What Are Good Works A Christian Can Do To Glorify God?

James Greer (00:02):
Hey, the truth is everybody was born for greatness. Amen? The key is learning how to live out your greatness. And one of the ways you live out your greatness, the only guarantee that your life is going to get better as you continue to grow spiritually. And what we want to do is help you grow spiritually. And in the back, when you go out today, there's all kinds of resources to help you grow. If you really want to know where you're at, there's one of them that says a spiritual checkup and you take it. And be honest with yourself. And then you just take where the lowest score is and start working in that area. There's help for hurts. There's the 30-day marriage. I have that sent to me and my wife every day. We get it text to us for a devotion. The never again list.

James Greer (00:45):
I still use it after 30 years. A marriage assessment. I mean they're just on and on and on. There's these unbelievable helps and resources that you can get and that will help you. I mean so you really need to do that. And then today you should have one, good works checkup. Amen? And we're going to use that. If you don't have one, we want you to get one. If you'll raise your hand, the ushers will be glad to get you one. Does everybody have one of these? Upstairs too? Amen? Okay. So we're not gonna use that right now, but we're gonna use it at the end. Because when I said only guarantee that your life is going to get better is that you continually grow spiritually. And our goal this month has been unbelievable, to resource you unbelievable where you could grow spiritually.

James Greer (01:30):
Amen? Because we know that you were created for greatness. Now it's really hard to measure how to grow. But we're going to be talking about ways that you can measure it. We talked about when you're born to greatness, we have a key verse and it's John 14:12 through 14. And it tells us this. It says most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me. If you don't believe in Jesus Christ, there's no better time than today to do that. Amen? That's how you walk into your greatness. The works that I do, He will also do. And also do is me and you. And greater works than these He will do because I go to be with the Father. Jesus said, I want you to do greater works than I did because I'm going to go be with the Father. And I'm going to transfer that authority to those people that know me.

James Greer (02:29):
And whatsoever you ask in my name, I will do it that the Father be glorified in the son. Then He sums it up and He says, so therefore, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Well, I mean sometimes I ask God, would you do my message? Would you pay my car off? Would you take me a new house? It just doesn't happen. But it says, ask anything in my name and I'll do it. I hear people use that quote, that verse all the time. It means ask anything that glorifies the Father. Amen? But your greatest, greatest ministry many times is right where you work, in your school, your hobbies, in the people that you bump into. That's the greatest place to live out your greatness that you're born to. Of course, you've got to learn the difference between a divine encounter and a devilish disruption. You'll have divine encounters every week sent by God, opportunities to witness and to minister. But first, we have to learn we're not only born for greatness, but Jesus wants you to do greater works than He did Himself.

James Greer (03:40):
He wants those works to glorify the Father. He wants me and you to be asking in Jesus' name what it is that you'd want us to be doing. What Are those kinds of works? Well, there's one thing I can tell you. There's something that you want to hear. Something that really matters. And it's this statement. When I say there's a statement that really matters, and there is, I say this. When there's something probably more than anything else, the things that mattered are really hard to what? Measure. I mean it's hard to measure things that really matter. Now I can measure things. I'm trying to lose weight right now and I can measure that. I lost five pounds last week. Amen? That's big. That's a start. Amen? But what really matters is how I lost the weight. I mean we count how many people come every single Sunday because that matters. Every person has a name. Every name matters to God. And so it matters to Journey Church. But you know what really matters is how you live out the lesson after you come to church. That's what matters. And you can't really measure that. Amen? I mean Jesus wants us to learn what matters.

James Greer (04:57):
I can give you a statement that really matters. Amen? You ready? Matthew 25:21. And the Lord said, well done, thy good and faithful servant. You've been faithful in a few things. I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of the Lord. That statement matters. Amen? It matters here on earth. It's going to matter in Heaven. I mean to hear the Lord say those words to me and to you, that's something that really matters. But to hear those words, number one, He has to be your Lord and Savior. Now I say that because there's a lot of people that I run into and they say, man, I know Jesus as my Savior, but they sure don't have the joy of the Lord. You can't have the joy of the Lord without Jesus as your Lord. And I see all these people, they're wanting the joy of the Lord, but they don't want Jesus to be their Lord. It doesn't happen. It won't happen. That's a delusion. They're opposite. It's only when Jesus is your Lord that you can have the joy of the Lord. Amen? When I say the Lord, I'm talking about He's got to be the ultimate authority in your life. That's the one you gotta depend on. He's your defender. He's your protector. He is your provider. See, when He is the Lord of your life, you begin to have the joy of the Lord. Amen?

