The House of God Lies in Ruin - Final Thoughts on Repentance — Phil Beach Jr.

Testing one, two, we just got it. Father, we thank you for the searching of our hearts this morning by your Holy Spirit and by your word. We thank you, Lord, for making us to see how apart from your grace and your continued power that we are unthankful and that unthankfulness, if unchecked, will lead us on a path of spiritual ruin and destruction.

We continually ask you, Lord, to give us thankful hearts, gratitude, adjust our attitude. Lord, we look to you as the source from which we are able to receive all that we need to live godly, holy lives in this crooked, perverted generation.

And so, Lord, we now come to your word and we're asking for the Holy Spirit to make the word alive to us and change us, Lord, by your word. Wash us by your word. Cleanse us by your word. Impart life to us by your word.

The Need for a Heart Capable of Repentance

Purge us from iniquity by your word and by mercy. We thank you, Lord, for Jesus' sake. Amen and amen. You can see why it is necessary that we be given from God a heart capable of repentance. As we've spent the past three weeks talking about godly repentance, whenever the truth of God, as we just witnessed this morning, comes and witnesses to our hearts and shows us areas of sin, areas of lack.

Specifically speaking, areas of unthankfulness. Unless we are given a heart of repentance by God and are able to maintain that by looking to God, looking to the Lord Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith, then the danger is that we are aware of our need, but there's no change.

And so, we have spent the past couple weeks looking at the genuine evidence of real repentance, as found in 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verses 10 through 11. 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verses 10 and 11. Just going to briefly go through the list here, and then we're going to move on.

We're going to move on. Pray about this. The Lord is the one who gives these qualities. The Lord is the one. The Lord is the source. Don't be deceived, brothers and sisters, by a false repentance. We learned that a false repentance is worldly sorrow.

You feel bad, remorse about something. You might even shed a few tears. You might tell someone, but the bottom line is there's no deep brokenness. There's no real heart cry to change. Repentance is simply not feeling bad.

Repentance is a God-wrought grace in us that fuels in us the desire to change. Oh God, I want to change. I've got to change. Change me, Lord. And here's the evidences of genuine repentance, as outlined in 2 Corinthians, chapter 7, as we learned.

The Corinthians were sinning. There was all kinds of sin going on in the Corinthian church. Immorality, backbiting, gossip, contention, jealousy, divisions, schisms. Worldly wisdom. Unlawful divorcing among Christians.

And so Paul rebuked them and told them they needed to repent. And this is what he was looking for. The first evidence of genuine repentance is it works intense carefulness in us. It works a deep concern.

We become concerned about the area of darkness or sin that the Lord exposes. Very, very important. Secondly, clearing of ourselves. True repentance works a passion and a desire within us to clear ourselves from the offense.

We mentioned last week Zacchaeus when he met the Lord and Jesus truly changed him. What did he say? He said, truly Lord, I'll pay back fourfold those who I ripped off. He had an intense desire to clear himself.

Genuine repentance will produce in you a desire to be before the Lord and to make sure that you clear your conscience before God and man. That might require that you talk to someone and make sure they understand that your heart is changed toward them.

If you have bitterness or resentment. Or husband and wife. Clear yourself. Clear yourself. Do what's necessary to clear your conscience so that there's no question about the genuineness of your desire to change.

Alright? Now, when we have a repentance that falls short of this, we need to pray, oh God, my heart needs further work. My heart needs further work, Lord. Perform Your Word. But we mustn't settle. We mustn't settle for something less than God's standard here.

Indignation Against Sin and the Fear of God

Number three, indignation. What indignation, Paul said, against all sin. True repentance works in us an indignation and a hatred for our sin. You remember the Lord Jesus, it was said of Him, Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity.

Do you hate sin? We need to pray, God, give me a hatred for unthankfulness. Give me a hatred for unwholesome speech. Give me a hatred for all uncleanness. Give me a hatred for bad attitudes. Give me a hatred for immorality.

Give me a hatred for greed and covetousness. So that when true repentance is wrought in our life over a certain sin, not only do we change and find in Jesus Christ freedom from the tyranny of that sin, but we find a hatred against that sin as well.

A holy hatred. God's people in this late hour need a baptism of hatred against sin. We've become warm and lukewarm in this area. The things that bother the Lord no longer bother His house. The things that trouble the Lord no longer trouble we who call His name.

