The Blessedness of Brokenness (The Barrenness of Brokenness) — Phil Beach Jr.

It's just gonna confirm What God is doing? Just confirm the children it Who has children this morning? I don't know if there's a whatever. Okay, so if the children if the young children need to go that one of the adults can escort him down there.

Christ Our Shepherd and Deliverer

Let's just bow our hearts in the presence of the Lord for a moment Father we thank you that Jesus Christ is the righteous one that he's the Holy One that he's here in our midst. We thank you Lord that he so wonderfully Demonstrated his ability to be our shepherd and to be our deliverer and to be our Savior and to be the one By whose name we have deliverance Lord we thank you For your closeness this morning.

We thank you Lord for the drops of heaven that you brought down and And that you have wet our appetite to the powers of the world to come Lord and you have helped us to taste and see that the Lord is good and Lord, we know that that all the conflict that we're experiencing all of the opposition from the enemy is Intended from his vantage point to keep us to prevent us from pressing in To this place of union with you where our lives will be hidden Christ and we will become a offering a poured-out drink offering before the Lord where our lives can be a Reflection of the glory of Jesus Christ.

We know that the thing the enemy Fears the most is the display of the Lord Jesus Christ through a conquered crucified Dependent people we know this Lord and we know that all the opposition and all the powers of darkness are arrayed against Preventing this from happening but we thank you Lord that we have the promise from you that greater is he that is in us than he that is in The world and that we have the promise that through the blood of Jesus Christ and the word of our testimony we can overcome the Accusations and the schemes and the devices of the wicked one and so we pray Lord today that during this short time that you would take the word of God and that you would hurl it Into our spirits and that it would become a living word a word.

Oh God Impregnated with the very life of Jesus Christ and that it would produce after its own kind It would produce the very likeness of Jesus in our spirits. Oh God take the veil from our eyes and our heart and let us see the one who is in our midst mighty and Powerful and able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever think or ask or dream Please Lord only you can do it.

And so we look to you father to accomplish this for Jesus sake Amen. I'm just going to read some scriptures that the Lord gave me all right, brothers and sisters, and I'm just going to commit it to the Lord as I said, I don't think that I would have been able to communicate this this morning if It wasn't for the grace of God to come and visit us by the Holy Spirit.

Information Versus a Living Revelation of Christ

Because one of the great battles that I go through is the Lord will share something with me and I'll go into an immediate Conflict because I know I know that a mere teaching Cannot accomplish what God wants.

It has got to be something that exceeds Information and so often my greatest fear is that I'm giving information to people information and this information becomes a doctrine and a doctrine is something we learn and then we assume that because we've Learned the doctrine that we've come into the good of it we assume that because we've learned the teaching that it is something that's real in our life when in fact, that's not true and So I go into great battles even to the point where I have said before the Lord a thousand times I'm not going to preach anymore.

I'm going to stop teaching. I'm not going to say anything anymore. I'm going to get up and I'm going to say I'm sorry. The Lord has told me not to speak anymore. And I can't tell you that thousands of times I've been a hair away from saying I can't speak anymore because I have this great fear.

That teaching will substitute substance and reality all the teaching in the New Testament was the product of a Revelation of Jesus Christ, but now it's the exact opposite so often in the churches. There's no revelation of Jesus Christ no living unveiling of him.

No, no seeing him at night. No seeing him before we come. No, no. No, no encounter with him on a daily basis but yet there is so much information being taught and what this does is it produces a state of horrible spiritual decline a state that Jesus can't work with and So I Thank God for the visitation.

Spiritual Decline and the Form of Godliness

We have to pray that God will keep our hearts up to date with our heads because our heads have a lot of information a lot of good teaching from the Word of God a Lot of understanding about the message of the cross and the message of Christ and the message of God's purposes.

But if our hearts don't keep up with the information that is being fed into our heads then we come under a serious situation where we might be guilty of having a form of godliness having a a Word that sounds good, but a heart that's far away.

