Watch Night Message 2004
Don’t Forget to Forget You Past
Will You Carry Your Old Mess Into the New Year? Or Will There Be A New Beginning?
Introduction: Church, are you ready for the New Year?
- Are you ready for a fresh new start?
- Are you ready to soar with the eagles?
- Are you ready for a paradigm shift from ordinary to the extraordinary? - - Are you ready to go after God with all of your might?
If you are, get ready! For God’s time has come! The Apostle Paul to the Church at Philippi proclaimed in….
Philippians chaper 3, verses 12-14, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. (13) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Sermon: Here we are this night on the threshold of a brand new year! A time to start again! Not with the same old, same old, but with a fresh new thing! I pray everyone here are resolved to put the old behind them to pursue the higher things of God. So I came to tell you that if you want a new beginning that is blessed,
This same Paul told the Corinthians, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" – 2 Corinthians 4:18.
In other words, temporary things have no eternal value and cannot be depended on to attain God’s highest calling on our lives. Knowing this I’d say that it is time to lay up treasures in heaven and watch God turn a profit for us!
A New Year means "a new beginning," a fresh start. A new beginning means just what it says "a new beginning" and that means all of the messed up things that hindered, hampered and held us back must be declared null and void and left behind in the old year.
Having said all of that, here is my exhortation to you: "don’t forget to forget your past and be sure to leave the old year’s mess in the old year and usher in the New Year with a fresh new beginning, a new beginning for walking in victory and seeking after the higher things of God!" Don’t forget to forget your past!
It’s Time to Count It All Lost for Christ!
Back in verse 8 is written, "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ."
Here in these verses the Apostle Paul resolved to abandon completely his past life for a brand new life in Jesus Christ. Paul had many wonderful achievements. He was truly somebody in society! He had been there, done that and had many trophies to show off for his many accomplishments. He was well educated, well respected and wealthy. But in retrospect, Paul saw all that which was of his old life as garbage, not as ordinary garbage, but garbage of the worst kind.
When Paul came to know Christ
- he threw out all of his trophies earned while in the flesh under the law.
- He destroyed all of his old manuscripts!
- He belittled his old reputation!
- He abandoned old friends who became his foes.
But Paul did not allow any of that to worry him. For He was aiming for something much greater, more enduring and of an eternal value. He called it "the Prize of a Higher Calling of God in Christ Jesus."
As the New Year ushers in, what will you count lost before it rings in? Will the two tons of old garbage you’ve been hauling around all this year become the same two tons of garbage that will you continue to hall around in the coming year? Or will you forget your pass and press forward?
What about your old attitude of jealousy, anger, slothfulness, procrastination, stubbornness and disobedience? Will you continue to hall all of the weight of those things into the new year, or will you become that new creation that you bragged you had become that never manifested in this year?
Paul proclaimed, "But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." There are two keys to putting the past behind you. We find these in two major expression that Paul used and they are: (1) "count old things lost for the excellency of Christ," and (2) "Forgetting the things of the past."
If you are not willing to count not just the failures, but also the successes of your past life without Christ and forget it all, then you will have trouble pressing toward the mark of the prize of a high calling in God by Jesus Christ.
Paul successfully did both. He counted all things of his life without Christ lost and he willingly forgot them. What Paul did was this…
- He refused to hold onto his past.
- He refused to live in nostalgia of what he had accomplished without Christ…
- He refused to chase false dreams…
- He refused to keep going after fallen fame…
- He instead would now forget all of his past and go after Jesus Christ!
Precious Memories or Worthless Memories?
Verse 13:"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."
Paul did not considered those things prior to Christ as precious memories. He called them dung, rubbish! Oh you know how it is how we like to hold onto the so-called good times of our past. How we had many friends, how we had places to go and things to do, how we visited old buddy-buddies and everyone thought we were a glass of kool-aid and a spoon of brown sugar.
Even our accomplishment in the Church of how earlier this year we were on fired for God and how I preached one Thursday night tore up the Church, and how many invitations I received to sing or preach.
I am talking about those things you did in the Church that did not glorify God. But were done in the flesh which you called the Spirit to show the people how good you were and that you were the best things that ever happened to CEM.
