Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, Jill Briscoe concludes her message, "Getting Off the Roof," and shares how you can resist the allure of sin. But before we hear from Jill, we want to help you grow strong in your faith as you conquer temptation by sending you Triumph Over Temptation, a powerful four-message series by Stuart and Jill Briscoe.

We’ll send you a copy of Triumph Over Temptation as thanks for your gift today to help continue Stuart and Jill's legacy of helping others experience life in Christ. It's the last week to take advantage of this offer, so call today to request your copy of Triumph Over Temptation. 1-800-889-5388. That’s 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Jill Briscoe with her message, "Getting Off the Roof."

Jill Briscoe: So it comes from the world around us and it comes from the world within us—our own central sexuality that is marred, tainted, and fallen. And so, giant temptation either hits us from outside and what we see, eye-gate, or he hits us from our own desires. The world, the flesh, and the devil himself. And sometimes he doesn't bother going at you any other way. He just comes right in your face and says, "Worship me. Bow down. Give in. Get her. Sleep with her." Just like that.

Well, David was on the roof and it was all happening. He saw a woman who was very beautiful, and the word "very beautiful" is only used a couple of times in the Bible. She was gorgeous. She was a knockout. It's used of Vashti, a heathen queen who was married to a heathen king. It's used of Esther, one of the most beautiful women in the world, and it's used of Bathsheba. And she was traditionally known as a beauty in Israel. "Isn't this Bathsheba the beautiful? This is Bathsheba the beautiful, David."

Well, there wasn't a commentary I read on this story—a Bible commentary—that didn't say she wasn't raped, she wasn't forced, she went willingly. And I believe it. But why? What were the steps into the pool for her? Loneliness. Her husband was out of town. That can be pretty lonely. Ask me. For years, Stuart was out of town 10 months of the year. Giant temptation sees his opportunity. She didn't know when he'd be back or if he would be back. I've no doubt she loved him.

But she's lonely, she's beautiful, and she's bored. Boredom, says giant temptation, I'll take it. I've got her. I've got him. So he's lazy, and she's lonely and bored. And did she know David was watching? Well, if David wasn't, she knew everybody else was. She was careless, very careless, doing what she was doing where she was doing it that day.

And she was willing. I believe she was willing. So what happened? I read it to you. He sent for her, to get her—I hate that—he lay with her, went to bed with her. Everything's working together for giant temptation, and the baby is conceived.

David now knows that somebody's going to be put to death for this. For in the law, those that commit adultery are stoned to death. Now, whether they could have stoned a sitting king, probably not. But they could have stoned Bathsheba. Now he's in trouble, and she is too. So she sends to him and says, "Protect me. You got me into this mess; now protect me."

And so David begins the downhill walk. He sends for Uriah, who comes from the battlefield. Did he get told about this? Nobody quite seems to know. Think of all the people that knew about it. The messengers that went to get her, the one that went to find out who she was, the ones that went to escort Bathsheba from the house to David's bed, and in the morning, take her back home again. How many people knew about it?

And here comes the husband. I think he probably knew. So when the king began to manipulate him into going home and having a night with his wife, so the baby legitimately could be called his, he resisted. He didn't tell David; he just didn't go home. He just slept with the soldiers at the gate.

So David was told the next morning he didn't go home. He has him in again. Says, "Why didn't you go home?" He says, "The ark of God is on the battlefield. Your servants are giving their lives." And he didn't say, "Your Majesty, what are you doing on the roof, and what am I doing here?" But he said, "I couldn't go home and lie with my wife when I should be back fighting the battles of the Lord."

And so David gets him drunk the next day, hoping that he'll then go home and spend the night with Bathsheba. But Uriah is a better man drunk than David was sober. And he didn't do it. And when David saw that his little plans weren't coming, guess what he did? He wrote his death warrant, and he put it in a sealed piece of parchment and gave it to Uriah and said, "Take this to Joab."

When Joab, the commander of the forces, read it, it said, "Put him in the front of the battle and withdraw, so that he can die." And Joab thought, "Oh, this king and master of mine can be as treacherous as the rest of us." And he went along with David's plan, thinking, "I'll use this against him one day," which he did.