James Greer (06:18):
So Jesus created you in a way that when you're doing good works, that you find the joy of the Lord. Way too many people, I've never seen a time in my life, way too many people that are looking for the approval of people instead of the approval of God. And so when you're looking for the approval of people instead of the approval of God, you don't have the joy of the Lord. Joshua. I love Joshua. He's one of my favorite characters in the Bible. He came after Moses and he was the one that led the people in the promised land. And God was encouraging him. And he talked about a good success. In Joshua 1:8, he says this. He says, and the book of this law shall not depart from your mouth, but you should meditate. Say meditate. The reason I love meditate because when you read this word, it tells you how to have good success. And I say sometimes for you to have a really good success, you need meditation and medication. But anyway, and you shall meditate in it day and night that you shall observe to do according to all that's written into it. Listen to what it says. For then, you yourself will make your way prosperous and then you will be, you will have a good what? Success. Now see, so God says that there's a good success. So if there's a good success, there must be a success that sucks.

James Greer (07:53):
Amend? When you go after a success that sucks, it's usually trying to find success through self-indulgence or in others and things. When you get what you thought you wanted, you didn't really want it. You find out it's not so great. I mean it was like the prodigal son. The prodigal son thought, man, Dad, he said, give me my inheritance. Well, it wasn't yours anyway. You didn't even work for it. But anyway, he said, give it to me. And the dad gave it to him. Then he said, man, if I could have wine, women, and money, I'm going to be so happy. Nothing really wrong with women and money and wine if you know how to use it the right way. Amen? I mean my wife, I love her. Money's okay. Wine, depends how you use it. But anyway, it's when he thought it was going to bring him happy. Instead he ended up in the pig pen. Then that was sucky success. I mean he was with the swine. And he finally came to his senses. You can read the story in Luke 15 later on if you want to. And he said, it'd be better if I went to work for my father. My father's hired hands are better. I'm going to go back to the father. And I'm going to tell my father I've sinned against God and I've sinned against you. And he went back to his father and he went back. And when he's on his way to his father, his father embraced him and loved him. It's sometimes only when life really sucks do you go back to the father.

James Greer (09:31):
Some of you today need to go back to the father where you can really find true success. Go back to doing the right works that one day you can hear God the Father say, hey, well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. I'm going to tell you, when you're doing what God's called you to do, it's unbelievable joy in your life. Let's look at some of the things that really matter. You think it's what you do that really matters. Not necessarily. You think that's what's gonna make you happy. The truth is how you do what you do that really matters. You think it's where you work that matters. Not really. It's what you do at work that really matters. You think, oh, if I'm famous, that would really matter. If it matters, how come that show that comes on about six or seven o'clock, every time I turn it on, everybody that's so famous, seems like they're marrying somebody different about every other week.

James Greer (10:37):
I don't know. It must not matter too much. But see, what really matters is are you faithful and fruitful? That matters. How faithful, how fruitful are you? You think it's how much money you make. Nothing wrong with money, but how many lives are you changing with your money? You think that the things you could do with your money and the truth is how you use your money. You think it's about your kingdom. The truth is it's about God's kingdom. You think that that money could bring you freedom and success. And the truth is Matthew 6:33 says, seek ye first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, then everything is added to that. That's when further His kingdom, you have total dependence upon God, that's when you find a freedom and a security. You can't buy that. And when you start doing that, you hear well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord. Well, what is good works? I mean some of y'all have this book I think somewhere. Right here. Poor Josh. I sent it to him Saturday. I said, Josh, I'm going to change the message up a little bit. You like that, don't y'all? And I said, look, I had this on this little piece of paper. And I said, these are the things I'm going to preach about. What do you think? He said, I think I could do better.

James Greer (12:03):
I think he could too. Do y'all have this book? Open it up. These are just a few of the good works. But listen, don't you want to grow spiritually? Amen? That's the only way of guaranteeing that your life is going to get better. And that you can enter into a relationship with God. And you don't you want to hear God say, well done, thy good and faithful servant? You've been faithful in a few things. I'll make you ruler over many. Enter into the joy of the Lord. But most people don't know what really good works are. Let me tell you. But if you're saved and you have a healthy relationship, you long to serve God. You ready? Number one. How do you behave among the unsaved? I was in there talking to the staff this morning. You know what I said? It depends on what day it is for me. Like today, right after church, I'm pretty good. Come Monday, it depends what's going on. How do you behave at work, on hobbies, when nobody's around? 1 Peter 2:12, it gives us a great insight about what we're supposed to do. Be careful how you behave. Can I give you an insight? Be careful how you behave. Be careful how you behave at home. Be careful how you behave before your children. Be careful how you behave before your mate. But especially be careful how you behave among the unsaved. For then, even when they're suspicious, even they say, oh yeah, they say they're a Christian. Have y'all ever had a friend said, and you say you're a Christian? I have.

