Understanding How To Find Security Through Jesus Christ

James Greer: [00:00:00] Well, good morning, Journey Church. Man, that praise team rocked the house. Amen? Well, there's two main things I want you to get this morning. One is security and the danger of insecurity. There's a real danger of insecurity. And the other is the power under pressure. Did you know no matter what I did, if I shake this up, guess what's going to come out? Monster. The only one I'm going to really shake up is water though. I really want to shake that Coca-Cola and spray it. I mean, that's what I want to do. That's not. Huh? Here. No, give me that back. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Red Bull. If I open this, what do you think is going to come out? I'd really like this Monster, but Debbie won't let me drink it. I might could in here. But the whole point is this. This gets shook up and I open it, what's on the inside, it's going to come out. Amen? And guess what's true about you? When you get shook up, you believe it or not, what's on the inside coming out. Yeah, man. And so many people, though, are trying to live a life with a false sense of security. And when you do that, you're going to always fail. See, a false sense of security, you live with fear and doubts of yourself and other people.

James Greer: [00:01:31] I can tell you how you know if you have a false sense of security. You're always worried about what somebody else says or does. You know, you'll go to your mate or you'll go to your friend and you'll say, Can you believe the way they looked at me? I just look like that. But they really do. Are you worried about, Can you believe they said that about me? So you're really trying to get your security and your worth from somebody else. So you've got to be careful about it. Even Pilate with all his power and the priests with all their prestige, they had a false sense of security. They falsely believe with their power and their possessions and their prestige that they could find security and peace. But they couldn't. See, they called Jesus the deceiver. But the truth is they had been deceived, and they didn't have security. If you have - you ready? If you have fear and insecurities, it's because of one of two things. Either you have been deceived or you're not saved. Either you've been deceived or you're not saved. Now there's moments of insecurity. Like the last service, I got ready to preach, and I couldn't find my Bible. You talk about insecure. Y'all think I preach bad now. If I had preached without my Bible, y'all would have been in trouble. And then when I found it, I finally found it, it fell underneath the chair.

James Greer: [00:03:05] And I got up here, and my notes were out of order. So I preached five, four, two, one. I just said, Amen. I get to the back. Debbie said, Well, what page were you on? I said, I don't know. Whichever one popped up. She said, Will you do better this time? I said, I don't know. I hope so. But anyway, everybody has moments of insecurity. Every time I get ready to preach, I have moments of insecurity. But you just push through. I'm talking about a life of insecurity. Because let me tell you, this is very dangerous. Unhealthy insecurity leads to unhealthy decisions. There's people that are living a lifestyle of unhealthy insecurity, and it's affecting their marriages, their job, their finance, their family, and their friends. Because they're making unhealthy decisions within their marriage and their friends because they have an unhealthy insecurity. And it's dangerous, and it's hurting them. An unhealthy insecurity might be their mate. It could be their boss. It could be a friend that's made them feel insecure about maybe the way they look. Everybody can't look like me. Thank God. I know. But somebody has said something about them, and now they feel insecure. And so now they're making unhealthy decisions because of that. I also want us to learn about the power under pressure and whatever's on the inside does come out. I mean, we're going to learn about a man named Joseph of Arimathea who asked for Jesus' body.

James Greer: [00:04:55] And man, I'm going to tell you, you talk about he's known as a secret disciple. But he was under real pressure because whether Jesus was hanging on the cross or whether He was dead, he went and asked them for His body. You say, well, what pressure was that even though he was known as the secret disciple? Well, Romans were a mean motor scooters. Sometimes they would take Christians and cut their heads off and stick them on stakes. Now, if you walked around and you saw some Christians' heads cut off and their head was on stake, you'd think twice about saying, Hey, I'm a Christian. Amen? But yet what happened to him, what was on the inside came out when all the pressure came. Now, what I want to ask you, what comes out when you're under pressure? That's not near as much fun, is it? Sometimes I do good. Sometimes I do bad. But what I'm telling you either way, what's on the inside comes out. This Monster/Bull. He the bull. And if I open this, which I would really like to, but I can't figure out which way it'd spray. If I knew I could spray Josh, I would do it. Or if I could spray Michael, I know I would do it. But if I sprayed my new yellow shirt. You want to spray your daddy? Look at him.

