Forgiving and Forgetting, Part 2A

Let's bow for a moment of prayer together. Father, we are grateful for today. That Lord, we can come together and we can worship you, praise you, listen to the Word of God preached, sing about your greatness. Lord, we are such a blessed, blessed people. We realize, Lord, that there are many things that we can talk about, but our present topic is so pertinent to today. May we learn from your word today what it means to not only forgive, but to forget. Help us, Lord, to trust in your word. To understand what your word says and to live in light of it, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our soon-coming King.

Amen. As you recall, last time we were together, we talked about forgiveness. And in order to forgive, we need to exam the teaching of our Savior. But in order for us to forget, we need to explore the testimony. The saints. And we're going to do that this morning by looking at what the word of the Lord says about people who not only forgave, but were able to forget. And that's what we want to be able to look at today.

You've heard the phrase, I'll forgive you, but you can be sure I will never forget what you did to me. So many times, that's our attitude. I will never forget what they have done. All the while, we erect a monument of spite in our minds as To the day we will be able to enact revenge upon the person who has wronged us. But the Bible wants us not only to forgive those who have offended us, but the Bible wants us to forget as well. But what does that mean? How does one actually do that? It is said of Abraham Lincoln that his heart was as great as the world.

But there was no room in it to hold the memory of the wrong done to him. That's pretty good, isn't it? We should be able to have a great memory, but never have room in that memory to recall those things that have been done to us that have hurt us. Spurgeon advised with these words cultivate forbearance until your heart yields a fine crop of it. Pray for a short memory as to all unkindness. That would be a good thing to pray about, wouldn't it? That you'd have a short memory about those things that were done wrong to you.

Augustine said these words: If you are suffering from a bad man's injustice, Forgive him, lest there be two bad men. Isn't that good? That's really good. That's good advice as we understand what God's word has for us. Is it possible for us to actually forget a wrong done to us? Can we actually erase it from our minds? Can we actually put it so far behind us it'll never come up again? Well, one author said this about the human mind. The human mind is a fabulous computer. As a matter of fact, no one has been able to design a computer as intricate And efficient as the human mind.

Consider this: your brain is capable of recording 800 memories per second. For years without ever getting tired. I have heard, he says, of some person's complaint. That their brain is too tired to get involved in a program of scripture memorization. I have news for them. The body can get tired, but the brain never does. A human being doesn't use more than 2% of his brain power. Scientists tell us. And of course, some demonstrate this fact more obviously than others. The point is, the brain is capable of an incredible amount of work, and it retains everything it takes in.

You never really forget anything. You just don't recall it. Everything is on permanent file in your brain. Now think about that. 8 memories per second up to 75 years without ever getting tired.

Each of us has that capacity. Each of us has a brain that never forgets anything. So if we are to forgive and to forget, How do we actually do that according to what the Word of God teaches us about forgiveness and forget? This morning, we want to help you understand that by looking with you at just four point. One, of course, is the promise from God. Two is the pursuit of Paul. Three is the prosperity of Joseph. And four is the parable. By Jesus. Each of those four points will teach us something about the principle of forgetting.

We've already looked at the principle of forgiveness, what the Bible says about that. But today, we want to help you understand what it means to forget so that those things that happened this year, those offenses against you this year, Will be forgotten. How are you going to do that? How does the Bible teach us to accomplish this great Feet, in spite of the fact that our brains never truly ever forget a thing that happens to us. Number one, the promise from God.

I want to begin by looking with you at a verse, 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4 and 5. Help you understand something. That will get us off on the right track. So we understand what it means to forget. 1 Corinthians 13, of course, is that great love chapter. It talks to about us, or talks to us about the love of God and that great capacity of the believer to love as God loves. Listen to what it says in verses 4 and 5 of 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient. Love is kind and is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not arrogant.

Does not act unbecomingly. It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered. That last phrase is the phrase I want to talk to you about. It does not take into account a wrong suff. It's a word leg, which is an accounting term, a very important term when it comes to business transactions. You see, when doing a business transaction, you would keep a record of every transaction made. So that if there was ever a problem, if there was ever a question, you could go back to your book.

Open up the records and prove your point. But love keeps no record of wrongdoing. Love doesn't do that. Love doesn't keep a book that records all the wrongs done. So that whenever there's an argument, whenever there's a question, whenever there's a problem, you can go back to that book, open it up, and bring it up again. Love doesn't do that. This same word is used of Christ in his relationship to us over in Romans chapter 4, verse number 8, when it says this. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.

Same word used. Leg. God is not going to keep A rec of your wrongdoing. You ever been to one of those seminars or places where the preacher says, you know, one day there's going to be a big screen in heaven, and all the wrongs of all the men that they've ever committed. Is going to be placed on that screen, and everybody's going to be able to see what you did. That's just not true. That's just not true. Why? Because you see, in heaven's book, in God's book, when it has your name, there is no record of wrongdoing.

