Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the critical issue of defiling the temple of God, which he clarifies is not about physical buildings but about the hearts of believers. He reflects on Proverbs 30, highlighting a generation that is disconnected from God, cursing their parents, and living in self-righteousness. Beach urges the congregation to recognize that they are the temple of God, as stated in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, and that true worship and holiness come from within, not from outward appearances or religious practices. He warns against the dangers of spiritual complacency and the need for genuine repentance and humility to allow God to purify His temple. The sermon concludes with a call to focus on the inward transformation that God desires, rather than the outward trappings of religion.

Remember exactly what the Lord put in my spirit, which I wrestled with, and I thank the Lord for his confirmation. The desecration or defiling or destroying of God's temple is what we're going to talk about this morning, the defiling of God's temple. Before we do, I'd like to read in Proverbs chapter 30, Proverbs chapter 30, the desecration, the defiling, the polluting of God's temple. This exhortation this morning was a reflection of the heart of God and his concern for the defiling of his temple. Proverbs chapter 30. I want to read several scriptures and I would like for everyone to try and remember that this is speaking about you and I, the generation that we live in today. It will remarkably reflect many of the things already uttered this morning and I pray God that you'll help us to hear your word and that it will further get into our hearts and enable us, Lord, to, in brokenness and humility, allow you to work the perfect work of repentance in us so that we can be candidates for your true move of the Spirit, which you so long to pour out. Verse number 11, there is a generation that curses their father and does not bless their mother. It's up to you. Who has children's church today? OK, if you'd like to take it, it's up to you. OK, that's fine. Little children, go with Pam, please. Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30. Now, again, I would encourage you to just listen closely, please. There is a generation that curses their father and does not bless their mother. We are right now looking into some of the features, some of the contributing factors that are defiling the house of God. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I do want to say this so that we don't lose the impact of what we're reading now. We're going to discover that the house of God has absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, to do with a physical building. The house of God has absolutely nothing to do with the kind of edifice that you meet in. Whether it is an auditorium, whether it is a structure erected by a group of people, whether it is a hall. And so when God releases His burden and His concern about the destruction of His temple, the desecration of His temple, He's not talking about something coming into a physical building. He's not talking about that. Back in the early days of revival during Azusa Street, when God began to move, and also subsequent to that, even as early as the 70s and the 80s, men had erected their beautiful buildings. They had beautiful carpets and beautiful pews, and everything was so nice, and God began to bring revival, and sinners from the street would come into the church. Some of them would smell. Some of them would be dirty. Some of them wouldn't be dressed in a modest fashion. And some of the backslidden religious people in that congregation began to cry out, Oh, you can't come in here. You're defiling God's temple. You're dirty. You smell. Such an understanding of God's temple is utter foolishness. God's temple is not defiled in such a manner. God doesn't dwell in temples made with man's hands. But let's not go there now. We're going to go there very shortly just to lay a foundation. There is a generation that curses their father and does not bless their mother. There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes. Now this coincides to what Colette had mentioned, where we find it as parents that we oftentimes seek to instruct our children, and we point out to them, you have done wrong here. You are arguing with me, and then the response will be, I'm sorry, I don't see it like that. They're pure in their own eyes. They don't see their sin. And yet they are not washed from their filthiness. So we see that there's a generation that curses the father, does not bless the mother. There is a generation that is pure or clean or right and just in their own eyes, yet they're not washed from their own filthiness. And then we read on here, there is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men. So there is another characteristic of this generation, and it has to do with teeth being like swords. It indicates their tongue is set on fire from hell. Their words are words that destroy, that defile, that contaminate, that are filled with putrid. This generation that the Scripture is speaking of in Proverbs chapter 30 is characteristic of the day that we live in. And brothers and sisters, we must be warned and admonished and be very much alarmed. Because if we do not walk before the Lord in humility and in meekness, fearing Him and His Word, heeding the movements of the Holy Spirit, we will find that we will follow the way of this generation. And if we are the church, if we are the blood-washed, blood-bought people of God, and we allow the characteristics that are described of these generations to become part of our life, then we will engage in the dreadful sin of defiling, contaminating, or polluting the house of God, the temple of God. So we'll make the transition now from Proverbs chapter 30 to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Beginning in verse number 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God? Don't you know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? Now, the Holy Spirit is asking a question. And if He's asking a question, I believe He is expecting us to think this thing