn from our past, we can celebrate the past, we can mourn the past, and we can glamorize and memorize the past so much that we wish to go back to the “good old days.”

We can carry a lot of baggage from our past.

There are parts of the past that weigh us down – they are a burden to us and they keep us from enjoying the abundant life Jesus offer to us – certainly pain from our past in the number one thing weighs us down.

Last week we “letting go of our pain” because the Lord is our helper (get through our pain) and our healing (deliver us from pain).

There is much more than the pain of our past that weighs us down.

· Shame from the past

· Guilt from the past

· Regrets of the past

· Past grudges – unresolved strife/strain in a relationship

· Anger from the past –

· Mind consumed by dwelling on the past

· Discontentment because we want to go back to the past

Often the past can keep us from enjoying the abundant life we have in Jesus Christ – it weighs heavily on us – and we long to find some relief.

Therefore we need to “let go of our past”

Preview

Today we conclude our mini sermon series entitled “LET IT GO” – again I apologize if the theme song from “Frozen” has been running through your head during the sermon each week.

I will pray for you.

In week one we considered “Letting go of our worry.”

Last week we considered “letting go of our pain because Jesus is our helper and healer.”

Today we consider “letting go of our past.”

The idea of “letting go of your past” might seem a bit daunting or even questionable.

Is it possible?

Are there things from our past we should hold onto?

What should we hold onto and what should we let go of?

Today we open up God’s Word to discover what it means for us to “let go of our past” so we can experience the abundant life we have in Jesus.

If you have your Bible, and I hope you do, turn to or scroll over to .

In we’re going to learn from Paul’s life what it means to “let go of our past.”

LET GO OF OUR PAST (Learning from Paul’s Life)

In life it’s helpful to have a few role-models who can impart wisdom, provide counsel, and encourage us along the way.

Role-models are people we look up to and we can model our lives after them.

The Bible is filled with ancient role-models (examples) that we can learn from in our Christian life ().

Today we’re going to glean from the life of the apostle Paul.

In the NT we find Paul repeatedly calling the Christians in the first century to follow his example.

· - 16 I encourage you, then, be imitators of me.

4:17[1]

· - 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

[2]

· - 3:17 Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example.[3]

We see how vital it is for our role-models to be following Jesus faithfully so that when we follow their example we will ultimately be following Jesus.

Today we’re going to glean from Paul’s life what it means to “Let go of our past.”

We begin with some context.

Paul wrote his letter to Christians living in the city of Philippi.

(MAP).

Paul had a deep and affectionate relationship with these believers.

Paul first visited Philippi during his second missionary journey () in A.D. 49-51.

Paul had received a vision to cross over into Europe.

The church in Philippi was the first one he planted in Europe and they became partners with them as they supported his ministry financially.

Paul wrote to the Philippians from a Roman prison to encourage them in their faith and report his deep joy at God using his imprisonment to bring more people to faith in Jesus.

In we find a portion of Paul’s personal testimony of faith—how his life had been changed by Jesus Christ—no longer counting on his religious position & efforts in order to attain right standing with God but rather trusting in finished work on the cross to be declared righteous before God.

Paul expressed his desire to “know Christ, share in His sufferings, become like Him, and one day attain resurrection from the dead” (3:11).

With that as a backdrop follow along as I read where we will glean what in means to “let go of our past.”

()

In we find Paul’s earnest desire to not only make progress towards spiritual maturity, to not only cross the finish line of faith, but to actually win the race!

On numerous occasions Paul uses athletic imagery as a metaphor for the Christian life (, , , ).

Paul doesn’t use the word race in Philippians but as we will see its implied by the language he uses to describe his earnest desire and pursuit.

Let’s walk this passage – following Paul’s example – and gleaning what it means to “let go of our past.”

We begin with two primary observations.

A) Paul’s Humble Confession (3:12:13a)

We begin with “Paul’s Humble Confession” in .

