183: Joni Mannell – The Past

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Welcome to Good Burger selfie
and talks.

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I’m Levi and I’m Chris and I’m
Brian, thank you for joining us

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this week.
On this podcast, we select one

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taco week to help us get the
Bible in our daily news feed.

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We post a new episode of the
start of each week with a short

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intro before.
Hand to kind of set the stage

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for the talk.
You’re about to listen to and

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now let’s talk more about this
week’s talk.

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Welcome to the good
christadelphians talks podcast.

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This is brother Brian.
This week’s talk is a Class by

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Brother Johnny monell entitled.
The past the class is part of a

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timeline series which was given
back in 2008 at the swannack

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swanwick Bible weekend in the UK
and this is actually sent in by

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recommendation and will also
link to the rest of the classes

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in the description.
If you wish to hear more from

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that weekend, So brother, Johnny
takes us right into the heart of

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the complexities of how we deal.
With our sense of time, slipping

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by stuck with the pain of
regret.

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Guilt, over former
transgressions, missed

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opportunities, just all the
things that we can’t change from

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our past, but yet we still carry
them with us and we worry about

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the fact that they may have not
just on our present but on the

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future as well.
So what is the spiritual

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principle?
We can learn from this sense of

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time that our Lord has instilled
in US.

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Brother Johnny breaks down to
seemingly, contrasting examples.

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First in Paul, insisting, that
we forget, what is behind and

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only press forward towards the
mark.

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And then with Moses leading the
children of Israel in the

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wilderness and insisting that
they do look back to recall.

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All that Yahweh had brought them
through The connection that he

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makes bridging those two in the
middle is just pure magic.

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And if you’re anything like me
and you struggle with carrying

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the past with you a bit too much
for the Johnny’s, interpretation

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will give you the kind of peace
and clarity. but I believe our

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Lord wants us to have as we also
traveled this Wilderness

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ourselves So as always, we do
hope this strengthens your faith

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and brightens your day, brother,
Johnny monell, the past.

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We all have some.
Some have more than others.

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Everybody wants more because the
alternative doesn’t bear

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thinking about.
And one of the marvels of the

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factors Tim has been talking
about that.

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God has set us in the bounds of
time, the pendulum and the

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Rhythm of Life that he talked
about and how God set the

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boundaries of our existence for
the purpose that we might seek.

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After God means that God intends
us practically to look at the

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time that we have have before us
and have behind us and use it as

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profitable as we can.
Now, you might look at me and

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say, well, how on Earth?
Can we use the time?

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That’s behind us.
Profitably.

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Well, the challenge of life, and
the fact that life does move on

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constantly, the fact that the
clock is ticking, some of you

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will be watching it more focused
live than others.

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This morning means that we’re
constantly moving forward.

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And what that means is, all of
us have something behind of us.

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All of us have been through
experiences.

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We have minutes hours days
weeks, months years decades that

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we can look back and reflect on
and I imagine there are Things

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in that big bag of stuff behind
each.

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And every one of us that,
actually, perhaps we’d rather

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not was there.
Because we haven’t spent all of

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the opportunity in the time that
Tim has been talking about that.

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God gave to us always seeking
after God have we and I’m pretty

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convinced there isn’t a person
in this room who doesn’t have

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something in that big bag of the
past that just has a little

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twinge of regret.
It may be something very small.

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It may be just a word ill spoken
at an ill time.

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It may be just a moment of Life
squandered that with reflection

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shouldn’t have been it.
Maybe just something that simple

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and that easy and that’s fine.
But but all I’m saying is every

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one of us has just something
some things in the past whether

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they were brought about by our
own willfulness or just the

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circumstances of life into which
we came.

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Somewhere in the past.
There are things that we don’t

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find terribly useful and yet
what I want to tell you in this

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session is not that, you’re
going to leave him miserable, in

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case you just got that
impression in the opening

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sentence or two who, but God
wants us to look back and

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reflect on the past and use it
profitably.

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And I just want us to explore
how we can do that.

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And to begin with, will you come
with me to Paul’s letter to the

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Philippians and chapter 3?
Because Paul has a really

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interesting piece of advice for
us about how to deal with the

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past.
You see sometimes when we

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reflect and we look back, the
past can be a disability to

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progress.
We can look back and it can

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weigh us down.
It can fill our mind with and

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helpful things.
All kinds of restraints can be

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placed on the present and the
future simply by the way, in

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which we look back and we
reflect on the past and this is

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what the Apostle Paul had to say
about that situation.

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Philippians chapter 3, you you
will be familiar with the words.

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Let’s just pick them up in verse
13.

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Brethren.
He says, I count not myself yet

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to have apprehended.
He means I have not yet.

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Got hold of all the things that
God has laid out for me.

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But he says this one thing I do,
Forgetting those things which

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are behind and reaching forward
to the things which are before I

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press on, toward the mark, for
the prize of the High Calling of

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God in Christ.
Jesus isn’t that an absolutely

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categoric statement from the
Apostle?

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Paul, this one thing I do it
literally in the Greek language

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in which Paul was using.
It means this thing Above All

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Else.
The absolutely most important

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thing I can Tell you, he says,
in terms of making progress and

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moving forward is to forget the
things which are behind and

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added to that to press on and
reach forward for the things

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that are in front of us.
Now, isn’t that a, I mean it’s

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such a simple thing.
And yet, the Apostle Paul says,

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that one of the ways of dealing
profitably with the past is to

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forget it.
This one thing.

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Forgetting those things which
are behind.

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I press on.
And reach forward for the things

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that have been laid before me in
the Lord.

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Jesus Christ is not a wonder how
simple sometimes.

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You know, we’re told the the
work of Christian living up to

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the ears just forget it. now,
one of the problems you may be

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mulling over in your mind is
that to categoric For Paul to

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say that this one thing is that
the only way to deal with the

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past, this one thing, forget it,
is it to categoric?

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Are you just thinking that there
must be other ways of managing

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the past?
You see, the problem is it’s

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very difficult to forget, isn’t
it?

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You can’t will to forget
something very easily.

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In fact, the more you try and
think about the thing that you

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want to forget, the more you
probably end up thinking about

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it.
You know, if I ask you not to

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think about, Breakfast for
whatever reason, I’m not going

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to go into that.
It’s very difficult not to have

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an image in your mind of
breakfast.

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And remember all the things you
thought about it and felt about

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it and how it tasted and the
more you think about forgetting

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it, the more well it lingers
around in your mind and it’s

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difficult isn’t it to just
forget just like that.

