Word or the World
Understanding How To Receive The Fruits Of The Spirit
James Greer
Jun 6, 2021 26m
When we are influenced by the Word rather than the world, God blesses us with the fruits of the spirit. He does not lie nor does He change. The Word is alive and the Word gives us hope and strength. If we want to grow in the Lord, we need to heed to Word of God. He is the ultimate authority. Video recorded at Pineville, Louisiana.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
James Greer: [00:00:00] Well, good morning, Journey Church. I'm excited about starting a new series, though it might seem a little controversial. But it really shouldn't be because I teach the truth, the truth will set you free. Amen? And what's happened is some people just start judging the series before they even hear the message. I mean, so what's your answer if somebody says, well, I hear that you are teaching about the LGBTQ? Well, first of all, you just say, well, you know, I understand that John 13:34 says, a new commandment I give you. You know what the new commandment is? Yeah, that's right. That you love one another. As I have loved you, you should also love one another. By this, you'll know that you are my disciples. If you love one another. You know, it didn't say you just love certain people. It didn't say if it was no matter who they are, no matter what they did, God said, you know, if you're a disciple, you're going to love them. Amen? So everything that we do in the next few weeks is to be done in love and grace and truth. But before I get into the message, I'm going to tell you why that I think that we should be teaching all the things that we're going to be teaching. We're going to be teaching on LGBTQ plus. We're going to be teaching on some racism. We're going to be teaching on police and authority. But the main reason I'm addressing these different subjects and situations, not to cause more controversy. We have enough controversy today. Amen? But to do the opposite. One is that I think people need to know the truth. Amen? But I want to know, what I want you to know is it doesn't matter what your gender, your nationality, your economic status, your race. You ready? The more of God's Word you know and the more you obey it, the more you'll be blessed.
James Greer: [00:02:01] Oh, Brother James, that is so good. Everybody here ought to write it down. It's not your notes. The more of God's Word you know, don't matter who you are, the more you know and the more you obey, the more you be blessed. And see, I want to have a blessed people. Amen? You know, you can have more love and joy and peace. That's what the world is looking for. And I don't know, for some reason, we don't talk about it. There's verses like Psalms 1:2 and 3, it says, but they delight in His law, which is the Word of the Lord. And His law, His Word, you think about it and meditate day and night, you'd be like a tree that's planted by the rivers of the water and He'll bring forth fruit. I'll tell you some of the fruit. In this season whose leaves shall never wither. You know what else it says? And whatsoever he does shall prosper. Whatever you do. Don't you want to have a prosperous life? Say amen. He says, let me tell you how to prosper. You think about God's Word and you do what God says, He said, doesn't matter what you do, no matter what you do or what you say, you're going to prosper. He said, and you're going to be fruitful. If you don't know what fruitful is, Galatians 5 says that. Galatians 5 says, listen, the fruit of the spirit, the effects of knowing and obeying God's Word. You know what it is? Love, joy, and peace. Everybody, doesn't matter who it is, needs more love, joy, and peace. Amen? Longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, gentleness. Against such there is no law. I'm going to give you one more verse. Luke 11:29. Oh, I do. I love this. Jesus replied to Journey Church. Jesus has got a message for you, Journey Church. Amen? See, you came today and you thought, the message isn't for me. The message is for you. The message for me. The deal is, are you going to accept the message?
James Greer: [00:03:58] Every time I preach, Satan is trying to steal the message and the Word from you. You have to make up your mind, whether you're here, you're online, upstairs, you've got to say, my heart is open and I'm going to receive God's Word. Amen? And here's a word. Jesus replies to you. But even more blessed. Anybody needs more blessings? Y'all better wake up. I know I do. Anybody need more blessings? You know what He says you need more blessings? all who do what? Hear the Word of God and put it into practice. That is good. You know what? He doesn't even say what area. Whatever area you need to be more blessed in, He said, look, hear the Word and practice the Word. Man, your ears ought to perk up. Say, Brother James is going to preach. I'm going to hear it. I'm going to practice it. I'm going to be more blessed. That's what it says. You can be more blessed emotionally, financially, spiritually, whatever it is. That is the reason I'm preaching a new series called True Colors. Amen? Because I want you to be more blessed in every area of your life. And see, there's something different. See, I know this is true. I get to live this out and I get to see it. I get to see people that come into church and their life, their marriage, their finances is a mess. And man, they get started, they get into God's Word, they get saved, and their life gets turned around. They get so blessed, it's unbelievable. I get to see the transformation process and then I know God's Word is true. Not only do I get to see it, I believe it, I get the experience it. But I want you to do that. Amen? You know what else? Next Sunday, you ought to be here. Next Sunday, we're going to give you out a little booklet says, How can I talk to my kids about LGBTQ? Man, when I went to church, nobody gave us those kind of helps. Do you have kids? Say amen. Steven, we're going to be praying for you and the kids, going to kids camp. Amen? Excited for you. But, man, we want the parents to be able to help and talk to the kids the right way about the right things. Amen? So as we begin this new series, man, I want you to be praying with us and for us. I mean, next Sunday, we're going to be talking about same sex attraction.
