Paul wrote to the Church at Philippi to forget those things that are behind and reach forth unto those things that are before. Before you can go on with God, you must forget about the past.
Paul, once known as Saul of Tarsus, had to forget about his past as a persecutor of Christians in order to minister effectively.
In 1 Timothy 1:11-16 Paul said of himself: “According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.”
But thank God, God’s great mercy reached Paul! That’s one thing he was talking about when he said, “Forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark.”
It would have been a terrible thing for Paul to continually remember the havoc he had wrought in the Church by consenting to the death of Stephen and persecuting believers.
If we are to be successful in our Christian life and ministry, there is one thing we must do, and it’s a lesson Paul learned: we must learn to forget. If we don’t learn this lesson, we’ll be handicapped the rest of our lives in living for God.
Remember this: The Lord Himself said in Isaiah – and it’s repeated in the New Testament – “I, even I, am he that blots out thy transgressions, and will not remember thy sins” (Is. 43:25). If He doesn’t remember them, why should you?
You need to remind Him and yourself, because when you enter into the presence of God to pray, the devil will bring all kinds of accusations against you. Invariably, he will bring your past before you as a photograph. But that’s all it is: just a picture! It doesn’t exist anymore! God said, “I’ve blotted it out.” If He blotted it out, it doesn’t exist.
God didn’t say He wouldn’t remember your sins or iniquities for your sake (although you get the benefit of it); He said it was for His sake. He’ll not remember your sins.
Why? So He can bless you. So He can help you. So He can demonstrate His great mercy and love on your behalf. You can see that Paul had to forget his past in order to walk on with God and to stand in the full potential of the office and ministry God had called him to.
Closely associated with learning to forget is learning to forgive. This forgiveness is twofold: Not only must you learn to forgive other people, you also must learn to forgive yourself. It takes faith to forgive! In fact, your faith won’t work unless you do forgive!
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
Rev. Hagin was born on Aug. 20, 1917, in McKinney, Texas, a son of the late Lillie Viola Drake Hagin and Jess Hagin.
Rev. Hagin was sickly as a child, suffering from a deformed heart and an incurable blood disease. He was not expected to live and became bedfast at age 15. In April 1933 during a dramatic conversion experience, he reported dying three times in 10 minutes, each time seeing the horrors of hell and then returning to life.
In August of 1934, Rev. Hagin was miraculously healed, raised off a deathbed by the power of God and the revelation of faith in God's Word. Two years later, he preached his first sermon as pastor of a small community church in Roland, Texas.
In 1937, Rev. Hagin was baptized in the Holy Spirit and began ministering in Pentecostal churches. During the next 12 years he pastored five churches in Texas: in the cities of Tom Bean, Farmersville (twice), Talco, Greggton, and Van. In 1949, he began an itinerant ministry as a Bible teacher and evangelist.
During the next 14 years, Jesus appeared to Rev. Hagin eight times in visions that changed the course of his ministry. In 1966, he moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he opened a ministry office. That same year, he taught for the first time on radio—on KSKY in Dallas. In 1967, he began a regular radio broadcast that continues today as Faith Seminar of the Air. Teaching by his son, Rev. Kenneth W. Hagin, is also heard on the program.
In 1968, Rev. Hagin published the first issues of The Word of Faith magazine, which now has a monthly circulation of more than 250,000. The publishing outreach he founded, Faith Library Publications, has circulated more than 65 million copies of books by Rev. Hagin, Rev. Hagin Jr., and several other authors worldwide. Faith Library Publications also has produced more than 9 million audio teaching tapes and CDs.
Other outreaches of Kenneth Hagin Ministries include RHEMA Praise, a weekly television broadcast hosted by Rev. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Hagin; RHEMA Correspondence Bible School; RHEMA Alumni Association; RHEMA Ministerial Association International; RHEMA Supportive Ministries Association; the RHEMA Prayer and Healing Center; and a prison ministry.
In 1974, Rev. Hagin founded RHEMA Bible Training Center USA and in 1976 moved the school and ministry offices to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, where they remain. To date, RHEMA Bible Training Center USA has 23,000 alumni, and RHEMA Bible Training Centers have opened in 13 other nations: Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, and Thailand. Together, the 14 schools have more than 28,000 graduates worldwide.
RHEMA Bible Church, pastored by Rev. Hagin Jr., began holding services in October of 1985 on the RHEMA campus in Broken Arrow and has since grown to become a thriving congregation with more than 8,000 members.
Rev. Hagin's daughter and son-in-law, Pat Harrison and the late Doyle "Buddy" Harrison, founded Harrison House Publishers in 1975 and Faith Christian Fellowship International Church in 1977. Both organizations are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Until shortly before his death in September 2003, Rev. Hagin continued to travel and teach throughout the United States and into Canada conducting All Faiths' Crusades and other special meetings.