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Gone doesn’t work that way, does
it?

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So does what they have pull
Apostle Paul said, need some

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qualification.
And you will be saying to me.

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Well, Johnny there are passages
in the Bible which seemed to

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State the absolute opposite.
Of what the Apostle Paul said,

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isn’t that right?
Can I take you to perhaps,

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what’s for me?
The finest example of a

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completely opposite statement
commitment to Deuteronomy

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chapter 8, you see the Apostle
Paul said, this is how to deal

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with the past.
Forget it, this one thing, this

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is the only way says, Paul is to
forget it.

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Well, There’s an entirely
opposite statement here in the

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record of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy chapter 8.

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And verse 2.
This is what God Said, through

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Moses to the men and women of
Israel.

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You will remember all the way,
which the Lord your God has led

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you these forty years in the
wilderness to Humble you, into

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prove you in to know, what was
in your heart, whether you would

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keep his Commandments or not.
That’s interesting, isn’t it?

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Now God is saying through Moses.
I want you to remember

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everything.
All right, how opposite could

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you get the Apostle?
Paul says I want you to forget

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everything Moses says, I want
you to remember everything and

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you got to remember the context
here in Deuteronomy there, at

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the end of their 40-year Journey
Through the Wilderness there On

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The Fringe of a new life and a
new land, and Moses says the

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best way, the best way.
Now to make progress and to move

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forward is to remember all the
way You’ve been and all the

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journeys of the past, isn’t that
fascinating?

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Well, it’s confusing, isn’t it?
What do we do?

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How do we deal with the past?
How do we reconcile these, these

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two diametrically opposite ways
of dealing with the past so that

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we might move forward into the
future?

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And it seems to me that the
circumstances and the context of

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the things in our past determine
which solution we adopt in our

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particular circumstances, there
are some things as the Apostle

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Paul, which just need to be
forgotten.

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I never something says Moses
which absolutely must be

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remembered and the challenge
young people and brothers and

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sisters in your life is to
determine in your bag of

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History, which method to apply
to which of your experiences.

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You see your experience of God,
involves the past?

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That’s all it can do in our
lives.

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We’re not like God outside of
time, we’re not in the future,

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we’re just right here in the
moment and we’ve been right

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there in the past.
So your only experience of God

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involves the past and one of the
great certainties of life is the

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past, that’s one of the sad and
difficult things about it.

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Isn’t it?
Once it’s gone, it’s gone.

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And it cannot be changed.
Its arep rebuttal.

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You can’t go back and remove it.
Change it, or relive it to alter

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it slightly.
It’s gone.

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Now that has a double-edged
sword.

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There are things that we’d love
to go back and change and relive

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and alter, and redo.
And there are some things

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perhaps, and I hope there are
that we wouldn’t change for the

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world.
And they are our experiences of

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God, and why he allows us to go
through time so that we can

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experience his guiding hand and
his presence in our life.

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Just turn over the page, just
down to the seven.

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Same chapter in Deuteronomy 8,
you see these men and women did

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know something of the future
just have a look at this because

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it was penned for them by Moses.
In these lovely words,

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Deuteronomy 8 verse 7, the Lord,
your God brings you into a good

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land, a land of Brooks of water
of fountains and depths that

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spring out of valleys and Hills,
a land of Wheat, and barley, and

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Vines and fig trees and
pomegranates a land of olive

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oil.
Olive and her Niall and wearing

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you will eat bread.
Without scarce – that you will

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not like anything in it.
A land, whose stones are iron

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and out of whose Hills, you made
big brass.

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Isn’t that an extraordinary
thing for Moses to say, this is

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where you’re going that was
their experience of the future.

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It was in the promises that have
been passed down to them.

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And the fact that they could
hear Moses saying this is where

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you’re going, this is where
you’re going to arrive.

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That was their only experience
of the of the future, something

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that have been passed down to
them.

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Us to them spoken to them
before.

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But the problem was the bit in
between where they were today

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and where they were going to
arrive and that’s the problem

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for every one of us, isn’t it?
We have, we have, we know

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00:14:14,900 –> 00:14:18,400
something of the future, we
know, something of where we’re

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00:14:18,400 –> 00:14:20,300
going, Tim’s been talking about
it.

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00:14:20,300 –> 00:14:23,800
God has built into us this
ability to two cents and

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00:14:23,800 –> 00:14:26,900
appreciate that, there is
something great.

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There is an extraordinary future
that lies beyond our present

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00:14:31,900 –> 00:14:33,600
experience.
And we know something of that,

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00:14:33,600 –> 00:14:36,700
that’s what the word of God is
all about passing on down that

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00:14:36,700 –> 00:14:39,900
same promise, that Moses passed
to these men and women.

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00:14:40,600 –> 00:14:43,800
The challenge is that unknown
territory that lies in between.

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00:14:44,600 –> 00:14:49,900
Isn’t it what will lie for you?
And me between today and the

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00:14:49,900 –> 00:14:54,400
other side of the river, Jordan
What challenges and experiences

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00:14:54,400 –> 00:14:56,400
will lie?
Between where we are today?

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00:14:57,700 –> 00:15:00,400
and where and when we finally
arrived, when the Lord Jesus

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00:15:00,400 –> 00:15:06,200
Christ is here, Under your best,
key to be able to navigate the

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00:15:06,200 –> 00:15:09,900
unknown territory that lies
between here and the future, is

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your experience of the past.
And that’s what Moses asking

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00:15:14,300 –> 00:15:17,800
these men and women to think
about there is an unknown way

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00:15:17,800 –> 00:15:19,700
before you.
How will you get on?

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00:15:20,700 –> 00:15:24,000
Well measure the unknown way
before you buy the last 40 Years

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00:15:24,000 –> 00:15:27,900
of trackless desert and The God
Who led once.

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00:15:29,100 –> 00:15:34,000
Well, he lead again.
Just going to Joshua chapter 3.

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When they begin that journey
into the unknown, across the

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00:15:39,400 –> 00:15:43,500
river, Jordan and onwards
towards the Promised Land.

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Joshua chapter 3 and and verse
4, Joshua was giving them the

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00:15:59,108 –> 00:16:01,800
instructions as to how they
would cross the river.

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And they were to send the Ark of
God in front of them before

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them.
And he says, in verse verse 4,

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there should be a space between
you and the Ark about 2,000

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cubits by measure, come not near
unto it that you may know, the

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way by which you must go for.
You have not passed this way

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before.
Isn’t that lovely?

