Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the futility of seeking fulfillment in worldly pursuits, drawing from the experiences of Solomon and John the Baptist. He highlights that true satisfaction can only be found in a relationship with Jesus, urging listeners to give their hearts solely to Him rather than to the vanities of life. The sermon calls for humility and a willingness to be transformed by God's Word, reminding us that all earthly endeavors are ultimately empty without Christ. Beach encourages the congregation to seek a heart that is undivided and devoted to God, as only He can heal and satisfy our deepest longings.

Lord, for your Holy Spirit, thank you for our wonderful Savior and Lord, we do pray Lord that today you will grant us ears to hear. Lord, we are needy today, we will resist you if we do not carefully look to you for grace and humility and meekness to be put into our hearts now. Your word, O God, is offensive. Though it's life-giving, it's offensive to pride. It's offensive, Lord, when we want our own life. And so I pray today, Lord, that you would help us all. Help us, Lord, to hear your word, to receive it in our hearts with meekness and to be changed, Lord, so that your beauty can be seen in our lives. We look to you, Father, for this, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. This morning, we're going to look at two thoughts which are directly connected. I want to encourage you to follow along in your Bibles and listen carefully, and pray and ask the Lord, right from the beginning, say, Lord, would you please allow me to hear your voice into my heart through your word this morning? Never mind anything else. Listen for His voice to your heart this morning, because He indeed wants to speak. Young people, listen to His voice this morning. Okay? Listen. He'll speak to you. We're going to begin with a Scripture. We're going to begin with a Scripture in the New Testament. And while we're turning to this Scripture, the children can quietly begin to line up. Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7, and we're going to look, we're going to begin in verse number 18. Luke chapter 7, verse number 18. The title of this word this morning is, Blessed is the man who is not offended. Blessed is the man who is not offended. And the disciples of John showed him all of these things. And John, calling unto him, two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Are you he that should come, or look we for another? Now, let's read that again. Are you he that should come, or should we look for another? We like the thought of following the Lord. We like to believe that He's the one, until following Him brings us into a crisis. John was having a crisis here. He gladly received the Lord. He gladly preached about the Lord. He gladly spoke about the Lord. But now, what is he saying? Oh, may God help us to hear this morning. Now, he's saying what? Is this the one, or should we look for another? It's okay, until the one we talk about brings all kind of trouble into our life. And then we begin to say, Well, maybe, maybe there's another way. This is where John was at right now. Verse 20, When the men were come unto him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us unto thee, saying, Are thou he that should come, or look we for another? Oh, how desperate John was. How desperate he was. He was being tried. He was being tested. He was in the crucible. He had been faithful to this one, but now he's desperately, desperately looking. Is this the one? Find out. Please, go talk to him. Find out. Find out. Is this the one, or should I believe in another one? Do I need to keep my heart's allegiance for this one? I mean, after all, I'm in prison. After all, this allegiance to this one has resulted in the loss of everything. My head's about to be chopped off. The wrath of kings. The wrath of religious people. I'm in a cold prison. Should I give my heart to someone else? Something else other than this one? That's where John was at. That's where he was at. Verse 21, And in that same hour, he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits, and unto many that were blind and gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard, how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached. Verse 23, And blessed is he whosoever that shall not be offended in me. The word there offended means to commit that which leads to the fall or ruin of someone. It means to throw someone unawares. To throw someone unawares into a state of ruin. Blessed is the man that is not offended in me. Blessed is the man that does not stumble and fall because of me. John the Baptist was in a hard way at this time in his life. A very hard way. And we're going to look at a character in the Old Testament now. And we're going to see why John the Baptist was in a hard way. And we're going to learn that Jesus calls us and is calling us. And that that call, if we listen and obey and respond, is going to bring us all into the very place that John the Baptist was. If not outwardly, we may not all be placed in prison, but it's going to bring us all to the crisis of the moment of crisis that John the Baptist had. And here's what the crisis is going to be. Is this the one I should follow or should I look for another? And here's why. We turn our Bibles to a book that we don't normally look at. It's called the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes is right after Proverbs. I want to begin reading with verse number 12 of chapter 1. Blessed is the man, Jesus said, that is not offended in me. John the Baptist said, go ask this guy, is this the one that I should follow or should I look for another? Remember those statements. Verse 12, chapter 1, Ecclesiastes. I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I gave my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. Now let's just stop there for a moment. Here's a man who