Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the necessity of embracing the wounds that come from love in his sermon 'Building the House of God - the Many Wounds of Love - Part 1.' He shares a poignant story about a couple who foster and adopt children, illustrating how love often leads to pain and sacrifice. Beach encourages the congregation to remain open-hearted despite the wounds inflicted by love, reminding them that true love gives without expecting anything in return. He warns against closing off our hearts due to past hurts, as this can hinder our spiritual growth and relationships. Ultimately, he calls for healing and empowerment through Christ's love, urging believers to continue loving even amidst suffering.

I'd like to share for a few moments something that the Lord has put on my heart, and I'm asking that we would all just be so very, um, so very sensitive to the Holy Spirit at this time, because the Holy Spirit is going to address something in our lives. Listen, there is not one single person that is exempt from what the Lord has put on my heart this morning. Every one of us needs to hear this, and so I'm going to pray now and ask God to give us ears to hear. Listen, if we're going to go on with God, if anybody in this room here has any intention on moving on with God, this truth is going to have to grab a hold of us and be wrought very deeply in us, or there's no going on with the Lord. Actually, guess what will happen? We'll go backwards. Father, this is your word this morning. This is from your heart. I simply ask. That you would open up the ears of our heart, give us the capacity to hear and receive. This word. Lord, we pray in the mighty name of your son, Jesus Christ, I pray God that the word, the truth, the light would expose the strategy and scheme of the wicked one and cast it out of our hearts and out of our minds today. If any of us has fallen. Trap to his strategy, I'm asking in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. And a man now, this is a continuation of the building of the house of God, we've been on this for weeks and weeks and weeks now, listen, this we don't have too much time, so I won't get too far. We'll continue this. This is the subtitle this morning. Listen. Listen. The many wounds. Of love, the many wounds. Of love. Now, listen, this message was so birthed into my heart over months and months, the Lord has been working this in me and finally he released it and it's very unlikely we'll get done with it in one Sunday. But I want to tell a story that I heard while the Lord was working this release in me that so confirmed this truth, the many wounds. Of love, I heard a dear sister interviewed, some of you may have heard about this, a dear sister interviewed on the radio a few weeks ago. Her and her husband have for many, many years have had a burden in taking little unwanted children into their homes. Some of the children were crack babies. Some of the children simply came from dysfunctional homes. Some of the children were abandoned by their mother and their father. They've been doing this for decades. This older couple currently, they are not only doing this, but they're establishing an adoption agency right out of their home. They're trying to work with the state so that they can take these little children and they can become an agency through which these children can find homes where moms and dads will love them. Isn't that wonderful? Now, listen carefully. During the interview, the host or the interviewer asked this lady a very candid question. He said, tell me, don't you become quite attached to the little children? Vulnerable. How do you feel after you have bonded over a year, a year and a half, you've opened up your heart, you've opened up your very being. You change the baby's diaper at night, you hold it, you rock it to sleep. How do you feel when a crack mother comes barging into your house and says, that's my baby? And you have absolutely no legal right to hold that child. And there you watch her come up to you, grab that child out of your arms. And walk out of the house. How do you feel? There was silence. The radio program, you know, one thing you try not to do is have dead time, always keep things move. There was there was dead time, Mike, dead time. And you knew that this dear, dear saint was quietly sobbing. And here's what she said. And these are the words. That the Holy Spirit wrote upon the tablets of my heart as the seal, the final work that this word was being released out of my own spirit to share it. Here's what she said, and I'm paraphrasing, I don't have a photographic memory, I don't remember the verbatim, but here's the gist of what she said. She said, sir, sobbing. I have many, many scars in my heart. And many wounds because. That's the nature of love, you see, sir, she goes on to say. Love keeps giving. And giving and giving and giving. And doesn't expect anything. In return, and she said, the true nature of love will incur. Wound after wound after wound. And then she said, but we don't give up. Because love. Never. Fails. Love never fails. Anyone who says yes to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his word. Will buy fact by virtue of saying yes to the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving Christ as your life, you are called to fellowship, listen. In the suffering of God's love. The suffering of God's love. Resulting in the many wounds of God's love, the warfare that is right now being engaged against