through and to come to a conclusion. Do you know that you are the temple of God? If you know that you are the temple of God, if I know that I am the temple of God, then I must not ascribe anything else as the temple of God. I mustn't associate defiling the temple of God with some kind of activity going on in a building. If I'm the temple of God, then let's read on here. If any man defile the temple of God, verse number 17, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. The burden of the Holy Spirit in this hour, in this day, toward the church, is that we would come to a rediscovery that God is not concerned with outward trappings of religion. God is not concerned with an external thing. He could care less how things look externally. We are not living in the Old Testament days when God revealed Himself through external things. We're living in the day when God has revealed Himself through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and has desired that the temple where He lives be made of living stones now. Living stones. Stones that are made of flesh and blood. Ephesians chapter 2, verse number 19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth up unto a holy temple in the Lord. We are today living in an hour when men are announcing their plans to build a temple for God. I'm not referring to the Jewish world. I'm referring to the so-called evangelical world where men and women are supposed to understand that God doesn't dwell in temples. Yet constantly we hear, constantly we hear, we're building a temple for God. We're building a temple for God. You're not building a temple for God. Jesus is building the temple of God. He said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I pity and feel sorry for any man or group of men that are trying to build a church. You can't build a church. Jesus is building His church. Jesus is the architect. You know, Jesus is still a carpenter. He's a heavenly carpenter now. He's erecting God's house. He is the Son over the house of God, the faithful Son, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. Isaiah chapter 57. Listen to this. Verse 15. For thus saith the High and the Lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with Him also. Now, God is telling us where He dwells. He doesn't dwell in temples made with men. God doesn't place His presence in buildings. And so, therefore, when we believe that, when we come under that lie, we spend all of our effort and energy making that which is visible by the eye of man beautiful. We make it attractive. We make it appealing. We make it so men go, Wow, isn't that nice? Ooh, isn't that pretty? Oh, isn't that pleasant? And we think that by beautifying the things that men see with their eyes, we are somehow pleasing God. We are not. We are not. With Him also that is of a contrite. The word there, contrite, literally means a smashed, broke... It means to smash, to pulverize. It means to pulverize into dust. Who does God walk with? Who does God dwell with? Where can you really find the fullness of God, and the movement of God, and the presence of God, and the voice of God, and the beauty of God? Where can you find it? In religion? No. I dwell with Him also that is of a contrite and humble, humble, bowed down, low, broken, low spirit. A contrite and a humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 66, verse 2, beginning in verse 1, Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? Brothers and sisters, hear very carefully, very carefully. God's place of rest, the place where God will dwell, is not a building that men erect. That will not bring pleasure to God's heart. God doesn't need a building. God doesn't need something outward to bring pleasure to His heart. Yet, for the most part, the whole church world today has gotten on the bandwagon of finding a place where God can dwell while their homes and their hearts are defiled with sin. And God looks down with love but rebuke and says, I will not have it that way. I won't have it that way. God wants nothing to do with this outward stench of religion that has obsessed the church world today. He wants nothing to do with it. Where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath my hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor. So we have contrite, crushed, broken, pulverized to ashes. We have humble, low, lowly in mind, meek, down on your knees, a posture of, Oh God, you are my sufficiency, you are my strength, humility, and all of the qualities of humility, teachableness, preferring your brother over yourself, not being preoccupied with yourself. Now we have another word that God describes. Now see, since when can a building be humble? Since when can a building be contrite or poor? God doesn't dwell in buildings. We have... Part of a message that God has been putting in my spirit is the future of the church in America. Just opening up the word of God to my spirit, and soon I feel God's going to release me to share the future of the church of America. God is going to bring His people in this country to the place where they are no longer looking to outward trappings of religion as the basis of their fellowship and their joy, but God's people in America are going to be reduced back to living a life of purity before God and loving one another. The Lord is going to deliver His people from the snare that is choking them of outward religion. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit. There's that word contrite again. God loves a contrite spirit. He loves... Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who know their beggars, who have no bread in their cupboards. Blessed are those who know they're spiritually bankrupt. They have no good thing within themselves. Blessed are those who recognize from whence cometh the source of all of their goodness. From whence cometh the source of all of their righteousness. It comes from Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. Hallelujah to God. So we see those who are poor, those who are contrite, and trembles at My Word. Those who fear the Word of God. Those who love the Word of God. Those who devour the Word of God. Those who want to live by the Word of God. Jesus said, If you love Me, keep My commandments. Now notice what He says in verse 3. Verse 3 describes the outward religion that God commanded Israel to engage in. But look what God says about it when it turns into something outward and inwardly the heart gets all wrong. Look what God says about the very thing He told Moses to instruct the people to do. He that killeth an ox as if He slew a man. He that sacrifices a lamb as if He cut off a dog's neck. How could God pour such contempt and demonstrate such disgust against the very thing that He was wanting His people to do? He that offers an oblation as if He that offered swine's blood. He that burns incense as if He blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their abominations. The reason why God abhorred the outward system was because that's all it was. An outward system. But the heart had become full of its own ways. The heart had been defiled. The heart was full of bitterness and envy and jealousy and all of the works that the heart is made up of. And God says, Listen, listen, listen. The only meaning that something outward can have is if it's a reflection of what's going on on the inside. But if what is going on outwardly doesn't reflect, doesn't picture, doesn't illustrate an inward reality of worship, an inward reality of love for God, an inward reality of purity, then God says, Take it all away. I don't want anything to do with it. It's a big show. He doesn't want it. Because essentially speaking, outward things don't bring pleasure to God. Inward things do. It's the heart that loves God that brings pleasure to God. Not an outward thing. And we need God to come into our midst in this hour of deception and rip us from the deception of looking outward, outward, outward. And we need to once again focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and let Him beautify His temple. Psalm 34, beginning in verse number 11. Psalm 34, Come ye children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desires life and that loveth many days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. You know, beloved, there is an idea within the church today that in order to be blessed, in order to have long life, in order to have God's presence with you, you have to be engaged in something external. People don't even believe this anymore. I'm not talking about sinners. People that call themselves Christians and that are a part of the Christian circle. A modern version which would be a perversion of this verse would read something like this. Come ye children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desires life and that loves many days that he may see good? Keep thyself within the charismatic circle or the Pentecostal circle or the contemporary circle. Worship the Lord in such a way, in such a fashion. Be associated with. Come under our covering. This is what we're hearing. Tithe to me. Support my ministry. Send a seed and you'll reap a harvest. Keep thy tongue from evil and you'll be blessed. End thy lips from speaking guile and you'll be blessed. Depart from evil and you'll be blessed. And do good, seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry. But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. Listen, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saves such as be of a contrite spirit. So we see brokenness and contrition again. Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Revelation chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13 is a scene describing a spiritual reality that is occurring, that's been occurring from the time it was written because at that time John indicated that there were many antichrists and the spirit of antichrist was present in the world 2,000 years ago. And it will continue to be present right up until the consummation of this age and the Lord's appearing. And chapter 13 of Revelation has to do with describing a spiritual reality that the Holy Spirit wants us to be aware of. And I stood upon the sand of the sea. The sand of the sea. The sand. Jesus talked about a person either builds their house upon the rock or what? Builds their house upon the sand. Now, according to the teachings of Jesus the rock builder, the one who builds their house upon the rock is who? Right. See, many times Christians go well that's the believer and then the one who builds their house upon the sand is the unbeliever. Well, that's not really what Jesus said. Jesus said that the ones who are building their house on the rock are those who hear God's Word and do it. They are doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving themselves. And the sand represents the kind of person who hears the Word of God, sings about the Word of God, says Amen when the Word of God is preached, listens to the Word of God, has Bible studies, talks about the Word of God, preaches the Word of God, prophesies the Word of God but doesn't do it. It's simple. The difference between the rock and the sand is one thing. Obedience. Nothing else. You can be a tongue talker. You can be a tither. You can be involved in the contemporary music movement. You can be involved in anything you want. But if God is not working in your life, resulting in an ongoing obedience to God, and when there's disobedience, there is contrition, humility and repentance and a correction. If that's not happening, beloved, you are building on the sand. And when the storm comes, it will come and it's going to try the whole world. When the storm comes, your Christianity will not work. If you're trusting in the Almighty God, when you call upon that God, it will fail you. If you're trusting in anything other than the glorious finished work of Jesus Christ and His daily provision that comes by faith looking to Him alone, then it's not going to work. So when we go into Revelation chapter 13 and we start reading about the sand and the beast, we are seeing the kind of spiritual wickedness, listen closely, the spiritual wickedness that is prevailing against those who are in disobedience to the Word of God. Don't take comfort in religion. Don't feel safe and secure if you go to church, if you're associating with believers, if you tithe, if you grew up in a Christian