Leaving the old for the new

Date of Sermon Delivery: 2. June . 2024

Place of sermon Delivery:  Delhi, India

Sunday Worship Service 

Speaker: Brother Jatin

 Title: leaving the old for the new

Bible: Isaiah 43:14-21

Key verse: Isaiah 43:18-19
18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

 

Praise the Lord

I welcome you all to the house of the Lord this morning.

I hope that you are continuously following the words of God in your life, and by following those words, you are also walking with Jesus Christ.

 

These days, it is very hot in India, and somewhere, we humans do not care about this environment for our own benefit, for our physical lives, or for our own comfort.

Yes, it is important that we pray to God that God makes this weather better, but we also need to take care of the environment, and we have to plant more and more trees in our homes.

You guys, don't be afraid of this heat, but pray more to God that God will change the mindset of the human race towards the environment.  

God will definitely bring a change in the weather, and we will become more aware of it.

 

I have been thinking for a long time that I should give a message from the book of Isaiah so that I can shed some light once again on what God has promised us and this church.

Believe it or not, God promises come so that they can be fulfilled in our lives, because his word has power.

 

Let’s open our Bible. Isaiah 43:18-19

Are you ready for God’s word? All are ready for God’s word; I am also ready.

 

18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

 

Let’s pray to God.

 

God said to forget the former things, which is not easy to do. But if God said it, that means it is possible. When God says something, it does not mean it is easy; it just means it is possible.

He said forgot the former things. It does not mean forget, like you block it out of your mind. But it means stop talking about it.

It does not mean that it is not a part of our story, but it does not need to be the theme of our story. Just because it was a chapter of your life, does not mean that it should come again after every chapter.

 

When God is saying forgot, it does not mean we protect it, or do not sugar-coat it. but God says if you are ever going to see a new thing, you are going to have to forget the old thing.

One weapon that the enemy has against you is your past.

He always tries to bring your past against you because you have memories, you have emotions, and you have feeling tied on the past.

He always uses your past because the devil does not know your future; he cannot talk about your future.

So, what does he do if the past was good for you? He will say that it was good.

Do you know? Good news, Satan does not know your future, or if he is telling your future, he is lying to you.

He talks about your past, and if it was good, he says it's the best ever, nothing can be better than that in your life.

If it was bad, he would say you're going to stay there forever; you can never get out of it.

Whatever it is, he uses your past against you.

Many times, Satan talks to you in flesh and through your senses, he tries to take your past.

You hear a song, and it takes you back to old memories.

Do you understand?

You smell something and it takes you back to old memories.

You see something or someone, and it takes you back.

Can you say it with me? I can learn from past, I can honour my past, but I will always refuse to be imprisoned by my past.

Because God wants this from you, you have to forget it, you have to stop it, you have to walk away from it, you have to stop your mouth from talking about it.

Because  if every time you talk about it, it means you're giving authority to it.

 

Forget the former/old things so that you can embrace the new things

Do you believe that God is the God of new things?  

Lamentations 3:22-23 The faithful love of the Lord never ends His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.

 

I want to remind you that He is the God of new life, He is the God of new creation, He is the God of new covenant, He is the God of new tongues, He is the God of new songs, He is the God of new heaven and earth, and He is the God of new mercy.

Our God is the God of new things, and today morning he wants to tell you that he wants to do new things in your life—in your church, in your jobs, in your family, in your relationship, in your finances, in your study. but you have to forget the past and let go of everything that prevents or hinders the new one from coming.

 

In Isaiah 43:18-19 God instructs us to forget the former things and not dwell on the past. He declares that he is doing something new and asks if we perceive it.

To understand it deeper, we have to look at its background.

Prophet Isaiah lived during a time when God’s people were divided into two kingdoms: Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

Both kingdoms had turned away from God, engaging in immorality, political corruption, social injustice, and spiritual idolatry.

Isaiah warned the people of Judah about God's judgement due to their actions.

He prophesied that they would be defeated and taken captive by Babylon.

The people of Judah would endure another hundred years of hardships and seventy years of exile before their fall.

This will all happen in the future. Because of your idolatry, Babylon will come to you, and captive you.

And in verses 18–19, God is saying to them, Do not remember it because I will restore you and forgive you again.

God looks beyond their punishment in this story, and he highlights their restoration and forgiveness.

God looks beyond what they are doing wrong, he looks beyond the rise of Babylonians, he looks beyond the fall of Babylonians; he looks beyond bringing them back to their homeland, and he is going to forgive them, restore them, and do new things.

This is all God is saying to them before 150–200 years, in advance, he is saying to them to forget the former things and not dwell in the past because God is looking towards that wonderful time of forgiveness and restoration that our father hearts for us. He is looking ahead, he is looking to the future, he is looking to the promises, he is looking to our redemption, our restoration, and our forgiveness. But we are the ones who are always stuck in the past, not God.

God is way ahead of us, he has already seen the cross; he has already seen forgiveness, he has already seen redemption, he loves us; and he wants the best for us.

