Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the concept of 'pliability unto placement' in his sermon on Ephesians 1:1-4, illustrating how understanding our identity in Christ is crucial for discovering our purpose. He explains that true pliability, which is the ability to be shaped by God, leads to our rightful placement in His plan. The preacher encourages believers to seek a close relationship with Jesus, as it is through this intimacy that we can align our desires with God's will. He highlights that our struggles often arise from trying to assert our own plans instead of yielding to God's guidance. Ultimately, Beach reassures that God has a specific purpose for each believer, and by being pliable, we can fulfill His good pleasure in our lives.

Chapter 1. Thank you. Ephesians chapter 1, beginning in verse number 1. We're going to read several verses and then pinpoint one. And then we're going to take that one verse and just bring it right down to our practical life and show you the two-fold purpose of God. Before we do that, I want to write two words on the board. Now I'm asking the Lord tonight to write these words upon our hearts because you're going to discover during your earthly pilgrimage, as long as the Lord tarries, that these two words will, if not now, eventually take on much meaning in your life. Now watch this. The first word, pliability. Unto placement. We're going to put up here the Father's, let's put the word, the adjective, good. Pleasure. Now, pliability unto placement. Now watch this. Ephesians chapter 1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I like that. He knew who he was, Paul. He knew who, well, he knew what God called him to be an apostle, and he knew whose he was. It's very important. Really, we don't need to go any further. This could give us much meat for thought. Paul, he knew who he was, an apostle. He knew what God called him to be, but most importantly, may I suggest that he would have not known who he was, neither would he have known the purpose, the calling, if it had not been for his knowledge of Jesus. So may I suggest a solution for the identity crisis today that many men and women are seeking to rectify, seeking to work out in their life, who am I why am I? What am I to do? Do you want to have an affirmative introduction to your life? Then may I suggest that you seek him while he may be found. Jesus puts everything into perspective. Everything. By the will of God to the saints, at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice where grace and peace comes from. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before him in love. Now remember, being holy and without blame before him in his love is possible because of Jesus Christ. So let's not lose sight of that. Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself. Now here we go, we're going to take these next few words and this is the illustration that we're going to give you tonight. According to the good pleasure of his will. The good pleasure of the Father's will, broken down into edible practical application. The good pleasure of our Father's will, broken down into edible, practical, applicable understanding so that you and I can relate and say yes in our world, in our little world. The breaking of that profound theological statement which theologians have contemplated ever since the Bible was written. Breaking it down can be understood in two words, pliability unto placement. Not considering, now listen beloved, because this is where we depart from God's rest and we enter into human struggle and it creates all manner of difficulties. Not considering specifics now. Where does God want me to go? When does God want me to go? Let's get away for a moment from specifics and let us understand the pleasure, the good pleasure of his will in relation to our daily life is the continued ongoing work of his spirit to produce in you and in me pliability and in producing pliability God then produces placement. Now I'm gonna really make this simple so that we can understand it. Now this looks complicating but it's not. Okay, now listen closely. The Father's good pleasure, pliability unto placement. You pick which one you want to be. A, B, C, that's supposed to be a D. See I can do that because I'm the artist. Now there's something here. I don't want that to be a P, I just made it a D. Do you see who's in, who's drawing this picture? I am. What did that P just tell me? I want to be a P. I'm sorry, I made you a D. Did you forget? I have the crayon. Okay, okay, I'm gonna stand back. You make yourself a P, go ahead. What's wrong? Here, try real hard. Come on, here, I'll help you. I'll grunt with you. Come on. What's wrong? Tim, what's wrong? Do you see that turning into? No. Okay, alright. Now, watch this. Okay. I'm going to place A in number three barrel. Alright. I'm going to put B in one. I'm going to put C, hmm, let me see, what's the good pleasure of my will? Now, what's going to determine my decision? The good pleasure of my will. Alright. I'm going to put C down here with number one. Now, we have D left. Well, that was the one that wanted to be P. I'm going to put him alone in number two. Okay. Now, we're going to do something now. I'm going to make arrows that are going to signify A's desire, B's desire, C's desire. He missed it all together. And D is so mad at me because I made him a D and not a P. He doesn't want to go anywhere. He's just going to stay right where he is. He doesn't have any direction. Okay. Now, let's read this scripture again. Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. What a profound statement. Wonder what that means. Okay, here's what it means. Here's what it means. But remember, this is edible. This is something you can take right home with you. I mean, you don't have to get the notebook out to figure this out. Watch this now. The Father's good pleasure pliability unto placement. Now, here's what pliability unto placement is. The Father was pleased to send the Lord Jesus Christ. And in coming to Him, we have become God's special peculiar people in whom God has a plan. God has a plan. You see, before Jesus, there's no plan but the deserving of hell. Eternal damnation. Forever being separated from the glorious presence of God. But in Jesus Christ, a great plan is realized for every genuine, I say genuine, there are those who profess His name and there's those who possess Him. Those who possess Him by truly, truly coming to the cross and there as pilgrim experience in pilgrim's progress, they're kneeling at the cross, crying out, Father, have mercy on me a sinner. And that burden of sin was loosed. Okay, in the cross we have a plan that is realized. God has a plan. Now, in our little illustration, we have showed you that God made the circle and called it A. And God made the circle and called it B. And God made the circle and called it D. And God made it C and D. Now, pliability. Here's what pliability is. A has desires. B has desires. C has desires. And D has desires. But apart from, listen closely, apart from the specific working and life and influence of God's Spirit in your life, your desires are incapable. Now, I say incapable, not even with the furthest luck of chance. Your desires are entirely incapable of ever lining up to the Father's will for your life. Therefore, A reflects a desire that is contrary to what the Father has designed. B reflects a desire that is contrary. C reflects a desire