home, even if you read your Bible. Those things in and of themselves are not necessarily wrong, but neither are they in themselves proof that we're pleasing God. So again, the things we're about to read describe spiritual activity, spiritual wickedness that are prevailing against those who have submitted to a spirit of disobedience and rebellion. Disobedience and rebellion is so dangerous. The Bible says that rebellion is the sin of witchcraft. That when we allow rebellion to get into our heart and we don't allow God to keep us humble before Him, we are open to the very powers of witchcraft. Now let's read the spiritual defiling activity that's going on here on the sand of the sea. See, don't try and understand this literally. This is figurative language. I saw a woman clothed in the sun and upon her head was twelve crowns and she was in pain to give birth. That's not literal. There's not a literal woman somewhere in heaven prevailing. This is figurative language. And as we search the Scriptures, you can interpret the book of Revelation by Scripture. You don't have to speculate. You don't have to say, Oh, last night God gave me a revelation on the meaning of the beast and the mark of the... You don't need any extra revelation. You know, that reminds me... Now, you know me, I'm not one to put a lot of credence in dreams, but a few nights ago, I remember there was a large congregation of people and I don't know what was going on, but I stood up and I remember saying, the Lord would speak and say, Beware of those who are saying, the Lord is speaking to me and the Lord is revealing this to me. And I remember saying, God has already spoken. It is written. He's already spoken. We don't need extra special mystical revelations to interpret the Word. God has systematically interpreted the Bible by the Bible. And as the Holy Spirit comes to us and reveals to us Jesus, the whole Bible opens up. So, watch this. Upon the sea, He saw a beast. Now, the beast in the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, in a general sense, the beast represents the earthly, sinful, and satanic nature of man plus the nature of Satan. That's what the beast represents. Whenever the beast is present, the powers of hell are there. The powers of deception. The powers to defile. Everything the beast stands for is the antithesis or the opposite of what God in Christ stands for. So when the beast is present, you know that the exact opposite of what God is after is there. Wherever the beast shows up. And that's the war going on. The beast, the devil, and all of his cohorts want to defile God's pure thought of a church filled with the beauty of Jesus Christ. Having seven heads and ten horns. We're not going to go into this in detail. Because we're dealing with the defiling of the temple. We're going to see that in a few minutes. And upon His horns, ten crowns. And upon His heads, the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like a bear. His mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death. And his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. That's such an incredible statement. You know the word wondered there means to be amazed at. To be infatuated with. I would like to challenge the church of God today. What are you infatuated with? What has captured your heart? So many people in the church are infatuated with what the world is infatuated with. The potential for a big paycheck. The potential to be successful. The potential to have power. To be esteemed. Oh, there goes an important person. Praise the Lord. Yeah. I know I am. What's got a hold of you? What's captured you? What do you think about when you go to bed at night? And what do you think about when you wake up at night? Be careful. The world is marveling at the beast. And the beast represents all that the world can give you. All that the devil can give you. Bow down and worship me. And I'll give you the kingdoms of the world. Just compromise in your heart. Just let me defile your temple. Just give in a little bit. Come on. Come on. Be a little flirtatious with the boss. Come on. Dress a little bit more lewd. Come on. You'll get. Come on. You'll make it. Just compromise a little. You do that and I'll give you a promotion. You do that and I'll make you powerful. You see the beast. Now look what the world is saying. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast. And they worshipped the beast saying who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make more with him? Listen. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given to him three and a half years, forty two months. Listen. He opened up his mouth in blasphemy. Look at the object of the beast's blasphemy. Look at the object of it. Look at the target. Look where he was speaking the blasphemy against. God. His name. And his tabernacle. And them that dwell in heaven. Now you remember last Sunday. We showed you how there's a war going on in heaven. And that the church essentially speaking is living in the heavens. We are in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So this scripture cannot only refer. And I really don't believe it refers at all. But I won't go that far. I'll just simply say this. It doesn't only refer to people who live in heaven like those who have died in the Lord. But it refers to those who are living in the heavens right now. We are in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That's what Paul said. And that's why in Ephesians 6 he says put on the whole armor of God. We're wrestling. There's a wrestling match spiritually going on. Why? Because there is a spirit that now walks in the children of disobedience. That is in the heavens seeking to bring defilement and pollution to the temple. The tabernacle of God. And that tabernacle is you. You're the temple of God. We just showed in 1 Corinthians. And so to bring this whole message to a close this morning. Verse 6. And he opened his mouth against God to blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. Beloved, pray about this. Pray about it. Pray about this. I believe right now a lot of saints are being overcome. This doesn't mean necessarily that saints... You know, we oftentimes