What does the Bible say? Nevertheless the foundation of God is sure. Let everyone that name the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. The grace of God has appeared unto all men, teaching us to what? Deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.

That's the word of God. And so genuine repentance will work in us a hatred for sin. What does the Bible say in the book of Jude? Hating the garments spotted by flesh. Hating the garments. You reach out and help people, but you must hate the sin that they're engaged in.

You must hate your own sin. Here's a warning to somebody. Listen, here's a warning from the Lord to somebody. You might have a good desire to want to help people. You might be inclined to help people who are struggling with sins, but be warned that if you don't hate the sin, that you are finding yourself in the environment of, while trying to reach out to the sinner, beware because that sin will become a snare to you, and you'll fall right under the power of that sin.

I've known many people over the years who have testified that they were inclined to help people who were struggling, backsliders, down and outers, but because they didn't hate the sin, actually inwardly in their heart, they struggled with the same sin that they wanted to help people overcome.

And what happened was they ended up falling into that very sin. So beware, brothers and sisters. God's Word can produce this. Next, number four, fear of God. Genuine repentance works a holy fear of God in us.

The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God. Learn to fear God. Say, Lord, teach me to fear You. What's one of the promises of the New Covenant? The Bible says in the book of Jeremiah, I will put my fear in their heart.

God wants to put His fear in our heart. To fear God, to tremble at God's Word, to tremble knowing that He is sovereign God and that by His Word all things are held together and that we all must stand before Him on the day of judgment and give an account of the things that we've done in this body, whether good or whether bad.

Paul said, therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, knowing the fear of the Lord, knowing that we're accountable before God. We're accountable. Now, this is not the fear that works torment. There's a difference.

Perfect love casts out fear. And some have erroneously concluded that if we walk in perfect love, we will no longer fear God. That is incorrect. That is not biblical. That is a lie. Jesus Himself walked in perfect love and the Bible says that He feared God.

He feared His Father. But the fear that Christ had was not a fear that had torment in it, where He was afraid of eternal punishment or afraid of being rejected by God, but it was a fear that was born out of having a true knowledge of His Father.

How awesome He is. How powerful He is. Do we have that kind of fear? Brothers and sisters, without the fear of God in our life, we will be seduced. Next, intense longing to be in right relationship. What longing?

What intense longing, Paul said. True repentance worked in the Corinthians. They wanted to be right. They wanted to make things right. Next, zeal. What zeal? What zeal? This zeal has to do with a desire to live in the light.

A desire to forsake all darkness. What does the Bible say in 1 John? God is light and in Him is no darkness. If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. So genuine godly repentance will work an intense zeal within us to want to walk in light.

We won't want anything to do with darkness. Remember the series? No part darkness. No part darkness. We'll just want to walk in His light. In the light of His Word. And we'll want to be around people who talk about the light and love the light.

Sin in the Church and the Leaven of Tolerance

Remember what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians. I just want to read it here. Please listen. 1 Corinthians 5. Listen. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you. Fornication. Now this is among the Corinthian church.

So there were those in the Corinthian church who were claiming to be Christians, but they were living in fornication. And a certain kind of fornication that isn't even among the Gentiles. So Paul was saying here, there's a fornication in the church that isn't even common among Gentiles.

What a paradox. And then he says, and you are puffed up and have not rather mourned. What a sad commentary of the state of the Corinthian church. There was sin in the midst. And instead of being grieved and feeling the pain of that sin and weeping and saying, oh God, deliver my brother, deliver my sister from that fornicating heart.

Or God, do You want me to approach my brother and sister? And in meekness, doesn't Paul say, if any man be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

So rather than seeing this deep concern for the sin that was commonly known in the church, they were puffed up. They were arrogant. They were careless. They had this attitude. Well, so, what am I supposed to do?

They forgot that they were their brother's keeper. They forgot that they were members one of another. They forgot the great commandment, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, strength, and soul, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

If we truly love our neighbor as ourself, will we not be concerned about one another? Will we not in meekness and in gentleness and in humility seek the good and welfare of our brother and sister? Doesn't that mean that when it is commonly known that our brother or sister has fallen into sin, that we will take every effort to pray and ask God if we should go to them in meekness and in gentleness and try and help them see the truth?