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00:16:24,000 –> 00:16:27,300
Joshua says, I want you to know
that God is going to Before you

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leave a space as you cross the
river between you and the Ark

250
00:16:31,200 –> 00:16:34,300
because you’ve not been this way
before this is Uncharted

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00:16:34,300 –> 00:16:37,500
Territory.
You don’t know the way and God

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00:16:37,500 –> 00:16:40,900
is going to go before you Isn’t
that lovely?

253
00:16:40,900 –> 00:16:43,000
He’d been before them for the
last 40 years.

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00:16:43,000 –> 00:16:46,300
In fact, they only ever moved if
you remember when God did

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00:16:46,300 –> 00:16:50,300
demonstrated by the movement of
the cloud day or night that they

256
00:16:50,300 –> 00:16:53,800
were ready to go and got a beam
before them and and sought out a

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00:16:53,808 –> 00:16:56,400
place for them to camp.
And now as they entered this

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00:16:56,400 –> 00:16:59,300
Uncharted Territory of the
promised land, it was going to

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00:16:59,300 –> 00:17:02,700
be no different, the art was to
go before them and they were to

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00:17:02,700 –> 00:17:05,599
follow God you’ve not been this
way before.

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00:17:05,599 –> 00:17:09,700
It’s unknown and just leave a
space between you and the arc.

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00:17:09,900 –> 00:17:11,900
So that God can show you the
way.

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00:17:14,599 –> 00:17:18,200
There was a journey between now
and the future and it was a

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00:17:18,200 –> 00:17:21,500
mystery.
And God was going to go before

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them.
And lead them.

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00:17:25,599 –> 00:17:28,300
There is often a fascination
with the unknown isn’t there?

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00:17:29,500 –> 00:17:31,600
Especially when you know we’re
young.

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00:17:31,800 –> 00:17:37,300
I say we I mean it I still have
it a fascination with the with

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00:17:37,300 –> 00:17:40,400
the unknown.
However it’s normally mixed with

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00:17:40,400 –> 00:17:43,400
a sense of doubt and I suppose
when you’re young, it adds that

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00:17:43,400 –> 00:17:47,200
little extra injection of
adrenaline of just doubt as to

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00:17:47,200 –> 00:17:50,400
whether we’re up to the task.
That’s the thing, isn’t it?

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00:17:50,400 –> 00:17:53,300
It’s kind of exciting.
And yet at the same time, what’s

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00:17:53,300 –> 00:17:55,300
in our minds is?
Can I do it?

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00:17:56,400 –> 00:17:59,100
Can I achieve it?
Will I be strong enough?

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00:17:59,100 –> 00:18:03,300
Big enough able enough to do it?
Whether it is that you’re you’re

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00:18:03,300 –> 00:18:06,800
preparing for an exam or you’re
going in for the job interview

278
00:18:06,800 –> 00:18:09,900
or whatever it might be and
there’s that sense of fear and

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00:18:09,900 –> 00:18:13,800
excitement all mixed in together
about the the unknown things of

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00:18:13,800 –> 00:18:16,100
the future?
Am I ready for it?

281
00:18:16,400 –> 00:18:22,200
Will I be able to do it?
And for a wise man or woman,

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00:18:22,200 –> 00:18:27,700
there is value in both the
fascination and in the fear and

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00:18:27,700 –> 00:18:31,800
in the ability to know that God
will go before us every way.

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00:18:32,600 –> 00:18:36,900
Notice what Joshua says, now
verse 5, Joshua said to the

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00:18:36,900 –> 00:18:42,300
people sanctify yourselves for
tomorrow, the Lord will do

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00:18:42,300 –> 00:18:44,700
wonders among you.
Isn’t that lovely?

287
00:18:44,700 –> 00:18:48,700
What Joshua is saying is today,
is yours tomorrow, is the

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00:18:48,700 –> 00:18:52,100
Lord’s.
The mystery of Tomorrow belongs

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00:18:52,100 –> 00:18:55,000
to God and he will do wonders
before you.

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00:18:55,500 –> 00:18:59,700
So prepare yourselves, you know,
Sanctified Common Sense, tells

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00:18:59,700 –> 00:19:03,000
us that if we are going to
achieve something to do, a task

292
00:19:03,000 –> 00:19:06,500
to complete a job.
Then if we can, we ought to be

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00:19:06,500 –> 00:19:10,600
ready and prepared to do it.
You don’t just wander into an

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00:19:10,600 –> 00:19:13,600
exam and sit down and think that
the answers will just somehow

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00:19:13,600 –> 00:19:16,900
magically automatically come.
Common sense says that if you’re

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00:19:16,900 –> 00:19:19,700
going to go in and do it, then
you’re going to be prepared as

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00:19:19,700 –> 00:19:23,800
prepared as you can be.
If you’re going to give him for

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00:19:23,800 –> 00:19:26,700
the job interview, then then
we’ll unless your very self

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00:19:26,700 –> 00:19:30,700
confidence, you know, this this
attitude that well, I’ll just,

300
00:19:30,700 –> 00:19:34,100
just whatever, whatever will be
Sanctified.

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00:19:34,100 –> 00:19:37,800
Common sense says that if I can
be ready and up to the task,

302
00:19:38,000 –> 00:19:41,900
then I’ll be as prepared as I
can be, and Joshua, says

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00:19:42,600 –> 00:19:48,300
sanctify yourselves.
So get ready to see what God can

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00:19:48,300 –> 00:19:52,300
do for you.
And that’s why we’re here, isn’t

305
00:19:52,300 –> 00:19:55,600
it?
Because tomorrow is a mystery

306
00:19:55,600 –> 00:19:59,500
and it belongs to God and he
will do wonders for us.

307
00:20:00,000 –> 00:20:03,700
Today is yours and your
experience of the past is what

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00:20:03,700 –> 00:20:06,200
will help you navigate the
terrain in between.

309
00:20:07,600 –> 00:20:09,800
Sanctify yourselves for
tomorrow.

310
00:20:10,600 –> 00:20:15,900
The Lord will do wonders among
you what lies between us and the

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00:20:15,908 –> 00:20:18,700
kingdom.
What are the certainties that we

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00:20:18,700 –> 00:20:20,900
can take with us into that
unknown way?

