When Is It Right To Look Back?

1:04:26 How grateful we are for the Reverend Clay Evans, the Reverend Charles Jenkins, and the Reverend Reginald Sharp. How grateful we are for a brand new day. You gave us Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday. We just paused this morning to say thank you. Be our teacher and our preacher. If there's somebody that don't know you, find them. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Lead me Lead me Let the church say amen Thank y'all so much for lead me, guide me It means a whole lot when I go somewhere and people sing that song What a joy it is to be in the ship, amen And let me thank Reverend Jenkins for something when Reverend, when I got ready to retire, Reverend Charlie Dates came to visit Reverend Jenkins and said, show me how to treat Reverend Meeks like you treated Reverend Clay Evans.

1:05:53 Amen. Amen. And Reverend Jenkins has been tutoring him on how to treat me. And so far so good. I look good, don't I? And Reverend Charlie Dates in Salem have been treating me like Reverend Jenkins tried to treat Reverend Evans. And it's just nice to be nice, isn't it? And it's just good to remember the folk that came before you. Amen. To act like life started with you is a mistake. And so thank you, Reverend Reginald Sharp, who is doing the doggone thing. I ain't kidding. Thank you. Thank you. Genesis chapter 19. Genesis chapter 19. I got about 25 good minutes. Genesis chapter 19 verse 17 and it came to pass when they brought them forth abroad that he said escape for your life look not behind thee neither stay thou in the plain escape to the mountain lest thou be consumed.

1:07:24 Verse 26. But his wife looked back from behind him and she became what church? A pillar of salt. Joshua chapter 4 verse 20. And those 12 stones which thou took out of Jordan did Joshua pitch in Gilgah. And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones? Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land. Fellowship, I want to talk from the subject, When is it right to look back?

1:08:20 While you take your seat, ask somebody, when is it right to look back? What happened on my water? Oh, underneath. Ain't y'all fancy?

1:08:42 Look, I'm 70 years old. I can't keep bending down there. When is it right to look back? Fellowship, the Bible is filled with seeming contradictions. I did not say that the Bible is filled with contradictions. I said the Bible is filled, Malcolm, with seeming contradictions. In one breath, the Bible will tell us to do one thing. And then in another breath, it turns around and tells us not to do. the same thing that it had just told us to do. You don't believe me?

1:09:37 As the young folk would say, I got receipts. Matthew 6 and 3, Jesus says, don't let your left hand know. Oh, y'all read the Bible before. What your right hand is doing. Then in Matthew chapter 5, he comes back and says, let your light so shine. So that people can see your good works. In Habakkuk chapter 2, you've heard it before. He says, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silent before him. And then the 100 Psalms come back and says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord. So what is it?

1:10:33 I'm confused. Am I supposed to be quiet? Or am I supposed to make some noise? Psalms chapter 46 says, be still and know that I'm God. Then Matthew chapter 28 says, go in all the world. So am I supposed to be still? Am I supposed to be quiet? Am I supposed to make noise? What am I supposed to do? In the two texts that we have before us, as we compare Joshua chapter 4 with Genesis chapter 19. In Genesis chapter 19, God says to Lot and to his family, escape to the mountains. Don't look back behind you.

1:11:27 And then when we come to Joshua chapter 4, God said to the children of Israel, hey, I don't trust your memory. I don't trust that you get where you're going and not remember who bought you. So God said, put down 12 stones. And when your children ask you, what do these 12 stones mean? That you'll be able to tell them that these stones commemorate the day that God dried up the Jordan River and we walked through on dry ground. I might add it doesn't get any better in the New Testament. It doesn't get any better. In the New Testament, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul reminded us that Jesus says, as often as ye eat this cup and drink, as often as ye drink this cup and eat this bread, He show forth the Lord's death burial until he comes again.

1:12:31 St. Paul comes back in Philippians chapter 3 and says, this one thing I do, forget those things that are behind. And reach to the, so what am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to remember? Am I supposed to forget? Am I supposed to look forward? Or am I supposed to look backwards? Y'all going to help me today? Fellowship, even though God plainly told Lot and his family not to look back, it's obvious that there is a right time to look back. Are you with me? I'm by myself. in Genesis chapter 19, God had made up his mind. God had decided that he was going to destroy the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He said that your wickedness has come up to me. Now, you got to be awfully wicked. If your wickedness reach heaven, you, you, as my grandmama would say, you got to be cutting up.

