“Three Good Looks
1 Corinthians 10:1-13
David P. Nolte
There are three time periods in each life. Yesterday, tomorrow and today. The past has come and gone; tomorrow doesn’t exist; so today is all we really have in which to live and love and labor and laugh and learn.
Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery; but today is reality. Yesterday is instructive; tomorrow is unknown; today is the proving ground.
As the new year unfolds, let us be renewed and refreshed to serve Him well. I have three simple suggestions for doing that. The suggestions come in the form of taking three time oriented glances: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow..
I. LOOK BACK TO YESTERDAY AND LEARN:
A. Paul urges us to look back and learn: “I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. All of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, ‘The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.’ And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day. Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.”
B. Sometimes we as Christians need to stop. look back at, and remember, lessons we have learned.
1. We should have learned from the good and bad examples of other people. Watch America’s Funniest Home Videos to see how not to slide down a snow covered hill, climb a ladder, jump on a trampoline or groom a cat. And remember Israel.
2. More importantly,
a. We should have learned from our own failures. “Well, that didn’t work!”
b. We should have learned from our own successes. “Well, that did the trick!”
C. What lessons should we learn by looking at Israel’s past?
1. They craved evil things. Let us desire the things of God..
2. They were idolaters. For us, God and God alone.
3. They engaged in pagan revelry. Let us engage in holy joy.
4. They were sexually immoral. Let us flee immorality.
5. They tested God over and over. We must not put God to the test.
6. They grumbled. “Moses, you blockhead – you brought us out here to die! What are we gonna eat? What are we gonna drink? We’re gonna die and years from now archaeologists will finds our parched bones buried in the sand! We wanna go back to Egypt!” Let us not be like that.
D. While it is important to remember the lessons of the past,
1. It is not good to dwell, morbidly or longingly, on the past!
2. Look to the past but don’t be chained to it.
3. As my good friend, John Dammarell, wrote: “‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.’ Isaiah 43:18-19 NASB. The key word is ponder, which keeps fouling us up. It means to keep talking about, keep dwelling on, in this case, your past such as hurts by a former spouse, a former boss or employee, or a parent that hurt you. You see, some of you will never see the destiny that God has for you because you're stuck in your past and most likely bitter But instead, you are being challenged to learn from it, forgive, and move on from your past with the promise that God is about to do something new in your life.”
E. Unless we learn from the pastg we will go on fighting the same battles, suffering the same pain. Let me illustrate. A man had a jar full of grasshoppers to use as fish bait. Gthe lid was on but the grasshoppers kept trying to jump out, only to smack their heads against the lid. Finally, they learned that if they would not jump so high, gthehy wouldn’t bash their heads. After a few hours, the man could open the jar and none of the grasshoppers would jump high enough to escape. Now we could say they locked their own prison – I prefer to say they learned from past experience. Don’t smack hyour head on the lid.
LOOK BACK TO YESTERDAY AND LEARN AND
II. LOOK AROUND TODAY AND SEE:
A. In order to live meaningfully, fully and freely, we need to see what is happening around and to us.
1. See the snares of life. We are all tempted, tested and tried daily, hourly, constantly according to our own set of desires. Paul wrote, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
2. See that God is gracious and faithful! There are evidences of that all around – look for them today.
3. See the tasks and services we can do and remember that we can’t do them yesterday and tomorrow is beyond our grasp so we need to do them today.
B. I quote John Dammarell again, His advice is “Be proactive with affirming God's Word and living it, being careful that you deal correctly with your past and with any unforgiveness you may have. Assume responsibility for choices and decisions you have made, whether right or wrong, and quit holding others hostage. Stop playing the blame game. God has a great plan. A great future for you. He knows what He is doing. Trust Him..”
C. So, while it is today
1. Let’s make the best use of our time and resources,
2. Let’s seize the daily opportunities to do all the good we can to all the people we can in every way we can as long as we can!