James Greer (13:51):
And even they talk against you and they will. They're going to end up praising God for your good what? Your good works. It might be when Christ returns but they're going to do it. It's good works. See, it's not your job and it's not my job to judge. And this doesn't matter if you're an employee or an employer. See, if you're an employee, you're saying praise God. I hope my employer's here. If you're the employer, you're saying, I hope my employees are here. It's not your job or my job to judge. It's not our job to judge them. It is our job to represent Christ to them. That's good, Brother James. Second of all, second of all, and what you do is be honest with yourself between one and 10. How do you do on representing, behaving yourself before. Number two, you give your money to further God's kingdom and His work. That's above your tithing. If you don't tithe, you suck. That's good, Brother James. We preaching today, man. Sometimes we don't but today we are. That's for online too. You can give online. We're just gonna have fun today. The truth will set you free. 1 Timothy 6:17 through 19, I command those who are rich in this present age. And some of y'all are saying, well, that counts me out. No, it doesn't. Because most of you in the United States are richer than the rest of the world if you're on welfare.

James Greer (15:35):
Uh-oh. Don't be haughty. Don't be cocky. Don't trust in the uncertainty of riches but in the living God. What kind of God is He? God is alive. Amen? He gives us richly all things to enjoy. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the money that God has given you. But let me tell you what? Also, let them do good, that they'd be rich in good works. Oh. Ready to give, willing to share. I mean God said, listen, that way you store up treasures in Heaven. If you don't know that, it's the best investment that you'll ever make, that they may lay up eternal life. In other words, you're laying up treasures for eternal life. Listen, so enjoy it but give. Find out, are you a tipper or tither? One to 10, how you doing? Three, three, showing hospitality, ministering to the ministers, helping relieve those in distress and being consistent about doing it. Man, I'm telling you, you're going to leave today, you're going to know what good works are and you know if you are a giver or a taker. The happiest people I know are those people that serve. They're the most satisfied. Okay. Listen, 1 Timothy 5:10. This is good. And she must have a reputation for good deeds or good works to one who has brought up her children. I hope they brought up and anyway. Who has practiced hospitality to strangers. Practiced it. It's a lifestyle. Washed the feet of the saint. By the way, this is St. James up here.

James Greer (17:32):
Help me to relieve the ones that are in distress. Devoted herself diligently to doing good in every way. Well, we don't minister to the saints just because they always need it. We do it because they deserve it. I don't know. One of the greatest stories in the Bible is when Jesus, He was there and there was a woman that came and ministered to Jesus. She washed His feet with perfume and some of the people started to stop. Man, we could sell this perfume. We can give it to the poor. And Jesus said, leave her alone. In fact, it was so great, Jesus said, she's going to be mentioned from now on. She didn't do it because Jesus needed it. She did it because Jesus deserved it. Amen? When we bring food to those people that are sick, those people that are in need, we're doing a good work. In fact, I went through the campus this week. We have two freezers. Two freezers. And for y'all that can cook frozen meals, ready to go to people, you might not be able to bring them. Y'all bring them to the church. Joy does not know that. But you call my secretary. She'll put them in the freezers. And then when we need them to bring them that people that are sick, people in need, people that have a need, we'll get them out and send them to them. Amen? So don't you want to do a good work? Don't you want to do a good work? And even if you're online, you can make a meal that can be frozen and taken out of the freezer and brought to somebody. That is a good work. And we're going to provide the freezer for you. Amen, Brother James. That's a great idea. The staff just doesn't know it yet. But they're going to love it. Right, Darrell? Amen?

James Greer (19:09):
Second service when the rest of them are here, they're going to have to handle it. They're going to be so excited. Aren't y'all excited? Aren't y'all excited that y'all can cook a meal and prepare it, freeze it where it's ready to go? Don't want your pan back because you won't get it back. So don't bring it in that. And we're going to put it in one of those freezers. And when it's ready, it's going to be here to go. Amen? Fourth, witness to the unsaved. You know, every one these, you judge yourself. It's really good if you'd be honest. You do know God's watching you. Witness to the unsaved. That's one of the greatest good works you could ever do. The Bible says in Matthew 5:16, it says, let your light so shine before men and women that they might see your good works and it glories the Father. There's a lot of ways to witness. You can witness that you tell them about Jesus Christ and how to go to Heaven. That's great. Amen? I try to do that every single Sunday. If you don't have one of these wordless books, it's one of the best things in the world. We'll furnish you one if you don't have one. It tells you that all sin comes short of the glory. I've sinned. You've sinned. You can them tell everybody at Journey Church is a sinner. Y'all are sinners.

