(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay brethren, I wanted to look at 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 7. It says, You know, there's a lot of people in this world that suffers from insecurities. In fact, we all suffer from insecurities, okay? And I was thinking about, you know, what verse reminds us that we ought to be people that are not insecure. We ought to be people that have a sound mind where we're in control of things. You know, we have confidence in the Lord. Well, of course, I was drawn to this passage here. You see, God has given us a sound mind. He does not want us to be insecure people. Now, the truth of the matter is that we're all insecure to some extent, okay? And when we think about the word insecure, you know, it comes to where it's got in and secure, insecure. So the idea there is that the person is not secure, right? Another way of looking at it is that he's not confident. A lot of people are struggling with self-confidence these days. And they're insecure. You know, many people are insecure because of this change in world, because of COVID and how things are changing in our society, in our world. People are not sure whether they can work, whether they're going to be forced to be vaccinated or who knows what. And people struggle with insecurities. People have insecurities because maybe they've had bad relationships. Maybe they've grown up in a broken home and they've not really had a lot of love and support from the family. Maybe they've had abusive parents or, you know, just abusive, who knows, uncles, abusive grandparents, who knows. And so there's that, just within themselves, they're just lacking that confidence. And they probably recognise there are different parts in their life, in their history, that have caused them to be insecure people. And so, as I said, the title for the sermon tonight is Overcoming Insecurity. We are going to come back to 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 a bit later. But I've got six points tonight that I want us to look at. Six points to help you overcome insecurity and in order for you to be more confident. Now, when we talk about confidence, we want to remind ourselves that we're Christians. We don't want to be confident in the flesh. We don't want to be confident inwardly, in ourselves. But rather, our confidence comes from God. Our confidence comes from our Saviour, from our Creator, the fact that He loves us, okay? And so point number one, brethren, is remember your value. Remember exactly who you are. Many times when people are insecure, they think of themselves as very lowly, very unimportant, not special. Maybe they feel like they have no great qualities, they feel like they have no great talents. But really, if you're saved, brethren, you have great value. Can you please turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5? Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And while you're turning to 2 Corinthians 5, I'm going to read to you from Galatians 4, 6, which reads, It's an amazing thing to be saved. You know, to know your only way to heaven, but also to understand your value in the eyes of God. Just remind yourself, you're a child of God. Not a servant, though we do serve our Lord God, but our relationship with God is much deeper. It's much closer than a master-servant relationship. We have a father-son relationship. We are the children of God. Just think about that title. I'm a child of God, I'm a son of God, I'm a daughter of God. And think about who God is, and you make up His family. Boy, you know, I have children, and they mean so much to me. You know, when I look at my children, I see them grow, I just have great love, great admiration for my children. I love to see their strengths, I love to see their personalities. And you know what, I would give my life if I had to protect my children. I would rather lay down my life for the love of my children. And so when God looks at you as His children, of course the life of Jesus Christ was laid down for us. So we could become children of God, and then heirs of God, heirs of God. That means we're going to receive His inheritance. Think about God's riches, think about God's power, God's might. You know, think about heaven, think about eternity, think about all the great things that heaven will be like. Well, we're going to receive them as an inheritance, because we're children of God, okay? So we have a great promise to come, you have great value. You're in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19. 2 Corinthians 5, 19 reads, So brethren, not only are we sons of God, not only are we part of His family, but we're ambassadors for Christ, okay? An ambassador is someone that has a high office of a foreign nation, right? A foreign nation sends his ambassador to another nation, okay? To hopefully have peace between the two, and our job it is, brethren, to go out with the Gospel, to go out with the words of eternal life, and God views us as His ambassadors. If you had the title of an ambassador on this earth, that would be a very high office. You'd be honored, you'd be respected, you'd be given a very important job, because if you mess it up, you can cause damage between the relationship between that nation that you're sent to, and the nation that you've been sent from. And God has sent us into this nation. You know, we are not of this world, but we are to be ambassadors unto this world, and invite people to immigrate to the kingdom of God by salvation, by believing on Jesus Christ. And so He's given us a very important ministry. What is it? Have committed unto us the word of reconciliation. God is entrusting you. God believes that you can do this, brethren. You know, you say, I'm insecure. Well, God says, no, you know what, I have the confidence that you are able to get out there and bring forth the word of reconciliation, and bring people into my kingdom. You know, God believes that we have the ability through His Holy Spirit, through the word of God, through the gospel of Christ, to bring people unto Him. God has entrusted us a very important task, the ministry of reconciliation, and the ambassadors. You know, we're ambassadors for Christ. You have a very lofty title. You see, when we become insecure as Christians, it's often because we think about ourselves in light of this world. You know, we may see other people who have great riches, or great talents, or great positions in life. Maybe they've got great offices in this world. But brethren, our spiritual office is much greater, much higher. We are representing the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and God has entrusted you with this office. Boy, if God has entrusted you to be an ambassador, don't you think you're of high value to God? Not only for salvation, not only because you're His son, you're His child, no, because God has entrusted you with a great mission, a great ministry, to bring people to His kingdom. Can you please turn to Revelation chapter 5, Revelation chapter 5, and verse number 9. Revelation chapter 5 and verse number 9. You know, when I became a pastor, and I think about all the kind of things that I like to preach on, all the topics that I would like to preach on, I didn't think that I was going to preach so much about the millennium. I'm constantly bringing up the millennium. I'm constantly bringing up the kingdom of Christ on this earth, the thousand years to