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Welcome to Mount Baptist Church. If you turn in your song books, it's song number 250. We'll sing Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary. If you'd stand, we'll sing all three verses, a song number 250. Days are filled with sorrow and care, hearts are lonely and drear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Cast your care on Jesus today, leave your worry and fear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Troubled soul, the Savior can see, every heartache and tear. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary. Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Jesus is very near. Let's pray. God thank you for today. God thank you for another Sunday morning where we can come to church and hear your word preached. God I pray that you be with us. I pray that you be with us as we go soul winning. I pray that you be with the pastors as he preaches. God help us to learn. We pray these things in Jesus' name, Amen. If you turn your Mountain Baptist church hymnal songbook to song number page 9, Psalm 139. We'll sing Psalm 139, all three verses of Psalm 139. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God, Depart from me, therefore, for ye bloody men, Depart from me, therefore, ye bloody men, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, And am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, For they speak against thee wickedly, For they speak against thee wickedly, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, And am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, I hate them with perfect hatred, I hate them with perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, And am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning. Just some announcements here to get started. I know some aren't feeling well, so just be in prayer for those. James threw up on the way here, so we're not taking chances. That could be car sickness, but so who knows as far as what's going around right now. So just be in prayer for everybody as far as that's concerned. As far as announcements here, we have all the services. Obviously today are going to be normal, so we'll have our afternoon service at 4 p.m. We'll have our soul winning time at one o'clock. So we'll meet up here before one o'clock, get teamed up, go out soul winning. As far as the regional soul winning times, on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, just be on the church group there as far as that's concerned. And then the men that are leading this up. If you have any questions, you can contact them as well. And then we have the women's prayer meeting come up on the 23rd. We have the men's prayer meeting on the 28th of this month. We do have the soul winning marathon in Philadelphia on the 22nd. So that'll be Saturday the 22nd. Brother Charles is leading that one up. So if you want to go out soul winning in Philadelphia, get with him. I know there's a church group I think already set up for that. So messages are going around as far as lodging and all that stuff for that Friday going into Saturday. And some are staying till Sunday. So just get with them or get with Brother Charles on that if you want to go out to that marathon there. I do want to, before I forget about it, we still have Mother's Day gift cards for mothers. So if you haven't gotten that or you weren't here or something like that, just let me know. And so we want to make sure all the mothers got that. I know it's been a few weeks since Mother's Day. But so just make sure you get that. And then on the back of your bulletin there, your pink bulletin. So that was not, that we didn't change our colors for our church. That's just a printing thing there. But I got a nice blue one right up here. You guys get all the pink ones. So whatever that's worth there. So anyway, chapter memory for the month is Psalm 32. And then our memory verse for the week is Philippians 3.13. 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. And so that's Philippians 3.13. And then, and you might as well just memorize the next verse. And I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God and Christ Jesus. You know, obviously that's part of the sentence as well. So but if you just memorize verse 13, that'd be good too. And then birthdays. I don't think we have any this week. So because Brooklyn's was just this past week, right? What day is it? Yeah, the night. So yeah. And then Emma's will be next week. So anniversaries. We got the hyles already. And then on the pregnancy list there, be a prayer for Crystal McCloy, due in August with twins. And so just be a prayer for her. Be a prayer for any ladies. Sometimes there's pregnancies out there that we don't know about or those that are trying to get pregnant. All that's always a good thing to be praying for there. And I think that's about all I have for announcements that I can think of. Again, just be a prayer for those that aren't feeling well. With allergy season going around, a lot of times that can cause bacteria and different things like sinus infections and ear infections and all that stuff. So that type of stuff, even though there's not necessarily a virus going around. But that can happen too. You know, that happens in the middle of summer, all that stuff. So just be a prayer there. Obviously that our church stays as healthy as possible. But that's about all I have for announcements. Who's reading this morning? I know Brother Wade. Brother Wade's going to be reading Philippians chapter three for us. But we're gonna do one more song before that. So Brother Levi is going to come and sing one more song. We'll have the script for reading and then we'll get into the service. Turn your song books to song number 322. 322. Sing living for Jesus. We'll sing all four verses of song number 322. Living for Jesus, a life that is true. Striving to please Him in all that I do. Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free. This is the pathway of blessing for me. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee. For Thou in Thy atonement didst give Thyself for me. I, O no other master, my heart shall be Thy throne. My life I give henceforth to live, O Christ for Thee alone. Living for Jesus, who died in my place. Bearing on Calvary my sin and disgrace. Such love constrains me to answer His call. Follow His leading and give Him my all. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee. For Thou in Thy atonement didst give Thyself for me. I, O no other master, my heart shall be Thy throne. My life I give henceforth to live, O Christ for Thee alone. Living for Jesus wherever I am. Doing each duty in His holy name. Willing to suffer affliction and loss. Deeming each trial a part of my cross. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee. For Thou in Thy atonement didst give Thyself for me. I, O no other master, my heart shall be Thy throne. My life I give henceforth to live, O Christ for Thee alone. Living for Jesus through Earth's little while. My dearest treasure, the light of His smile. Seeking the lost ones, He died to redeem. Bringing the weary to find rest in Him. O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee. For Thou in Thy atonement didst give Thyself for me. I, O no other master, Thy heart shall be Thy throne. My life I give henceforth to live, O Christ for Thee alone. Philippians chapter 3. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord to write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin and Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless. But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the eglency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, 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. 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. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded, and if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mine the same thing. Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk, so as ye have us for an example. From any walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even, weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, whom I ine earthly things. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. Dear Lord, please let us hear your word today. Please be attached to our hearing message in Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. So you're there in Philippians chapter 3, and I'm preaching a sermon entitled Forgetting the Past, and specifically dealing with these two verses in Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14. Now just so you know, Philippians 3 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, but also verse 13 and 14, if I had verses that were like my life verses that I try to basically be constantly reminded of, it's these verses. Now obviously these aren't verses that, you know, the best soul winning verse here or anything like that, but as far as a Christian, and as far as someone that's wanting to basically live a good Christian life, I believe that this is a great couple verses here to really show you what you need to do in order to win the victory, if you will, in this life as a Christian. So that being said, in verse 13 here, Paul, you know, obviously I'm going to be getting into it a little bit before this as far as in the chapter, but basically Paul is stating that he's saved by faith, not by works, not by the works of law, but that he's striving to know Christ and he's trying to attain him to the resurrection of the dead physically in this life. Now we know that that's not possible to literally come to that perfected, like resurrected state, but that's what he's striving for. And that's what he keeps stating is that I haven't apprehended, I haven't, you know, attained unto that, but he's pressing toward the mark. Now, so when you're dealing with this, as far as this passage here, what you have to understand is that we're talking about basically bodily, we're trying to forget those things which are behind and reach forth unto those things which were before. And so obviously, spiritually speaking, all this is, you know, old things are passed away, old things have become new, all that, but physically speaking, this is something that you have to do on a daily basis, okay? Notice what it says here in verse 13, it says, 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. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. So forgetting those things which are behind is what? Forgetting about the past. Now, know this that obviously I do believe it's true that those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it. You know, the idea of just forgetting mistakes of the past where you don't learn from that or that you repeat the same mistakes. So what you have to understand with this is that it's not that Paul actually completely forgot all the things that he did in his past, okay? And here's proof of that because he just mentioned it, okay, in the same chapter. Look at verse three here. I'm sorry, verse four. So before you even get to this verse where he's saying forgetting those things which are behind, it says in verse four, it says, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh the earth whereof he might trust in the flesh, I am more. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. And obviously he counts all that but dung that he may win Christ and be found in him, not having his own righteousness which is of the law, but that which through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That is something that he's basically bringing up, hey, this is where I came from. This is what I used to be. But, you know, obviously now that he knows the truth and all that. But so it's not that Paul completely forgot about where he came from or what he did. Let me give you another example. Go to Galatians chapter one, Galatians chapter one. And just so you know, you're not going to completely forget your past, okay? You know, there's not like some secret here, you know, like, you know, back in the, I'm gonna pull out a 90s movie, Men in Black, you know, like I got something for you to look at. Just look right there and I'm just gonna forget everything that's in your past. Listen, that doesn't exist, okay? So that being said, you're going to know the past is there, but here's the deal with this is that you don't want to dwell on it. You don't want to just be constantly thinking about it and just spending all your time thinking about that because if you do that you can't press toward the mark. If you keep looking back, you keep looking at the past, you can't look at what's in front of you, you're constantly turned this way towards the past. So this is something that we all need to know because I'm sure we all, to a certain extent, think about the past too much. Dwell on the past. Dwell on past mistakes. All these different things that, yes, it's good to know so you don't mess up again, right? Let's say it's a mistake you made. Well, okay, don't do that again, but at the same time, don't just be dwelling on that because that isn't going to help anything, okay? And in verse 13, so here in Galatians 1, verse 13, it says, For ye have heard of my conversation in the time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it, and profited in the Jews religion above many my equals in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. So Paul hasn't forgotten where he came from or the things that he did, I mean, throughout and time with family to show you all the places, but basically he knows that he gave consent under people being put to death, of believers being put to death. He brings that up. And in 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12, for example, 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12, and I'm kind of going through these a little quicker here, but at the same time, 1 Timothy 1 and verse 12, it says, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, that he counted me faithful, putting me in the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief. So throughout Paul's writings, he's bringing up his past. He's bringing up, hey, here's what I used to do, here's what I, you know, where I came from, but if he just dwelled on that, and just be like, man, you know, all this stuff that I did, and then just felt bad about it, and pitied himself about it, and all this stuff, then he wouldn't do all the great works that he ends up doing, okay? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And what you have to understand is that this is a daily thing that you have to do. Remember, I preached a sermon about residual stress, basically the fact that you inwardly always have kind of stress or anxiety or different things like that. That's just the facts of life. You have that, how do you deal with it on a daily basis, right? And some people may have more than others. Same thing with thinking about the past or trying to forget the past. Some people may not have as much to have to worry about not dwelling on or whatever, and then some people maybe just have a lot that are just like, I just can't stop thinking about the past or just different things like that. So some may struggle with this more than others, but I guarantee you that everybody on some level thinks about the past too much, dwells on the past too much in their life. And this is something that we have to constantly be saying, no, I'm not dwelling on that, not thinking about that, because there's no profit in that. And the more you think about that and you're looking at that, is the less you're looking this way at pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In order to look to those things which are before, you have to stop looking at that which is behind you, okay? I don't know about you, but I'm not a cherry bin that has four faces and eyes all about where I can see all around me, okay? Meaning this is that I have two eyes and they can only look in one direction at a time, okay? And so that being said, I'm a man also, so I can't think about two things at once. Maybe ladies, you can multitask this a little better, but I'll say this is that even if you're able to multitask, it's better to have all that multitasking thinking going in one direction, okay? 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 31 it says, I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. And this is something that is when it comes to putting off the old man, putting on the new man, dying to the flesh, dying to, you know, basically physically speaking to the Lord is a daily process and this is the same type of thing. Listen, is it not a daily thing of you reaching forth unto those things which were before? In order for that to be a daily process, unless you've arrived at that, which you should read the chapter again if you think you have, okay? Because if Paul hasn't arrived, you haven't either. If Paul was still pressing toward the mark, guess what? You're still pressing toward the mark. And so this is something that's a daily thing that you have to be constantly saying, I'm not going to think about that, I'm not going to think about the past, I'm not going to dwell on that, I'm going to dwell on this over here, I'm going to think about this stuff over here, and I'm going to press toward the mark for the prize of high calling of God in Christ Jesus. That's ultimately the goal, right? What's the goal of forgetting the past and thinking about what's before is because you want to obtain the prize. We're talking about rewards. We're talking about what's the purpose of the Christian