I got a good word for you and it is the same word Paul used and that is all that was dung! Rubbish! Garbage! Because you forgot how many times you missed Sunday School, Bible Study, intercessory prayer and how many offerings you held God’s money back and how you were afraid that the other preacher or singer was going to out preach, out sing, out dance or our shout you, and you started speaking in tongues and ‘buking the devil hoping they would not do as good as you did the following Thursday night or Sunday Morning worship.
Stop thinking you got it made after a few good songs, testimonies, paying some good money and a few good sermons. Paul plainly said even after he came to know Christ that he had not yet attain, but still pressing his way toward heaven.
Oh how we become so complacent after a few successes that we can follow our own way and not the right way and think God and the pastor have fallen asleep and are no longer aware of your performance and think the Church owe you something.
So when you cannot have it your way then the devil tells you to leave the Church or get mad and do not come regularly or come up in here with an attitude. Only to lie and say "God had a lot for me to do but the pastors held me back!" Let me tell you ahead of time, "the devil is a liar and he is about to start your fire!" Hell surely is enlarging itself!
What Is Your Decision? Kick the Old to the Curb and Embrace the New?
Now that the New Year is this close its culmination what will you go after starting at 12:01 this night? Did you just show up at this Watch Night Service just to say that you were at Church on the last day of 2004? Or showed up just to have a good old rejoicing time? Or did you come to throw your past into the sea of forgetfulness so that you can properly take up the better and greater things of God, expecting blessings, victory and more grace in the coming year?
Paul exclaimed and I paraphrase:
- "I consider all that I accomplish as compost, garbage of the worst kind!
- I am going to forget that I was a Pharisee!
- I am going to forget I studied under Gamiliel, the greatest professor of my time…
- I am going to forget how zealous I was…
- I am going to forget how compelled I was in keeping the law.
But rather for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord, I am going to the cesspool and throw all of those old things in. For I have traded in my old life and old things for a new excellent life in Jesus Christ.
Now, if you don’t plan in 2005 to move with the cloud please stay out of my way. Because I going after my prize with a passion and zeal that Paul did even knew!
If you don’t plan to put of the weights that were besetting you please do not try to run with me. Jeremiah said this about who a zeal but no courage. "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses?" - Jeremiah 12:5. In other words, if the foot soldiers tire you out, then how are you going to keep up with the Calvary, the soldiers on horses?
If you don’t plan to run well next year please don’t get in the race with me because I don’t want to run you over. Because I am going to be like Elijah who out ran Ahab’s chariot. If you can hang stay out of my way!
The year is almost gone. In a few minutes we are gong to start our watch. Will you now start to forget about all of the hindrances, bad habits and hold backs of this year? Or will you hold on to them and bring them over for a new beginning but the same old battle? Once again,
- Are you ready for the New Year?
- Are you ready for a fresh new start?
- Are you ready to soar with the eagles?
- Are you ready for a paradigm shift from ordinary to the extraordinary?
- Are you ready to go after God with all of your might?
- If you are, get ready! For God’s time has come!
- If it ever was a time to count all temporary things lost now is that time!
- If it ever was a time to forget your past, now is the time!
- If it ever was a time to press now is that time!
God is calling us higher!
As Jeremiah said, "the eagle stirreth her nest" getting ready to soar to take her young to the highest height (see Jeremiah 48:40). God is that Eagle and He is ready to take us to height that we have never dreamed of –
- I don’t know about you but I am ready for the high calling!
- I am ready for my prize!
- I am ready for all that God has for me!
So I am going to count all lost, forget my past and press upward until I reach my plateau in God by Christ Jesus my Lord!
Church, what will it be? A new beginning or the same old troubling mess as usual? It behooves you to come into this New Year a new creation, with a new attitude, a new resolve and a new determination that you are going to beat the devil out with the devil.
I say to you Press, press, press and don’t give us! And most of all, "don’t forget to forget your past!"
Prayer: "Father God, on this night we traditionally celebrate as ‘watch night’ help us to watch how we live as we step over into a brand new year and watch how we live in the preceding days and months by living holy and righteous before You. Grant us the power to overcome our past guilt- help us to forgive those who spitefully bruised us on all fronts. And may they be blessed. Father, bless this great nation and may nations come to know Jesus in place of all others. May divine providence mainstay us on every front of danger. And above all, may we preach Christ and Him crucified that sinners will come and yield themselves to Your blood sacrifice and find zoe life. Now, ‘let the word of our moth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight – O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer. Amen!"
