Building the House of God - the Many Wounds of Love - Part 3 — Phil Beach Jr.

Sin's Destructive Power in Our Closest Relationships

With sin. You see how horrible sin is how many are coming to realize as you get older? The horrible effects of sin. How it affects us? How it affects our loved ones? Isn't sin horrible? The one you love the most You hurt.

Don't you think about it if that's not. The sinfulness of sin. I don't know what is The one you love the most. You hurt. How many men here have ever hurt your wife? But don't we love our wives. Of course we do.

How many have ever hurt your wife? Come on, man When was listen listen, when was the last time you said to your wife Colette? I'm sorry. I've hurt you. I'm sorry. Forgive me. It's sin itself that even keeps us from doing that because of pride.

Maybe you grew up in a family Where you never saw your father. Love your wife. I love your mother. Say you're sorry and now you just followed in the steps of your father. We're a mess. But even if you came up in a Christian family Your parents are still imperfect.

God's Grace Brings Healing to Broken People

We're a mess. But we have a Savior Who loves us and who died for us and even though we're a mess He continues To call us to himself Where we can be healed. Call us to his word where he can heal us and change us and Transform us and that's what he's doing in Our midst right now he's healing us.

Sin is so horrible but grace is so marvelous and so wonderful and so freeing and Today there is multiplied grace in our midst multiplied grace to bring healing to bring salvation to break the chains of Sin to break the pattern of sin in our life.

You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Jesus said and so there's freedom here because Jesus and his word is present. Don't you love his presence and His healing. How many sense the healing of the Lord Jesus?

Going deep into our hearts deep into our spirits deep into the depths of our being. Bursting light into the midst of darkness. Hope into the midst of hopelessness. Faith into the midst of faithlessness.

That's what he does. Hallelujah, we thank you father for your faithfulness. We thank you for your word. We thank you for your Holy Spirit. We acknowledge. Oh God that we're a mess. That apart from your grace and apart from the sovereign work that you've already done in our hearts and in our spirits.

We are a mess. But we confess Lord that our faith and our trust and our hope is in you and in your word. We thank you Lord for taking our mess this morning and shining. Hope where there was no hope. Healing where there was hurt and sickness faith.

Where there was faithlessness. Encouragement where there was discouragement. We thank you Lord Jesus. We thank you Holy Spirit and we look to you now to continue this work and Perfect it in Our heart perfect it and let it affect our behavior.

Let it affect our actions. Let it affect our speech. God let it affect us. Continue to break the chains that have bound us in life controlling habits that have her our family and Ourself and our brothers and sisters and members in the body of Christ.

Overcome these things Lord through your truth and through your word. Make us a people Lord free through the power of truth. We pray in the name of Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen. Philippians chapter 2.

The New Walk of Those Transformed by Grace

Philippians chapter 2 we have been spending a considerable amount of time Regarding the building of the house of God as the topic and we subtitled that how's your walk and We've been learning from God's Word that as new creatures in Christ God is going to give us a new walk a different walk.

One of the evidence is that you are experiencing grace in your life. One of the evidence is that you are experiencing the Holy Spirit in your life is not That you feel emotional. It's not that you know Bible doctrine or go to church or involved in religious activities.

Please listen carefully. It's not what you're involved in or what people perceive you to be. Oh, this guy's a beautiful Christian. Well, this man's a he's a he's a choice Christian. That doesn't mean a thing what people think of you.

Doesn't mean a thing. We've learned in the 21st century how to wear masks. Do you know that the neighbors of Ted Bundy said that he was? The nicest guy you'd ever want to meet. You believe that Ted Bundy does anybody know who Ted Bundy is or was?

Serial killer. Who had his victims? For lunch. Literally. Forgive me for being blunt but so much for The general consensus of Ted Bundy's neighbors that he was a great guy. Do you rest at night and sleep good because?