gave his heart to seek out all things that are done under heaven. Blessed is the man that is not offended in me. Is this the one that we should give our allegiance to or should we look for another? Is this the one that we should give our allegiance to or should we look to another? I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven. This sore travail hath God given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun. All the works that are done under the sun. All the works that are done under the sun. The word all there is inclusive, which means there's no exceptions. Blessed is the man that's not offended in me. All is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked cannot be made straight and that which is lacking cannot be numbered. I communed with my own heart saying, Lo, I am come to great estate and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I gave my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that all this was vexation of spirit. Having a hard time hearing this morning because we've not come to this conclusion yet. We've not come to this conclusion yet, but God is merciful. We're going to see some things that are going to trouble us this morning. Trouble us, but He still loves us and He's still calling us to follow Him. But, oh, blessed is the man that's not offended. Why do you keep saying that, brother? Why do you keep saying that, brother? Well, let's find out. Verse 17, And I gave my heart. Verse 13, And I gave my heart. Two places there, this man talks about giving his heart to something. Blessed is the man that's not offended in me. And I gave my heart. Proverbs 23, verse 26, Solomon said in verse 13, And I gave my heart. The verse number 17, And I gave my heart. But God says in verse 26 of chapter 23 of Proverbs, My son, give me your heart. Blessed is the man that is not offended in me. If we follow the man of Galilee, we can't. Give our heart to anything or anyone but Him. And when we give our heart to something other than Him, we must be brought to the place that Solomon was brought to. Verse 18, chapter 1, Ecclesiastes, For in much wisdom is much grief. And he that increases knowledge increases sorrow. All is empty. Listen carefully. When our hearts are given to anything other than the Lord Himself, this will be the result. This will be the result. The conclusion that we must come to as a result of the discipline and chastening and scourging and child training of the Lord in our lives. Lord, what's the meaning of what I'm going through? Everyone here is in a unique crucible. Here's the meaning, beloved. Listen carefully. God is speaking to us through His Word. All life under the sun. All life under the sun. Not in the sun, but under the sun. All is empty. All is vanity. All is nothing. The idea here of vanity is the thought of a bubble that pops and becomes nothing. A bubble that inflates. It appears. It appears. It inflates. It appears like it's something and then suddenly, Norman, it pops and it's nothing. It dissipates. It's gone, beloved. It's gone. All is vanity. Blessed is the man that is not offended in me. When we walk with the man of Galilee, he will not let our hearts be given to anything in earth. Nothing. Nothing. Blessed is the man that is not offended. Oh Lord, should we look for another? Can I have a little bit of vanity in my life? Just a little bit? Oh, I'm going to look for another to follow. All is like a huge bubble that pops and is no more. All leaves us empty, dry, unsatisfied, and wounded. Nothing. Nothing under the sun, under the heaven, satisfies. All is vanity. Now, just listen to a general overview here of what Solomon got and what his conclusion was. And oh, may God help us to hear his heart this morning. Solomon was given wisdom to know and to understand and to experience. Listen carefully. Wisdom to know, understand, and experience everything under heaven. Everything that earth can offer. Solomon was given the wisdom by God to know how to get it and experience it. His conclusion? All is vanity, saith the preacher. All is nothingness. All is empty. All is like a bubble that pops and is no more. Take it, beloved, from a man who had it. First of all, Solomon was given all the education that a man could ever possess. He had the PhDs. He had the degrees. He had the learning. He had the understanding. He gave his heart to these things. And his conclusion? All is vanity. All is empty. All is nothing. All is like a bubble that pops. It's number one. Solomon had all knowledge and it was empty. Number two, Solomon gave his heart to seek out all the pleasures that are available under the sun, which included but are not limited to the following facts that we glean as we read through the book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon had a huge built-in swimming pool. And surrounding this swimming pool, he had the heads of lions that were carved by pure gold as decor. He had a huge home. Solomon had thousands of servants and thousands and ten thousands of horses. He enjoyed country living. But his conclusion to this pleasure under the sun was all is empty. All is vanity. All is nothing. All is like a huge bubble that pops and is no more. Nothing can satisfy. Thirdly, Solomon had all of the physical and sensual pleasures that a man could ever possess. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. He had every form of physical, sexual pleasure that is known to man. But his conclusion, all is empty. All is vain. All is nothing. Number three, Solomon was the wealthiest man of his day. The amount of gold that came into Solomon's hands annually equals in today's standards to be an annual income that exceeds several billion dollars a year. His conclusion, all is vanity. All is vexation to spirit. All is empty. All is like a big bubble and suddenly it pops before me and there's nothing there. Blessed is the man that is not offended in Me. Shall we find another one? Or are you the one? My son, give Me your heart. Give Me your heart. And Jesus met a woman at the well. And she was a Samaritan. And she had had five husbands. She had given her heart to five different men. Five. And the one she was living with wasn't even her husband. My son, give Me your heart. And Solomon said, I gave my heart to seek after. And I gave my heart to know things. But God says, give Me your heart. Give Me your heart. All is empty, beloved. All is vanity. Nothing satisfies. Nothing satisfies. Next, Solomon indulged in the world of arts and the culture of his day. He had orchestras and stringed instruments and wind instruments and operas and choirs and singing. And he had the best of the nightlife, the most beautiful known music of the day. And his conclusion, after having given his heart, his heart to these things, all is empty. All is vanity. All is nothingness. Then Solomon was a man of power and authority. He was the king of Israel. He was the commander-in-chief of the greatest army that was on the earth at the time of his day. He knew what it was for men to come to him and say, Sir, bow down before Him. What would you like me to do? He tasted authority. He tasted power. He tasted being able to tell people what to do. My son, give me your heart. Don't give your heart to that. It will leave you empty and dry. Number seven, prestige, protocol, feared, and esteemed by all the leaders of the known world. Solomon sat on a throne that was made of pure ivory, overlaid with pure gold. His conclusion, all is vanity. All is empty. All is nothingness. And then lastly, Solomon was a religious man. He built a temple, a huge temple, a temple that impressed the whole known world, a temple that was overlaid with gold. And when he was done with the temple, God would eventually say, I don't dwell in temples made with hands. All of your religion is worthless to Me. And so we see that Solomon was a man that gave his heart to wisdom. He gave his heart to pleasure. He gave his heart to physical and sensual pleasure. He gave his heart to wealth and materialism. He gave his heart to arts and culture and music and the fine life. He gave his heart to power. He gave his heart to prestige and protocol and position and the conclusion that he came to. And all of these things was all is vanity. All is empty. All is like a bubble that pops and nothing matters but one thing. Ecclesiastes 12, verse number 13. Solomon had been on a long journey under the sun. The journey was a life of futility and emptiness because Solomon had given his heart and his desires to something that was under the sun as opposed to giving his heart to the sun. S-O-N Now at the conclusion, Solomon puts all his words into proper perspective. Whenever a man or a woman gives their heart to something other than God Himself, vexation, frustration, ruin, emptiness, disaster will result. These are prophetic words this morning, beloved ones, loved of God. These are prophetic. Let God search our hearts. Whenever a man or a woman gives their heart to something under the sun, the result will be vexation, frustration, ruin, tears, sorrow, anguish, regret, emptiness. And eventually, if not sometime during our earthly pilgrimage, and that's the time that we would rather come to this conclusion that we're about to read because if we don't, we all shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ and at that time we will clearly see, we will clearly see, we will hear these words then that we're hearing this morning. All is vanity. And if by God's grace, we are able to submit to His discipline now and submit to His scourging now and submit to His child training now, then at that day we won't draw back in shame, we won't draw back in sorrow, but we'll have boldness, the Bible says, on the day of judgment. What will the boldness reflect? What will the boldness represent? It will represent a heart that by the grace of God was able to come to the proper conclusion in earth while living here. All is vanity. Those who will be bold on the day of His appearing will be those who because of His grace and discipline and scourging and child training were disentangled from giving their heart to these things and by God's grace were able to walk with the man of sorrows who was rejected and despised by the world. Blessed is the man that is not offended in me if I walk with Him. I can't give my heart to anything but Him. A man of sorrows. A man rejected. A man despised. A man crucified. Verse 13, chapter 12, Ecclesiastes. The end of the matter. This is what the literal Hebrew says. The end of the matter. Even all that hath been heard. The conclusion. The all important fact of the whole matter is this. Fear God and keep His commandments. My son, give me your heart and be sure to attend to all my ways. For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment. God shall bring every work into judgment. With every secret thing. Whether it be good or whether it be evil. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 9, Wherefore we labor, we endeavor, we strive with all the power of grace, with all the power of God's provision through His Word and through the Spirit of Christ that lives within us. We labor. We struggle. We work. That whether present or absent, we may be accepted. That word accepted actually means we might be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. For God shall bring every work into judgment. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That everyone may receive the things done in his body according that he hath done, whether it be good or whether it be bad. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Search our hearts today, O God. Search our heart. My Son, give me Your heart. Not knowledge. Not wisdom. Not education. Not pleasure. Not physical or sensual pleasures. Not wealth and the pursuit of it. Not arts, the cultured life. Not power, authority, prestige, protocol. Not an ivory throne overlaid with pure gold. No, my Son, give me Your heart. Not religion. Not your good works. Not your attempt to please me by offering me your own deeds. No, give me Your heart. Give me. The nature of this judgment will be an unveiling of where our God, Your heart. What has got Your heart this morning? There's only one man that is deserving of Your heart. That's the one who died. Blessed is the man that is not offended. Blessed is the man when following Me, he ends up with nothing. He is still rejoicing. Blessed is the man who, when he follows Me, becomes an object of ridicule, misunderstanding, rejection. He still rejoices. As you're turning to Luke, consider this. God put the story of Solomon's pursuit by the very wisdom that God gave him. God put the story of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes for you and I so that we can learn a lesson that will spare us from many, many horrible, hurtful, disastrous decisions if we will read it on our knees broken before God. The church is not called to follow Solomon's example. Here is what we're called for. Luke chapter 1, here's our calling. Beginning in verse 5, there was in the days of Herod the king of Judah, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abiah, and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. They had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were well stricken. And it came to pass that while he executed the priest's office, according to the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest's office, verse 10, the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. Listen carefully. But the angel said unto him, fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. Thy wife, Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son, and that shall call his name John, and that shall have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. Listen, this is it. This is our calling. This is our calling. Solomon gave his heart to something other than the Lord, and it resulted in all kinds of ruin. But this is where this is where our calling is. He shall be great in the sight of who? The world. He shall be great in the sight of the world. Is that what it says? In whose sight? Stop right there. Please take notes. Write these down. Your calling and my calling is to be great in the sight of the Lord. Whenever you set your heart on one of these seven things that Solomon sought to set his heart on, you are no longer seeking to be great in the sight of the Lord, but rather in your own eyes and in the eyes of others. You shall be great in the sight of the Lord. We live too much in light of others, don't we? And we're not living in light of Him. Do you want to be great in the eyes of the Lord? Then give your heart to Him and nothing else. Nothing else. And shall neither drink wine nor strong drink. That indicates the Nazarite vow, which was something taught in the Old Testament. It indicated that God had chosen from the womb a person for God's purpose, not for the person's purpose. The church bears the Nazarite vow. Brothers and sisters, please listen. The church bears the Nazarite vow that John the Baptist bore. That is the purpose of our existence. The moment we came into the Kingdom of God and were born out of the womb of Christ, we were set aside. The Nazarite vow is upon us, and it says you do not belong to yourself. You do not have rights to choose your own way. You do not exist to give your heart. To the vanities of vanities that are under the sun that Solomon gave his heart to. You do not exist for that purpose. You have a Nazarite vow upon you. Your heart belongs to One. The One who died on the cross for you. Why did James say, you adulterers? Why did he say it? To who? Who did he say that to? Believers. Know you not that what? Friendship with the world is enmity with God. James was saying, oh, beloved, beloved ones, you've given your heart to things. You've given your heart. You've become unfaithful. Mourn. Weep. Call a fast. Purify your heart, ye sinners. Cleanse your hearts. What is he saying? What's he saying? He's saying, beloved, beloved, beg God to give you repentance so that your heart can be taken back from these things and be given to One. Number one, great in the eyes of the Lord. That's your calling. Don't get your eyes on men and wanting to be great in their eyes. You're going to miss it. Number two, Nazarite vow. You don't have rights over your life. You and I can't choose our own way. We can't wake up and say, what's best for me today? For me? No, we wake up and say, Father, what's best for Your kingdom? Number three, He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost from His mother's womb. What spirit are you filled with? What spirit are you controlled by? What spirit motivates you? The Nazarite vow empowers us to be filled with the Spirit of God from our mother's womb. From the beginning of new life, I'm asking, I'm wondering, from the very beginning of the new life that you have had in Christ, has it been the Holy Ghost that you've been filled with? If so, your heart will not be given to any of the vanities that Solomon's heart was given to. That's why the Holy Spirit comes. And many of the children of Israel shall return to the Lord their God. Number four, your call is to turn men and women to God. Who are you turning people to? What are you turning people to? Are you turning them on to your money? Are you turning them on to your position? Your protocol? This morning, I was at a certain place before I came here and I met a Christian brother. And he introduced me to someone. And this is how he introduced me. Oh, Phil, this brother is the president of this organization. And this brother travels around the world. And this brother represents the name of this organization. And I said, oh God, God, I didn't want to meet the title. I didn't want to meet the position. I didn't want to meet