Telling the Truth

Stuart Briscoe: Are you helping to set up the next generation? Are you influencing your children for what's ahead? Jill Briscoe looks into scripture for examples of how to leave a legacy in her message empowering the next generation. She'll get started in just a moment, but first we have a very special offer for you as our thanks for your support of telling the truth. It's Jill Briscoe's book Fight for the Family. Drawing from Nehemiah's example, Jill shares biblical encouragement and practical wisdom to help you stand strong, rebuild what's been broken, and build spiritual walls of protection and prayer around your home.

We'd love to send you this powerful resource as our thanks for your gift to not only keep this program coming to you each day, but to help telling the truth reach even more people so they can experience the abundant life found in Jesus. So thank you for giving today and make sure to request your copy when you give. Call 262 788 4648. That's 262 788 4648 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now let's hear from Jill with today's message on telling the truth.

Jill Briscoe: The counseling that I'm doing on the Christian college campuses would blow your mind. Absolutely blow your mind. How can I ask my girlfriend to have an AIDS test? Those sort of questions on our Christian campuses. It is it's heavy to be there. It really is. And these are some of the most wonderful colleges and college professors and leaders and they are pulling their hair out at the moment with what they are trying to cope with on the college campus. And they're saying these are the kings and these are the queens of the next generation. These are redemption's royalty, young people.

How can we love them? How can we pray for them? How can we train them? And that's the third thing she did. These are the words my mother taught me. She taught me the word is very strong. Let me tell you what it means in the Hebrew language. It means to chastise literally with blows or figuratively with words hence to instruct means to chastise, correct, instruct, punish, reform, reprove, teach, and it also is used with the word sore, s o r e. She was serious, this lady. This is how she was training him. Spare the rod and spoil the child and all of that.

She probably would have been arrested in this day and age and put in jail even though she was the queen. But she taught that's what the word means in the Hebrew. She was going to hammer it into him one way or another. She did not back off. She did not say when you're old enough to choose right from wrong, I'll maybe get around to telling you about it. She taught him. Child who is never reproved feels his actions have no consequence, feels he is no matter. If it doesn't matter what he does, then he mustn't matter.

And so a child who is not corrected feels he's not worth correcting. And well, she didn't fall into that trap. She told him actions had consequences. If you drink to excess, you'll forget your responsibility. Don't drink and forget what the law decrees. It's not for kings, O Lemuel. It's not for kings. If you're obsessed with sex, she said, then destruction would be the result. I think of Solomon who is supposed to be the wisest man that ever lived. I don't know how wise you can be when you say I do 700 times. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

Know that? Nobody wise, huh? I remember when we were at Bible school, we had many foreign students and there was a young man who is giving a little talk in Bible school and his talk was on Solomon. They were learning how to put talks together and sermons together and it was it was very very hard to do it in somebody else's language. And this young man was Japanese. His English was not very good. And so he struggled a lot, but he chose Solomon. And I'll never forget the day in front of all the other students when it was his turn to give his little talk.

And he gets up and he says, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 cucumbers. He is now the head of one of our best youth centers in Japan up in near Mount Kilimanjaro. And every time we see him, he says, Solomon, because he remembers that and we remember it. Says when Solomon was old, I think it's a very sad verse, his wives, his foreign wives stole his heart away from the Lord. They didn't finish well. So sad. When he was old, he didn't finish well. Ten Turner said that the Ten Commandments are not commandments, they're suggestions.

And that's what a lot of people believe. And yet this woman said, Son, there's a higher standard for you than for a commoner. And if we are believers, we are not commoners. We're kings and we're queens. And people have a right to hold us to a higher standard, I believe. So she talked about behavior and belief. Live like a king, she said. We're supposed to walk worthy of the calling, worthy of the calling. It's not for kings, O Lemuel. It's not for kings. And when someone of the royal family falls short, we all feel let down and we somehow expect something better and I think we have a right to.

And when the world looks at us, they have a right to too. They have a right to too. And we've got to get that over to the kids. We've got to talk it out. We've got to communicate. We've got to spell it out. We got to be intentional. We got to be specific. She got pretty specific. She talked about drink, don't drink and drug. There it is. She talked about sex. When I had a chance in the pulpit at Grove City, I talked to the girls and I said it isn't a question of you getting pregnant these days, it's a question of you getting AIDS.

And so your parents have a lot harder job than we had with our parents. And they're frightened. And they're going to hopefully put more boundaries and rules on you for this reason. It's wonderful for me now to go onto the campuses and say, Let me explain your mother to you. When I have Judy with me, it 's wonderful because she explains me for them. And then I explain her to them and we have a great time up there. But we just need to spell it out, be very very specific. I remember when our children were teenagers here in this church, we had a wonderful youth pastor which we do now.

We have a fabulous youth program here. And he and his wife were singers for the Billy Graham Crusade and then the Leighton Ford Crusade. They were vibrant, colorful, marvelous youth leaders. And we had the privilege of having our three children through their hands. Their mark is indelibly left on their lives, no question. I think that three of them are in full-time service today in large amount for the influence of Bob and Jane who did what I'm talking about for the next generation. They had every, you know, year then instead of every month which we need now, a talk on sex.

