Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, it's more of Stuart Briscoe's series, Truth for Troubled Times. Today, he talks about trusting God in different circumstances, even when you may have never trusted God before. Stuart begins in just a moment.

When life's storms suddenly come your way, how do you respond? Do you doubt God's presence, questioning His concern for you? Or do you see storms as part of God's plan for your life? And rest assured, He cares for you and is in control of all things.

We want to help you trust in God's care and control in all the storms you face by sending you Jill Briscoe's message, Weathering the Storms of Life, as well as a set of 12 beautifully designed scripture cards to encourage you in troubled times. Weathering the Storms of Life and the set of 12 scripture cards are our thanks for your gift to help more people experience life through the teaching and resources of Telling the Truth.

So request your copy when you give today. 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now here's Stuart Briscoe with his message, A Letter to Souls in Exile.

Stuart Briscoe: I'd like to tell you some more of the story of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is, of course, one of the Old Testament prophets, and we have a huge book in the Old Testament under his name, 50 whole chapters. I do want to survey with you some of the events that took place later on in the ministry of Jeremiah. He had been working in Jerusalem and in various parts of Judah for 20 long years.

They had been extremely difficult years. When Jeremiah as a young man was called to be a prophet, he had been extremely reluctant to accept the assignment. This was perfectly understandable. Israel had a history of mistreating their prophets, and he was well acquainted with that sad history. But he also recognized right from the very beginning that the message that he had to bring was something that would not be particularly popular. It was something that the people needed to hear, but it was something that the people did not want to hear.

So he was under no illusions when he accepted the call. The reason that he accepted the call to be a prophet was quite simply because God commanded him to do it. There are times when you do something that you don't particularly want to do for no other reason than God told you to. That's a rather novel thought for a lot of people. They've got the idea that oh, God would never ask me to do anything I don't want to do. But that, of course, is just not the case at all.

And so Jeremiah embarked on this long, difficult ministry. And after about 20 years in that ministry, his circumstances had changed dramatically. In the early days, of course, he started his prophetic ministry during the reign of a good king, Josiah. But Josiah had got himself involved in a not particularly beneficial military escapade, which finished up getting him killed. And in his place, another king had ascended to the throne, and his name was Jehoiakim, and he was the exact opposite of Josiah.

Josiah had a genuine desire to serve and to honor the Lord and to lead the people in the ways of the Lord. Jehoiakim was exactly the opposite. And so Jeremiah now has even more difficult problems to deal with. He's getting no support at all from the king. In fact, he's getting considerable opposition from him. This is the situation then, about 20 years into his ministry. And one day God speaks to Jeremiah and He says, "Jeremiah, in effect, it's time to wrap it up, your message."

Now we've got one of the big feast days coming in Jerusalem very shortly, and I want you to capitalize on that opportunity. You remember that in the Jewish religion, there were certain times set aside when the people of Israel were required to leave their homes and come and gather in Jerusalem at the Temple for the wonderful time of feast and festival, all of which, of course, had strong religious connotations.

And so it was one of those times and God said to Jeremiah, "Find yourself a prominent place in the Temple where all these huge crowds of people will gather, and I want you to preach a very special sermon to them there." Now I'm not going to take time to read these passages of scripture for you, but if you want to follow it right now, the next piece I'm going to tell you about is found in Jeremiah chapter 26 and Jeremiah chapter 7. Chapter 26 describes the circumstances of what is known as the Temple sermon. Chapter 7 gives us some of the details of that sermon.

So Jeremiah accepts this commission, stands in a prominent place, the crowds milling around him, and he begins to preach. Now, one of the things that the people are saying or perhaps even chanting or singing while they're gathered there is a little phrase that they keep on repeating over and over again: "The Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord." Now we need to understand, of course, that the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem was the focal point of the city.

It was something that God had commanded that they should build. You remember that when they were nomads in the wilderness, they had a tabernacle. That was something, it was a tent that they could dismantle and move with them. But eventually, under the great King Solomon, they had built a permanent Temple in Jerusalem, and this Temple dominated the skyline of Jerusalem. It was the outstanding building in the city.

But it didn't just dominate the skyline. It dominated the thinking of the Jewish people. It was a national icon. It was something that they revered. It was symbolic of their national identity. I suppose in much the same way that the flag is symbolic of national identity for people who live in the United States. And people revere the flag and get terribly upset if anybody does something with the flag they think they shouldn't do.

In the same way, the Temple was deeply revered by the Jewish people. And so when they had an opportunity to come and worship at the Temple, that was a high point for their lives. And so they were coming and saying, "Oh, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord." Well, Jeremiah picks up on this in his sermon. And he says to them, in effect, "Listen, you're always talking about the Temple of the Lord, but you're missing the point completely."

He said, "What you need to understand is this, that before very long, this Temple, this revered icon, will be razed to the ground. Before very long, not only will the Temple be razed to the ground, but the whole of Jerusalem will be destroyed because I've been telling you for 20 years and you won't listen to me. I have been telling you that you have abused the covenant that the Lord made with you, and that you live with the consequences of your actions, and this Temple will be destroyed."

