{"id":90908,"date":"2023-08-24T05:41:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-24T09:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/"},"modified":"2024-01-20T23:48:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T04:48:57","slug":"things-behind-and-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Things Behind and Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Issues &amp; Answers: Things Behind and Ahead<\/strong> &#8211; <strong>Philippians 3:12-21<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The life and ministry of the apostle Paul was dominated by\none supreme objective: press on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Philippians 3:12<\/strong>: \u201c<strong>Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect,\nbut I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Grammatical Usage: \u201c<strong>press\non<\/strong>\u201d or in the Greek, \u201cdi\u00f3k\u00f3\u201d meaning, \u201caggressively chase; firmly\ngrasp\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Literal Interpretation: I do not consider myself\nto have \u201carrived\u201d, spiritually, nor do I consider myself already perfect. But I\nkeep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for which Christ grasped\nme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Contextual\/Comparison:\nGod keeps His Word: God continually uses His Word. If we are to succeed in the\nrace of life we must very deliberately \u201cforget\u201c, and very deliberately \u201cpress\non\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1. THINGS WHICH ARE BEHIND WHICH WE SHOULD FORGET<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Strangely\nenough, a good memory is not always a great asset! It is not the things we\nforget which we should have remembered which cause the most trouble; it is the\nthings we remember which we should have forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>We must forget our past sins. That is, if we\nhave truly repented, confessed and forsaken them (<strong>Proverbs\n28:13<\/strong>), then we must forget them. If we have confessed and renounced\nour sin, God has forgiven it and forgotten it (<strong>1\nJohn 1:9<\/strong>; compare <strong>Psalm 103:12<\/strong>;\n<strong>Isaiah 44:22<\/strong>;<strong>\nMicah 7:19<\/strong>; <strong>Hebrews 10:17<\/strong>). If\nGod has forgotten our sins we must do the same, otherwise the memory of them\nhinder us.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must forget our past failures. This is not\neasy, but if we are constantly dwelling upon our failures and reviving the\nmemory of them, our peace is destroyed, our progress is impeded and our\nusefulness is limited. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must forget our past successes. To dwell\nconstantly upon our past achievements will certainly not ensure present\nvictory, and it may in fact engender pride. Some Christians are living on a\npast experience and some Christian workers are living on a past reputation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must forget our past pleasures. The Children\nof Israel failed just here, and frequently we read of them crying for the\nabundance of food and water which they had had in Egypt (<strong>Numbers 11:5-6<\/strong>; <strong>20:5<\/strong>;\n<strong>21:5<\/strong>). To be engrossed with past\nadvantages is to fail to realize the value of God\u2019s present miraculous\nprovision.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must forget our past unhappy experiences.\nHave we lost a fortune? Forget it! &#8211; thinking of it cannot bring it back. Has\nsomeone let us down? Forget it! &#8211; to keep reviving the memory of the experience\nwill cause resentment, and this will do far more harm to ourselves than to\nanyone else.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must forget our past blessings. They are\ninsufficient for today\u2019s needs, so we must cry out with the psalmist &#8211; <strong>Psalm 103:2<\/strong>! Yesterday\u2019s provision will not suffice\nfor today\u2019s demands. The Lord\u2019s provision is \u201cnew every morning\u201d (<strong>Lamentations 3:23<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must forget the sins and the failures of\nothers. This needs to be said, for we so easily remember the shortcomings of\nother people. If we have been wronged, we must forgive and we must forget. Do\nnot say, \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d You can!&nbsp; You must!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In order\nto forget we must reverse the process of remembering. To remember one must\nrevive the image and keep on reviving it. Now reverse the process; refuse to\nrevive the image. Forget!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2. \u201cTHINGS AHEAD\u201d WHICH WE MUST STRIVE TO ATTAIN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\napostle speaks of three things for which he reached forth\u2026for which he was\nconstantly \u201con the stretch\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>We must press on to perfection. The first part\nof <strong>v. 12<\/strong> tells us this, and the word \u201c<strong>perfect<\/strong>\u201d means \u201cspiritually mature\u201d, not sinless\nor faultless. Here the need for growth is implied (<strong>Hebrews\n6:1<\/strong>). In order to grow we must feed upon the Word of God; we must\nregularly engage in prayer and have sufficient work to do in the Lord\u2019s\nvineyard.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must press on to take hold of the purpose for\nwhich God has taken hold of us. The second part of <strong>v.\n12<\/strong> tells us this. God\u2019s general purpose for us is indicated in <strong>Romans 8:28-30<\/strong>, but He has a particular purpose\nfor every one of us &#8211; a life plan. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must press on with deep concern to win the\nlost. This surely should be our attitude to those mentioned in <strong>vv. 18-19<\/strong>. As we hurry on to the time of the\nLord\u2019s coming, which will mean glory for us and gloom for the lost, we should\nbe burdened to win souls (<strong>2 Peter 3:11-12<\/strong>).