Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the transformative power of God's grace, urging believers to move from a mindset of addition to one of multiplication in their spiritual lives. He illustrates this concept using the analogy of mathematical operations, highlighting that while addition yields limited results, multiplication signifies abundance. The preacher encourages Christians to recognize their need for God's mercy and grace, which can be multiplied in their lives, enabling them to live righteously and deny worldly temptations. Ultimately, he stresses that all good works stem from grace, and believers should boast only in the Lord's provision rather than their own efforts.

I'd like to write on the board, multiplied. Now, it's very easy to recognize that there's a difference between numbers that are added and numbers that are multiplied. For example, 10 plus 10 equals 20. But now, what's 10 times 10? 100. Now, if you were going to be the recipient of dollars, which would you choose, that which you get as a result of adding or that which you get as a result of multiplication? Well, it's not unreasonable to say that most of us would choose multiplication. Why? Because we would get a whole lot more than if we were recipients of that which was the product of addition. I'd like to bring your attention to a scripture found in 1 Peter. This is the foundation to this particular message this morning, which continues in this grace series that we cannot seem to get away from. Now, let me say something first before I read this scripture. It is my belief that most Christians are living unto God under the provision of addition, not multiplication. And it's because we just have not grasped to see how willing and eager God is to teach us the joy of living unto him by the law of multiplication. And I hope that at least one thing is accomplished this morning. That we will leave this auditorium recognizing that we are no longer going to believe or expect God to give us that which is added, but rather that which is multiplied. 1 Peter chapter 1. Multiply or add. The figures are obvious. 10 plus 10 equals 20, or 10 times 10 equals 100. Beginning in verse number 1. Peter, an apostle, a sent one of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect, that is, chosen, according to the foreknowledge of God. That is, God foreknew those who he would choose to save. God foreknew. Before the foundations of the world, the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Grace and peace be multiplied. Grace and peace be multiplied. What's the sum? As opposed to grace and peace, add. There is a provision in the heart of God for you and I, that takes us from living by the equation of grace and peace be added to us, into the equation of grace and peace be multiplied to us, and the two sum totals are as vast as 10 plus 10 equals 20, and 10 times 10 equals 100. Are you interested in knowing how to have grace and peace multiplied to you? Turn your Bibles, if you would, please, to Ephesians. This can be entitled, Grace and Peace Multiplied. Ephesians, beginning in chapter 2. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, now we're going to begin to touch on how you can begin to live by the multiplication of grace and peace and be delivered from the smallness of living in the equation of grace and peace simply added. Most Christians would like God to add his grace into their life, but few Christians are begging God for the multiplication of grace and peace in their life. And the essential reason why is because those who are only seeking to live by the adding of grace and peace are there because they simply have not yet seen the full extent to which they need mercy and grace. You see, because this adding yields a small number, and this multiplication yields a large number. And so therefore, what determines where you're at in relation to receiving mercy and grace and peace is your recognized need. And as we read the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit awakens our heart and awakens our mind, we discover what we have been discussing for ten weeks now, that it is by grace alone that God visits us. Notice what the Scripture says, but God, who is rich in mercy, he's so rich in mercy he's willing to multiply it into our lives. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved. Grace, the unmerited favor and kindness and benevolence of God. By grace are ye saved. May I add, as we will read on, by grace are ye kept. And by grace do ye arrive unto maturity. And so as we look into the Scriptures we're discovering that there's something that God's got that is imperative, that is essential for our salvation, and then our continued salvation, and then our spiritual perfection. It is grace, God's got it, and it's something that is imperative. Now as we see that more and more, it helps us to leave the realm of faith where we're just believing God for adding, and we come into the realm of, God, you said that you want to multiply your grace and your mercy toward me. And I pray this morning, as we read the Scriptures, that we will be awakened to see that God wants to multiply in our lives grace and mercy. For by grace are ye saved through faith. Faith, pistos, a word that means to rely upon, to trust in, to lean heavenly upon. A word that means to hang one's life upon. We are saved through faith. A faith that comes into our life by the Holy Spirit's power that enables us to hang our life on the goodness and kindness and mercy of another person. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. Our salvation does not come out of, out from, something that we do. It comes by grace, something that is freely given to us. But not only does our initial salvation come by grace through faith, but the keeping of our soul and the word of spiritual maturity also is by grace through faith, through depending upon the finished work of Christ. And we'll see that as we read these Scriptures. We had a testimony this morning of the Holy Spirit in relation to the grace and mercy of God, all the songs that were sung in unison. Wasn't there an incredible witness of the Spirit of God testifying and confirming that it was the Holy Spirit's desire for us to glory in the grace of God, to exalt the grace of God, to praise the God of all grace? He was reaching down into our lives this morning seeking to turn our attention from anything and everything but to His marvelous grace that is in His Son Jesus Christ. For the soul that is captured by a vision of the grace of God is a soul that becomes secure. A soul that becomes secure no matter what that soul goes through. And this is essential, not only for our initial salvation where we experience forgiveness of sin, but for our daily Christian life. It is essential that the soul's eyes learn to gaze upon Christ alone, from whom cometh all that we have need of. For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. It is the gift of God. Now a gift is not something you give to someone because they've worked for it. That would be a debt that you owe them. But a gift expresses my desire to give you something unrelated to what you've done, purely out of the goodness and mercy and kindness of my own heart. It is the gift of God, not of works. Why is God careful to make a salvation program from beginning to end that is not of works? What's the next few words? Lest any man should boast. Now why do you think God has taken special precaution to prevent us from boasting? Is it possible that we are very inclined to do that? Is it very possible that the thing that we as earthly creatures are most inclined to do, which would result in our spiritual ruin and decline, is that we would try and find a reason to be able to boast before God and claim to possess something in ourselves that can add to the glorious work that Christ accomplished on Calvary? Isn't there something that we could be able to claim before God and have Him have to say, Oh, that's pretty good! Isn't there something that we do, something that we can do, something along faithfulness to the reading of the Bible or praying or fasting or sending our money to third world nations? Isn't there something that we can do that we can be able to boast? It is the gift of God, not of works. Verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. The good works that follow the believer are good works that originate out of the grace of God that they have become partakers in, so those works, by virtue of their origin, the grace of God, cannot be something we boast in. How can I boast in something that God freely gave me? I can't. My God. So my whole Christian life is dependent upon a continued influx in grace and mercy and truth. My whole Christian life is contingent upon God's kindness continuously being demonstrated to me. If that's not enough to get you to move out of addition to multiplication, I don't know what is enough. Have you seen the truth that every bit of the Christian life that we are called to demonstrate necessitates continuous grace and mercy and truth and the Holy Spirit's empowerment? Every step that we take requires the kindness and grace of God working in our life, lest any man should boast. Now, let's turn our Bibles to the book of Titus. Hallelujah to God. Hallelujah. Verse number 11, chapter 2. Titus, verse number 11, chapter 2. For the grace of God. Oh, I am hoping that the Holy Spirit will give you such a love and such a passion and such a desire for the grace of God to come in multiplication into your life. How many feel that it's possible that up to this point you've known the grace of God, but you've not known it in multiplicity? Well, today that can all change. Today you can walk out of here being lavished with a yield that is the result of multiplication rather than addition. I tell you, I want us to be Christians that live from the yield of multiplication. I want us to be able to wake up in the morning and say, Oh my God, I am abounding by grace. It is flowing out of every cell of my body because I've entered into the multiplicity of God's provision and I've left just the addition of it. God, help us. Help us. Help us, Lord. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. But I believe it's safe to say that the grace of God has appeared to all men. Not all men are experiencing the multiplication of grace and mercy in their life. And it's the failure to live in the yield of multiplication of grace that constitutes our often struggles. Because notice, it is the grace of God that teaches us. So, the grace of God is a teaching grace. No one can ever know the grace of God in a multiplication way without being taught by God. He that saith, I know the grace of God, but has not begun to be taught by God, has not begun to hear the teaching of God, doesn't really know his grace. Because the grace of God that comes teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. I can say unequivocally with no doubt, no question, and no forethought of possibly being in error that the sum total of our ability to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts lies in the provision of grace that comes to us. And it is the abundance of grace, the multiplication of grace in our life that enables us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. How many fear that from time to time it's difficult to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts? You'll never be able to experience the power to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts that live in the flesh as well as that which permeates this society if you're living in the realm of addition. You'll always come up short, always. But as we make the transition from addition to multiplication, we begin to discover an influx of grace and mercy that teaches us and enables us and empowers us to deny and disown ungodliness and worldly lusts. It's all about grace. And so therefore, if I'm successful in denying worldliness and ungodly lusts, can I then boast? Can I then say, oh, how holy I am, how righteous I am? No, because the origin of that strength came from what? Grace, the gift of