And so this is the concern of the Lord that he wants to share with us in our hearts. And he wants us to be so alerted to this danger and in light of that I just want to read the scriptures that the Lord gave me this morning while in prayer and I didn't even want to share them.

I didn't even want to share them. Because I don't want to come across as someone who's always got a hard hard word, but it's God's heart. Believe me. I wept and wept and wept and I said I'm not gonna pray.

I don't want to say these things Lord. I want to get up and See people happy and rejoice. But you know, it's truth. It's truth that heals us. It's truth that heals us. And so I feel the Lord confirmed it by visiting us this morning and helping us.

This goes right along with the very section that we're at in our brokenness message this goes right along with it brokenness and this is Where I want to bring you and these are just a lot of scriptures the Lord gave me first of all.

The Danger of a Backslidden Heart

Proverbs chapter 14 verse 13. Proverbs chapter 13 verse 14. Proverbs 13 verse 14. The scripture says the backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways own ways and now. First of all, this is the dangers.

Damages of spiritual decline the danger and damage of spiritual decline. There is a great danger that we must be alerted to and there is a Damage that can occur if we are not aware of our tendency to to fall prey to spiritual decline and That's Proverbs chapter 14 verse 13.

14 14, thank you Proverbs 14 14. Now a backslider in heart is full of his own ways. The word backslide in the Hebrew simply means to retreat. From a particular position. It means to retreat. It means to go back from a particular position.

Notice the scripture says that he is filled with his own ways. One of the great tragedies and dangers of a backslidden heart is We are preoccupied with our own ways as opposed to the Lord's ways and This is something that we must be so alerted to.

It is so easy to be filled with good teaching and Good doctrine and good external Christianity and yet be filled with our own ways. See, it's our own way versus whose way the Lord's way. Let me tell you brothers and sisters to be filled with our own way is to simply go from day to day and assume That everything's okay without Travailing and moaning and groaning and weeping before God.

God, what is your thought God? What is your thought? What is your idea Lord? What is your heart? What is your heart Lord? To be filled with our own ways is to trust in our own wisdom to trust in our own knowledge to make judgments based on something other than a Deep assurance that God is speaking to us.

Hearing God Daily to Resist Our Own Ways

I Recently found in my car and this is one of the advantages of having a junkie car an old tape from David Wilkerson. I've got everything in there from old tapes to David Wilkerson to old bags of Doritos.

That might have been in there for a year or two. But it was hearing the voice of God and I was so blessed last night. It was a timely message. I needed to hear it. I needed to hear it for my own comfort and sanity.

But he said that he he said that he's coming to the place and he's just spoke this just a year or two ago. He was over 70 years old. He said I'm coming to the place where I realized that In order to hear the voice of God and he wasn't talking about weird voices.

You know hearing weird things and weird dreams and visions. But he's talking about getting on your knees before God and hearing God speak to you every day of your life. He said you got to get to the point where hearing the Word of God is more important to you than anything else.

You have to get to where he's saying and I'm there saying in my car. Yes, David. Yes, David. That's it. That's it. He's saying you got to get to where you say to your sweetheart. Sweetheart. Don't bother me.

I've got to hear from God today. No phone calls. No, honey, do this or honey do that? I've got to hear from God today. He said you gotta want to hear from God more than anything else. 70 years old man been walking with the Lord for 50 years.

He said this is where God is bringing him. And he said the reason why I've got to hear from God is because I've got to be kept from my own way. What was he saying? I don't want to backslide. Your backslider isn't someone who runs out and commits adultery and gets drunk.

Necessarily, although that's certainly a sign of being backslidden. But a backslider is a good faithful Orthodox Christian who's devoted to the Christian religion and who's got all the right doctrine, but they're full of their own ways so This is what a backslider in heart is.

