Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the necessity of aligning with God's way to experience His presence and power, urging believers to flee from worldly distractions and self-centeredness as outlined in 2 Timothy 3. He highlights the importance of recognizing our dependence on God, stating that while we are significant in His eyes, we can do nothing of eternal value without Him. The sermon calls for a deep cleansing of the heart and a commitment to pursue righteousness, love, and peace, while warning against the characteristics of the last days that can lead believers astray. Beach encourages the congregation to seek revival and restoration through sincere prayer and a humble heart, reminding them of God's unwavering love and the need for a relationship with Him.

You saw it, we see it. This isn't the message of just a pastor. I hear the same thing from 5, 7, 8, 10 people. How many others are hearing it? From many other people. This isn't the message of a man. This is the message of the Holy Spirit being spoken through the body. Listen, we have been praying for over a year for revival, for restoration, for a moving of God's Spirit. And God has uniquely and sovereignly come to us. And He has said, I have heard your prayer and I desire to do the very things that you're asking me to do. But I must let you know that you cannot experience the fullness of my presence in your midst unless you understand that it's only my way. You must go His way. And as we, through the power and influence of the Holy Spirit, conform ourselves to God's way, then God cannot lie and immediately He will respond to us and fill us with His Spirit and empower us with His presence. But God brings us over and over again back to it's His way. 2 Timothy 3 Let's begin also first in 2 Timothy 2. I'm reading from the New International Version this morning. The New International Version this morning. 2 Timothy 2 Let's begin in chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask You, Lord, to open up the eyes of our heart and the ears of our heart and give us understanding, Lord, that we may be able to receive life from Your Word this morning. We know that it's Your purpose, Lord, to conform us into the image of Jesus Christ. We know, Lord, that You want Christianity to become a lifestyle. You want it to become a relationship with our Father through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus so that our very lives are transformed and that we are loosed from all the powers of self and from sin and from Satan. Lord, we know that Jesus Christ has become for us salvation and redemption and wisdom and sanctification. Now, Father, we confess our absolute inability and powerlessness before You. We confess, Lord, that we are indeed nothing without You. Not that we are not worth anything, but that we are unable to do anything outside of Your power. Now, Lord, I pray in Jesus' name that You will cause these things to be made alive by the Holy Spirit. Breathe upon us, Lord, this morning. Cause Thy Word to be lodged deep into our hearts and bring forth life for Your honor and glory. In Jesus' name, amen. Listen, as I was speaking, the Lord reminded me of something I shared with somebody a few days ago and I wanted to share it with the group. We hear a lot about self-esteem in the church today. And I want to just clarify one thing. When the Bible says in John 15, verse 6, ye are nothing and ye can do nothing. And that you are absolutely powerless and that you are spiritually poverty-stricken. Listen, let me explain something to you. Don't ever think that you are worthless before God. When the Christian confesses his unworthiness and when the Christian confesses his inability and his powerlessness, he is not to associate that with a lack of self-worth. You are very, very important to God. You are very, very significant to God. God loves you very much. He loves you very much. This is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross for you. So don't ever associate the confession of I can do nothing with I am nothing. That's not true. You are something. You are very, very significant. You are created in the very image and likeness of God. And I have never met a person who hates themself and can love God. You cannot hate yourself. You can hate your sin and you can hate everything about your self-life and all of the wretched fruit that it creates, but you can't hate yourself. If you hate yourself, then you are transgressing God because God says He loves you. So when you hear self-esteem and self-worth, understand it in the way the Bible teaches it. God says that you are His workmanship, and because of this you are something very important to Him. Don't ever belittle yourself. Don't ever cut yourself down. Don't ever make yourself less than God makes you. God makes you the crown of His creation. God breathed the breath of life into you. And God has given you the very image and likeness of who He is. So don't ever, ever cut yourself down. When I preach from the pulpit, and you hear other ministers preach, and you hear us say that you've got to be brought down low, and you've got to be humbled, and you've got to be crushed, and you've got to be broken, and you've got to realize that you are absolutely nothing without God. We are in no way suggesting that you are worthless, or that you have no importance. Absolutely not. But what the Bible teaches is, when the Bible says that you are nothing and that you are powerless, it never, ever, ever implies that you as a person are worthless. But what it is implying is that you must understand, and I must understand, that independent of God, we can do nothing of eternal worth to God. That's what it means. Independent from God, you can do nothing for God that is going to be of any eternal good. You can do a lot of things down here on earth. You can build many different things. You can become a