grace, lest any man should boast. You see, God's walking in our lives, listen closely, this is prophetic, meaning that it is either happening or it will happen. God is walking in our life to secure something that is very precious to Him, and that is a heart posture in us that prevents us from boasting in anything other than the grace of God. And do you know what oftentimes that word includes? Failure. Because many times, a soul cannot stop boasting until it is determined that it's going to do something right. God lets it go that way in order to fail. So the soul, in all of its hot air, is just blown out, and that soul bows before the presence of God, and the grace begins to awaken, and that soul is able to say, oh God, oh God, how foolish of me, my strength is in you. Now that might hurt at first, to be able to say that. I know theologically we all say it, but God's got to work it in us to wear every leaven of temptation to boast in ourself, to brag, to put confidence in something that we've done. Only God can do it, and that's what He's doing right now in your life. That's what He's doing now through the circumstances that you're going through, and it's all because He loves you and I so much that He wants us to be recipients of multiplied grace. But you see, people who don't recognize the need for grace will not be recipients to multiplied grace. The Bible says, they that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. And again, theologically, we would all say, oh yes, oh yes, Christ is the physician, and I need him. But practically, we're so inclined to do it our way, to trust in our wisdom, and to resist anything that would necessitate having to acknowledge a need for God. And so God has to bring us back to the place where we realize we're sick, we're in need, we need a physician, we need multiplied grace in our life. That's what He's doing now in our lives. Not only does the grace of God teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, but it teaches us to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world. I'm hoping that you will never equate being able to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and being able to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present age to any kind of inherent goodness or any deeds of righteousness that you're doing. Because if you equate it to that, then you are missing grace. And you are supposing that it is the result of something you're doing apart from grace. Because as long as anything you're doing is the result of grace, you can't boast. But when you start to boast, it indicates that you have left grace, you've stepped out of the realm of unmerited favor, and now you're working out of your own self, and then that makes God obligated to reward you. And when you get on that ground of, God, you're obligated to reward me, then God says, all right, I'm going to do exactly what you deserve. And God help you and me if God gives us what we deserve. Because when you get away from grace and go to works, you're saying, God, I deserve this. You want to stand before God on those grounds? You want to stand before Christ and ask me, oh Lord God, I deserve this. Christ give this to me because I deserve it. I'm hoping the day comes when you tremble with holy fear at the thought of ever coming to God, claiming that He's obligated to you to do something. You see how deep this is in us? You see how deep this is in us, this tendency? Oh, the Holy Spirit of God's doing something. He's doing something. He's doing something. What does this mean then? Don't works have anything to do with our salvation? Not a thing. Oh, Brother Phil, I don't know if I can believe that. Does that mean that I just forget about good works? No. But they don't give you brownie points with God. Oh, just a little bit. Isn't there something I can boast in? I mean, look how good I've done this. And look how good I am here, Lord. And just look how holy and how much self-control I have. And just look how much of the Bible I know. And I look at all my neighbors and I see they live such unrestrained lives, but I'm such a holy person. I live such a holy life. I don't do that stuff that they do. What is all that? Boasting, self-righteousness. If it weren't for the grace of God, there go you. Well, I won't fall. I'm holy. I'm doing everything right. Oh, my God. I'm doing everything right. Therefore, I will not fall. Boy, can we tear that apart. That's a first premise. I'm doing everything right. Therefore, I will not fall. Conclusion. The stability of my strength lies in my actions. Dangerous place to be. How suddenly we begin to put our confidence in something other than the finished work of Christ and His blood and His grace and multiply mercy onto something we're doing. Oh, are you saying, then, that our works don't matter? I'm hoping there's a day when we can move from preoccupation with our works to His finished work. Because when all is said and done, our works will not matter. I'm sorry to disappoint you. But when all is said and done, our works will not matter. But one work will matter. The work of the Lamb that was slain for the foundation of the world. To whom alone belongs glory and honor and power and praise. To whom we shall throw our crowns. Remember? Revelation chapter 4 and 5. Because it's by grace. It's grace. There's got to be something, though, that I can take credit for. Yes, you can. The awful mess your life is in. You can take credit for that. The terrible things you've said and done that have hurt people. Take credit for that. You say you don't want to take credit for that. Well, whose fault is it? I mean, if you're set on taking credit for something, because I say somebody in here wants to take credit for something. Now, I know who it is. God hasn't revealed that to me. But somebody in here is upset. I want to take credit for something. Well, if you want to take credit for something, then take credit for all the sin in your life. That's not what I'm talking about, preacher. Well, what are you talking about? What can you