Pastor Donn Moomaw was preaching in Bel Air, Maryland, where a lady came up to him after a sermon and said, “Oh, Reverend Moomaw, I just have to tell you that every sermon you preach is better than your next.”
He thanked her and then went home to think about it. It’s not really a compliment any preacher wants to hear, because it means that every sermon is worse than the last. It’s a compliment that only a pessimist can give, and that’s the way some people look at life: “Every day is better than the next,” or “Every year is better than the next.” (Earl Palmer, “A Durable Hope,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 47)
How sad, because you don’t have to live that way. Rather, you can live with the confidence that the future is better than the past if you look to the Lord and not to yourself.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 49, Genesis 49, where old Jacob blesses his family and gives them a vision of their future. Now, that vision is not only for Jacob’s family, but for all of us who by faith in Christ are a part of God’s family.
Genesis 49:1-4 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in days to come. “Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father. “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it—he went up to my couch! (ESV)
Reuben was strong, but he was weakened by his lust. He gave into his passions so he could “not have preeminence.”
This happened after Israel, Reuben’s father, had been cheated by his uncle Laban for 20 years. It happened after Israel had wrestled with God, and after his beloved wife, Rachel, had died. After Israel had returned with his family to his childhood home, Genesis 35 records, “While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine. And Israel heard of it.” (Genesis 35:22).
Israel knew what had happened, even though nobody else did until now, several decades later. What Reuben did was in secret, and maybe he thought he got away with it, but his sin was exposed and now his whole family knows what he did. As a result, he has lost his position in the family as the primary heir. He is disqualified to lead the family, even though that was his right as the first born son.
He gave into his passions so he could no longer excel, and that’s what happens when you give into your passions, as well. You may think you’re sinning in secret, but the Bible is very clear: “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). What is done is secret will eventually be revealed, and it could have serious consequences. So if you want your future to be better than your past…
DON’T GIVE IN TO YOUR PASSIONS.
Don’t yield to your appetites which lead you away from God. Don’t surrender to those strong feelings which steer you in the wrong direction.
Don’t give into your lusts like Reuben did, because that weakens any person.
For most of his career as a British journalist, Malcolm Muggeridge was a cantankerous writer known for heavy drinking, womanizing, and arguing his agnostic viewpoint. Then towards the end of his life he came to faith in Christ. He writes about an incident when as a young man he gave into temptation.
Just after graduating from Cambridge, Muggeridge moved to India to teach English. One day as he was strolling by a nearby river in the early evening, he spotted the silhouette of a woman bathing on the other side. Muggeridge wrote that his heart began to race with what he called the “wild unreasonableness which is called passion.” Overcome by lust, he plunged into the water and started crossing the river. As he approached the woman, he suddenly realized that she was a toothless, wrinkled, and deformed leper. He quickly threw himself back into the river and started swimming in the other direction.
Years later, Muggeridge admitted that the real shock that morning was not the leper, as mind-bending as that would be. Rather, it was the condition of his own heart, dark, with appetites overpowering his weak will. (Simon Ponsonby, Loving Mercy, Monarch Books, 2012, pp. 46-47; www.PreachingToday.com)
What a powerful picture of the nature of lust. It always promises much more than it delivers, and it is overpowering. Unbridled lust will ruin your life. It will certainly ruin your chances for a happy marriage.
A recent study (2014) at the University of Virginia addresses the effect of pre-marital sex on marriage, and what they found confirms what many studies have found. Sex before marriage reduces the odds of having a happy marriage. They found that “those who had more romantic experiences… are more likely to have lower-quality marriages than those with a less complicated romantic history…” (Galena K. Rohades and Scott M. Stanley, “Before I ‘I Do,’” The National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, 2014; www.PreachingToday.com)
On the other hand, when you control your passions, you can be a powerful influence for good.
Gary Thomas, in his book Holy Available, talks about a friend of his who on a business trip found an attractive young woman knocking on his hotel door. When he opened the door, she pushed through and walked right into his room.
“You can't be in here,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked teasingly. “Are you scared?”
The woman started acting seductively. She made it very clear that she was available for any sexual favor of his choosing. When he insisted that she leave, she finally did something… [that] was over-the top provocative.
Immediately afterward, Gary’s friend wisely told two business associates exactly what happened… Gary says, “My friend is a godly man, but he's human. He admits he slept very little that night… He couldn't get this woman's words or related images out of his mind. He tossed and turned, thankful he hadn't fallen but exhausted from being so provoked.”
Two months later, Gary’s friend returned to that same city, working with the same company, when the [same] young woman pulled him aside.
“We have to talk,” she said.
The man’s heart started racing as he feared the worst, but her first words put him at ease.
“I can't thank you enough for being the first man who has ever cared about me more than my breasts.”
She told him that she had been abused earlier in life. This led to her promiscuous behavior ever since her early teens; and because of her physical appearance, no man had ever been willing to walk away from her advances. Thus, she kept reliving the moments of her deepest hurt.