And the whole mess began. Uriah's killed. The message comes back from Joab: "Uriah, your servant, is dead." They wait two months, come back, he marries Bathsheba, and for the best part of her pregnancy and a year after, he lives with all of that. And he thinks he's covered it up. He thinks nobody knows.

Let me tell you, even if nobody else knew, even if Joab didn't know, even if Uriah didn't know, even if anybody else didn't know, God knew. That's the thing about sin; we forget. God knows. You think you're covering something up? Let me tell you something: it's all open in the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Another of my memory verses: "All things are naked and open in the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." He knew.

Next time I speak to you, I'm going to take you through Psalm 51. Is there any sin too big for God to forgive? No. We all choose to sin, but we do not choose the consequences of our sin. I'm going to deal with that next time. However, David wrote a psalm—51—and that's what we're going to be talking about. How David came and repented and said, "Cleanse me, please. Clean up. I am so filthy; I feel so dirty. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. And then restore the joy of my salvation." There isn't any sin too big for God to forgive, but the repercussions go on forever. And God would spare us and those we love those things.

Guest (Male): How do you face temptation with wisdom? That's what Jill Briscoe is talking about on today's Telling the Truth, and she's coming right back with more. Temptation is nothing new. It’s been around since the dawn of mankind, and it's not going anywhere as long as we're on this earth. You’ll face temptation every day, but sometimes moment by moment. So we want to send you a special resource to help you stand strong in God's word when temptation does come along.

It's a four-message series from Stuart and Jill Briscoe called Triumph Over Temptation, and they created it to help you not only conquer temptation but to grow stronger in your faith as you do. This series will give you powerful biblical tools to defeat sinful desires and encourage you with the truth that every temptation to do wrong is also an opportunity to do right.

We’ll send you Triumph Over Temptation as our thanks for your gift today to keep sharing the life-changing truth of God's word with people across the globe through the resources and teaching of Telling the Truth. This offer ends this week, so don't delay. Call today to request your copy of this resource: 1-800-889-5388. That’s 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Jill Briscoe once again.

Jill Briscoe: No, there isn't any sin too big for God to forgive, but the repercussions go on forever. And God would spare us and those we love those things. So let me in this closing moment talk about getting off the roof, and it's pretty simple: You remember the rules, you just say no, and you get off the roof. Could that be any more simple?

You remember the rules. How can you remember what you've never memorized? How can you remember what you've never read? That's why, if you hear nothing else, will you decide today to start and hang your heart over this? Will you let it wash over you? Will you be a woman of this book? Will you be a man of this book, a boy of this book, a girl of this book? That's what I would wish out of everything I've said would happen.

And you remember the rules—the "do nots," as God said. Do not. Do not. Do not. And you keep them. You say, "I'll do it. I'll obey you." As David had done until this moment. For 50 years, bless his heart, he did that as best he could.

I babysat for my daughter for a week. They went to China, she and her husband, on a missions trip. And as I arrived there, my daughter sat me down and said, "These are the rules. They know them. We've sat them down and told them, Nana, and keep them to it. These are the rules. These are Nana rules; these are their rules." And I said yes, very obediently, and I looked at these three gorgeous boys, and I thought, "Lord, help me to help them to keep the rules."

So we had a wonderful week. I gave a little bit here and I bent a little bit there. I'm a Nana. And they knew I was a Nana, but they were good kids and they didn't push me at all. They were wonderful. Well then, my daughter comes back and after I've left, she says to the boys, "Well, did you keep the rules?" And they said, "Oh, yes." "And did Nana tell you the rules and remind you of the rules?" "Oh, yes."

And she said, "Well, what was it like?" So they all said what it was like having me there. "It was like having a substitute teacher." I said, "What's that?" Well, I'm a teacher myself, I've subbed; I think I knew what he meant. You know when you go in as a sub, it's not your class and it's not your rules and you can bend a bit. And that's what I did when I was a sub.

And I thought to myself, God is not a substitute teacher. Those rules are rules. And you don't stand there on the roof saying, "Well, He knows I'm lonely. He knows I'm a victim. He knows I'm this; He knows I'm that." No, the rules are the rules. So you remember the rules. You remember them. And you just say no.

My heart goes out to our kids and our children's kids. And I look around and I look at the young women—gorgeous, beautiful young women. And you know what I want to say as a mom, as a grandmother, as a Christian, so many times? In fact, I don't want to say it; I want to scream it. Do you know what it is? Put some clothes on!

And I don't know if the young women understand what they're doing to the boys. And of course, there's other things the other way. But specifically for our girls, Stuart and I were taking a walk the other day, and down this forest path came a young couple—they looked teenagers or a little bit older—they were holding hands. And at first glance coming down this forest path, I honestly thought she was naked. I didn't see any bit of her clothing. Then as we got near, I thought, "Oh, yeah, she's got a wisp here and a wisp there."

And I said to Stuart, "Look at this. He doesn't stand a chance." And Stuart said, "Really? I think he stands a very good chance." Right. We were both right. What's the matter with Bathsheba? She needs to put some clothes on, basically. She was careless. Maybe it was deliberate, and maybe it wasn't. And I don't think the kids understand. Everybody's doing it, everybody's buying it, etc.

But you just say no, even when you don't stand a chance. When it's that hard, when the boy or the girl is making it as difficult as possible to resist, you just say no, and you get off the roof. You look for the way out.

In closing, I want to read you something from a very wonderful young preacher. His name is Pete Briscoe, and he was preaching a series through Proverbs, and he was dealing with sexual purity. And this story is so wonderful and just what I want to finish this. I'm just going to read it to you from the transcript of his radio program.

A 19-year-old young man—he’s setting up a case study for his congregation—he said, "I want to close by setting up a case study. Think about this: a 19-year-old young man is dating a 20-year-old girl, and after a college basketball game, he and his best friend on the team are given Valentine cards for their girlfriends. The card leads them on a scavenger hunt, driving all over the city of Minneapolis.

The hunt ends at a hotel room on the first floor of a nice establishment on the north side of town. The young men go inside, and there are balloons and ribbons and romantic music, and there's cake and ice cream. And their girlfriends yell, 'Happy Valentine's Day!' as they enter the room. And after chatting and laughing for a while and playing some board games, one of the young men excuses himself and goes to the restroom.

When he comes out, the other couple has left. The lights have been turned down, his girlfriend is in the bed, and all her clothes are on the floor. What does the young man do?" Pete has posed this scenario. Well then, Pete goes on to describe the wise man and the fool, which is what he's preaching about. Is he a fool, or is he a wise man? What is wisdom? Spiritual intelligence lent to us by God to know what to do. Is he wise, or is he a fool?

And then Pete says, "So what did I do?" Yes, he says, this isn't a case study. This really happened to me when I was in college in Minnesota. I came out of the bathroom, I found myself in this situation, and I'm going to walk you through what took place. I had three thoughts hit my mind at once. I didn't know I was capable of thinking three things at once, but I was.

The first thought was, "Run, Pete! Run, run, run!" So that was going on while my other two thoughts popped in. The next thought was, I was able to picture my mom and my dad. I saw their faces as I closed my eyes, and I reminded myself that if I did what I'll be honest with you folks, he says, I wanted to do, if I did it, it would affect them. It would be going against what they always taught me and what they poured into my life.

And the third thought which came into my mind was a verse that I'd memorized because my youth pastor made us: "There has no temptation taken you, Pete, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, and He won't allow you to be tempted above that you're able, but will make the way to escape." And I opened my eyes, and there was the door. And I thought, "That's the way, out there."

And all of these three thoughts hit me at once, and I started to run, literally, to the door. And I whipped it open. I was in the parking lot, and I sprinted to my car and I couldn't get my keys. And I was trying to get them in the door, and I got in the door and I rode home as fast as I could. And I got to my dorm room and I sat on my bed and I wept. I was so scared. I had nearly got in the bed.