James Greer: [00:05:59] Well, everybody say, oh, yeah, yeah. How about opposite sex attraction? If you got a passion and passion is great if you do it the right way. But it doesn't matter if you have the same sex attraction, the opposite sex attraction. Listen, if it's the wrong way, it's going to cause you problems. Sure getting quiet now. It's still true. I mean, did you know when I first started saying, I'm going to be preaching about LGBTQ, I had to Google it. Man, Google is brilliant. Anyway, I had to get the definition. I had to get Google definition. Says lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and query questioning. That's the ultimate definition. Now, all of y'all didn't know that. Half of y'all didn't know what the whole definition was. But we're going to teach you about that. We're going to be teaching about racism and police and authority. But see, I believe you have to have an ultimate authority. You got to have an ultimate authority and I'm sure not it. See, you've got to decide, do you want the, this is good. You ready? You got decide do you want the Word or the world to be your authority. See, I believe if you don't have the Word as your ultimate authority, you have chaos because you really don't have authority. When you really have total chaos, it's because you don't have the right authority in your life. If you would look, you can watch TV and look at the world, it's in a chaotic mess. Amen? But that wasn't God's will. That's not God's way. He told us in 1 Corinthians 14:33, He has a whole different purpose. Listen, God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. You know, of peace, calmness. As in all the churches of the saints. God said, you're in church, if you're saved, you're a saint. I told y'all call me St. James from now on. Amen?
James Greer: [00:08:03] God's not the author of confusion. See, number one, Jesus doesn't want us to have chaos. He wants calmness in your life. Wouldn't that be nice? Just be calm in your home, calm with your kids. Good luck, Steven. Calm in your job. Just calmness. Are you allowing the world to influence you? Are you allowing your workers to influence you? Now, it's okay to have friends influence you as long as they're the right friends. Are they drawing you closer to God? Are you allowing the Word to influence you? You're being influenced. You just have to be self-aware enough to know who and how you're being influenced. Many times in my life, the more self-aware I get, I learn who and how I've been influenced in my life. This is real important. You got to decide if you want to be self-aware of yourself enough to know how you're being influenced. Because when you learn how you've been influenced in the past and even in the present, many times what you learn, you have to unlearn and relearn. If you want to grow in the Lord and grow in your relationship, you will have to have self-awareness and many times you'll have to what? Learn, unlearn, and relearn. Let me tell you. It doesn't matter what your nationality, doesn't matter what your color is, doesn't matter what it was. But growing up in an environment, you may have learned things and been taught things. You ready? If you'll be self-aware that now you have to unlearn and relearn.
James Greer: [00:09:56] Brother James, I am bringing it. Y'all just didn't even know it. Do I had to get clear with y'all? I'm going to stand up if y'all don't come on. Some of y'all, is the camera okay? Some of y'all grew up in a family that y'all have such racism that y'all would've thought, boy, if they were black, it was a whole bad thing. Amen? Some of the blacks grew up thinking all whites were bad. Amen? I'm not going to talk about the Mexicans because Darrell's not here. Well, it just wouldn't be fair. Amen? But what I'm telling you, if you'll be truthful, if you'll be self-aware, every one of us grew up in a culture or a family, there's things that we learn that they influenced us. Now, many times if you'll be true, God's word is the truth and we got to unlearn them and then learn the truth. Oh, go ahead, Brother James. Amen? The problem with the truth is this. You ready? The ultimate, if it's not the ultimate authority, your perception becomes the truth. And your perception is the truth to you, even when it's not the truth. If you have kids or you have grandkids or you're in relation with some people and you absolutely have a truth in God's Word, but they have a perception of the truth, they will argue with you and they think they're right. That's why it's so important that you come to the point that you got to have a truth. John 8:32 says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. You want true freedom? It's God's Word. He's the ultimate authority. It says, therefore, if the Son, the Son is Jesus Christ. Who's the son? Jesus Christ. Makes you free, you're free indeed. Don't you want to be free? Amen?
