Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the critical nature of accountability to Christ, warning against self-deception that leads to rebellion and immaturity in faith. He explains that Christians must recognize their accountability to God and the consequences of their actions, as they are not their own but belong to Him. Beach illustrates how self-deception can manifest in a false sense of freedom, leading to disobedience and a lack of awareness of God's expectations. He encourages believers to stay at the cross, where they can find strength and identity in Christ, ultimately leading to a life that pleases God. The sermon calls for a return to humility and dependence on Jesus to overcome the allure of the world and the flesh.

Be not deceived. Well, we can stop right there, can't we? Self-deception is a very, very damaging, it could be indomitable for those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. And for we who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, self-deception can be a very hurtful, a very harmful, and prove to be very detrimental to our walk with the Lord. Self-deception. Paul uses the word, be not deceived, in many of his epistles, particularly in the book of Galatians, and also in the epistles that he wrote to the church in Corinth. Be not deceived. Self-deceived. That is, we are deceiving ourself. We are erroneously believing something, either about ourself, about the Lord, about someone else, or about something. You see, self-deception. In context, Paul is talking to Christians who apparently were giving themselves liberty to act in a way that was not pleasing to the Lord. They were allowing their old flesh life to control them. And that was positively a characteristic of their immaturity. But Paul is speaking in context here to a people who were not understanding that the reason why they had become Christians was so that through the power of Jesus Christ, they could learn how to do the things that are pleasing to God, and to put to death in their life all of those things that are not pleasing to God. Now, for the young people here, that would mean disobedience, rebellion. What are you smiling about? Disobedience, rebellion. How about lying and cheating? How about things we do to our body? Do you think that our body is ours to do what we want with it? Certainly not. The Bible says that the body of a Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit. That means that young people, our bodies do not belong to our own self, meaning that we could do with our bodies what we want to do. That means we have to be sure that we understand God's teaching in the Bible regarding sexual impurity, that God does not want us, as Christians, to be involved in any kind of impurity at all. He wants the body to be something that's set aside for the Lord, something that is used to bring glory to Him. So, this is where self-deception comes in. When we are under a wrong idea about ourself, about our lives. How many here have heard someone say, It's my life, I can do with it what I want. Okay, well that's self-deception. That's self-deception. Here's why it's self-deception. Number one, it's not your life. It's not your life. And you may be able to do with it what you want, but someday you're going to be held accountable for everything that you do in your body. Did you know that? That there's coming a day when every single human being will stand before the Lord. And we're going to be held accountable for what we did in our physical bodies. So that's self-deception, and that is an attitude that's running rampant in the world today with young people. I'm going to do what I want. Nobody can tell me what to do. Hey, I'm the most important person in the world, and I'm going to do what I want so I can be happy. How many have ever heard someone say that in a roundabout way, if not blatantly right out? Now see, the root of that is what we call in the Bible, listen closely now, young people, this is what rebellion is. Rebellion is self-deception. Rebellion is self-deception. It is wanting to do what you want without realizing that you are accountable to somebody. That's another subject that we won't be able to get to tonight. That's only the first three words, be not deceived. Now, let's use that other word now, accountability. Accountability. What's accountability here? How many here understand what accountability is? Accountability. Basically, a very easy definition of accountability is this. You are not the boss of your life, but you're accountable to somebody. In other words, you're not the one in control. You're not the chief. You don't just do what you want without ever considering the consequences of your actions, how they affect yourself and how they affect others. Now see, this sense of accountability is lost in the world, and it's also lost in the church world. It's also lost in the church world. This sense of accountability is something that we don't, we don't want to accept the fact that we are accountable. We are accountable, first of all, to God. Then we're accountable to parents. We're accountable to the civil government. We're accountable. And did you know that one of the main reasons why we have a problem with rebellion in our life is