People think you're a nice Christian. Don't put your hope in that. Don't put your hope in that according to the Word of God the only evidence That we could look at as a source of encouragement that God has truly Given us his Holy Spirit and is working actively in our life is the overwhelming fact that our walk is Changing our walk is changing and if your walk is not changing Then grace is not working nor is the Holy Spirit working in your life.

There's no such thing in the Bible as someone who has an encounter with God and remains the same. There's no such thing we change and. So the building of the house of God is a process by which God is transforming People from earthly to heavenly from carnal to spiritual from selfish to selfless.

Now this is not a change that occurs instantaneously in a moment's time where one day you're a rotten horrible Selfish human being that thinks only of yourself and in 24 hours You become the selfless servant to all the body of Christ the perfect husband the perfect wife the perfect child the perfect minister.

That's not how it works. But there is a consistent Progressive change that occurs in the lives of every single group of people who have experienced the true grace of God and God's Word reveals to us what happens when we experience the grace of God.

What happens when we experience? The gift of the Holy Spirit in our life, we've learned that our walk Changes that were commanded in the Bible that as the result of the new creation. It's just a little bit of review.

That we are to walk in the steps of faith and In Romans chapter 4 the Bible uses Abraham as the example of faith. His walk was a walk of faith. That means that Abraham Was apprehended by God and he no longer walked according to his own Opinions and his own tastes and his own desires.

He no longer walked according to the cultural convictions of his day. Where the issue of morality? Was challenged, but he walked by faith in the living God. When God revealed himself to Abraham and Rome Genesis chapter 12 God says Abraham get thee out separate yourself and so one of the evidences of knowing the true grace of God and Experiencing the true power of God in your life is you will experience a continuous Continuous Awakening to your heart of the need to walk by faith in the invisible God by faith in the Word of God and Not by sight not by feeling not by natural impulse or appetite.

One of the great tragedies occurring in the open Professed body of Christ is that the walk of faith is diminishing. Men and women are walking by sight. They're walking by feeling they're walking by appetite.

They're not walking by faith in the invisible God who says forsake the way of selfishness forsake the way of sin forsake the way of Unforgiveness forsake the way of vengeance and gossip forsake it. They're not walking By faith they're walking by sight.

They wake up and they have an impulse to gossip and they gossip. They have an impulse to lie and they lie. They have an impulse To get drunk and they get drunk. That is not the walk of faith. That is the walk of sight the walk of feeling the walk of appetite and beloved.

Jesus is calling us to walk by faith. You say well, how can I do it? You can't do it. I can't do it. We need the grace and mercy and Spirit of God working in our life. We need God to lay hold of us. Secondly, we learned not only we called to walk the walk of faith, but we're called to walk in newness of life.

Walking in Newness of Life

Romans chapter 6 the walk of newness in life as Opposed to walking in the oldness of death. Let's turn our Bibles to first Peter before we go to Philippians chapter 2 because that's what we want to touch on a little bit this morning.

But it's profitable and beneficial for us all to have a little bit of review. Because the review is nothing but the Word of God and the Word of God never becomes redundant. The Word of God never becomes old.

It's profitable and beneficial to all of us to review what God says about our walk first Peter. This is in reference to our new walk. Verse 1 chapter 4 first Peter for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh.

Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. We are to walk in the newness of life. Please listen everyone, please. God commands us to arm ourselves.

With the same mind as Was in the mind of Christ. The same mind listen read it again. Arm yourselves with the same mind. What mind the mind that if? We are going to respond to the grace of God. That is working in our life if we're going to respond to the Spirit of God.

That is working in our life if we're going to respond to the Word of God. That's working in our life. We are going to have to suffer. Suffer. Suffer the pain of saying no to our own desires. Suffer the pain of saying no to our own earthly worldly impulses.

Suffer the pain of saying no to I'm gonna do it this way because then I won't have to bear the reproach of Christ. You see Christians are no longer arming themselves. They're no longer Arming yourselves with the same mind.

