The House of God Lies in Ruin - Healing in the Valley of Achor — Phil Beach Jr.

Let's just turn our Bibles to the book of Hosea, which is the Old Testament Hosea. It's right after Daniel and right before Joel Hosea. As you know, we have been ministering on the Valley of Acre as the remedy to the state of ruin in the house of God.

The Valley of Achor as a Picture of Calvary

And the Valley of Acre mentioned three times in the Old Testament, and it represents Calvary. It represents the cross. It represents what Christ did on Calvary. It represents all that God intends to do in the church through the power of the Holy Spirit, working together with the power of the cross.

And amazingly, you'll find that everywhere the Valley of Acre is mentioned in context, we're dealing with a fallen state, a fallen state in Joshua or judges were. And that's what we're going to look at after we read this scripture in Hosea.

We're looking at Akin, who took the accursed thing to himself. He touched that which was not permitted to be touched. Then in in Isaiah, the scriptures in context are referring to the Valley of Acre in relation to the backslidden Israel, the backslidden Israel.

And in Hosea, it's the same context. Israel was backslidden. And so each time the Valley of Acre is mentioned, it's God telling the people, Akin or the nation of Israel, that the way that they can recover out from that state of being backslidden is to come to the Valley of Acre.

And that's what the Lord is telling us through his word and by his Holy Spirit. That's what he's saying to us as the church. We must come back to Calvary. Come back to the cross. Come back to seeing the significance of the of the of the message of the cross.

It has got to affect our life. It's got to change our life. You remember last week we mentioned, and then we're going to read here in Hebrew or Hosea, that too often we only see what sin does to us. And unfortunately, while it is true, sin has a devastating effect in our life that still is a self-centered way of looking at sin.

A way to look at sin that would even be more heartbreaking. It's not what sin does to the creature, though that is heartbreaking. But it's what sin did to the creator himself that should devastate our hearts.

When we realize what sin did to the creator, he became a curse. And when when we start to see all of the causes why the house of God lies in ruin, all the causes, everything is rooted in self, living for self, self-centeredness.

And when we start to see that living for self or doing anything for self, what is sinful is reliving before God and before Christ the very thing that brought him to the cross. Reliving it. I believe the power to cease, to lay aside sin, doesn't lie so much in seeing how it will affect us if we play with it, although I think there is an element of truth in the scripture that validifies that mindset.

But more than that, the power to be free from sin and self, as we mentioned last week, and the world and the flesh, the power to be free from these things lies in a revelation given to us by the word of God that shows us the horror of what sin cost Christ, rejected by his father, abandoned by his father because he became a sin offering.

God had to turn his face from his son. Brother Jim mentioned the scripture about how for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross. Why did he endure the cross? Because of your sin and my sin he endured the cross.

And so, if you don't hate sin because of what it does to you, and to your family, and to your children, then hate sin because of what it did to Christ. If you can't abandon self-centered living because you realize how frustrated it makes you, and I tend to think that we can't abandon sin just because we're aware of how awful its effects are on us because we keep doing it.

We know how it hurts, but we keep doing it. And so, I think that there's weakness, there's impotence, powerlessness, if any, so small, power to be free from sin and self-centered living just because we see how horrible it affects us.

I think the key to this whole issue of us being rescued and delivered from the tyranny of self lies in our eyes being opened, our heart being enlightened and flooded with light from heaven to see the depths to which Christ sank in the miry clay because of my sin and your sin.

I remember a number of years ago, one of my children said to me, and this is a paraphrase, Daddy, I'd hate to end up sinning because I know that if I did and it became a public thing it would hurt your ministry.

There was something there. My daughter was realizing something beyond the personal consequences that it would bring to her. And there was a sense of determination not to sin, not so much because it would ruin her life, but because it would possibly ruin Daddy's ministry.

You know, oh, how can you be a preacher and your own children are out of order? That's it. That's the revelation. That is what works in us, power to resist sin. It's when we finally get to the place where we stop saying, I can't sin anymore because it's affecting me, but we get to the place where we say, I can't sin anymore because it's affecting Christ.