Returning to First Love Through Daily Encounter

Now Back to Ephesians or Go to Revelation, please the only The only way that we could be kept from being backslidden in heart brothers and sisters is to daily Daily See Jesus. See Jesus. Hear his word.

Bow at his feet. Love him worship him. When was the last time you said Lord? This is your night the next two hours Lord. It's for you. I'm gonna just bow my heart and love on you and worship you. No requests.

No prayer. No burden just Lord. It's for you. I'm just gonna worship you and love you Lord. I want you to speak to me. Tell me what's in your heart. Tell me what you're tell me what you're burdened about.

Tell me tell me anything you want. Just let me hear your word. This is desperation and until we're there. Then we can learn all about Luke chapter 11 and about the door being shot and Jesus saying I tell you That even though he was his friend and he would not open the door but because of his Opportunity I say unto you the door is opened.

We can learn that we can hear that but he goes in this year. Oh went out the other. It's just another doctrine we've got to see the Lord we've got to see him. We've got to see our own tendency to fall prey to a backslidden heart Revelation just someone yell when it's 1130 335 or something or 1235 a fee revelation chapter 2 what the Lord gave me this morning and and and and it's been all week and It was I wanted to continue with this message on brokenness.

And I wanted to get into this good part about importunity. I I longed even last Sunday afterwards. I I wanted to come. I wish we had a Sunday night service. I had this word in my heart importunity, I was so excited about this thought of being desperate for God and I was Chewing on it all week all week and then the past couple days the Lord started giving me another word and I was resisting I'm like Lord.

No, it's not part of what I had planned and Then finally I said, all right Lord there's no use arguing and he brought this word to my heart and and then it all came together this early this morning and Then here and he was showing me that We can't hear Desperation we can't hear this message desperation and the reason why is because We have fallen from our first love and God has to help us to understand How to get back to our first love and as we get back to our first love We're going to find ears to hear this desperate this cry for desperation.

Christ’s Call to the Church at Ephesus

So go to Ephesians chapter 2 and the Lord gave me Ephesus. He gave me the word Ephesus or Revelation chapter 2, I'm sorry. First of all the word Ephesus means Desirable Someone that is desirable. Listen brothers and sisters the whole song of Solomon is about Someone who is greatly desired by their lover and the thing that he desires most about her is That he sees an ever-increasing Likeness of himself in her and a desire in her heart for him.

That is what makes us desirable. That's what makes us more and more desirable for the Lord when he sees something of his own heart working in us. Now, of course we come and we bring our sin and we bring our corruption and we we ask him to forgive us and But but that's not all of Christianity.

It's not just coming with our sin. It's coming and not only confessing our sin. But thanking him for the passion and the desire that he's putting in our heart for himself and the ever-increasing Intensity in our heart to want to just leave everything and follow him and this is what the Lord wants.

So there was a time when the believers in Ephesus were very desirable to the Lord. But something happened listen Acts chapter 18 to revelation acts 18 is when Paul went to Ephesus. Revelation chapter 2 was a letter written by Jesus to Ephesus anywhere between 30 or 40 years past.

Something horribly happened to the Ephesian believers that caused the Lord to write this letter and this is what the Lord wants us to understand. He wants us to understand what happened in their life and how we Need to be alerted to the very dangers that lurked then because they're lurking in our lives.

And he wants to heal us from it. Okay, let's read this now. Let's begin in verse number four verses Two and three have to do with the things that he commended the Ephesians over. They had some good qualities.

But verse number four nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first love. Thou has left to depart to abandon Abandon. First love the initial the beginning love the love that was there when we first met.

That's the first love. You left it. You've abandoned that first love now watch remember therefore From where you are fallen another translation says remember therefore from the height Where you have fallen.

So remember repent and number three. Do the first works or else now? Here's the Lord speaking to those who were very desirable those who he loved he said or else this is what will happen. I Will come unto you quickly and will remove your candlestick out of his place except you repent.