And I got on the phone, and I talked to my dad. And I told him what had just happened, and I told him how scared I was. And we talked, and he says, "I look back on that, and I think you know that for a 19-year-old kid, I made a wise decision that day." I'm absolutely convinced the Holy Spirit grabbed me and pulled me out of that room. And I'm so glad He did because my life is better now because He did. My marriage now is better because He did.

And what I want you to understand is all this biblical stuff on purity that I'm throwing at you today, it really applies to life. And you're going to find yourself in a bunch of situations this week—perhaps not as graphic, nor that defining—but a bunch of situations nevertheless where you have to make a decision. Boy and girl, man and woman, grandparents, middle-aged, I don't care. All of us, there will be a roof that we stand on, and all of us will make a decision whether to stay there and go along with giant temptation or get off the roof. Pete says, "The decision you make and the action you take will dictate whether you are a fool or a wise man."

God wants us to be wise men and women, and wise boys and girls. He doesn't want us to be a fool. It's about you and God, and God and you. Or maybe you and your children, you and your wife or your husband. You know who it's about. And I just want you to go there. Maybe you have to go back to the time you didn't get off the roof, or maybe you have to go back just to yesterday when the boss invited you out for lunch and you're married and you're tempted. You want to go. Whatever. Now, what are you going to do? Would you talk to God about this?

Guest (Male): This is Telling the Truth, and you've just heard Jill Briscoe with the conclusion of her message, "Getting Off the Roof," part of the Briscoes' powerful Triumph Over Temptation series. Jill will be right back in a moment with a final thought for the day.

We all struggle at times with sinful desires and selfish motives. And when you do, you must remember that every temptation to do wrong is also an opportunity to do right. That's the empowering truth Stuart and Jill Briscoe wanted to help you grasp when they created their four-message series, Triumph Over Temptation.

This series will equip you with powerful biblical truth to help you triumph over temptation and grow your faith in the process. Triumph Over Temptation is our thanks for your gift to keep sharing the teaching and resources of Telling the Truth with so many people around the world. Generous friends like you keep broadcasts like this one going, reaching others with God's healing love so they can experience life in Christ and find strength to carry on with courage.

So if you haven't given before, consider a gift today to help keep God's word going out around the world to you and many others. And remember, this is the last week to request your copy of Triumph Over Temptation when you call and give. Just call 1-800-889-5388. That’s 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. And now, here's Jill once again to answer a question from today's message.

Jill, how can both men and women keep from tempting the other sex?

Jill Briscoe: You know something? I'm going to say something. You know how. You don't need a seminar, and you don't need a book. We know if we're honest, if we're fluttering our eyelashes or giving that signal. Of course we know, certainly we know if we're women. I can't speak for men, but I'm guessing.

We know if we're overstepping the mark and tempting the other sex. It's being honest with yourself we need to be. We need to learn to be honest with ourselves, just honest. Say to God every morning, "Will you help me to just be honest?" And then you'll really know. And when you catch yourself in any sense overstepping the line—and you'll know where the line is—then that's where you have to say no physically. Use your body to say it.

And you can do this. "No, Jill, I can't; it's too strong for me." No, you can say no. The Bible teaches very clearly. It would not be fair if God to tell us to say yes or no if we couldn't say yes or no, no matter how much we want to say what we shouldn't say. God says we have choice, and we have the power to choose and the power to say no.

Just get honest. Say to the Lord, "Keep me honest." And so say that before you go out the door every day, whether it's wherever you are in a situation where this might necessitate a no today. Say to God, "Shout." That's what I say, shout at me. I don't do well with the whisper. I can pretend I don't hear that. Shout at me, and then give me the power you've promised to say no.

Guest (Male): Thanks so much, Jill. Before we go, we want to remind you that through the end of this week, when you give to continue Stuart and Jill's legacy of sharing God's word through Telling the Truth broadcasts like this one, we'll say thanks with the Briscoes' four-message series, Triumph Over Temptation. These encouraging messages will help you defeat temptation and grow in your faith as you do.

So please request your copy when you call 1-800-889-5388. That’s 1-800-889-5388, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Tune in tomorrow for Stuart's very helpful message called, "How Should I Handle Temptation?" Experience life Tuesday on Telling the Truth.