James Greer: [00:11:51] Point number two, there has to be an authority. If God's Word doesn't become your authority, it'll be how you feel that day. You're in trouble. It'll be the TV and the media. That will get you in trouble. It can be politics. They change and change and change. It could be a party. That'll get you in trouble. It can be parents even. It can be a race. It could be the world. Let me give you John 1:1. This is who needs to be your authority. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God. Uh-oh. And the Word was what? God. And the Word was God. My goodness, I believe in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and Word was God. I think with God and was God. I think the Word, it should be the ultimate authority. Amen? See, the Word is the authority. The Word, God spoke the Word. You know how powerful it is? And the whole world came into being. He just spoke it. That's how powerful the Word is. But I'm not talking about that kind of Word and world influence. I'm talking about how the world society, if you're not careful, how if you're not careful, it influences you. The more of God's Word you know, the more of God's will you know. Just a few reasons I chose to believe the Word instead of the world. You do know one of the key sayings today is I'm going to believe God's Word versus the world. Amen? Numbers 23:19 is so important. God isn't, He's not like man that He should lie. You know why it says He's not like man? He said, men lie. Everybody in here has told a lie before. You don't want to lie, you shouldn't lie, and you probably don't lie like [inaudible]. But everybody's probably lied at some time or another. God said, I'm not like that. Nor is the son of man. He doesn't lie either. That He should ever change His mind. As He said, He will not do it. Or has He spoken? Will He not fulfill it?
James Greer: [00:14:05] I love it. Man, God says, whatever I say, it's going to happen. Behold, I receive a command to bless, he is blessed. He can't revoke. I love that because God said, not only am I not blind, I can't lie. When I gave you a promise, it's going to come about and you can count on it. Man, I'm telling you what. You don't see much of that in the world. Listen, a lasting, you ready? A lasting, intimate relationship has to be based on two things, trust and truth. And God said, you can trust me. I'm going to tell you the truth every time. And when I tell you something is going to come about. Did you know Titus 1:2 says? It says, in hope of eternal life, everybody here wants to have eternal life. In fact, everybody here, you're going to have eternal life. It just means where it's going to be. God cannot lie. Promised before the world even began. Somebody else might lie to you but God can't lie. Hebrews 6:18 says, it's impossible for God to lie. It's not maybe. It's absolutely, it says, it is impossible for Him to tell a lie. Look at Hebrews 6:17 and 18. Listen. I love this verse. God wants to prove that His promises were true to those who would give what He promised. Isn't that something? God wants to prove to you that His promises are true. And He wanted them to clearly that His promises never change. So He made an oath. This is unbelievable. So He made an oath that two things cannot change. God cannot tell a lie when He makes a promise. Do you know how important that is?
James Greer: [00:16:02] Do y'all know how many promises are in the Bible? Do you know I have a little book that says God's promises, and when I have a problem, I go to the promise? And God now, He said, listen, first of all, I can't lie so there it is. Second of all, He says, I'm going to prove to you that it'll come about. That is powerful. These things should encourage us who came to God, who gives you safety, who gives you strength. I mean, my goodness gracious. I mean, God says, listen, I'm going to encourage you, I'm going to give you a promise that I can't lie, and I'm going to prove to you. So there's at least four reasons God is my ultimate authority. Number one, He can't lie. Number two, God's Word won't change. I've never seen so many people change their minds. It's almost like whatever's popular at the time, that's what you're going to believe. I mean, Isaiah says it this way. The grass with flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. That's good. Andrew, come see me. You good looking. I know you had to borrow that from Scot [inaudible]. Not everybody has those good looking suit like that. What y'all don't know, what y'all don't know. Come up here. These suits used to be in fashion.
Andrew: [00:17:28] Used to be.
James Greer: [00:17:29] Used to be. Oh, sorry. They still, hey, I used to have one like that. Mine was blue.
Andrew: [00:17:33] You going to wear it next week?
James Greer: [00:17:34] No. In fact, I couldn't even find mine. But of course, Scott could find and he let you borrow it.
Andrew: [00:17:42] I don't think he could fit in it.
