Forgiving and Forgetting, Part 2B

Today, we're going to end our short series on forgiveness. But this morning, as we close out our series on forgiveness, as we understand what it means to forget. But in order for us to forget, we need to explore the testimony of the saints. 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? A human being doesn't use more than 2% of his brain power. Scientists tell us. 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. 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4 and 5. Help you understand something. What it means to forget. 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 suffered. 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. God is not going to keep. A record of your wrongdoing. 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 for. 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 recall your past. You see, if you've confessed your sin to God, you ought to forget your sin because you've been forgiven.

Not that you don't recall your sin because you do. But the recollection of that sin is what keeps you close to God, isn't it? It keeps you humble before God. 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? 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. 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. 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. 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-likeness. And to be like him, for you'll see him as he is. 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. All you got to do is move forward. Move forward. 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. Let us therefore, verse 15, as many as are perfect, that is, mature in Christ, have this attitude. And 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 attained. He says, This is the attitude you need to have if you're a believer.

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. Is it true that we spend so much time thinking about, oh, what we should have done, or what we could have done, or how things might have been? They're not that way. They've already happened. It's over. And Paul says, I press on. Oh, I can think about my past. I can think about those who deserted me. Those who abandoned me. Those who beat me.

Undeservedly, but you know what? I'm not going to do that. He made a conscious choice to reach. For the prize, you show me a person who is bitter, unforgiving, and remembers everything. And I'll show you a person who's not too interested in the return of Christ. I'll show you a person who is not reaching for the prize of the up call. And that's what we've been called to do by the Lord Jesus. That's what he wants us to do. That's why the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 12 that we got to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.

Right? He kept on going. And Paul goes on to say these words: listen, if you fix your eyes on Jesus. You will not grow weary. Same thing. That is, if you think Paul wrote Hebrews. But he was reaching for the prize. You see, he wants you to understand that you've got to fix your eyes on Jesus. Fix them up. Why? Because there was a joy set before Jesus. That same joy is your joy. You see, his joy was the very fact that he would have a redeemed bride for him. Your joy is that you are the redeemed bride, and one day you will be like him, for you'll see him as he is.

That should preoccupy us. This one thing I do. This year, one thing you're going to do is you're going to reach for the prize. In fact, I'd encourage you to go home, take a 3x5 card, and write on it, reach for the prize. Put it on your dashboard, put it in your closet, put it in your Bible. Of course, you've got to write several of them. Put it in your mirror, put it in your wallet, put it everywhere. And for the next 365 days, that one thing you do is you reach for the prize. Of the upward call of God.

And I guarantee, I guarantee, I promise as God is the judge of the world and the king of the universe that your perception will change drastically. Reach for the prize. The promise of God, refuse to recall the past. How do you do that? The pursuit of Paul. Reach for The prize. Point number three, the prosperity of Joseph.

The prosperity of Joseph. How can I reach for the prize? When it seems like everything around me fell apart. The prosperity of Joseph tells us that. Turn back with me, if you would, to the book of Genesis. Your Bible should be worn out. And that very first book of the Bible, because we've been there for so long, Genesis chapter 45.

Remember, Genesis 39 spoke of Joseph. And it spoke of his prosperity. How God continued to prosper Joseph in spite of the fact that his brothers sold him into slavery. In spite of the fact that Potiphar's wife lied about him, in spite of the fact that he was thrown in the prison. What happened? God caused everything that Joseph touched to prosper. The prosperity of Joseph. How can that happen? He tells us, very simply, in Genesis 45, when he finally reveals himself to his brothers, when he says these words in Genesis 45.

Verse number five. And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting, and God sent. Me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God. God did it, God was in control. Goes on to say this, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt. The prosperity of Joseph is that he recognized God's plan. He recognized God's plan. And here was a man who knew from the very beginning that God was in charge. That's why he named his first son Manasseh.

God has caused me to forget. That's what Manasseh means. And Joseph did not forget about his brothers. He did not forget about his father. He did not forget about all the bad things they ever did to him. Why? Because, like you and me, he has a brain that doesn't forget anything. But he refuses to recall the past. He would reach for the prize because he realized the plan of Almighty God. God sent me before you. God did it. Don't grieve, he says. Don't blame yourselves. Don't go on a guilt trip. God did it all.

And Joseph was a man of great prosperity. That's why Nina II said to Ephraim, doubly fruitful. God has caused me to be fruitful. He was fruitful in the present because he forgot his past. He was fruitful in the present because he refused. To bring up the past. He refused to live in days gone by. He would reach for the prize. And that's Joseph. That's the man who got us off with a series of unforgiveness to begin with, because he was a great forgiver of men. He was a great forget of the wrongs they did to him.

How about you? That's what God wants for your life. He wants you to refuse to recall the past. He wants you to reach for the prize. And the only way you can do that is if you recognize his plan. That's it. God's in charge. God's in control. God allowed it for some reason. Why? I can't tell you that. I don't know why. If I knew why, I'd be God. I don't know why. But God's in charge, right? When that happens, fourthly, you can rest in his peace. You can rest in his peace. And that's the parable about Jesus.

Turn me, if you would, to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. The only way to rest in the peace of God is to recognize His plan, to reach for the prize, and refuse to recall the past. And you will effectually forget, according to what the Bible says.

Listen to Luke chapter 7, verse number 36. Now, one of the Pharisees was requesting him to dine with him. And he entered the Pharisees' house and reclined at the table. And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a sinner. She was a prostitute, and when she learned that he was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume and standing behind him at his feet. Weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing his feet, and anointing them with the perfume.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she is a sinner. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he replied, Say it, teacher. A certain moneylender had two debtors one owed five hundred den and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more?