313
00:20:21,700 –> 00:20:26,300
Well, Moses says, remember all
the way that the Lord your God

314
00:20:26,300 –> 00:20:32,500
has led you these 40 years, past
Deliverance, predicates future

315
00:20:32,500 –> 00:20:34,100
Deliverance.
Let me give you an example.

316
00:20:34,100 –> 00:20:36,600
There is a River to Cross its
wide.

317
00:20:36,600 –> 00:20:39,400
It’s in full Lo how shall we get
over it?

318
00:20:40,100 –> 00:20:44,500
Well, Measure the Jordan, By the
Waters of the Red Sea.

319
00:20:46,500 –> 00:20:48,300
And The God Who parted them
once?

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00:20:49,400 –> 00:20:54,600
Well, he’ll park them again.
There is an unknown one before,

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00:20:54,600 –> 00:20:57,100
it’s a Wilderness.
How will we know the way?

322
00:20:58,500 –> 00:21:02,500
And The God Who led once.
Will lead again.

323
00:21:02,500 –> 00:21:04,800
There is a new country.
What is it like what will we

324
00:21:04,800 –> 00:21:08,300
eat?
The manor is going to stop. will

325
00:21:08,300 –> 00:21:12,500
measure the coming hunger by the
past water from the Rock, and

326
00:21:12,500 –> 00:21:16,300
the past manner, which rained
down from heaven and the God who

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00:21:16,300 –> 00:21:21,500
fed once Will feed again.
Isn’t that the lovely thing

328
00:21:21,500 –> 00:21:24,500
about the past.
When you look back and reflect

329
00:21:24,500 –> 00:21:27,800
and remember all the way that
the Lord, your God has led you

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00:21:28,500 –> 00:21:31,900
however far, and, however, long
in your life and in your

331
00:21:31,900 –> 00:21:34,700
experience.
And now, you can look back and

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00:21:34,700 –> 00:21:37,700
remember it, and carry it with
you and never forget it.

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00:21:38,400 –> 00:21:40,500
You see, that’s why the Apostle
Paul’s statement needed

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00:21:40,500 –> 00:21:42,900
qualification, never forget
those things.

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00:21:43,200 –> 00:21:45,000
Don’t let it be said that
Jonathan L stood here this

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00:21:45,000 –> 00:21:48,400
morning and told you to forget
everything about the past.

337
00:21:48,400 –> 00:21:52,400
Never let anyone rob you of
Certainties of God’s guiding

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00:21:52,400 –> 00:21:54,900
care and hand in the days that
have gone before.

339
00:21:56,200 –> 00:21:59,600
So that you may carry it with
you into the future confident

340
00:21:59,600 –> 00:22:02,500
that God who did it once will do
it again.

341
00:22:03,800 –> 00:22:05,600
Will you come with me to Psalm
42?

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00:22:06,100 –> 00:22:09,500
Because there is a lovely
example of this in David’s life.

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00:22:23,800 –> 00:22:27,300
David experienced, this very
problem.

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00:22:33,000 –> 00:22:35,800
And the problem came when his
faith was assaulted and

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00:22:35,800 –> 00:22:39,000
challenged by those who were his
enemies.

346
00:22:40,300 –> 00:22:45,000
Verse 3 of Psalm 42.
My tears have been my meat day

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00:22:45,000 –> 00:22:47,500
and night, they continually say
to me.

348
00:22:47,700 –> 00:22:51,300
Where is your god?
That’s what they came to David

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00:22:51,300 –> 00:22:53,400
and said, in your current
experience.

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00:22:53,400 –> 00:22:54,700
David.
Where is he?

351
00:22:55,000 –> 00:22:57,800
Where is he now?
What good easy to you.

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00:22:57,800 –> 00:23:00,500
Now, that’s what they were
saying to David.

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00:23:01,700 –> 00:23:04,100
And David was challenged by that
as well.

354
00:23:04,100 –> 00:23:06,900
You might be when you find
yourselves in those

355
00:23:06,900 –> 00:23:09,800
circumstances, where more than
anything you need to look back

356
00:23:09,800 –> 00:23:13,600
to the past and remember all the
way that God has led, you and

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00:23:13,600 –> 00:23:16,300
David found himself in
circumstances and situations

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00:23:16,300 –> 00:23:18,900
were all of a sudden.
They were doubts in his mind.

359
00:23:18,900 –> 00:23:21,300
Where is now your God?
Where is he?

360
00:23:21,600 –> 00:23:26,700
What good is he now, is he there
and Willie help you and even if

361
00:23:26,700 –> 00:23:33,200
he could, he won’t And David was
assaulted by this question and

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00:23:33,200 –> 00:23:34,400
that’s what happens to you and
me.

363
00:23:34,400 –> 00:23:37,200
It’s not necessarily somebody
who comes to you and says, where

364
00:23:37,200 –> 00:23:39,400
is your god?
It’s the question that arises in

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00:23:39,400 –> 00:23:43,400
your own mind when you’re in the
flurry of of darkness and and

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00:23:43,400 –> 00:23:45,600
you know, you’re not sure quite
what’s going on and what you’re

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00:23:45,600 –> 00:23:48,700
going to do, when the question
is, where is now my God?

368
00:23:49,600 –> 00:23:51,400
And that was that was, David’s
problem.

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00:23:51,400 –> 00:23:56,800
Where is he now?
And what did David do verse 6?

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00:23:57,900 –> 00:24:00,900
Oh my God!
He said my soul is cast down

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00:24:00,900 –> 00:24:06,400
Within Me. therefore, will I
remember thee from the land of

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00:24:06,400 –> 00:24:13,800
Jordan And of the herma Nights
from the hill Miser deep calls

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00:24:13,800 –> 00:24:16,000
unto deep at the noise of your
water.

374
00:24:16,300 –> 00:24:19,800
All your waves and your Billows
are gone over me yet.

375
00:24:19,800 –> 00:24:23,100
The Lord will command his
loving-kindness in the daytime.

376
00:24:23,700 –> 00:24:27,800
And in the night his song shall
be with me and my prayer and to

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00:24:27,800 –> 00:24:31,600
the god of my life.
Is another lovely thing for

378
00:24:31,600 –> 00:24:35,600
David to say what David did was
he went and sat down in his room

379
00:24:35,600 –> 00:24:38,700
and he, he just had a talk with
himself.

380
00:24:40,700 –> 00:24:44,000
And he just went through it all
again just you know talking to

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00:24:44,000 –> 00:24:47,300
himself sometimes an audience of
one is the best audience.

382
00:24:47,800 –> 00:24:51,800
Don’t take that the wrong way.
But you know what I mean?