It's affecting His cause. It's bringing to His memory the thing that He suffered. Why should I do what brought Christ to the cross when He has provided for me in the atonement and in salvation the power to be free from it?

And so I pray that the Holy Spirit will awaken our hearts to see this overwhelming truth. It'll change your life. It'll change your life. The whole perception of sin is self-centered, man-centered. Most men say, oh, I can't commit adultery.

Look what it'll do to my wife and my children. Now, are we going to minimize the effects that adultery will have? Of course not. But it's man-centered. Of course adultery has disastrous effects on your whole family and the body of Christ.

But what about, I can't commit adultery because of what it'll do to God's heart? This is what it means to fear God. This is what it means to tremble at His Word. To fear God means that you've been brought to the place where ultimately you realize your actions affect God more than anyone else, more than anything else.

And while you're aware that your actions affect people, you are more aware of how they affect your Creator. And ultimately, on the Day of Judgment, we're not going to stand before one another and give one another an account.

We're going to stand before God and give Him an account of our actions. And so, brothers and sisters, I sense from the Word and from the Spirit of God this revelation that's just shining brightly in our hearts.

Pray that God will elevate us, lift us up from even a man-centered, self-centered way of interpreting sin. From how it affects us to how it affects God, how it affected Christ on Calvary. Get a revelation of the bleeding Christ.

Get a revelation of the sword that went through His side. Get a revelation of the crown of thorns that was placed on His head. Get a revelation. Get a revelation of God as a man hanging on a cross naked because of your and my sin.

Get a revelation of Gethsemane and the pain and the anguish and the travail of soul and sweating drops of blood. Get a revelation of what it costs God. And the next time your soul is tempted to sin, the next time your soul is tempted to live for self, the next time you're tempted to say something that's sinful, to think something that's sinful, to act in a manner that's sinful, think of Christ.

God help us to see this. Help us to see this, Lord. It'll change our life. It'll change our life. Hosea chapter 13. This is the condition of backslidden Israel whose hearts had become cold and calloused.

Backslidden Religion and the Problem of Pride

And like it says in Isaiah chapter 58, they retained an outward form of religion. It appeared like they delighted to know God. It appeared like they delighted to seek God. But it was all an outward thing.

An outward thing. But their hearts, their hearts had departed from the Lord. It wasn't work springing out of love. It was work springing out of obligation. And therefore, the Lord rejected the whole religious scene, much of which He Himself instituted.

He rejected it. Because what He instituted was only to represent an inward reality. And when the inward reality was no longer there, God said, I don't want the outward form. I don't want the outward form.

And in Isaiah 58, we're taught that God demands the hard change as it was read this morning. But now, listen to this. May God speak these words into our heart and show us how He cries out. When Ephraim spoke trembling, he exalted himself in Israel.

Pride. Whenever the Lord deals with a backsliding people, a backsliding heart, whenever the Lord deals with the church, though this is referring to Israel, there is a double reference here. Whenever the Lord deals with the church who is backslidden, whenever the Lord begins to deal with our need to see how the house of God is lying in ruin, the issue of pride will always have to be dealt with.

Think about it in your own life. What gets us in trouble the most? Isn't it our pride? Yes, it is. Why do we say harsh things one to another? Because our pride's offended. Why are we unwilling to say I'm sorry?

Because our pride is offended. Why don't we like to be told what to do? Because our pride is offended. Pride is a guilty, ruinous, cancerous, gangrenous problem. Pride. He exalted himself of Israel, but when he offended and bail, he died.

And now they sin more and more and have made them molten images of their silver and idols according to their own understanding. All of it in the work of the craftsmen. They say of them, let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.

Brothers and sisters, don't disassociate this as some archaic practice that is no longer present today. To make molten images of silver and idols of gold is simply to give one's self over to materialism.

It's to give one's heart over to serving mammon. Jesus said you cannot serve both God and mammon. This is what happens when the heart drifts from God. We inevitably will create other gods and serve other idols.