He said, "Let me tell you a little bit of history. You remember when there was a central place of worship in the town called Shiloh? That was where people would congregate. That was where they worshipped the Lord. But eventually, the people turned against the Lord, and you go to Shiloh today and you'll find nothing but a heap of rubble," said Jeremiah to them. "In exactly the same way, you can go on chanting, 'Oh, the Temple of the Lord, Temple of the Lord, Temple of the Lord.' I'm going to tell you something. In a few years from now, the Temple of the Lord will be a heap of rubble."

And he said, "I'll tell you why that is going to happen. It is going to happen because the Temple of the Lord is symbolic of the presence of the Lord in your midst. But you're not interested in the presence of the Lord in your midst. You simply revere the building. You are into edifice worship. You're all excited about the building, you're all excited about the Temple, you're totally disinterested in what this Temple stands for. The Lord is in your midst."

Guest (Male): Don't go anywhere. There's more life-giving truth from the Briscoes headed your way. tellingthetruth.org and the Telling the Truth app are great resources to help you grow in your spiritual life. Packed with videos like Ask the Briscoes, articles from Stuart and Jill, and encouraging audio teaching content, you'll find a treasure trove of resources to encourage you and others in your faith.

And while you're there, you can also request this month's featured resource when you give a gift to help more people around the world experience life in Christ. So visit us online or download the app today. We look forward to connecting with you. Let's go back now to Stuart.

Stuart Briscoe: Now you remember at the beginning of his ministry, the Lord had said to Jeremiah one day, "Jeremiah, you know how in Anathoth, your hometown, there are a lot of almond trees?" He said, "Yeah." Well, he said, "Every time you see the almond tree, remember that I am watching." Now the reason for that, of course, the Hebrew word for almond and the Hebrew word for watching are very similar. So what God was saying to Jeremiah was this: "Always remember that I'm keeping my eye on my people and my word, Jeremiah. And I'm keeping my eye on you."

Now Jeremiah is saying to the people, "Look, this Temple symbolizes the presence of the Lord in your midst and He's keeping an eye on you. He is watching over you. But He's also thoroughly familiar with what you're doing. And what you're doing is simply living in a life of total contradiction. You are revering the Temple and despising the Lord of whom this Temple speaks. You are into edifice worship. You go somewhere to worship, but you're not really in touch with the Lord to whom you profess to bring your allegiance."

Well, the people did not take that sitting down, as you can understand. And they said, "We are safe, we are safe, Jeremiah. Don't start telling us that." And he said to them, "You are not safe. You can claim to be saved, but you're not saved." He said, "If you look at what the Lord said in the covenant, He said, 'I will be your God, I will reach out to you and preserve and protect you and direct you and give you all that you need.' And all I ask is your loving, trusting obedience."

Jeremiah goes on to say, "And you remember how you were to manifest that loving, trusting obedience through keeping His ten commandments." He said, and if you look in Jeremiah chapter 7 you'll see this, he said, "Look, you have broken every one of these commandments. You've broken every one of these commandments. And while you're busy breaking the commandment you're saying, 'Oh, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, we are saved, we are saved.' He said, you're not saved at all.

For the very simple reason that a person who has had a genuine spiritual experience understands that there's a moral and ethical dimension to spiritual experience. That's the important point. There are many people who will get into edifice worship. 'Oh, we love our church, we love this building, we love to go to the church.' 'Oh yes, we are saved. I remember when Billy Graham was speaking on television and I knelt in front of the television and I was saved.'

But then we look at their lives and their lives are not transformed. We look at the life that they're living and we recognize that there is a deep core of resistance to the lordship of Christ in their lives. And Jeremiah would say to those people, "Don't say the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, we are saved, we are saved. Don't come saying we are presenting ourselves before the Lord if you know that deep down in your heart, you are living a life of disobedience to the Lord."

Well, this is a pretty tough message that Jeremiah was preaching to the people. And they did not accept it kindly. And as a result of that, they decide that they're going to get rid of Jeremiah. And so they grab him at the end of his sermon. I don't know if they let him finish it, but they grab him and they say, "We are going to kill you, Jeremiah. We've got to silence you." If you don't want to listen to somebody, one of the ways you can do it is not listen, and the other way is to make sure that they don't say anything.

And they decided that they were going to finish Jeremiah off for good and all, and they make plans to execute him. Fortunately, some people listen to what Jeremiah said. Jeremiah said, "Now look, I can understand that you're upset with me. I can understand that you don't want to hear what I'm saying. But the simple fact of the matter is this, you have broken the covenant. That is a given. You know it is true. The second thing you've got to realize is this, if you break the covenant, you live with the consequences. That is true.

The consequences are that God, who is a holy, righteous, just God, will bring His judgment to pass on your lives. That much is true. All I'm telling you is what God is telling me to say. All I'm telling you is what you need to hear. Listen to me. Don't get angry with me. Don't kill me. Listen to what I'm saying." He said, "If you want to kill me, go right ahead, nothing I can do about it. If you kill me, however, you will simply compound your problem.

