Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the importance of recognizing our dependence on God amidst life's struggles and the need for healing from bitterness. He encourages believers to reflect on their influences and to follow the example of Paul, who prioritized knowing Christ above all else. The sermon calls for a deep examination of what influences our lives, urging a return to sound doctrine and a commitment to spiritual growth. Beach highlights that true revival comes from brokenness and a willingness to submit to God's will, leading to a transformation that aligns our desires with His. Ultimately, he reassures that Christ stands ready to heal and restore us, inviting us to embrace His love and guidance.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Thank you Lord Jesus. Father we are so dependent upon you. We're so dependent upon your power. We're so dependent upon your Holy Spirit Lord. Thank you for the things that we're going through even now in our life. Thank you for the unique struggles. Thank you for the unique difficulties. Father we thank you for the pain that we're going through. Father we ask you to forgive us because so often we have grumbled and complained because we have felt pain. We haven't liked being hedged in and we have forgotten that you love us with an everlasting love and that you cannot do anything in our life except to be for your best interest and your best glory resulting in the highest form of praise to you. Father we thank you for the difficulties. Lord I pray that you this morning will heal us from the roots of bitterness that have crept into the depths of the spirit, the depths of the heart, the depths of our being. They're like cancer eating away at the depths of our being. Robbing us of our joy, robbing us of our victory, robbing us from yielding our heart and our life to the movements of your spirit within us. God heal us from bitterness this morning. Help us oh God to be able to truly rejoice and give you thanks even in the midst of the difficulty and the pain and the sorrow, even in the midst of that bitter, bitter earth that you have fed us. It's your hand Lord. I pray Lord by the power of your Holy Spirit that you would minister into our hearts this morning by your word, that we would hear your word not with our physical ears but with the ears of our heart and that as a result of hearing your word we might experience the faith that comes from Jesus Christ growing in our heart enabling us to stand for your truth, enabling us to obey you, enabling us to please you. Oh God we commit this time into your hands and pray for thy glory to be made manifest in our heart of hearts that we might be transformed and changed. We pray in Jesus name. Amen and amen. You have thankfulness in your heart this morning. God wants to bring deep healing this morning, deep healing. The light in the eye becomes dim when the heart becomes hard. The light in the eye becomes dim when the heart begins to struggle with bitterness and anger. But there's one who stands in our midst this morning with outstretched hands. He's the one who stands in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks and he invites us to come to him. He invites us to come to him. He is the healing balm of Gilead. He is the one who is able to take that pain, to take that sorrow, to take that frustration, to take that inner battle going on. He's the one that's able to stretch forth his hand and bring healing into the depths of your heart. You can do it in a moment's time. We live in a time and in a day when men are desperately looking for a role model. I believe it's indicative of the depths of insecurity within the heart. A role model. Let me tell you, you are either knowingly or unknowingly. You have something or someone that is set before your heart this morning as the one that you are aspiring to be like. A young musician might have in his mind a successful musician. And in your heart, in your heart, you are secretly wanting to be like that person. You might have met someone in the workplace and there's just something about that person that makes you want to be like them. Now, I would invite you to turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter 3. And before we attempt by God's grace to bring this message, the captivity of the righteous, to a close this morning, I sense the need to bring an exhortation on these thoughts. I trust that all of us will have open hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Philippians chapter 3, beginning with verse number 17. Hear the word of the Lord here, because this is being written by someone who is very, very concerned about the spiritual welfare of those that he loved very deeply. And today we are loved very deeply by the Lord Jesus Christ, and he is very concerned about our spiritual welfare. He's very concerned about your spiritual welfare this morning. He's very concerned about your spiritual welfare this morning. And this is what he would say to you and I this morning. Verse 17, brethren, now put your name there where it says brethren. Speak your name there, that he's speaking to you directly. Brethren, be followers together of me. Now it's very interesting that the Holy Spirit led Paul to make such a profound statement. Be followers together of me. In order to understand the significance of that statement, beloved, we have to understand what Paul just said. And we'll look at that for a moment. But before we look at that, let's read the entire statement. Paul is saying, be followers of me, and mark them which mark so, as you have for us as an example. So here two things are