Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the serious implications of sin within the church, using the metaphor of leaven to illustrate how even a small amount of sin can corrupt the entire community. He warns against the complacency of the Corinthian church, which had become indifferent to immorality among its members, highlighting the need for believers to actively purge sin from their lives. Beach calls for humility and a return to a sincere relationship with God, urging the congregation to deny themselves and seek the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin. He stresses that true discipleship requires a commitment to say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus, as the church must not become desensitized to sin. The sermon concludes with a call to action for believers to recognize and reject the leaven of sin in their lives.

Your glorying is not good. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, verse number 6. The condition of the church in Corinth was such that they had begun to take lightly the presence of leaven in their life. Now listen, leaven is a life force. Leaven is a life force. The scriptures speak of leaven in both the Old and New Testament. And unquestionably, leaven is a term that is used to refer to the horrible, damnable effects of sin. The children of Israel were commanded to eat unleavened bread. Before the Passover, the children of Israel were commanded, listen please, listen closely, they were commanded to go through their home and to eradicate out of their home any hint of leaven that was in their cupboards. Any hint of leaven that was in their sacks. Any hint of leaven where the other food was stored. They could not have any leaven in their home. And they could not cook their bread with leaven during this feast. We are living in a time, brothers and sisters, when the spirit of this world, the spirit of this age, makes light of sin. Makes light of leaven. Makes light of what is wrong. But God is saying to us, His people, that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Now listen, brothers and sisters, this is a very serious issue now. Any. This is where we have to humble ourselves before God. And pray that God will deliver us from the pride in our heart that makes us think that we know better than God. How many of us are diligently seeking to remove all the leaven in our homes? Listen, any form of leaven in our life, any form of leaven that is exposed by the Word of God and exposed by the light of Jesus Christ, if given free course, will destroy our life. It will destroy our families. It will destroy our testimony for Jesus. Any form of leaven. Any form of leaven. This is why the Holy Spirit is working in such a manner in our hearts and in our lives, in our gatherings, so relentlessly, revealing to us our need for Him and our need to stay clear from sin. In any form or shape. Now, let's go back to verse number 1 and let me, by the Word of God, demonstrate the horror of what leaven does. Because, brothers and sisters, please listen carefully. We might look at this passion of Scripture and say, Oh, the one that was really displeasing to the Lord was the one who was engaged in fornication, right? We're going to see that this is what the sin was. But there was another leaven that was present. And it was present not in the one committing fornication, but it was present in the body of believers that they were in the midst of. And that was a different kind of leaven. But it was bringing the same ruinous effects as does any sin. And we'll show you that leaven and then we'll find, in the Word of God, why that leaven was present in the Corinthian church and why the Spirit of God is dealing in our lives now today, wanting us to recognize the danger of this leaven and be equipped by the power of God to be free from its horrible, devastating, destructive effects. Listen, the testimony of the Holy Spirit today is simple. There is victory and deliverance through the power of Jesus Christ today. There is deliverance and power through the Lord Jesus Christ. And He wants to teach us how this can be something we walk in. Verse 1, chapter 5, 1 Corinthians. It is reported commonly that there is fornication. Now the word fornication there is a word that we get our word pornography from. Pornography. Uncleanness. Immortality. Harlotry. Listen, brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit through Paul is identifying a leaven in the midst of this church. A leaven that if remained unchecked, if remained free, if remained in a place where it can freely go through the whole lump, it would destroy the very testimony and the very thing that God is trying to do in the Corinthian church. It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication is not so much as named among the Gentiles. Now, he's talking about an assembly. He's talking about a gathering of Christian believers. There was a sin in their midst, listen, that was so horrible that even Gentiles didn't engage in the sin. Gentiles in the Bible represent people who don't believe in God. And so the Holy Spirit is saying, Corinthians, there is a sin in your midst that even people who don't even claim the name of Christ don't commit. That one should have his father's wife. Immorality with a stepmother. Immorality with a stepmother was what was going on in this assembly. And you are puffed up. So tell me what the greater sin was. Was it the fact that there was fornication going on in this assembly? Or was it the fact that the whole church knew about it and it didn't bother them? Which is the greater sin? We might be quick to point at the fornicator, but Paul said that not only was the leaven of fornication there, but there was another leaven of careless, casual, unconcerned hearts about this very horrible condition. And you are puffed up. You are proud. You are arrogant. You have lost touch with being close to Jesus, is what he's saying to the rest of the church. Because fornication is in your midst and it doesn't break your heart. It doesn't break your heart. You're not weeping over it. You're not mourning over it. You're not crying. You know the proverbial frog story, right? Where you put a frog in cold water on the stove and turn the burner on and just have it on a little bit, that the frog will stay in the water and the water will eventually get hotter and hotter and hotter and you can boil the frog alive. Because the frog acclimates itself to the water. Brothers and sisters, we are like a frog sitting in a pot of water that's getting hotter and hotter. And rather than mourning and saying, this isn't right, this ought not to be, we're