Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the urgency of living with a holy fear of God, reminding believers that Christ will judge both the living and the dead. He calls for a deep introspection of our lives, urging us to produce good fruit that pleases God rather than being consumed by earthly desires. The sermon highlights the importance of groaning for immortality and the need for believers to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, living as pilgrims and strangers in this world. Beach warns against the dangers of complacency and the temptation to settle for a superficial faith, encouraging a passionate pursuit of God's highest calling. Ultimately, he stresses that true grace leads to a life of holiness and accountability before the divine judge.

Beginning in verse number one. Second, Timothy, chapter four. Beginning in verse number one, I charge that's a military term. That's not a suggestion. Lots of times you'll hear preachers get up and say, I'd like to suggest the following. Well, Paul didn't say I'd like to suggest. He said, I charge, I command, I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge. Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead. He will judge both the unbeliever and the believer. Do you live with holy fear today that one day the Lord Jesus will judge every work, whether good or whether bad? It's very difficult for us to understand this concept because we live in a day where. We don't judge anyone. They don't judge us. We learn to tolerate. But brothers and sisters, there is a judge who's standing at the door. Keep your finger there and go to James chapter four. This is. Why God's spirit. Is moving in the manner in which he is moving today, not just today, but as many testified, he's moving in this manner in our hearts, in our homes. Because he is the heavenly judge. And as the heavenly judge, he sees everything. Now, listen. James, chapter five, excuse me, verse number seven. Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord, behold, the husband men. Or the owner of the vineyard, what the husband man is, the owner or manager of the vineyard. You see where the vineyard where the vineyard and the Lord. Is looking for something in his vineyard, he's looking for good fruit. He's not necessarily looking for good fruit for us to enjoy, he's looking for good fruit that he might enjoy it. See, it's all about him. It's a vineyard that was planted to bring forth pleasant fruit in his eyes, as the scripture was read in Hebrews chapter 11. God will be ashamed. To call. All those. Who profess his name. But given opportunity. Unity. They set their heart on the thing that God called him out of. God will be ashamed because a life lived. With a heart that is set on the things of this earth does not bring forth fruit that is pleasant or satisfying to God, it brings forth fruit to itself. It brings forth fruit for itself. And that's why our father is moving in such a relentless manner, he wants to see fruit in our life, that's for him, for his honor, for his glory, for his satisfaction. Now, he waits for the precious fruit of the earth and have long patience for it until he received the early and the latter rain. The early and the latter rain was a term that was understood by the believers of the New Testament. The early rain came at the beginning when the crop was just planted, and that was the rain that initiated enough water into the soil that enabled the freshly planted vineyard to begin to grow. But then after the initial early rain, there was a season of four to six months where there was no rain at all, and it was very dry, very dry. And right before the harvest time, right before the time of harvest, a latter rain would come and this latter rain would fall on parts, dry soil and would be just what the plant needed. The vineyard needed in order to come forth into maturity, ready to be reaped for the pleasure of who the owner of the vineyard. And so this is what this is, what the the Holy Spirit is saying here, that God is going to send the rain into our life just at the right time to bring about the the harvest, the maturity, the maturity of the crop. Be also patient. Establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draws nigh. Now, listen, listen. Now this is listen, this is New Testament. This is not old, this is New Testament, and these are words that are being spoken to believers. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest you be what condemned, King James says. The word there is judged. Lest you be judged. Behold, the what? The judge, you see, we we we appreciate the revelation that God has given us, that Christ is our savior, right? We appreciate the fact that God has given us a revelation that Christ is our shepherd. We appreciate the revelation that God has given us, that Christ is our counselor and that because he's one with the father, he's our father and that he's our wisdom. But today. The Holy Spirit is reminding us that Christ is the judge and this judge is standing before. The door, he's judge. Now, we're we're in First Timothy, but now go for a moment, go to Second Corinthians. We're going to look more at this judge revelation. Why is the Holy Spirit moving in the manner in which he did today in our homes, in our hearts? Because not only is he our savior, not only is he our father, not only is he our comforter, not only is he our wisdom. But he's our judge and he will judge the quality of the crop that is coming forth in our life. Now, watch what Paul says here. Now, Paul was truly a New Covenant preacher. He understood the New Covenant, I think perhaps. More than any other New Testament author. Second Corinthians, chapter five, beginning in verse one, or actually begin, let's look at it, let's begin in verse number 16 of chapter four, please bear with the reading of God's word this morning, it it it perfectly coincides with