because we are self-deceived in a certain area in our life. We don't see that we are accountable to God in every area of our life. In every area of our life. Let's just assume that I owned a farm, and I hired Norman and Vince. And Norman and Vince became my employees, and I was their employer. And I hired them, and I was going to be signing their checks. And I hired them under these conditions. Gentlemen, I want you to go to my field, my corn field, and I want you to pick the airs of corn that are ready to be picked. And I told them that they had to work from sunrise until sunset. And I told them the orderly fashion in which I wanted the ears of corn picked and the piles. And I entrusted them with that responsibility. Now, if they were working in my field, and I slipped out for the moment, and they didn't see me with their eyes, that does not mean that they are free from accountability just because they don't see me with their eyes. If I decided to leave that field, and I decided to go away for a whole week, they would still be accountable to me as long as they were hired under my terms. Now, here's what it means to be rebellious. Now, watch carefully. Watch carefully. Here's what it means to be rebellious. Rebellion occurs when we become self-deceived. Self-deception occurs when we lose the sense of accountability. Now, here's how self-deception would occur, which would result in rebellion. Norman and Vincent, this is a hypothetical situation, are working in the fields, and they're talking with one another, and they're involved in doing the work that I hired them to do. Then all of a sudden, they get to looking around, and they realize I'm not there, and they start thinking to themselves, well, why don't we do what we want, which means let's stop picking the ears of corn. Possibly let's go under a shade tree somewhere that's in another man's field, and let's just chat a little bit, which wasn't in the terms that I had agreed with them. Now, that's what self-deception is in rebellion, but here's why. The whole reason why they begin to think that way is because somehow, someway, they begin to lose the sense of accountability. They forget that they are directly accountable to me as their employer. You see, and when we begin to lose that sense of accountability, then what happens is we begin to make plans, and we start conducting ourselves in a way that is not in accord with the wishes of our superior. Okay, how does that relate to you and I? We, as human beings, not just as human beings, but as Christians, if we're a Christian, if we've truly given our life over to Jesus Christ, we are accountable to God. We are accountable to the Word of God. In it is our boss's requirements. How many here would like to hire somebody who, after you hired this person and slipped out of sight, you saw that they began to take things into their own hands and ignore the agreement? You wouldn't like that, would you? Well, see now, the Holy Spirit wants us to recognize that we are accountable to God and to the degree that we recognize our accountability to God, to that degree are we going to seek to please Him. Be not deceived. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth in his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Ye see how large a letter I have written to you with my own hand? As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain or compel you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Now verse 14, But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Beloved, we sang the song earlier, The cross before me, the world behind me. How many here understand what Paul is saying when he makes the comment, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. How can the world be crucified unto a man, and that man crucified unto the world? What is Paul saying in this statement? What are the resources of his heart that are coming out from this one little statement? The magnitude of this confession, the magnitude of this one statement is so overwhelming, so wonderful, it should so stir our hearts. Here's what Paul is saying in verse number 14, But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here Paul is talking about the cross right here, and he's saying God forbid that he should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me. Here's what he's saying, When we find our identity at the cross of Jesus Christ, which is what? That's the old life. I consider my old life and my old ways to be absolutely profitless to God. That's the reckoning at the cross. The mind at the cross is everything that I am according to my old nature, and all of the sin and all of the wretchedness that I am by nature. When I'm at the cross by faith, and I understand my identity with Christ, those things are reckoned as useless to me. I don't want anything to do with them. The cross is the place where we reckon, where we agree with God, who has pronounced our old life dead, who has pronounced our old life to be useless. Okay? Now, at that place, at that place of reckoning, this is what happens. I should not glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me. When we are looking at the world from that perspective, from the cross, watch this now. We're looking at the world. We're