come, where we rule and reign with Christ. And I didn't really think a lot about it, you know, as I became a pastor, and I was thinking about, you know, like I said, different sermons, but I realized just how important it is for this to be at the, you know, at the front of our mind. You know, again, you know, this world can make us feel very insecure, but when we look at this world in the future, we're going to come back, and we're going to take on important tasks, an important role, not just spiritual, but physical upon this earth. Revelation 5.9, again, a very famous passage, it says, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and has redeemed us to God by the blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. Okay, brethren, so let's talk about being a priest first. God has made us priests. I remember in the Old Testament days, you know, the people that would serve in the tabernacle were the Levites, and only those, there was only a certain group of people, not only just that one tribe, but one family within that tribe which was allowed to be the priests. That was the sons of Aaron, okay? Well, we, you know, get that special privilege of being a priest. We can serve God. We can go to God directly, okay? And we can serve Him as a priest. We have a very important office, you know, in this world to come, especially, that we serve to be that priest, and once again, bringing people to the Lord God, to be a service to our Lord, but not only that, He's made us kings and priests. Now, brethren, I know, you know, when we look at the monarchy, you know, we look at the queen, we look at, you know, the princes and all that stuff that we've got in England, you know, we know, you know, those guys that, I mean, those people are just trash, honestly. Those people are very wicked, and they're ungodly people, okay? But never mind them for a moment. Just think about their office. Think about how much they're honored. Think about how much they're loved and praised. Think about that every, you know, how every time something happens in that royal family, you know, the whole media, it brings attention to the whole media, to the whole world, as to what's going on, and that's from a wicked perspective, okay? But the fact that they get so much attention, and so many riches, and, you know, to some extent power, is because they are, they have those titles of kings, priests, sorry, kings, queens, and princes, etc. Well, one day, in the future, in the millennium, we are going to serve God as a king, all right? And has made us, unto our God, kings and priests. Now, we know, of course, Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords, but you know what? He's the King of kings, and He's going to be King over us, meaning we're going to be kings for Him in His kingdom, okay? Which is amazing, part of the royal family, a godly royal family, godly kings, godly queens, right? Godly princes and princesses in that thousand years. And what are we going to, are we just going to be some, you know, what's the word I'm looking for? You know, are we just going to be, you know, just given those titles alone? Where it just means nothing, it's just, you know, just for show? Well, no, because then it keeps saying, and we shall reign on the earth. And, you know, I talk about this a lot, the millennial reign, because we, I think we forget this. I think, you know, we often think when we die, we go to heaven. And we know that one day God's going to create a new heaven and a new earth, and we just tend to forget this amazing thousand years to come. When Christ comes back, we're going to be ruling physically on this earth. We're going to reign over this earth. We're going to have authority in this earth. We're going to have power. We're going to be given the high office of a king and priests. And we're finally going to run this world the way God would like it run, the way the Bible wants it run, the way we as Christians would want to see it run. We would finally be able to punish the wicked properly and correctly for those people that do crimes that are worthy of death, that we would be able to pass judgment and pass the death penalty on the wicked. But we'll also be able to give praise toward those that do good in God's kingdom. And what an honor, what an honor to be looking forward to this time with this great promise to be kings and priests on this earth. Why should you be insecure? Why should you think of yourself lowly in this world when you're going to come back with Christ on a white horse and you're going to take over this place? We're all going to have different portions of this world to manage and to take care of and to judge. And we're all going to be reporting back ultimately to Jesus Christ. What a great honor. We are people, spiritually speaking right now, but also very physically, in a very physical sense in that thousand years, kings on this earth. Please don't forget that. Please understand your value to God. He loved you so much that He gave His Son. Not only that, He's brought you into His family. He's brought you into not just a regular family, but a royal family. He's made you His ambassador. He's entrusted you the gospel to bring people into His kingdom. And brethren, we're going to rule with Christ. What an amazing thing. Not even the disciples. And they're going to rule with Christ in a thousand years, but not even when Christ came on this earth and He made them fishers of men. They didn't rule on the earth. They didn't have that opportunity to rule on the earth. But we're going to get that opportunity with Jesus Christ. What an amazing promise. It's so amazing to think about that time. Let's prepare ourselves now. Let's read the Bible now. Let's get closer to God right now. Let's understand God's laws better now so we can be better prepared for that time to come. And you know what? The more we serve God, the greater our position will be in that kingdom. So I truly believe that one way we can overcome insecurity, the first way I've got here, is just to remember your value. Again, this world may not value you at all, but God values you. And He's got great work for you right now and also great work for you to accomplish in the future. And if we're honest, we could probably say, look, I just don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can rule on the earth. Hey, but you're going to get that new resurrected body. You're going to be without sin. You're going to be perfectly aligned with the will of God. So you're capable. You'll be able to do it through the power of God. Can you please now turn to 2 Timothy 1 once again. 2 Timothy 1 where we had the reading from. And I just read that passage once again, the one we started with, verse 7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear. And I said many times, insecurities, it comes from fear. And we all kind of feel that. I might start a job for the first time and you're not sure how things run and you don't want to let down your bosses. You don't want to look like a complete buffoon and you may feel insecure about your ability to accomplish that job. Well, that's fear. You want to impress. You want to do well. You don't want to mess things up. And so you may begin with some insecurities until you find your feet. But we all go through that, don't we? We all go through that. I remember just again becoming a pastor for the first time, starting a church for the first time. I had a lot of insecurities. Is this going to work? Are we going to have a place to meet? Is there going to be enough in the offering to cover the expenses of the church? What's going to happen? Am I able to preach? Would people want to sit there and listen to this guy preach for an hour every week or a few times a week? Do I have the ability? All those insecurities, especially when you start something new, you have a lot of those doubts and insecurities. Again, it comes from fear. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. The second point that I have for you, Brevin, to overcome insecurity is to stop overthinking. Stop overthinking. And God has given us a sound mind. Now, what do I mean by overthinking? Well, I see this with people, and I see this for myself. I'll give you a very good example. Obviously, I prepare sermons. I've got my sermon notes, and I get up behind the pulpit, and I preach. And without fail, pretty much every sermon, I walk away after a while thinking about the sermon that I preached. And I say, man, I kind of missed that point that I wanted to bring up. Or I look at my notes, and I go, boy, I just missed a whole chunk in my notes. Or something, right? You prepare a certain way, but what the sermon comes out afterwards may not necessarily be exactly how you prepared it. And I remember when I was a first-time preacher, and I was doing this, and I went to my pastor, and I said to my pastor, I said, Pastor, I don't know, how do you do this? How do you make sure that what you prepared you preach because I keep missing bits or forgetting that I was going to bring this up, and I didn't bring it up, and I feel, you know, what am I doing? I'm overthinking, right? I'm going back. And I'm thinking about, oh, that sermon, I could have done better. I could have said this, I could have said that. My pastor said to me at the time, well, as you were preaching, you prayed for the Lord to feel the Holy Ghost and give you wisdom and knowledge. And the Holy Ghost, for that sermon, did not feel that was necessary. So he helped you forget that portion. It wasn't important for that sermon. Maybe it's for another sermon for some other time. Or maybe it's just something you'll never preach. And I just thought about that, and I said, yeah, you know what? The Holy Spirit, the Lord has helped me to preach that sermon the way He wanted it preached. I did the best I could in this body to prepare something to feed God's people. But ultimately, the preacher needs to be filled with the Spirit of God and needs to be led by the Spirit of God when he preaches. You can't be completely closed off from the Spirit of God. Otherwise, you're only preaching in the power of man, okay? And that helped me overcome those insecurities, those fears. Oh, I prepared this, but it didn't come out this way. Well, I just ended up thinking, well, that's how God wanted it to be. Amen? And there have been a few people that have said similar things to me. When they get up to preach, I don't end up preaching exactly what they prepared. And I've been able to give the same, you know, comfort that my pastor, my old pastor gave me in terms of that. But we can sometimes overthink, right? Something takes place, and we play in our minds over and over and over again. I could have done this. I could have done that. Maybe you've had a conversation with your friends. You know, you got together, you said something, and now you go back and you regret saying it. It's, oh, they're going to think of me. They're going to think I'm stupid. They're going to think I'm dumb. I wish I never said it that way. And some people just overthink a situation when nobody else, everyone else has moved on. Like, no one really even thinks about the way you do. But often, you know, people are insecure, and they're just overthinking, oh, that situation, it could have been like this, if I did this, if I did that. Listen, what's past is past, and you just need to learn to move on, okay? You know, we can all say and do stupid things because that's just mankind. That's what we are, okay? And so long as you've not gone and sinned against somebody and offended somebody, hey, those are times that you need to think about what you've done, you know, play it over in your mind and go and fix that. But Brevin, if you've just, you know, you can't just live like this, where you're just constantly thinking about the past, what you could have done, how you could have handled it, right? And you need to learn to move on. And can you please turn to Matthew 6 for me? Turn to Matthew 6. Matthew 6. And I'll read to you from Philippians 4, verse 6. You go to Matthew 6? I'll read to you from Philippians 4, verse 6, which says, be careful for nothing. Don't be full of care. Don't be full of worries. Don't be full of concerns, right? Don't overthink. It says, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding, look at this, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. You know, we can, you know, sometimes people may struggle to sleep at night because they're overthinking. They're thinking about how I could have managed this or managed that, or they might be even thinking about future things, overthinking things, right? And they don't get that sound mind. They don't get that quiet heart. They don't have that peace within themselves. But we need to learn to let those things go. Focus on what we've been given, and anything that is on your mind that you realize there's nothing you can do about it right now, and you're just constantly thinking about it, you've got to go before God in prayer and give it to the Lord. And He'll give you that peace which passeth all understanding. You're in Matthew 6. Look at verse number 34. Matthew chapter 6 and verse number 34. So, I sort of mentioned how we can overthink things in the past. I mentioned something about sometimes in the future as well. Jesus Christ says here in Matthew 6, 34, Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Christ is telling us that every day there is evil that we need to take care of. There is some harm that we need to take care of, that we have to deal with. So, not only should we not be overthinking about things in the past, because we've got to deal with the present, but don't even worry about the things of the future. Don't concern yourself overly with all the evils of the future, because you need to deal with the evils that you have today. And remember, when you overthink about the past, when you overthink about the future, you're going to be less effective to deal with the present. And when you're less effective to deal with the present, yes, then you're going to accumulate greater evils for the future. You might as well just deal with things now. Keep your mind and focus upon things now. Take no thought for the morrow. Don't even think about all the cares about tomorrow. Deal with what you have to deal with today. And you need to overcome that fear. You've got to overcome that insecurity about all the things you have to deal with. Again, we all have to deal with several evils in life. Whatever those things are, things that we need to manage, maybe to go to work and do something, maybe for mothers that are homeschooling, you're training your children. We just have enough things on our plates to deal with. So we need to stop overthinking about the future, deal with what we have to deal with now. Stop overthinking about the past and overthinking about the future. Can