For then you will be guilty of shedding innocent blood. That is not a solution. The only solution is to hear the word of the Lord, search your own hearts, and come to repentance." Now notice, Jeremiah goes on to say, "Don't let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Don't listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. I believe there are many people filling our churches today who want to hear that God is loving and merciful and kind and gracious and plans for them.

And when they're dry He'll fill their cup, or when they're down He'll pick them up, and He's just absolutely warm and cuddly and gracious like a big old Santa Claus, and they don't want to hear that He's holy and righteous and just and that people reap what they sow. And what we need is to present a full-orbed picture of who God is. So don't believe those who would minimize the idea that discipline can prove very beneficial. See, concentrate on living well in your circumstances."

Now notice, this was the problem. The false prophets were saying what the people wanted to hear. What did the people want to hear? "We won't be here long. It won't be long till we're out of here. So don't worry guys, just suck it up for a couple of years and then we'll be out of here. It was just an unfortunate hiccup militarily and politically speaking, and we'll soon be back home. No sweat guys, just take it easy, you know, let's get out of here."

And Jeremiah says, "Hey, you're going to be here for 70 years. Get used to it. You're going to be here for 70 years. And so because you're going to be here for 70 years, settle down and live well in the situation." Now, there's a branch of Christian eschatology. Eschatology is the branch of theology about the future. One branch of it is called pre-millennialism. Pre-millennialism among other things says that there'll be something called the Rapture, and that Jesus will come in the air and believers will go to be with Him, they'll suddenly disappear.

So some of you have seen little things in cars which says that if the Rapture happens, this driver will disappear. You know, or an airplane, this pilot will disappear. Well, kind of scary. Anyway, I won't get into eschatology now because it's time to stop. But one of the downsides of pre-millennialism is this, that it has developed a short-term mentality. Jesus is coming back at any time, so I won't go to school. Jesus is coming back at any time, so we won't get married.

Jesus is coming back at any time, so we won't have kids. Jesus is coming back at any time, so we won't settle down and train and equip ourselves long-term for missionary service. Baloney. You settle down for the long term. You settle down for the long term. And I'll tell you why: every generation has thought Jesus would return in their generation and every generation was dead wrong. Settle down for the long term and say, "I'm going to be here until Jesus takes me home."

And so I'm going to work on my house, and I'm going to work on my marriage, and I'm going to work on my family, and I'm going to work on my garden, and I'm going to settle down for the long term, and I'm going to be a productive member of society. And I'm going to say God in His wisdom has planted me here and sure I'm experiencing His discipline, but I'm learning and I'm growing and I'm maturing and I'm softening, and I'm coming to understand the Lord in a new way. Oh God, bless me in this city in this day. And my time's up, let's pray.

Lord, thank You for Jeremiah. Thank You for this faithful man. We don't like him very much because he's a bit of an old misery, we think. He was a faithful man. He told the people what they needed to hear whether they wanted to hear it or not. He didn't just hit them over the head with a two-by-four. He had an enormous concern. It broke his heart to see the way the people were going. He longed to see them softened. He longed to see them drawn back to Yourself.

He delighted in this message that after the discipline of the Lord had done its work, in a wonderful way, their softened hearts would be open for the blessing of God. Lord, help us to search our hearts and find out whether that which we are experiencing right now is leading us to be softened towards Your gracious work in difficult times, or whether we're clenching our teeth, clenching our fists, hardening our hearts, and finding ourselves drifting further and further away from Yourself.

Lord, be gracious to us. And Lord, show us what it means to be a prophetic voice in our time. And show us what it means to pray for the peace and prosperity of the city in which we live temporarily at this time. And help us to be contributing members of society so that this place will prosper under Your hand because we're here. Lord, hear our prayers and let our cries ascend unto You in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us today here on Telling the Truth. We pray today's message has helped you to experience life in all its fullness through Jesus Christ. When life's storms suddenly come your way, how do you respond? Do you doubt God's presence, questioning His concern for you? Or do you see storms as part of God's plan for your life? And rest assured, He cares for you and is in control of all things.

We want to help you trust in God's care and control in all the storms you face by sending you Jill Briscoe's message, Weathering the Storms of Life, as well as a set of 12 beautifully designed scripture cards to encourage you in troubled times. In Weathering the Storms of Life, Jill teaches from the Gospel of Mark examining the disciples' experience in a sudden storm to address the issues of suffering and faith, challenging you to examine your belief in God in the midst of trouble.

Her teaching and the scripture cards will encourage you as you discover how you can be sure of God's love for you and His control over every circumstance, no matter how sudden, severe, or unexpected. Weathering the Storms of Life and the set of 12 scripture cards are our thanks for your gift to help more people experience life through the teaching and resources of Telling the Truth.

So request your copy when you give today. 1-800-889-5388. That's 1-800-889-5388. Or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Next time on Telling the Truth, it's more from the Briscoes about how you can experience abundant life in Christ when you open your life to be changed by God. We hope you'll listen then.