acclimating ourselves to it. And we feel okay with things that God despises. We feel okay with things that breaks the heart of God. We feel okay with the things that sent Jesus to the cross. We feel okay. Because the world does it and we live in a society that does it. And the spirit that is in control of the world is propagating this. And it doesn't bother us. Brothers and sisters, God is crying out to us to draw close to Him and get into His Word so that we don't become acclimated to what is wrong. You are puffed up and have not rather mourned that He which has done this deed might be taken away from among you. For verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have I judged already as though I were present concerning Him that hath done this deed? In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together in My Spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then He says, Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Now, just turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9. You see, the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us from this Word here that we must guard ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the Word of God, immersing ourselves in the Word of God so that we don't fall prey to the seducing spirit that is in the world that is searing the conscience of mankind and making them feel that what is evil is okay and what is good in God's eyes is evil. This is exactly what happened to the Corinthian church. They were seduced. They should have been mourning and weeping over the fact that one of their own in their midst was committing immorality with his stepmother. It was commonly reported. But they weren't concerned. How come? They weren't mourning. How come? They were puffed up. How come? Because somebody was ruling in their life other than Jesus Christ. And you know who that somebody was? Themself. Their own life. They were governed by their own interests. They had forgotten that as Christians they were called to deny themselves. Let me tell you something. There's a life in you and me and that life is full of the leaven of sin. It's the life of flesh. It's the life of the natural man. That's what we're going to read here in a moment. It's the life that we inherited from Adam that is tainted with sin. That life doesn't get concerned about what God gets concerned about. That life is concerned about one thing. How I can please myself. And if you let that life run your life, you are going to end up ensnared in the jaws of Satan. That is the life that was crucified with Christ. The life of sin and selfishness. That is the life that was buried. And that is the life that we are to be dead to. If we are saying yes to Jesus, we must at the same time be continuously saying no to who? Ourself! We can't at the same time say yes to Jesus and yes to ourself. It makes sense. If I say yes to Jesus, then I've got to say no to everything in me that rises up that if I follow it, would lead me away from what Jesus is telling me. I think over and over again about Norman's testimony several months ago. About prayer. So true. He said, I can no longer just wait until I feel like praying. Because if I do, I'll never pray. Why? Why? Because that natural life that we have doesn't like to pray. It doesn't like to pray. And if we're governed by that natural life, guess how much praying will do? None. So if I say, if I'm reading the Word of God, and I'm reading something about prayer, and the Holy Ghost quickens it to me, and I sense that God is calling me to pray, do you know what that means if I say yes to that call? It means I have to start saying no to myself. I can't say, oh, praise God! I just heard the Lord tell me to pray. Now I'm going to wait until I feel like praying. Okay, Lord. Here I am. Hallelujah. Okay, I heard Your Word, Lord. Now I'm going to wait. I'm just going to wait. I'm going to just live until I feel led. Oh, God, have mercy. Until I feel led to pray. God, help us. You're not going to feel led to pray if you don't deny yourself. Because your self won't lead you to pray. Your self will lead you in a life where you are doing what you want, when you want, and how you want. And of course, since the natural life is religious, you'll have a department in there for God. Because you want to look good. Because you're a Christian. And Christians have a place for God in their life. 1 Corinthians 9. Verse 24, we read this two weeks ago. Don't you know that they which run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Paul is referring here to the Olympic Games that were being held in Greece. His readers understood that when he starts talking about the race, he's talking about those who are called to run in the race in the Olympic Games in order that they might win the prize. Every one of him, it would be like Paul coming back today and coming to us and saying, don't you know, brothers and sisters, that everyone who signs up to run in the New York Marathon or in the Boston Marathon runs in order that they might win? But don't you know that those who join in this race, they have to be moderate and temperate in all things? You and I would immediately begin to realize, oh my God, I know, I see some of these people training. They're up in the morning, they're running, and then during the afternoon they run at night. You go to a diner and you say, would you like a bowl of ice cream? Oh no, I'm training. I'll have a bowl of salad. Here, would you like this greasy cheeseburger and greasy french fries? No thank you, I'm training. I dare not eat that garbage because tomorrow morning when I get up and run, I'll feel sluggish. I have to deny myself. Now don't misunderstand me, friend. This is the one who's in training for the New York Marathon. I would like to eat that. I'm not some superhuman being. I'm not different than you are. I have the same desires that you do, says the marathon runner. Same desires as you. But I want to win this prize. And I know that if I'm not temperate in all things, and I know that if I don't deny myself and say no to those desires in me, that I know if I follow them, will lead me away from a life of temperance and a life of self-control. If I don't say no to those desires, then I'm kidding myself. Because I'll get out there and practice, and I'll do horribly, and then when the day of the race comes, I won't win. How many have ever been in training for anything? How many know that if you're going to make it, you're going to have to follow the rules? This is what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. Verse 25, And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. You know why the