you please turn to Galatians chapter 1, turn to Galatians chapter 1 verse number 10. Galatians chapter 1 verse number 10. Sometimes when people are overthinking, again, they're considering what did brother so-and-so think about me when I did this? What does sister so-and-so think about me when I said that? Again, it's the insecurities. The thought is that all these people are constantly thinking about me, but they're not. They're not constantly thinking about you. They're thinking about their evils that they have to deal with. They're not just constantly thinking, man, I wonder what sister so-and-so meant when she said X, Y, and Z last week. No, they're dealing with their affairs, their issues, their evils right now, and they're not thinking that it's beyond their mind. They're not thinking about that anymore. So look at Galatians chapter 1 verse number 10. And this has to do with the context of preaching the gospel, but I do believe we can take the principle and apply it in other aspects of our life. Galatians 1 verse 10. You see, we overthink because we want to please men, right? We don't want people to be displeased with us. And the Apostle Paul is saying, hey, look, if my goal was just to please man, I would never do anything for Christ. I would never serve Christ. Not only I won't have time to serve Christ because my time is taking up pleasing men, but also if I did seek to please men, men naturally do not love God. Men do not naturally love the Bible. Men do not naturally love being confronted with a question. If you were to die today, are you sure you'd be in heaven? That's not what men like. If you're constantly worried about what men are thinking about you, then brethren, you're going to be unproductive, not only unproductive for Christ, but you're going to be unproductive if you just take this principle. You'll be unproductive in other aspects of your life. Don't worry about what others think about you. You know, if I was worried about what others thought about me, then I would have vaccinated all my kids by now with everything, including the COVID vaccination. If I was worried about what everyone thought about me and I'm trying to please every man, I would not be homeschooling my kids. If I was worried about what everybody was thinking about me, I would have sent Christine and my wife to work a long time ago. If I was constantly thinking about what others thought about me, I would never have gone to Queensland to start New Life Baptist Church. You know, being worried about overthinking what other people are thinking about you, brethren, it's a waste of time. You need to stop doing that because when you do that, you become insecure and you can't be productive. You know, being productive, achieving things, helps you build confidence, okay? And so what you need to do is stop thinking about what others have to say about you. You know what is right. You know what you're required to do. You know the evils of the day that you need to take care of and deal with them. You know, be a servant for Christ. Do what God requires from you and you'll be productive and you'll be able to overcome those insecurities. Another passage just relating to this, just in regards to the Gospel, in 1 Corinthians 1-18, it says, You know, when we give the Gospel to people, it is foolishness to this world. So if we cared about what this world thought about us, then we would be thinking, man, everyone thinks I'm foolish. And you know what, that's the first fear, that's the first insecurity when you go door to door soul winning. When you confront someone with the Gospel for the first time, you know, in the back of your mind you're thinking this person thinks I'm foolish. Okay? And here's the thing, you might say, well, I don't want to be seen as a fool in this person's eyes, therefore I'm not going to confront them with the Gospel. I'm not going to give them, or tell them about the cross of Christ. Well then, what does that help you, brethren? That person may have the opportunity to believe and be saved, but you, because you're worried about what people think about you, you're overthinking the situation, you're not going out and preaching the Gospel, you're not being productive for the Lord, and you're allowing people to go to hell without having heard the Gospel from you, or at least the opportunity for them to hear the Gospel from you. So brethren, just remember, when you overthink, you become less productive, you're able to do less, and so the insecurities will grow, not only because you're overthinking what others have to say, but you're not achieving what you need to achieve in this day which has sufficient evil. Alright, so point number one, brethren, is remember your value. Point number two was stop overthinking, okay? Point number three is surround yourself with the right people. Surround yourself with the right people. You know, going to school, primary school and high school, in those years, obviously you come across a whole lot of different people, and you make friends and acquaintances, and people that you get along with, maybe even people that you know because you're on the same journey to travel from home to school or what have you, but they might not be your best friends, so you come across a whole bunch of people in your life, and you soon learn that there are some people that become your friends because they actually love you because they care about you, they want you to do well, they're blessed because of you, and there are other people that are your friends because by putting you down, they feel better about themselves, okay? They don't love you, but you help them feel better about themselves as long as they're stepping on you, criticizing you, right? They make you feel low, and that makes them feel better about themselves, and that's obviously a horrible place to be as a person, you know, doing that, and so you need to think about the kind of people you surround yourself with. You know, unfortunately, sometimes in schools, we do make friends with people for many, many years, but they're just chaotic people. They're people that are just no help to you. They just destroy you, they hurt you, but you hold on to them because you think that's the right thing to do as a friend. You know, we need to make sure that we're around the right people, and when we recognize the wrong kinds of people, that we are able to let them go, okay? Because they're going to cause you to be insecure. They're the people that try to stamp on you and, again, elevate themselves at your cost. And the kind of people that you should avoid is, let me just read to you from, you go to Proverbs 13, go to Proverbs 13, and I'm going to read to you from Ephesians chapter 4. You go to Proverbs 13, please. Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 29 says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. So brethren, we ought to be careful what comes out of our mouth. We need to make sure that what comes out of our mouth is that which edifies other people. Again, as a preacher, sometimes you're going to preach things that you know people aren't going to like. You realize that you're going to say something, and someone in the church congregation is going to feel like you're stepping on their toes, or that you don't like them, and that's why you're preaching on their sin or something like that. But really, the goal of the preacher is to preach God's Word in order to edify people. Now, that could just be making you feel good, knowing that, hey, I'm walking with the Lord, I'm a child of God, praise God, and I just feel great about it. It's built me up being in church, but also being confronted with sin and going, oh, well, I need to change that in my life. I need to get rid of that sin in my life and walk in the ways of righteousness. That is edification as well. So we want to be around people that, with their mouths, they use it to edify you. If you have contacts, if you have friends that, with their mouth, it's corrupt communication, it's communication that tears you down, it's communication that makes you feel lowly and stupid. That's not the kind of person that you need to spend time with. You need to get around the right kind of people that will edify you. Because, yeah, if you've got the wrong kinds of friends, the wrong kinds of acquaintances, yeah, that could be the source of your insecurities, being around the wrong kind of people. Now, you're in Proverbs 13. Look at Proverbs 13 verse 20, please. Proverbs 13 verse 20, the Bible says, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Again, be mindful about the people you surround yourself with. If you surround yourself with fools, you're going to become foolish. You're going to end up destroying your life, okay? They're saying and doing stupid things, that's going to be the norm for you. You're going to start saying and doing stupid things, and then your life is going to fall apart, okay? And so we don't want to be that kind of person. We realize that if we walk with wise men, we're going to be wise, meaning that the people we surround ourselves with have an effect on our lives. If we surround ourselves with people that make us feel insecure, you're going to remain insecure. But if you surround yourself with people that edify you, that give you wisdom, that give you knowledge, that show you that they love you, then you're going to grow in confidence. You're going to be able to overcome those insecurities. Let's go to chapter 27, Proverbs 27, please. Proverbs 27, verse number 9. Proverbs 27, verse number 9. You know, I hope that in church, and I know at the end of the day, church is made up of fallen people, and you know we're not perfect. And a lot of people, you know, you go to a soul when you ask them, so, you know, you don't go to church anymore. You say, nah, church is full of hypocrites. And yes it is, because all of us desire to serve God and to know God more intimately, and to learn His ways, but then we all sin, don't we? So we're all hypocrites to some extent, okay? But, you know, church will be a place where we develop friendships. And we're going to constantly be meeting people that are different to us, different age groups, different backgrounds. Maybe people have been saved longer or shorter than us. But we ought to strive to make friends of God's children, okay? And you ought to strive to be a friendly person, because the Bible tells us here in Proverbs 27, verse 9, You see, we ought to be people that have friends, you know? But, again, some people, many people have got saved late in life, or they didn't get saved, they didn't have a Christian family. And maybe church is the only place where they can get godly, wise counsel from other people, okay? Other people that read the Bible, other people that have good life experience, and you've learned from the mistakes, and you've seen God's hands of blessings in your life. And many times, church might be the only place where we really have friends that can support one another, that can teach one another the Bible. We need to find and develop friendships in our church, or at least with other Christians, other Christians that are like-minded, and understand that we can receive hearty counsel from our friends, okay? Obviously, people that lack friends, they're going to be a lot more insecure, okay? Because they feel like, nobody wants to be my friend, nobody thinks I'm valuable, you know, well, we need to develop friends. And how do you make friends? You become friendly. You show friendliness to other people. And, you know, naturally, then people will want to be around you. People will be attracted to you, and you'll be able to develop friends. Look at verse number 10. Verse number 10. It says, So what is he saying? You know, if you've got good friends, if you've got family, good family friends, you know, your father's friend, don't forsake them. You know, you've come across good people that love you, that edify you, that are good support unto you, you know, keep in contact with them. You know, every now and then, I did develop some good friends in high school, and, you know, many of those guys I don't even see anymore, but just every now and again, you know, I'll send a message out, or they'll send a message, you know, hello, how's it going, and we'll just keep in contact. And I truly believe that if one of these guys, or if I just needed some kind of emergency help, that those guys would be there to be a help. You know, my family, I've got family friends, and, you know, people that knew me as a child and saw me grow up. I have no doubt that many of my family friends, my father's friends, that if I needed help, I could go to them, and they would be there to help me and support me. It's important not to be people that just burn all our bridges, but we look at people that are valuable to us. Hey, that could be very much your family. I mean, the brothers brought up here, right? It says, yeah, neither go into thy brother's house than Dave Calamity, for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off, okay? So it's not saying that there's anything wrong with having good family and brothers that are supportive of you, but better the person that's most ready to help you. You know, many of us have left, you know, especially living on the Sunshine Coast, most of you that I know have left other places, whether that's, you know, Sydney or Melbourne or Adelaide, you know, New Zealand, right, Canada. There are people that have left all kinds of places, and so you're far from family. You're far from the context you once had growing up, and now you've just got the friends that you've got in church. Well, yeah, you know, in a time of difficulty, you know, it's better to have the people that are nearby that can help you than having a brother that's far off where they're less likely to help you. They can be a help nonetheless, but, hey, better to have people that are close by. And so, brethren, when you're able to develop a good network around you, people that can support you, people that can edify you, this will help you overcome your insecurities. Can you please turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 4? Ecclesiastes chapter 4, I'll read some other passages to you. I'm going to read to you from Psalm 119 verse 63. You turn to Ecclesiastes 4. I'm going to read to you from Psalm 119 verse 63, which reads, What's the psalmist saying? I am a companion of all them that fear thee. He says, if I come across a fellow believer in you, Lord, that fears you, I'm a companion to them all. You know what? The psalmist here, he wasn't interested in just creating cliques in church, creating clique relationships. It's just us four and no more. No, it says, look, of all them that fear thee. If there's somebody, it doesn't matter who it is. If someone loves you, Lord, is worshiping you, I'm going to make sure