James Greer (20:31):
Sin separates you from God, but God so loves you, He sent His only son. This blood represents the blood of Jesus Christ who died for your sins. If you know you sinned, you believe that Jesus died for your sins, if you invite Him into your heart and you want Him to forgive your sin, be the Lord of your life, He'll cleanse you from all your sin. And this gold means one day you'll go to Heaven. That's one way to witness. So if you don't have one of those and you want one of those, write it on your next step and give it to Darrell and Darrell will make sure you get one. Amen, Darrell? So you can do it. That's one way to witness. Man, we got all these brochures. Man, you tell me you go out and here's a never again list, 30-days for your marriage, all kinds of help, discouragement, depression, divorce, everything. Here's things you just tap in. You go to those websites. You can download it, give it. Here's a spiritual gift test. All these things, you can hand them out. There's devotion books. You can lay them out where you work. Man, you can witness all kinds of ways and we give them to you. Amen, Brother James. Are y'all excited? Let's be doing good works then.

James Greer (21:28):
The next one is not near as exciting. It's the good works of witnessing through suffering. It's the good works of suffering. These saints are great witnesses while they suffer. We have them that go to our church. Janet Fuqua. She witnessed right up to the day that she went to be with the Lord. Suffered and witnessed. Janice Rawlin. She's a great witness while she suffers. She just had brain surgery to remove the cancer. Amen? I've talked to her, I think of Saturday morning. Well, I think it was Saturday morning. And it's just been two weeks they removed the cancer and she called or they called her. She goes back Tuesday. It's already come back in the same spot. She'll be going for weeks of radiation. I want to encourage y'all to pray for her and the family. When she was telling me, she said it came back, I said crap. And she said something else. And I said crap. And her husband, Randy said, you're sure saying crap a lot. And she said, Randy, quit being so worldly. He means Christ is going to reverse another problem. Where have you been? I said, aw crap. Anyway. But really and truly, she's one of those people that's witnessing and living it out and suffering and greatest witness is through that. And it could be, I guess how you respond when you're mistreated if you want to use that one. Fred Ruggles has got cancer. I told him the other day, Fred, I'm so sorry. You know what he said? Don't be sorry for me. He said, I prayed and prayed and prayed that God would use me in a great way. I just didn't know it was going to be this way. These guys and girls and women are living it out.

James Greer (23:30):
2 Corinthians 4:16 through 18 says this. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying. By the way, all our bodies are dying. Our inner strength in the Lord is growing stronger every day. These troubles and sufferings in our lives after all are quite small and won't last very long. They're not small at all right now but he's talking about compared to eternity. Yet this short time of distress will result in God's richest blessings upon them forever and ever. How long? So this is important. So we don't look at what we can see right now. In other words, you can't do it. So don't look what you can see right now. All you can see right now is the suffering. Amen? You see the suffering, the troubles all around us. But we look forward to the joys in Heaven which we have not seen. The troubles will soon be over. You ready? But the joys to come are going to last forever. The only thing they have to look forward to is not the troubles and the problems and the suffering and the radiation and all this they go through. The only real thing they have to look forward to is the joy to come that's going to last forever. Amen? It's called the crown of life.

James Greer (25:27):
James 1:12 puts it this way. I don't really think it's blessing but he calls it blessing. He calls it happy. Is the man, the woman who is patient, that's under trials and stands up under temptations. For when he has stood in the test and he's been approved, that he's going to receive the victor's crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. In other words, there's going to be a reward in Heaven. There's going to be a joy that's going to last forever. But it's for those who witnessed while suffering. For you, if you're not going through anything, how do you respond when you're mistreated? Six, good work is those that finish the course, that finish the race, that don't quit. They don't quit church. They don't quit ministry. Because listen, being in the ministry is beautiful and it's brutal all at the same time. People are gonna say things. They're going to do things. They're going to hurt you. I know big babies that come to church. One little thing, I'm not coming anymore. Somebody said something to me. That's not persecution, you big old baby.

