What Happens When You Put YOUR Past Behind You?

Hello, and welcome to Social Media Ministries. My name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us today. We’ve got a great message for you.

I hope that you have hit that subscribe button, hit the like button, and hit the bell icon to stay tuned to future videos wherever you’re watching or listening.

In addition, take advantage of those share buttons. Those share icons help us reach more people around the world. That’s what we need to do. We need to build the Kingdom all over. And guess what? Social media is an excellent world. Yes, it is another world, and we are told to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

Social media is a world we need to conquer for Christ. Take dominion of it. And so, we are trying to do that with Social Media Ministries. We’re also trying to get into not only the social media worlds—the world of Facebook, Instagram, all of these, YouTube—but also the physical world: cities, regions, countries all around the globe.

So help us do that by using those share icons to share to your social media profiles, so we can reach your world of people to whom you are connected. So help us with that. We have a great message today.

If you haven’t already, please again, subscribe, so that you can continue getting these sermons. If you’re new with us, we really appreciate it. Praise God that you found this somehow.

If you have any questions at all, please comment below. You can also join us on Discord for our sermon discussions. If you have any questions about any sermon at all that you watch from Social Media Ministries, comment on the YouTube video or go to that Discord server and start typing in there: “I have a question about XYZ sermon,” and then we can get on, talk to you about it.

Prayer requests—all of that. Feel free to reach out to us. Go to our website. Check all of that out. If this is your first time, thank you so much for being with us. And for those of you loyal visitors, loyal followers, we really appreciate your continued viewership, and I really pray and hope that you are getting a lot out of these sermons. All right, so time for me to get out of the way. Let’s get the Holy Spirit in and get going.

Today, we are talking about your past. Your past. You say, “How do you know about my past?” I know nothing about your past. But you know what? The Holy Spirit knows all. And guess who else knows? Demons. They know your past as well, and they always like to remind you of your past.

But God does not like to remind you of your past. Why? Because He wants you living right now. This is the present. This is the gift He has given to you—the ability to live in what some people call, or even.

I guess you could say, new age, which we do not condone any of that. They say, “The eternal moment of now.” And yes, there is some truth to that part. You need to be living in that eternal moment of now by definition, not by terms of their misdefined term.

I’m saying the eternal moment of now, in that you need to be eternally living in the present. Not focused on the past. Not worried about the future. Because that’s what Satan wants to do to you.

He wants his demons to be pulling you out of the right now because what can you do right now? Right now is the only time. The present is the only time that you can be building the Kingdom.

So if Satan pulls you into your past or gets you worried about your future, you are not building the Kingdom now, and he has stopped you from making progress.

Therefore, you need to always be living in that eternal moment—eternally living in the now while you are here on Earth. Because if you are always focused on what you are doing right now for the Kingdom, you will always be building the Kingdom.

But if you start worrying about your future, thinking about what’s going on tomorrow—“What’s this? What’s this?” I’m not saying don’t make plans. We have tons of sermons on that. Go to our website.

Type in “Plan.” You can find them all. And there will be cards on the YouTube channel as well for several sermons. We can’t put them all in. We’ve had so many sermons, and I reference a lot of them. You can only do like five on YouTube. But go to our website. Type in “Plans,” and you can watch those.

The other thing the devil likes to do is constantly remind you of your past. You might be reminded of the bad things you have done in the past. Remembering your sins or thinking about regrets, and when that happens, you need to stop thinking. You can’t be thinking that stuff.

Because number one: if it’s a past sin, you’ve already been forgiven. So if Satan’s bringing it up, God’s already forgotten about it. He has put it behind Him. It’s as far as the east from the west. We’ve talked about this in sermons before. It’s in the depths of the ocean.

So if you are being reminded of that, that’s, that’s a demon. You’ve got to stop. The only other thing would be if you are being convicted for something that you haven’t yet been forgiven for.

Then what you need to do is think, “Oh, I remember I stole whenever. Okay, God, forgive me for that. I’m sorry.” And then find out who you stole from, get forgiveness there. It’s done. Never again.