that I'm a companion to that person. I'm going to also read to you from Revelation 119 before we go to Ecclesiastes. Revelation 119. And we know that John wrote the book of Revelation. He says, whom also am your brother and companion in tribulation. And in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. But the part that I want you to be focused on there, it says, and companion in tribulation. You know, John, when he saw the churches going through tribulation, he says, you know what? I'm your companion. I'm going through tribulation as well. I'm there to support you. I'm here to write the book of Revelation. So you know about the great promises to come in the future, that God will one day deliver his people out of this wicked world and judge this world. And so we ought to be companions in tribulations also, not just friends when things go well, but when we see other people struggling. We ought to be there. Maybe they're going through some type of tribulation. We ought to be people that are a companion to them in tribulation. Say, brother, how can I help you? Is there anything that I can do? What can I be praying about? How can I support you? Those are the kinds of people that you need to get yourself around, people that will say these things to you, okay? They're going to help you overcome insecurities. And the last proverb that I'm going to read to you before we go to Ecclesiastes is Proverbs 17, 17. Proverbs 17, 17 says, a friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Okay? So we need brothers. We need friends that will love at all times because when we're facing adversity, well, that brother was born to help me face that adversity. My brother is born to help me fight this battle, okay? And we're soldiers for God. We have a spiritual battle to fight, and it's best to be amongst other believers that can help us on that journey. And, of course, Ecclesiastes 4 and 9, what you turn to. Ecclesiastes 4 and 9, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor. But look at verse number 10. Once again, make sure that you surround yourself with the right kind of people. You get the right people around you. Listen, it might just be one person. Could be two, could be five. You're better off having two or three friends that are believers, that love you, that can help you, than having ten friends that are unbelievers, that just are foolish and wicked, and they're not going to help you in a time of adversity, okay? They're not going to be a help to you because they don't fear God, okay? So let me get to my next point. Point number four is stop comparing yourself to others. This is another thing that insecure people struggle with. They look at other people and they wish they were more like so and so, for whatever reason, okay? Stop comparing yourself to others. Can you please turn to 1 Timothy 6? Turn to 1 Timothy 6. You go to 1 Timothy 6. I'm going to read to you from Hebrews 13.5. Hebrews 13.5 says, Let your conversation be without covetousness. So when we compare ourselves to other people, we become covetous, don't we? We say, well, you know, I wish I was strong like him. Ladies might say, I wish I had her hair, right? Or I wish I had his job, his finances. You know, I wish I was skillful at whatever. You know, skillful at this or that, like that person. Well, yeah, if you compare yourself to other people, that's going to cause you to be insecure, okay? It's the sin of covetousness. But then it keeps going. It says, And be content with such things as you have. Be content with what you've got. You know, you're blessed, brethren. And I always say this, but as Australians, we are greatly blessed. You know, we're like spoiled children. We don't get what we want, and yet we have so much in Australia, okay? We have food, we have rainments, we have a roof over our heads, when there are other people in this world that do not have those luxuries, and we still complain and murmur, we ought to be content with what we have. It says, You see, when you become content, not only with your possessions, but with who you are, with your personality, with the strengths, with the weaknesses, with everything that makes up who you are, when you just learn to be content with who you are, brethren, then you're not going to be this person that is going to be fearful. You're always going to know, well, God is my helper. He's given me this lot in life, and you're just going to be happy with what God has given you. God, you're going to be happy with who you are when you stop comparing yourself to other people. I ask you to turn to 1 Timothy 6. Let me just read to you from 1 Corinthians 12 before we go to 1 Timothy 6. 1 Corinthians 12. Sometimes we might compare ourselves with people in our own church and say, I wish I could pray like Brother so-and-so. I wish I could preach like Brother so-and-so. I wish I could be friendly. I wish I could be outgoing. This person is able to make friends so easily. It's hard for me to develop friendships, and we just compare ourselves and we think low of ourselves. Well, don't forget that in church it says, 1 Corinthians 12.14, For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now have God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it have pleased Him. We should not compare ourselves to other people in this church. It has pleased God to put you in this church. Whoever you are, whatever your age is, however long you've been saved, however insecure you may be, God took you, placed you in your life after this church. He says, Because it pleases me. God said, Because this body needs this person. I don't care what part you think you are, if you're the nose for smelling, if you're the eyes for seeing, the ears for hearing, or the mouth for speaking, or the feet for walking, or the hands for working, whatever it is you are, brethren, maybe you're just some type of ligament, maybe you're just that part that keeps everyone together, keeps everyone working together, maybe that's you. Whatever you are, brethren, stop comparing yourself. The eye doesn't compare itself to the mouth, the mouth doesn't compare itself to the knee, the knee doesn't compare itself to the shoulder, because we all have different functions. And when you stop comparing yourself to other people in church, and you focus, well, why is that God has placed me in your life after this church? How is that God has pleased him? Then you need to discover what your role is in the church. How is that God can use you? And, brethren, it's going to help the whole body. We can't function without you. You're important. You don't need to be insecure about who you are comparing yourself to other people in the church. Look at 1 Timothy 6, please. 1 Timothy 6, verse number 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. So what is great gain? Muscles, money, no. Godliness. Being godly with contentment. Being happy with what you have. Being happy with who you are. This is great gain. Look at verse number 7. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and rainments, let us be there with content. Can you truly say that, brethren? That with food and rainment, what you're wearing right now, with the food you ate today, unless you're fasting, but if you've eaten, that you can be content, that you can be happy, you can be satisfied, and not insecure, and comparing yourself to other people. It keeps going. It says in verse number 9. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare. So the reason this person is not content is because they're looking at other people that are rich. They have more possessions, bigger bank accounts than them. Hey, that doesn't bring contentment. That brings insecurities when you start comparing your possessions and your bank account compared to other people. No need to do that. Because it says here that those that are rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. So there's no point comparing yourself and thinking, man, I wish I had more money like these people. Well, they've got more problems than you. They've got more destructive things that are going to develop in their life compared to you. You don't want to be in their shoes. Be content with a lot that you have in life. The other passage I want to read from, and this might be with the ladies. Many times the ladies, and maybe men as well, but this is more an effeminate quality where ladies don't like their appearance. I'm too tall. I'm too short. I'm too skinny. I'm too fat. My hair's too wavy. My hair's too straight. My nose is too big. My nose is too small. I have too many freckles. I don't have any freckles. Okay? I mean, that's how ladies are. Many times ladies are like that, and so they become insecure with their appearances. And we're not helped by Hollywood. We're not helped by the media, right, where they try to look for what they believe, what they perceive to be beautiful people, and, you know, they get seemingly the great jobs. You know, these celebrities, these people, they're not happy anyway, okay? We should not compare ourselves to these people, and don't compare yourself with what you perceive to be beautiful in other people. Be thankful for who you are. You know, Jesus Christ says in Matthew 6.27, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? Look, I'm on the shorter end, okay? If I'm just constantly thinking, not overthinking, remember, that's one of them. I'm just thinking, man, I wish I was taller, you know? And, you know, there was a time in my life where I just wish I was taller, but what does it help? Okay, which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? I can't add one cubit to my stature. And why take your thought of raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, what they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? You see, that's what insecurities are. You're demonstrating your little faith. You know, God has made you to look the way you are. Again, many times, ladies or young people, they're thinking, oh, you know, I'm not pretty like this person, I'm not handsome like that, man, I'm not masculine, you know, whatever, whatever it is, you know, and it's like, you know, are people gonna, you know, am I gonna be attractive to the opposite sex and get married? Well, here's the thing, you know, I think there's like seven billion people in this world. Someone's gonna find you attractive, okay? And if we're Christians, we want that person to be a saved individual, you know, that's all that it takes. And you know what, with God, God wants us to get married, God wants us to find companionship, find a wife or a husband, right? That's God's work, we just need to pray to God, you know, it doesn't mean we need to just, you know, not care about our appearances or anything like that, but you know what, just be happy with who you are. You know, somebody is there that's going to find you attractive and handsome or beautiful, right? And they're gonna love you. So you don't need to worry about comparing yourself to other people. What's the point of having a thousand people like you when you can only marry one? If you're a Christian, that's how it ought to be, otherwise, you know, there are people that married a thousand, like King Solomon, guess what, his life was always in turmoil. Too many wives, too much turmoil, too many problems, that's not what you want, that's not God's will for your life. All you need to do is find that one person, hey, thank God I'm married, okay? I got my wife, you know? I don't have to worry about that anymore, who cares if someone doesn't find me attractive? You know? For some reason, my wife did and we're married and we're happy. Praise God. Contentment, you know, we need to stop, we need to not become insecure about our appearances. Okay. Now, the next point that I have, point number five, is we need to develop an interest in other people. Now, I did say one of my points was not compare yourself to other people, and that's true, don't compare yourself to other people. But what you should do with others is develop an interest in others. You see, being insecure, if you are, what that is is you're giving yourself way too much attention. You're thinking about yourself way too much, and that's not healthy, okay? That's not healthy. Prideful people think too much about themselves. Insecure people also think too much about themselves, okay? We need to learn to develop an interest in other people. When you're thinking about other people, you're not thinking about yourself. You won't be, you know, consumed with the insecurities that you have in your life. Now, please turn to Romans 12. Turn to Romans 12 and verse number nine. You know, one great principle that we read in Acts 20, 35, it says, it is more blessed to give than to receive. It's more blessed to give than to receive. You know, when you can give other people gifts, maybe, or just be a blessing to others, be a good friend to others, you know what? You're going to feel much better about yourself. You're going to feel much better about yourself, that you are able to contribute greatly in somebody's life, rather than just being someone that receives. Again, receiving is what can I get? But giving is what can I do for others? When you can turn your attention to others, you're going to be less insecure. And when you can find yourself to be a blessing, a great help to others, again, it's going to build that confidence in you. You're in Romans 12, verse nine. Romans 12, verse nine. Let love be without dissimulation. That means don't let your love be fake, okay? Abhor that which is evil. Cleave that which is good. Look at verse number 10. Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love. So we ought to love each other. When we learn to love each other, our attention is on other people, isn't it? But look what it says now. It says, in honor, preferring one another. Wow. Instead of preferring what you want, prefer what other people want. You know, this sometimes, you know, if you're, I remember when I was dating my wife, I prefer her. I'm dating her. I love her. I want to win her over. I want to get married to her. So I'd give her preference. You know, we would say, all right, you know, let's go out on a date. Let's go eat somewhere. Honey, where do you want to go and eat? And she goes, I don't know. Where do you want to eat? And, you know, it's like, well, no, I'm asking you. Where do you want to go? She's like, I don't know. Go wherever you want to go. Well, sometimes we can prefer each other a little bit. It gets frustrating when we both prefer each other, right? We never get, now the point being, Brett, is of course we need to be looking at other people's, you know, needs and what is it that other people, you know, require and if that means that we go without, then I'm going to prefer you over me. That helps you overcome insecurities, again, because your focus is on other