the believer who loves Jesus Christ. The group of believers who love the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the warfare right here. It is a warfare. Coming against us day and night. Here's what it is, he brings us, the enemy brings us to the place where we see the wounds. We see the hurts. We see the misunderstandings. We feel the pain. We sense the scars. We feel the rejection. The abuse. And we begin to say. It's not worth it. It's not worth it. I. Am going. To get out. Now, we might not say, I'm going to leave the Lord. We might not say, I'm going to denounce the faith. But what we do. Is we close our heart to the flow of love. So that we no longer have to become vulnerable to the pain and the sorrow and the wounds that come when we're governed by love. We close our hearts. And we say, I can't handle it anymore. I don't want to deal with it. I've been hurt one too many times and now it's over with. Do you know why? Satan is sifting the Christian church, husbands and wives because somebody in the relationship gets tired. Of being wounded. For love's sake. See, because love gives. And then it's hurt because it gives. It's misunderstood. It's not appreciated. But it doesn't mind. It keeps giving. And giving. And giving. But do you know what happens when we and our humanity touch that love? We say, no way. We can't do it. We can't do it. Have you experienced the wounds and the scars of God's love this morning? God's speaking to us right now. I know he is. What have you done? What have you done? What are you doing? Are you closing up? Are you closing your heart? Brothers and sisters. For God so loved the world that he came and was mocked. Ridiculed. Spit upon. Rejected. Betrayed. Taken advantage of. Had his beard plucked out. Had a crown of thorns placed on his head. Was taken. Nailed to a cross. Was plunged with a sword. The wounds. Of love. Isaiah 53. Turn there if you will, please. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for being the healing balm of Gilead in our midst. Beloved, there is a healing of Jesus Christ is present today. And God is going to bring healing and restoration. Into the hearts, into the depths of our spirits this morning. Through this healing word. Listen carefully. Isaiah 53. Who hath believed our rapport 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. He hath no form. Or comeliness. There was nothing about the Lord Jesus that was outwardly beautiful. There was nothing about the Lord Jesus that made him appealing or attractive. By the natural eye. And instead of trying to wrap himself up in the religious garments of his day. In order to lessen the reproach. And lessen the rebuke and lessen the misunderstanding. He just stood naked spiritually before all men. Not attractive. Nothing outwardly beautiful. Listen, becoming vulnerable to people's rejection. How often do we try and take the reproach. Of the simplicity of the life of Jesus Christ. Flowing through our life by dressing ourself up in something. To make it look good. Now listen to this. He is despised and rejected of men. For God so loved the world that he sent his only son. So that he could be despised and rejected of men. Did you ever read that into John 3.16? Because it's part of the package. It's part of the package. Brothers and sisters, please listen to the spirit of God. And the word of God this morning. If we follow on to know the Lord. We will walk in the love of God. And we will experience more and more and more. The wounds and the scars. That are being incurred upon Christ every day. Because he continues to serve. Even though he gets hurt. He's despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows. And acquainted. With grief. Do you know what the word acquainted there means? To be intimately familiar with. Intimately familiar with. To the point where you call grief. Your close intimate companion and friend. Now do we want to follow this Jesus? Do we want to hear this Jesus call us? Do we want to suffer together with this Jesus? You see, Paul had a passion that governed his life, beloved. That I might know him. The power of his resurrection. The fellowship of his sufferings. What is the fellowship of his sufferings? The fellowship of his sufferings is to be spit upon. It's to be abused. It's to be taken advantage of. It's to be rejected. And yet to say, Father. I forgive them. You can't say that. I can't say that. Until God penetrates. The depths of our fleshly heart. And breaks it. And crushes it. And brings it down to dust. And out of that dust. He arises something. He births something of his own character in us. That enables us to look at those. Who have wounded. And scarred. And betrayed. Be able to say. Not only do I forgive you. But I continue to love. And serve you. The building of the house of God. The true house of God will be built. With a love. That will be filled. With wounds. And scars. And pain. And affliction. That fell upon us. Because we died. To our human love. Which by the way. Only serves when there's something in it for it. Most love. When I say I love you Mike. I don't love Mike. I love myself. And I only love Mike. Because Mike makes me feel good about myself. But as soon as Mike does something. That makes me. Feel bad. Or betrayed. Or hurt. I might love him with my lips. But something happens in my heart. What happens? I've been found out. I really didn't love Mike. See we're in love with ourself. And our commitment to others. Hangs upon something we're getting out of