\nThere is an urgency!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>3. WHY ARE WE TO DO \u201cTHIS ONE THING\u201d, WHICH CONSISTS OF \u201cFORGETTING WHAT IS BEHIND, AND STRAINING TOWARD WHAT IS AHEAD\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Because we are citizens of Heaven. Heaven is our\nhome; our names are written there (<strong>Luke 10:20<\/strong>),\nand many who are members of God\u2019s family are already there (<strong>Ephesians 3:15<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Because the Lord is coming to take us Home. What\nan incentive this is to holy living (<strong>1 John 1:3<\/strong>)\nand to patient endurance (<strong>Romans 8:25<\/strong>)!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Because we shall exchange these old bodies for\nnew ones. This is what <strong>v. 21<\/strong> says. We\nshall have a body just like His body (<strong>1 Corinthians\n15:20; 23<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Because the Prize Day is coming. <strong>V. 14<\/strong> tells us this, and it reminds us that we\nshall all appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, to be rewarded or to\nsuffer loss (<strong>Romans 14:12<\/strong>; <strong>1 Corinthians 3:12-15<\/strong>; <strong>2\nCorinthians 5:10<\/strong>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Because Glory is coming. The truth of <strong>v. 21<\/strong>.&nbsp; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Conclusion<\/strong>: Am I willing to forget in order to attain what Christ has for me?&nbsp; <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Issues &amp; Answers: Things Behind and Ahead &#8211; Philippians 3:12-21 The life and ministry of the apostle Paul was dominated by one supreme objective: press on. Philippians 3:12: \u201cNot that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526,534,537],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Things Behind and Ahead - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore the profound teachings of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12 as he emphasizes the relentless pursuit of spiritual maturity and purpose.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Things Behind and Ahead - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Explore the profound teachings of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12 as he emphasizes the relentless pursuit of spiritual maturity and purpose.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-24T09:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-21T04:48:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\"},\"headline\":\"Things Behind and Ahead\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-24T09:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-21T04:48:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/\"},\"wordCount\":920,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Issues &amp; Answers\",\"Life\",\"Relationship with Jesus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/\",\"name\":\"Things Behind and Ahead - Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-24T09:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-21T04:48:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"Explore the profound teachings of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12 as he emphasizes the relentless pursuit of spiritual maturity and purpose.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"width\":514,\"height\":259,\"caption\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\",\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Things Behind and Ahead - Grace Evangelical Free Church","description":"Explore the profound teachings of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12 as he emphasizes the relentless pursuit of spiritual maturity and purpose.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Things Behind and Ahead - Grace Evangelical Free Church","og_description":"Explore the profound teachings of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12 as he emphasizes the relentless pursuit of spiritual maturity and purpose.","og_url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/","og_site_name":"Grace Evangelical Free Church","article_published_time":"2023-08-24T09:41:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-21T04:48:57+00:00","author":"Tony Raker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tony Raker","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/"},"author":{"name":"Tony Raker","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef"},"headline":"Things Behind and Ahead","datePublished":"2023-08-24T09:41:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-21T04:48:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/"},"wordCount":920,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Issues &amp; Answers","Life","Relationship with Jesus"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/","name":"Things Behind and Ahead - Grace Evangelical Free Church","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-24T09:41:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-21T04:48:57+00:00","description":"Explore the profound teachings of the apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12 as he emphasizes the relentless pursuit of spiritual maturity and purpose.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/things-behind-and-ahead\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/","name":"Grace Evangelical Free Church","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization","name":"Grace Evangelical Free Church","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg","width":514,"height":259,"caption":"Grace Evangelical Free Church"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef","name":"Tony Raker","url":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90908"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90908"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105450,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90908\/revisions\/105450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}