people. Can you, I'm going to read to you from Philippians 2-3. Philippians 2-3. This is one of my favorite passages regarding church and it's one of these passages that I remind myself of every time I have church. Every time we're gathered together with brethren, I remind myself of this passage. Philippians 2-3 says, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Okay, so I've got a church. I'm pastor of the church. Okay, I've got the high office there. I've got the authority, but when I go into church, I say, no, I'm going to esteem other better than myself. I can't lift myself up. I've got to have a lowly mind. I've got to humble myself and I'm going to think, no, God, these are your children. These are your people. They've come to church to hear God's word, to be fed God's word. Help me to be able to preach something powerful, Lord. Please work in me. Please use your spirit to teach your people. Please bring to remembrance the things that I've prepared. Lord, please forgive my sins. Please help me to be just a help and a blessing to the brethren here. And that helps me get through church, helps me constantly just think about others. How can I be a blessing to other people? And again, it takes away the focus on self, okay, the insecurities of self. It keeps going. Verse number four, look not every man on his own things, but every man on the things of others. But I love verse number five. It says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. This tells me that Christ, every time he was gathered around others, he's the sinless Lamb of God. He's the Son of God. He's the creator of all things. And this mind was in Christ. What mind? That he esteemed others better than himself. You know what? He said, no, I'm going to give other people preference. You know what? I'm going to be a help to other people even though I'm at a loss. And of course, he laid down his life, his preference to other people, the love that he had that wasn't fake caused him to lay down his life so we can receive salvation through his sacrifice. And the last point that I have for you, brethren, point number six is, this is important if you're struggling with insecurities. This is so important because many times insecure people think others are not insecure. But point number six is, recognize that everyone has insecurities. The most confident person that you can think about, they've got insecurities. Everyone suffers with some level of insecurities. Meaning that you've got to learn to just embrace this as part of your humanity. You're constantly going to have this as long as you're in this body. You're going to struggle with insecurities. You're past the struggles with insecurities. Anyone that is honest will say they struggle with some level of insecurity. Some people more than others, but many people that have been overcome, there's still areas in their life where they're just a little bit insecure about different things. This is just part of life. Some people mask their insecurities by putting on this fake show of strength. That they're just a strong, confident person, but they do that. Many times people do that just to cover their insecurities. You may say, I know brother so-and-so, he's got no insecurities. Look, he's strong. Sometimes people just put that as a show. Whatever you think, it's just a show to cover up the insecurities that they actually do have. The reason I'm saying this is because you need to learn how to embrace this as a weakness. Embrace this weakness that you have in you, this insecurity. Let's end on 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12, verse number 9. 2 Corinthians 12, verse number 9. Embrace or recognize that there's insecurities in others. Embrace it in yourself as well. It's part of human nature. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9 says, So this is why it's just learned and understand that everybody has this insecurity. Everyone has some level of weakness. Your insecurities are your weakness. We're trying to overcome this, but you're never going to overcome it completely. And it's important to embrace this weakness. Why? Because then it says, So identify that you are going to have that, yes, maybe you're insecure. Yes, that's a weakness. Yes, you should overcome that. Yes, apply all these things that I said, but as I said, you're never going to fully overcome it. And it's important because when you're in that state of weakness, that's when you draw upon the strength of God. If we just gave into our insecurities, just completely gave into it, again, we'll accomplish nothing. But when we have those insecurities and we say, Lord, I'm insecure, I'm weak, but I know you're strong. Help me accomplish what I need to accomplish. Help me do what I need to do. Lord, help me succeed, even in the struggles and the insecurities that I have. And when that happens, you know you've drawn from the strength of God. You're close to God and He's going to give you His grace, which is sufficient for you to help you overcome. We need God's help. We need His strength. You'll never get to a point in your life where all your ducks are in a row. You're just a fully confident and perfect individual. That's not going to happen in this life, okay? But one day, we are going to have that new resurrected body once again, okay? We're not going to struggle with all these weaknesses that we have. That resurrected body is going to be empowered by the power of Christ. And you know, we'll have all that confidence that I guess sometimes, many times that we seek, but we'll always have it. We'll have a perfect body to go along with it, okay? So brethren, I do want to also preach next week on confidence, the difference between confidence and arrogance. So this was kind of part one of that. But let me just end and conclude, because you know, I don't want people to be suffering unnecessarily with insecurities, okay? And so if we can just remember to remember these six things that were brought up here, it's going to help you. Guaranteed it's going to help you overcome and become a much more confident person. But number one, remember your value. You're valuable to God. Number two, stop overthinking. Number three, surround yourself with the right people. Number four, stop comparing yourself to others. Number five, develop an interest in others. And number six, recognize that everybody has insecurities. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just want to thank you for your word. Lord, thank you that we can be confident in you. Lord, that we can have the confidence of your love toward us. And Lord, we thank you that you've given us great value. Lord, we've been created out of dirt. And Lord, we've sinned against you. And yet, Lord, you've seen value and you've sent your son to die for us. And Lord, you've not only made us your children, but you've made us your ambassadors. And Lord, kings and priests. And we're looking forward to the time that we can reign on this earth. Please prepare us, Lord. If there's anybody suffering from insecurities that's causing them to be unproductive, ineffective, Lord, I pray that they would look at these six points that were brought up. And Lord, that they can make the changes they need to make in their lives. Lord, to be a much more confident person. And Lord, help us not to be confident in self, but confident in you and your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Okay, thank you, brethren.