We'll serve idols. This is why it's so important for us to see our need to cry out to the Lord. Verse 3, therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away. As the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor.

And as the smoke out of the chimney. What the prophet is saying here is when we set up idols and we begin to pursue things and we begin to spend our energy and our time and our effort and our thinking on that which is beyond necessary.

Remember earlier, necessary. I just want to say this for the sake of the tape. The Lord is calling us as his people to go before him, go before his word, and to cut out of our lives that which is not necessary.

Because we live in an age of excess. We live in an age of indulgence. And excess and indulgence is indicative of self-centeredness, self-centered living. And Jesus Christ condemns self-centered Christianity.

Actually, that's an oxymoron. It's incompatible. It's a paradox. There is no such thing as self-centered Christianity. That's like saying a faithful adulterer. You can't be faithful and be an adultery at the same time.

And so Christ and the apostles taught a Christianity that through the power of the Holy Spirit, through the power of the new birth, through the power of grace, through the power of the word of God, through the power of being filled with the Holy Ghost, they taught a Christianity that disowned self, that denied self, that disassociated our lives with excess and sought to live for Christ, sought to live for His interests and His purposes.

And the chief interest of Christ in this day that we live in is to secure a bride, to secure a remnant for Himself. You say, what is the Lord most concerned about? The thing the Lord's most concerned about is securing a bride for Himself, a bride that is wholly devoted to Him.

And as we become more and more one in thought, word, and deed with Christ, our interests will revolve around that. We will spend our day praying, God, I offer myself to You and to my brothers and sisters so that Christ might increase, so that the beauty of Your Son might be seen more and more in our lives.

Christian Simplicity, Work, and Freedom from Mammon

And so, if we are spending our time on something other than that which is eternal, not working and making an honest living, the Scripture is not condemning the thing that it teaches. The New Testament teaches that we're to work, we're to make an honest living.

But the purpose of our work is so that we might have what we need, need. Number two, that we might have extra if God so blesses us. But let me say something to you. Don't think for a moment that God is calling you to prosper if it means you sacrifice the interests of Christ.

A lot of Christians are buying into this idea. And so if you prosper without compromising the interests of Christ, without compromising the Word of God, prosperity then is that you might have some to give to Him that is in need.

That's why God calls us to work. That's what the New Testament teaches. We work so that we don't have to steal. Let him who steals, let him who stole steal no more, but let him work with his hands. See?

So we must pray, oh God, and this is, I know this is hard, this is hard because we're living in a day when it's almost impossible to make an honest living and make ends meet without sacrificing everything.

But this is the crisis that we're in. This is where we have to choose. Are we willing to go without? And to even maybe look pretty strange in the eyes of the American way of looking at things. Are we willing to downgrade, downgrade, downgrade, so that we have enough but we don't have nearly what everyone else has, but it doesn't matter.

We have enough to survive. We haven't had to sell our soul to them and we're free to serve the Lord. We're free to be before Him. We're free to give the time that is worthy of His name into His Word, into prayer, and to the body of Christ to serve one another in love.

I know this is very challenging. I know it's very piercing. I know some won't want to hear this. But it doesn't matter, because the trumpet of God is clearly sounding. The Word of God is clearly speaking.

Paul said to the Corinthians, I would have you free from distraction. That's the Word of the Lord to the church. He wants us to be free from distractions. And so it requires an earnest seeking of the Lord's heart and a willingness to accept His provision.

Now, many, many months ago, you know, we taught a whole series on the enemy of contentment is what? Anybody remember? The enemy to contentment is comparison. If you are set on comparing yourself with other people and feeling that if you're not living up to the standards of others, then something's wrong, you'll never follow the Lord.

You'll never follow the Lord, because you'll always be discontent and unthankful. We have to be willing to stop following the Joneses. We have to be willing to even stop claiming that our vision is the American dream.