Then why weren't the Corinthians doing that? Because they had fallen from seeing the Lord and they had become carnal and worldly. You have not mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Now listen carefully. For I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already as though I were present concerning them that hath done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit with you, and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such and one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Now look at verse 6. Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Do you see what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Corinthians? Your glorying is not good. Here's what He means.

Your lighthearted attitude about sin is not good. You who can look upon immorality either in a brother or maybe it's the television or a magazine or a video, you who can look at that and not be troubled about it, it is not good.

Because Paul says, don't you know that a little leaven, don't you know that a little darkness, don't you know that a little greed, a little immorality, a little lying, a little cheating, a little dishonesty, don't you know that a little bit of slander, a little bit of gossip, don't you know a little bit of unthankfulness, a little bit of discontentment will destroy the whole lump if it's not dealt with?

Just a little bit. Just a little bit. Your glorying is not good. We've become insensitive, haven't we? We've become accustomed to what is evil. This is why there is such a call of the Spirit of God in this late hour for God's people to come back to the Word and come back to communion with Him and come back to a passion to walk in the light.

This is on point number six on true repentance. The zeal for pursuing light. We see. Your glorying is not good. Know you not that a little leaven, leavens the whole lump. When we accept any darkness in our life, there is leaven there that can have the potential to destroy the whole lump.

Now watch what the Word says. Verse 7. Purge out, therefore, the old leaven. Do you see that? Purge out. I want to ask a question, alright? Listen. How many of you have been taught of the Lord to pray this prayer?

Lord, purge out of me the old leaven. This is part of the new covenant. This is part of the covenant of grace and mercy. It's biblical, isn't it? We need God to resurrect within us a desire to pray, God, purge out of me every wrong attitude like our brother Cary spoke about.

Lord, purge out of me every wrong attitude. Lord, purge out of me the leaven of unthankfulness. Let's not take this lightly. Let's not be like the Corinthians and be puffed up about this. Oh well, praise the Lord.

I mean, you know, everyone is like this. I mean, hey, this is the way things are. God, help us. Lord, help us not to be arrogant. Help us not to be puffed up. Help us, Lord, not to come under the same chastisement that the Corinthians are coming under.

Is that our condition? Does the Lord stand in our midst this morning with tears of love, drawing down His eyes, saying to us, ye have become puffed up, children. You have become arrogant. Is that what He says to us?

We've become calloused. Is He saying to us, wherefore, pray that Father in Heaven will purge out of you. Husbands, listen. Every bad attitude you have. Wives, listen. Every bad attitude that you have.

Every one that God shows you in the light of His Word. Are you begging God? Teenagers, are you begging God? Purge out of me this attitude I have toward authority. Or this attitude I have toward my parents.

Come on. Teenagers, do you have a taste for this world? Do the things of this world attract you? Do you find your heart wanting to go into the things of this world that you know are not good? Like what Pam read.

Among the ungodly. Do you find yourself being tempted? Are you praying then daily, Lord, purge me from this leaven. Listen, listen. This is a prophetic word. The leaven in our lives that we don't beg God to purge us from will ultimately destroy us.

And it starts out a little bit. How much leaven do you need to leaven a bunch of dough? Just a little bit, huh? I can remember 25, 30 years ago when I used to work at a pizza parlor, we used to make dough by the barrelfuls.

I mean barrelfuls. And I remember that the amount of leaven in proportion to the amount of dough was so little. Just needed a little bit. And that little bit, once it got mixed in, caused the whole batch to what?

Expand and rise. Brothers and sisters, hear the call of the Spirit of God this morning. Hear the cry of God's Word this morning. Purge out of me the leaven. Purge out of me the leaven. Oh, Father, I want to be pleasing in Your eyes.

Cleansing Ourselves and Pursuing Holiness

Doesn't this coincide with the Word of the Lord in 2 Corinthians? It's one of my favorite Scriptures. 2 Corinthians 7. Chapter 6, verse 14. Listen to this please, brothers and sisters. This is right along the point 6.

Zeal for pursuing light. See, there's a great lack of genuine repentance in the house of God. And God is crying out once. He's crying out twice. He's crying out over and over again. Pray, my people, that you might be given a heart of repentance, lest the thing that you refuse to repent over become your ruin and your destruction.