the name. I wanted to meet the brother. But I never got to. Who are you turning people to? Who are they meeting when they meet you? The Nazarite shall turn many to the Lord. Oh, I can't wait to get them to see my home. My authority. My authority. I mean, I'm the president. Yeah, humble. I'm the president. I've got several people under me. Yeah. Good people though. Good people. Who are people meeting? Blessed is the man. That is not a... Yeah, we dress our kids up because we want people to meet them. You behave right. We're having guests. You behave because the way you behave is a reflection of me, me, me. I want them to meet me through you, children. That's not the Nazarite. May our guests meet you. You. Not your nice china. Not your nice home. Not how God's prospering your company. You. That's you. They shall turn many to the Lord. Next, and He shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah. The spirit and power of Elijah represents a man or a woman whose sole interests are those of the Lord. He's for the Lord. And he stands against in remonstration, remonstration, active opposition. He stands against all that is contrary to the Lord's thoughts and the Lord's interests. Which are seen in the person of Jesus Christ. He stands in the power of Elijah. He cannot tolerate compromise in his life. He cannot tolerate compromise in the church. He cannot tolerate compromise in the family. He weeps. He tears down the altars of Baal. He speaks God's Word. The Nazarite is after God. Not what Solomon's after. To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. To make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Lastly, our calling is that we are devoted by the grace of God to possessing continuously prepared hearts for the Lord. A heart that is prepared to meet the Lord. An undivided, undistracted heart for the Lord Himself. You remember in the book of Judges, Samson was a Nazarite. This was Samson's destiny. But what happened to Samson? He gave his heart to who? Delilah. The word Delilah literally means voluptuous. That which is beautiful. Brothers and sisters, if we do not keep our eyes on the beauty of heaven, we will be deceived in thinking there is beauty on earth. And once we think there is beauty on earth, namely, the pursuit and the giving of our heart to education or pleasure or physical and sensual pleasure, wealth, arts, power, prestige, religion. Once we give our heart to that beauty, we have broken. The Nazarite vow. Because God has claimed us for Himself alone. Listen. The old, beautiful song we're about to close. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and what? The things of earth will grow strangely dim. In the light of His glory and grace. If the things of life are not growing strangely dim, it is because our hearts have been given to something other than Him. And we have been deceived in thinking that there's beauty down here worthy of our hearts' affections. And when that happens, guess what it is that we want people to see? That. Not Him. Then it's all about me. Blessed is the man that is not offended in me. Where's the positive note? Where's our hope? That's the wrong question to ask. It's not where is the positive note and what's our hope. Who is the positive note? Who is our hope? Brothers and sisters, today we only have one hope. And that is to be broken at the feet of Jesus Christ. Who alone can take these divided, unfaithful hearts and make them His own? Do you believe that He's able to do that? Do you believe that though you are willing in your spirit, you are weak in your flesh? Are you willing to admit before God and the closest ones in your life that given an opportunity, you would end up becoming a modern Solomon? You would give your heart to anything and everything under the sun. Not me, brother. You're not ready to hear this then. You're not ready to hear it. But if you want to be numbered among the brokenhearted who find refuge at the nail-pierced feet of Jesus, you know that in yourself you are most miserable. And you know God's Word has spoken to your heart and has shown you your tendencies, but you know that Jesus loves you and that He's offering you forgiveness and life and Himself today. He'll heal your crooked heart. He'll satisfy your deepest longing. And you know He loves you. You know He doesn't condemn you though He speaks harshly and firmly. If that's you today, then there is more hope for you and I than all the hope that the world could ever offer because we have the promise that God who has begun the good work in us will perform it. It's our hope. Let us together bow our hearts before the One who gives us that hope this morning. If you want special prayer, just make an altar where you're at. Find someone that you know your heart has been knit to. Pray together. And let's ask our Father today to do what only He can do. Make our hearts His holy for pleasures evermore. He's here. Father, give us broken hearts that we might come to Your feet and receive mercy and grace. Here we are, Lord, found out by Your Word. But strangely, we know we're loved. We feel the nearness of Your Holy Spirit and there's hope because Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us that He might fully and entirely set our hearts apart for Himself. Do that this morning, we pray, Father. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ. There's healing here through Jesus Christ, beloved. There's healing for the depths of our heart. Father, I pray for that which only You can do in the depths of the heart today. Bring healing. Bring restoration, Lord. Oh, God, heal our hearts. Heal us, Lord. Where there is unforgiveness, bring forgiveness. Where there is resentment, bring forgiveness. Where there is heaviness, bring release. Oh, God, where there's confusion, bring peace. We pray. Help us, Lord, to see You today. Help us to see You today, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord.