Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the significance of a broken heart in the Christian faith, illustrating that true brokenness cannot be achieved through human effort but is a divine work initiated by Jesus. He explains that a broken heart is essential for receiving God's word and experiencing spiritual transformation, contrasting it with hard, offended, and crowded hearts that hinder spiritual growth. The preacher encourages believers to acknowledge their guilt and need for God's mercy, asserting that true freedom and righteousness come from admitting one's brokenness before God. Ultimately, he calls for a heart posture that is humble and receptive to God's healing presence.

We want to see you this morning, Lord. We sense your presence, Lord, and we're amazed. We don't, we don't want our hearts to be distracted from you. How you love us. How you so care for us as a shepherd cares for his own sheep. Lord, we pray that now you would be kind to us and give us the Holy Spirit in special measurement today so that we are able to see you and to hear your word which is able to change us and to encourage us today, Lord. Oh, God, please. We pray, Lord, that you would melt our hearts in your presence. That you would encourage us, Lord. That you would minister to us, Lord. Father, I know that you know each one of us by name and that in addition to that you are intimately aware of exactly what we are both going through and what we are in need of this morning. And I pray, Father, that through your word you would speak to every single heart here and accomplish your wonderful divine purpose, Lord. We pray, Lord, for Jesus' sake. Amen. And Amen. If you would open your Bibles to Mark, please. There is here this morning the presence of the Lord and when he comes in the manner that he did this morning, he has a special interest in a certain part of our being. And that interest this morning is our heart. The heart is of special interest to the Lord this morning. My heart and your heart. And the Lord wants to minister to our hearts this morning. He wants to help us and speak a living, healing word into our heart. It's very difficult to speak on the theme that the Lord has put in my heart because I know very little about the subject. There's only one man that I know who really understands this stuff and that's the one I'm trusting in. His name is Jesus. I don't understand it but I know that he's with me and that he's with you who trust him. And as we look to him, we can understand this most amazing subject and it's the subject of being broken before God. Brokenness. I don't know of any man who is truly broken before God except when I see the Lord Jesus. I see a broken man before his Father. And we have been looking at brokenness and how brokenness of heart is what the Lord is after. Now before we even begin speaking on this topic, it is important to say that brokenness is not something that you can conjure up. You cannot work and become broken. You cannot fast and pray and become broken. You can't read your Bible more and become broken. Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And so, everything that the Lord shows us in his Word that he wants us to be is secured through Jesus. Not through effort, not through our own wisdom or our own strength. And so when we talk about this topic of brokenness before God, we have to understand that Jesus is the way to brokenness. Not a method, not a plan, but Jesus. When we meet Jesus, God will break us. When we continue to see Jesus, we will remain broken. The absence of brokenness in our life can be reduced to one simple fact. Somehow, the eyes of our heart have turned from our blessed Lord onto something else. And so, brothers and sisters, please understand this morning that the way to come into the good of all of these things that the Lord wants to do in our life, repentance, brokenness, humility, Christ-likeness, free from greed, free from covetousness, free from selfishness. How many of you are so sick of the tendency within your heart to be a self-centered human being? I am so sick of being selfish. I am so sick of finding myself at the slightest trouble, all worked up, but no matter what I do and no matter how much effort I put in to my Christian life, to try and correct myself, I meet nothing but utter failure. The only place of rest and peace and true transformation and change comes when the soul sees Jesus. The words of John the Baptist, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Behold! Look! See Jesus! What was it that Moses said to those among Israel who had been bitten with vipers and snakes because of their grumbling and complaining? He said, everyone who looks upon the brazen serpent will be healed. Which was both a wonderful but a terrifying picture of the judgment that was met in Jesus Christ. Christ became a curse for us. And so this morning, brothers and sisters, whatever ails your soul, whatever ails your soul, and God knows what you're going through, the unique trouble that you're in right now, I don't know. And even you wives, your husband doesn't understand or know the depths of what you're going through. And husbands, your wives cannot understand you. And it is vain to try and demand that they understand what you're going through or that they can meet the deepest need of your heart. And if you've gone there and tried that, you're going to meet with bitter, horrible failure. Because the Lord never intended the husband to be Jesus to the wife. A companion, yes. A lover, yes. A friend, yes. But Jesus, no. There's only one who stands in our midst this morning, who is able to meet the depths of our heart and the depths of our need. And so, with that introduction, we're going to look into Mark for a short time and we're going to let God's words speak to us. Now, please, listen for the Lord. Listen for the Lord. Listen for His voice. Take your heart and eyes off the one next to