that is contrary to what the Father has designed. And D reflects a desire contrary to what the Lord wants for Him. So, consequently, the Father's good pleasure that is continually being realized in us and through us as His redeemed those who have truly been saved is this. It is the working of pliability in our life unto placement. Here's what the working of pliability is. The working of pliability is to loose A, to loose, to free A from the drive and the compulsion to go His way, which according to His judgment and according to the best of His understanding is what He wants. It is to loose us from that drive which leads us in a particular direction that we are convinced is best for us and frees us to allow God to guide us and place us and make us and bring us right to where He wants us. The same is the purpose for B and C and D. So what God is doing in your life and my life in Christ this is not realized apart from Christ. If there's any striving by God's Spirit toward a sinner, it is intended to bring them to the cross. Apart from the cross there is no life. But when we come to the cross, when we become God's children and our sins are forever cancelled and He redeems us with an everlasting love then He begins that glorious process of which George spoke of where He seeks to reveal His Son in us and place us and bring us to that specific goal that He has in mind for us. Now the bringing of A to the third barrel, the work of pliability must be continually realized in the believer's life. The pliability the pliability is the continued working of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in our life bringing us to a posture of humility bringing us to a posture of weakness bringing us to a posture where we confess from our heart God, not my way, not my will, not my impulse but rather Lord your way, your direction your working, your choice, trust in the Lord with all thine heart that means A, where with His heart focus on the Father's good pleasure what does it mean to trust in the Lord with all your heart? It means to come before God and let Him develop in you a posture, a praise, a continual rising in your life of a direction setting your affections, your will, your mind on the Word of God centered, focused upon this confession of faith the Father's good pleasure is to make me pliable unto that results in a continued placement. If it's not an immediate placement, it's going in the direction you're being brought in the direction of the placement where God is bringing you. So trust in the Lord with all thy heart lean that into thine own understanding, that is don't begin to become set on your own understanding, your way, but in all thy ways acknowledge Him, meaning as you discover from the heart desires, cravings impulses rising up regarding decisions about life and jobs and money and submit those desires to God, submit them to God don't become passive where you don't do anything, but on the other hand don't be so determined to do without first submitting your plans to God and acknowledging what you feel God wants you to do and then be pliable, submit your plans to the Lord and He shall direct thy path. He is committed to the ministry of pliability into the child of God which is a continual, it's a continual, it's a continual it's a continual pliability unto placement pliability unto placement and what it is, it's the work of God to turn us from what our choice would be and the path that we would choose in order to accomplish what we want and it looses us from that and oh what a feeling, what a joy, what a liberty what a rest comes to the dear soul that through the very working of God yields Himself unto God, yields His rights, yields that will and places it upon the altar and says Father, Father in you, by you, through you because of the working of your power, Lord, here I am have your way, I am thine do with me what's pleasant in thine eyes oh what rest, what joy, there the Lord looses us and begins the work of pliability which is keeping us on His path so that we don't begin to become adamant, adamant, sometimes God lets us stray to teach us, He lets us stray but in letting us stray, it's never His will for us while straying to become so set in going our way, if He lets you stray and He shows you a wrong way or a way where you need to change, that's when pliability then needs to become raw in your life, immediately at that moment, oh Lord, thank you Lord Father, I'm pliable, I'll let go, I'll draw back Lord whatever you want to do and then what it accomplishes is its pliability unto placement. Beloved, this is what God is doing in our life, so remember the Father's good pleasure brought down to bread and butter style so that we all can understand it, is a continual pliability in your life which produces a continual placement from one step to another step to another step to another step which will eventually fulfill the pleasure of His good will which in Christ was already planned for you see when God made the body, He created the thumb and the thumb had a purpose, the thumb doesn't become aware that it is a thumb and then seek a purpose for itself see this is the problem with Christianity, we don't understand that in Christ God has prepared our good works, so when the thumb comes to the knowledge that it is a thumb, it doesn't then say oh I wonder what I'm going to do, no it says what has the wise maker made me capable of doing and then as the thumb discovers the purpose for which it was created in accord to the desire of the creator, then it sees what it can do, it works in unity with the other and it's not finding a purpose independent but it's discovering the purpose that it was created for oh beloved, this is what the Savior wants and it all occurs as the heart meets the Savior and has a continued revelation of Him pliability is wrought and is sustained in one way and don't let anyone ever tell you any other way it is one way and one way alone and that is through relationship with Jesus the head and the word of God, union, intimacy closeness, that's how pliability and placement are most easily wrought in the believer's life, relationship, stay close to the Savior understand that God is not calling you to figure things out, He's calling you to come to Him and offer yourself to Him, He's already got it figured out it's not Lord what am I going to do, Lord what have you called me, what have you created me for in Christ now there are specific things that we're all created for in Christ to do then there's things that we all have in common then there's specifics that each one of us have, all you have to do is come, do what you know to do and then just realize that it's God's plan that is going to awaken one day upon you and someday you're going to say I'm a thumb, you're going to understand your identity in Christ, I'm in Christ, then the next step wow, being in Christ, God has already God has already in His wisdom planned for me to be something and to do something for His honor and glory, that takes a great responsibility off you, you don't have to come up with a game plan all you do is fall before Him and say alright Lord, what's the pleasure of your good will make me pliable, keep me from going my own way and as I'm pliable, I'll end up there without struggle consider the lily that neither toils nor spins what was Jesus saying? don't toil, don't spin rest, abide, enjoy pursue a relationship and God will do the rest for us that's it abrupt ending