We're no longer Realizing that to become a Christian is to be united to Christ and to be united to Christ means that it is his life. His example that I am now to follow through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christ is the head. We are the body the head and the body are one organically. They're one. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 that he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. One spirit meaning the same mind that the head has the body should have the same Capacity to love that the head has should be growing ever more in the body.

You see it's not about us. It's not about us. It's about him and our life being hid in him. Hallelujah to the Word of God. Hallelujah to the Word of God. It is quick. It is powerful first Peter chapter 4.

For he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. That means that we are done with the life of flesh. We've recognized the life of flesh as Being cursed. Something that God is not calling us to do now.

Watch this that he no longer should live the rest of his time. That means once you become a new creation in Christ and Jesus saves you from your sin from that day forward the rest of the days of your life.

You should not live in the flesh. You should not live in the flesh to the loss of men, but to the will of God. For the time past our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles. When we walked.

Walked there's our walk the past we walked in lasciviousness. That word means no restraint. No restraint lawlessness, I Walked before we knew Jesus was a walk of no restraint. No one told us what to do.

No boundaries. We did what we wanted. We lived the way we wanted if it was convenient to lie. We lied if it was convenient to Steal we stole if it was convenient to deceive we deceived. That was our former walk, but now we're called to walk in newness of life.

Which means we no longer walk in lasciviousness. Lusts Excessive wine Reveling banqueting and Abominable idolatries wherein they think it's strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot.

Listen our walk in. The newness of life should be so radical that people think it's strange. That we no longer do the things we used to do. Every single one of you who works among employees. Fellow employees no matter what kind of a job it is.

They should think it's strange. That you do not engage in gossip. They should think it's strange that you do not bow down to the green God called money. They should think it's strange. That your interests for the most part are different than theirs.

I didn't say you're Self-righteous and that you think you're better. They should think it's strange as they behold your way of life that you walk to a different drumbeat. They should scratch their head and say what makes you tick?

Is that the way it is? Are you different? I Don't don't answer that question by saying well, I guess I go to church. It's not about going to church. Well, I talk about Jesus. It's not about talking. This isn't the building of the house of God.

The Cost of Walking in Love

How's your talk? It's how's your walk? How's your walk? The devil's a believer. The devil talks Jesus. The Bible says he believes in trembles. How's your walk say it's not very good. What are you gonna do?

Well, I'm gonna change. No, you're not. You're not you're not gonna change. Don't make a New Year's resolution. Because it's just going to be one of all the others that you failed to keep. You know what we need not a resolution we need a resurrection.

Resolution or resurrection. I remember several New Year's Eve's ago. I preached a message on that is It going to be a resolution or is it going to be a resurrection? We're dealing with resurrection now.

Newness of life. If your life is not changing. Then you need to pray Oh God have mercy on me and let me know what it is to experience Multiplied grace. Let me know what it is to experience the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Let me know what it means to experience an insatiable hunger for the Word of God. That's what changes us the Word of God. Then we learned that not only are we not to walk or that we are to walk in the steps of faith.

Number two were to walk in newness of life and number three. We learned that we're not to walk after the flesh and we spent considerable amount of time on that which we won't do now. And now the past three weeks we've learned That we are to walk in love and we learned that there's a great price to walk in love.

You're gonna get hurt and it's how you respond to your wounds and pain. That will determine whether you continue to go on with God or whether you shrivel up inside and become a raisin. A dried up grape.

Wine in the Bible speaks of the life of Christ the new wine. But when we close our heart because we've been hurt and wounded it's no longer wine that's flowing through us. We turn into grapes. We turn into raisins.

Raisins are dry and shriveled up. But I feel that this morning God sort of touched some of the raisins in our life to give new life. Amen new life now going to Philippians chapter 2 beginning in verse 1 if there therefore be any consolation in Christ.

If any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded. Having the same love being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.

But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things. But every man also on the things of others. Verse 5 listen carefully. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

There it is. Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus if the grace of God and the Spirit of God is working in your life. You will Desire with ever increasing measure. That the mind of Christ Would be fashioned in you.

