Let Go and Take Hold I remember Ireland though I have been back for about 37 years. The western coast there is rugged and wild. Along the shores of county Sligo is a mighty cliff that looks into the Atlantic Ocean. Waves sweeping the shore are as high as 30 to 40 feet high. The cliff is at least a hundred feet high - there is this sudden drop into the ocean. Many poets had written about this place. Many painters had captured the scenery on their canvases. Many stories had been told about this place. I want to start off this sermon by sharing with you this story. Jimmy was out for a walk in the country side with Henry. They wandered far and wide. Then they came to a cliff that overlooks the might ocean. They could see the waves hitting the shores below. Jimmy walked close to the edge of the cliff. They were loose gravel. He slipped and went over the cliff. As he was falling he grabbed hold of the branches of a bush. Henry came to the edge and leaning carefully reached out his right hand to Jimmy. Jimmy in a state of shock was however too frightened to let go of the branches of the bush and take hold of Henry's hands. In many situations such as this, we will find that unless we learn to let go we would not be able to take hold. When we become Christians we have to let go of the things and ways of this world and take hold of life in the Kingdom of God. God has given us a Promised Land when we become Christians. It is a state of deepest, most intimate relationship with God - one where there is perfect peace, perfect love, perfect joy. One where we are divorced from the ways of this world and joined in spirit on to God. One where we are living for God and God alone. Too many Christians are however like Jimmy - too afraid to let go and take hold - to let go of the things of this world and take hold of God. Tonight, we will see how we can take this Promised Land - how we can get into a deeper relationship with God - how we can reach another level f of peace, joy and love. Let us see how the apostle Paul went about to achieve this. Turn with me to PHP 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. :2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-- 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. :7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, 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. The apostle Paul said "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Paul press on to take hold of the Promised Land which God has set aside for each one of us as we come to Christ. Bur first of all, he forgets what is behind - what had been left behind - letting go of whatever is in the past - letting go of whatever is in the world. This then is the first key towards taking the Promised Land. That we let go of whatever is in the past - that we let go of whatever we had held on to in the world. The apostle Paul had achieved much in the eyes of the world. He was admired by many of his fellow Jews. He was well educated - having studied under the best of teachers. He followed the ways of Judaism very strictly - to the extent of persecuting the Christians and anyone who would oppose the way of Judaism. He had what most people of his time would consider as success. Yet he considers these as rubbish now that he has come to know Jesus. His confidence is no longer on these things of the world. His confidence is on God. He has let go of these things of the past. He is now holding on to God with zeal. Many Christians today however still hold on to things of this world even after they have come to Christ. Their confidence is upon things of this world. They join the rest of the world in the rat race. Playing politics. Back stabbing others. Bad mouthing others. All just because they want to be ahead of others. They will spend all their time chasing after their careers. They think that this earth is their eternal home. They don't see that they would have to leave this earth one day and all these will be gone. They don't remember Jesus asking what is the use of it all if we win the whole world and yet loses our souls. Christians are called to another way of life. Different from the rest of the world. Though we may be in the world we are not part of the world. We need to take off old glasses, put on God prescribed lenses and see the world differently. We need to live differently from the rest of the world. We need to let go of the things of this world so that we can hold on to God. Paul said "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead" - letting go of things in the past and taking hold of what lies ahead - letting go of things in the past -- no matter how good or bad they may be. Some people pride in their past success. They keep on bringing them up. Oh, I scored 8 straight "A"s in my O level - I scored 5 distinctions in my A level - but that does not mean anything if their performance in the present is just yucks. Oh, I was a general in the NS - so what? Does that mean that you have been given the power to order people around throughout your life? Success in the past also does not mean a thing in taking hold of what God had laid aside for us - success in the past does not automatically qualify us for inheritance of the Promised Land. People who are failures, people who are poor, people who had been rejected by society when they humble themselves before God - when they desire God more than anything else - when they follow the ways of God may inherit the Promised Land more than anyone of us would. Some people keep holding on to their past hurts - not able to let go of them - this hampers their ability in taking hold of the present and future. There was this young man - he got into drugs as a way of killing his pains - he told me that at the age of 2 his mother brought him to his grandparents place and dumped him there - he felt totally rejected - dumped like some rubbish-he was not able to get rid of the image of that day. In another case, a young girl asked me what is love. She said that people talk about the love of God - she just does not feel anything - she says that she does not feel loved by her parents - they don't love each other anyway - they divorced when she was young - they seem to care only for themselves - so, she asked me what is love. Weekdays she got up to go to work. she would spend the weekends however sleeping - almost like drugs - when you sleep the pains don't bother you. So, she floats from one day to another without any purpose of life. Everyone of us have suffered hurts in one way or the other. If we refuse to let these go, we will never be able to take hold of what the future holds - we will not be able to take hold of what God has in store for us - we will not be able to take the Promised Land. The apostle Paul says "forgetting what lies behind, I press on to take hold". All of us have to forget what lies behind - we have to let it go so that we can press on and take hold. Paul says that there is so much in knowing Jesus that he wants. He wants to identify with Jesus in everything - in his sufferings, in his death and in his resurrection - so that we can become fully redeemed persons - people totally transformed - people whom God intends us to be. Taking the Promised Land is not easy. Changing our worldview to the Christian worldview is difficult. Our old glasses seems stuck to our faces with superglue. Letting go of the world - letting go of the past - and taking hold of the future - taking hold of God - that too is difficult - we are surrounded by a world that tempts us all the time - we live with the realities of a world that surround us. However does that mean that we forget about trying to live as a Christian - does that mean that we focus on the world and sideline God - does that mean that we do take steps to possess the Promised Land. I can hear the apostle Paul exclaiming "mageneto" - by heavens, no! So, what can help us in moving ahead. I consider it the responsibility of the church to help all their members in this regard. But no matter what the church may do. No matter what God can do. They would not be able to do anything if we ourselves will not help ourselves. And this depends firstly on our own desires. Do we want to live the true Christian life? Do we want all that Jesus can give? Do we want to take the Promised Land? Decide for yourself whether you are prepared to pay for it? Whether you are prepared to sacrifice for it? Whether you are prepared to let go and take hold. Let us pray…

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