“I'm going back to church,” she told him. “I need to get my life back together. When I finally met a man like you who was more interested in me than in my body, it showed me how messed up I had become.” (Gary Thomas, Holy Available, Zondervan, 2009, pp. 66-67; www.PreacingToday.com)
When a man controls his passions, he can be a influence for good in people’s lives. But uncontrolled passions can ruin a man (or a woman for that matter) and take away any opportunity to lead people in the right direction. So if you want your future to be better than your past, don’t give into your lusts like Reuben did.
And don’t give into your anger either like Reuben’s brothers did.
Genesis 49:5-7 “Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of violence are their swords. Let my soul come not into their council; O my glory, be not joined to their company. For in their anger they killed men, and in their willfulness they hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. (ESV)
Reuben, the first-born, had forfeited his ability to lead the tribe because of his lust. Simeon and Levi, the next two in line, forfeited their ability to lead because of their anger.
Years before, a prince in the city of Shechem had raped their sister, so “Simeon and Levi took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male” (Genesis 34:25, NIV). Their anger was unrestrained. Their father didn’t have much to say about it then, but now he makes it very clear that he has no respect for their council. Anger had clouded their thinking and made them unfit to give any credible advice, much less lead the tribe.
You see, that’s what happens to anyone who allows their anger to go unrestrained: It clouds their thinking.
Recently (March 2017), a plane full of Hawaii-bound passengers suddenly found itself landing in Los Angeles after a passenger began to fight with an airline employee over something he found to be quite unjust: a $12 blanket.
According to CNN, “The 66-year-old man threatened the worker after he was charged $12 for a blanket.” Due to the chilly on-board temperature, he “insisted he should not have to pay.” Things got progressively worse: “During an in-flight call with an airline representative, the man said he ‘would like to take someone behind the woodshed for this.’”
As his anger escalated, the captain rerouted the plane to Los Angeles, a choice that was defended by a Hawaiian Airlines spokeswoman: “Diverting a flight is clearly not our first choice, but our crew felt it was necessary in this case to divert to Los Angeles and deplane the passenger before beginning to fly over the Pacific Ocean.”
The man was not on the flight when it took off again a few hours later, but the airline allowed him to get on another flight to Hawaii the next day. (“Passenger causes plane to divert after he's charged $12 for a blanket,” News 4 Jacksonville, 3-09-17; www. PreachingToday.com)
There’s a lesson in this. When those “$12 blankets” suddenly appear in our own lives, it doesn’t pay to throw a temper tantrum over them. James 1 says, “The anger of man does NOT produce the righteousness of God.”
So if you want your future to be better than your past, don’t give into your anger; don’t give into your lust. In other words, don’t give into your passions. Don’t give into those strong emotions that can steer you in the wrong direction. Instead…
REST IN GOD’S PROVISION OF A KING.
Rely on Christ, the King, who is one of Judah’s descendants. Depend on this Ruler who alone guarantees a wonderful future. Look at what Israel says to Judah, his 4th born son.
Genesis 49:8-10 “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (ESV)
The scepter here is a king’s scepter, which will remain with the tribe of Judah until the One to whom it belongs comes to rule the world! Then every nation will obey this King from the lion’s tribe, the tribe of Judah.
Revelation 5 identifies this “Lion of the tribe of Judah” as the “Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:5-12). In other words, this King is none other than Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for your sins and rose again. He is the one who will rule the world, and look at the opulence of His reign!
Genesis 49:11-12 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk. (ESV)
Derek Kidner, in his commentary on Genesis, says, “Every line of these verses speaks of exuberant, intoxicating abundance… It is deliberately the language of excess” (Derek Kidner, Genesis, an Introduction & Commentary, IVP, p.219). Grape vines are so abundant, they will be used as hitching posts. Wine is as plentiful as wash water, and there will be so much milk it will turn people’s teeth white.
There will be wealth and prosperity such as this world has never known! And it’s all because of the rule and reign of this “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. That’s the future of all who depend on this King, so look to Him.
If you want your future to be better than your past, rely on Christ despite your past sins. Depend on Him even if you have given into your passions. Even though Reuben, Simeon and Levi lost their position in the tribe, they never lost their place in the family. They all remained sons of Israel, blessed by their father.
Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.
Israel blessed them all, every one! He blessed Reuben who gave into lust. He blessed Simeon and Levi who gave into anger. He blessed Issachar (vs.14-15), whose descendants would trade their liberty for peace at any price. He even blessed Dan (vs.16-17), whose name means justice, but whose descendants would choose treachery like a snake. In the book of Judges, they attack a peaceful and unsuspecting city within Israel, kill all its residents, and make it their own, bringing their idols with them (Judges 18).
Even so, despite all their sin, there is deliverance! Look at what Israel says in verse 18: I wait for your salvation, O LORD.
There’s deliverance in the King from the tribe of Judah. There’s deliverance in the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. There’s deliverance in Christ, who died for you and rose again. So look to Him despite your past sins.