383
00:24:53,000 –> 00:24:56,200
And David said, I’m being
assaulted by this question,

384
00:24:56,200 –> 00:24:59,500
where is my guard?
And he went and had an audience

385
00:24:59,500 –> 00:25:02,200
of one?
And he went and sat down and

386
00:25:02,200 –> 00:25:05,700
went through at all.
My God, my soul is cast down

387
00:25:05,700 –> 00:25:08,600
within me.
I will remember the, I remember

388
00:25:08,600 –> 00:25:09,800
now.
Yes, that’s right.

389
00:25:09,800 –> 00:25:13,100
If I just stop for a moment.
I remember when you were there

390
00:25:13,100 –> 00:25:16,000
with me at Jordan, I would that
I remember when you were there

391
00:25:16,000 –> 00:25:20,600
with me from the Mount Hermon
and from the hill, mizar, you

392
00:25:20,600 –> 00:25:21,900
know, brand sisters and young
people.

393
00:25:21,900 –> 00:25:25,400
This is a lovely prophecy, in
fact of the Lord Jesus Christ,

394
00:25:25,700 –> 00:25:27,600
these three things that David
looked back.

395
00:25:27,600 –> 00:25:30,800
And remember the Jordan, the
Herman Mount her.

396
00:25:31,000 –> 00:25:34,600
In the hill, mizar?
Although, they were very

397
00:25:34,600 –> 00:25:37,000
pertinent to David.
They were also very pertinent to

398
00:25:37,000 –> 00:25:40,600
the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think you may challenge me if

399
00:25:40,600 –> 00:25:43,400
I’m wrong, but the Jordan.
What would the Lord Jesus

400
00:25:43,400 –> 00:25:47,000
Remember about the Jordan.
It was his baptism, wasn’t it?

401
00:25:47,000 –> 00:25:48,800
When he committed his life to
God?

402
00:25:49,000 –> 00:25:50,800
What would he remember about
Mount, Hermon?

403
00:25:51,800 –> 00:25:56,300
The Transfiguration maybe.
And what about the hill mizar?

404
00:25:56,800 –> 00:26:01,800
Mizar means the little Hill.
It’s Calvary.

405
00:26:02,800 –> 00:26:05,700
It’s the place where they took
him outside, the city to be

406
00:26:05,700 –> 00:26:08,600
crucified.
And you can imagine when the

407
00:26:08,600 –> 00:26:11,500
Lord Jesus had, all these things
running through his mind, where

408
00:26:11,500 –> 00:26:16,200
is now your God?
Or I will remember, I will look

409
00:26:16,200 –> 00:26:18,100
back and remember the voice I
heard.

410
00:26:18,100 –> 00:26:22,400
When I came out of the Waters of
baptism, you are my beloved Son.

411
00:26:22,400 –> 00:26:23,100
In whom.
I am.

412
00:26:23,100 –> 00:26:25,900
Well pleased.
I’ll remember the voice that I

413
00:26:25,900 –> 00:26:28,300
heard at Mount Hermon at the
Transfiguration.

414
00:26:28,500 –> 00:26:31,800
This is my beloved Son.
Hear ye him.

415
00:26:32,900 –> 00:26:36,600
I will remember.
The Lord will command his

416
00:26:36,600 –> 00:26:40,600
loving-kindness in the daytime.
And in the night, his song shall

417
00:26:40,600 –> 00:26:43,400
be with me and my prayer and to
the god of my life.

418
00:26:43,900 –> 00:26:45,400
Do you know?
Brian says, it’s only God who

419
00:26:45,400 –> 00:26:50,100
can give us a song to sing in
the night when you’re you can’t

420
00:26:50,100 –> 00:26:52,900
sleep, and you’re lying awake
and the issues of the life or

421
00:26:52,908 –> 00:26:56,200
just going around and around in
your mind, I tell you the only

422
00:26:56,200 –> 00:27:00,300
person who can give you a song
to sing his guard, I will

423
00:27:00,300 –> 00:27:04,100
remember I will look back and
remember all the way that the

424
00:27:04,100 –> 00:27:07,300
Lord my God has.
Let me just come down to the end

425
00:27:07,300 –> 00:27:09,900
of this.
Lovely song, verse 11, why now

426
00:27:09,900 –> 00:27:13,400
are you cast down O my soul?
And why are you disquieted

427
00:27:13,400 –> 00:27:16,300
within me?
Hope thou in God for, I shall

428
00:27:16,300 –> 00:27:17,300
yet.
Praise him.

429
00:27:17,300 –> 00:27:19,100
Who is the health of my
countenance?

430
00:27:19,300 –> 00:27:21,600
And my God.
Isn’t that lovely?

431
00:27:21,600 –> 00:27:25,300
That’s the result of remembering
all the way, which the Lord your

432
00:27:25,300 –> 00:27:28,100
God has led you these forty
years in the wilderness.

433
00:27:28,100 –> 00:27:31,700
Isn’t that lovely?
Isn’t that a Beacon of Hope and

434
00:27:31,900 –> 00:27:34,900
and have confidence that we can
carry forward with us into the

435
00:27:34,900 –> 00:27:39,200
unknown land?
All of our experience of God in

436
00:27:39,200 –> 00:27:43,300
the past, what a way to use the
past and to make it profitable?

437
00:27:43,700 –> 00:27:48,900
Hey, remember the way, remember
all the way will you come back

438
00:27:48,900 –> 00:27:54,500
with me to Philippians 3?
Because having gone, through all

439
00:27:54,500 –> 00:27:56,500
of that, we just need to
understand.

440
00:27:56,500 –> 00:27:59,700
Finally, what an earth, the
Apostle Paul meant then when he

441
00:27:59,700 –> 00:28:04,100
said, This one thing, forget the
past.

442
00:28:04,900 –> 00:28:13,500
What did the Apostle Paul mean?
Let’s just read it again in

443
00:28:13,500 –> 00:28:19,000
Philippians 3.
Verse 13 Brethren.

444
00:28:19,000 –> 00:28:24,100
I count myself, not yet to have
apprehended, but this one thing

445
00:28:24,100 –> 00:28:28,900
I do forgetting those things
which are behind and reaching

446
00:28:28,900 –> 00:28:33,000
forward to the things which are
before I press on toward the

447
00:28:33,008 –> 00:28:36,900
goal of the prize of the High
Calling of God in Christ Jesus.