James Greer: [00:17:44] He don't think you could fit in it anymore. Well, make sure he leaves it here. Can I tell you something? Fads and fashions change. Let's hear it. Amen? But God's Word doesn't change. Can you believe people wear those things? I did. Politics, politics and politicians, they change. Traditions change or they just fade away. Let me give you an example. Religion and denominations today are changing. They come and go. It was not long ago, y'all ready? There was a denomination that said, we don't believe that gays should be the pastor of a church. That's what they said. That's what they voted. Now, recently, they just voted again. And now they say, we think it's okay. They voted right here in our state and right here in our city as well. Now, that same denomination said, we think it's okay and now they have gays as pastor of their church. See, so religion changes, denominations change, politics and fashion change. Your friends might change. Your mate might even change. My goodness, don't you understand why God's Word has got to be the authority? It never changes. Amen? You know, it's just things that don't change. The third reason God's Word has got to be my ultimate authority is because it's alive and it's powerful. Hebrews 4:12 says this. It says, God's Word is living, it's powerful, In other words, it says it's active. It's alive. You know, Jesus is not dead, but He's alive. Amen? I mean, He's powerful enough to take care of your greatest and deepest need. See, I don't know what your greatest need is. I do know somebody that does. I can't take care of your needs, but God can. He said, not only am I active, not only am I alive, He said I am powerful. It might be a financial, emotional, spiritual need. God said, I'm active, I'm living, I'm alive, and I'm powerful enough. That Word powerful here, it meant, listen, I'm powerful in action.
James Greer: [00:19:52] I'm an energy delivering God. He says, like plugging into a working light socket. I produce power. What He's saying is, why don't you plug into my promise that I promise to provide? Plug in. Fourth reason, He'll never leave you. Isn't it great to have somebody? Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. You want to get happy? Just start being content with what you have. Amen? Not on what you don't have. Focus on what you do have. For He Himself said, I'm going to never leave you or forsake you. See, somebody might leave, but it won't be Jesus. He's not going to leave or forsake you. He said, because you can now boldly say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Why are you worrying about man for? I mean, you got God on your side. You got the LORD on your side. He's got the whole angel army on His side. He just says one word and He can protect you and He can provide for you. He said, listen, others might leave you. Your boss might betray you. Your mate might leave you. Hope not. Girlfriend, boyfriend might leave. But God said, I'm never going to leave you. God's Word will not forsake. It won't leave you. You need to go to God. Men? I'm going to begin to close. Man, God had a word for us all. Amen? To have Jesus as a helper, you got to have Jesus as your Savior. Who have you been depending on to save you? Yourself? I'm fixing to work on a new series. It's called Pastors Big Ask. So I have to be really careful. And I'm going to get to ask you some things. And one of the things I'm going to ask you, I didn't say it, did I? Anyway, one of my questions.
James Greer: [00:22:00] I'm afraid too many people come to our church that say they're saved are trying to save themselves instead of letting the Savior save them. I don't know what you're going through right now, but I can guarantee you, everybody here has something. I do, you do, we all do. The main reason we probably start coming to church is because we had so many problems we need to deal with and you said maybe that's going to help. Well, He is. He is the Savior. And today, I want you to relax. Quit trying to save yourself. You got a Savior and His name is Jesus. And I want you to give your problems to Him today. If you've never accepted Him as your Lord and Savior to bring you to Heaven, today is the day to do that. You can do it online, you can do it in your next step. But man, we got counselors in the front that will be with you and pray with you and tell you how to do that and know that you sinned, believe He died for your sins, you want Him to come in your heart and be the Lord of your life. If He is your Savior, He made it real clear today that He gave you some promises. The promises are for your problems. If you've got a problem, the best thing to do is find a promise for that problem. We have people that'll help you do that. If they can't do it right now, they will before the day is over. They'll find you a promise for your problem. You've got to promise to the problem, you meet the conditions of the promise, and you practice meeting the condition of the promise, and God will give you the provision that you need. God told us, He said, listen, in Hebrews 6:17, He said, let me prove my promise to you. Do you realize that God wants to meet the condition of the promise so that you will say, oh, there's a God that's active and alive? That is powerful. The Psalmist said in Psalms 10:5, He's always prospering.