happening right now. Paul is saying, follow. Number one, me, that is Paul. Paul is telling the believers to follow him, and then he's actually telling them to mark. Now that word mark is a word that's used to describe when you brand an animal. You put a mark on them. It is a distinguishing feature that cannot be missed. It's a distinguishing feature. Interestingly, in Romans, he uses the same word, that instead of identifying those that follow him, he's using that word to identify those who are causing divisions. So he says to follow him. Then he says to put a mark on everyone else. Who is following the example of Paul. Now, what specifically was the Holy Spirit referring to when he was telling the believers, as he is telling you and I, to follow Paul and to mark those, put a brand on them, that is identify them clearly, who are also following the example that was set by Paul. What specifically is he talking about? Is he talking about becoming a Pharisee? Because at one time Paul was a Pharisee. Just go up a few verses. Beginning in verse number seven. Brothers and sisters, in the day that we live in, there is a clarion call from the Holy Spirit saying, be careful who you are following. Be careful of the influence that's in your life. Be careful. How is it affecting you? How is it affecting your mind? How is it affecting your goals? How is it affecting the way you think? Here's what the Holy Spirit said. Verse number seven. But what things will gain to me those I counted loss for Christ? They doubtless I count all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but done, that I may win Christ. When the Holy Spirit tells us to follow Paul and to mock everyone else who's following in the example of Paul, he is specifically referring to the divine work of grace that was wrought in Paul's life that governed his whole way of thinking. Mainly, he was brought to the place where he considered knowing Christ and doing the will of God more important than anything else in life. Even to the point where he said, those things that were gained to me, listen, those things that were to my advantage, I count, I gather them all up. I gather them all up. Everything that could be to my advantage. I gather them all up and I count them as done. That I might know Christ and be found in him. Verse number 10. That I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering be made conformable unto his death if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Ask yourself this question. How are those people or those things that you are currently following influencing you? Is the effect of their influence on your life making you more heavenly minded? Is the effect of their influence in your life giving you a greater taste for the heavenly things of Christ Jesus? Putting a passion in your heart for God? Putting a passion in your heart for truth? Putting a passion in your heart to know God's word and know God's will? Is the influence of those things or that person or those people that you're following, that you're hanging around with resulting in going to bed at night saying, God, I'm hungry for you today more than I was yesterday. My heart is bursting more. I've got to know you more. Nothing can satisfy me. Nothing can satisfy me. Is the effect of that which is influencing you, causing you to realize that the things of this world, the material possessions are of no value in light of eternity and that you are not to be after those things but rather after the treasure and the wealth that is in the person of Jesus Christ? Ask yourself this question, beloved. Please, ask yourself this question. What is influencing you? And how is it affecting you? Verse 18. Or, is that which influencing you, does it come under the category of verse 18? Are the people that you're hanging around with come under the category of verse 18? Are they bringing you down? Are they keeping you down, down, down? Are they cramping and hindering your spiritual advancement in God? Listen. Verse 18. For many walk, this was back then, of whom I have told you often, that is a faithful minister of God, one who often exhorts us and often warns us in love to beware and mark those who are not walking according to the example that has been set. That's a faithful minister, not one who is seeker-friendly conscious, not one who is not wanting to offend anyone, not one who is simply interested in attracting people. Let me tell you, Christ is not interested in attracting people. Christ is interested in fulfilling the mission that his Father gave him, and that is to save a people and make them lovers of God, obedient to his word. That's what Christ's passion is. Now listen, listen, brethren. Ask yourself these questions. I'm not just talking about the people you're hanging around with. I'm talking about the books that you're reading. I'm talking about the magazines that you read. I'm talking about the programs on the radio and TV, or the least of all that you're watching. What influence does it have over you? For many of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, it broke the heart of God, it broke the heart of Christ, it breaks the heart of Paul, to recognize that there are many and here's what he says, there are the enemies of the cross of Christ. The enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly. Now when the word belly is there used, it infers their appetites. And so Paul is saying these people make their appetites their God. That is, they faithfully serve and bow down to their appetites. Their physical appetites, whatever they might be. Listen, there is a generation of professed Christians today