1:13:41 You got to be cutting the food. That if God is in the presence of the angels and heaven is singing and all of a sudden God goes. if your wickedness gets God's attention, you wicked. Am I right about that? The Bible says, however, Lot and his family found grace in the eyes of God. I came by to tell Fellowship today and all of us who would listen, that no matter what nobody else is doing, if you do right if you and your family adopter asks for me and my house we're gonna serve the lord that god will honor you if nobody else on the block gets blessed God will keep you in perfect peace if your mind is stayed on him.

1:14:49 And so God said, now, I can't destroy Sodom and Gomorrah a lot as long as you and your family are here. He said, I want y'all to escape. I want y'all to leave. And when y'all leave the city, I don't want you to look back behind you. Fellowship number one, it's wrong to look back when looking back leads to procrastination.

1:15:19 Let me hear you say procrastination. In this case, looking back meant impeding progress. There are many people, many people, many people never go forward because they keep living in the past. Are you with me here? A lot of people use the past not to ever do anything in the future. I ain't going to look for no job. Because last year... When I went to look for a job, I couldn't find one. And so I ain't going this year.

1:16:12 I ain't going this year. I ain't going to save no money. I ain't going to save no money. Last time I saved some money, I spent it. No, I ain't gonna quit smoking. Polio 걸리ni.... I ain't gonna quit smoking. Last time I started back. I ain't gonna lose no weight. Last time I gained more pounds than I, uh-uh, uh-uh. Now you know what's funny to me is we selectively do that on stuff that we don't want to do. I ain't never heard no Negro say, uh, uh, don't write me no check.

1:17:14 Last time somebody wrote me a check, it only had one signature, and I had a bad experience. You know, that's what people do to not come to church. I had a bad experience last time I came to church. I ain't never heard nobody say, don't give me no check. I had a bad experience with the last check. I ain't never heard no woman say, I ain't going to the beauty shop. Last time I went on Tuesday I ain't get out to Saturday night I ain't never heard nobody say, uh-uh, I ain't gonna order no bundles of hair.

1:17:59 Last time I ordered four bundles of Egyptian hair, and they sent me five bundles of dog hair. No. We do it when we want to do it. But it's wrong to look back when looking back leads to procrastination. Are you with me here? Number two, it's wrong to look back when looking back leads to pain. It's wrong to look back when looking back leads to pain. Why did Lot's wife have to turn around?

1:18:48 You ever wondered? I mean, they're running, there's fire and brimstone behind them, and she just had to turn around. It is believed that Lot's wife had a relationship back inside her that she didn't want to let go of. And we know that it was a sinful relationship. And she was so attached till she had to get one more look. Be careful now about one more time. what's wrong with letting the last time be the last time all right all right all right i'm gonna do this i'm gonna do this one more time after this time i ain't gonna do it are y'all with me here Watch this, watch this, watch this.

1:20:01 The reason Paul said this one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, is because fellowship, there are some things that cause us pain in the past. And we got to learn how to leave those painful memories in the past. Are you with me here? You've got to learn how to leave them in the past. Looking back at painful situations is like picking at a sore. I had a sore on my hand, I had a sore on my hand, and it would not heal. And I told my mama, I said, Mama, I said, this sore just will not heal. And you know, mothers have sympathy on children.

1:20:56 Mothers have sympathy. Well, come here, son. Let me do this. Let me do that. And my father said, what y'all doing? I said, well, I got this sore on my hand. It just will not heal. He said, because you picking at it. He had no sympathy. Wasn't no chaser. Wasn't no nothing. He just cut straight to the chase. Because you picking at it. He said, if you quit picking at the sore, it'll get better. Are you with me here? It can never get better, he said, because you keep touching it I came by to tell somebody today, anybody who would listen Stop blaming yourself for your past mistakes Are you with me here? You are human You're going to make some mistakes When you tell the person next to you, you're going to make some mistakes You're going to make some mistakes I said to a church last week, the reason they put erasers on pencils, because you're going to make some mistakes.