Functioning in you. So that you have the capacity to follow his footsteps. The most important thing to a person Who is living in the abundance of grace? is that they Would be like Jesus in all things and I'm wondering How well Are you doing.

With your desire to be like Jesus, this is what the Holy Spirit is saying to us today. Let this mind Be in you. Let this mindset be in you. Romans chapter 12 chapter verse 1 and 2. God says that we need to be transformed in our minds so that our minds our desires are toward the Lord and that he is Transforming our mind so that we want to be like him.

We want to know him. We're we're not gonna. We're not gonna go on to the next point. We're gonna hold it right here and Just let the Lord minister to us. Over this issue let this mind be in you and We're going to connect that let this mind be with in you with The call of God's Spirit on all of our hearts this morning.

Walk in love walk in love. Isaiah 53. Walk In love, let this mind be in you. Walk in faith walk in newness of life. Don't walk after the flesh and let this mind be in you. Isaiah 53. Actually begin in 52 verse 13.

The Suffering Servant and the Mind of Christ

Now listen. Beloved, please listen. I'm just going to continue for a few more moments. Let this mind be in you. Behold my servant shall deal prudently. He shall be exalted and extolled and Be very high as many were astonished at thee.

His visage or his countenance was so marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men. Let this mind be in you. Beware beloved of a false spirit. That is permeating Christianity today teaching God's people to despise and shun and run from having to suffer shame or be taken advantage of or To settle for second place a third place.

Beware of the spirit brothers and sisters that is seducing an entire generation of professed believers. We are called to pray That we would possess the mind of Christ and if we are to know the mind of Christ.

Then we are to follow him and were to share in The very unique sufferings that he went through with the exception of Redemption itself, which is a suffering that he himself had to go through. Just think about these words.

We like verse 13. He shall he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. But you know that was never fulfilled while he lived on earth. The only Height that Jesus attained to in the eyes of men was the height of the cross.

That was that was how? That's how highly men esteemed him. Jesus was so esteemed. They put him up on a cross and crucified him. John chapter 15. What does it say. It says that if our master was treated in such a way we too shall be.

Many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men. You can dodge this verse 14 if you want guess guess what you have to do. Here's all you have to do.

I'm gonna walk after the flesh. I'm not gonna walk by faith. I'm not gonna walk in newness of life. I'm not gonna walk in love. So you can you can bypass the pain and the suffering that verse 14 speaks of and it's not only the Lord Jesus.

As I read through my Bible from Genesis on to Revelation I find that every true servant of God that heard the call of God starting from Cain Abel all the way through who followed the Lamb and followed the call of Jehovah God into the New Testament.

The Apostles in the early church they Were marred. Their countenance was wounded. They were exalted and esteemed by men to the point where they were crucified. Oh. There are times when God will give honor to his servants, but it's not because they're seeking it it's because God does it and If God does it It's not going to mean anything to us.

Christ's Self-Emptying and Servanthood

Let this mind be in you. You see this goes so much deeper than just most Christians think if you ask them. What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? They say well what that means is that I get up in the morning and I can know what God's saying.

I Can know whether I'm to go here or do this or do that. Well, that's part of it. I'm not gonna say that's not true, but this goes so much deeper Than just being able to get up in the morning and know what to do.

The mind of Christ Goes so much deeper as we'll see. So shall he sprinkle many nations? Oh my goodness. What does that mean? His influence will be what? All over but you know the problem with us is we want influence with God.

But we don't want it through dying through suffering through pain. We want it through worldly methods and God is judging the church today because the church has thought that the way to touch the nations is to bypass the cross and to use the methods of the world bypass the cross.

Make it appealing make it attractive. The only way you're gonna touch people. Just like that dear brother John's letter this morning. Five six sentences and the fragrance of Christ came right out of the computer.

