Success Without Succession Is Failure

David J. Mullins: Hi, podcast listeners. Thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory, don't neglect one of Solomon's most basic truths, and that truth is this. When you exit life's stage for the last time, your likeness appears again and again in the children you leave behind. That's why Solomon says success without succession is failure.
David J. Mullins: Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. Without a doubt, King Solomon was the wisest and wealthiest man who ever lived. Gratefully, we have an entire book filled with his timeless wisdom about successful living. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress teaches that we can't achieve long-term success without mentoring and training up the next generation. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.
Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome to Pathway to Victory. Today, we're going to focus on the wisdom of Solomon about passing along God's truth to the next generation. If you're a parent or grandparent, I urge you to listen closely to this message. But first, every now and then, there's an opportunity that comes along that you just know you shouldn't pass up. I believe this is one of those moments. May 14th through the 23rd, 2027, I'm inviting you to join me on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. This is a genuine invitation from me to you. I want to worship with you on the open sea. I want to open God's word with you in Ephesus and Thessalonica. Ten days, a lifetime of memories. I hope you'll say yes. All the details are at ptv.org. Well, I can hardly believe it, but Pathway to Victory is celebrating 30 years of ministry this year. This year, I also turned 70, and it's caused me to look back and take stock of what really matters. Out of that reflection came a new book, Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. Seven lessons God has used to shape my life, each one rooted in His word. I'd love for you to have it, apply it, and experience the same transformation in your own life. I'm going to send this book to your home when you give a generous 30th anniversary gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Okay, let's give our complete attention to a wise saying of Solomon in Proverbs chapter 22. I titled today's message Success Without Succession is Failure. Man's wisdom says our influence in this world ends the moment that we die. No, God's wisdom says our greatest influence on this world continues after we die in the children and the grandchildren we leave behind. If you want to be a successful parent and grandparent, mark these seven steps down. The first S in the word success stands for this: successful parents see their children as a gift from God. A successful parent is one who doesn't see his child as an irritant or an inconvenience, but instead sees his child as an inheritance, a gift from God. Secondly, the U stands for understand, accept, and develop their child's bent. A successful parent is one who understands how unique his or her child is and seeks to develop that uniqueness and maximize it. Shakespeare once said it is a wise parent who knows his child. Solomon said it is a successful parent who knows, understands, develops, and maximizes his child's unique bent. Number three, successful parents, the C stands for commit to lead their children to Christ. I know I've told you before, but when my first daughter, Julia, was five, she was asking all kinds of questions. So we scheduled an appointment for Amy to bring her down to my office at the church. She sat there, and I went through the gospel with her, and she prayed to receive Christ as her Savior there in my office. I would have done the same thing with Dorothy, but Julia beat me to the punch. When she was nine, she led her five-year-old sister to come to become a Christian as well. Like many of you, I was in the delivery room when both of my children were born. That was exciting. But that excitement pales in comparison to the thrill of seeing my children born again, when I knew for sure from that point on that I would see them forever and ever because of their relationship with Christ. Parents, commit to leading your children to Christ. The second C in this, number four, is communicate spiritual values to your children. Your responsibility as a parent doesn't end when they become a Christian; it actually begins at that point. Solomon said that in Proverbs chapter six. There are numerous spiritual values we need to pass on to our children. Look at verse 20. "My son, observe the commandment of your father, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother. Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you. When you sleep, they will watch over you. And when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching is light, and reproofs for discipline are the way of life." Why is it that it is essential to teach spiritual values to our children? Dr. Albert Siegel said in the Stanford Observer, "When it comes to rearing children, every society is only 20 years away from barbarianism. 20 years is all we have to accomplish the task of civilizing infants who are born into our midst each year." Parents, listen to me. If you're trying to raise godly children in this godless culture, you're swimming upstream. Every day your children are being assaulted through the media, through friends, through life experiences with values that are completely contrary to your values, but more importantly, to God's values. That's why we have to be proactive in teaching spiritual truth to our children. Moses understood the importance of doing that. Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter six. Remember, Moses was preparing his spiritual children, the Israelites, to enter into Canaan. He knew in this promised land they were going to face numerous temptations of immorality and idolatry. He knew the only way Israel was going to steer clear of those temptations was by training their children to remain faithful to God. Now listen to the urgency you find in Deuteronomy six. Moses said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your might. And these words which I, Moses, am commanding you today shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your sons." And you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. I want you to notice in verse seven the two ways we are to communicate spiritual truth to our children. First of all, we are to do it diligently. That Hebrew word "diligently" there means to intensely sharpen. There's a sense of urgency there. These are urgent truths that have to be communicated. We've got to remind our children that they have an adversary, the devil, who is doing everything he can to destroy every part of their life. We need to be proactive, we need to be intense, we need to sound the alarm. But notice also in verse seven, in teaching us how to teach this truth, he tells us it ought to be in the course of everyday life. The way you communicate spiritual truth to your children is not by bringing them to church just once a week on Sunday morning for a great program of Sunday school and worship. That's important. Don't neglect doing that. But that's not the only thing we're to do. It doesn't mean pulling out the old family Bible and dusting it off once a week and having a forced devotional time with your children. It's fine to have a devotional time, but what Moses is saying is our spiritual instruction ought to be a part of our everyday life. He says it ought to happen when you sit down at the dinner table, or in some cases, when you're in your car in the drive-thru through Chick-fil-A. Wherever dinner is for you, use that time to talk about spiritual truth. Or when you're driving someplace, use that time. Use natural conversation to talk about spiritual truth. When you're sitting around and watching a television program, a television program that maybe goes against God's truth, use that as a teaching opportunity. Look for those teachable moments to communicate spiritual truth. Number five, successful parents, the E stands for exemplify godly character. Perhaps you've heard this saying: some truths are better caught than taught. That's true when it comes to spiritual values. Yes, our words are very important, but our words have to be reinforced by our actions. It's not enough to just talk the talk; we have to be willing to walk the walk. That's what the Bible is talking about here as well. We need to exemplify godly character. One time, a number of years ago, I was preaching a message in my last church on how husbands can meet the needs of their wives. After the first service, the 8:15 service, I went back to my office to check on something, and I was surprised to find a note from Julia, who was about 11 at the time. She had been in the first service, and she said, "Dear Dad, that was a wonderful message. Now, here are some ways you can apply it in our family." Then she listed about four or five suggestions. Guess what? They were great suggestions. She was listening to what I was saying. She was listening, but she was also watching in how I lived out those truths in my life. I'm not the only one. Your kids are listening, but they're also watching. That's why Moses said, look at Deuteronomy six, go back to verse five. He addresses parents first. He said, "Parents, you can't give away something you don't possess." He says in verse five, "You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your might. And these words which I'm commanding you shall be on your heart." And then and only then can you teach them diligently to your children. Make sure that you exemplify godly character. Yes, our children are listening, but they're also watching. Number six, successful parents seek to discipline their children consistently. Solomon devotes a lot of ink to the subject of the discipline of children in the Book of Proverbs. But I can distill everything he says about disciplining children with these three principles from the Book of Proverbs. First of all, Solomon says discipline should begin early in life. In Proverbs 13:24, he says, "He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently." And there the word "diligently" literally means at early dawn. If you love your child, you will discipline him at early dawn. Now, that doesn't mean you wake your kid up every morning at 5:30 for their daily beating. That's not what he's talking about. The phrase "at early dawn" means early in life. Don't wait until your child is 13 or 14 to try to discipline them. Effective discipline begins early in life. Secondly, discipline should be tailor-made for the child. There's this running debate in Christian circles and educational circles: what's more effective, physical corporal punishment or verbal reproof? The answer is yes. Both are effective. Both are necessary depending upon the child and depending upon the