Simon answered and said, I suppose the one whom he forgave more. And he said to him, You have judged correctly. And turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet. But she has wet my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven.

For she loved much but he who is forgiven little loves little. He said to her, Your sins have been forgiven. And those who were reclining at the table with him Began to say to themselves, Who is this man who even forgives sins? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved you. Go into peace. Simon was a Pharisee. Simon, who was a man who was cognizant of religion, but the prostitute was one who captured the religion. Big difference. Simon was very liturgical. Simon knew all the rituals. He was the theologian, per se.

And yet, there was a woman who was a prostitute. Who, when knowing Jesus, began to weep, to wash his feet, to anoint them. With the oil that she had, and God forgave her. Not because of what she did, but because of her faith. And the Bible affirms that. Your faith has saved you. She believed in the Messiah. You see, Simon did not get the reason Jesus came. The woman did. And so he gives a parable. See, the woman came in and did what Simon did not do. It was a custom area of those days that when a visitor would come to your home, you would give them a basin of water to wash their feet.

That would just be the customary thing to do. Simon didn't do that. He wasn't interested in that. And so Christ calls him to account. Christ wants him to understand that he missed the boat. And To the one who was forgiven much. They love much. And so he gives a parable. And in the parable, there were two people. One who owed 500 den, another owed 50. Remember, a denar is a day's wage. One who owed 500 days wages, another who o 50 days' wages. Both were bankrupt, both unable to pay the debt, and so the creditor.

Graciously forgave them both. So Christ asks Simon the question: Which one do you believe loved the most? And Simon said, very simply, the one who was forgiven the most. And Christ said, you've judged correctly. That's true. See, the point of the parable is this. There are three of them. Number one, pardon is freely offered.

It's freely offered. Because the people in the parable could not do anything to get out of debt. So it was graciously granted to them by the creditor. And you've got to realize that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Both the prostitute and the Pharisee were both sinners, both of them unable to repay the debt they owed to God. And God would graciously forgive one of them, but we have no record of Simon's repentance. We only have a record of the woman's repentance. And her faith had saved her.

And yet, pardon is freely offered. Listen, if pardon is freely offered and received, Passion is clearly observed. Notice, both people, the parable, would demonstrate their love.

It's not a question of the forgiving person demonstrating their love to God. That's taken for granted. There's no such thing as a forgiven child of God who doesn't demonstrate his love for God. That's what the parable teaches. Everybody loves God and is forgiven. The point is, how much do you love him? And how do you demonstrate it? The woman, I mean, her passion was clearly observant by all, right? Everybody saw it. Her tears were a demonstration of her repentance because she realized the error of her way.

She would use the costly perfume, the perfume she would use in her own lifestyle. This was a clear demonstration of a woman turning her life around by saying, the perfume I would use on my body to attract men to my life, I am now going to pour over your soiled feet. Because I'm no longer going back to that way of life. Pardon is freely offered, passion is clearly observed in those who have been forgiven. Which leads to this peace is truly obvious. He says, go into peace. She had no peace until that day.

And Christ says, Now you have peace. Having therefore been justified by faith, Romans 5:1, we have what? Peace with. God. Listen to me for a second.

Not that you haven't been listening, you have been listening. But understand this. Rest in this peace. Rest in his peace. You see, when the Savior came, he brought peace on earth, right? Peace came to those. As Luke 2 tells us, to whom he was pleased. The Bible says in Isaiah 9, verse number 6, that he is the prince of peace.

Listen, we need to be able to rest in His peace. Point being. If you've been forgiven of your sins, if you're a believer, you've been truly forgiven, then the passion that you have for God needs to be clearly seen by all. No questions about that. Clearly observant. And if that passion is clearly seen, that means that you're reaching for the prize. You've recognized his plan. And now you're resting in his peace. You see, the Bible says in Isaiah 57: there is no peace.

For the wicked? None. There's no peace for them. There's only peace for those who have been reconciled to God through Christ Jesus our Lord. And so the Bible says that there is a peace of God that goes beyond all comprehension.

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:14 that He Himself is our peace, He is our peace. Paul said this in 2 Thessalonians 3 verse number 16. Now may the Lord of peace him continually grant you peace in every circumstance. In every circumstance, that's what God wants to do in your life. And we, as the people of God, need to live in the peace of God. The Bible tells us that the peace of God is to rule in our hearts. Colossians chapter 3, right? How does the peace of God rule in our hearts? By letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Colossians 3:16. God's peace needs to be the empire in our lives. The very fact that we are now on God's side, the very fact that we are now children of the living God, Needs to be the governing factor in every decision that we make. Meaning that now that we are the children of the living God. And we are now at peace with God, we rest in that peace by refusing to recall the past. Why do I need to do that? Christ has forgiven me all of my sin. He has pardoned me freely on no merit of my own. Therefore, I will passionately demonstrate to the world my love for Christ and be able to rest solely in His peace.

This one thing I do, Paul says. One thing. You 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. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word, the truth of it, the greatness in it, the ability and opportunity we have to read it, memorize it, learn it.

Digest it, preach it, most importantly, delive. And I pray that all of us, all of us, Lord, myself included, would learn to rest in your peace. And we, of all people, need to be able to show the world that we are at peace with our God. And if we're at peace with our God, that's all we need to rule in our hearts, to help us in making proper decisions to live a life that honors your name. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.