James Greer: [00:06:35] If you pull this, which way does it go? Oh, that's not too bad, huh? But I can't pop this and get that. It's impossible. And when you pop a top, whatever's in you comes out. Amen? So now if I'm full of Christ and I pop, it's all, I love you, Jesus. I can tell you a lot of times that's not what comes out. But that's what should come out. That's what happened here. Let me tell you, in Matthew 27:57, it says, Now when the evening had come, there was a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had become a disciple of Jesus. But it explains who he was in John 19:38. It says, Now after this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly. Why? Because he feared the Jews. Well, what I say about that is there's a lot of secret Christians today. Now, what I'm not going to say - the first service, y'all, all the staff and everybody was waiting for me in the back. They said, Do not say that anymore. You know me. I don't know. I just say it. And what I was talking about, if you're a silent Christian, maybe it's for you time to stand up and be a Christian, right? Amen? So I'm saying, hey, it's time for all the Christians to come out of the closet. And they said, quit saying that.

James Greer: [00:08:11] Quit saying that. So I'll won't say that anymore. What I'm talking about it's time for all the Christians to quit being silent and to speak up. How about that? That better? Y'all like that better? I had another word, but they said don't say that either. Y'all want to hear that one? No. I can hear it in my mind. I can laugh at my own self. Don't say it. Okay. Just like many of us loved Jesus, we're lovers and learners of Christ. Yet because of fear, we don't speak of Christ. There's going to come a time that every one of us is going to have to make a choice that are followers of Christ. Whether we're going to bleed the Word, speak the Word, or we're going to live like the world. The truth is Joseph, who was called the secret disciple, actually had more courage than all the other disciples because they had all left. What I'm trying to tell you, when pressure really comes, real pressure, what's on the inside really comes out. Here we are, 2,000 plus years later, and we're talking about Joseph. You know why? Because to make a difference, you have to be different. Anybody can live like the world today, but to be a Christian, you have to be different. I tell you what's going on in Ukraine, that president in Ukraine, you do understand that in Ukraine, they're 85% Christian. They're slaughtering them over there.

James Greer: [00:09:55] But that president, he's making a difference. I mean, we're going to remember him. You know, you got to be courageous. Did you know in Matthew 10:32 it says, Therefore whosoever confesses me before men, him will I also confess before My Father who is in Heaven? But you know it says, But whosoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in Heaven. That's so important because, listen, I want to be able to go to Jesus and pray and I want Him to bring my prayers to the Father. And when I bring him to the Father, I want some Heaven to come to earth. Amen? But what He's saying, if we keep denying the Father on Earth, when my prayers get to Heaven, He's just saying, oh, no, he was ashamed of me. So I'm going to be ashamed of him. It doesn't mean that you're not going to get into Heaven. But I'm going to tell you, I need some Heaven on earth while I'm here. Amen? You need some prayers answered when you're going through the toughest times in your life. And He says that we need to stop denying Him while we're here on Earth. We need to stand up for Him. And He said, I'll stand up for you. Might as well do it now because you're going to do it anyway.

James Greer: [00:11:05] Philippians tells us this. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him, talking about Jesus, and He's given him a name which is above all other names. You know what I can tell you about Jesus name above all other names? You can be around. Everybody can talk about, Oh, there's God, there's a higher power. I loved it. Thursday night, I went by CR. Man, it was fantastic. See, CR, celebrate recovery. We were there and they baptized two people Thursday night. Amen? We not only baptize here on Sundays, we baptize Thursday night and any other time they want to leave to the Lord. If they want to, we'll baptize. But we baptized them in that trough. It was freezing cold. I loved it. I watched it. They got one guy to do it. He's going to remember when they got baptized, brother. Then that other one got in. Baptized. He was cold. But, man, He got baptized, man. Amen? That in the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, those in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth. See, what happens, you can talk about God, but man, when you start talking about Jesus Christ, people get quiet. That every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. So we're going to do it. So why not do it now? Amen? Point number two. You ready? Point number two. Jesus borrowed His tomb anyway. Did you know that Jesus doesn't need anything from you? It's what you need from Him.