looking at the world. The world becomes dead to us. The world becomes dead to us by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Not only does the world become dead to us, but we become dead to the world. I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to me. I become dead to the world, meaning I lose interest in the world. I lose desire for what the world can offer me. I lose aspiration to find a place in the world, but the world becomes dead to me. The world no longer packs a punch when I look at it. The world no longer staggers me, and causes me to get off balance, and, oh my, the powers in this world. But know, beloved, there is a place at the cross of Calvary, in union with Christ, in fellowship with Christ, where the world becomes crucified unto you, and you become crucified to the world. But, beloved, may I suggest this evening in a very strong way, that you do not find this power to be crucified to the world, to be dead to the world, and the world to be dead to you in yourself. But you find this power by gloriously living in the life of the Son of God. For in the life of the Son of God, the world becomes dead to me, because there's nothing in Jesus that is interested in the world, and there's nothing in the world that's interested in Jesus. So the world becomes dead to you, and you become dead to it by virtue of your position, your position of being in Christ, living by Christ. Young people, if you think you have an exciting life, if you think there's a lot to life that you haven't yet seen, you haven't seen anything yet until you meet the Savior, Jesus, and until you experience His life. The alluring power of the world is like a drink of whiskey. It might give you a temporary high, but it'll kill you. It'll give you a temporary high, but it'll kill you. And I suggest tonight that there are multitudes and multitudes of people, including Christian people, who are relentlessly walking in this world, begging God and looking and praying and searching for some kind of a way to escape the power of the world, so that the world no longer boxes them down and knocks them down. They feel like they're slaves to the powers of the world, and rather than the world being dead to them, and they being dead to the world, it's the exact opposite. The world is so alive, and they are so alive to the world, and it's like two sides of a magnet, and there's a constant attraction. There's a constant pulling, and it's like, Oh, who shall deliver me from this body of death, beloved? There is no freedom. There is no deliverance from the power of sin. There's no deliverance from the power of this world. There's no deliverance from the tormenting power of devils, except through the person of Jesus Christ. He alone can make you dead to the world, and the world dead to you. He alone. And here's what Paul is saying. Here's what Paul is saying. I've come to the place in my Christian life where I am dead to the world, and the world is dead to me, and my only purpose to live is to that, to please God. Is this what you want? Oh, beloved. Paul was free from self-deception. Paul was not walking in rebellion. Paul had an overwhelming, consuming sense of accountability to God. And because he was consumed with this accountability to God, it drove him, listen, it drove him upon his knees, so that through faith and through the power of God's Spirit, he was brought to the cross, and there experienced open-heart surgery, and was filled with divine life, the Lord Himself. And then you know what he did? On a daily basis, he stayed at the cross. The secret is coming to the cross and then staying at the cross. And the cross is that place of daily affirmation where we are bowed before the Lord, lowered in His presence, and there finding in Him our strength for every day. Now, remember the rhetorical question I had asked about 20 minutes ago or so, 25 minutes ago? It's been that long? Remember the rhetorical question? How many here are learning to make it your chief goal on a daily basis to please the Lord in all things, and through the power of God's Word and the power of God's Spirit to cultivate in your life a tenderness and a softness before the Lord? Okay. This is how you do it. This is how you cultivate a tenderness and a softness before the Lord. This becomes a daily spiritual discipline that is raw in your life through faith. This becomes a daily spiritual discipline. It's very simple. As we stay at the cross, our sense of accountability continues to weigh heavy upon us, and as our sense of accountability weighs heavy upon us, we feel helplessly in need of God more every day. We feel in need of His Word, and it just keeps us in a posture of, And as you draw from Him, you escape the power of your own sinful life. You'll never overcome sin by your own power. You'll never overcome the power of the world. How many have understood the tormenting power of the world? How many have stood up, and you're beginning to grow, or you're getting old enough now, and you can see the alluring power of the world, and it's wanting to get you and take a hold of you. It's wanting you to curse God, if not in an outright way, curse Him in your actions. It's wanting you to take your body and use it for things that aren't