you. Take it off of the unworthy speaker. Listen for the shepherd's voice. Father, please, help us to hear your voice. I know you're speaking to us. And I pray, Lord, that we will be able to hear you. My sheep hear my voice. Lord, minister now to our hearts and heal us and restore us and give us what we don't have in ourselves. Matthew chapter 4. Mark, thank you. I did that intentionally to see if you were paying attention and that's very good. And you know that's not true. As you're turning to Mark chapter 4, you remember last week we looked at Isaiah and we saw that God said that He was the High and the Lofty One. And that He inhabited eternity. He lived in eternity. But He said, but with Him also that is of a humble and a contrite heart. Or a broken heart. And so God is telling us that He lives, He dwells with the broken in heart. And I've never, like I said, known anyone who had such a broken heart as our wonderful Savior Jesus. His name was Emmanuel, God with us. He was the man. He was fully man and fully God. He was the man that was fully broken before God. And therefore God fully committed Himself to Him. And so in Jesus we see a picture of this wonderful demonstration of God dwelling with a broken man. A man who was all powerful but yet said, I of myself can do nothing. A man who was all knowing but said, unless my Father shows me, I don't know anything. I want to know this man. He is my only hope this morning. Now listen, please brothers and sisters to the voice and spirit of God through the Word of God this morning. We're going to talk as part of the introduction to this subject of brokenness. And remember brokenness is a heart condition. It is a heart condition. We're going to talk for a short time, however the Lord helps us about four different types of hearts. Only one of these hearts is the heart that Jesus says He can truly occupy and speak to and reveal the beauties of Himself and His Father too. Mark chapter 4 beginning in verse 13 And He said unto them, Know ye not this parable? How then will you know all parables? The sower sows the word and they and these are they by the way side where the word is sown. But when they have heard Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. And there are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who when they have heard the word immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time. Afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns such as hear the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. And now lastly and these are they which are sown on good ground. Now I'm going to take the liberty to change the word good although I'm not changing the word of God I'm just going to use another word because it can be supported in Scripture. Just for the sake of this tremendous topic that the Lord has us on. Verse 20 and these are they which are sown on broken ground. You know good ground is broken ground. Good ground is plowed ground. Good ground is tilled ground. I have to laugh. Last week or something I was in upstairs I was reading or maybe half asleep I'm not sure and all of a sudden I hear this motor running and I said to myself now it's not the sound of the pool filter it's not the sound of the lawn mower it's not the riding lawn mower it's not the push mower, it's not the weed whacker what in the world is that sound you know how you get to know the sounds and so I get myself up and go downstairs and low and behold I see my wife in the garden with her father's tilling machine tilling the ground and it's going and she turns around and goes back and it's plowing up the ground and it's tearing up the ground and as I looked I heard the Lord speak to me after I got done laughing laughing I heard the Lord speak to me and he said behold good ground good ground broken ground and I prayed oh God give me a broken heart now listen carefully first of all we have a hard heart a hard heart as illustrated here is it's the kind of soil that back in the old days and even today you know there's parts of our grass that are constantly walked on it becomes like a path and you notice that if that pathway is walked on long enough nothing grows there it becomes hard and even though seed is sown if it hits that hard ground it won't take root and brothers and sisters I speak of these three conditions because one time or another I found myself in the throngs of one of these three conditions and if I don't beg God daily by all the grace that is available through the blood of Jesus I will find myself falling into one or all three all at the same time of these kinds of hearts now the Bible speaks of a hard heart and it connects it to disobeying the voice of the Holy Spirit now I want you to turn your Bibles to Hebrews Hebrews chapter four verse seven again he limits a certain day saying today to David today after so long a time as it is said today if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts harden not your hearts every time we are confronted with an occasion when we become conscious of God speaking to us either through his word or by the Holy Spirit convicting us or we see something in a brother or a sister and we sense God speaking into our life perhaps about something that we're lacking because we see that quality in someone else every time we are hearing the voice of God and we push it off and resist it we are in fact like the footsteps walking in our heart and we're hardening it and hardening it and hardening it and hardening it and every time we do that we are we are a little bit harder a little bit more insensitive to the Lord Jesus Christ what are you doing brothers and sisters with what God has spoken to you how much longer will we say tomorrow Lord I'll start tomorrow Lord is your heart hard this morning listen listen then it's not broken it's not broken number two an offended heart because of the word an offended heart because of the word the Bible says that John