it. That's the depths of human depravity. Right there. I know this is a horse pill. I know it is. Meaning hard to swallow. I know it is. Husbands. Every one of us. Have to come to grips with the fact. That before we really love our own wives. As Christ loves the church. We have to realize that we're really in love with ourself. And that's why we fail in our love toward our wife. That's why we fail. Wives the same thing. And it's not until we come to grips with the fact. That we don't have the goods in ourself. We need it. We need it from Jesus Christ. We need to die to ourself. Die to our own love. Die to our own depravity. We have to admit the fact that we're not willing. We're not willing. To be filled with a love that gets wounded. We're not willing. We don't want. We resent it. And then we harbor bitterness. That's where bitterness comes from. And unforgiveness. It's the whole mess of human love. Being offended and hurt and wounded. And if you hold on to that. It'll dry you up spiritually. It'll kill you. It'll kill your marriage. It'll kill your relationship with your children. It'll kill your relationship with your in-laws. It'll kill your relationship with other members of the body of Christ. It'll destroy you. It'll eat you up like a canker. Like a cancer. And Jesus Christ is standing in our midst this morning. Through His Word. And through His Holy Spirit. And He's saying. Give it to me. Give me. Your bitterness. Your unforgiveness. He was despised. And we esteemed Him not. He bore our griefs. Carried our sorrows. Yet. We did esteem Him stricken. Smitten of God. He was wounded. Brothers and sisters. Are we saying it? He was wounded. 1 John 2.6 As. He. Is. So. Are. We. In this world. He was wounded. How well are you doing being wounded? How well are you doing? What do you do when you're wounded? What do you do when you follow His steps? And you open your heart up to someone? And they betray you and they hurt you. Where's Jesus? Lord help us. He was wounded. He was bruised. The punishment of our peace. Was upon Him. Psalm 69. The Bible is full. Of this. Intimate suffering that Christ endured. That few. Of us. Know anything about. But you know Christ. Is longing. To share this fellowship. With his brothers and sisters. He's longing to share it. Listen to this. Save me. Oh God. For the waters are come in. Upon my soul. Would you go. The second mile with someone. To the point where you feel like the waters. Are overflowing you and you're drowning or would you say. Enough is enough. I'm getting out of this. This is too much. You gonna go that far? No. You know what we do? We plot and plan a way to get out. We don't want that. We don't want that. But guess what brothers and sisters. We're called. To walk in it. If we're bearing His name. We don't have the right. To say. I don't want this Lord. Didn't Jesus say. As the master. As the master is. So are we. Every single man here should be ashamed of himself. Every man here should be ashamed of himself. Because. The Lord has found us out. And we realize. How weak. How little. We really know of this love. In our capacity simply to love our own wives. The way Christ loved the church. Every one of us. Should be devastated. And beg God. To show us. This love. I sink. In deep mire. Where there is no standing. I've talked to couples. And they've said. I can't take it anymore Phil. My husband or my wife. They just don't love me. They don't treat me right. They don't respect me. They don't honor me. I sink. In deep mire. Where there is no standing. I come into deep waters. Where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for my God. The wounds of love. The wounds. The bruises of love. Brothers and sisters. There's no other way. There's no. Other. Way. We could go on. But I realize our time is over. Verse nine. The zeal of thy house. Hath eaten me up. And the reproaches of them that reproach me. Thee are fallen upon me. Okay. I realize we have to. We have to close now. And so. What we're going to do now. In the presence of the Lord. Is we're going to ask the Lord Jesus. To perform his word. There is a healing present right now. Listen. The waters are stirring. I want to emphasize this. For some of us. Listen. We are at a crisis right now. Listen carefully. Some of us are at a crisis right now. We have been swallowed. In grief. Bitterness. Hurt. We've dried up. On the inside. We're drying up. It's affected. Many relationships. In our life. Family. Friends. Extended family. And today. Jesus. Is offering healing. He's offering healing. Will you. Stretch forth. Your withered hand. And say Lord. Heal me. Heal me. Empower me. To live. In the fullness of your love. Wounds. And all. But to keep going on. Father I pray. You'll bring this healing. To every one of us. In the mighty name. Of Jesus Christ. Without any music. Everyone together. As we close this out. Same song we sang this morning. Jesus be. The Lord. Of all. My. Father I pray. That every plan. Seed thought that has come into our mind. Some of us. Have been right on the verge. Of following through with a plan. To get out. Of the thing. That has been causing us pain. And now today. In the mighty name of Jesus. I pray that plan will be destroyed. And that we will be. Energized by the love of God. Not only to forsake that plan. But to embrace love. And go on in the power. Of Jesus Christ. Amen. And amen. God bless each and everyone. We're going to touch on this again. Because this is only the surface. Please take one of these.