say, oh, this means people are being martyred. No, not necessarily. To be overcome by the wicked one is to let him get some of his poison in you to defile the temple. And then to make things worse, you start then spewing it out of your mouth. You get unforgiveness in your heart and then start getting on the phone and defiling that person that you haven't forgiven to your friend. And you are in the clutches of hell. But you know, the devil will let you go to church. He'll let you worship. He'll let you sing. He'll let you be in the choir. He'll let you go to Bible studies as long as the temple is defiled because he knows God doesn't care how involved you are externally with whatever. He knows that if he's got a foothold in you that's not like Jesus and you're not dealing with it and you're not repenting, then he knows that he has got a foothold and he is blaspheming and defiling the temple. Oh, he's smart. He knows what he's doing. He says, let the whole religious system continue. I believe the devil wants it to prosper because the more it prospers outwardly, the less God's people realize it's the inward that counts. The more... I find fewer and fewer and fewer Christians when I meet them and I talk with them. Fewer and fewer and fewer Christians are talking about Jesus and His beauty and His glory. It's more what they're doing, what their church is doing, or their pastor. Pastor idolatry today. Oh yes it is. It's in the land. People idolatry. And you find it more and more difficult to talk to a Christian about Jesus. It's incredible. It's incredible. You find it more and more difficult to talk about the intangible beauties that God wants in His church. You know, love, joy, peace, long suffering, purity, righteousness. And people talk about the outward. Everything that we're doing. Everything that we see with our eyes. What we hear with our ears. This is spiritual deception. And so power was given to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And so I want to admonish you. The Bible says be not overcome by evil. Doesn't it say that in Romans? Be not overcome by evil. You know how the wicked one is overcoming the house of God? You know how the wicked one is doing it? He's doing it by overcoming us with evil. But the Bible says be not overcome by evil but overcome evil by good. Yes. It's on. Yeah, it's got an automatic. No, I wanted to make sure it was on because last week we forgot to turn it on. So listen, beloved. I trust and pray that we are encouraged this morning and blessed. I trust that your hearts are filled with a greater understanding of what God is saying. And I want to leave you with these thoughts. Summing up everything that was said. The exhortations. The Word of the Lord. The witness of the Holy Spirit. Summing it up, here's what it is. God is saying this. Listen. God's delight is His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other human being that God ever said, this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. God has always looked for a place to live. I even forgot to read Acts chapter 7. I'm not going to read the whole thing. I'll read one Scripture. Acts chapter 7. Listen to this. Acts chapter 7, verse 46. This is talking about the patriarch David. He was in favor with God and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. And Solomon built him a house. But listen. Howbeit the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. As the prophet said. That's Isaiah. We read that. Heaven is my throne. Earth is my full stew. What house will you build me? saith the Lord. What is the place of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these things? Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. Ye do always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. God always wanted a place to live. And He found it when His Son went to Jordan. And God opened up heaven and said, There's the place of my dwelling. There's the house that I will live in for eternity. But then Paul gave us the revelation that we are members of Christ. So the house of God, which is Christ, is now corporate. The church becomes the body of Christ. That is the place where Christ dwells. So God's thought is to have a house made up of many members, all possessing the same life and righteousness and beauty that the only Son has, Jesus, so that this incredible house might be on the earth where God dwells, filled with all the qualities that Christ is filled with. There's the house of God. Whenever we get away from that as the focal point of our Christianity and start getting to something external, we are being seduced by the devil. And defilement is occurring. God wants to build that house. He wants to beautify that house. He wants that house to walk in love. He wants that house to shine the glory of His Son in this world. And the seat of that house is your heart. And the defiling of that house has to do with your heart before a holy God and your heart before one another. How does it look today? How does it look at home? What are you doing? Throw out everything you're doing externally. Throw it all out because it's nonsense and nauseating to God. If your heart is full of dead man's bones or religion, throw it out. God doesn't want anything to do with it. We're not building a church. We're not building something that is attractive to men. We are simply seeking to live before God through Jesus Christ and to love and care for one another, plus nothing. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the encouragement that we sense in our hearts today. We thank You, Lord, that You are enabling us slowly and slowly to come to know more and more Your heart. We pray You'll enable us to respond to Your Word this morning in humility and meekness. Open up our eyes. Deliver us, Lord, from those things that are not pleasing to You. Deliver us from those things, Lord, in our life that are defiling Your temple, desecrating it, polluting it, all of the sins and attitudes, whatever You would reveal to us. And make Your temple, which we are, holy. Beautify it with Your Son. Send us genuine revival. We confess our sin. We thank You for the blood. And we look to You to perform Your Word. We commit this...