certain kind of person independent from God. But as far as eternal worth is concerned, you are absolutely, positively incapable of doing anything for God that will be of eternal value unless you are energized and filled and motivated by God's Spirit. And it is in this way that we comprehend the Scripture that says, ye can do nothing and ye are nothing, and that you need to be lowered and you need to be brought low. That has nothing to do with your image of yourself. You have got to understand that God loves you and that He loves you so much He gave His Son, Jesus Christ. And when you understand God's love for yourself, you're not going to put yourself down. You're not going to criticize you. This is the way to overcome insecurities. So many people are insecure. They lack self-confidence. People think self-confidence is a curse word. No, it's not. Self-confidence is I am confident that God loves me and because I am confident that God loves me, I can have confidence in God working through me to do what I have to do. That's what self-confidence is. Now, self-confidence can be perverted if it's an idea like, well, bless God, I can do it on my own without God's help. Then you've got danger. So understand, Paul said, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. So see, Paul didn't put himself down, yet Paul called himself the chief of sinners. So he understood that independent from God, listen, he was still loved by God. God doesn't hate people who don't know Him. The Bible doesn't say, for God so hated the world. The Bible says, for God so loved the world. You see? So God doesn't hate you if you are living a life independent of Him. He's just telling you, you're not going to do any good for God unless you understand the need for a union, a relationship, a yielding, a conforming to Him. So forever put it to rest in your mind. Ask God to deliver you from the idea that you're worthless. If you feel worthless, you need to understand God's love this morning. If you feel unworthy, you need to understand the blood of Jesus Christ. He has made you worthy. Listen, God hasn't made you worthy so that you can live a life independent of Him. God has made you worthy and acceptable before Him so that you can be joined to Him and be empowered by Him, and then you can live a fruitful life in union with Christ, not independent of Christ. And any time we walk independent from Christ and take things upon ourselves without conferring first with God and getting His leading and getting His direction, God will always let us fall to teach us the lesson. But when we fall, it's not God disapproving, nor is it God withdrawing His love, but it's God as a Father teaching us the vital lesson of except ye abide in the vine, ye can do nothing. Jesus is the vine, and you are the branch. If I rip the branch off the vine and put it down, can that branch continue to bear fruit? No. That branch is doomed, listen, to fruitlessness. And this is what Jesus wants to teach us. So understand, you can do nothing, but you indeed are something. You are loved by God. And the lesson that God is teaching every one of us in different ways, and He'll never stop as long as you're one of His children, He'll never stop, is God is trying to teach you and I our absolute dependency upon Him for any good that we would want to do. But without Him, ye can do nothing. And this is the lesson that God is dealing with every one of us in this room here this morning. Now let's begin in 2 Timothy 2. I wanted to put that in to understand the Bible perspective on these things. 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2. You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Immediately we see that the Apostle Paul is giving an exhortation here to be strong in the grace that comes from Jesus Christ. Not the grace that comes from ourself, but from the Lord Jesus Christ. How important it is for our focus to be on Him. In another place, Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul exhorts us, Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Now you see how the attention is taken off of ourself and placed upon Him. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs. He wants to please His commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules. Now see, this is what the Holy Spirit is striving to do in our midst. You see, we have entered a race. We are like athletes who have entered a race. And there is a prize that is set before us. But the Lord wants us to know that if we want to win that prize, which is conformity to Christ, we must play by the rules. We must learn the rules. You know, the basic rule in Christianity is what we were saying before. Ye can do nothing without Me. The basic rule in Christianity is the absolute need for God in every area of our life. Total dependency upon Him. Listen, how many have learned that the more you learn that simple lesson, everything works out? But it's the lack of understanding that truth that hurls us into a life independent of God that becomes the source of all of our troubles. Huh? Becomes the source of all of our troubles. So the simplicity of learning the rules. Don't think I'm saying you've got to learn 777 rules or something like that. The one primary rule that is absolutely necessary if you are to run the race without being disqualified is this. You are the clay. God is the potter. And you must come to Him in that perspective. He's the Father. You're the child. And it is His will and the good pleasure of His will that you need to pursue. And you must be willing at all times to let God release you from what you want so that He's able to work in you what He wants. Now that's simple, but oh, it takes a lifetime to work it in, doesn't it? So, remember this. See, Paul writes... Listen, I just want to give a little background. It's only quarter after twelve, so we have some time here. Listen here now. Paul is writing to a young pastor, but it is not to be excluded as if that's the only one that should read at pastors. Paul is sharing the depths of his heart in this epistle. We find things about Paul in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus that nowhere else in the Bible is revealed. We see Paul understanding the Christian life in 2 Timothy as a warfare. He refers in 2 Timothy here as being in a war. And you who are called by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ should consider yourself in a war. And then he says, don't be involved in civilian affairs. What does that mean? Civilian affairs refer to those things that distract us from the goal of doing what is pleasing to God. Now the Bible mentions three specific things that distract us as Christians. The cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire to want things. They're civilian affairs. And they are traps that continually snare the Christian. So we need to be on guard and ask God to help us. Verse 6. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying for the Lord will give you insight into all this. Remember Jesus Christ raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's Word is not chained. Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. Here is a trustworthy saying. If we died with Him, we will also live with Him. If we endure, we will reign with Him. If we disown Him, He will also disown us. If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. Now listen, keep reminding them. Now who's them? That's the church. That's you and me. We need to be reminded of these things. Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words. I have a teaching that I'm waiting for the Lord to give me. It's on the tongue again. A quarreling tongue. Have you ever met a person who has a quarreling tongue? Have you ever been guilty of having a quarreling tongue? An argumentative tongue. An argumentative spirit. You just get satisfaction in arguing. You gain satisfaction in being able to create a quarrel. These things ought not to be in the house of God. Warn them before God against quarreling about words. It is of no value and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of Truth. Avoid godless chatter because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place and they destroy the faith of some. Now listen. Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm. Sealed with this inscription, the Lord knows those who are His and everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. Now here is an illustration in verse 20. In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay. Some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master, and prepared to do any good work. You see, beloved, it doesn't matter what place you hold in the body of Christ. What matters is that, as Paul said, you cleanse yourself. Now what that means is you do everything that you can do to work with God to separate you unto Himself holy. I've often said, if you have a problem with pornography and you have magazines stashed under your bed or in your mattress, don't expect the Holy Spirit to take them and throw them out. That's where you work with God. You take them and you trash them. That means anything else in your home or within your reach that you have a problem with. You see, God cleanses the inside, but He expects you to use common sense when it comes to this, you see. If there's something in your life that you know right now is there and you know that you can go to it and it will cause you to fall, what are you doing with it? Get rid of it. Get rid of it. You have a problem drinking and you keep it in your house. Get rid of it. You have a problem smoking and you keep them in your house. Get rid of it. You need to take action as well as believing that God will take action and then He'll minister and give you the grace that you need. That's what He means here when He says cleanse yourself. Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose Him, He must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do His will. Now, I read all that in order to give you an introduction to what I want to read now. Now, I'm going to get my other Bible and we're going to read it. And this is the major part right here that I'm asking the Holy Spirit to make known to us this morning. Beloved, listen. Please listen. We are in a warfare. And the things that I am about to read are absolutely running wild in an unprecedented manner. And as Christians, we must beg God to keep us pure and clean from the working of these things in our life and in our homes. And may I submit to you that these things that I'm about to read come from the very heart of Satan. And unless we are clothed in God and truly, truly seeking Him, we will become captive to one or more of these evil characteristics and the captivity to one of these things will basically render our life fruitless for God. Now, how many want to be fruitless? Unfruitful? Okay. Let's ask the Holy Spirit. Now, don't you think of your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, but you say, Lord, deliver me from these things. There's never been a revival in the history of the church nor in the history of the Old Testament where God moved and as a result people were free from these things that I'm about to read. This know also, I'm reading from the King James now, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Now, the word perilous there means terrible. Here's another word. Treacherous. Terrifying. Disturbing. Disrupting. Chaotic. Now, do you comprehend this morning? Are you aware that you are presently living in the midst, the very fulfillment of what was written 2,000 years ago? You are living in the age when this is coming to pass in no other way. It's happening. Right under our noses. Now, watch what's happening. For men shall be lovers of their own selves. Lovers of their