situation. Yes, the Bible does advocate physical discipline. Proverbs 23, verses 13 and 14, Solomon said, "Do not hold back discipline from the child. Although you beat him with the rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from Sheol." Now, before you call child protective services on me or Solomon, understand what Solomon is saying and not saying. He is not advocating the abuse of children. No parent, no one should ever abuse a child. I believe that hell's hottest flames will be reserved for those who abuse children. That's not just my conjecture. Jesus said if anybody hurts a child, it would be better that a millstone be tied around his neck and he be cast into the depths of the sea than to face God. Now, we're not talking about child abuse here. What Solomon is talking about is the appropriate physical discipline of a child that's done in love, not out of anger. If it's done correctly, it will not only stop their rebellion against their parents but against ultimately God because, you see parents, a child's rebellion if left unchecked, unchallenged, will eventually metastasize into rebellion against God that will lead that child into hell. That's why the most loving thing we can do is to discipline our children. That leads also to another side of this. Sometimes, Proverbs 19, verse 17 says, the more effective way to discipline is with verbal correction. My brother, who's a lieutenant in the police department, my dad used to beat the bejeebers out of him. My brother would run around the house while my father would chase him outside the house, and he'd just beat him within an inch of his life, and my brother would say, "That didn't hurt. Do it again." Some people are like that. Other people respond better to verbal correction. That's why Proverbs 29, verse 17 says, "Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; he will also delight your soul." That word "correct" literally means verbally reprove your child. Number three, discipline should be grounded in love. One way we know that God loves us is He doesn't let us get away with anything. If you're a child of God, God is not going to let you get away with rebellion. He is going to bring discipline into your life. In Proverbs three, 11 to 12, Solomon said, "My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe His reproof, correction. For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father the son in whom he delights." The sign of God's love for you and me is that He disciplines us when we stray from Him. The way we demonstrate love toward our children is we refuse to allow them to get away with rebellion against us or against God. One writer said it this way: the parent must convince himself that punishment is not something he does to the child, it is something he does for the child. The parent's attitude toward his disobedient youngster is this: I love you too much to allow you to behave like that. Number seven, successful parents are those who spend time with their children. Now, I'll admit there's no proverb that specifically says that, but it's certainly inferred by everything else we've looked at. It takes time to communicate spiritual truth to your children, to lead them to faith in Christ, to understand, develop, and maximize your child's bent. It takes time. It takes a quality of time, but it also takes a quantity of time. Unfortunately, many parents today aren't spending time with their children. I read a study recently that said a century ago, parents spent 54 percent of their waking hours with their children. Know what the figure is today, 100 years later? 18 percent. I read one study that said the average middle-aged father interacts with his children an average of 37 seconds every day. You can't have any impact on your children's lives doing that. USA Today had a survey one time. They asked a group of teenagers, "When you run into problems, if you were to run into serious trouble, where would you turn first?" Know what the number one response was? Where children, teenagers turn when they run into trouble. Number one response was friends. The second response was music. The third response was television. Moms, you know where you ranked on the list? You were number 31. Dads, we were number 48. It takes time, devoted time, spending with our children to be a successful parent. Now, I realize here on Pathway to Victory, I'm speaking to some of you who are parents who have done the best you knew to do. You tried to apply these principles, but you feel like you have failed as a parent. Maybe there's a broken relationship you have with your child, or maybe your child is not living according to God's principles, and you're overwhelmed with guilt over that. Let me remind you of something. The first two people who lived on this planet were Adam and Eve. They had a perfect Heavenly Father. They lived in a perfect environment, the Garden of Eden, and yet they rebelled against God. Wherever there is freedom, there's the possibility of rebellion. That's why this book we're studying, do you know what the title of it is? The title is not Promises; it's Proverbs. There's no money-back guarantee that if you do everything we talked about this morning, you're going to raise perfect, godly children. But here's the promise: parents who follow these principles are going to be more successful than parents who ignore these principles from God's word. There's a fascinating story that comes from our nation's history. Steve Farrar recounts it in