3. Let’s seek to know what pleases Jesus – and you can discover that in the New Testament. Find His will and obey it immediately, unconditionally, and willingly. Paul wrote, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles or the church of God. I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-33 (NLT2)
D. We cannot see tomorrow but what we do today can impact it. From the Book Of Mysteries, “It doesn't matter what happens. You appoint your days in God to bring what is good. You consecrate them for the purposes of God. And then you use your days to accomplish those purposes. Don't let your days determine your life. Let your life determine your days. And don't just let, your days go by. Prepare them, that they might become vessels of blessing and life. Appoint your days ... for the purposes of the Most High." Live for Him today and He will take care of tomorrow.
E. We need to have clear spiritual vision to see the world properly. Several years ago, I was carrying a computer and projector down from the Sunday School class room to the sanctuary to use for church. I could not see the steps so I missed one and headed clumsily down the stairway. Keri was at the bottom so I yelled, “Grab the computer!” She did it but I slammed into her, shoving her into the wall. The congregation bought a second computer and projector. Lesson? Get rid of whatever keeps you from seeing life and responsibility as you ought to see it.
LOOK BACK AND LEARN, LOOK AROUND AND LIVE AND
III. LOOK FORWARD TO TOMORROW AND HOPE:
A. “God is faithful.” We can trust Him. We can depend on Him. We don’t have to worry about the future because God is there!
B. We cannot see into the future beyond what God has revealed to us in the Bible. But the picture He paints is one of hope for all who have faith in Jesus.
1. “For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB).
2. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ...” 1 Peter 1:3 (NASB).
3. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 (NASB).
4. “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:17-20 (NIV).
C. Someone said, “Where there is no hope for the future, there is no power in the present." But, I remind you
1. Hope is not wishful thinking, not a declaration of what we want to happen, not unfounded anticipation.
2. Hope is assured confidence, certain expectancy based not on what we want but on what God promises!
3. Hope
a. Sustains us when we are in need.
b. Upholds us when we are knocked down.
c. Strengthens us when we are at our weakest.
d. Lifts us up when we are at ours lowest.
e. Comforts us when we are crushed.
D. Hope comes in a person, Jesus Christ. The Bible says that is Christ in us that is the hope of glory. Colossians 1.27.
E. Two frogs fell into a pitcher of cream. They could not climb out because the walls of the pitcher were too high and slippery. They knew they were going to drown for it was impossible to swim or float for very long. For a while, the two frogs kicked around in the cream, but it was useless; they only managed to sink down deeper. Then one of the frogs said: “I can’t take it anymore. It’s impossible to get out of here. I can’t swim in this stuff. And, as I’m going to die, I don’t see the sense in fighting so much.” Having said this, he stopped kicking and drowned, quickly swallowed up by the cream. The other frog, who was more persistent, or perhaps more stubborn, said: “It’s impossible! I can’t do anything to get out of this. Nevertheless, although death is near, I’d rather fight until my last breath than give up.” So, he carried on kicking and splashing for hours.. Then suddenly, after kicking, beating, and stirring for so long, the cream turned into butter. Having something solid beneath him, he hopped to the edge of the vat, jumped out, and went home, croaking happily. He survived because he looked forward and didn’t lose hope.
LOOK BACK TO YESTERDAY AND LEARN. LOOK AROUND TODAY AND LIVE AND LOOK FORWARD TO TOMORROW AND HOPE.
We can have hope because our God is an awesome God — a God of ultimate grace and mercy. Trust in the Lord forever, for in Him we find forgiveness for the past, power for living today and bright hope for tomorrow.
If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, yet you experience weakness, failure and fear, what do you do? The great truth is this: you bring all that to Jesus. You don’t have to beg God for forgiveness and grace and mercy. God is looking to give it to all who need it and will receive it! He gave His all yesterday – He offers it all today – and He will reveal it all tomorrow. But for us it is today == today give it all up for Jesus.