life. It's not for salvation. That's already taken care of. But there are rewards to, one, I mean, how about this? How about this reward? That your joy may be full. Take out the crowns, take out all the other stuff, as far as the rewards that are concerned there. How about you just have your joy full in this life? You know the Bible doesn't teach that you're to just live this like fearful, austere, like hard, like just hating your life type of mentality. Obviously, if we're talking about your life as far as living in this world, yeah, we need to hate that. But if we're talking about, we can live a life where it's full of joy and gladness and all that and serve the Lord at the same time. And what you'll find out is that joy is gonna be better than the joy of the things of this life. Because the joy of the things of this life may be pleasurable for a season, but it has a short shelf life, if you will, okay? But know this, is that you're in 1 Corinthians 15, look at verse 9. Notice Paul's gonna bring up again his past, and he's even talking about the fact that, you know, it's not like he is, he comes from the best stock to be an apostle, but he is an apostle. It says in verse 9, it says, For I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle. He's basically saying, I'm not even worthy to be called an apostle. But it says, because I persecuted the church of God. So he's basically saying, you know, dealing with my past, I shouldn't even be called an apostle, right? And you can understand that logic there. But then it says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. So notice that he's not dwelling on it. He's not basically saying all woe is me because of my past. He says, by the grace of God, I am what I am. You know, I'm where I'm at right now. And that's the mentality you should have. Listen, let's say you had a really sinful past. Let's say you just made a lot of mistakes in the past or whatever. You should just say, hey, I am what I am. You know, by the grace of God, I'm saved. I'm where I'm at right now. And just move forward and notice what it says here. I am what I am. And his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain. But I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. So notice that Paul, though he had this background to where you're like, hey, you know, it's like you're surprised that he's an apostle, right? And he's surprised that he's an apostle. But at the same time, he has the mentality like, yeah, I did that in the past, but I'm moving forward. And he pressed toward the mark in the Bible. This is basically narration here, right? So this is true that Paul labored more than all the apostles. Though he had a bad past. He had a past of persecuting the church and basically kicking against the pricks, obviously, until he got saved. And then he hit the ground running and went forward. So it is possible to have a really bad past and do great things for God. And even outdo those that don't have a really bad past, okay? That doesn't mean that, listen, young ones, that you should strive to have a bad past so that you can be like Paul, okay? Because with that bad past comes a lot of hardships that you're going to have to deal with, okay? And you can get into why did Paul have a thorn in the flesh? You know, there's different things. You can get into that and all of that. But the thing is that you don't want to have the baggage. What you want to do is not have the baggage and still do great things for God. It's just the fact of life that you have some people that don't have all that baggage. They grow up in a Christian home and they take for granted what they have. And therefore they say, well, you know what? I already know all this stuff. And it's basically spoon fed to you to the point where you don't learn it yourselves. You don't actually, you know, dig in and really do the work like you should. Then you take it for granted and the person that didn't grow up in a Christian home came from a bad past. They know what they got. They know where they came from and then they take that and they hit the ground running. They do more in two years than what you do in your whole life. And listen, it doesn't have to be that way. What it should be, and I specifically think of the children and the young ones in our church right now, is that you should take advantage of what you have. Getting saved at a young age. Coming to a church where soul learning is being done, the Bible is being preached, and hey, you know what? A lot of this maybe hard doctrine you could be taught to where, okay, you didn't have to wait so long to learn about it, but at the same time, you need to do the study yourself. The Bible says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. It doesn't say study, you know, let your pastor study and spoon feed you. Now, that being said, obviously my job is to teach the Bible, but you need to learn it yourselves, all of that. But also for those that maybe had a bad past. There's hope. There's hope that you can say, hey, you know what? That's my past, but nuts to that. I'm done with that. I am what I am by the grace of God, and I'm moving forward. And this is something that we should all think about and know. Go to 1 Corinthians 7, verse 20. Notice what it says in verse 20. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 20 says, Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it. But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lord's freeman. Likewise also he that is called being free is Christ's servant. Ye are bought with a price, be not ye the servants of men. Brethren, let every man wherein he is called, there and abide with God. You know what this really means is that wherever you're at right now, that's where you're at. That's where you're at and serve God, okay? And what it comes down to is that in the past, there's a lot of things that you can look back and say, what if? This could be past relationships. And listen, those that are married, let's say you had, you know, men, you had a past girlfriend, you know, or women, you had a past boyfriend or something like that. And you can always think of this, what if we got married? What if this, it's like, who cares? You are where you are. Don't think about that stuff, okay? And listen, in a lot of these what if, let's say jobs, right? You know, you had a job in the past, you're like, what if I stayed there? You know, what if I did this? It's like, why are you thinking about, like what? Unless you're really just ready to pull the trigger on like, basically moving to that job or whatever, don't dwell on that stuff, right? Because what you got to think about is redeeming the time, because the days are evil, right? There's only so much time that you have to do anything or to think about anything. And so when you're thinking about these what if scenarios, maybe relationships, friendships, jobs, situations are like, and you say, well, what if I did this? What if I did this? Listen, wherever you're at, that's where you are. And what I think a lot of people do is they look back at the past, and they look at only the good things about it. And it's like, oh, I remember that good thing about that, but they forget about all the bad stuff, right? And they don't, listen, there was a reason you made the choice that you made. Does that make sense? Like if you're not in that relationship anymore, if you weren't in that relationship and that didn't last, there's a reason, right? There's a reason you made the choice that you made. There's a reason why you left the job that you left. There's reasons why you did that. And you tend to look back and you look at everything like, oh, you know, that was just all great. Why did I leave that? Listen, unless you're just crazy, you know, there was a reason. There was something bad about that job. There was something bad about that relationship. There was something there that you knew at that time, like this isn't gonna work. And it's not like later on, you're just like, oh, no, that could have worked. You know, I just should have did this or that. It's like, no. You're not remembering all the horrible stuff that was going on, all this or that. You're focusing on the good stuff. Because in every situation in the past that you move away from, there's usually some good there, right? Or you wouldn't even have a problem believing that, right? If everything was just horrible, there's not even a decision yet. You're like, this is no brainer. I'm walking away from this garbage. But any hard decision that you ever had to make, the reason that it was hard is because you had the pros and you had the cons and you were outweigh, you know, does the pros outweigh the cons in this whole situation? And what we end up doing is we keep looking back of like, oh, what if I did