Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from the book of Philippians. First of all I wanted to ask you a question.
Do you own a horse? Maybe you live on a farm and have a few of these animals. Well, today we’re going to talk about something that you put on a horse. They’re called blinders. Blinders are two flaps on a horse’s bridle that keep it from seeing objects behind it, or from side to side. What blinders do, is cover the rear vision of the horse, forcing it to look in a forward direction. Spiritually, that is what keeps us on track.
Have you ever heard the old saying, when a parent says I’ve got eyes in the back of my head? They indicate to children that they can see what’s going on behind them. A horse has eyes on the side of its head. It’s natural vision is to the side. What blinders do is keep that horse focused on what’s in front of it. It’s just like the Christian Life. Instead of focusing so much on what’s behind us or what’s in our past, we want to stay focused on what lays ahead in the future.
Phil 3 12-14
12 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.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul is teaching us today to keep focused on what is in front of us. To do that, it requires forgetting the past as God forgets our past when we confess our sins to Him.
Have you ever watched auto races like Daytona? Sometimes a person can be leading the pack but the problem is that they keep looking in the rearview mirror. The more and more and more you look behind, the more it becomes a distraction to what’s in front of you. Just like blinders on a horse, we need to be focused on what’s in front of us. We need to keep our eyes out of the rear view mirror of the past, and focus on what lays ahead of us.
The Apostle Paul had a rough past. In his past at one time he was trying to prevent Christian churches from starting. He was trying to destroy the things that God has started in Christ Jesus. Through all this God forgave the apostle. As a result, most of the New Testament writings that we have today are from the Apostle Paul. He went out and started to build churches, following the life that God had called him to.
Each of us have a past, of which we need to get forgiven of by God. As a forgiven Christian we need to forget yesterday because yesterday is gone. You really can’t focus on the future and the things that God is calling you to do if you are constantly focused on moments of indiscretion or wrongs in your past. What you have to do is get forgiven through Christ Jesus. You have to have those sins washed away and expunged.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect…
All of us in the church are undergoing a change. Some people have been a Christian for a few days. Some for a few years. Some for 20 years or even longer. Someone who is perfect has all the required desirable elements qualities and characteristics as good as possibly can be.
Perfect means completely free from falults or defects or as close to such a condition that’s possible. Each of us in the church have our own personal problems. Each of us in the church have things that we are trying to overcome. Church people were supposed to help each other overcome things and not to be a stumbling block.
The Apostle Paul didn’t live his life as though he was already perfect. He understood that he might make a mistake along the way and that he wasn’t completely perfected yet. When you get to the point where you think you’re perfect it leaves nowhere to go in your life. How can you grow anymore after that point? Perfect means excellent, correct and flawless.
Well, each of us have our flaws and faults because we are in these sinful wretched bodies. Remember, it’s the Apostle Paul that taught, I’m the chief of sinners. If anybody understood the frailty of the human nature and the imperfection of man it was the Apostle Paul.
We can come boldly to the throne of grace in time of need, that includes anybody in the church. We simply need to come to the realization before God that we are wrong and that He is right. We need to get forgiven with Him. We also need to apologize with each other in the church and reconcile with people that you have wronged.
God wants us to be forgiving with each other as He is forgiving with us. When you think that you’re perfect, you will think that you are better than everybody else. Are we better than others? In no wise. Scriptures have concluded that we are all under sin.
One time Peter was eating with the Gentiles, but when he saw the Jews approaching he sat down and ate with them instead and kept separate from the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul corrected him in what he was doing. He did it in front of everybody.
Even Peter made mistakes along the way, but he still cared greatly for the Apostle Paul. Corrections, judgments, admonitions, rebukes are not meant to condemn people in the church, but are there to help us each realize the error of our way. It is so that people can turn back to the truth and recover themselves out of the snare of the devil.
If you think you’re perfect, you will not listen to correction from anybody.
John 9:41
Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
It’s claiming you’re perfect while the truth is we’re not. We are all encompassed with sin. It’s like saying I see, but the truth is you really don’t.
When you look in the mirror each morning, take a good look at that person. That person is no better than anyone else in this entire world. The only way that we could ever inherit eternal life is through what Jesus did for us at the cross. This is why the gospel must be preached.
12 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.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,…
Apprehend means to understand or perceive something completely.
Some people believe that a preacher has got everything all figured out, but a preacher it’s somebody who goes to the scriptures each day and it’s continually learning. His faith is being increased each day as well. He’s a sinner that God is using to preach His Word and transforming him into a saint. You learn from what you teach others.
People might look at the Apostle Paul and think that the Apostle had it all figured out but he didn’t think in that manner about himself. He let the church know that in an open letter.
Do you know who God uses to lead the church,…the most wretched sinful men who understand that they cannot inherit eternal life without Christ .
God chooses the base things of this world. He chooses men who understand that they are sinners who preach God’s grace because they themselves have received a lot of Grace.
Remember, nobody is perfect. It is something that we want to strive after in our life, but the perfection that God wants us to attain is one of love, mercy and grace towards others.
If you think you’re perfect you will feel like you’re are a better person than everybody else. If a minister makes a mistake on the way, he needs to go and confess his sins unto God too. It was the same in the Old Testament, when the high priest brought in blood for the sins of himself and the congregation.
We are all sinners who make mistakes occasionally, but as the apostle taught, I write this that you sin not.
The thing that unites Us in the church is the truth in Christ and what he taught. It’s understanding our own faults and shortcomings and misdeeds. We are the strive to overcome them. That is what God’s grace did in the Apostle Paul’s life.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Paul had those blinders on. God had completely forgiven him for his past. God cast all of Paul’s sins behind him.
There’s an old saying, diggin Up bones. Why dig up bones from the past when God has already forgiven it?
When God forgives us, he forgets, which means to cease to think of or to remember. Forget means unable to recall or to lose information from your mind. When God forgives us he stops thinking about the past that we’ve done and cast our sins into the sea. That’s why we don’t want to look back, but forward.
Stay focused on God’s purpose for you no matter what storms may arise in your life. because God forgets our past when we say I repent or when we ask forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer or we say God be merciful to me a sinner or we simply say I’m sorry, God completely forgets our sins from our past.
Instead of looking in the rearview mirror, it’s time to keep your eyes on that narrow road that lays in front of you. Get forgiven and reconcile with God and do the same with others in the church.
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
To press on means to strive forward. It means to keep on trying and to keep moving on. It means to keep trying to attain the goal. If you make a mistake, get back up and come boldly to the throne of grace and get forgiven and go forward.
If you’re dwelling on the past you can’t dwell in the present and on the future. Because God forgets our sins when we admit them, we need to forget them too.
In the church we want to be the exact same way with each other. We want to be loving and merciful with each other. He wants us to forgive and to forget and to reconcile with each other and move on.
When we are truly forgiven in our hearts it’s like having blinders on to help us keep focused on the race in front of us and the final goal that God calls each of us to.
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
tlkjbc.com
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 