James Greer (26:40):
You see these people who are suffering with cancer and dang it, that's suffering. You're being a baby. I mean if you heard the things people say about me and do about me, man, it's unbelievable. Man, but I'm not going to quit because of that. If I was going to quit because of that, I would have quit a bunch of times. They say only one out of 10 people that start the ministry finish the ministry today. Stay the course. You're serving God anyway. Amen? 2 Timothy 4:6 says, I'm already being poured out like a drink offering. It's time for my departure as a hand. He didn't quit. He said, listen, I fought a good fight. Are you fighting a good fight? I'm going to finish the race. Don't give up. I've kept the faith. You know why? Because finally, finally, that laid up for me. What is a crown of righteousness? Which the Lord, the righteous judge. You're going to all be judged. Everybody's going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Not for your sin but for your works. He will give to me on that day. Not to me only but all who love His appearing. Let me tell you what, there's a time coming. Every one of us, me, you and everybody in this room, everybody that's saved, you're going to appear before God for your good works. And I'm telling you, a few of the good works that you're going to appear before, are you grading yourself one to 10? How are you doing? Seven. The good works of using your gifts and your talents. I'm not going to go into all that because I'm gonna preach some of it next Sunday.

James Greer (28:13):
But I'm gonna tell you what. You're going to be careful. If you're not using your gifts and talents, you're going to be sorry. Because you use it or you lose it. God will take it from you and give it to somebody else. And you don't enter into the joy of the Lord. In fact, I can show you where you feel like you're withering up and dying because you're not using your gifts. Matthew 25:21 says, the Lord said, well done, thy good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a few things. There are six few things that you can be faithful for. Here's number seven. I'll make you ruler over many. Enter into the joy of the Lord. He didn't say, oh man, Brother James, you are so talented. No, he did not. He said, use your talents. Use your gifts. God wants you to do greater works than Him. And there's never been a clearer understanding of what those good works are. You just got to be honest to yourselves and it's not too late to start today. Make a commitment that every single week I'm going to make a commitment to do good works. It starts by making sure Jesus Christ is your Savior. There's nobody here that needs to go home and not sure that Jesus will say. If He's not, I gave you the plan while ago. In a minute, we're going to give the invitation. There'll be people in the front and you can come and say, I don't want to give my life to Jesus Christ. Maybe some of y'all said, He's my savior but you know He's not your Lord because you're not having the joy of the Lord. You have lost the joy of the Lord because He's not the Lord of your life.

James Greer (29:46):
And you know He's not the Lord of your life because you're not following. He's not the authority. You're not doing these works. You would say, hey, I just failed the test. Wouldn't you rather fail the test today at Journey Church than before you appear before Him? Amen? So let's get. Let's move them up. Some of you are running from the Father and need to run back to Him. Some of you need to make a commitment today to start doing good works. Some of you need to say, hey, it's been hard to measure but today I can measure the things that really matter. Let's be honest with the questions that you were just asked. Start with the ones that you had the lowest score on and move up. Don't just stay where you're at. Do the good works. Hear the Father, well done, enter into the joy of the Lord. Would you stand? Father, thank you for the day. I think you that you can make it so clear what we're to do. You want us to accept you as Lord and Savior. You tell us clearly, clearly once we're saved, we're not saved by works. But once we're saved, we are saved to do good works. God, when we're doing the right works with the right way and the right attitude, we enter into a joy of the Lord that surpasses all understanding and today we have it clearly preached, God. We pray for the decisions that are going to be made for those that need you as Savior, those that want to come today and make you Lord.

James Greer (31:26):
God, we want those that want to come and join the church to make it public, follow through in public baptisms, those that want people to pray with them, to pray for them, those that want to make a commitment, God, that they want to start doing good works and now they know what they are. They just want to make it public. Those that say, hey, man, I want to make meals. I'll be bringing them here. I'll call the church and I'll tell Joy they're on their way as a way of good works. I'm going to witness to the unsaved where I work, during my hobbies and all. I'm going to be careful of my actions, be careful about my attitude. In fact, God, today, today, God, I need to confess. Place on my heart, God. Convict me that I really haven't been the witness that I should have been. Help me start today and Monday by the way I live, by the way I act, by the words I speak, by the material I give, God, that I'm a witness for you. Help me to enter into the joy of the Lord, God. God, I pray that you could have your will and your way today. I pray the Holy Spirit, God, would convict hearts, that people be truthful. And for those that really didn't do good on good works, that they would come today and kneel before this altar and say, God, forgive me. Holy Spirit, empower me. Help me to reenter into the joy of the Lord. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Bruce Goulart (32:59):
On behalf of Pastor James, man, thank you for joining our online experience today. We hope that you enjoyed today and week three of Born for Greatness. And this has been an amazing series so far about how we have been born from greatness. Now, if you need someone to pray with you right now, we have people on standby. And if you just go in the comment section and click the link, someone will get with you right away. And I hope that y'all have a great day today and a great week and we see you next Sunday.


Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.