And when the kids would come home, I'd say, Well, what did Bob say? And they'd say, No, mother, we we're not to tell you and you you don't need to know because it's just between Bob and us. And no, we you can't know. And so I would try and get it out of them every which way and I never could. They wouldn't tell me. No, it's just between Bob and us. Just between our youth pastor and us. It was called Bob's rule. That's it. They told me Bob has a rule. He's just got one rule and that's what this is all about.

Well, I never did figure out what Bob's rule was until Judy, our daughter, was getting married. And I said to her, Wouldn't you just tell me now? Well, what was Bob's rule? And she said, Oh, it was really quite simple. Don't lie down, don't take anything off and nothing below the neck. I said, Really? That was it? She said, Yes, but she said, think about it, mother. She said, it saved me a time or two. Saved me a time or two. It was so specific. It was so specific. On her wedding day, Bob sent her a telegram, forget the rule.

But we have to be specific. The kids need it spelled out literally. And we have to do that. So we need to be intentional, we need to be specific. We need to talk about their affections. We need to talk about their addictions. And we need to give the why. She gave the why. It's not for kings, O Lemuel, because if you do that, this will happen. Actions have consequences. You are free, young king, to do whatever you want. But you're not free to choose the repercussions of your actions. You're free to choose your actions, but not the consequences.

And that 's what we need to tell people. That's what we need to tell people. So we need to give the why. Lest thou drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted, and we need to live it out. This business about give wine to those that are in trouble is a reference to the habit of the society that was formed to help people being crucified or dreadfully put to death. And they would offer them wine or vinegar to stop the pain, the edge of the pain, as they did to Jesus.

There was a society of women in Jerusalem that looked after people like that. And they offered it to him and he declined it, if you remember. And so that's what that's referring to. Think about the people that really need you. That's what she's saying. And think about your rights and responsibilities secondly. Think about your rights and responsibilities. You are free. You're king. You're it. Buck stops there. You can do and live exactly as you like. If anybody else in your kingdom doesn't have that prerogative, you have the freedom to do what you like. But with that right as king comes a corresponding responsibility.

There are privileges of royalty. There are perks of freedom. What are you going to do with it? Stewart and I had the incredible privilege of going to the White House and leading the Bible study there. There are seven or eight Bible studies in different departments of government. Pray for the Christians in Washington. There is so much happening. So many people in high places who are seeking to influence the next generation and teach and pray and love the next generation. And Stewart took the passage from Timothy where we are instructed to pray for kings and for government so that we might live quiet and peaceable lives.

And as he unpacked it in that room with those people in it, it was a perfect passage to teach, absolutely perfect. And he talked about freedom. And he said to those people, I've been talking a lot to people about what freedom is for. That's what we're trying to defend. That's what we feel was attacked. But freedom for what? Freedom to live peaceable and godly lives in order that the scriptures say the gospel might go forth in our generation. Freedom to live as we want. That's what most people think the freedom is for. Freedom to be as selfish as our selfish selves wish we want to be.

No. Freedom in order to do the things this woman was telling her son to do, to look out for the oppressed, to speak up for those who can't speak for themselves, to get going and do something about the social mess we have on our hands. And the poorest of the poor and the people that are disadvantaged who have no one to work on their behalf. That's what freedom is supposed to be for. And so as freedom comes to us or as we experience freedom, there is a corresponding right or responsibility that matches the privilege that we're given.

I thought of the passage and actually when my turn came, then I used Isaiah 32. And there's a wonderful thing here talking about the kingdom of righteousness. When a king reigns in righteousness, then rulers will rule with justice and each man will be like. And then there's three things and it's just a wonderful little verse here hidden in Isaiah 32. When you get it right at the top, when the king is righteous, he'll choose righteous people. And there should be a trickle-down influence. Then each man will be. And you've got somebody who is not righteous at the top, then the opposite might pertain.

And the three things that we should be as we are ruled by government and people who are righteous and the thing is right at the top. Each man will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock within a weary land. And each of those pictures is priceless. Each man, each of us should be like when the king is king, when the king Jesus is king, but also please God when our leaders are godly and living royal lives, then we should be like a shelter from the wind.

People should be able to run into our lives and find shelter and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert. Is that what your life's like? Is that what mine's like? People that are thirsty and desperate for all sorts of reasons, to they come and find the water of life and the shadow of a great rock within a weary land. We we're living in a weary land, in a weary world, I tell you. And we are supposed to be the shadow of the great rock. We are not the great rock. He is the great rock.

Says in the scriptures, he is the great rock. What's a shadow? I looked it up in the dictionary. An inescapable companion. An inescapable companion. And you and I are supposed to be an inescapable companion of the rock who is our God and our king. And when that happens, there will be a reflection. There will be something of the rock about us. And people will find that refreshing in a weary land. And that's what happens when the king is king. And certainly when Jesus is king in our lives. And so the gifts that God has given us that never age and aren't gendered are supposed to be put to use for this next generation.