his book, Anchorman. Listen to this. George S. Patton from an early age was groomed by his father for admission to the Virginia Military Institute. When Patton graduated, he was second in his place and rated first in tactics, mathematics, Latin, geology, and chemistry. Patton was described by one who knew him well as an arrogant, a smart dresser, and he displayed classic chivalry toward ladies, making him a dashing romantic figure. Devoutly religious, or at least by his own standards, General Patton also encouraged his men to attend chapel and rarely missed an opportunity to pray on his knees before God. According to one of his biographers, Patton was a visionary who saw war clouds on the horizon and was determined to prepare for action. He was virtually fearless in combat. On one occasion, an enemy's bullet did find its way to him, but a ten-dollar gold piece in his pocket successfully deflected the bullet, leaving him with only a slight wound. Perhaps none of this information is news to you. Maybe you read the biography about Patton or saw the movie released in 1970. But there's a problem. The Patton I just described, the George S. Patton I just described, was the grandfather of the Patton whom America knows so well. He was the George S. Patton who died in 1864 from wounds sustained in the Civil War. The George S. Patton that America knows so well is George S. Patton the third. But the Patton about whom it was said we shall never look upon his kind again was his grandfather. The truth is we did see his kind again, and we saw it in his grandson. Don't neglect one of Solomon's most basic truths, and that truth is this. When you leave this world, you don't really leave. When you exit life's stage for the last time, your likeness appears again and again in the children and the grandchildren you leave behind. That's why Solomon says success without succession is failure. Ready to get started? Are you prepared to take your next step? As your radio pastor, I'm urging you to begin deploying these powerful principles from Solomon's Book of Proverbs. So let me hand you one more tool for the journey. This year, as Pathway to Victory celebrates 30 years of ministry, I've written a brand-new book, and it's built on the very truth we've explored today. My book is called Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. It reads more like a personal journal than a book, and at just 120 pages, it's a quick, joyful read. It's the perfect thing to place in the hands of a child or grandchild you love, a little inheritance of faith they'll carry with them long after you're gone. I'd be glad to send you a copy to your home when you give a special 30th anniversary gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Someone is listening right now who's prepared to multiply his or her support of Pathway to Victory. If that's you, I'm suggesting that you become one of our valued monthly givers. We call them Pathway Partners. In this relationship, you choose the amount of your monthly gift, and in return, you'll receive helpful benefits that are clearly defined at ptv.org. But the best part is this: you can be absolutely certain that God will use your monthly gift to bring light into a culture that's dark and desperately searching for truth. Thanks so much for joining me in this all-out effort to make a difference through the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Here's David to tell you more.
David J. Mullins: Today, when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, you're invited to request Dr. Jeffress's brand-new book, Seven Lessons from My 70 Years. Call 866-999-2965, visit ptv.org, or text PTV to 78800. And in celebration of 30 years of ministry, we've gathered Dr. Jeffress's most requested messages from the past three decades into a complete teaching series called Truth You Can Trust. And we'll send it to you on DVD video and MP3 format audio disc as a thank you for your especially generous gift of $75 or more. One more time, call 866-999-2965 or make your request online at ptv.org. Now, you could write to us if you'd like, PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. That's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins. You know, tragically, most Americans live far beyond their means. And as a result, the financial pressure in many households has become unbearable. So how do we break that cycle of debt? Learn how to spend your way to wealth Thursday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so grateful you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org/donate, or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Oh, and one last thing before we go. Don't forget to reserve your spot on the 2027 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. Now, you've heard me and Dr. Jeffress talk about this Bible conference at sea, and cabins, well, they're going quickly. Just picture yourself aboard the beautiful Celebrity Infinity, sailing round trip from Athens. Now, each day you'll gather for biblical teaching, worship, and fellowship, and then you'll step ashore to stand where Paul stood in Ephesus and walk the streets of Thessalonica, where his letters still speak to the church today. Nine unforgettable nights with more biblical destinations along the way. Every meal prepared, every detail taken care of, plus the joy of traveling with like-minded believers. There's also an optional pre-cruise extension in Athens. To book your spot, go to ptv.org.