the Baptist was in prison and he had a feeling that he was going to lose his head because of Jesus Christ and he gathered some of his disciples together and you know what he did he said you go and talk to Jesus and you ask him are you really the one that is to come or are we to expect another one oh God help us to hear help us to hear what you're saying and Jesus then began to heal the sick and he said go back and tell John that the dead are being raised the blind are seeing the poor are hearing the kingdom of God go and assure John yeah I'm the one I'm the one and then he made this profound statement he said blessed is the one who is not offended by me and to be offended by the word is very simple and I have been many times guilty of this heart condition and have had to go to the Lord and pray Lord rescue me from this offended heart to be offended is simply to recognize the costliness of saying yes to Jesus and to decide that your life is more valuable than his an offended heart oh Lord help me the Bible says that there was a man named Demas 2nd Timothy let's turn there for a moment we trace Demas through the scriptures and we find out that Demas traveled with Paul he went on a number of missionary journeys with Paul he sat under the teaching of Paul he no doubt was exposed to the teachings of Timothy and to Titus and to probably Apollos and Barnabas and other of the men that God raised up in the New Testament church he no doubt was a very blessed man but the Bible makes a very very fearful and challenging statement about Demas 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse number 10 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse number 10 an offended heart for Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world and is departed unto Thessalonica Demas his name the word Demas means Gary popular with the people that's a little private joke because several months ago we were talking about Demas and I'd asked if anybody knew what Demas meant and amazingly Gary knew what it meant he had just been doing a study can we see this listen do you know when an offended heart will snare us when we want to be more popular with man and we want their approval and we want to save our own life and we want to save our own necks and we want to preserve our own way more than we want the Lord to be glorified in our life even when it means our loss even our death so we have a hard heart which is not a broken heart we have an offended heart which is not a broken heart and thirdly we have a crowded heart a crowded heart Martha Martha Jesus said you are troubled about what Martha Martha Martha watch the crowded heart Martha many things but one thing is necessary brothers and sisters one thing is necessary and Mary hath chosen this and it shall not be taken from her is what Jesus said a crowded heart is your heart crowded this morning many things cares of this life the deceitfulness of riches the desire for many many many things busy busy busy busy busy a crowded heart listen a crowded heart is not a broken heart so what do we do and so we have a hard heart when we get into the habit of pushing off the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in our life then we have the offended heart I'm stumbling at the Lord's word because it's too costly and then we have the crowded heart I'm just so busy and lastly we have the broken heart the broken heart is the good heart the broken heart not only receives God's word but brings forth a harvest to the glory and honor of God now we must look to the Lord who alone is the broken one and the beginning listen please closely this is a very general review of last week the beginning of brokenness starts when we confess what we're not broken honesty yes Lord I find in my life a smorgasbord Carrie a combination of all of these different types of hearts that I have to wrestle with everyday and look to my Lord to help me be rescued from and so the beginning of brokenness as we learned last week comes when we start to bereave bereavement sorrow listen number one this is now the message of the blessedness of brokenness number one it begins with the bereavement unto brokenness sorrow unto brokenness as we looked in Luke chapter 16 we've ministered on it several times Luke chapter 16 verse number 1 2 and 3 unfaithful store he was an unfaithful servant that's a picture of us we've been unfaithful we're guilty brokenness does not occur until the Holy Spirit with His mighty heavenly power lays hold of our life and produces in us a godly bereavement and sorrow over our true condition and that's what leads to brokenness we read Psalm 51 where David shows us what true brokenness is he cried out to God God have mercy upon me oh God according to Thy loving kindness according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blood out my transgressions wash me thoroughly cleanse me for I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me against Thee the only have I sinned do you see here the sorrow do you see the bereavement do you see the spirit wrought conviction in this man's heart he no longer saw the sin of his brothers and sisters he no longer complained about the injustices that were being done to him he no longer focused his efforts on trying to point out everyone else's sins to them but he broke he broke under the power of God and he said I'm the man I'm the one have mercy upon me and it was in the bereaved sorrowful heart that God birthed brokenness this leads us now listen please listen please a hard heart an offended heart and a crowded heart keep us from a broken heart but a broken heart is the posture from which all the spiritual blessings that God has given us in Christ becomes available to us and so once the Holy Spirit has produced the godly sorrow in us that produces a state of brokenness which is Lord I'm all wrong and you're all right brokenness is the creature no longer claiming innocence before God