take credit for other than the mess your life is in? What about rewards, preacher? What about them? By grace. But doesn't reward indicate that which someone has done? Yeah, it does. And my reward is because of what Jesus has done in my life. Oh, brothers and sisters, God help us to take our eyes off that perverted gospel. God help us to take our eyes off that perverted gospel. That other gospel. The gospel that somehow combines grace and faith and works. Puts it all together and offers it to God. That's the loving. That loving is the whole lump. You can't boast of glory. But I'm obedient to God. And Jesus said, you're still an unprofitable servant. After you have done everything that has been commanded of you. What did Jesus say in the parable? You are still an unprofitable servant. You know what that word unprofitable means? Worthless. But I'm obeying God. So? So? If it's obedience that God accepts. It's only because of the grace that's working in your life. And so trace it. Trace the obedience. To where? Grace. How can you boast in something that's traced to a free gift? Titus chapter 3. Verse 3. For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy and hateful and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared. What changed everything? The kindness and love of our Savior and God. And then as we read on it says in verse 5. Oh how we need to see that. But according to his mercy. Do you know what happens when God demands justice? Mercy answers. If mercy didn't answer, what would justice do for you and I? What would justice, what would justice's verdict be in your life or my life? Is there any, please can I be, open my heart. Is there anybody in here this morning that actually believes that if justice, if God's justice was exercised in your life that the verdict would be favorable for you? Is there anyone in here that believes that? If you're not depending on mercy, you're depending on justice. And if you're depending on justice, then what you're saying to God is this. God do what is just to me. Do what is just. Who would stand? Didn't I just sing you songs? If that, Lord if you lack our transgressions, who would stand? That's justice. Justice is this. Alright, I'm going to judge you. Is there anything worthy in you that needs to be punished because it's not like me? Don't come to God on the basis of justice. Don't come to God on the basis of law and obedience and Lord I've done this so you do that. Because you're out of grace then. You're out of mercy. You're out of trusting in the Lord to Christ and you're standing on the ground of your goodness. And when you stand there, you are going to fall. Phew. Wow. This is life changing, isn't it? If we get a hold of this, it will change your life. I have a few more scriptures to read so bear with me. But according to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which He shed on us abundantly. You know what the Greek word there actually is? Richly. Let me tell you something. You're not going to get rich with nothing but adding. But I tell you, you're going to get quick rich with multiplication, huh? I mean, what's 100 plus 100? 200. What's 100 times 100? 10,000. Now think of the difference between 200 and 10,000. Same two numbers. One is being added, the other is being multiplied. What a vast difference between 200 and 10,000. That's what you call wealth. Now I will support this gospel that's permeating the church today instilling within God's people the desire for wealth, riches, money, lucre. I will support it. I do believe God has the right to make anyone wealthy the way He wants to. But I do not believe God supports Christians desiring wealth because the word of God says not to desire wealth. That those who do such things fall into many kinds of temptations and lusts that drown men into perdition and ruin. I think it was Norman who preached a month ago something along these lines. We would never support or promote desiring anything that God forbids. How many preachers get up and encourage the church to pursue fornication? Or stealing? Or cursing? But yet, there is a gospel that is planting desire for wealth in the church and everybody is shouting. It's absurd. There's nothing else that God's people are being encouraged to follow after that God forbids except wealth and money. You think that one through and see if there's not something really wrong. You want to come to true wealth? You want to come to true riches? Discover the meaning of verse number six, Titus chapter three. Abundantly, richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Hallelujah to God. Brothers and sisters, this is a foundation that must be laid in our life if we're going to pursue on to spiritual maturity. Because the greatest snare in spiritual maturity is beginning to walk right and thinking it's because of what you're doing. And being able to take credit for it. And you get an attitude like you're a little bit more spiritual than the one next to you. You know, because they don't read as much as you or they don't pray as much as you. And they don't understand things like you. How can you boast of the condition that you might possess if that condition is by grace? God's got to take the wind out of our sails before He really pours His Spirit out. Because when He does, the first thing we're going to do is think it's got something to do with our righteousness and our goodness. I've been praying for months that God would send a revival. But I'm qualifying it now. I'm saying God send a revival in this area that absolutely forces all men to deny that it has anything to do with what they're doing. So that when this meal of God comes, there's not one preacher, one church, one group of people that can stand up and say, well, it's because of what we've done. Get that out of my nostrils, God says. And even if you did repent, and even if you did pray, and even if you did weep, it's because grace got a hold of you. It's not because you decided out of the goodness of your own heart to do it. Watch this. Verse 1, chapter 4, Romans. What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Verse 4. Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. Do you understand? Huh? Do you understand that? To him that worketh is the reward. So we're talking about reward. But if the reward is the result of works, then it is not grace but debt. If Kurt worked for me, and then came to me and said, you owe me this, I can't say to Kurt, no, I'm just going to give you a gift of grace, brother. Kurt will say, I don't care what you call it, but I worked for it. You call it a gift of grace, you can call it benevolence for your taxes, but the fact is, Kurt has a sense of, I deserve this because I worked for it. Let me tell you this, loving is all in the church today. But watch this. What liberating truth. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him, that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. He that worketh not, but believeth, his faith is counted for righteousness, because it is by grace that that faith stands in the work of Christ alone. Even David describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. That word impute means to put into someone's account. Blessed is the man that is free from the Lord putting to his account sin. How do we come to this condition? By working? And then telling God how holy we are? No. No. By believing in him that justifies freely. Listen, this is not just an issue of salvation. This is the whole Christian life. We've got to stop looking at what we're doing and stop looking at what Jesus has done. A month ago the Lord spoke to me. I shared it. I spoke with him a prophet. And it was a prophetic word. He said there's a move of the Spirit coming to the body of Christ and it's going to take the attention of the church from all their works and going to place their attention on my work. Say it for the Lord. My work. The work of the Son. The work of Calvary. The work of the Spirit. The work of grace. The work of mercy. The work of truth that no man will be able to boast. One more scripture and we'll close. 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1. Verse number 26. I went for a 45 minute run this morning and I sweat. But I'm sweating more now. So I got a double workout today. Oh Lord. Is it hot in here or is it a little warm? So it's really not that bad if you're not moving around. Okay. That's what it is. Listen to this. This is the end of this part of this message which we're going to continue on. I don't know if we're ever going to get out of it. It's so rich. It's because it's being multiplied. For ye see your calling. Verse 26. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. How that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. And both things of the world. I remember David shared with me last Sunday. Remember David? What the Lord was teaching me about the greatest sin or deception in the church is wanting the work of God to look good in the eyes of men. Well, what would happen if God let the work of God look good in the eyes of men? We would begin to boast in it. We would begin to glory in it. We would begin to say, Oh, isn't this nice? Oh, doesn't this look good? Where would Jesus go? He'd go out the back door because we wouldn't need him anymore. But those things which are despised have God chosen. And the things which are not. To bring to law things that are not. Listen. The whole purpose of why God is acting like this. It's to what? That no flesh should glory in his presence. Verse 31. That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Let your boasting be in God. Let your glory be in God. Pray that the Holy Spirit will take your eyes off of what you do. Take your eyes off and let your brothers and sisters be in. Stop looking down on people when they aren't doing what you think. It's all works. Live unconditionally. Serve unconditionally. Lay your life down unconditionally. Not because of what someone is or is not doing. But get a load of grace. See what God's doing for you. And then do it to others. How can you hold people on such stringent rules and regulations when if God ever held you on those, it would tear you apart. It would kill you. I ran out of time. I know it. I'm not done. There's more. Revelation 4, Revelation 5. I won't read it though. We'll start on that next time. But let's pray. Let's pray. We sing a song. Only by grace, whatever, something. Let's pray. Father, I thank you and praise you for the Holy Spirit this morning. I thank you, Lord, for this life transforming word that's in the word that you're releasing into our lives. And Father, I'm simply desiring to commit this word into your hands. Cause it to prosper in our hearts. And let us become children of grace. Let us trust in the gospel of grace. Lord, help us. Help us, Lord, to see the works of Christ alone as that which is worthy of our attention. Help us to get our eyes off our own works. We are creatures prone to want to look at what we're doing. And every time we look at what we're doing, my God. You remember the angels, beloved, in Isaiah chapter 6? They covered their face. You know why they covered their face? Cause they didn't want anyone to look at the glory that was coming from them. Because they didn't want anyone to think that that glory had anything to do with them. It was the glory of God. It was the glory of God. It was glory from God. With praying they did cover their face. God has to do a spiritual work. Where the things he's doing in our life need to be covered. So that we don't look at them. There's too much looking. My God is the spirit of God. There's too much looking at what we're doing. And there's not enough looking at what Christ has done. God, cover our face. Keep our eyes from the good things we're doing. Keep us from boasting. Keep us, Lord. Help us to see our rewards. Will not be that which God owes us. But that which God gives freely because of the works in Christ that were in us. God, commit this into your hands. Do a miracle by your grace this morning. Amen. As we sing this song, just reach out and receive. In Jesus' name, amen.