448
00:28:37,600 –> 00:28:40,600
So you see the motion of
direction is the same for both

449
00:28:40,600 –> 00:28:44,200
Moses, and the Apostle Paul.
Both of them are moving

450
00:28:44,200 –> 00:28:46,700
forwards.
Moses says, when you go forward

451
00:28:46,700 –> 00:28:50,100
into the unknown land, as you
make your journey in life, then

452
00:28:50,100 –> 00:28:53,000
remember all the things that God
has done for you and the Apostle

453
00:28:53,000 –> 00:28:55,900
Paul’s on the same Journey.
He says, I’m Reaching Forward.

454
00:28:55,900 –> 00:28:58,700
I’m pressing forward for the
things that I know are coming in

455
00:28:58,700 –> 00:29:01,400
the future.
I’m one of the ways I make

456
00:29:01,400 –> 00:29:06,700
progress is to forget the past.
Well, just finally, before we

457
00:29:06,700 –> 00:29:11,200
finish, I want to give you three
reasons why we need to forget

458
00:29:11,200 –> 00:29:15,500
the past three situations, three
circumstances that you may need

459
00:29:15,500 –> 00:29:19,100
to use when applying the
Apostle, Paul’s advice to forget

460
00:29:19,100 –> 00:29:23,300
the past.
And the first one is this.

461
00:29:24,700 –> 00:29:28,300
And it’s regrets over what
cannot be changed.

462
00:29:29,600 –> 00:29:31,500
That’s why you need to forget
the past.

463
00:29:32,600 –> 00:29:35,100
There are some things that can
never be erased from our memory.

464
00:29:36,100 –> 00:29:38,600
But if we’re not careful, they
can become the agony of our

465
00:29:38,600 –> 00:29:41,900
life.
And the Apostle Paul would not

466
00:29:41,900 –> 00:29:45,500
have us in that situation.
And he gives us his own

467
00:29:45,500 –> 00:29:47,700
experience.
Just look back at verse 5 of

468
00:29:47,700 –> 00:29:50,500
this.
Same chapter You want to know

469
00:29:50,500 –> 00:29:53,600
what’s in my past, says, the
Apostle Paul will listen to

470
00:29:53,600 –> 00:29:56,400
this.
I was circumcised The Eighth Day

471
00:29:56,600 –> 00:29:59,700
of the stock of Israel of The
Tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of

472
00:29:59,700 –> 00:30:04,200
the Hebrews as touching the law,
a Pharisee concerning zeal,

473
00:30:05,900 –> 00:30:10,300
Persecuting the church.
You want to know what it means

474
00:30:10,300 –> 00:30:12,400
to forget the past says the
Apostle Paul.

475
00:30:13,400 –> 00:30:15,300
I’ll tell you what.
It means to look back and have

476
00:30:15,300 –> 00:30:17,700
things.
I’m not proud of and to have

477
00:30:17,700 –> 00:30:22,500
things, I regret You want to
know about my past?

478
00:30:22,500 –> 00:30:27,700
I persecuted the church.
I put faithful men and women to

479
00:30:27,700 –> 00:30:33,300
death and I took pride in it.
And you know, how I deal with

480
00:30:33,300 –> 00:30:36,800
that says the Apostle Paul.
I forget it.

481
00:30:38,800 –> 00:30:43,100
I put all those things behind me
and I stretch forward and reach

482
00:30:43,100 –> 00:30:45,800
forward for the prize of the
high calling in the Lord Jesus

483
00:30:45,800 –> 00:30:47,200
Christ.
Isn’t that a wonder?

484
00:30:48,200 –> 00:30:50,700
And if you were just sitting
there thinking that that’s not

485
00:30:50,700 –> 00:30:55,400
possible to do, you just listen
to the categoric statement of a

486
00:30:55,400 –> 00:30:59,800
man like the Apostle Paul?
I reach forward and I press on.

487
00:31:01,700 –> 00:31:05,400
You see we cannot will to forget
we’ve said that already you

488
00:31:05,400 –> 00:31:09,900
cannot just magically somehow we
raise it from your memory but to

489
00:31:09,900 –> 00:31:12,700
think of it and go over it in
your mind mournfully and

490
00:31:12,700 –> 00:31:16,400
woefully well is just not
helpful.

491
00:31:18,500 –> 00:31:20,900
I’m not suggesting we should
make light of sin and things

492
00:31:20,900 –> 00:31:23,600
that we regret but to brood over
it is even worse.

493
00:31:23,800 –> 00:31:26,500
And all you’re doing is the very
thing which God permits you to

494
00:31:26,500 –> 00:31:30,000
do.
I forget those things which are

495
00:31:30,000 –> 00:31:33,900
behind and I leave them behind
their unhelpful, to my progress,

496
00:31:33,900 –> 00:31:38,100
into my journey and God has
allowed me to move on and to

497
00:31:38,100 –> 00:31:40,800
press on and, you know, the
Wonder of God young people and

498
00:31:40,808 –> 00:31:43,400
bring the sisters is, you know,
I kind of grew up thinking that,

499
00:31:43,700 –> 00:31:46,800
you know, the past to God was
something like this.

500
00:31:46,800 –> 00:31:50,200
Well, we’d better just say no
more about it.

501
00:31:51,600 –> 00:31:55,600
You know, it’s a sad thing, but
there we are.

502
00:31:55,700 –> 00:31:58,500
What’s done is done.
Let’s just move on.

503
00:31:59,900 –> 00:32:04,100
It’s not like that, with God, he
casts all those things behind

504
00:32:04,100 –> 00:32:09,600
his back and, and it raises
their and he permits us to do

505
00:32:09,600 –> 00:32:11,300
that.
Brendan sisters and young people

506
00:32:11,500 –> 00:32:14,100
for things that will hinder.
Our progress, the past is

507
00:32:14,100 –> 00:32:16,200
irreparable, and it cannot be
changed.

508
00:32:16,300 –> 00:32:19,900
And God can stand between you
and your past, and allow you to

509
00:32:19,900 –> 00:32:23,200
move on.
He stands in the way through the

510
00:32:23,200 –> 00:32:26,000
power of the Lord Jesus Christ
and can heal the worst diseases

511
00:32:26,000 –> 00:32:31,000
of the Soul, any malady of the
mind and any wounds of History.

512
00:32:31,800 –> 00:32:35,400
So that’s the first thing, one
great reason to forget the past

513
00:32:36,100 –> 00:32:39,100
regrets over what cannot be
changed.

514
00:32:41,100 –> 00:32:44,800
The second reason is this, if
you don’t forget the past, it

515
00:32:44,800 –> 00:32:48,600
may get in front of you.
Let me qualify what I mean.

516
00:32:48,700 –> 00:32:51,500
Are there things that you
thought you’d left behind

517
00:32:52,500 –> 00:32:55,000
bridges that you burned for the
sake of the Lord?

518
00:32:55,000 –> 00:32:57,900
Jesus Christ things that you
were happy to lose.

519
00:32:58,100 –> 00:33:01,200
In fact that’s what the Apostle
Paul says In This Very chapter,

520
00:33:01,200 –> 00:33:04,700
isn’t it?
Verse 8 I count all things but

521
00:33:04,700 –> 00:33:08,200
loss for the Excellency of the
knowledge of Christ, Jesus, my

522
00:33:08,200 –> 00:33:11,200
Lord, for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things and do

523
00:33:11,200 –> 00:33:14,300
count them.
But dung that I may win Christ.

524
00:33:14,500 –> 00:33:17,500
There was a time in the Apostle
Paul’s life when he was Way to

525
00:33:17,500 –> 00:33:22,000
lose everything that previously
had thought was great for the

526
00:33:22,000 –> 00:33:26,500
sake of gaining Christ.
Are there things that you want

527
00:33:26,500 –> 00:33:29,100
left behind?
Bridges.

528
00:33:29,100 –> 00:33:33,100
That you burned things that you
were happy to lose that somehow

529
00:33:33,100 –> 00:33:38,500
in between have been secretly
rebuilt and reinstated.

530
00:33:39,700 –> 00:33:43,600
As it happens, doesn’t it what
you may go away today you may go

531
00:33:43,600 –> 00:33:46,300
away tomorrow.
Back home thinking you know what

532
00:33:46,300 –> 00:33:49,700
there are some things in my life
that need to be laid aside.

533
00:33:50,300 –> 00:33:53,300
There are some bridges in my
life that need to be burned.

534
00:33:54,800 –> 00:33:56,600
The challenge is how will you
burn them?

535
00:33:57,600 –> 00:34:00,500
And whether just over time they
just don’t start getting

536
00:34:00,500 –> 00:34:05,900
rebuilds and you see if we don’t
forget them, totally fully then

537
00:34:05,900 –> 00:34:08,300
we may find that before long.
They’re back in front of us

538
00:34:08,300 –> 00:34:12,000
again.
And the Apostle Paul says, I

539
00:34:12,000 –> 00:34:14,100
forget those things which are
behind.

540
00:34:14,100 –> 00:34:16,300
I forget those bridges that I
wouldn’t had.

541
00:34:16,500 –> 00:34:17,800
You want to know about Burning
Bridges.

542
00:34:17,800 –> 00:34:20,300
So the Apostle Paul you should
have seen the people I used to

543
00:34:20,300 –> 00:34:24,000
hang out with the friends.
I had the places I used to go,

544
00:34:24,000 –> 00:34:29,199
the shoulders are used to rub.
and I forget those things which

545
00:34:29,199 –> 00:34:35,199
are behind, totally Not
half-heartedly completely and I

546
00:34:35,199 –> 00:34:40,400
press on and I reach forward for
the things that God has

547
00:34:40,400 –> 00:34:44,600
promised.
Last one because time is nearly

548
00:34:44,600 –> 00:34:47,500
gone and this is perhaps for the
older ones.

549
00:34:48,900 –> 00:34:51,800
And the younger people can just
earwig if you wish.

550
00:34:53,000 –> 00:34:56,800
It will only take me a moment.
One reason to forget the past

551
00:34:56,800 –> 00:35:01,100
brothers and sisters is looking
back to the good old days.

552
00:35:03,700 –> 00:35:05,600
And even if the young people
are, are we getting?

553
00:35:05,600 –> 00:35:09,400
You will know what I mean?
Because you’ve heard it many

554
00:35:09,400 –> 00:35:12,900
times, the good old days.
When there were no marriage

555
00:35:12,900 –> 00:35:17,200
problems, we didn’t have to talk
about sex and drug abuse.

556
00:35:17,600 –> 00:35:19,300
There was only one
interpretation of the

557
00:35:19,300 –> 00:35:26,700
Apocalypse, you know, the good
old days And I suspect brothers

558
00:35:26,700 –> 00:35:30,200
and sisters what we find is and
I know in my own life that when

559
00:35:30,200 –> 00:35:34,100
we look back at the past,
sometimes it’s with a slightly

560
00:35:34,100 –> 00:35:37,800
Rosy color.
That isn’t quite true.

561
00:35:39,100 –> 00:35:40,700
And although there were good
things.

562
00:35:40,700 –> 00:35:43,300
There were some good times in
the good old days.

563
00:35:43,600 –> 00:35:48,600
There were some bad things too.
Let’s not have a selective

564
00:35:48,600 –> 00:35:52,900
memory and when I say, you know,
I’m not asking you not to

565
00:35:52,900 –> 00:35:54,800
remember the good old days.
I’m just saying.

566
00:35:54,800 –> 00:35:58,300
Don’t let your memory of them
impede, your progress in the

567
00:35:58,300 –> 00:36:02,800
present and into the future.
You see, I’m an optimist.

568
00:36:03,100 –> 00:36:05,900
You may not agree.
I like to think of myself as an

569
00:36:05,900 –> 00:36:13,800
optimist and real goodness is
born out of adversity. and so if

570
00:36:13,800 –> 00:36:17,400
you think that these are not the
good old days anymore then let’s

571
00:36:17,400 –> 00:36:21,100
press on and realize that the
soldier is proved not in college

572
00:36:21,400 –> 00:36:25,700
but on the battlefield Remember
them, if you wish, but never let

573
00:36:25,700 –> 00:36:28,400
your remembrance spoil, the
present and the future.

574
00:36:28,600 –> 00:36:31,500
It’s a bit like trying to go up
an escalator the wrong way,

575
00:36:31,600 –> 00:36:34,300
isn’t it trying to go back into
the past?