This is what was happening to the Corinthians. Paul was a true father, wasn't he? He was a true father. He loved the Corinthians. And therefore, he loved them enough to tell them the truth. Even though telling them the truth, what?

Resulted in them loving him less. That's what he said. He said, what is it with you guys? He says, my heart is not closed. Yours is. He said, I've only told you the truth. He said, I haven't even wanted any of your money.

I haven't taken a penny from you. I just told you the truth. Why is it now that I'm telling you the truth that you love me less? Listen to this. Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Cary gave me a picture of a yoke hanging on the barn.

Remember that? And I have it hanging in my little office. And I oftentimes look at it. Everybody here knows what a yoke is. A yoke is what they use to link two cattle together. It's a big wooden piece of object.

And it's got one place for one neck and another place for another neck. And they're yoked together, which means what? They can't go in opposite directions. They have to walk together. They're yoked. They're caught together.

And here's what Jesus is saying. Don't be yoked together with an unbeliever. Now that not only applies to marriage. Christians shouldn't marry unbelievers. But this yoke has a greater application than just marriage.

What it simply means is don't walk together with unbelievers and share their common interests. Because it will lead you astray. Don't think like unbelievers. Don't reason like unbelievers. Don't plan like unbelievers.

You remember a few weeks ago we put on the board a list of the criteria, a list of the things that unbelievers use in order to determine what they're going to do? Does it make me comfortable? Does it make me happy?

Does it make me prosperous? Do I get something out of it? And if all of those are yeses, then they say, well, this is what I'm going to do. That's the way of the world thinking. That's not how we should think.

Recently I heard the testimony of a lady who because of the will of God, she was going to be required to leave her home, her roots, her family, and the environment she had become familiar with for many, many years.

And she was very troubled and resisting the will of God. And then suddenly the Lord spoke to her. Brothers and sisters, listen to this, because when my ears heard it, I said, thank God some people are hearing the Lord.

Because you sometimes wonder when you hear about all these people talking about the Lord, telling them this and that, this is what the Lord said. He said, surely I am not concerned about your comfort.

Hallelujah to God. That's the Savior that I know. I'm not so concerned about your comfort. I'm concerned that you are in my will. And with that word, this dear saint of God was released from resistance and realized the Lord is my comfort when my comfort zone is taken away.

The Lord is my comfort when I have no earthly comforts. The Lord is my comfort when He says, leave your father, leave your mother, leave your brother, leave your sister, leave your children, leave your own life behind and follow Me.

When that means I lose all my comforts, then the Lord becomes my comfort. What fellowship has righteousness and unrighteousness? What communion has light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with the devil?

What part hath He that believes with an infidel? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? Do you see what the Holy Spirit is trying to say here? Listen to verse 17. Wherefore come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters.

Having therefore these promises, verse 1, chapter 7. Listen. Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves. There's a phrase that's exactly like Paul uses in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5, what we just read.

Do you see the similarity there? Chapter 5. Purge out therefore the old leaven. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Any bit of leaven, it'll destroy us.

So I hope that God is giving us listening ears. And so that's the list of true, genuine repentance and the characteristics of true, genuine repentance. How are we doing? We need the Lord to do a deeper work, don't we?

Thank You, Lord. We're just going to read a few more Scriptures. Let's turn to Mark. This is where we started. Mark 12. Mark 12, verse 29. Now as you know, we're dealing with a series entitled, The House of God Lies in Ruin.

Loving God and Neighbor as the Foundation of God's House

Okay? This is why the house of God lies in ruin. Right here. Mark 12, beginning in verse 29. And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord.

Now watch. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy mind, and all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is just like it. Listen to this. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

There is none other commandment greater than these. Turn your Bible now to the Old Testament, the book of Haggai. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, strength, soul, and mind, and love thy neighbor as thyself.

These are the greatest of the commandments. The whole law hangs on these two. Haggai chapter 1. Look at what the condition of God's house was in the Old Testament. Verse 2, chapter 1. Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.

Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai, saying, Is it time for you, O you, to dwell in your sealed houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Consider your ways. Here is a condition in the Old Testament where God's people were saying, Oh, it's not time for the house of God to be built.

And then the prophet said, Oh, is it time then for you to live in your own sealed houses and the house of God lies in ruin? Consider your ways. Now do you see the curse in the Old Testament? Here's what it was.

God's people did not want to put the Lord's interests first. They wanted to put whose interests first? Their own. Now, tell me. Whose interests are we going to put first when we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, strength, and soul?

The Lord's interests. And listen. How are we going to be spending our lives when we love our neighbors as ourself? We're going to be laying our lives down for others. See? Our life will be lived for others.

The New Testament House of God and the Remnant

Now again, we're going to stop. But do you see now, brothers and sisters, why we need to repent? The house of God. Today. Listen. It's not a building. It's not a physical building. When God wants His house to be built, He doesn't mean He wants people to get together, collect an offering, and build a building.

What He means when He says the house of God must be built in the New Testament is what? What does He mean? That's right. Listen. Every single member of the body of Christ must give their life, their sustenance, to loving God and loving one another.

Serving one another. The house of God is built up when you have something to give of Christ to your brother and sister. And you serve them and give them life. And give them God's Word. But the house of God lies in ruin.

The house of God lies in destruction when everybody is so consumed with their own life and doing their own thing that the house of God is neglected. And that's the state of the church today. The house of God is in total ruin because we don't love God with all of our heart, mind, strength, and soul, and it doesn't bother us that we don't.

Because we're so full. Woe unto you that are full, Jesus said. We're so full of what? Our life. We're so full of the things of this life. We can't be bothered with the burdens and concerns of the house of God, our brothers and sisters, because we're too full.

We're too full. And here's what the Lord's going to do. Listen, brothers and sisters, and we're going to close here. Verse 12, chapter 1. Here's what the Lord's going to do. Here's the Word of the Lord.

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shittel and Joshua the son of Josedek, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him and the people did fear before the Lord.

God is going to search in his house and he's going to find a remnant who do three things. Number one, they repent. They repent. They're confronted with God's Word. We hear God's Word and it works repentance.

We acknowledge our lives are selfish and self-centered. We acknowledge that we are not loving God with all of our heart. We're not loving our neighbor with all of our heart. And the house of God which is the church made up of living stones is in total ruin because of that.

We acknowledge it. This is what the remnant will do. Then number two, after they repent they will obey the voice of the Lord. They will make serious changes in their life, in their lifestyle. They will destroy the God's G-O-D-S that they're serving.

They will no longer put family, friends, hobbies, activities, money before the Lord. Sounds like a little pony. Did we hear that last saying or were we distracted? Boy, I tell you, this preacher's challenged, huh?

Doing alright though, huh? I'll say that again. That was an important point if I can remember it. We will repent. We'll turn. We'll hear the voice of the Lord. Listen. And we will no longer put family, friends, entertainment, money before the Lord and before God's people because that's what's being put before the Lord today in the church.

And the Lord's going to find a remnant. They obeyed the voice of the Lord and number three, they feared God. You know what it means to fear God? You tremble at His Word. You tremble at His Word and you take this and it's your final authority.

You no longer ask your brother, well, what do you think about this? Yeah, I sort of think the same thing. It's probably okay. You don't do that. You get on your knees with tears rolling down your face and you say this is what God says and I'm wrong and God's right and I need to change.

Show me where that is in the church today. It doesn't exist hardly except in the remnant who's waking up. God will have a remnant. There will be 7 ,000 who won't bow down to Baal. And here's my question.

Repentance, Obedience, and Holy Fear

This is what I believe the Lord's asking us here as we close. Will you pray, God, let me be part of Your remnant? Who, number one, after hearing Your Word, repent. Number two, after repenting, obey. And then number three, after obedience, learn to fear God.

And then the house of God will be built and the glory of the latter house will be greater than the glory of the former house. Not until the remnant repents. God, help us to repent. Let's bow our hearts.

Father, we just commit Your Word to You. We know only You can do this, Lord. And we beg You to have mercy on us. How many here, in this last moment, how many here say, Lord, I want to be part of the remnant?

If you want to be part of the remnant, then pray this prayer in your heart. Say, Lord, I must repent. Number two, I must obey Your Word. And number three, I must live in godly fear of Your Word. And stop comparing myself with other Christians.

Stop living my life the way I think I should live it. And get into Your Word, and let Your Word guide my life. Now, Father, this is not too hard for You, but it's impossible for us. So we look to You to perform for Jesus' sake.

Amen and amen.