And we must come to the place where we say, Lord, I only want You. I only want You. And I have to support my family, I know. I have to make a living, I know. But Lord, and You know who I am. You know the kind of person I am.

You know the gifts I have. But Lord, I am not willing to sell my soul to mammon and the world in order to make a living beyond what is necessary. And so God would ask all of His people everywhere to earnestly pray so that they can understand how God would lead them to make an honest living without becoming entangled.

It might require serious changes. But again, what's valuable to us? What do we want? What do we want more than anything? And I can promise you by the Word of the Lord, by God's Word, that if your heart is set on Jesus Christ, and you want Him and you want His Word, and you want to devote yourself to His interests, God has a way.

God has a plan that will enable you to make an honest living and at the same time be free to devote anything beyond what is necessary in both your time as well as your wherewithal to the Kingdom of God.

He has a way. It's a matter of seeking it. See if that's what we want. If that's what we want. If we don't want that, then most likely we won't see it. So see, this is challenging the heart. And that's what the Lord always does.

Hosea's Warning: Self-Destruction and God's Help

Verse 4. Yea, I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but Me. For there is no Savior but Me. I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought, according to their pasture.

So were they filled. They were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore have they forgotten Me. Therefore I will be unto them as a lion, and as a leopard by the way, will I observe them. I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the call of their heart.

And there will I devour them like a lion. The wild beasts shall tear them. Watch this now. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is your help. This is where we must be brought. This is where we must be brought as the church.

We must come to the place after the Lord allows us to spend all of our energy, spend all of our time on all of the things that we're doing, all of the excesses. It gets to where we get worn out, we get burned out, we fall out, everything begins to crumble.

We're desperately hungry for Him. Nothing has satisfied us. In God's sovereign power, our world begins to shake, our relationships begin to shake. Something begins to happen. Sometimes it takes years for this to happen.

Listen, this is prophetic brothers and sisters. It takes years. Oftentimes young people can thrive on the energy of youth for years, years, years. Everything is good. But eventually God will subject every believer and every lifestyle to the fire.

And the fire reveals exactly what things are made of. And we start to see there's a great lack. We're no longer drinking from His presence. We're no longer drinking from His Word. We're no longer being energized from a sense of desperation from Him.

And everything begins to crumble. But this is not because God's against us, it's because He loves us. It's because He has plans for us. It's because He wants us to be in His heart. He wants us to be close to Him.

And so He waits patiently. He waits patiently for us. And He stands by and lets everything fail. And in despair and in despondency, we begin to cry out and we say, God, what's going on? And then that's when we hear the Lord say, oh Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself.

Thou hast done this to thyself. But here's the word of hope. But in me is thy help. I will be thy king. Where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? And thy judges of whom thou says, give me a king and princess.

The Valley of Achor and Returning to God

Now go to chapter 14. When we are brought to the place where everything fails and our energy fails and the fuel that's been fueling us. And we come to a crisis and we say, oh God, I'm empty, I need You.

That's the Valley of Achor right there. That's what the Valley of Achor looks like. It's a beautiful place. And now this is what God wants us to say in the Valley of Achor. This is what God wants to come to our heart.

For years, we've served the Lord, we've talked to Him, but we've been preoccupied with excess and wanting things and wanting a good life and prosperity and happiness and joy. And praise God, the Lord's blessing me.

And we drifted from the deeper purposes of God, which are not to give us things, but it's to give us Himself so that we can be empowered to lay our life down as a drink offering to our brothers and sisters and to the cause of Christ.

American Christianity is anathema before God. Anathema. It's cursed. It's not truth. God does not live in heaven in order to bless us and want us to be real happy and want us to fit into the American dream.

No! He lives in heaven interceding for us that we might sell everything that we have and offer it to Him and be before Him as the fragrance of Christ to a lost and dying world. That's what Christianity is.

Now here's what God wants us to say. Verse 1, chapter 14. While in the valley of Acre, while in the valley of despair, while in the place when we begin to run out of energy or run out of fuel and run out of that youthful, the youthful visions, and we realize excess is not the route to go.