who are addicted to the appetites. There is an entire religion called Christianity in the world today that caters to and creates programs for the appetites of men whose glory is their shame, who mind earthly things. That is, their thoughts, their reasoning, their philosophies, their thinking, is on earthly things. That is, those things that simply pertain to earth. Now verse 20, for our, our conversation or our way of life is in heaven. From there also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you becoming more and more hungry for heaven and heavenly things? Are the things you engaged in resulting in a passion for the things of God? 2 Timothy. We hear a lot about revival today. I believe God wants to bring revival. If you define revival as to make relive that which at one time had life but the life has now ebbed. Revival can't come to the sinner. Sinners never had life. They've been dead in sins and trespasses. Revival can only come to the church because the church has become a partaker of life but has backslidden, has become so conscious of earth and so after earthly pursuits and so after earthly things that she has forgotten that her destiny, her call is to be heavenly and heavenly. Now watch this, 2 Timothy chapter 3. Look at chapter 4. Verse number 2. This was an exhortation given by Paul to young Timothy. Now Timothy was a timid young man but he had genuine faith. The same kind of faith that was in his grandmother and that was in his mother, Paul said. He was a timid young man and Paul loved him as his own son. Use the words that this great apostle gave to this young man. He was given a responsibility to carry on the traditions in church that were taught to him by Paul. Listen to this admonition by Paul to young Timothy. Preach the word. Herald the word. Be instant, in season and out of season. That means be prepared at any time whether it's convenient or whether it's not convenient. That's what that means. Be prepared to stand for the truth at all times. That is, don't be caught unprepared. Always have the word in your heart and in your mouth. Always be ready to stand for the word. The thing I love most about Paul is the passion that God gave him for himself. And the thing I like a lot about Paul is that many times when Paul speaks he's using words that have to do with the military which to me shows how sober minded this man was. He didn't believe in this fluffy Christianity that we see today. He considered himself to be enlisted in the army of God under the direct command of the king of kings and lord of lords. And he perceived his life to be that of being in a great spiritual battle. One that required discipline. One that required alertness. One that required diligence. One that required vigilance. Vows that people are really astute today. Reprove. Rebuke. Exhort. With all our suffering and doctrine. Now watch for the time will come and I believe that there is permission from the Holy Spirit to say this. The time has come. It is present now in the day that we live. When they they, who's they? Those whose God is their body. Those who are dedicated and devoted to serving their own appetites. Oh brothers and sisters. Following Jesus is not about making us happy. It's not about living a life that always makes us feel good. Following Jesus is a divine call from the Holy Spirit enabling us to see the glory of Christ and in light of that glory pour contempt upon anything that has to do with our own life. Someone cries out legalism. Bondage. Let me tell you brothers and sisters it's not legalism for me to vow to my wife that I will be faithful and true to her and her own. That's not legalism. That's love. That's love. When I see the love in my heart for my wife I gladly vow to her. I gladly refuse to look at another woman. I gladly lay my own life down my own soul down for her. It's nothing to do with legalism. It has nothing to do with rules and regulations. This is relationship. This is what Christianity is. My appetites my carnal fleshly appetites lose their power. Not by me struggling with them and trying to overcome them. They lose their power when my eyes see the one who died for me. The power of the follower of Jesus is not in their wisdom. It's not in their tenacity. It's not in their volition. It's not it doesn't come from them. It comes from God working in them a revelation of the beauty of Jesus. How could Peter when the day of his execution came this is in church history not in the scriptures how could Peter ask that he would be crucified upside down because he wasn't worthy to be crucified right side up like his Lord Jesus. How could how could a man have such devotion and humility? Well I'll tell you where it didn't come from. It didn't come from Peter. Because 30 years before Peter discovered what his power would accomplish. Remember? When he was at the last supper and Jesus said everyone was going to forsake him what did Peter say? Lord though all men forsake you I won't. I'll lay my gut life down for you. And all his brothers and sisters he saw and he seen nothing else mattered. This morning a bigger a new vision of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now watch. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. They will not put up with they will not hold under. They will not be disciplined by sound doctrine. They will not be hemmed in by sound doctrine. You know sound doctrine takes the wind out of your sails. Sound doctrine hems you in. It harnesses you. Sound doctrine says you can't do what you want when you want it. If you are going to follow the man of sires. Sound doctrine says if any man will follow me let him disown himself. Take up his own course and follow me. Healthy teaching health giving life giving doctrine tells us to be friends of this world is to be an enemy of God. Healthy doctrine tells us all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life they are not of the father but of the world. Healthy doctrine tells us the whole moral system is under the power and sway of the evil one. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. What will happen? What are they going to do? That after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned to fables. This coincides with Philippians chapter 3. Paul said follow me and also follow all those who are walking in the example that I set. We learned what the example is that Paul set. A life governed by passion to do the will of God and to know Christ. Then the others when Paul said to Mark it wasn't the will of God that was their passion but what was it? Their appetites their own desires their own lusts. Listen, listen. You are either under the authority of God's word and it's got you hemmed in it's cramped your style it's bringing you more and more into the largeness and the beatness of Christ. It's taking the wind out of your sails. It's making you to realize that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It's causing you to see that the only reason to live is Christ. It's walking in you a hunger for eternal treasures. It's constantly coming to you day and night convicting you of that wrong attitude convicting you of that holy look convicting you of that scathing word that you spoke to that loved one convicting you when you get impatient because somebody in front of you isn't driving as fast as you think they should. You get under the power of sound doctrine and it will haunt you day and night. You won't escape sound doctrine. I'm not talking about intellectual teaching I'm talking about the doctrine of Christ the living Christ speaking through his word in your heart every day. You can't escape. It'll pin you down. It is a light. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing of spirit and soul bone and marrow revealing the very intents and motives of our heart searching into the very depths of our being. That's what sound doctrine does to any person that endures it that stays under it. But there's another doctrine in the world in the church world and this doctrine gives you what you want in the name of the Lord. Bible says they shall heap or gather to themselves teachers teachers there not only refers to actually teachers people that you allow to teach you but teachers there refers in a broader way to simply this they gather around themselves teachers or they come under the influence of something. See a teacher influences you and so listen if you or I will not endure sound doctrine we inevitably will gather around ourselves will come into and under the influence of something other than sound doctrine and what it will do will have to bear all lusts that is if we don't want to hear what God says we're going to find someone or something to speak to us to influence us regarding what we want to hear and so therefore we end up in a life of influences enabling us empowering us freeing us to do what? What we want which is the place of death it's the place where I lose preeminence in my life where I no longer move Jeremy I no longer have my way it's no longer I that liveth the cross to the church is the place where by the power of the Holy Spirit we bow down on our knees and we cry out O thou crucified Christ thou hast conquered me on the cross it is no longer I that liveth O Christ deal with my passion to do my own thing deal with my desires that are contrary to you O dear God O crucified Christ free me from my pride free me from my drive to do my own thing this is what a father of Jesus does in the book of Acts when people got filled with the Holy Ghost they sold their possessions nowadays people are being taught if you get filled with the Holy Ghost you'll prosper back in the early days when you were filled with the Holy Ghost man you became a living mortal you died nowadays we're told get filled with the Holy Ghost and you'll get a life nowadays they say the anointing will give you honor with men the anointing will give you favor with men but the anointing on Paul's life caused him to be whipped 39 times 5 times that's what the anointing did for him what does the anointing do? the anointing is Christ he's the anointed one and the anointing in our life gives him the preeminence it gives him the preeminence it gives him for real our life and so brothers and sisters along the road of exhortation that I had planned the one that was needed for all of us what's influencing you? listen to this coming under the power of sound doctrine healthy doctrine coming under the influence of Christ in his word or brokenness in your life listen to the definition that Roy Heshin gave when asked in his opinion what he felt brokenness was this is powerful and it was in relation to true revival this is what Roy Heshin said who I believe had the spirit of God and touched something of the heart of God for his generation and though he is dead yet he continues to speak through many of his tremendous books to be broken is the beginning of true revival and spiritual maturity it is painful humiliating devastating to our entire being that it is the only way brokenness means that the hard unyielding self which loves to justify itself and loves to run its own way and loves to stand up for its own rights and loves to seek its own glory and exhortation at last bows its head and neck to God's will