So if you know you’ve been forgiven—if you’ve already talked to God about it—that’s the devil reminding you. Shut it down. Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 10:5.

2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought, and we make it obedient to Christ.”

That’s what you need to be doing. When you start thinking about your past, or you start thinking about the future with anxiety, or with worry, or dread, or foreboding, or fear, or whatever— apprehension—you need to stop and take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.

What does that look like? Well, if you’re all of a sudden, let’s say, we have a lot of young people watching. Let’s say you have a college exam coming up. For those of you that are out of college, you probably remember.

If you don’t remember college exams, maybe high school. If you didn’t go to college, whatever. Or maybe in your career, you had an assessment or an evaluation—a performance review.

Let’s say you have something like that coming up, and you’re worried about it. “I hope I pass.” “I hope I impress them.” Whatever it is. You are being pulled into that moment in the future. You are apprehensive. You are tense. You are anxious. All of those things are demons. People manifest the characteristic of the name of the demon.

And so, if you have anxiety, you are manifesting the characteristic of the demon: Anxiety. Just like if you have the Holy Spirit, you will be manifesting the characteristic of the name of that spirit: Holiness. See what I’m saying? We’ve talked about this before.

The point is, when you have that happen, what can you do? Take captive every thought. That means you recognize it. Stop. I don’t need to be anxious about this test. You take that thought captive. You make it obedient to Christ.

How? By not thinking it. You pray. You give it to God. “Lord, help me with that test.” And then you, then you take a look at it and say, “What can I do? Am I prepared?” And do what you can do, like the sermon we had on meeting God halfway. I’ll put that one in a card. “Meet God halfway.” We had a sermon on that.

So you make sure you do everything you can do. And then, that’s it. Those thoughts are now obedient to Christ. Anytime they start to creep in, shut them down. They are not holy. They are from the devil.

Let’s go to 1 Peter 5:8, probably know this verse. It’s a very popular one. We use it all the time. It says, “Be alert and of sober mind, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The devil is looking for someone to devour. Now, in the Greek, this is the devil. Does this mean Satan, or does it mean demons? It’s both.

What is it talking about, “devils prowl around looking for someone to devour”? Your enemy—so Satan may not be attacking you, but he may have demons attacking you. Satan really, he, he stays up there, and he’s commanding all of these, and it’s ranks.

Satan—then he has his generals and his commanders and his captains and his legions and everything like that. They have names. We don’t get into all that. They’re all demons. They’re all devils.

They prowl around, and they seek to devour you. Don’t let them when they start to creep into your mind. Take those thoughts captive. Throw them out. Make them obedient to Christ.

When you feel bad about yourself, that’s something Satan wants you to do. He wants to have you dwelling in sorrow, to be feeling bad about yourself, living in regret.

Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 7:10: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

Remember, what does the devil do or devils? They seek to steal, kill, and destroy. So what are they doing? They’re stealing your present. They’re stealing your joy, bringing you into sorrow and regret, into the past or into the future.

All right, they are leading you to death. Worldly sorrow brings death. So they steal your presence, steal your joy—that’s stealing, killing by bringing death, and then they hope to steal, kill, and destroy because if they bring you death on Earth, you’re not advancing the Kingdom.

You’re getting away from God. You are choosing to follow something other than God. You will ultimately be destroyed in hell. That’s their goal. Don’t let them have it. So what is the difference? Godly sorrow—what does that bring? Repentance.

Remember how I said there, if you start rem—being reminded of your sins, if you’ve already been forgiven, that’s worldly sorrow. Get rid of it. You know you’ve already been forgiven.
As to whether or not you’ve asked and seek for that forgiveness, we have an entire sermon series on forgiveness that we’ll get to later on. I’ll put a link in it. Otherwise, go to our website, type it in.

But guess what? You have already been forgiven—past, present, future. Just don’t choose to live in sin. Walk in the way of righteousness. And if you are convicted by the Holy Spirit, that’s godly sorrow. Then seek that repentance. Godly sorrow brings repentance. And as soon as it’s happened, it’s done. Let’s go to John 10:10.