own selves. That means preoccupied with an ever-increasing desire to promote themselves and their self-interest with absolutely no desire to want to know God or love Him. Now, beloved, we're reading words right now, but oh, may God open our eyes. These very things that we're reading are the very heartbeat of Satan himself. And listen, did you know that there is a spirit that controls the world? It's the spirit of the devil. Did you know that since you are living in the world, the spirit of the devil is going to try and control you? Just because you're a Christian, you're not exempt from being tormented by the enemy? Listen. Think about it. You who watch TV, listen. Every commercial you see, every ad you read, every billboard you see, it has behind it the spirit of the world to turn you from God and to bring you into captivity to self. Now, how many have found it true? Listen to this now. Lovers of their own selves. Covetous. The word covetous means greedy. Exalting oneself. Now, remember what we're reading. God, I am a Christian. Every one of these things represent my enemy. You know, stop looking at people as your enemy. Right here is your enemy. Proud. Blasphemers. Disobedient to parents. Young people, disobedient to parents. One of the characteristics, or one of the things that children will be doing in the last days is they will be disobedient to their parents. Let's ask God to help us not to be disobedient to our parents. Unthankful. Unholy. Without natural affection. Now, listen. Follow with me just for a couple minutes. Without natural affection. The Greek word asturgeoi. Asturgeo? I don't know. Probably Mike knows it better than I. But listen to what it actually means. It comes from two words. One of them is a word without. And the other one means love within the family. So the literal meaning here is the absence of love within the family. Without natural affection. Don't you see this running wild in our day today? The absence of love within the family. Contention. Strife. Envy. Fighting. Quarreling. Bickering. Calling of each other names. Cursing. Putting each other down. Screaming. Yelling. No harmony. No unity. One of the characteristics in the last days would be the absence of love within the family. Oh God, help us. Now you see how subtle the enemy is? Truce breakers. False accusers. Incontinent. Now I'll read the NIV and what it says. Ungrateful. Unholy. Without love. Unforgiving. Slanderous. Without self-control. Despisers of those that are good. Traitors. Heady. High-minded. Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Now here is a list. There's another list found in Romans chapter 1. And we need to ask God to give us broken hearts so we can go to the Word and we can say, Lord, deliver me from these things that are being inspired and prompted by the devil himself and make me holy. Make me holy, Lord. Make me separate. Make me filled with love for You. Listen, under the control of Your Holy Spirit and not under the control of the evil spirit that's working in the world today. Now listen, what happens when a believer truly gets under the influence of the Holy Spirit? God deals with these things. God deals... Listen, the move of God does not create emotion and a bunch of noise without dealing with the heart. That's a phony, counterfeit move. That's a counterfeit move. When people bypass the heart and the inner life and get carried away with outward trimmings of religious activity and the heart begins to get hardened. Listen, the old ways start coming back. But we just go to church and pretend they're not there. I submit to you the Holy Spirit has been chased out of that church. And listen, what has come in its place? A form of godliness but denying the power thereof. The Bible says from such depart. So may God help us this morning. I could go on but I won't because I know it's getting late. May God help us this morning to have honest hearts and to ask Him to cleanse us so that there's nothing that hinders us from His move that He wants to do in our midst. How many want clean hearts this morning? How many have seen this list in action in the world today? How many want this stuff working in your home? How many want this stuff working in your life? There's only one person that can free us. That's Jesus. And that's what I want. Amen? Let's just sing a song in closing. And we want to open up the altars. And I don't know what your need is this morning. I don't know what struggle you're going through. I don't know what your affliction is. But one thing I do know. God is offering nothing but hope, life, forgiveness, and healing. And here's the only requirement. Call from a sincere heart upon God. Period. He'll do the rest. Do you believe that? I'm going to ask Sister Colette if she'll come and play the song Creating Me a Clean Heart. Creating Me a Clean Heart. If you have to go, we understand. Huh? Oh yeah, we want to just mention one thing very quickly. Remember, Easter Sunday, April 15th, services will begin at 10 o'clock in the morning sharp. 10 o'clock a.m. Easter starting April 15th. Let's sing it. If God has stirred or spoken to your heart, come meet Jesus at the altar. As we not await Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. We're going to continue to sing. Like we said, if you have to go. But if you're here and you want God to touch you, I want to encourage you to reach out to Him. Come to the altar and let God touch you now. Let's sing this song. Let Him go deep, beloved. Let Him go deep this morning. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. All that you have ever thought or asked. For I will indeed lead you and guide you. I receive the brokenness before me. I do have a plan. I have a purpose. And I say to you, walk before me. And I will bring it to pass. And your heart shall rejoice. And be exceedingly glad. And you will fall before the Lord your God and say, Holy are...