But we are the ones that deal with the past, we are the ones stuck in the past; God does not.

 

In bible we can see the example of Paul, Philippians 3:12-14. 

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 

Paul also said in his testimony, Because I was a blasphemer, I was a persecutor, I was a murderer.

He says I had a previous life. But when I came to know Christ, now my whole ambition is just to run the race with perseverance and cross that finish line, and never look back because the past is past and I have just leave my past

I do not want my past to hurt me or interfere with the race that I am running.

When we see it on the race track, no athlete sees it left or right, or even back because if he sees it, he will lose the medal.

 

1. Forget the former things (verse 18a)—what does it mean to forget? How can we just forget something that is our minds because of what we have done, or maybe something that was done to us? Yes, God can do everything, he can remove all the memories. But in general, when the Bible says to forget it, it does not mean that somehow you are no longer going to remember. But it means you should no longer give it weight, otherwise, it can become a barrier to experiencing new blessings.

If we see verse 25, God says, I even I am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. It is a great verse that God remembers your sins no more.

Now, how is that possible? God is omniscient, he knows all things, therefore, he cannot forget things. But what does it mean when he says he will no longer remember your sins?

It can be said that he placed the weight of our sin on his son, when Jesus died on the cross, and therefore  he has made our sin powerless because he has removed the weight of it and it no longer has the same weight that it did.

In the same way we have to understand, when He says, Forget your past, it does not mean that you are not remembering it, but when you remember it do not give it weight, do not give power, do not give it value.

 

2. Do not dwell on the past(verse 18b) – we all have the problem of replaying something again and again in our minds, rehearsing it, and reliving it.

Thinking about it, if I just done this differently, maybe this would not have turned out this way. If I had not been at this particular place, at this particular time, maybe this would not have happened.

We start rehearsing, and then we start to dwell on it, therefore, God is telling us not to do that. Do not dwell in the past, do not keep rehearsing, and do not keep replaying it in your mind.

If something you did, ask forgiveness and then walk in that forgiveness. When he has forgiven us through his son, we have to learn to forgive ourselves.

Many people we say God has forgiven me, but I cannot forgive myself. God has chosen to forgive you, and yet you are saying that I am able to forgive, then you are keeping yourself above God, Even though it is not our intention but if it is happening that you are not able to forgive yourself or others, then we are keeping ourselves greater than God.

When God has forgiven your sin, then you need to walk in that forgiveness, otherwise, we are dwelling on it.

In the same way, when you replay the past of people and what they have done to you, the same words always apply to forgiveness. Colossians 3:13: The bible says, Forgive as Christ has forgiven you.  

Ask yourself: How has Christ forgiven me?

Because he is forgiving you, he calls us in a similar way to forgive others.

Did God ever say that I have forgiven you, but I will never forget what you have done?

God does not say that, but we do this always, we say that all the time, We need to stop saying those kinds of things.

Yes, it can be difficult, it can be hurtful for you, but God says I want you to forgive as I forgiven you, so that you will be free from dwelling on the past.

 

3. Look for the new thing God is doing (19)- See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

It reminds us that God is doing new things. But in it, God asks this question in verse 19. Do you not perceive it? It means it is possible to miss the new things, if you are still stuck on the old things.

Do you know Mrs. Lot? She did not have a name, but she is the lot's wife. When God rains down judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness,.

Before God brings judgement over the cities, he sends an angel to go down and take by the hand Lot and his family, You need to get out of here because God's judgement is going to fall here. As they were a way little further away, the Bible says Mrs. Lot turned and looked back. The Hebrews indicate that she looked longingly, and so she became a pillar of salt. He lost new things.

It is possible that you may miss something new because of looking back.

The Israelites, on their way from Egypt to the promised land, started complaining in the wilderness, murmuring against God, They got near the promised land. And they send 12 spies to get report of land.

10 come back with bad news. Man,  there are giants in the land, we cannot win them. But two of them—Joshua and Caleb no, we got this because God is our side.

But 10, spread the bad report to all people, and the and the bad report turned them. And they said, Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, We should choose a leader and go back. We should go back to Egypt.

They were 400-year-old slaves in Egypt, and they thought it would be better to go back to Egypt.

You know, some people get so stuck in the past, even the bad past, that they can not move on with God, and that entire generation died in the wilderness because they did not see, they could not perceive the new thing that God was doing.  They never entered the Promised Land; only their children could go, and they all died in the desert.

Yes, it is possible to miss the things that God is doing when we are still stuck in the old things.

So forget the former things, do not dwell in the past; and look for the new thing that God is doing.

God wants to do new things in your life, He wants to do new things in your work, He wants to do new things in your relationships, He wants to do new things in His church, but for that, it is important that we leave the old, do not remember the old, do not give weight the old. Don't speak about it but yearn for something new, hope for something, and believe right now he is doing something new.

God is the God of new beginnings. God is the God of second chances, and God is always more interested in looking way ahead to your forgiveness, redemption, and restoration.

May the Good God bless you. 

Amen