James Greer: [00:12:27] See, when Joseph had taken the body and he wrapped it in some clean linens and he laid it in a new tomb. He was going to give it back to them anyway. Which he had hewed out of a rock. And he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb and departed. And then guess who? Mary Magdalene. We're going to talk about her next Sunday. Guess what next Sunday is. Easter. Bring somebody with you. Amen? Y'all know who Mary Magdalene was? We're talking about it next Sunday. She was the one that had seven demons cast out of her. And yet she wasn't afraid. She was there. She loved Jesus for what He had done, not what He was fixing to do. And she was there. And the other Mary was sitting opposite the tomb. See, it's important because they were there. They really didn't believe in the resurrection. They were there because they loved Jesus because of what He had already done, because the life He had already lived. You know what's so important about that? What matters to you and me is what we do now. Because when we die, there's nobody in this room is going to be raised on the third day. Only Jesus did that. So the difference you're going to make is how you're living right now. Your good works are going to follow you when you die. So you need to be living it out right now.

James Greer: [00:13:52] So what do you want people to say when you die? If this was your funeral and somebody was going to say something about you, what would you want to say? I wrote down something and I put it in the front of my Bible and my wife doesn't even know it. So if I die, y'all tell her to open the front of my Bible. Amen? I'm hoping. Surely if I die, somebody's going to open my Bible. But maybe not. But if I die, it's this. Read this at my funeral please. It says, Matthew 6:33, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteous, and all these things shall be added unto you. Therefore, you don't have to worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow, it'll worry about its own things. It's sufficient for the day itself. Because I know what I want my legacy to be, and I can get to live it out. I live my life trying to further God's Kingdom. And to do that, I have to be totally dependent on Christ to meet all my needs. He has to be the source and the only source to meet my needs, which results in me not having to worry about tomorrow, getting my joy in life more than anybody could imagine. And as a result of that, I get to enjoy Ephesians 3:20. I'm talking about I enjoy it with my marriage, my finances, my family, my work, my church, in every single area of my life.

James Greer: [00:15:06] Ephesians 3:20 says, now to him who is able to exceedingly, abundantly above all that you ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory of the church by Jesus Christ forever and ever. See, so what I want to do is just do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you can ask. I get to do that because of Matthew 6:33 and 34. But what I'm asking you, do you know what you want to be remembered for? Do you know what you want others to say? If you do, write it down and start living it now because when you die, you're not coming back alive. You dead. You're either going to Heaven or hell. That's it. There's no in-between. That's all she wrote. Revelation 14 tells us this. I heard a voice from Heaven saying to me, Write: Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord from now on. Isn't that great? If you live the right life at your death, God says blessed are the dead. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors. It doesn't say rest from your labors now. And their works are going to follow them. Some of you don't even know what the works that are going to follow you are. But you can go to JWGreer.com and you can find it. There's a works checklist there. But Tim Tebow in his book Mission Impossible said some people are trying to make it so hard.

James Greer: [00:16:38] I can make it simple for you. He said, wake up every morning and open your eyes and see what's happening around you and see who's in need. Open up your heart. See who needs love and give them some love. Open up your hands and see who's in need and give them what they need. And if you do just those two things, before long, you open up your eyes, open up your heart, and open up your hands, before long, you're doing the good works of God. Isn't that something? He took something that we try to make hard, and he made it simple. But the truth is when they put Jesus down, you know what? Number three, you can't keep a good man down. You just can't do it. Because it says in verse 62, on the next day, which followed the day of preparation, the chief priest and the Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, sir, don't you remember? While He was still alive, how that deceiver. They were the ones deceived. After three days, He would rise. Guess what? He did. Therefore command that the tomb may be secure. Say secure. They were trying to find their security in the wrong place. Until the third day, lest the disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people. And He did. He was risen from the dead.