this? What if I moved here? What if I did, you know, what if I was still in that relationship or this relationship or this friendship or whatever, right? And I'm not here, listen, God's not, there's this whole like idea of destiny, you know, where it's just like, there's this path that, first of all, we're not Calvinists, so we don't believe that God is just pulling the strings on everything that you do. But then other people have this weird idea that like, okay, I didn't make this decision, so now I'm off on this tangent somewhere where God didn't want me to be. You know what the Bible says? Is wherever you're called, that's where you're called, right? If you're a servant, if you're free, wherever you're at, that's where you're called to be and go forward from there. If you're still breathing, God has a perfect will of God for you in this life as a Christian. And so dwelling on the past isn't helping anything. All that's doing is wasting your time and taking your thoughts on things that are there in the present at the time. And so this is something that I think we can all slip into of thinking about the past or thinking about this or that. And we're in the present, we're here, we're at, and don't dwell on the past. Listen, God forgets our past, okay? Go to Hebrews chapter eight, Hebrews chapter eight. Spiritually speaking, He's forgotten all of our sins. And verse 12 here, so Hebrews eight and verse 12, it says, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities while I remember no more. Similarly, it says this in Hebrews 10, 17, and their sins and iniquities while I remember no more. Go to Micah chapter seven, Micah chapter seven. Micah chapter seven. So I don't know who needs to hear this sermon, okay? This isn't like pointed at anybody. This is just my favorite passage. This is my favorite, this is my life verse right here. You say, well, do you just really dwell on the past? Not particularly, but I do from time to time. And I'm just like, what am I doing? Why am I thinking about the past? Why am I thinking about this? It's not helping anything. You know, you think about marriage and stuff like that. I think in a lot of cases, adultery will happen because people think about like past relationships and they think and they just like kind of, they, I don't know what the word would be, but kind of just, it's obviously make-believe, but they basically will just kind of paint their past relationships as if it was like so fantastic. Know this is the grass is always greener on the other side when it comes to anything. And usually it's green because it's fake. And I heard someone say one time it's greener because it's full of cow dung, okay? Although they didn't say dung, but I'm gonna use that because the Bible says so. You know, it's very highly fertilized. Let's put it that way, okay? That's why it's green. So, you know, a lot of times you look at the other side of the fence and you're like, oh, that's great. But there's a lot of other stuff that you're not getting in that picture. Go at the Lancaster and smell it for a little bit. And then tell me that you're just like, yeah, I want that green pasture right there. Okay, I'm not against fertilization of the fields and all that stuff, so don't get me wrong. That's needed. Micah 7 verse 18 says, Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities and thou shalt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. And listen, this is what you kind of have to do with your past on a daily basis is just basically cast it behind your back, cast it into the depths of the sea, out of sight, out of mind. Now here's the thing, knowing that obviously we're human, we have flesh, and you're not going to completely forget your past, you're not going to, it's not like this is a one-time thing and you just never have to deal with it again. Just like stress, just like fear, just like anything else in this life, it's a constant battle that you have to deal with. And this is just something to just know that, hey, if God can do that, if God does that, then that's something we should do. Go to Acts chapter 22, Acts chapter 22, dealing with Paul again and the fact that, okay, well, when it comes to physically, right? Because you know, obviously, spiritually speaking, God forgets all our sins and he's not bringing them up to us. They're as far as the east is from the west, all of that, right? But we still have the flesh, we still sin physically speaking in this life. And what you have to understand is that if you sin or if you sin in the past, really what the Bible teaches is that we confess that sin to the Lord and then it's done. You confess it to him and you move on, okay? But what a lot of people do, and I'm talking, even after you're saved, right? You're gonna obviously commit sins. You'll confess that sin and then move on. There's no reason to dwell on that sin. Think about if there's church discipline that ever has to take place. And let's say I have to kick something out of the church, but they come back to get it right. You know what? We forgive them and we forget about it, we don't bring it up to them again. Does that make sense? It's not like this thing where it's just like, remember when? Remember when you got kicked out of the church? You remember when you did that sin right over there? It's like, no, you don't bring that up. It's forgiven, it's forgotten, out of sight, out of mind. Now that person would be right in their mind to be like, I don't want to do that again. But at the same time, they shouldn't dwell on that and be like, hey, I got this dark cloud just looming over your head as far as what you've done in the past. They shouldn't think that way and we shouldn't treat them that way. I'm talking about someone that gets it right, all of that. Not someone that's belligerent about it and says nuts to you guys. That's why they get kicked out in the first place. But let's say someone sins in the church and it comes up to where that would be church discipline, but they get it right and they're just like, you're right, this was bad, I'm making this right. Guess what? Forgive, forgotten. We treat it as if it didn't happen, okay? Once that is established, okay? And that's just an example of church discipline. But I think the harder thing is for the person themselves to deal with it. In Acts chapter 22, in verse 12, we're talking about Paul that gets saved. I believe he got saved on the road to Damascus. I believe that he's already saved at this point. He's coming to Ananias. It says in verse 12, it says, And one Ananias, the devout man, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul received thy sight in the same hour I looked up upon him. So if you remember when he went on the road to Damascus, he was blinded and all that, but then Ananias opens his eyes. It says in verse 14, and he said, The God of our fathers had chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that just one, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. Okay? So basically, it's talking about the fact that he's going to witness what he's seen and heard, which is what? The gospel. You know, that's what he's going to be witnessing throughout the whole world, specifically to the Gentiles. And it says, And now why terriest thou? Arise, be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name Lord. Now some people will say, well, this calling on the name Lord is him getting saved, and he's washing away his sins by calling on the name of the Lord. No doubt that when you call upon the name Lord for salvation, your sins are washed away, spiritually speaking, right? But I believe this is talking about after he's already saved, after he gets baptized, calling on the name the Lord to wash away his sins, because throughout the Bible, go to Mark chapter one, what you see is people getting baptized. And by the way, John baptized people with the baptism of repentance, preaching the baptism of repentance, saying that they should believe on him, they should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus, okay? So he didn't baptize people that he thought were unbelievers. Actually, he refused people when the Pharisees came to be baptized, and he wouldn't baptize them. So he wasn't just dunking people just, you know, belligerently and not caring why he was baptizing them. But there's something that's a key. When you see John baptizing people, something that happens afterwards, okay? It says in verse four, so in Mark one, verse four, it says John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. So he's preaching the baptism of repentance, which is what? That they should believe on him, they should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. You don't have to guess about that. You don't have to be like, well, is it a repentance over sins? No, you don't have to guess. It says in Acts 19 what it is. So it literally defines it for you that he's saying believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. How about this? He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. You're like, well, you know, this is John the Baptist. That is John the Baptist. John 3 36 is John the Baptist preaching. And so what did he say? Believe on him that should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. And then he's saying believe on the son because he bear witness that Jesus Christ is the son of God when he baptized him. It's all the spirit of God coming upon him. So that being said is that what did John preach? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, that's what he preached. But after that, when they believe that, it says and there went out unto him all Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the River Jordan confessing their sins, okay? Now this isn't confessing their sins to be saved. They wouldn't have got baptized unless they were saved, okay? Because what doth hinder me to be baptized? If thou believeth with all thine heart, thou mayest. So in order for you to be baptized, you have to be a believer. After baptism, what do you have? Confessing your sins. You're like, why are they confessing your sins? Because they still had sins that they committed physically against the Lord, and they need to get that right with the Lord. And this is a doctrine dealing with the fact of physical cleansing in this life. And this is something that should be done on a daily basis, okay? And the reason I bring this up is because, yeah, you may have sins in the past, like far past that you're dwelling on, but how about something you just did yesterday, right? How about the near past? And so, and you know what people do? Is they'll be like, I committed that sin. It's like, ah, and then it just bothers them the rest of the day and the rest of the week. And they just dwell on that, even though it's not like something that's way in the past or before they were saved or whatever. But here's the thing, this whole idea of like, well, you know, I did that when I wasn't saved, therefore it's better. Listen, if you commit murder and then get saved the next day, guess what? You still have consequences for the murder you just committed. It's not like the consequences just go out of the way or that you shouldn't ask the Lord to, hey, please forgive me of this sin that I just committed the other day, okay? Physically speaking, now spiritually speaking, that person's saved, they're going to heaven, their sins have been all washed away. Does that make sense? Physically speaking, you still have to account for the sin in the body. So what's going on is that when people get saved, spiritually speaking, they're cleansed. Physically speaking, though, they're confessing their sins that they may have fellowship with the Father and the Son. And go to 1 John, let me just show you this. 1 John and verse one, chapter three. Because what the idea here is that we need to realize, hey, hey, we commit sins, the first step, before we forget about them is to confess them to the Lord. Does that make sense? So I don't want to take out that step. Though I do want you to forget about the past, hey, get it right with the Lord. And listen, once you get it right with the Lord, it's like, well, at that point, why are you thinking about it? And let me show you why, because notice what it says in verse three. So let me just give you some context about what's being said here in 1 John chapter one, and we're not talking about eternal salvation right here, okay? Notice what it says in verse three. It says, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have what? Fellowship with us. So what's the premise here? Fellowship with us. Obviously, talking about John the apostle and just obviously believers. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you that you might be saved. Is that what it says? No, these things write we unto you that your joy may be full. So we're talking about having fellowship with let's say the apostles, and we're talking about our joy being full. This then is the message we have heard of Him and declare unto you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. What are we talking about? Physical fellowship with the Father and the Son. Physical fellowship with believers is what we're talking about. Dwelling in the light. Walking in the light. And you are the children of light. You are light in the Lord. Walk ye as children of light. That's what the Bible says. You're already children of light, spiritually speaking, walking in the body as children of light. And this is what we're talking about. We're talking about fellowship and all of that, right? It says in verse eight, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves when truth is not in us. Listen, as a believer, and you stand there and say you don't sin, you're deceiving yourself. So facts of life, okay? You're saved, spiritually speaking. The Bible says in chapter three, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed remain within him and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Inwardly speaking, sinless, child of God, outwardly speaking, in my flesh dwells no good thing. Okay? And you need to realize that because then it says in verse nine, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. So what are we talking about? We're talking about confessing our sins that we commit in the body so that what? So that we can have fellowship with the Father and the Son. So we can have fellowship with other believers. So that we can walk in the light and that ultimately our joy may be full, okay? Our joy may be full and, you know, we'll have fellowship. Go to John chapter 13, John chapter 13. John chapter 13, this is the story where Jesus is washing the disciples feet. And I believe this fits hand in glove with 1 John, 1 John chapter 1. It says in verse six there, so he's washing everybody's feet, but Peter obviously is like, why are you washing my feet, okay? So in verse six here it says, Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter? Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. This is not talking about salvation because he's gonna clarify here what he's talking about. No part with me, which is what? Fellowship with him, okay? Fellowship, abiding in him, all these things are things after you get saved. This is something about being a disciple, abiding in Christ, walking in the Spirit, all these different things, right? In verse nine it says, Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. So once Jesus says it, he's like, just wash all of me then. But what does Jesus say here? He says, Jesus saith unto him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit, and ye are clean. Okay, so what he's saying here is that you're clean every whit, but you need to wash feet. And then he says, but not all. Now he's not saying you're not all the way clean, because then it clarifies this. You can imagine if this next verse wasn't here, you know that other people would be saying, he's not saying all of you are clean, you know, like you're not completely clean. It says, but not all, for he knew who should betray him. Therefore, he said, you're not all clean. So it's just like very clear. The reason he's saying not all are clean, he's not talking about you being clean completely. He's talking about the fact that everybody standing there wasn't clean because Judas Iscariot was there, and he's saying he's not clean. Okay, so that being said is that when you're dealing with this, what are you dealing with? You're dealing with the flesh needs washed on a daily basis. Let me ask you a question. If you're thinking about just physically speaking right now, what part of me is touching the world? My feet, okay? Most of the time, what your feet, obviously there's exceptions to the rule, right? You guys are sitting down right now, right? So, but at the same time, what part of me is touching the world? The feet. What part is always mentioned when it comes to preaching the gospel? The feet. What is the reason that we're here, but to preach the gospel to every creature and to baptize them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and teach them to observe all things, what sort of command to do, that's all the purpose of what you even hear. Don't take them out of the world, but keep them from the evil. That's what we're dealing with here, is we're dealing with cleansing the flesh, and this is a daily thing that you have to do. And if you don't believe me, look at the so-called Lord's Prayer, or the bottle prayer, if you will. Maybe Jesus was teaching them how they ought to pray. It says forgive us our debts as we forgive those that are