Touched my spirit. Why? Because there's six or seven sentences that was born from a man who suffered greatly. Let this mind be in you. Beware brothers and sisters, let me say this feed on the Word of God.

Don't feed on the corruption of this world. Don't feed on the doctrines of men and the teachings of men. Paul said the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But will have itching ears and will gather around themselves.

Teachers who will tell them exactly what they want to hear. How to prosper how to be successful. How to be a Christian without bearing the reproach of Christ. Doctrines of devils. Feed on the Word of God brothers and sisters.

Who has believed our poor and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground dry ground. Very unappealing. He had listen he hath no form nor comeliness that is outward beauty and.

Listen and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him. Why is it that today we want to make our Christianity so appealing and so? Palatable so that when people see it, they're attracted to it.

Why? Did God dress up his son with kingly robes so that men would be attracted to him. He hath no form nor comeliness and When we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him when Jesus came and was born.

Did God sovereignly move on the innkeeper? To throw out a few of the tenants so that Jesus can be born in the inn. I. That didn't he deserve dignity and honor. Know what where was he born. In a stable on a manger you know what the manger was.

Brothers and sisters a feeding trough. Trough excuse me trough. Where the animals ate from we had sheep. I was imagining my wife Having one of our babies in the barn and Then when the baby's born I Get the feeding trough and I take some hay from the top of the barn and Lay the hay out and maybe put a blanket on top and there put the newborn babe there.

Do you know what kinds of smells are in the barn? Are you aware how many have ever been on a farm? How many have ever went in a barn where there's animals? That's where Jesus was born. But that's not good though, because that's not appeal.

That's an offense to people. We can't bear a Christianity that looks like that. Let's dress up our Christianity. Let's remove that where people are going to think we're nuts. You see let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.

Reproach, Rejection, and the Cost of Following Christ

Watch this now. He is despised and rejected of men. Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus a man of sorrows and Acquainted with grief. The word acquainted there literally means to be intimately familiar with.

Intimately familiar with grief. Let this mind be in you which is in Christ Jesus. We did it and we hit it as it were ourself. Our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not surely he hath borne our griefs.

Carried our sorrows yet. We did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities. The punishment for our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are Healed.

John 15 verse 18. If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you if you were of the world the Dead unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me they will also persecute you if they have kept my sayings.

They will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake. Because they know not him that sent me. Philippians chapter 2. Now we'll finish reading that and then we're going to close Philippians chapter 2.

How's your walk this morning? Brothers and sisters our entire culture is Fighting with all the powers of hell against these very things that we're reading this morning the whole culture. We don't want to deal with the thought of following a Christ.

That's going to lead us to reproach and Rejection, we don't want to deal with the thought of following Christ to the point where we're gonna have to suffer shame and be considered nuts foolish. We don't want to hear it and you know what we're gonna do if we don't get much grace in our life.

We're gonna do just what Demas did. Do you know do you know there's a guy in the Bible by the name of Dinas Demas? He for that's exactly right Pam. He forsook Paul. He hung around with Paul for a while.

Actually a few of the times Paul said Demas greet you. So he was a companion of Paul. He sat under the some of the greatest teaching of the New Testament. He traveled with Paul. He was a companion with Paul.

But the Bible says in Thessalonians Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present age and has gone unto Thessalonica. Demas started out. But he didn't know what he was getting into. And then when he saw the cost involved the truth came out that he loved the world more than he did the reproach of Christ and he forsook Paul and Went to Thessalonica.

Now, I'm sure he probably went to Thessalonica and connected with the believers. He became a church member. He might have become one of the elders. He might have become a preacher. He probably started a hospitality ministry.

Hmm. He was probably very esteemed by the brothers in Thessalonica. But guess what? The truth was regarding Demas. He forsook The Lord's way and he loved the world more than he did the reproach of the cross.

Christ's Humiliation, Obedience, and Exaltation

Philippians 2 5 Let this mind be in you. Which also was in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God. Thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Here we go, but made himself of no reputation. That means to be emptied.