James Greer: [00:18:01] And did He rise from the dead? Say amen. For the last deception would be worse than the first. See, they said they didn't believe it, but even in their disbelief, they still feared. That is called insecurity. They didn't believe Him, but they still feared Him. They were still insecure about Him. That's the way insecure people live. They say, I don't believe, but they're still insecure about the person. See, there's a lot of difference between deception and perception. See, deception is misleading. You feel like you're misled, intentionally sometimes. It's a falsehood. The devil is a deceiver. Revelation 12:9 says, the devil and Satan who deceives the world. In John 8:44, it's talking about the devil. You are of your father the devil who is a murderer and a liar. A perception, though, is knowledge gained, is to become aware of. And that's what we want. We want you to have knowledge gained, to become aware of because then you know the truth, and the truth will then set you free. And then it picks up in verse 65 where Pilate said to them, You have a guard. Go your way and make it secure as you know how. See, man, they were wanting to make this thing as secure as possible. See, unhealthy, insecure people leads to unhealthy decisions. Verse 66 says this. So they went and they made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting a guard.

James Greer: [00:19:48] See, the chief priests and the Pharisees, they were trying to find their security in people, places, things. Stone means power. See, whenever you're trying to find your security in anything other than Christ, you're running around being an insecure person. And unhealthy insecurity leads to unhealthy decisions. See, they put Jesus on the cross because of popularity and their insecurity and jealousy. Insecure people worry and get upset about what other people think. I can tell you if you're living insecure. You come and tell your mater or your friend, Can you believe the way they looked at me? Can you believe what they said to me? Can you believe they didn't call me? Can you believe they're over there with our other friends? Can you believe? And so you're insecure. See, you're really more worried about what other people are thinking and doing and saying than what Christ thinks about you. Man, I tell you, I went to a conference this week, and I'm reading a book this week. And they both said, If you're not careful, do you know when you look at somebody, your mind already tells you what you think they're thinking of you? Kelly, my mind's already telling me what you're thinking, so stop thinking it. That's better, Heather. You're either lying or it's okay. Did you also know that your mind automatically tries to think negative? They tell you when you look at somebody or something, that usually automatically your mind tells you negative thoughts.

James Greer: [00:21:29] So you have to retrieve or reroute your mind or you're automatically going to start thinking negative about people, places, and things. So if you're not careful, I'm looking at Bobby and I'm thinking Bobby's not enjoying my message. Now, Bobby, you better start. Wake up and let's get with it. Just because you're sleeping, I know you're enjoying it. You're meditating. You're a little cold and you're meditating, right? You meditate with your eyes closed. I know that. But my mind would say you're sleeping. But you're not because you snore. I just rerouted my brain. Amen? And now I'm fine. So what I'm telling you is that insecure people would say that Heather was faking the smile and Bobby was really sleeping and Kelly doesn't want me to know what she's thinking. But what I say is, man, I'm going to enjoy preaching no matter what because I'm here for the power and presence of God. He's got me here on purpose for a purpose. And that purpose comes from God and it's for you. Amen? And so you get to enjoy it. So you see what you got to do? You see how insecure Pilate was? You see how insecure the priests were? Oh, no, no. We're we think He's dead. But let's just what? Let's put a stone on it. Oh, we think He's dead. Let's put a guard there.

James Greer: [00:22:50] Oh, let's do this. Let's seal it. Let's cover it. See, how insecure, how fearful they were? When you're insecure, you're worried and you're fearful and you're worried about everybody else. But when you're secure in Christ, you're not. I'll tell you another way to be secure. You ready? We got to rock and roll. 2 Peter 1:3 and 4. I love this. His divine power has given us everything we need. Isn't that great? You have everything you need. Everything you need to live life. And godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. You got everything you need. You know it? Everything you need. Through this. I love this. He has given us His very great and precious promises. You know what His promises are? They're not only great, but they're precious. So that through them, you may participate in His divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil. So there's two ways that you can find security. One, you find security in who you are in Christ, you're loved, you're accepted, and you're secure. And the other way you find security, in God's great and precious promises. Not other people and not things. See, you don't find true security in what you have, how you're dressed, where you live, what your IQ is, but who you are in Christ. That you're accepted.

