PHIL. 3:4 Paul is reminding them he was one that lived for all the
natural man desired. Verses 5-6 He had a zeal for what he believed
under the law. Verse 7 Then he had an experience with Jesus. Verse 8
Heavenly gain was no comparison to his past life. Verse 10-11 Paul�s
heart's cry was to know Jesus better. Verse 12-13 � forgetting.....Paul
knew one thing clearly, he could not hold on to the past and claim all
God had for him in the future!! Remember, putting our past behind us and
reaching for New Ground in God, is not forgetting the past, it means we
are no longer ruled by the past.
Paul had been taught and lived under the law. But now he met Jesus,
the Messiah that the law taught. This new life had changed him from Law
to Grace.To live under Grace, he had to � shut the door � of his past.
There are " doors " some people fail to let the Holy Spirit shut and seal!
1. Hurts, wounds, disappointments and etc, these come in all
different ways. They are inward scars that keep reminding us of the past.
Unless we ask the Holy Spirit to pour Divine Healing Oil on them and let
the Holy Spirit shut and seal the door to the hurts, they will hinder us
from reaching for, all God has for us. Satan will use them to cast us down.
2. Sorrow and grief comes from many things. We all face these at one
time or another. But there comes a time we must be willing to put them in the past.
3. Family trouble, nearly every family has a �black sheep�. They have
brought grief and dishonor to the family. But there comes a time when
families must say �what�s done is done�. As long as it is an issue among
family members, there cannot be peace. And the list goes on and on!
Let�s look at some who did and did not shut the past.
1. Israel� God brought them out of bondage, the Promise Land was in
front of them. God was their King. Read the book of Exodus. When things
got rough they begin to look back, EXODUS 16:3� Many a soul has been
delivered from sin and failed to let the Holy Spirit �shut and seal� the
past. Then they began to look back for whatever reason. Sin has power and
can pull any one back into it�s way again. Lot�s wife GENESIS 19:17 do not
look back.... But Lot�s wife could not turn loose of her life. GENESIS
19:26 ...she looked back and became pillar of salt. Jesus reminds us of
Lot�s wife in LUKE 17:32, she was not willing to turn loose.
2. Ishmael, was not the promised child, Isaac was. GENESIS 17:19 God told
Abraham to put Ishmael out, as Sarah had asked. Abraham was to �shut the
door� on his flesh and blood. Hard, you bet your life. No one ever said
�shutting doors� was easy. There are memories to deal with. I have talked
to families that said the hardest thing they every done was cut ties with
their young ones, for many reasons. They did it in hopes of saving a family
member from destroying themselves. It was painful. Christians that have
taught your young ones God�s way, God is faithful. He will honor your
prayers! Just keep the porch light on. God will bring them home. Never
regret telling them about Jesus.
3. 2 SAMUEL 11 (READ) David sinned, he �shut the door� by repenting and
moving close to God. Peter denied Jesus and he repented. In other words
they dusted themselves off and reached for greater things in God. Peter and
David were recycled and used in the work of God. Mistakes and sins come to
all! But instead of dwelling on them put them under the Blood of Jesus and
reach for all God has for you. Every soul has a future as long as they are
alive. To a child of God that future depends on how we reach out to God.
4. Ruth left her homeland and family to go with Naomi. God rewarded her
for �shutting the door� of her past, and making a vow. RUTH 1:14-18 (READ
5. Paul �shut the door� on man�s opinion. ACTS 26:24 (Fetus said, Paul
your are made�� ACTS 26:28 ACTS 24:25 Paul was a changed man, he had a new
life. These men could see the change. ACTS 25:23-27 (READ)
6. Nehemiah went to rebuild the walls. NEHEMIAH 4:1-8 did not let the
opinions of man hinder the call of God. The Goodman�s, a southern gospel
singing group, was in the baggage department of an airport. A young lady
that they knew came up to them and began to tell them about the news she
had just heard about her mom, she had cancer and the young lady was upset.
She said those saints of God put their arms around her and opened the door
to God�s throne room. The young lady said, �people all around had their
heads bowed�. There are two things Satan is trying to do to every child of
God! Water your faith down and hinder your obedience.
Acts= they are not drunk as you suppose. The opinion was they were
drunk on earthly wine, the truth was they were drunk on Heavenly Wine.
You remember man does not give the call for labor in God�s Kingdom.
The Holy Spirit makes the call in behalf of the Father and the Son.
Rewards, do not come from man, they come from God. Believers must put on
Holy Spirit blinders, look straight ahead, not to the right or the left.
Plug these ears to any voice but God�s. There was a lady minister that
said, �you may have all kinds of opinions on how I should dress, and I may
even alter my dressing, but there is one thing I will not alter and that is
the anointing of GOD.
Paul said, in PHILIPPIANS 3:13, �reaching forth unto those things
which are before. Verse 14 I press toward the mark of the prize, of the
high calling of God in Jesus Christ. HEBREWS 12:12, shed, shut and reach.
Freedom in God can only come when we put the past under the Blood of
Jesus and then ask the Holy Spirit to shut and seal it. Then Joy,
unspeakable, peace we cannot understand, love of God and all the riches of
God is ours when we shut doors.
To be free in Jesus is to be excited about our life in Jesus. To be
happy in the life God gives. To have a rejoicing spirit in God, because we
know God. PSALMS 144:15... happy is that people whose God is the Lord...
God�s people are happy when they are free to trust, love, pray, and
rejoice. That only happens when we have allowed the Holy Spirit to shut
every door that would hinder that Joy. No one can look ahead and look back
at he same time.
The natural man will be restless and disturbed as long as the past is
not shut out. The spiritual man knows the freedom there is in God when the
past has been shut and sealed, he longs for that freedom. It is not always
easy! It is hard sometime to turn a loose of some things, that is the
battle, but The Power of the Holy Spirit is always there to give us the
Power to win.
Doors cannot be shut, just by our saying, �We will close that door�.
We do not have the power to shut and seal doors, only the Holy Spirit has
that power.
There must come an inward change. That only happens when the Holy
Spirit makes the change. I have been around those who did not want the
doors of the past closed. WE must confess we have a door that is ruling us,
then ask the Holy Spirit to shut and seal the door and free us from it.
That is done in the private fellowship with the Father, Son, and the Holy
Spirit. Remember they know how we feel. They know how Powerful the past is.
That�s why in their presence they can touch any door, shut and seal it.
When we see the Promises of God Greater than the past, then we will
summit to God�s Power to shut doors and seal them. In PHILIPPIANS 3:7-8
Paul knew that all he gained here was nothing, it was what he gained in God that was rich.
Remember you and you alone can give the Holy Spirit consent to shut
and seal doors. We are a free will people. God makes no one serve Him or
shut out the past. He forgives but we must let the Holy Spirit shut and
seal doors of our past.
We can not change the wind but we can adjust our sails. Got a door
that needs to be shut and sealed? The Holy Spirit will shut and seal all
you have to do is ask Him.