John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come so that I may have life, and have it to the full.” That’s what I said: steal, kill, and destroy. We’ve talked about that many times.

Satan sends out his little minions and his demons and his devils and his spirits—whatever you call them, whatever you choose to call them—fallen angels, to torment you with reminders of your past.

But when that happens, remember all of this other stuff. You’ve already been forgiven. You have victory in Jesus’ name. Jesus already won. Demons belong under your feet. With your feet, you squash their heads. Yes, they may strike your heel, but stomp on the suckers.

When demons remind you of your past, all you need to do is remind them of their future. Remind Satan of his future. We have a sermon on that—“Satan’s future.” Check that out. That will be very insightful for you.

Because do you know what their future is? It is to be thrown in the lake of fire, eternally sealed up under the abyss, when Jesus comes back and says, “Enough is enough. Throw them into the pit. They’re done.”

Because hell was prepared for the fallen angels, for Satan and his demons. That’s what hell was prepared for—for them. Yes, they may drag a lot of people along with them, but right now, they’re not there yet. Hell is sitting empty, waiting for them. It is a prison built specifically for them. Craziness.

So when they remind you of what’s going on in your past, remind them of their future. When they say to you to get anxiety, or when they try to plague you with these different characteristics of demons and have you be concerned with your future, say, “Hey, my future is safe. Your future is the one you should be worried about,” and remind them of that. Get rid of it.

That’s how you rebuke them. You don’t say, “I rebuke you, demon.” No. You say, “Remember, my future is clean. I’m going to heaven. You’re going to the pit. Now get out of here.”

That’s how you rebuke them. You rebuke them with commands, not just, “I rebuke you.” No, you rebuke them in something—by reminding them of what they have in store, by telling them, “Get out of here.”

And be careful. When you start fighting demons, they’re going to fight back. They want to keep bothering you, but if they’re already attacking you, it’s time for you to start attacking back. Because if you’re not fighting them, they’re fighting you, and they’re winning. God loves you. He loves you so much. He’ll help you in that, and you know what?

Love keeps no record of wrongs. So God’s not going to be the one reminding you of your past sins. As soon as you’ve repented, you’ve been forgiven. You’ve been redeemed. Worldly sorrow is what keeps reminding you.

You gotta get rid of that. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Let’s go to 1 Corinthians 3:5. 1 Corinthians 3:5—hm, not the right verse. Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 3:5. Maybe it’s that one.

2 Corinthians 3:5—nope. Don’t know why I wrote that down, but it must be for somebody, so we’d better read it. 1 Corinthians 3:5—“After all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe, as the Lord has assigned each to his task.”

You have a task to do. See, this is—this is the—when you see this happen—this just a little segue—the Holy Spirit is always trying to work through you. And the big thing you need to do is get out of the way.

You see, I had this written down. I don’t know why. I thought it was the verse on “love keeps no record of wrongs.” Obviously, I miswrote it. It’s probably 13:5 or something. But the point is—this is important.

This is the Holy Spirit working through something. And I could easily cover this up, or I could easily cut, edit the video. But you know what? This is for a purpose, and this is for a reason.

Do not quench the Holy Spirit when it starts to move, when something goes on. So that’s a lesson for you. When you think something might be a mistake, lean in. Listen. They’ll tell you, “Shut it down.” Or He’ll say, “Hey, lean in. This is something coming.”

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Those are names. Those are two people. We are only servants through whom you came to believe. Now, you either come to believe more, you, hopefully, you came to believe.

If we’ve made you a convert, if you, if you have come to Christ through one of our sermons, you have come to believe through us—to Jesus. We are only servants of the most high God, as the Lord has assigned each to His task.

He has assigned me to preach to you. He has assigned you to preach to others, to share with others, and if you don’t know, you bring them here. If they have questions, direct them here. We can help answer. You are a servant, exactly like I am.