indebted to us, and in Luke chapter 11, it says forgive us our sins. So we're obviously very clearly talking about on a daily basis, just as much as you're saying give us this day or daily bread, forgive us our sins. And that's confessing your sins on a daily basis. That's something we should do. Now when someone says you need to confess your sins to be saved, that's where they're out to lunch. But on a daily basis, you just committed a sin yesterday, or this morning, or whatever. Hey, confess it to the Lord. And he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. And at that point, stop thinking about it, okay? Now go to John chapter five, John chapter five. Now meaning this is that okay, you get that right, stop thinking about it, but here's the thing, don't do it again, okay? And this is something that Jesus says when he heals people a lot, in some cases, or forgive people that commit certain sins. Now some people that are healed, they didn't do anything for the reason they got that, right? I mean you think about the story where the man that was born blind, right? And they asked who committed sin, him or his parents, right? And he said neither. It had nothing to do with sin, okay? But there are cases where sin is involved, as far as why someone had an infirmity, or why someone needs forgiveness, or needs help, or whatever. In John five verse 14, this is dealing with, if you remember the pool at Bethesda, and the troubling of the waters, and all that as far as getting healed. And this man obviously, he had an infirmity for 38 years, but he could never get up in time to get into the water to get healed. Jesus comes up to him and says, arise and walk and take up thy bed, and boom, healed, okay? Then Jesus is kind of conveyed away, and then he comes back to him, and it says in verse 14, afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, behold thou art made whole, sin no more, lest the worst thing come unto thee. Okay? Now what people do is they'll take this passage and apply this to eternal salvation. But this isn't talking about this. This is talking about physical healing, and that was based off of sin. You know, by definition, if you say sin no more, lest the worst thing come upon thee, you know what that means? Is that sin is the reason that he had that infirmity for 38 years. And he's saying, he's not saying, hey, you know, you're forgiven, you know, do whatever you want now. No, he's saying, just don't do that again. So in order to not do it again, you kind of have to know what you did. So you're gonna have in the back of your mind like, I don't need to do that anymore, but I'll say this, I don't think he has to really think about it. If you've had an infirmity for 38 years based off of sin you did, I don't think that you're gonna have to be reminded about that. I think that's gonna be like, built into your system, that was bad. Like, just by nature, you know like, hey, that's not, don't do that again. How about the woman that was caught in adultery? The woman is caught in adultery. Because this, the woman caught in adultery can be taken way too far where people are just like, well, it's okay to commit adultery now. I feel like that's like the new age Christianity, is almost just like, don't put me under the law brother, we're under grace. It's like, I guess I can murder, cheat, steal, like commit adultery, is that what you're telling me? I can just do all that stuff? Don't put me under the law. Now obviously moral law is still a thing and your body will still be subject unto that moral law because the wages of sin is death and if you didn't sin physically, you would not. But the thing is that it says here in John 8 and verse 10 it says, when Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. So he forgives her, but he's saying don't do it again. So that's what you have to think about. When you think about the past or mistakes that you made, listen, you need to know it enough to know that, hey, I don't make that mistake again. But here's the difference, don't be dwelling on it. Don't be pitying yourself, don't be just saying, hey, I'm just the scum of the earth and all this stuff. This is where you get this over spirituality that comes out where it's just like, I'm such a wretch and sinner. If you're just down on yourself like that, what are you going to accomplish? Nothing. You're just going to sit there and just be in self-pity. Self-pity is a form of selfishness, by the way. Because self-pity is focusing all on yourself. And what that in turn turns into is an entitlement for people to pity you. Okay, well look at me, look at all the stuff in my past and all these different things, and then you're just so down on yourself and then you want other people to be like, yeah, that's bad or whatever. And it just turns into like wanting like basically pity, essentially. And not to downplay anybody's past or anything that anybody's gone through, okay? But in the end, you got to think about what's profitable. What's profitable in this life? If you're just completely down on yourself, you're not going to be going, if you're just over here, just like looking at that, down on yourself, well, you're not even turned in the right direction to go press toward the mark for the prize of high calling in Christ Jesus. I mean, in order to even get to the point where you're pressing, you have to be turned to looking at that, okay? Go to Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine. And notice is that, Jesus teaches a verse about like not looking at the future. For example, it says, take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the marshal take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And that's true, right? I mean, basically, don't be just so focused on the future that you're just so worried about the future because the future is unknown, right? The past is known, the future is unknown, and in a lot of cases, worrying about something that may not even happen, right? Who here is worried about something all day and it never even happened? I mean, probably everybody in the room would say, hey, yeah, I worried about that all day, all week, and it turned out to be a big nothing burger. But guess what? You can't get back those days of being stressed and anxious about something that didn't happen. So that's as true as the day is long, meaning this is that sufficient unto the day are the evils thereof, right? And so how about that still, that applies to the past. I mean, if you're worrying about the past, one, you can't even change that. The past is set in stone, right? It is what it is, okay? So if you can't change that, what's the point of worrying about it? I try not to worry about things I can't control, okay? That's how I make it through life without losing my mind, okay? If I can't control it, I will not worry about it. Like, I'm purposely saying, I'm not going to worry about that because I can't control it. So what's the point? Now, if there are things in my life that I can control, that's what I put my focus on. But the past, I can't change that. The future is unknown in a lot of cases, so why am I worrying about like this phantom problem that may not even be real, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, okay? But how about this, in Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine, verse 57. By the way, this passage is dealing with being a disciple, following Jesus. Listen, being saved is not being a follower of Jesus. You know, I'm tired of people like, are you a believer? Do you know why I'm a follower of Jesus? That's not what I asked you. If you said I'm a believer, that's why I'm saved. That's the answer, okay? Being a follower of Jesus is not about salvation. That's something after salvation, okay? In order for you to be a follower of Jesus, you already have to be a believer, prerequisite, okay? Can't enter the course of being a follower if you are not a believer. You say, well, Judas was a follower. Yeah, he was an infiltrator and a devil, okay? So obviously, if you wanna be that, go for it, you know? You wanna be that person that's claiming to be a believer, okay? You know, coming into a class that he doesn't belong in, you know, or doing something they shouldn't be doing because he's claiming to be that. But in Luke chapter nine, verse 57, what you have is a lot of people coming to Jesus saying they're gonna follow him, and he's kind of stopping them in their tracks, okay? Verse 57, it says, it says, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. So basically, in their mind, they're like, I'm gonna go wherever you go. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. And so basically, he's telling this person, you gotta count the cost of what you're gonna have to go through to follow me wherever I go, right? Then in verse 59, it says, and he said unto another, follow me, but he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. Now, think about that for a second. I don't believe that Jesus is just being callous to the fact of like, don't go to your father's funeral type of thing. I think what he's stating here is preach the kingdom of God, but let me ask you a question. Could you not preach it at your father's funeral? Could you not preach it before the father's funeral? Could you not do, the idea of like, wait for me to do this, right? Wait for me to get married, then I'm gonna really follow the Lord. Yeah, because life gets so less more complicated you know, when you get married. When I have kids, that's when I'm gonna follow the Lord. You know, when I turn this age, that's when I'm gonna follow the Lord. How about you do it now? Now, because you may, if you have the desire to follow the Lord now, that desire may be fleeting when you're older or when other things take, you know, take its place or certain things happen. The idea is do it now. Don't wait until after some event happens. Be like, well, after I, you know, take care of this over here, listen, there's always gonna be something else that you have to do. If I was waiting to follow the Lord for everything I had to get done in life, I would never follow the Lord. Because anytime I ever get something done, two other things pop up that I have to do. And then I'm just sitting there just playing catch up. No, just follow the Lord now and do what you can with the rest of the stuff, okay? But here's what I really wanted to show you here. It's verse 61. It says, and another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. So we're talking about serving the Lord. We're talking about following Jesus, right? Meaning that you are not ready to basically serve the Lord and follow Him if you're looking back. You know the song I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, No Turning Back, No Turning Back? You could put no looking back, no looking back. I mean, that's the state road model, right? You just keep driving and don't look back. Anything's falling off of the, off the truck or whatever. It's just, it is what it is, okay? But the idea here is that you're moving forward and you're just not looking back. Don't look back. Don't look back at the life you used to have. Don't look back at the mistakes you made. Don't look back at maybe things that you wish were still happening today or maybe pleasures of this life or different things like that. Don't look back. You look back, you're not gonna go forward. Just by definition. And if you try to go forward looking back, you're gonna run into something and you're gonna fall into a ditch. You have to change your focus. You have to turn what you're looking at and look at the prize set before you. To press toward the mark. Listen, I mean, if you're climbing a mountain, you think it's gonna help you to look back? Think about if you're climbing a mountain. Let's look down for a bit. That's gonna help out things. No, you look up and you keep looking at where you have to go to where you're gonna go. Because I don't know if you know this, but the Christian life is hard. Yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. This life is hard as a Christian. That doesn't mean it can't be without joy though. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of joy in my life. I have a lot of, you know, just times where just have a good time and you can enjoy your life as you're serving the Lord. But know this is that it isn't all just the bed of roses. There's a lot of hard work. There's a lot of hard times. There's a lot of time where you're just like, what am I even doing? Like just that constant battle. Looking back only makes it worse. Looking back and saying, what if this was the case? What if I did this? What if I did this? It's like can't change it. It already is what it is. And looking back will cause you not to press toward the mark. Go to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4. And here's the thing. In order to forget the past, forget those things that are behind, in the verse it says, forgetting those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things which were before. So think about this. If you're forgetting about this, in order to do that, you have to literally be reaching for the other stuff, right? You can't just sit here in the middle, just be like in idle mode, right? You're in idle mode, you know what's gonna end up happening? You're gonna end up going back to this. Think about this. If you're pressing toward the mark for the pride and high calling of God and Christ Jesus, let me ask you, is that up or down? That's obviously up, right? You're pressing toward the mark, you're going up to where God's at, you're trying to, you know, pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day, right? That is where you're trying to go. Guess what? You idle, you're going downhill. By definition, if you're going uphill, you start idling, you're just, you're rolling down. And the longer you're in your idle, the faster you roll down that hill. It's called gravity. I'll teach you about that later. No, I'm just kidding. No, we ain't doing that. But Philippians chapter four gives the answer what you do. Now, it's saying reaching forth onto those things from before, so if I gotta forget about this, I gotta replace it with something I'm thinking about. Just like anything else, right? If you're gonna get bad music out of your life, you gotta replace it with good music. I mean, just facts. If you had some bad hobbies, well, you gotta replace it with some good hobbies. You don't just stand there and just stare at the wall and watch the paint dry. You're gonna go crazy real quick, and then you're gonna be like, I'm just going back to what I was doing, you know? So, Philippians four and verse six says this. It says, be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Now, first of all, this isn't saying don't care about anything. It's talking about basically being careful as far as caring about the cares of this life or basically dwelling on the cares of this life, right? The Bible says, casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you. Basically, instead of just worrying about all the things that you're caring about, put it on the Lord in prayer. That's what this is talking about. It says in verse seven, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Notice in verse eight, finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things. Notice it doesn't say anything about thinking about your past, thinking about your sins. Does it say anything in here about like, well, you need to dwell on that sin. You know, like Paul Walsh would be like, you just need to, you just think about your sin, just weep and become like this man, you know, like this man that's just like, just constantly thinking about his sin and everything. Does it say to dwell on sin, dwell on mistakes, dwell on the past? No, lovely, good report, just, those things are what you should be thinking about. Not, listen, I don't know about you, but you think that politics and the news media, and the media out there is in that list right there? Good report, you cut the cord right there. True, definitely cut the cord, right? When it comes to media. You want to be angry, just watch the media. And what's that going to give you? Nothing, but maybe a heart attack or a stroke, or just some anxiety at the very least. Politics, think about that for a little bit. Anytime I ever like see something about politics, I'm like, that's why I'm not, that's why I don't care. And listen, if you want to worry about politics, just worry about the ones that are close by that you can even like affect, okay? And in that case, you're probably not dealing with extreme anxiety, dealing with like who's going to be mayor of Grant town, you know, by the way, by the way, you know, but you have things like that to where, you know, I'm not saying like, not knowing anything about what's going on politically is, you know, is the way to go. I'm just saying that why worry about things that you can't control? It's like, well, you know, Pennsylvania, who are they going to elect a senator? Well, I mean, if you don't live there, except for brother Luke back there, I guess he's the only one that's got to worry about that. Right? Like, well, is Arizona going to go with Trump? You know, are they going to flip? It's like, do you live in Arizona? Then why do you care, right? Or what is, are you going to campaign in Arizona for Trump? And, you know, these type of things, it's just things that, why are you thinking about it? The Bible doesn't tell you to think about that. I mean, if anything, I mean, think about it. You're like, well, I want the