James Greer: [00:24:07] Now, He also said in Isaiah, my ways are higher than your ways. You keep trying to do it the same way you've been doing it and it won't happen. He told us in Luke, Jesus Himself, He said, He replied. He's replying to me, to you, and to us today whose hearts are receptive. Even more blessed, more blessed are those who hear the Word. Hope you heard it today and you put it into practice. My question to you is. What area do you need to be more blessed in? Would you put that area and hear God's Word, get the promise, and practice it so you could be more blessed? See, the worst thing you could do today, I'm fixing to pray and give you an invitation, is to go home and you try to be your Savior. I'm asking the Holy Spirit right now to impress upon your heart where is it and what is it? He wants to prove Himself to you today. Every single one of you, let Him show and bring forth His power to you in your life and let Him do it today. Stand and let me pray with you. God, you're such an awesome God. You are so powerful. You're so active, you're so alive. And you are here today. God, I pray. I pray that each person here heard your Word. They want more blessings. And I pray that they'd allow you to prove yourself. They need you to be Lord and Savior to know they're going to Heaven, they follow in baptism and join the church. They just had a problem, they need somebody to pray and help them find a promise where they can practice it and you can give them the provision. Oh, God, show up. Show out. I pray that each person here, God, today will let you have your will and your way in their life. I ask it in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Bruce Goulart: [00:26:14] On behalf of Pastor James, I just want to say thank you for joining our online experience today. Man, what an amazing story to our new series, True Colors. And I cannot wait to continue the series this month. But first, I just want to say, if you need someone to pray with you right now, we have a link down in the description that you can click on, fill out, and someone will get with you right away. But I hope to see y'all next week. Thank y'all.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
James Greer: [00:02:01] Oh, Brother James, that is so good. Everybody here ought to write it down. It's not your notes. The more of God's Word you know, don't matter who you are, the more you know and the more you obey, the more you be blessed. And see, I want to have a blessed people. Amen? You know, you can have more love and joy and peace. That's what the world is looking for. And I don't know, for some reason, we don't talk about it. There's verses like Psalms 1:2 and 3, it says, but they delight in His law, which is the Word of the Lord. And His law, His Word, you think about it and meditate day and night, you'd be like a tree that's planted by the rivers of the water and He'll bring forth fruit. I'll tell you some of the fruit. In this season whose leaves shall never wither. You know what else it says? And whatsoever he does shall prosper. Whatever you do. Don't you want to have a prosperous life? Say amen. He says, let me tell you how to prosper. You think about God's Word and you do what God says, He said, doesn't matter what you do, no matter what you do or what you say, you're going to prosper. He said, and you're going to be fruitful. If you don't know what fruitful is, Galatians 5 says that. Galatians 5 says, listen, the fruit of the spirit, the effects of knowing and obeying God's Word. You know what it is? Love, joy, and peace. Everybody, doesn't matter who it is, needs more love, joy, and peace. Amen? Longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, gentleness. Against such there is no law. I'm going to give you one more verse. Luke 11:29. Oh, I do. I love this. Jesus replied to Journey Church. Jesus has got a message for you, Journey Church. Amen? See, you came today and you thought, the message isn't for me. The message is for you. The message for me. The deal is, are you going to accept the message?
James Greer: [00:03:58] Every time I preach, Satan is trying to steal the message and the Word from you. You have to make up your mind, whether you're here, you're online, upstairs, you've got to say, my heart is open and I'm going to receive God's Word. Amen? And here's a word. Jesus replies to you. But even more blessed. Anybody needs more blessings? Y'all better wake up. I know I do. Anybody need more blessings? You know what He says you need more blessings? all who do what? Hear the Word of God and put it into practice. That is good. You know what? He doesn't even say what area. Whatever area you need to be more blessed in, He said, look, hear the Word and practice the Word. Man, your ears ought to perk up. Say, Brother James is going to preach. I'm going to hear it. I'm going to practice it. I'm going to be more blessed. That's what it says. You can be more blessed emotionally, financially, spiritually, whatever it is. That is the reason I'm preaching a new series called True Colors. Amen? Because I want you to be more blessed in every area of your life. And see, there's something different. See, I know this is true. I get to live this out and I get to see it. I get to see people that come into church and their life, their marriage, their finances is a mess. And man, they get started, they get into God's Word, they get saved, and their life gets turned around. They get so blessed, it's unbelievable. I get to see the transformation process and then I know God's Word is true. Not only do I get to see it, I believe it, I get the experience it. But I want you to do that. Amen? You know what else? Next Sunday, you ought to be here. Next Sunday, we're going to give you out a little booklet says, How can I talk to my kids about LGBTQ? Man, when I went to church, nobody gave us those kind of helps. Do you have kids? Say amen. Steven, we're going to be praying for you and the kids, going to kids camp. Amen? Excited for you. But, man, we want the parents to be able to help and talk to the kids the right way about the right things. Amen? So as we begin this new series, man, I want you to be praying with us and for us. I mean, next Sunday, we're going to be talking about same sex attraction.