Corinthians could allow a fornicator in their midst without weeping? Without going over his house and saying, oh, dear brother, what are you doing? Let's pray together. I'm not talking about being judgmental and critical. I'm talking about helping him and saying, brother, this is wrong. We want to pray for you. You know why they weren't doing that? Because they forgot that they were in a race themselves. And that being in a race, they had to deny their own desires. The Corinthians were intoxicated with their own desires. Hence, they no longer were moved by the things that move God. Now, didn't they have union with Christ? Yes, they did. Weren't they filled with the Spirit of God? Yes, they were. Didn't they have the gifts of the Spirit? Yes, they did. Were they taught by the greatest teachers the world has ever known? Yes, they were. Then what happened? What happened? They stopped denying themselves. They stopped saying no to their own life. They lost sight of the reason why they were called. What time is it? 1240? Oh, good. Alright, listen carefully. You must be temperate in all things. Now they that do it obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run. Paul's now using his own example. He's saying, I run not as uncertain, so fight I, not as one that beats the air, but I keep my body and bring it into subjection. Another translation we read last week, I beat my body black and blue. That's the Greek. I beat it and bruise it. Why? Why did Paul have such harsh language? Because Paul heard the call of Jesus Christ in his life. And he knew that there was something in him that was opposed to the call of Jesus Christ. It wasn't his essential desire because God changed his desire. He wanted the Lord. But there was a desire that he had no control of. It was the desire of flesh. It was the desire of his nature. It was the desire of his natural man. And every desire that came out of that person would have led Paul astray if he didn't say no to it. If he didn't deny it. And so that's why Paul said, I beat my body into subjection. I say no to my earthly desires. I say no to my earthly will. I say no to my earthly impulses because I am hearing the Lord call me and the way that He has chosen for me is a way that necessitates saying no to myself. And that is what the Holy Spirit is bringing to us now. I keep my body in subjection lest I call others to enter the race, I myself would become disqualified. And so we've run out of time. But here's what we're going to close on. Listen carefully. The Holy Spirit is moving in our hearts. He's moving in our homes. He's moving in our gatherings. He wants to bring this into our homes. And here's what He's saying. Every single one here that has heard the Lord, you've sensed His love. You've sensed the Spirit of God speaking to you. You know He's calling you. You know He wants you to follow Him. And you're saying, why is my life such a mess? Why? Why do I do what I don't want to do? That's Romans 7. Jesus is saying here to us through His Word that when we hear Him speak to us, that is a yes to God. And how many want to say yes to Jesus? But how many here are prepared to say along with yes to Jesus, to no to yourself? If you don't say no to yourself, then your yes to Jesus will mean nothing. Brothers and sisters, you've got to say no to yourself. The grace of God has appeared unto all men. Teaching us what? To deny, to say no to ungodliness and worldly lusts. So now with every head bowed and every eye closed, the Holy Ghost is saying to us right now, if you've heard the call of God in your life, and you've heard Him today say, come to Me, Son. Come to Me, Daughter. Come close to Me. And I'll show you the power of My resurrection life. And I'll show you the power at Calvary that canceled sin in your life. Come to Me. And you're saying, yes. Yes, Lord. I want to come to You. And the Holy Ghost is saying this. Then be prepared, child of God, to say yes to Me, but at the same time say no to yourself. And every time, every time, you hear God call you from His Word, you're going to have to say no to yourself. I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, it's in the Word. Every word that God has for you. Every call that God has for you. Every act of obedience that God is calling you to will require a yes to the power of the Holy Spirit and a no to yourself. Jesus said, if you follow Me, daily disown yourself. Daily deny yourself. Daily say no. Take up your cross and follow Me. And so, Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that right now, every single person hearing this Word will not only now know that they're saying yes to Jesus, but they will be empowered by the Spirit and grace of God to say no to every movement, every desire, every inclination that rises up within them that if they say yes to it, will lead them away from the will of God. The Holy Ghost is telling me to say this. Some in this room today have heard God for years regarding certain things in your life. You know God has spoken to you. And yet, there seems to be failure. There seems to be an inconsistency in the fulfillment of what God is saying. And here's what the Holy Ghost is saying. It's because you have not learned to say no every time a desire rises up within you that will take you from what God is saying. Start today by saying, Jesus, teach me to say no just like I'm saying yes to You. Teach me to say no. And He will. Father, we commit this Word into Your hands. Anybody who wants to stand and say, I need to learn not only to hear God because I'm one of His children and I've heard Him, but I'm not saying no to myself and I realize it's frustrating much of what God wants to do. If that's you today, stand up to your feet. Let's come forward and let's all pray together. I'm telling you, brothers and sisters, the devil is being put to flight by God's Word. Everyone together, lift your hands up. Father, in the name of Jesus, we stand together in spirit against the lies of the devil. We pray, God, that You will empower us to say yes to Jesus Christ and with the same power to say no to self. I pray that everyone here will recognize when the desires rise up within them that come from their own self that would lead them away from obeying God's Word. I pray everyone here will recognize it and they'll be able to say, no, no, no, I will not submit to that. I will go God's way by the grace of God. Father, in the name of Jesus, confirm Your Word by the Holy Ghost power today. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's sing this out and let's cry out to Him. He's going to do it, brothers and sisters, because He's faithful. Yes to Jesus and no to self.