tax appeal. It's like, yeah, me too. At the same time, Jesus doesn't seem to care that much about taxes. He knows the truth about taxes, but he's saying, lest we offend them, you know, here's some money for them to take. It's kind of like, let their money perish with them, is the way I look at it. But sure, would I like taxes to go away? But am I going to worry about it? Colossians chapter three and verse two says, set your affection on things above, not on the things on the earth. So what are you setting your sight on? What are you thinking about? When I say thinking about good things and a good report, listen, let me be more specific, okay? Because it's kind of like, I don't want to be like, sin is bad, guys. It's like, okay, cool. Things that are true, honest, and good report. How about the Bible to start with? Read your Bible, memorize your Bible, meditate upon it. Those are things that are good report. Those are the things that are true and lovely and honest. How about you think about your family? What you have? A lot of cases we take for granted what we have, but when you think about like what you have, except and not what you don't have, a lot of times what people do is they dwell on what they don't have, and then they miss all the stuff they do have. Just, you know, little is much when God is in it, and think about counting your blessings when it comes to what you do have, and then you realize, I don't even need anything. And those are things that are true, just, holy, right? And those all have to be Bible-based, okay? You could be learning, let's say you're learning a language, right? I mean, nothing bad about that. Nothing like evil about that. Nothing sinful about that. You know what that's going to do? It's going to get your mind working on something else to where you don't have time to think about the past. Just as much as when I deal with anxiety, or I deal with residual stress that's in my body, you know what I do? I basically, I force my body to not be able to even deal with that. You know, when you're dealing with stress or anxiety, what that is is a little bit of adrenaline that's hitting your body at a small dose to where it's causing your heart rate to go up, it's all this. Go out and work out to the point where you can't breathe, and guess what? All your adrenaline's gone, and your body literally can't do that, okay? But the same thing comes to what are you thinking about? In order to forget the past and not dwell on the past, you have to fill it with what you're thinking about over here. Think about the things which are above, set your affection on the things that are above, where your heart is, or where your treasure is there, where your heart be also. Set it on that. Think about those things. Fill it with good things, just things, true things. And you won't even have time to think about the past. You're like, how do you forget the past? You don't say, I'm forgetting about the past. You say, I'm thinking about this. I can't even think about that. I can't dwell on that. I don't have time to think about that. I'm so wore out from doing this over here, and thinking about this, and working on this, that I don't even have the energy to even go down that path. But know this is the idle mind is the devil's workshop. If you just sit there idle, then it'll tend to go towards things that it shouldn't go. Meditating upon things that are good and right and just. And the last thing I'll show you here is some verses on the idea of pressing toward the mark for the prize and high calling of God and Christ Jesus. What do we, what's our goal here? What's the ultimate goal for getting the past and reaching forth unto the same scripture before? Is to get the prize. We want the prize, right? And notice what it says in Revelation chapter 22 and verse 12. Revelation chapter 22 and verse 12. I think before you get to the prize, just having a life full of joy and rejoicing. You know the Bible even tells us even during persecution to leave for joy because your reward is great in heaven. I mean, yeah, persecution isn't fun, but at the same time you rejoice because you know what's coming after. You know what you've earned. You know what you've gotten because of that. Perspective on that, okay. Now in Revelation 22 verse 12, it says, And behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. The works that you do as a Christian for the Lord will be rewarded. And this is the ultimate, I mean, this is what we're pressing toward the mark for is that prize. And even if you never press toward that mark, you still have the gift of salvation. So you still have that joy of just salvation that's there. Go to Revelation chapter three, but in 2 John 1 eight, you're going to Revelation three, 2 John 1 eight says, Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. I don't know about you, but obviously I would say, if everybody in here that's won someone to the Lord, guess what? You have reward in heaven that will never be taken away. And each person that you win and certain rewards that are there, but here's the key. We need to look to ourselves that we receive a full reward. You want to get all the reward that you can get in this life that you're in. In order to do that, you have to forget the past. Forget the past and look towards that mark and press toward that mark by reaching forth unto those things which were before. It says in Revelation 3 10, it says, Because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell on the earth. And I believe that's talking about end times, dealing with physical salvation there. It says in verse 11, behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, which is what? The word of my patience, that no man take thy crown. Now, obviously, no man can go into heaven and take your reward because no man can break forth through and steal, the Bible says, right? But what this means is that there's a crown waiting for you. Right? There is basically rewards that God wants to give you. Don't let anybody take that away from you. Meaning that if you don't do what you should be doing, then you're not going to receive it. But it's there waiting for you. All you have to do is press toward that mark. Press toward the mark for the prize that high calling God in Christ Jesus. That prize is waiting for you, but you have to go for it. And know this in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58, it says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. It will not be vain going this route. Thinking about the past, dwelling on the past, that's vain. That's not going to help you. Obviously, don't forget the past that you've repeated, but don't dwell on the past. Don't just be in self-pity about the past. Don't be to the point where you are literally at a stall because of the past. But ultimately, let's say you're moving forward, but then you keep looking back. Guess what? You're not going to move forward very quickly. Right? The idea here is that you want to get to that prize as fast as you can, right? So in order to do that, the less you look back, the faster you're going to get there. And you know, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. How about no looking back? You decided to follow Jesus, keep doing it, don't look back. Jesus is worth it. Is he not worth you pressing toward the mark? Is he not worth what he's done for you? Worth you just not looking back and going forward? Be fit for the kingdom of God. Meaning this is that we're trying to attain unto the resurrection of the dead. We're trying to be worthy of that, you know, what Jesus did in all of this. Obviously, salvation is its own thing, but we need to press toward the mark for the prize of high calling Christ Jesus. And know this. 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. I haven't attained. I'm trying to apprehend Christ. I haven't apprehended Christ. I'm pressing toward the mark. I'm still pressing toward the mark. But in order to do that, you have to let the past go. Let it go. Let it die. Just as Paul says, I die daily. That's something we have to do on a daily basis. So let's end with a word of prayer. Yeah, we probably thank you today. Thank you for your word. And just pray that you be with us for the rest of the day. Pray to be that those aren't feeling well. But also be with a soul winning and bring us back to the appointed time. Lord, we love you. We're all in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So brother Levi, we'll come and sing one more song and then we'll be dismissed. If you're turning your song box to song number 244. Song number 244. We'll sing Amazing Grace. Stan will sing all four verses of song number 244. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I was, was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved, how precious.