James Greer: [00:05:59] Well, everybody say, oh, yeah, yeah. How about opposite sex attraction? If you got a passion and passion is great if you do it the right way. But it doesn't matter if you have the same sex attraction, the opposite sex attraction. Listen, if it's the wrong way, it's going to cause you problems. Sure getting quiet now. It's still true. I mean, did you know when I first started saying, I'm going to be preaching about LGBTQ, I had to Google it. Man, Google is brilliant. Anyway, I had to get the definition. I had to get Google definition. Says lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and query questioning. That's the ultimate definition. Now, all of y'all didn't know that. Half of y'all didn't know what the whole definition was. But we're going to teach you about that. We're going to be teaching about racism and police and authority. But see, I believe you have to have an ultimate authority. You got to have an ultimate authority and I'm sure not it. See, you've got to decide, do you want the, this is good. You ready? You got decide do you want the Word or the world to be your authority. See, I believe if you don't have the Word as your ultimate authority, you have chaos because you really don't have authority. When you really have total chaos, it's because you don't have the right authority in your life. If you would look, you can watch TV and look at the world, it's in a chaotic mess. Amen? But that wasn't God's will. That's not God's way. He told us in 1 Corinthians 14:33, He has a whole different purpose. Listen, God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. You know, of peace, calmness. As in all the churches of the saints. God said, you're in church, if you're saved, you're a saint. I told y'all call me St. James from now on. Amen?
James Greer: [00:08:03] God's not the author of confusion. See, number one, Jesus doesn't want us to have chaos. He wants calmness in your life. Wouldn't that be nice? Just be calm in your home, calm with your kids. Good luck, Steven. Calm in your job. Just calmness. Are you allowing the world to influence you? Are you allowing your workers to influence you? Now, it's okay to have friends influence you as long as they're the right friends. Are they drawing you closer to God? Are you allowing the Word to influence you? You're being influenced. You just have to be self-aware enough to know who and how you're being influenced. Many times in my life, the more self-aware I get, I learn who and how I've been influenced in my life. This is real important. You got to decide if you want to be self-aware of yourself enough to know how you're being influenced. Because when you learn how you've been influenced in the past and even in the present, many times what you learn, you have to unlearn and relearn. If you want to grow in the Lord and grow in your relationship, you will have to have self-awareness and many times you'll have to what? Learn, unlearn, and relearn. Let me tell you. It doesn't matter what your nationality, doesn't matter what your color is, doesn't matter what it was. But growing up in an environment, you may have learned things and been taught things. You ready? If you'll be self-aware that now you have to unlearn and relearn.
James Greer: [00:09:56] Brother James, I am bringing it. Y'all just didn't even know it. Do I had to get clear with y'all? I'm going to stand up if y'all don't come on. Some of y'all, is the camera okay? Some of y'all grew up in a family that y'all have such racism that y'all would've thought, boy, if they were black, it was a whole bad thing. Amen? Some of the blacks grew up thinking all whites were bad. Amen? I'm not going to talk about the Mexicans because Darrell's not here. Well, it just wouldn't be fair. Amen? But what I'm telling you, if you'll be truthful, if you'll be self-aware, every one of us grew up in a culture or a family, there's things that we learn that they influenced us. Now, many times if you'll be true, God's word is the truth and we got to unlearn them and then learn the truth. Oh, go ahead, Brother James. Amen? The problem with the truth is this. You ready? The ultimate, if it's not the ultimate authority, your perception becomes the truth. And your perception is the truth to you, even when it's not the truth. If you have kids or you have grandkids or you're in relation with some people and you absolutely have a truth in God's Word, but they have a perception of the truth, they will argue with you and they think they're right. That's why it's so important that you come to the point that you got to have a truth. John 8:32 says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. You want true freedom? It's God's Word. He's the ultimate authority. It says, therefore, if the Son, the Son is Jesus Christ. Who's the son? Jesus Christ. Makes you free, you're free indeed. Don't you want to be free? Amen?
James Greer: [00:11:51] Point number two, there has to be an authority. If God's Word doesn't become your authority, it'll be how you feel that day. You're in trouble. It'll be the TV and the media. That will get you in trouble. It can be politics. They change and change and change. It could be a party. That'll get you in trouble. It can be parents even. It can be a race. It could be the world. Let me give you John 1:1. This is who needs to be your authority. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was God. Uh-oh. And the Word was what? God. And the Word was God. My goodness, I believe in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and Word was God. I think with God and was God. I think the Word, it should be the ultimate authority. Amen? See, the Word is the authority. The Word, God spoke the Word. You know how powerful it is? And the whole world came into being. He just spoke it. That's how powerful the Word is. But I'm not talking about that kind of Word and world influence. I'm talking about how the world society, if you're not careful, how if you're not careful, it influences you. The more of God's Word you know, the more of God's will you know. Just a few reasons I chose to believe the Word instead of the world. You do know one of the key sayings today is I'm going to believe God's Word versus the world. Amen? Numbers 23:19 is so important. God isn't, He's not like man that He should lie. You know why it says He's not like man? He said, men lie. Everybody in here has told a lie before. You don't want to lie, you shouldn't lie, and you probably don't lie like [inaudible]. But everybody's probably lied at some time or another. God said, I'm not like that. Nor is the son of man. He doesn't lie either. That He should ever change His mind. As He said, He will not do it. Or has He spoken? Will He not fulfill it?