After declaring that he had considered his past religious position and practice as “rubbish” in order to gain the God’s righteousness by faith in Christ, he didn’t want his dear friends and fellow believers in Philippi to get the wrong idea, Paul didn’t want to portray that “he thought he was perfect” and had “attained spiritual maturity.”

Thus Paul’s Humble Confession—"Not that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect” (3:12)—Paul admitted his own imperfection and that he hadn’t arrived at the finish line yet—Paul’s humbly confessed that he had not personally “taken hold of” (λαμβάνω) of fully knowing Christ, spiritual perfection, or the glory of resurrection which he had just written about in his letter (2:11) Paul humbly confessed I have not acquired or taken possession of perfection – implied in the language is an athletic metaphor that depicts a runner at the games.

Paul was confessing “I have not yet arrived at the finish line.”

Paul emphasized the point by declaring—“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it” (3:13)—once again Paul humbly confessed that he had not considered himself to have “taken hold” of perfection or “taken possession” of perfection in Jesus.

Paul humbly confessed that he did not think of himself as one who as “acquired” or “attained” perfection.

Paul had not

B) Paul’s Pursuit of the Prize (3:12-14)

Secondly, we see “Paul’s Pursuit of the Prize” in .

Paul has humbly confessed that he hasn’t arrived at perfection in Jesus but that’s his pursuit.

We clearly see Paul’s earnest pursuit of the prize—“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (3:12)—the expression “press on” is once again athletic imagery of the runners competing in the ancient games depicting his earnest effort to “run quickly and energetically” to take hold of that for which Jesus Christ took hold of him.

Paul’s pressing on to attain the goal of perfection and resurrection because Jesus Christ had taken hold of him.

Ever since the day Jesus took hold of Paul on the road to Damascus Paul has been pressing on toward the goal (prize) of knowing Christ, sharing in the sufferings of Christ, union with Christ, and perfection in Christ.

Paul emphasizes his strenuous and ardent pursuit of the prize--“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (3:14)—once again Paul declared that he’s earnestly and enthusiastically running toward the “goal to win the prize,” namely the heavenly calling of God.

The goal is the finish line where he will receive the prize – the complete consummation of his salvation – gaining Christ fully and completely.

Paul’s running to win the prize of being made perfect in Christ and enjoying bodily resurrection like Christ, achieving the fullness of salvation in Jesus, standing before Him with the company of the redeemed completely righteous.

Paul’s pressing on (moving forward) to attain the goal of complete glorification in Jesus.

Paul’s present pursuit has a future focus—his goal is to cross the finish line of the race to win the prize—crowned with “righteousness,” perfect, and glorified in the eternal presence of his Savior Jesus Christ.

Paul’s earnest pursuit of the finish line will require two important actions which is where we glean insight about letting go of our past.

1) Forgetting the Past (3:13b)

First, pressing on to win the prize required “forgetting the past”—Paul declared that he was “pressing on” by “forgetting what is behind” (2:13)—in order press on to win the ultimate prize of perfection in Christ he had to “forget things that lie behind” (NET).

We need to clarify what this does not mean.

Paul isn’t declaring that he has the power to “erase” the past from his memory bank.

Paul isn’t declaring that he won’t ever remember something from his past (good or bad).

Remember this is a apart of a larger athletic metaphor of “pressing on” to the finish line to obtain the prize of complete perfection in Jesus.

The phrase “forgetting what is behind” refers to his conscious decision to not “dwell on” the things of the past because they would hinder him from pursuing the future prize.

Paul determined to not keep “recalling” the good things or the bad things that happened in the past because he didn’t want them to hinder his pursuit of the finish line (prize).

· NAC (Richard Melick): “Forgetting what is behind” comprehensively expresses Paul’s future orientation.

What was done was done!

Both the nostalgia of the former life and the “good ole days” of his Christian life would paralyze him in terms of what God wanted in the future.

To press the athletic metaphor a bit further if you’ve ever run a race you know how detrimental it is to take a peak over your shoulder to see how close your nearest competitor is and if they are gaining ground on you.

Just a quick glance behind you can hinder your progress towards the finish line.