We are equal, yes. Some of us may have more jobs, more tasks, but that’s only because we choose to step into them. You can do the same thing. I’m doing. If you would choose to do so, we are servants of God.

Together, working hand in hand to take ground and build the Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven. Help us do that. Help us do that more, and remember, love keeps no record of wrongs, and you know that.

That verse—love keeps no record of wrongs. It does not boast. All of this it’s read at all kinds of weddings, and it is in Corinthians. I’ll find it.

I’ll put it down below, and it’ll be there for you to reference later. God removes your sins from His memory. He doesn’t forget because God can’t forget. He just chooses not to remember.

Isaiah 43:25: “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” He blots it out. Not for you but for Him, because if he remembered your sins, He couldn’t take it.

God is so pure that the thought of what you have done makes Him so angry you’d be done. It would be a lightning bolt from His little finger—bam! You’re gone.

So He removes them from His memory for His own sake, and as an added benefit, it’s for your own sake as well. Once you’re forgiven, your sins are erased as long as you have sought forgiveness. So remember, you need to seek that forgiveness.

Acts 3:19: “Repent, then, turn to God, so that your sins may be erased.” This means the devil has no business of reminding you of them. They’re gone. They are gone forever. Let’s go to Psalms 103:12.

Psalms 103:12. “As far as the east is from the west, so far he has removed our transgressions from us, east from west.” You cannot connect those two. There’s a reason it doesn’t say north and south, because if you kept going north, what would happen?

You would end up south. Finding your sin east and west will never meet. That’s why it’s as far as the east is from the west. If you have repented and asked for God’s forgiveness, you have received it.

We have a sermon, “Only God Can Forgive.” That’s part of that forgiveness sermon series. Check that out. Your sins are no more. Once you have received that forgiveness—erased, gone—east from west, depths of the ocean, He has put them behind Him as He moves the other way. Meaning those sins are thrown behind. He’s going the other way.

They will never meet, so when something happens, of course, you need to ask for the forgiveness of whomever you wronged—we have a sermon “Confess Your Sins To Each Other.” That’s part of that forgiveness sermon series.

Check that one out as well. Whether or not they forgive you is up to them. Forgiveness is a gift to you. You still need to repent. Confess and then remember your sins no more, and whether or not they forgive you, that’s up to them.

It’s not an obligation. It’s not something like, “Oh I’ve, I’ve repented. I’m sorry you have to forgive me.” They don’t have to forgive you. If they choose to hold on to that unforgiveness, that’s up to them. You—we hope and pray that they forgive you or that you forgive others, but that’s a gift, so whether or not they forgive you is up to them.

All you need to do is sincerely ask. Make sure you apologize and do not continue to do i,t so once that happens, you have to resist the devil like James says. We have a sermon on that way back in the beginning.

Resist the devil, but in order to resist the devil, what do you have to do? Submit to God. Resist the devil, and He will flee from you, because if you are not submitting to God, you can’t resist the devil.

You must be submitted to God, fully committed to Him, and remember you have been forgiven. Your past is not something the devil can hold over you, not something he can remind you of. When the devil reminds you of your past, remind him and remind those demons of their future.

Let’s pray.

Father, thank you so much for this sermon today. Thank you for the move of the Holy Spirit through this. Whatever you are trying to tell someone, open their ears. Let them hear.

Let them seek you. Let them lean in to that message to remember that we are servants of you, that when the devil reminds us of our past, when he reminds you of your past, remember. Have them remember, God, that they seek you.

Give them the ability and the strength in that moment to take every thought captive, to make it obedient to you, to use the arrows in their quiver—these verses, Father.

The verses of that they have been forgiven, that their sins are as far as the east is from the west, that you remember their sins no more, that their sins may be erased when they repent, that they have forgiveness in you, and that they need not worry about their past.

That worldly sorrow is of the devil. That heavenly sorrow brings repentance, and that once they repent, they are forgiven, and it is done. That their past does not matter anymore. Their future—they don’t need to worry about it. They need to live in the now, building the Kingdom for you. Help them do that.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have a great week, and God bless.