glorifying to God. It's wanting you to take your words and say things that are not glorifying to God. How many have discovered that power in the world? It's almost like a spell. It's almost like we're living in a spell, a spell that's been cast by the prince of the power of this air, the devil himself, and this spell has got a hold of so many people, and they just walk aimlessly, aimlessly, and they can't break themselves from the spell, and sometimes they know what's happening, but they seem to be powerless, and it just sucks more, and more, and more of our mind and our soul, and we become more, and more, and more slaves to this system. How many relate to this? Don't you live in the world? Where do you live? On Mars? Are you in the world? Are we being honest with ourselves? It's not a teaching, is it, that delivers you. It's not a good book, is it? No, it's not willpower, is it? No, it's only the person of Jesus Christ. He alone, He alone can deliver. It takes a humbling of ourselves before God. It takes a humbling of ourselves before God, because Paul had a sense of accountability. He was free from self-deception and free from rebellion. I have discovered that when a person calls or comes to me and says, please talk to me, help me, domestic problems, family problems, all kinds of difficulties, I have discovered in talking, just for a few minutes, that normally, 99% of the time, these problems that are affecting the marriage and relationships and bringing about all kinds of depression and all various different difficulties within their life and the life of others, I have discovered that the root of that problem is there is a sense of accountability in that person's life that's gone. There's a sense of no accountability which has resulted in self-deception, which is a lack of seeing the need to really depend upon God and His word, and then that results in rebellion. Rebellion is normally because there is no accountability. We feel justified in doing what we want. We feel justified in being rebellious because we don't have a sense of accountability. See, Norman, if he was working for me, he would feel justified in leaving the job and doing what he wanted because he lost the sense of accountability that he is directly responsible to me and whether or not he's fulfilling his responsibility. And that's the way we have to see it. The Lord has provided a glorious salvation, and now if we've experienced that salvation, He wants us to understand our accountability to Himself. May I suggest that if God would grant to us an overwhelming sense of our accountability to Him, it would absolutely affect our entire life as Christians. If we understood our accountability to God, we would be very, very, very careful in taking more than one step outside of God's will. And when we took that one step and we realized what we were doing and that sense of accountability gripped us, we would go right back, get on our knees and say, Lord, put me in order. I'm not talking about a directional step where you decide to move something. I'm talking about a word. You know that when you begin to get involved in any kind of relationships or family or friends and things begin to happen and there's a tendency to say things that you shouldn't say that could possibly hurt. How many know that words can hurt worse than stones and sticks? Okay. Why is it that many times we continue to take 10, 12, 16, 18, 24 steps, so to speak, and what happens is what's created is a very hurtful situation. Here's why. Our sense of accountability is dim. Our sense of accountability. You see, if we were accountable, if we had a sense of accountability that lived with us and consumed us, and beloved, this is not some kind of an impossible fantasy. No, no. This is something that's available to whosoever will. Whosoever will, let him come. Whosoever will. God can give you a sense of accountability that will so quicken your conscience and so quicken your sense of accountability before God and before men that though you might go astray in a certain area, yet you will feel such an apprehension from God, such a sense of, what are you doing? And it will bring you into accountability. Would you like accountability tonight? If you haven't discovered this yet, you will. And that is this. Young people, I want you to listen. Christina, Rebecca, listen. You're going to discover something. If you have not already discovered it, Rebecca, you, as a person, apart from Christ, are very sinful. I am very sinful. We are all sinful. Our hearts are corrupt. Jesus says that we're born sinners. And as you get older, and as you begin to grow, you're going to discover that your heart and the world have something in common. Evil. Evil. And there's only one person that can save you from the evil that is in the world and save you from the evil that is in your heart and then give you the power over the evil in your heart and the evil in the world. There's only one person that can do that and that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He alone can do that. It doesn't happen by being born into a Christian family. It doesn't happen by coming to church. It happens when the Lord gets a hold of your heart and you come to Him and from your heart you say, Lord