Abundance is not something we should be after, but we need God. And then this is what begins to happen. Oh, Israel, return unto the Lord thy God. Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. We might say, God, why didn't you stop me?

This is what we'll often cry. And God says, because in my wisdom I knew you had to go through it. Because if I stopped you and told you, you would have got mad at me. You would have thought I was denying you something good.

So you had to go through it. You had to taste it for yourself. You had to taste it and get sick of it. One pastor many years ago, I spoke to him about some things I saw going on in the church that I didn't like, and I knew the Lord didn't like.

And he sat me down. I'll never forget what he said. He said, Phil, sometimes you can't prevent things from happening. You got to let people do it. Because sometimes only through making mistakes will they learn.

I foresaw some problems going on and had to stop them, but he wouldn't do it. Because he knew that the problems that were going on had to happen in order for the people to learn. And that's why our Father in Heaven sits back and he sees that we're making plans to do something that might ultimately end up being very bitter, very distasteful to us.

And after it's all over with and we're done vomiting and throwing up and getting sick over everyone and saying, Oh God, I can't handle this anymore. I need you. We might have a moment of anger. God, why didn't you stop me?

Could have prevented all this from happening. God says, Well, you wouldn't have listened. You wouldn't have listened. You would have got resentful. Because you were sure that it's what you wanted. You were sure.

So I let you have it. But now that you've come to see things differently, I'm here for you. No regrets. Don't worry about it. All things work together for good. Hallelujah. I'll revive your heart. Don't condemn yourself.

I'm still God. Your past is not going to hinder you from fulfilling my purpose. It's part of the fabric that I'm putting together. Just look to me and I'll restore those years to you. I'll heal you. God says, Don't worry, I'm still God.

I'm still sovereign. I'm still sitting on the throne. May God give us years to hear. Take with you words, verse 2, chapter 14, Hosea. Here's what the Lord is after. Here's what will restore the house of God from ruin.

The Cry for Deliverance from Iniquity

But God knows this will never happen. And it can't happen until we are subject to his hand of child training. No amount of preaching, no amount of teaching is going to do it. That doesn't mean we're going to stop preaching and teaching.

I've been tempted a couple times to do that. Take with your words and turn to the Lord and say unto him. Here it is, brothers and sisters. Oh, I love this. Take away all iniquity and receive us graciously the ability to say to God, Take away all iniquity.

Take away all selfishness. Take away all self-centered living. Take away all the desires within me to indulge in excess. Take away all the desires in me to be an American Christian. Take it away, Lord.

In order for that to happen, we must be subject to the sovereign dealings of God. And we must find a responsive heart to him. Take away all iniquity. Receive us graciously. So will we render the calves of our lips.

Listen, Asher shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses. Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands. Ye are our gods. For in thee the fathers findeth mercy. When God begins to see this confession in the heart of the church, the house of God will begin to get restored.

Three Heartfelt Cries for Restoration

Mark this down. Mark this down in your Bibles. Mark it down on a piece of paper. The valley of Achor must produce a threefold heartfelt cry before the house of God can be restored. Number one, the valley of Achor must produce a cry to be delivered from all iniquity.

Now the word iniquity means lawlessness. And you can capture what lawlessness is when you understand self, selfishness. The valley of Achor must produce a cry within the house of God. Lord, free me from self-centered living and free me from all of the snares and all of the bondages and all of the distractions that have noosed themselves around my neck as a result of self-centered living.

Number two, Asher shall not save us. We will not ride upon horses. Neither will we say any more to the work of our hands. Ye are our gods. Number two, a cry in our heart must arise saying, Lord, we will no longer look to anything or anyone to save us.

We will not trust in horses, which means self-help, self-strength. Taking things into our own hands. Trying to do it by our own power. Lord, we come to you and we look to you alone. You are the savior.

You are the deliverer. You are my strength. You are my song. You are my healer. You are the one who died on Calvary for me. My soul will not look to anyone else. The devil is a liar. The devil is a liar.

We have hope in no one but God. And lastly, For in thee the fathers findest mercy. We must come back to the truth of God's word. The fathers, those who have written down the scriptures. Our spiritual fathers, our spiritual parents.

We must go back to the gospel that Paul preached. The gospel that Jesus preached. And we must recognize they looked to you. And we must look to you. And then, God's response in the Valley of Achor. Verse number four.

God's Promise to Heal Backsliding

I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely. For mine anger is turned away from them. God promises to heal our hearts. God promises to restore us. Backsliding means going back into what God delivered us out from.

That's all that backsliding means. You go back into what God has delivered us out from. And what has God delivered us out from? Living for self. How prevalent living for self is, isn't it? How prevalent.

But God says, I will heal their backsliding. Hallelujah. God says, I'll heal you from going back into yourself. Not only will God heal us. Number two. I will be as the dew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily.

And cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread. And his beauty shall be as the olive tree. And his smell as Lebanon. Not only will God heal our backsliding. But number two, God says, He will cause us to grow.

And cause us to mature. And bring forth the fruit of righteousness. And the fruit of holiness. And the beautiful fragrance of Christ will emanate. And permeate our lives. Is that what we want? Of course it's what we want.

And this is what God says he'll do. In his love. Verse number seven. They shall dwell under his shadow. They that dwell under his shadow shall return. They shall revive as the corn. And grow as the vine.

The scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. And now. Another result of the valley of Achor. Watch this. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do anymore with idols? When God heals our heart from backsliding.

And God gives us a new heart. A heart that's after him. And we've been delivered from excesses. We've been delivered from a life of indulgence. And self-centered living. We will begin to cry out by the power of God.

What shall I do anymore? With these idols that I used to serve. We will be ashamed. The Bible says. How could I have done this? I will no longer be involved in serving mammon. I will no longer be involved in serving myself.

I will no longer seek to get things. And get on the coaster of the American dream. I will no longer do it. I will now by the grace of God. Live for God. Live by God. I will offer myself to Him. Hallelujah.

God puts a song in your heart. He puts a song in your soul. He puts a song in your mouth. He frees you from fetters. He frees you from depression. He frees you from the things that are destroying your family.

You are restored back. To lovely communion with the Lord. Your heart pants for Him. And you say. I will never go back to those idols again. The Lord is my God. I will serve Him. And Him alone. Verse 9.

Who is wise. He shall understand these things. Prudent. He shall know them. For the ways of the Lord are right. And the just shall walk in them. But the transgressors. Shall fall. Therein. Well brothers and sisters.

We are going to stop there today. Much more. Which will take. Each week. Build upon the foundation. And keep looking to the Lord. But this morning. In light of God's word. We want to ask ourselves this question.

A Closing Call to Surrender and Deliverance

In these closing moments. Colette would please come. To the piano. And try that. That new beautiful song. Come. Just as you are. Oh my. But before we sing that song. I want to invite everyone. In the presence of the Lord.

Just to bow your hearts before God. And simply. Say this one thing to God. Father. Here I am. I have heard your word. I sense your presence. I want you. You. I want you to do in my life. That is humanly impossible.

Lord. I absolutely don't know how to go about. Getting these things happening in my life. But I realize I don't have to Lord. All I have to do is come to you. And beg you. To change. My heart. And so in the presence of God this morning.

Father we thank you. We thank you for the Holy Spirit. And the word of God. And I pray God. That we will be empowered today. To look to you. With a heart. That cries out. Deliver me Lord. Deliver me Lord.

From everything. That is hindering me from you. Help me to know how. To give myself. Only to what is necessary. It is a promise in your word. That you will provide what I have need of. And your plan is for me.

To make an honest living. But Lord. Beyond that. Where my life is full of excess. And indulgence. Lord I pray that you will cut it out. By the power of your word. And free me. So that my heart will not be distracted.

And that I will be more and more. Available for you. For your purposes. And your interests. We pray in Jesus name. As we sing this song.