James Greer: [00:14:05] I love it. Man, God says, whatever I say, it's going to happen. Behold, I receive a command to bless, he is blessed. He can't revoke. I love that because God said, not only am I not blind, I can't lie. When I gave you a promise, it's going to come about and you can count on it. Man, I'm telling you what. You don't see much of that in the world. Listen, a lasting, you ready? A lasting, intimate relationship has to be based on two things, trust and truth. And God said, you can trust me. I'm going to tell you the truth every time. And when I tell you something is going to come about. Did you know Titus 1:2 says? It says, in hope of eternal life, everybody here wants to have eternal life. In fact, everybody here, you're going to have eternal life. It just means where it's going to be. God cannot lie. Promised before the world even began. Somebody else might lie to you but God can't lie. Hebrews 6:18 says, it's impossible for God to lie. It's not maybe. It's absolutely, it says, it is impossible for Him to tell a lie. Look at Hebrews 6:17 and 18. Listen. I love this verse. God wants to prove that His promises were true to those who would give what He promised. Isn't that something? God wants to prove to you that His promises are true. And He wanted them to clearly that His promises never change. So He made an oath. This is unbelievable. So He made an oath that two things cannot change. God cannot tell a lie when He makes a promise. Do you know how important that is?
James Greer: [00:16:02] Do y'all know how many promises are in the Bible? Do you know I have a little book that says God's promises, and when I have a problem, I go to the promise? And God now, He said, listen, first of all, I can't lie so there it is. Second of all, He says, I'm going to prove to you that it'll come about. That is powerful. These things should encourage us who came to God, who gives you safety, who gives you strength. I mean, my goodness gracious. I mean, God says, listen, I'm going to encourage you, I'm going to give you a promise that I can't lie, and I'm going to prove to you. So there's at least four reasons God is my ultimate authority. Number one, He can't lie. Number two, God's Word won't change. I've never seen so many people change their minds. It's almost like whatever's popular at the time, that's what you're going to believe. I mean, Isaiah says it this way. The grass with flowers fade, but the Word of our God stands forever. That's good. Andrew, come see me. You good looking. I know you had to borrow that from Scot [inaudible]. Not everybody has those good looking suit like that. What y'all don't know, what y'all don't know. Come up here. These suits used to be in fashion.
Andrew: [00:17:28] Used to be.
James Greer: [00:17:29] Used to be. Oh, sorry. They still, hey, I used to have one like that. Mine was blue.
Andrew: [00:17:33] You going to wear it next week?
James Greer: [00:17:34] No. In fact, I couldn't even find mine. But of course, Scott could find and he let you borrow it.
Andrew: [00:17:42] I don't think he could fit in it.
James Greer: [00:17:44] He don't think you could fit in it anymore. Well, make sure he leaves it here. Can I tell you something? Fads and fashions change. Let's hear it. Amen? But God's Word doesn't change. Can you believe people wear those things? I did. Politics, politics and politicians, they change. Traditions change or they just fade away. Let me give you an example. Religion and denominations today are changing. They come and go. It was not long ago, y'all ready? There was a denomination that said, we don't believe that gays should be the pastor of a church. That's what they said. That's what they voted. Now, recently, they just voted again. And now they say, we think it's okay. They voted right here in our state and right here in our city as well. Now, that same denomination said, we think it's okay and now they have gays as pastor of their church. See, so religion changes, denominations change, politics and fashion change. Your friends might change. Your mate might even change. My goodness, don't you understand why God's Word has got to be the authority? It never changes. Amen? You know, it's just things that don't change. The third reason God's Word has got to be my ultimate authority is because it's alive and it's powerful. Hebrews 4:12 says this. It says, God's Word is living, it's powerful, In other words, it says it's active. It's alive. You know, Jesus is not dead, but He's alive. Amen? I mean, He's powerful enough to take care of your greatest and deepest need. See, I don't know what your greatest need is. I do know somebody that does. I can't take care of your needs, but God can. He said, not only am I active, not only am I alive, He said I am powerful. It might be a financial, emotional, spiritual need. God said, I'm active, I'm living, I'm alive, and I'm powerful enough. That Word powerful here, it meant, listen, I'm powerful in action.