Jesus, save me. And maybe you are a Christian and you've strayed. Let me tell you something. Before I tell you that, you may have strayed and now only through coming back to Jesus and close to Jesus can you find the power to subdue the evil that's in you. The whole Christian life from beginning to end can only be realized in the person of Jesus Christ. Only in Jesus Christ He alone is able. And the power of the world and the power within our flesh can at any time, any moment, begin to rise up. And only through Jesus and a calling out upon Him can we find freedom from this power. I don't care what any religion or person tells you. The Bible is very clear about this. And in talking with people, I've discovered the greatest cry within the Christian today is how do I be free from myself? Or how do I be free from this alluring world that keeps calling me to turn from God? How can I be free? May I suggest that tonight you will know no freedom apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ. There is an answer. And that answer is a person. His name is Jesus. And at this very moment, I think of people that I've talked to over the past couple of weeks. And I think about the things that they've shared. And there's no answer apart from Jesus. There's no answer. But Jesus Christ can make the difference. I assure you tonight, beloved, that things are not going to get easier in the world. But things are going to get worse. And the powers of hell are getting more and more power in the world because the restraining influence is lessening and lessening in the world. And as the world gets more evil and more evil and more evil, those who name the name of the Lord are going to have to find more and more refuge in the Son of God, the person of Jesus Christ. And that comes through humbling ourselves and acknowledging our need for Him and then calling upon Him, Lord, help me. Save me. Deliver me. Deliver me. Is it possible to be dead to the world and the world dead to you? I say with a big yes, yes. A capital Y. Capital E and a capital S. Sounds like a cheerleader, huh? Give me a Y. Y. E. S. Yes. Let me hear it again. Yes. Beloved, be honest. Where's your conflicts coming from? The world and yourself. Can you read a book and they stay the same? Oh, you might get a temporary, wow, that's it. Doesn't last very long, does it? What's the answer? How many have sensed and felt the powers of the world, the sinful powers of the world and the sinful tendencies within your own heart rise up on occasion? Well, lastly, how many want to come to the cross and find that sweet release from self and sin and that marvelous union with the Son of God? That's where I want to go, to that wonderful place called Calvary. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace on them and mercy. Do you know what happens to your life when you find yourself at the cross? The place of humility, the place of dependency upon God, not a one time experience, but that which is daily cultivated in your life. Do you know what happens three things? First of all, you realize on a daily basis that you are a new creature. Now listen, you are a new creature in that the world loses its power and the sin loses its power only as long as you stay in that place. Because you can pick up and walk away from that place and you're going to find the world and sin will once again then begin to rise up and control you. So the first thing that happens is you become a new creature. You are no longer a slave and a servant to the dictates and tyranny of the world. Neither are you a slave or a servant to the evil corrupt desires that lurk within your flesh. You rise up in Jesus and find victory over yourself. Secondly, you find victory over the world. And that is the world loses its power as far as its influence over you. Next, peace and mercy. Your life is filled with peace and mercy. A peace that the world can't give and a peace that the world can't take away. A mercy. A mercy that will bring you down on your knees. A mercy that will show you how merciful God is. And a mercy that will enable you to be merciful to other people. Yes, friends. Tonight God wants to restore accountability into our life. Free us from self-deception. Loose us from this awful sin of rebellion. Rebellion is like witchcraft. It's what the Bible says. You say, well, I'm not in witchcraft. Well, a rebellious spirit is like the sin of witchcraft. But a humble spirit is precious in the Lord's eyes. I'm going to ask Colette if she would come to the piano. Let's just quietly meditate upon the Lord. God has spoken to our hearts. He's spoken to my heart. Thank you, Jesus. I want to make an invitation tonight. It doesn't matter how old you are. If God has stored your heart, and sometime during this preaching tonight you discovered that you need to come to God. You need to come to Jesus tonight. Maybe as a sinner, accepting Christ as your Savior or as a Christian. Confessing a sin and just wanting to find a greater place of abiding at that place of the cross where the power of the world and the sin is weakened. If God has spoke to your heart, I want to invite you to come to the altar and pray. I want to pray with you. As we sing this song, we just want to invite anyone to come.