Emptied. No personal rights. No selfish ambition. He didn't have the luxury of saying father. If I do this and obey your word, I know that I'm going to be misunderstood. I know I'm going to be reproached.

I know I might lose my job. I know I might lose my friends. I know I might lose respect. I know that I might not be considered cool Father if I do this, I know what's going to happen. I don't think I'm going to do this.

No, he emptied himself. He emptied himself of those rights. Let this mind be in you. Which also was in Christ as Christ emptied himself so likewise if the Spirit of God is working in your life, dear dear beloved, and if you are Apprehended by grace and your heart is toward the Word of God.

You're gonna hear God sooner or later say to you I'm calling you To make yourself of no reputation. Families will come back into harmony in the church when the moms and the dads here God say stop demanding your foolish rights.

Stop demanding your foolish selfishness. Stop wanting to live your life for yourself. Husbands it's time to give up your rights. It's time to realize you've been called as the head of your home. To set the example of what it means to die to lose your rights to selflessly serve God and your family and labor in the Word of God.

Every Husband should be a pastor of his own home. Every husband should pastor his family man. Are you pastoring your family? Are you pastoring them? Are you shepherding them? Are you breaking the Word of God to them with tears and brokenness?

Well, I don't have time for that. Exactly exactly exactly. We need to die. Let this mind be in you. No reputation took upon him the form of a man. He took upon him the form of a servant. Excuse me. The word servant.

There is a permanent slave. No rights a Permanent slave no rights. That's the word used there. God became a man and then decided to become a slave with no rights only to do the will of God and Was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man.

He humbled himself and became obedient to death. So not only did he lower himself and become a slave. But he went lower. He humbled himself more now see what he's doing. He's getting down. He's getting down the Lord of Glory getting down to the point where he became obedient to death death scoffing mocking misunderstanding.

Why because? He chose To live a life of love to God and to humanity by living in the truth of God's Word. That's what the church is called to do that. This is the building of the house of God. But who will hear this call?

Who will hear it? When Jesus comes back, will he find faith on the earth? Will he find a people like this? American Christianity is destined to perish. It's destined to perish beloved. It's the child of the harlot the American Christianity not biblical Christianity not biblical Following Jesus, but the American version.

It's destined to perish. He became obedient to death even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath highly Exalted him. Now, what did we read in Isaiah? 53 Behold my servant shall deal prudently.

He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Therefore God highly exalted him. When did the exaltation come. It came after the cross it came out of. That's where God promotes. That's where God gives us honor in his eyes.

When we become obedient to the cross. Okay, beloved. That's God's Word. That's God's Word. See how's your walk? Walk walk in the mind of Christ. Here's where it'll lead us. You say but Phil it's such a bleak picture.

This can't be God. I feel so bleak and so down and oh, we're so so. We're such a sensationalist society. So what if you feel bleak and down. It's the truth. See that's the problem we go by our feelings.

Oh, I don't like the way I feel listening to this. I want a happy life. I mean, there's nothing in it for me Phil. Hello, that's right. Welcome welcome to biblical Christianity. Nothing at all. Sure, you you benefit from the grace and mercy of God.

What's in it for you? You've been rescued from hell and now you're one of God's children. What more do you need? What's in it for you? God says I will come and live with you and be in you. What more do you need?

What tell me what more you need than God himself living inside of you? Okay. Let's bow our hearts and thank God for his word and his love for us father. We thank you for your word. The Lord were humbled because we recognized that this morning you came into our midst and you Ministered to us.

You're so sensitive to our hurts. You're so sensitive to our pain. You're so sensitive Lord to what will happen to us if we follow you. You're so mindful of the emotional and spiritual and mental pain.

That we experience in following you. Why. Because you became and are a glorified man and you know the pathway and now Lord. You're calling us Back to follow you and you promise to heal us restore us. Lord, I'm asking simply that your truth will triumph Over all the lies of Satan that have infiltrated our minds.