Now the candlestick out of its place Does not mean the loss of one's salvation. The candlestick out of its place Represents if you don't repent I'm going to remove you from being my testimony in your city in other words You will no longer be a company of people.

That I'm using to reveal the glory of my son. The candlestick represented the church. The candlestick was placed on the top of the hill. Jesus said so the whole city could see it. This is an issue over testimony.

This is what Jesus says to every single church everywhere. The purpose of your existence is to reveal me. The purpose of why you exist is so that people can look at you and say what is it about you? I see the Lord in your life and Jesus is I love you.

I died for you, but I will not have you as a testimony if you don't see that as the reason why you exist. Everything in this world is arrayed against the true heart cry of God for the church and that is to be a Candlestick a testimony a light in the midst of darkness.

We are called to be a light. We are called to be the very Hands of Jesus Christ the very feet of Jesus Christ in a lost and dying world. Now Acts chapter 18 19 and 20. I know I don't have any time, but I'm going to give you homework.

Acts 18 19 and 20 that is the history of the Ephesian Church the history. I Want to encourage you to write down acts 18 19 and 20 and read through listen. Jesus said you have lost your first love and number to do your first works.

Find out what happened in the city of Ephesus. Find out the kind of works that were going on in the city of Ephesus. When they believed and then realized something horrible happened to them that brought them to the place where they were about to be taken away as a testimony and Let God speak to our hearts through this and perhaps the Lord would want to say to us You have lost your first love.

Becoming a Vessel Through Which Christ Is Revealed

I'll tell you one thing that happened and then we're gonna close. When they heard the Word of God. Number one they believed number two, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and number three their light shined in their community to the point where the whole town was in an uproar because these Ephesian believers were revealing the very powers of Jesus Christ to them it was shaking the world.

The Ephesian believers no longer cared about anything except one thing and that is this I must Be a vessel through whom Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. Whatever it cost me whatever the losses I'm here so Jesus can be seen.

Something happened to these believers and 30 years later. They were no longer living with that in mind and God said repent. You're no longer broken. You're no longer coming to me saying Lord Give me the Holy Spirit.

So I have bread to give to a lost and dying world. Give me the Holy Spirit. So I have bread to give to my brothers and sisters. Give me the Holy Spirit Lord. Give me boldness so that we can stand and testify Against this world by the love of Jesus Christ.

They were no longer praying that they probably. They probably joined Demetrius. Demas. Demetrius. No, Demetrius the one whose trade Was being threatened in the city. They probably ended up working for him.

Prayer for Repentance and a Renewed Vision

Okay, brothers and sisters. We don't have time to go on but listen. What we'll stop here and we'll we'll look to the Lord as we continue to gather. But let's bow our hearts for a moment. Let's bow our hearts for a moment and and let's let the Lord minister to us.

Father. Thank you for your word. Thank you again for your visitation. Lord, thank you for the desire that you have to show us how much you love us. How much you care about us and how you're able to help us in our need.

But most importantly Lord Show us that we are here to love you. We are here To offer our lives to you. We are here Lord. So that you can have a pair of hands. So that you can have a pair of feet. So that you can have some mouths no other reason.

Lord, we acknowledge. That we need to repent and that we need to see a renewed vision of why we're here Lord meet us in our repentance. Give us a vision of what you will do in this town and in our lives.

If we will but come to you as beggars. Give us a vision Lord of What can be done? For your honor and glory through broken vessels. Now if the Holy Ghost is saying to you in your heart, will you offer yourself to me?

All you have to do is say Yes, Lord. Let him do it. Brothers and sisters, this is prophetic God. God has a plan. It's to reveal his son. He's had this plan for a long time he wants to do it right in this area.

But the plan has been on hold. He will find a company of people He's he's offering it to us and others. All we have to do is say yes Lord a Renewed vision the purpose of my existence to reveal Jesus Christ.

Father we commit this to you. Have your way. Amen.