James Greer: [00:24:16] You're forgiven. You're significant. You're fearfully and you're wonderfully made. See, because situations and circumstances and people are going to change. But Christ is not. In closing, I want you to know this. Are you secure in Christ? To be secure in Christ, Christ has to be your Savior. If you're here today and Christ is not your Savior, today is the day to accept Him as your Savior. I mean, when we give the invitation in just a minute, invite Jesus Christ in your Savior. Just know that you've sinned, believe He died for your sins, and come invite Him in your heart. Maybe it's time for you to quit being a secret Christian. Say, Hey, I need to start making a stand for Christ. I don't want to deny Him, and I sure don't want Him to deny me before the Father. Are you living what you want to be remembered for? I mean, right now, if you died, what would people say? Now, why don't you start living for what you want to be remembered for? Why don't you do this? Today, why don't you take the time and say, I want to write down what I want to be remembered for? And then why don't you start living that way? Would you ask God? God, would you open my eyes where I could see the needs around me? Would you open my heart where it would be soft, where I can love those around me?

James Greer: [00:25:54] You do understand the longer you're in the ministry, the more you get hurt. And if you're not careful, your heart will get hard and sorrowful. And I'm telling you, if you're in the ministry very long, you can get hurt a lot. And if you're not careful, you'll just have a hard heart and you'll just close people off. Don't do that. Jesus was hurt over and over and over. Even at the cross, He said, God forgive them, for they don't know what they do. So forgive them. Have a soft heart and say, God, open my heart and see who needs loving. God, open my hand. See who I can give to. Stop trying to get your security in people, places, and things. And quit reacting to what other people think and say, how they look at you. Let this be a reminder through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. When you worry about when somebody hasn't called you or the way they look at you or when they're talking about you, let the Holy Spirit remind you, you're trying to get your security from them instead of Christ. Stop it. Control your mind. Reroute it. You're in control. You can do all things. You can take your mind into captivity. You've got the powerful and precious promises of God. So quit doing that. Unhealthy, insecurities, listen, lead to unhealthy decisions. And some of y'all are making unhealthy decisions just because you're unhealthy in your security.

James Greer: [00:27:26] And today you could change that. You could say, hey, I'm going to start getting my security in Christ. So would you stand and let me pray with you and pray for you? God. I thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ. And because of Him, we can be secure in Christ. Not only that, we can know that we can go to Heaven. We know that we're loved. We know that we're accepted. We know there's no condemnation. Father, for those here, they don't know you, though they need to, maybe it's the day that they accept you as their personal Savior. Maybe those that have been making unwise decisions and they never really realized it just because they were unhealthy and insecure. And today they want to change that security and put it in Christ. Maybe somebody just needs somebody to pray with them and pray for them. You said, all the heavy laden, let them come unto me and find rest. Maybe they need to follow through in public baptism. Maybe they don't feel like they were baptized after they were saved or never were baptized. And today's the day they want do that. Maybe they just want to come to church or just have something on their heart. They need somebody to pray with and pray for. God, whatever you lay up on their heart, I pray they'd let you have your way in their life. It's in the name of Jesus I pray.

Bruce Goulart: [00:28:39] Man, what an amazing message that was. Hey, and if that is you, the person that needs to take that next step, I want to encourage you right now to text the word 'MOVE' to (318) 413-6422. That number is (318) 413-6422, and the word is 'MOVE'. There's a little thing right now that tells you everything that you need to text and the number. So I just want encourage you, hey, go ahead and text if that is you that needs to make that next step. And baptism could be one of them. Salvation can be one of them or just prayer. So we would love for you to text that right now. But again, I just want to say thank you so much for being with us. And hey, next week is Easter. So I want to encourage you to come in service next week. Come in person. Come see us all next week as we prepare for Easter, as we get ready for Easter. Y'all, this is going to be an amazing day, and there's going to be an amazing afterparty for the kids and for families. So I hope to see you next week here at Journey Church. Thank you.

Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.