and admits that it has been wrong been strengthened by pride and gives up to the will and way of Jesus Christ end of quote brokenness is the process of God's dealing in the life of a soul resulting in the death of that soul to everything but a heaven-wrought devotion to the will and way of Jesus Christ Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15 the prophet Isaiah reveals to us how valuable brokenness is to the Lord even to the point where it attracts God listen to what the scripture says Isaiah 57 verse 15 for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite that word means crushed to pieces he says he dwells with a contrite and a humble spirit but for to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite one oh my how the Lord loves to work in your life listen have you allowed God to work brokenness in your life through what you have been going through or through what you have gone through in the past listen if you don't beg God to work brokenness in your life guess what will come into your life as a result of what you go through bitterness anger resentment cancer on the inside of your spirit see to endure to endure sound doctrine means that we come under the discipline of God's word even when it hurts even when it doesn't make us feel good even when it humiliates us and messes up our plans and ruins our hopes we come under the sound doctrine the healthy doctrine of God's word we bow down and we say oh God thank you for this disappointment thank you for this pain thank you for this struggle have you thanked God for that thing if you haven't God's purpose is not being done through it the devil's is you've missed what God wanted to do you've missed it your heart is getting hard heartache cynical critical why? trace back, trace back because of that moment of pain you forsook sound doctrine but Christ stands in our midst this morning with his outstretched hand who can heal your heart right now you can heal it you know why God lets someone break your heart? you know why God lets someone break your heart? so two things can happen number one, so you can see your depravity and how prone you are when someone breaks your heart to say bless God I'm going to close up my heart now I'm not going to give my heart to anybody anymore because I'm tired of being hurt and broken I can assure you by the word of the Lord that is not God's purpose for letting you get a broken heart that's the devil's purpose but listen, God lets your heart break so that in the bitterness of that moment you can come under sound doctrine and say oh Lord thou has broken my heart that I might see how prone I am to get bitter or resentful but now you see that it's a door through which you can take me that my heart might be filled with you and as I am filled with you I am given the capacity by you it comes from God listen the capacity to go to the one that broke your heart and embrace him and say I love you I love you that's not who you are is it? that's why God lets us go through what we go through so we can come out of what we are and into what he is that's what the psalmist meant when he said the Lord has brought me into a wealthy place to open a pocket and back to sound doctrine and back to Christ today and let him be a healing balm after the end I'm going to ask if Comet would come to the piano or let's just give the Holy Spirit a few moments if you'd like you're welcome to stay for a few moments and just let the Holy Spirit minister to us just let the Holy Spirit minister to us as we look to him let the influence of Jesus come into your life right now let the presence of Jesus bring perspective right now when he comes on the scene everything is different isn't it? when he comes on the scene everything is different Father we thank you for your word we thank you Lord for your love for us and we thank you Lord help us Lord to thank you today for what we're going through for what we've gone through knowing Lord that in everything you are simply providing an opportunity for us to prove your power in the situation that we're in to prove your majesty to prove your faithfulness Lord we look to you now work this in us so that we can be the church every day letting the love and life and truth of Jesus Christ flow out of our hearts into the lives of those that we come in contact with Lord do the work of praying in Jesus' name Lord we thank you for using your body using your presence guiding your mind guiding spirit to the path of making Jesus the God music Is all I've got Take me Take me You take me I'll give my heart back Take me Take me I'll give my heart back Take me Take me Take me You take me I'll give my heart back Take me You take me I'll give my heart back Take me All I've got You take me You take me I'll give my heart back You take me You take me I'll give my heart back Take me I'll give my heart back Take me Someone, I believe No one will take me down I'll, I'll move on I'll never let you down You gave your life In your endless love You set me free Showed the way Now I'm found Someone, I believe No one will take me down You in your head, I'll be mine You'll never let me go Someone, I believe No one will take me down You in your head, I'll be mine You'll never let me go I'll never let you go Never, never leave You gave yourself Your life, baby In my heart Someone, I believe No one will take me down You in your head, I'll be mine You'll never let me go Someone, I believe No one will take me down You in your head, I'll be mine You'll never let me go You'll never let me go Never let me go You'll never let me go You in your head, I'll be mine You in your head, I'll be mine