1:22:02 The reason they have delete is because we say some stuff. We look and we say, before I hit send, let me read that thing again. We're going to make some mistakes. When I was in typing class, I had a teacher by the name of Miss Lee. And Miss Lee used to tell us, well, look, if you make a mistake, just put some liquid white. Ain't nobody here. Y'all don't remember liquid white. I know y'all too sophisticated. Y'all too, y'all got computers and AI and stuff like that. We don't even have to think for ourselves no more. I used to put liquid white. One time she told me I'm not accepting this paper. This whole paper is liquid white.

1:22:50 Ain't a word on this paper. This ain't nothing but liquid white. But the reason they have backspace is because we make mistakes. I came to argue with somebody today and say, stop beating yourself up. All right, you gave him your phone number. All right, all right. Y'all went out. All right. You end up marrying. All right. Well, stop beating yourself up over the mistakes that you've made in the past. Are you with me here? If God has forgiven you, then we got to learn how to forgive ourselves since God has already forgiven us. Am I right about that? Stop looking back and being mad at other people who caused you pain in the past. If God has forgiven them, then you got to forgive them too. Do you know that when you don't forgive another person, you actually strap that person to your body and you walk around carrying that person everywhere you go. If God has forgiven them, then we have no choice to forgive them. The reason you all, our pain continues when we keep looking back is because we keep visiting painful situations with round-trip tickets.

1:24:23 I came to tell you today, the next time you visit your pain, at least have a one-way ticket. And if you don't understand what none of that means, maybe you'll understand the way the old folks said, take your burdens to the Lord. and leave them there. Are you with me here? If God cast our sins in the sea of forgetfulness, why are we swimming out to the sea, digging them up, bringing them back? Well, Pastor, wait a minute now. You still haven't dealt with the subject. When is it right to look back? Fellowship, all the scriptures that tell us to look back, they follow the same pattern. All of the scriptures that tell us to look back tell us to look back for the same reason.

1:25:23 In Joshua chapter 4, God told the children of Israel, said, now it's going to be very difficult while you are traversing this promised land. But I'm going to get you out of this, out of this into the promised land. And I'm going to get you on the other side of the Jordan. But I'm afraid that when you get in houses that you didn't build. And when you start drinking from wells that you didn't dig. I'm afraid that y'all gonna forget the founding members I'm afraid that when y'all start filling up the church three times, y'all going to forget that there was seven folk who started 76 years ago. So he said, what I want you to do is put down 12 stones so that when your children ask you, because I'm not trusting your memory, but I'll trust these stones, that the stones ain't going to forget.

1:26:26 He said, when your children ask you what mean these 12 stones, then you can say, oh, this happened when God dried up the Jordan River and we walked through on dry ground. That's what communion is. Jesus said, I ain't taking no chances of going to the cross and getting nails in my hand and nails in my feet. And y'all forget that I died for you. So he said, here, take heed. This is my body that's broken for you. This is my cup that's given to you. Every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you show forth the Lord's death, burial and resurrection. Because I don't want you to forget what I've done for you. Fellowship is right to look back when looking back leads to praise.

1:27:22 When we look back at where we were, when we look back at what we had, when we look back at what we didn't know, when we look back at how messed up we were, and then look at where we are now, and realize that the only reason we're here right now is because God bought us. The only reason we're here right now is because God carried us. The only reason we're here right now is because God delivered us. When looking back helps you remember God, when looking back helps you praise God, when looking back helps you say thank you, then it's all right to look back. When you look back and realize that God brought me from A to B, and God brought me from C to D, It wasn't my education. It wasn't my good looks. It wasn't that I was in the right place at the right time. But because God opened doors, God defeated my enemies. God made a way out of no way.

1:28:34 Come on, fellowship. Y'all told the world, when I look back over my life and I think things over, I can truly say that I've been blessed. I got a testimony. My soul looks back and wonder how I got over. It's right to look back. When you look back at seven people 76 years ago that started fellowship, when you look back at the ministry of Charles Jenkins and Charles Jenkins' ministry can be categorized in one word, awesome. I said awesome. God blessed fellowship through Reverend Jenkins and through Reverend Evans and now through Reverend Sharp. but Rem Sharp ain't the first generation.

1:29:29 There were people who came along before that. We ought to look back every now and then. We ought to tell our kids every now and then. We ain't always driven no new car. We ain't always lived in no new house. You ought to take them back to the old house and say, look where God has brought us. Look how far we've come. we're not what we ought to be but is there anybody here is there anybody here that want to thank God with me that we ain't what we used to be thank you Lord thank you Lord thank you Lord