no longer claiming innocence before one another how many times do you feud with someone that you love and the root of the feud is I'm not wrong you are hello I'm not wrong you are and even if you are right your attitude is wrong so you're both wrong and the first thing you gotta do is not get it right with each other but get it right with God that's why we can't get right with one another because we're not both acknowledging that we need to get right with God a broken heart will not demand it's right and even when it is it'll be so soft and gentle and tender it'll find a reason to admit guilt too even when you're right you're wrong are you willing to go that far for the sake of unity even when you're right you're wrong oh brother that's not true it's not oh then you're right you stand just before God there's no sin in you you've never blown it your attitude is perfectly holy without anything wrong is that so but we don't want to be right wrong when we're right do we because when we're right we're right why should I be wrong when I'm right is that a broken heart no that's got the smell of Satan in it that's got the smell of I will I'm going to exalt myself I'm going to hurt you so that I can be right I'm going to wound you so I can be right come on is that Christ is that the spirit of Christ what kind of heart is that sounds like a hard heart to me a heart that has repeatedly wanted to claim innocence you just say something about this innocence the Lord gave me something and it seems appropriate listen please remember this morning when we started the Lord showed us that he wanted to focus on our hearts is he a surgeon now is he going deep how is he going deep does it hurt well if it hurts then you thank God that it hurts you thank God that it hurts and you say thank you Lord that it hurts and thank you that there's a healing bomb in Gilead thank you that there's healing with this her the Bible says the word of God is what like a doll play knife no the word of God is sharp and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword the word of God plunges into the depths of our being and exposes us for what we are the righteousness that comes by the blood of Jesus comes when we seek God's mercy as guilty sinners the good Christian righteousness is our claim of innocence we're not guilty and by our own innocence we come before God or before one another if you're finding it hard to approach God this very day as a guilty sinner having no innocence in yourself then you are yet trying to approach God on your own goodness and righteousness self-righteousness is when we come before God and one another and we show them our innocence rather than our guilt self-righteousness is the unwillingness to admit we're wrong even when we're right being right doesn't make you innocent it's grace that you might be right because God has helped you to see clearly but that doesn't make you innocent that makes you right but guilty and admit your guilt so your brother doesn't think you're holier than he or she is you're no better than anyone else and the deception of our heart is this when we know we're right about something that makes us think we become innocent being right doesn't make us innocent being right only should break us and humble us and make us say how is it that I could see clearly about this when I am more guilty than you are does this offend you sounds like an offended heart why it's too costly brother I can't give up my appearance I can't give up my good Christian righteousness I can't let her be right I'm right you want to know why there's very little love and unity in the body of Christ because we're still right and we don't want to be wrong and we don't want to show our dirty clothes to anyone if I seek a right standing before God based on anything other than the blood of Jesus being applied to my guilt then I am seeking self righteous position before God and here's the last part on this whole issue of are you innocent or guilty I can never be more right before God than when I come as a sinner and admit my guilt I'm sure we heard that I'll say it again I can never be more right before God than to come as a sinner and admit my guilt because in such a state I am given the righteousness of God by faith and the righteousness of God by faith far exceeds my own righteousness which is a righteousness that I give to God when I claim innocence there is a burden on our backs that God wants to break the burden is the fear of losing our own righteousness in God's eyes and in others eyes but Jesus is here and He is assuring us most solemnly that if we would bow the neck and heart before Him and lose our own filthy self righteousness which is rooted in the idea that I'm right and I'm innocent and if we would just come to Him and beg Him to break that noose, that satanic stronghold out of our life we would come into the good of what Pilgrim came into when when He came to Calvary the burden jumped off His back and He lifted up His voice and shouted Hallelujah to God I'm free I'm free! Do you want to be free this morning? Then admit your guilt before God admit your guilt before your husband before your wife, before your children before the whole world! Don't claim your innocence, claim your guilt and you'll find joy and freedom when God gives you the righteousness of God and then when you are right, walk softly walk ever so softly because your rightness doesn't make you innocent you're still unclean in yourself if anyone is overtaken in a fall, you who are spiritual restore such a one how? in the spirit of meekness why? Considering yourself why? because you are just as vulnerable to fall into the very fall and sin that you are seeking to help your brother out of the absence of meekness is a sign that we think we're innocent or above what we see in our brother you know why? As parents we're so harsh to our children I hope we have steel tip toes shoes on now you know why?