it, with the move of the Holy Spirit, and we must always, always, always remember that the move of the Holy Spirit always corresponds with the word of God. And the word of God always corresponds with the move of the Holy Spirit. When there's the word with no spirit, we have the law, the dead letter. When we have the spirit with no word, no sound, intelligent word that is coming forth, we move into mysticism and emotionalism. We move into visions and dreams and weird feelings and impressions, and people depart from the solid truth of God's word and begin to get deceived and led astray. So anyone who is taught of the Lord will know that the spirit and the word work together. And this is the word now speaking to us. The meeting of what the spirit is doing in our hearts, verse 16, for which cause we think not recognizing that Christ is our life and no matter what happens, no matter what difficulties, no matter what trials, no matter what circumstances are coming our way, no matter what disappointments, no matter how much we're crushed, no matter how much we are bruised, no matter how much we're persecuted. Verses seven through ten, no matter how much we're troubled, no matter how much we are experiencing the death, the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter what, no matter what we think not. Though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. The inward man is that person that we are on the inside that's going to be revealed at the day when the Lord Jesus is revealed. That's the person that God is wanting to create after the image and likeness of his own self. There is an inner person that all of us are becoming. This inner person is a person that is to reflect. Through and through from center to circumference, the very likeness and image of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the person that God wants to work on, that God is working on. We're being renewed day by day for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. It's working for us. The light affliction, the momentary afflictions that we're experiencing in our outward man, in our circumstances, in this world. As we properly respond, as we properly relate to it, as we as the scripture says in Hebrews chapter 12, as we submit to our father, the father of our spirit, as we submit. The word submit there means to come under. We can rebel, we must remember, we can rebel against the dealing of God. I have seen over the years, many and I've mentioned this before, many, many, many Christians start out with a submissive, humble, broken spirit before God. And because they come into momentary affliction and momentary trouble and momentary setbacks and momentary trials and momentary difficulties and momentary disappointments, they become infested with rebellion and a hardness of heart and cynicism. And their hearts are no longer tender before God. And like Demas in Second Timothy, chapter four, they forsake the way of the Lord. They forsake the path of the just, which gets brighter and brighter unto that perfect day. They forsake the pathway of humility and brokenness. And they become shipwrecked in faith, oftentimes continuing in a form of Christianity, continuing in an outward form of religion. But inwardly, inwardly. The heart has become calloused. And cynical against God. And to this, the writer of Hebrews warns us to guard against a heart of unbelief, to guard against the deceitfulness of sin, lest we be hardened and many be defiled as the testimony this morning, a hardened father will defile his children. A rebellious wife will sow rebellion into the heart of the children. The word of God is true. It's true. Lest many be defiled. We can't play with sin. Believers, yes, forgiven, yes, but accountable before the judge of the whole earth. From time to time, we like to watch Judge Judy. Anyone ever watch Judge Judy? No one? Norman, OK. It's a program where she's the judge and people willingly bring their quibblings and legal problems to her. And what she says is final. And they stand before the judge and she asks them questions. And the complainant and then the plaintiff, they talk, they give each side of the story. And then Judge Judy looks and says, this is what I decide. Now, she's an earthly judge and perhaps some of her judgments are not true. But every time I watch Judge Judy, I think about the fact that there is a judge standing before the door. His name is King Jesus. And every single one of us will have to stand before his righteous judgment and give an account of the things that we have done in this body. We're going to have to give an account of the words that we spoke. And, you know, I'm a preacher and believer in grace. I preached it all my life. I believe in grace. But a grace that cultivates in the hearts of God's people, a softness toward the deceitfulness of sin is not a grace from God. It's a false grace. The grace of God, the true grace of God teaches us to deny, to disown, to resist ungodliness and worldliness. And to live soberly and righteously in this corrupt world, looking for on tiptoes the Lord Jesus Christ and his blessed appearing. That's what grace does to you. That's what true grace does. Bible grace, Holy Ghost grace. It inflames your heart with a passion for God. It awakens your conscience to the deceitfulness and ugliness and horror of sin. It causes you to weep and causes you to cry out and see your depravity and claim the righteousness of Christ. The true grace of God will show us that our Father has called us to be pilgrims and strangers and sojourners. Who are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God, the true grace of God will deal with every idol in your life, every idol in your life, every sin. If you are not conscious of the need to live a pure, holy life before God, you do not know grace or your understanding of it is extremely limited. True grace, true grace puts the fear of God in you. The fear of God. And. True grace. Makes us people. Who have a passionate love for the word of God. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. Just now, they're now, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Verse chapter five, for we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved. We have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We see the Holy Spirit is leading the apostle here to take the Corinthians and you and I, as we read this out from the earthly perspective, out from the worldly mindset, out from everything revolves around me and how it affects me to to to an understanding where God is doing something that's not seen with the eyes of man. He's doing something inside our hearts. He is the husbandman. He's planted a vineyard inside of us, and that's the life of his son. And now he's wanting that vineyard to bring forth the fruit that pleases him. The fruit of righteousness, the fruit of the life of Jesus Christ, the character of Christ being demonstrated in our life individually and corporately. This is what God is after. We know, we know, for we know there is a knowing here. That our earthly tabernacle, our earthly goods, our earthly home, our earthly body, our earthly circumstances, if they should perish, if they should dissolve, we have a house in heaven. We have an eternal house for in this we groan. Oh, brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, for in this we groan the final groaning. Listen, please listen carefully. The final groaning that will occur in the heart of the elect bride. Before the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavens will be a groaning for life, a groaning for immortality, not immorality. There's a groaning for immorality in the church today. People are earthbound, caught in the realm of flesh. But there is a divine groaning that God is going to create within the elect bride, within those who are called and faithful and chosen. And she will begin to groan for what? Not groan for earth. She won't groan for the things of this world. She won't groan for the things that men can offer her. She'll groan. She's groaning deep within. She's longing for one groaning, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon. Brothers and sisters, do you have a groaning deep inside your spirit, a groaning resulting in a deep, earnest, insatiable passion and desire to be clothed upon with the fullness of God, with the fullness of Christ, that death might be swallowed up in life, that mortality might be swallowed up in immortality, that you might be emancipated from the corruption within and know the liberty of the sons of God. No, we're too busy fighting with one another, arguing and quibbling over things that don't matter. This is our inheritance. God will have in the earth before he comes for the church, a people who will walk in the good of this truth. He will have a people and they will display. They will demonstrate the true nature of the house of God, the true nature of the church, a people called to eternity, a people called to make God their habitation. Not a home in California, not a suite down the shore. God is their habitation. They will have a heavenly radiance about them. And it'll be no other than the beauties and perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ. Emanating and shining through their vessels of mortality. This is what God's purpose is for the church, not buildings and edifices and looking good and outward Christianity. No, it is an inward and inward demonstration of the glory of Jesus Christ in a company of people. This is what Jesus prayed in John chapter 17. That's not the ecumenical movement, beloved. That's not one denomination for all people. It's an organic thing. It's a living thing. It's a life thing. It's the body becoming one with the head, the head becoming one with the body, a groaning, an earnest desire to be clothed upon. The problem with church today is we've done what Israel has done. We heard the Lord say, go into the land and drive out all the enemies. And we have gone in, but we've not driven out all the enemies. We've said, well, that's impossible. Hear the word of God this morning. The Bible says that we are to cleanse ourself from most filthiness and most pollution. Right. Is that what it says? No, it doesn't say that. See, but we don't believe the Bible. It says all. You see, you get in and preach this, tell them people lift up their eyebrows, you're a radical, that's impossible. That's just what Israel said when they went into Canaan and what did they do instead of driving out the enemies? They made a treaty with them. We'll live in peace. We'll live in peace. We can't conquer all this pride in our life. We can't conquer all this rebellion. I mean, we are sinners. I mean, there's got to be room for some roving eyes, right, guys? There's got to be room for some rebellion, right? I mean, let's face it. We are human. But God's word is clear and God's truth is clear. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. If the spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead dwell in you, he shall quicken. He shall make alive. He shall fill your bodies with life, life, life, and death can be swallowed up in life. He that abideth in him what? Sins occasionally. It's not what it says. It says he that abideth in him sinneth not. It's not perfection based on human standards. It's the perfection of Christ by faith. But it's not just a positional thing. It's an actual it's an experience. We can live in the son of God. We can live in the son of God, it's his perfections, it's his righteousness, it's his holiness. Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, don't settle for anything less than God's highest, because that's just what you'll end up with. You'll end up with it. You will not end up with God's highest. And this is why God is moving in our midst. This is why God moved in our hearts this morning. This is why God's crying out to children. This is why God's crying out to us as parents. This is why God is crying out to turn, to turn, to turn to him because there's more. There's more. There's more. Verse four, for we that are in this tabernacle do groan. I can't emphasize enough, the Holy Spirit is speaking. Where is this groaning going on? Where is this groaning going on in the church? For the most part, it doesn't exist. There is not a groaning in the hearts of God's people for immortality and for the things of heaven. And for the there's not a groaning for the death that's working in me to be swallowed up by the life of Jesus Christ. I've made a treaty. I've made a peace treaty with the sin in me. I've said, well, I'm just going to have to live with it. Praise God. I'm just going to have to live. No, I want the fullness of God. God wants to see the fullness of God corporately demonstrated in a company of believers. The fullness of God, a groaning, a longing, an insatiable passion. It is no longer I, but Christ that liveth in me that you're that you might be sanctified wholly. That's what Paul said, sanctified, wholly, entirely set apart. Without fault, blameless, blameless, not judicially blameless, we are judicially blameless. We are positionally righteous. God's looking for something deeper than a positional standing. He's looking for an experiential, an actual standing. And it's not by power. It's not by might, but by the spirit of God that these things will occur in the hearts of those who submit, submit to father's discipline, submit to child training, submit to the scourging, submit and keep moving on with God. Verse four, for we are they. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened, burdened, not that we should be unclothed. That means unclothed simply means but Paul's not talking here about dying. See, to be unclothed means that we die and our spirits are released from these bodies of mortality. No, he's God. God, do we see this? He's not praying. Oh, I'm groaning to die. No, he doesn't want to be unclothed. He doesn't want he doesn't want to be unclothed. He's saying here, not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon. Listen, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now, watch this. Watch this first. People don't watch the next verse. Now, he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also has given us the earnest of the spirit. Do you know what verse five is saying? Verse five is saying this is the very reason why God has given us the Holy Spirit so that we can begin to experience a heavenly, divine unction, working in our spirits, causing us to earnestly groan and desire that our corruptible corruption might be swallowed up in life. My God, this is radical. This isn't religion. This isn't religion as usual. This isn't an outward thing. This isn't going to church and having fun and playing religious games. This is a people who are apprehended by God, who want to win Christ, lay hold of Christ. This is a people who brought contempt upon the things of this earth. Whose hearts are set on pilgrimage, therefore, verse six, we are always confident knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith and not by sight, we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Now, listen, listen, wherefore, we labor that whether we are present or absent, we may be accepted. That word accepted there means well, pleasing. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, we must all appear before the judge. And what will happen that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that which he hath done, whether it be good or bad? Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord. Do you know the word terror there? You know what that means? To trembling. To fear God, knowing the terror of the Lord, brothers and sisters, do you know the terror of the Lord? Do you know the terror? Knowing what does he say? Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men the terror. The word terror there is in connection to what? The judgment seat, that's the context, the judgment seat, knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. So there you go. We began in Chapter four, Second Timothy, the judge, the judge. Who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Proclaim the word, live the word, eat the word, drink the word, let the word be in you. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, when we understand the terror of the Lord and we understand the purpose of God to have a company of believers who will demonstrate the heavenly groaning of God's kingdom, who will demonstrate what it is to be pilgrims and sojourners and strangers, something begins to happen in our heart. Mike, the word of God becomes the thing that we live by because we realize there's nothing in this world. There's nothing in this world that's going to feed our groaning spirit, that's going to meet the need of our crying heart. We suddenly realize that we've been created for eternity, for God, for heaven, for the things above. We suddenly realize that we are called, yes, to be in the world, yes. To live, yes, to function. But we are we are apprehended with a heavenly calling to know Christ. And the word of God becomes the only thing, the only thing that can make sense of what's going on in the depths of our heart. People can't make sense of it. Books can't make sense of it. And we begin to groan, it begins to trouble us as the righteous soul of. Lot was troubled as he what? The held what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah, his soul was troubled. As the word of God gets in us and we begin to recognize our destiny, we realize the terror of God. We realize the Bible says, no, you not that to be a friend of this world is to be an enemy of God. We begin to realize the Bible says in James chapter four. Let yours, let your. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you, cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double minded, be afflicted and mourn and weep. Listen. As the word of God begins to get into our souls and into our minds and into our hearts, we begin to recognize that we are to be afflicted and mourn and weep. We're to let our laughter be turned to mourning and joy to heaviness. We begin to realize when the word of God gets into us that much of our laughter, if not all of it, is of an earthly thing. Much of our joy is of an earthly thing. Much of our of our of our of our light and light spirit is is is an earthly thing. We realize this is God's word. This is God's word. We realize that that we have we've we've we've lost perspective, that we've lost we've lost perspective. We've lost the big picture of why God even revealed himself to us, why God even saved us. It was for his purpose. It's a holy calling for his purpose. No, this doesn't mean that we build monasteries and move to some remote location. No, it doesn't mean that at all. It means we continue right on. In the world, but not of the world, but we're free men, we're we're living in the world, but we're walking to a different drumbeat. Our hearts are not being driven by greed and covetousness, like the children of this world who make decision based on that and that alone. We walk through the world, but we remain unspotted. The treasure of our heart is not our bank account or not the thing that we do. The treasure of our heart is the Christ who was crucified for us and now lives. This is what the word of God does to us. The new covenant, it transforms us, it affects us, it radically changes us. We begin to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. And so, brothers and sisters. This is the meaning of what God is doing. This is what he's doing. This is his word. I love God's word. Preach the word, the instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering in doctrine, reprove, rebuke, exhort. This is what the Holy Spirit has done to us this morning. He's reproved us. He's rebuked us. He's exhorted us. He's warned us. He's saying, don't set your heart on things below. Remember your heavenly calling as the church. Remember, you are called to make God your habitation, to make God your satisfaction. Remember that as the church. You are to live in this world. But your citizenship is in another one. Your conversation is in heaven from whence you look for the Savior. We're closing on this. For the time will come and now is this is the warning of the spirit of God. The time will come and now is when they will not endure sound doctrine. They will not put up with sound doctrine. The word endure there means to stay under, to stay under. It's one thing to hear the word of God for a little while and rejoice in it. But it's a whole nother thing when the word of God starts to try you and test you and starts to reveal every idol and every sin in your life. Then the test really comes. Do we want the word of God? Do we want the truth of God's word or are we being tempted now to forsake? The judge forsake his word, forsake the all seeing eye, forsake the lamp that shines into every nook and cranny of our life. Forsake the searchlight. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. That word sound there means health, doctrine that gives health, doctrine that gives life, doctrine. Listen, doctrine that exposes corruption. Listen to what's going to happen. But after their own lusts, after their own desires. Surrounding ourself with teachers. Who say things? That. Meet. What we want to hear. And in such a condition, we turn our ears from the truth. That's what Demas did. But I'm sure he was a part of the local church in Thessalonica. I'm sure he continued right on. In Christianity. But his heart turned from the truth, brothers and sisters. May God help us to lay hold of his dealing in our life and give us the pure joy of experiencing the purging and the dealing of his spirit that births in us a groaning for life, for all corruption to be swallowed up. In his incorruptible life. Don't settle for anything less. God will not disappoint us. Father. We thank you. For your word. We thank you for the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the faithfulness of the word and the spirit. Working together, we thank you, Lord, for giving us perspective this morning, for rescuing us from our own tendencies to stray. I asked father that you will perfect the work that you began in every heart today. Every young person that was touched, every couple that was touched. Do not let us, Lord, fall short so that we might receive a full reward. We beg you, God. Have mercy. We thank you for grace. As our brother Bill shared, we thank you, Lord, for the joy of knowing that we are free from the fear of eternal damnation. The condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation. There is therefore now no fear that we will be eternally lost. We thank you, Lord, for that. We also thank you, Lord, for the fear. That grace puts in our heart. The fear of knowing that even though we're free from the fear of damnation. We will be held accountable for what we do in our body and that we can fall short of your highest intention. We thank you, Lord, for the word and the spirit. We ask you to give us a humble heart, a submissive heart. So that we can together lay hold of Christ and believe you for the full manifestation of his glory to be seen in a company of believers in this last hour. That's your highest, Lord, and we want to align ourself with it. And Jesus mighty name, Lord, do this work. We love you, Father. Let's sing together, brothers and sisters. Oh, my God, he's going to do it. He's going to do it. He's going to do it. Give us humble hearts, Lord. Give us submissive hearts, Lord. Take the rebellion out of us, Lord. Free us, Lord, in Jesus name.