James Greer: [00:19:52] I'm an energy delivering God. He says, like plugging into a working light socket. I produce power. What He's saying is, why don't you plug into my promise that I promise to provide? Plug in. Fourth reason, He'll never leave you. Isn't it great to have somebody? Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. You want to get happy? Just start being content with what you have. Amen? Not on what you don't have. Focus on what you do have. For He Himself said, I'm going to never leave you or forsake you. See, somebody might leave, but it won't be Jesus. He's not going to leave or forsake you. He said, because you can now boldly say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? Why are you worrying about man for? I mean, you got God on your side. You got the LORD on your side. He's got the whole angel army on His side. He just says one word and He can protect you and He can provide for you. He said, listen, others might leave you. Your boss might betray you. Your mate might leave you. Hope not. Girlfriend, boyfriend might leave. But God said, I'm never going to leave you. God's Word will not forsake. It won't leave you. You need to go to God. Men? I'm going to begin to close. Man, God had a word for us all. Amen? To have Jesus as a helper, you got to have Jesus as your Savior. Who have you been depending on to save you? Yourself? I'm fixing to work on a new series. It's called Pastors Big Ask. So I have to be really careful. And I'm going to get to ask you some things. And one of the things I'm going to ask you, I didn't say it, did I? Anyway, one of my questions.
James Greer: [00:22:00] I'm afraid too many people come to our church that say they're saved are trying to save themselves instead of letting the Savior save them. I don't know what you're going through right now, but I can guarantee you, everybody here has something. I do, you do, we all do. The main reason we probably start coming to church is because we had so many problems we need to deal with and you said maybe that's going to help. Well, He is. He is the Savior. And today, I want you to relax. Quit trying to save yourself. You got a Savior and His name is Jesus. And I want you to give your problems to Him today. If you've never accepted Him as your Lord and Savior to bring you to Heaven, today is the day to do that. You can do it online, you can do it in your next step. But man, we got counselors in the front that will be with you and pray with you and tell you how to do that and know that you sinned, believe He died for your sins, you want Him to come in your heart and be the Lord of your life. If He is your Savior, He made it real clear today that He gave you some promises. The promises are for your problems. If you've got a problem, the best thing to do is find a promise for that problem. We have people that'll help you do that. If they can't do it right now, they will before the day is over. They'll find you a promise for your problem. You've got to promise to the problem, you meet the conditions of the promise, and you practice meeting the condition of the promise, and God will give you the provision that you need. God told us, He said, listen, in Hebrews 6:17, He said, let me prove my promise to you. Do you realize that God wants to meet the condition of the promise so that you will say, oh, there's a God that's active and alive? That is powerful. The Psalmist said in Psalms 10:5, He's always prospering.
James Greer: [00:24:07] Now, He also said in Isaiah, my ways are higher than your ways. You keep trying to do it the same way you've been doing it and it won't happen. He told us in Luke, Jesus Himself, He said, He replied. He's replying to me, to you, and to us today whose hearts are receptive. Even more blessed, more blessed are those who hear the Word. Hope you heard it today and you put it into practice. My question to you is. What area do you need to be more blessed in? Would you put that area and hear God's Word, get the promise, and practice it so you could be more blessed? See, the worst thing you could do today, I'm fixing to pray and give you an invitation, is to go home and you try to be your Savior. I'm asking the Holy Spirit right now to impress upon your heart where is it and what is it? He wants to prove Himself to you today. Every single one of you, let Him show and bring forth His power to you in your life and let Him do it today. Stand and let me pray with you. God, you're such an awesome God. You are so powerful. You're so active, you're so alive. And you are here today. God, I pray. I pray that each person here heard your Word. They want more blessings. And I pray that they'd allow you to prove yourself. They need you to be Lord and Savior to know they're going to Heaven, they follow in baptism and join the church. They just had a problem, they need somebody to pray and help them find a promise where they can practice it and you can give them the provision. Oh, God, show up. Show out. I pray that each person here, God, today will let you have your will and your way in their life. I ask it in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Bruce Goulart: [00:26:14] On behalf of Pastor James, I just want to say thank you for joining our online experience today. Man, what an amazing story to our new series, True Colors. And I cannot wait to continue the series this month. But first, I just want to say, if you need someone to pray with you right now, we have a link down in the description that you can click on, fill out, and someone will get with you right away. But I hope to see y'all next week. Thank y'all.
Recorded in Pineville, Louisiana.
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