When Philip Griffin was just starting a church in Texas, God really blessed the ministry and many people came to faith in Christ. He and his team were just about ready to baptize about 30 new believers in a small indoor, swimming pool, which they had just purchased, when they realized they didn’t have a hose. The only hose available was a leaky one Griffin had at home, so he decided to go buy one.
As He was leaving to get the hose, a guy named John stopped Him and said, “I'm glad I caught you, pastor. I need to talk to you.” Griffin tried to have a conversation with John as he kept aiming for his car, but John said, “No, I need to talk in private.” So they went into Griffin’s office, and John told him, “I want to know if you're for real.”
Griffin had been talking about how there is nothing we can do or say to make God not love us. He doesn't always love our behavior, but he loves us. So Griffin told John, “Absolutely, it's for real.”
John replied, “Well, I'm struggling with homosexual desires and behavior. I'm in and out of gay relationships. I understand what the Bible says, and I want to do what God wants me to do – but I'm losing this battle. Several months ago, I tried to go to another church, but when I came clean with my struggles, they told me never to come back again. So I want to know if you're for real.”
They stayed and talked, and Griffin connected John with a ministry that helps people battling same-sex attraction. He also connected him with one of their church's small groups, which ended up embracing him. Before John left Griffin’s office, he said, “Now I want to tell you one more thing.”
At that point Griffin is thinking, “I'm not going to have time to get the hose.”
John said, “When I pulled into the parking lot today, I wasn't aiming my car in this direction. I was going to kill myself.” Griffin asked him if he had a plan for ending his life, and John said, “Yes, I did. It was already in motion. I went to the hardware store and bought a garden hose earlier today, and I bought some duct tape. My plan was to drive down this little rural road and tape the hose to my muffler and feed it into my car window.”
Griffin said, “John, for real, you bought a hose?”
John came to faith in Christ that day, and God took something intended for death – that hose – and used it to fill up something that speaks of life – the baptismal pool. (Philip Griffin, A God Who Redeems, www.PreachingToday.com)
Let me tell you, that’s what God can do with your life, no matter how bad you’ve messed up. He can redeem your past and use it for good. All you have to do is put your faith in Christ like John, and let Him put your feet on a different path. If you want your future to be better than your past, rely on Christ despite your past sins.
But not only that, rely on Christ despite your past sorrows, as well. Depend on the Lord no matter how bad the pain has been in the past.
That’s what Joseph did throughout his life. Out of all of Israel’s sons, Joseph suffered the most; and yet, Joseph received the greatest blessing. Look at what Israel says about Joseph.
Genesis 49:22-23 “Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall. The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely… (ESV)
This is a reference to the way his brothers treated him and to the 13 years he spent as a slave and a prisoner in Egypt.
Genesis 49:24-26 …yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), by the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. (ESV)
Israel gave Joseph the greatest blessing, the one who went through the greatest suffering. And that’s true of all of God’s people. Those who suffer greatly now will receive great blessing in the future.
So like Joseph, rely on the Lord despite your past sorrows. Look to Him to transform your past into a glorious future.
2 Timothy 2 says, “This saying is trustworthy, for: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure [or suffer], we will also reign with him” (2 Timothy 2:11-12). And Romans 8 says, “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
There is a glorious future ahead for everyone who puts their trust in Christ. So despite the pain of the past, look to the Lord to transform it into a wonderful future.
A young man from a poor home dreamed of a better life for himself and his family. So he saved all the money he could and went deeply into debt to open a grocery store in a town called New Salem. It turned out that his partner had an alcohol problem, which led to ever increasing financial issues. In fact, the young man ended up so far in the hole that he referred to his financial obligations as “the national debt,” and he ended up closing the store. It took him more than a decade to pay off his debts, and he gave up on ever being a successful businessman.
Instead, he went into law, and then into politics. Eventually, in 1860, he was elected to the highest office in the land, and the failed businessman became one of our country’s greatest presidents. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
He was an avid Shakespeare fan, and his favorite quote came from Hamlet: “There is a divinity that shapes our ends, roughhew them as we may.” He believed this deeply about his own life, but also about the nation he led. His entire second inaugural address is a profound reflection on how God was at work in the Civil War in ways more mysterious and deep than any human being could fathom.
Think about it. What a loss it would have been – not just to him but to a whole nation – if that little grocery store he started in New Salem had succeeded. (John Ortberg, All the Places You'll Go. Except When You Don't, Tyndale, 2015, pp. 216-217; www. PreachingToday.com)
That’s what the Jesus does for those who depend on Him. So, despite the pain of the past, rely on Him to transform it into a wonderful future.
My dear friends, if you want your future to be better than your past, don’t give into your passions. Instead, rest in God’s provision of a King, King Jesus, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, who died to save you from your sins.
Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one the stars (Frederick Langbridge. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 3; www.PreachingToday.com). What do you see today? If your trust is in the Lord, you can look beyond the mud to the stars.