576
00:36:34,700 –> 00:36:37,400
You know, I remember doing that
with my mother when she used to

577
00:36:37,408 –> 00:36:38,900
take me shopping.
I don’t know how she copes

578
00:36:38,900 –> 00:36:41,000
actually.
And If Ever, I Saw an escalator

579
00:36:41,300 –> 00:36:44,700
wherever we were, I just had an
Impulse turbine compulsion, as

580
00:36:44,700 –> 00:36:49,700
some kind of potion to to
attempt to Traverse it the wrong

581
00:36:49,700 –> 00:36:52,200
direction.
Because it would seem like the

582
00:36:52,200 –> 00:36:56,700
greatest Of human history.
If I could get to the bottom or

583
00:36:56,700 –> 00:36:59,500
the top while it was determined
to make me go the other way.

584
00:37:01,100 –> 00:37:02,900
And the past is a little like
that.

585
00:37:05,300 –> 00:37:07,500
Let’s move on brothers and
sisters in young, people

586
00:37:07,500 –> 00:37:11,100
remembering all the way that the
Lord Our God has led us.

587
00:37:11,100 –> 00:37:14,700
And forget those things which
are behind the things, which

588
00:37:14,900 –> 00:37:19,500
impede our progress and make us
Halt and falter and fail in our

589
00:37:19,500 –> 00:37:22,700
journey onwards and forwards to
the Future.

590
00:37:24,800 –> 00:37:29,800
And so in conclusion, then, as
you face tomorrow, let no one

591
00:37:29,800 –> 00:37:32,300
take away from you.
The certainties of yesterday,

592
00:37:33,000 –> 00:37:35,900
when they say to you, where is
now your God?

593
00:37:36,900 –> 00:37:40,900
Sit down have an audience of one
and go through the past.

594
00:37:40,900 –> 00:37:46,100
And remember, Jordan, and Herman
and mizar.

595
00:37:46,200 –> 00:37:49,600
Remember the Waters of the Red
Sea, remember the manner raining

596
00:37:49,600 –> 00:37:53,000
down from heaven and that’s why
God allows us to experience the

597
00:37:53,000 –> 00:37:55,600
past.
And, to remember it, So that we

598
00:37:55,600 –> 00:37:59,600
can look back and remember all
the way that the Lord Our God

599
00:37:59,600 –> 00:38:01,200
has led us.
And for those of you who don’t

600
00:38:01,200 –> 00:38:03,900
feel, you have much of that
experience in your history,

601
00:38:04,200 –> 00:38:06,800
start building it because it
happens right now.

602
00:38:06,800 –> 00:38:10,700
Today just in five minutes time.
What I’ve said will be in the

603
00:38:10,700 –> 00:38:13,400
past that’s how quickly it gets
built.

604
00:38:14,400 –> 00:38:16,400
And it’s never too late to
start.

605
00:38:17,200 –> 00:38:20,100
They will try and confuse you
about the problems of next year.

606
00:38:20,400 –> 00:38:23,100
You know, the world we live in
is a scary place and there’s all

607
00:38:23,100 –> 00:38:25,800
kinds of things going on and
they will try to baffle you.

608
00:38:25,800 –> 00:38:28,900
People will try to baffle you
with the uncertainties in the

609
00:38:28,908 –> 00:38:31,700
complexities of what lays around
the corner, you know, in the

610
00:38:31,707 –> 00:38:35,100
next year and that maybe allow
them to do that.

611
00:38:35,100 –> 00:38:38,600
But never let them take away
from you, your certainties of

612
00:38:38,600 –> 00:38:42,400
the past and remember how you
sang a song on the safe side of

613
00:38:42,408 –> 00:38:46,700
the Red Sea?
Never doubt your own experience

614
00:38:46,700 –> 00:38:49,100
of God.
And remember when you came to

615
00:38:49,100 –> 00:38:52,600
elim and the water was sweet.
Do you remember that in the

616
00:38:52,600 –> 00:38:54,900
Journey of Israel?
They arrived in the wilderness

617
00:38:54,900 –> 00:38:58,200
and there was nothing but bitter
water and they had nothing to

618
00:38:58,200 –> 00:38:59,600
drink.
And what they discovered was the

619
00:38:59,600 –> 00:39:03,500
next day as they went around the
corner, they came to the biggest

620
00:39:03,500 –> 00:39:09,100
largest supply of Sweetwater
they’d ever known And I know

621
00:39:09,100 –> 00:39:11,900
there are some people in this
room today who came to the

622
00:39:11,900 –> 00:39:15,500
Waters of bitterness and it
nearly broke them.

623
00:39:17,300 –> 00:39:20,200
And yes, around the corner with
a Waters of Elin.

624
00:39:21,400 –> 00:39:25,000
And never let God take away your
remembrance of the past.

625
00:39:25,000 –> 00:39:28,300
And finally the great challenge
that you and I carry with us

626
00:39:28,300 –> 00:39:31,300
today, the challenge of the
present is to make sure you

627
00:39:31,308 –> 00:39:33,900
don’t regret it.
When it does become the past.

628
00:39:34,400 –> 00:39:37,800
If you can measure every day by
that little standard to make

629
00:39:37,800 –> 00:39:40,900
sure that tomorrow when it is
the past, it’s not something we

630
00:39:40,900 –> 00:39:44,000
regret.
Let that temper your presence so

631
00:39:44,000 –> 00:39:47,100
that you can carry it Forward
into the future.

632
00:39:48,700 –> 00:39:51,200
So, I’ll take away from this
session is there are some things

633
00:39:51,200 –> 00:39:56,100
you absolutely must forget.
But there are lots and lots of

634
00:39:56,100 –> 00:39:59,900
things that we absolutely must.
Remember, let us apply them in

635
00:39:59,900 –> 00:40:03,200
the right measure and in the
right circumstances to the

636
00:40:03,200 –> 00:40:19,800
Situation’s of our life,
thank you for listening to the

637
00:40:19,800 –> 00:40:21,600
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podcast.

638
00:40:22,400 –> 00:40:24,300
We hope this talk helped you in
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639
00:40:24,800 –> 00:40:27,100
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640
00:40:27,100 –> 00:40:30,000
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00:40:35,400 –> 00:40:37,900
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00:40:37,900 –> 00:40:40,500
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645
00:40:40,500 –> 00:40:43,900
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00:40:48,700 –> 00:40:51,100
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00:41:03,600 –> 00:41:06,800
If, you know of a great talk, we
want to know about it, to send a

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00:41:06,808 –> 00:41:10,900
suggestion to our e-mail at good
Christian talks at gmail.com or

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00:41:10,900 –> 00:41:13,000
message us on any of our social
media accounts.

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00:41:13,900 –> 00:41:16,700
Thank you for listening.
God, bless and talk to you next

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00:41:16,700 –> 00:41:17,100
week.