The only thing next to your name in the Lamb's book of life is the word righteousness. That's it. There is no record in heaven of your sin if you're a truly believer. Why? 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 19 says it this way. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to him, not count their trespasses. Against them. Same word, not keeping a record of your trespasses. God is not in the business of taking His children and marking down in Heaven's book all their wrongs. So that when you get to heaven, he can say, Well, you know, you did this, you did that, but I'm going to let you in anyway.

That's not going to happen. That's not the way God does things. Why? Because your sins have been forgiven. Acts 3 tells us that your sins have been wiped away. There is no record of wrongdoing. Why? Because love keeps no records of wrongdoing. That's important to understand. Because that's the way our God deals with us, his children. God keeps no record of your sins. In fact, someone has said, love forgives. It suggests that love does not forgive and forget, but remembers and still forgives. Think about that.

True love doesn't forgive and forget, but forgives or remembers and still forgives. That's the essence of true love. Because that helps us understand God, does it not? Do you think for one moment that God for what you did? Do you think God would somehow have a memory loss when it comes to your past sins? That would mean that somehow God is no longer omniscient. Meaning that God no longer knows everything because he forgot some things. But the Bible never tells us that God forgets What you did in the past.

But the Bible does tell us that God forgives, and even though He remembers, He keeps no record of your wrongdoing. That's important, isn't it? That helps us understand how we can forgive and forget. You see, you're not going to forget what happened this past year. You're not going to forget what happened to you 10 years ago, maybe 20 years ago. But the promise of God is this, and this is what you need to understand: the promise of God is that He refuses to recall your past. That's his promise. He refuses to bring up your past.

He refuses to say, you know what? You remember what you did last week? Let me think about whether or not I going to forgive you this week.

God doesn't do that. We do that. And somehow we want to mold God into our image. And so, therefore, we think that God's going to do that too. But that's not the way God is. Oh, God remembers. But God doesn't beat you over the head with your past sins. God doesn't beat up on you and say, you know what? If you don't stop doing this, I tell you, I am, it's over. God doesn't do that. You might, but God doesn't do that because He loves you. He keeps no record of wrongdoing. You see, that's how you know you truly love your spouse, right?

You don't keep records of your spouse's wrongdoings. So you could bring it up in your next argument. That's not what love is. Love recalls, but refuses to bring up the p. That's what Jesus did. Listen to this: Jeremiah 31. God is speaking about the new covenant. The new covenant that will come as a result of his Son coming to earth. And speaking of how Christ is going to redeem his people, Jeremiah 31:3. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law within them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they should be my people.

And they shall not teach again each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will rem no more. Wow. God says, here's the new covenant.

I'm never going to remember their sin again. And that's what Christ did at the cross. When he reconciled us to him. Not counting our sins against us, not keeping a record of our sins any longer, but instead, in the Lamb's Book of Life. Having our name written in that Lamb's book of life that was there before the foundation of the world, and next to that name, right, because we have been now declared righteous because of the finished work of Christ. At Calvary. That is so good. He refuses to recall the past.

Isaiah 49:15 says, Can a woman forget her nursing child? They may forget, but I will not forget you. God affirms, I don't forget. People forget, I don't forget. Why? He knows everything. There's never a time he doesn't know everything, but he refuses to rec your p. You see, if you've confessed your sin to God, you are to forget. Your sin because you've been forgiven. Not that you don't recall your sin because you do, but that the recollection of that sin is what keeps you close to God, isn't it? It keeps you humble before God.

Realizing that you are a sinner, realizing that He does forgive you, realizing that you have to be dependent upon Him. You see, people say, you know. It's easy to say, well, I forgive and forget, but that's just not natural to me. I can't do that. Of course, it's not natural to you. But we're not asking you to live in the realm of the natural. God doesn't ask you to live in the realm of the natural. He asked you to live in the realm of the supernatural, right? To walk in the spirit so you don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

to walk dependent upon him so that you would understand the power of God energizing your life so you live beyond the natural in the realm of the supernatural. That's what the Christian life was all about, right? If you live the natural life, you live the life of the natural man. And the natural man doesn't know God, right? So he lived the supernatural life, a life dependent upon the Spirit of God energizing you from day to day, helping you to do what God has commanded you to do, to forgive. And to love as he him loves, and that is to keep no record of wrongdoing.

It says In Micah chapter 7, that Christ will cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea. He does that because he's not going to bring them back up again. He wants to do away with them. That's the way our God is. And so, what do you have? You have the promise of God. And the promise of God is that He refuses to recall your past. Love keeps no record of wrongdoing. God does not count your trespasses against you any longer. Why? Because His Son paid for your sins. Important to understand. You say, wait a minute, how am I going to refuse to recall the past?

How on earth am I not going to bring it back up again? How can I do that? That's point number two, and that's the pursuit of Paul.

So we move from the promise of God to the pursuit of Paul. Turn from your Bible to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3. If the promise of God teaches us to refuse to recall the past, Then the pursuit of Paul teaches us to reach for the prize. Do you get that? To reach for the prize. Let me tell you something.

