## Our Past Isaiah 46:9

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,” (Isa 46:9)

Tonight, I want us to consider the topic of our past.

A. We all have one.

1. Do you realize that, while the group assembled here tonight is different in so many ways.

2. Different ages, different hometowns, different occupations, but all of us have at least one thing in common, that is: we all have a past.

a. it may be a past that's primary good

b. it may be a past that's primarily bad

c. it may be one that you remember vividly

d. it may be one that you hardly remember at all

3. But we all have one--therefore it's imperative that we as a church family understand what God's Word says about handling this "thing that we all have."

4. When you think about it, the Lord had to create some unique things about us and the world in order for us to have a past.

a. He had to create time, we have a linear existence; without time being part of creation there could be no past, present, or future.

b. He also had to give us a memory, the ability to retain information, without that, there would be no past.

c. The Lord purposely designed His creation so that that we would have a past, and it's imperative that we understand what God's Word says about handling it.

B. The world is placing major emphasis on this area.

1. There's no question, that in our world, when it comes to what people are saying about how to solve inter- personal problems.

2. How to handle problems in marriage and families, how to handle the issues of life.

3. One of, if not the major area of emphasis is this issue of the past.

I. Biblical Concepts Regarding the Past

A. Our past definitely affects our present and our future.

1. If a person wants to study the past, the place to look is the Word of God.

2. The world is so enamored with it's current day emphasis on the past as if they've thought of something new-- God's Word has been talking about a person's past for thousands of years.

3. Clearly, the message of the Scripture is a person's past definitely affects his/her present and his/her future.

4. That truth is communicated in different ways in the Bible; sometimes, it's communicated by:

a. Direct statements

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal 6:7)

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Prov 28:13)

b. By clear principles in Scripture; many places in the Scripture argue that we ought not to do certain things now because of the effects that will have later.

1) one example is the book of Proverbs--speaking to young people. cf Pro. 6:26

2) if you do this--here's the consequences

3) or from the positive view: do this now--these good things will happen

c. Through narratives; the primary form of literature in the Bible is narrative, or story.

1) if we took all of the history, narratives, stories, and parables out of the Bible -- the Scripture would be substantially smaller than it is.

2) God introduces us to people in history, and in many cases allows us to track that person's life for many years so that we don't have to learn this lesson by making the same mistakes.

3) We can look at that person's life and, with the benefit of hindsight, see how decisions at one stage had radical implications to what happened later.

B. A person's past can be of great benefit to them.

1. Helps us face challenges with strength and confidence. ex. David with Goliath cf 1 Sam. 17:32-37

2. Helps us handle trials.

“But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10)

3. Helps us forgive. cf Mt. 18:23-35

a. This is the parable of the wicked servant who had been forgiven much by his master but wouldn't forgive a fellow servant of much less.

b. People who have trouble forgiving are not benefiting from their pasts.

4. Keeps us humble

a. We have to be careful on this one, but there is a definite place for remembering our sins.

b. Not to wallow in them and miss the joy of forgiveness, but to stay humble.

“Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.” (Deu 9:7)

c. Some of us repeat the same foolish sins because we have terrible memories.

5. Helps us repent.

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” (Rev 2:5)

There are some believers who have the view that "the memory" is a bad thing. If somehow we could erase our pasts then it would be much easier to serve God today. That surely is not God's perspective on the past. According to the Scripture--our past (our memory) is a gift from God that was designed to help us live for Him today.

Even if we could design a contraption (kind of like the thing you walk through when you go in an airport terminal) except this machine completely erased your memory ...even if we did have a machine like that. That would be the worse thing we could do for one another. Our past can be of great spiritual benefit.

What about our past tonight? Are we allowing God to use it to benefit our walk with Him right now? Is it helping us face new challenges, deal with trials, learn to forgive, keeping us humble, and bringing us to repentance?

Do you need to come tonight?