And we're supposed to speak up for these people as an advocate, as a healer and a giver of mercy, as a teacher and a trainer. We're supposed to pass it on. You might think, Well, I I don't have any of those abilities and I don't feel I have any influence and I'm not a teacher and I don't seem to have anybody to tell or to pass things on. Never dismiss the day of small things, it says in the scripture. Don't despise the day of small things. If you feel that you're living in a world of small things and you don't feel you have that influence, you just never know.

When I was in Romania years ago, I was at a conference and a beautiful young Romanian girl who was a leader in her country reaching women for Christ gave her testimony one night. And I just was absolutely amazed at her story. She was brought up in a communist home by the communist cadre. Her her father was the cadre. Her mother was his wife. Died in the world communists. But in her extended family that lived in two very small rooms all her life, there was an older lady who was the grandma, one grandparent. And this little girl was brought up on her grandmother's knee in this communist home.

And this woman was a believer nearly beside herself because of what she was seeing was happening to her grandchildren. But she took this child on her knee as often as she could and she'd read her a book and she'd wait until it was pretty well safe. And then she would whisper into her ear, God loves you. God loves you. And then she'd go, Shh. Well, the grandmother died. Communist fell. The girl is now 21. She walks downtown to get the loaves of bread and stand in the long lines. And a man is standing in the middle of her square, a man from the West, a preacher who's come with Bibles.

And he's preaching and she's absolutely mesmerized and she's standing there and it's all beginning to ring bells. Everything he's saying is ringing bells. And she walks up to this man and she says, Excuse me, sir, can you tell me about the God who loves me? Can you tell me about the God who loves me? And so he led us to the Lord. And this young woman became a force, a huge force in the first days as the wall was tumbling and it was opening up to the West. And she arrived as a leader about a year and a half later in the conference that I was taking.

And I was just mesmerized by her whole story, but specifically by the influence of a godly grandmother against all odds. All she could do was whisper into her granddaughter's ear, but it was enough. It was enough. And God is waiting for us to take the huge opportunities that we have. We are not restricted. And gift doesn't age. So let's get on with it.

Stuart Briscoe: Jill, what are the consequences of not teaching our children well?

Jill Briscoe: Well, I think the answer to that is is pretty obvious. If somebody else comes along and teaches them for us, that's wonderful, but what's the chance of that in this day and age of I think people are struggling so much to battle what is against our own children and our nephews and nieces and people in our own family that um we don't have energy and time for Sunday school, for example, or for involving ourselves in the next generation. The consequences are that fewer and fewer children will be taught the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of our God.

And the consequences of that in our society is a more and more godless society for when those children grow up and marry people who don't know Christ, then the society becomes more and more atheistic or agnostic, more and more materialistic. And so the consequences for a nation are absolutely huge.

Stuart Briscoe: Jill, actions have consequences. But that concept seems lost on today's society, don't you think?

Jill Briscoe: Yes, I think it is. And I think children are left to discover the consequences of their own actions instead of at least being warned about them. They can be warned about them and ignore our warnings, of course, but at least they can't say you didn't warn me. And I think the actions of parents who say, Well, let them grow up and figure it all out for themselves, that's nowhere in my Bible is that is that uh purported to be the way that parents should raise their children um raise up a child in the way he shall go.

And when he's old, he will not depart from it. That's one of the um commands almost from scripture for parents in the way he should go. Chuck Swindoll, I remember listening to him on that wonderful Bible teacher and pastor. He said that means according to their bent. In other words, figure out how God has made the child and make sure that you encourage him in his gifting, in who he is and that that is honed and trained in order that he may serve God within his own bent, within his own abilities that God has given him.

So it's a whole lot more than the way I think he should go. It's the way God has made him to go um the makeup of the child. And then give him rules and warn him of the consequences. And that concept certainly does seem lost on today's society, but we can model it. We can do it in our own families.

Stuart Briscoe: Thanks for joining us on Telling the Truth today. We're so glad you've tuned in and we pray today message has encouraged you to experience life in Jesus Christ. When you give to support Telling the Truth, you make it possible for people to hear God's word on air and online so they can experience abundant life in Christ. People just like Cheryl who recently wrote in and told us, I'm thankful for having found a resource that feeds me daily. Your messages are always an inspiration, thought-provoking, sometimes convicting, and are truly helping me with my daily walk. I thank God for my Telling the Truth family.

We have a very special offer for you as our thanks for your support of Telling the Truth. It's Jill Briscoe's book Fight for the Family. We'd love to send you this powerful resource as our thanks for your gift to not only keep this program coming to you each day, but to help Telling the Truth reach even more people so they can experience the abundant life found in Jesus. So thank you for giving today and make sure to request your copy when you give. Call 262 788 4648. That's 262 788 4648 or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org.

So glad you joined us today. Come back again as the Briscoes share more powerful truth from God's word. Experience life next time on Telling the Truth.