If you are busy reaching for the prize, you have no time to recall the past. The reason we recall the past is because we're not spending our time reaching for the prize of the upward call. Listen to what Paul says. Philippians chapter 3, verse number 12. Not that I have already obtained it. or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do.

One thing I do, Paul says. Listen, this is it. In fact, one day, in fact, maybe next year, not this year, I'm going to preach on this one thing I do. Just this one thing I do. There are five times in the Bible that says, this one thing I do. And they all are interrelated. One day I'm going to preach on that for you. But for now, if you just want to do one thing, just one thing, here it is. Paul says, This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on.

Toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Isn't that good? This one thing I do, I'm forgetting what was behind me, and I'm moving on. Now here's Paul. Now if anybody had a reason to recall the past, it would be Paul. I mean, if you go over to Corinthians and you read about the fact that he was beaten three times, he was stoned, he was shipwrecked, he was abandoned. In fact, over in 2 Timothy 4, he says this in verse number 16, I believe it is. He says. At my first offense, no one supported me, but all deserted me.

May it not be Counted against them. Isn't that good? Paul says, and my first defense, nobody stood by me.

Everybody deserted me. Nobody stood with me to defend me. They left me. But you know what? I'm not going to hold it against their charge. I'm not going to bring up their past. I'm not going to hold it against them. And Paul would be a guy who would forget about the people who deserted him. You ever been deserted? You been abandoned? Paul says, You know what? I'm not going to hold that charge against them. I'm going to forget what's behind me. And I'm going to reach for the prize. That's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to reach for the prize of the upward call of God. What's the prize? The prize is Christ's lik. The prize is, as the lady is saying earlier, to see Him. And to be like him, for you'll see him as he is. The upward call is when Christ calls us home to be with him and we are finally glorified.

We are finally, fin, fully Christ-like. That's the ultimate prize. And Paul says these words: I forget. The word forget is a word used in the ancient times of a runner in a race. And that is, when the runner in a race passed an individual, he would refuse to look back at that individual. Why? Because he left that individual behind. And he reached for the prize that was before him. That's what we need to do. Absolute forgetfulness. Did the runner forget? That there's somebody behind him? No. Because there is, right?

But he refuses to focus on that which is behind. But he focuses on that which is before him. Let me tell you something.

If you're reaching for the prize, if you want to be Christ-like, and you are saying, Lord, I want to be like you, I want to honor you, I want to glorify you, and I can't wait. T you come back to take me home to be with you. If that is your focus, you have no time to revisit the past. You won't even want to think about the past. But you see, we become preoccupied with the past. And if we become preoccupied with the past. It only promotes pain in the present. You've got to be preoccupied with the prize, not the past.

But the prize before you. And that will promote prosperity in the present. And that's what Paul did. I like what he says. Forgetting what lies behind. That word behind, same word used, translated in Luke 9:2, when somebody came to Christ and said, I'll follow you. But let me first go say goodbye to my family.

And what did Jesus say? No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back. Or looking behind is fit for the kingdom of God. That's what Christ said. Listen, you want to follow me? This is what you got to do. You can't be worried about what happened to you back then. You can't be worried about what happened in the past. All you got to do is move forward. Move forward. That's what Christ wants you to do. The promise of God tells us that He refuses to recall our past. So if we're going to forget, it means that we refuse to bring up the past.

And the only way we can do that is if we reach for the prize of the upward call of God. And Paul goes on to say these words. He says this, let us therefore, verse 15, as many as are perfect, that is, mature in Christ. Have this attitude. And if any, if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. However, Let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attain. He says, This is the attitude you need to have if you're a believer. To as many as you who are perfect, to as many of you who are positionally perfect in Christ, you need to have this attitude.

If you don't have this attitude, he says God will reveal it to you. Because God will. Because God wants you reaching for the prize of the upward call of God. One man said it this way. Old age is the point in life when a person ceases to look forward and looks back. I know a lot of young people who have old age. Because all they can do is look at the past.

But that's good advice. If you are forward-looking, you're never old. Why? Because you're always anticipating tomorrow. You're always anticipating the future. You're always looking forward to the prize of the up call. It was Sir Winston Churchill who said, If the present quarrels with the past, there can be no future. We must learn to accept the past as un and Move on. That's good advice. Can't change the past. It's unalterable. Move on. Reach for the prize. Remember Lot's wife? When she looked back, she was turned into a pillar of salt.

Remember Elish? When Elijah called him to follow him, and he got rid of his past and refused to look back and to move on. That's what Christ wants you to do. This one thing I do, Paul says. One thing. You think Paul was a man of peace? Oh, absolutely. He had peace in his heart because he was at peace with God. This one thing I do, I reach for the prize. I reach for it. I refuse to recall the past. I reach for the prize because I realize the plan of God overrules everything in this universe. That allows me to rest in his peace, to go into peace, to live in that peace because of what God has done in my life.

That's how God wants you to begin a spring.