TRANSCRIPTION | Sunday, September 12, 2021 | Chasing After The Wind

 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I've been in a series entitled “God Is.” And it's been my privilege to get to share with you a couple of messages in that series; Dr. Swan shared one of them. But I want to allow kind of the content that we've been in, to help us to kind of leapfrog into this next series that I believe God, I don't even know if it's going to be series, let me just say it this way. I want to allow that content, to help us to kind of move into what I believe God has for us today. And so I want to share a message with you entitled “Chasing After The Wind.” And in order to really lay the foundation for that, I want to share two verses with you. The first is in Genesis chapter 11, verse four. This is talking about the Tower of Babel, if you have any familiarity with that story. It says, “And they said, come let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” And so I'm trying to draw your attention to obviously that section there that's marked in yellow, that the reason that the Tower of Babel failed, is because the people who were trying to build it, were doing so in an attempt to make a name for themselves. And I want to show you what the writer of Ecclesiastes teaches us about the danger of just living life in such a way that you're trying to make a name for yourself. In verse four of Ecclesiastes four it says, “And I saw that all the toil and all the achievements spring forth from one person's envy of another. This too is meaningless. It is the equivalent to chasing after the wind.” 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

This morning, I share a message, Chasing After The Wind. Would you pray with me? Father, I ask you to help me to preach, to help me to teach. I pray, God, you would use this moment to allow me to share your Word with an anointing that is rich in real. God bind every spirit of hindrance, every spirit of distraction. Father God, I ask you to loose our hearts to be fertile soil for the seed of the Word. Let it be done in Jesus’ name. And the church said, amen and amen. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

A few years ago, I got a phone call that actually I initially thought was a prank call. The individual who had called me left a voicemail, and I didn't really know what to make of it. And I thought, there's no way that's real. That's one of my friends. And they've had their secretary call me, and they're just messing with me. So I ignored it. And then there was a second call, same person, same invitation. And I decided this time, I would at least play along and call back. The phone call was from the Kansas City Chiefs organization. And they were asking me if I could come to Nashville, Tennessee, and speak to their players during a chapel service before their Sunday game with the Tennessee Titans. And after some preliminaries realizing why they wanted me to do it, and what they wanted me to do, I committed to it. And so I went down on, I think it was a Saturday night, and met with those guys there at a nice hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. And when you walk into this room full of refrigerators, like you kind of want to make sure you got the right word, or really good legs to run in case. But I really prayed about it. And I sought the Lord of like, what do I need to share with these guys. And one thing that kept coming to my mind is that as big and as strong as these guys were, many of them had been wounded in their lives, because they had been taken advantage of. That there were times when they had tried to do good things, or they had tried to do things for their family or for their community. And people manipulated their generosity or took advantage of their kindness. And so I really felt like many of them had decided that they just weren't going to try to do anything good for anyone anymore. That they were just going to pull back and feed their own greed and do whatever they wanted to do with their money rather than trying to do works of charity and utilize foundations to bless other people. And I went in and I challenged them that despite how many times they've been taken advantage of, despite how many times people had done them wrong or manipulated their generosity, they should keep doing good. And one of the ways that I encouraged them was from something that I actually found from Mother Teresa. You may be familiar with her name. She was a Catholic nun that served in Calcutta, India. She helped a lot of poor people. She helped in leper colonies. And one of the things that people always wondered about her is how was she able to maintain her longevity, like why did she never quit doing good? How was she able to just keep on keeping on. And this is what she had to say. She said people are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered, forgive them anyway. If you are kind people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives, be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies, succeed anyway, if you are honest and sincere people may deceive you, be honest and insincere anyway. What you spend years creating others could destroy overnight, create anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough, give your best anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten tomorrow, do good anyway. I want you just to look over at somebody and tell them, do good anyway. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I bet that you as well have had a lot of moments in your life, where you thought, what is the use? Every time I try to help these people, they take advantage of me. Every time I try to do good for this particular set of friends, they wind up manipulating my kindness. And maybe you're even at a point where that you're wrestling with continuing to do good. I've seen it happen to our church from time to time. When we have done Captivate events, and at times with Captivate, there have been 1000s of people on our property at one time. And in those moments we're trying to meet needs, we're giving away clothing, we're giving away free food, we're giving away free oil changes at times. And we've even went trying to help people get their haircut. And maybe they couldn't afford a haircut any other way. Or it would be something that they would struggle with and just just really trying to love on people. Even with free medical screenings. And people would say, well, what about these folks that are taking advantage of this? And what about these people that don't need this, but they're but they're manipulating our kindness, our generosity? The thing I've always tried to encourage our church with is do good anyway. Because the fact that there are going to be some people that take advantage of you and the fact that there are going to be some people that work the system to their own advantage, does not mean that we get to step back from trying to do good. We are still commissioned by Scripture to be people who do good works. And one of the things that will help you to keep doing good anyway is to be able to find the right answer to these two questions. Number one, why are you doing it? And number two, who are you doing it for? But getting the right answers to these questions will really help you when you begin to realize why I'm doing it. I'm doing it because God wants me to be doing it. Who am I doing it for? Well, ultimately I'm doing it for God. And when you get the answers right, it helps you to be able to keep doing good. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Now I want to talk about that some this morning. And I'm going to circle back into that vein in just a moment. But first I want to recap just a little bit, some things that we talked about last week. We talked about the fact that God is light. And the thing that we came to realize is that we receive the light by believing God's word, and we release the light by obeying God's word. We receive the light by believing God's word; we release the light by obeying God's word. So we talked about it in this vein, that you might be struggling with an addiction. But then you read God's word and you realize whatsoever spirit you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever spirit you loose on earth should be loosed in heaven. When you begin to believe that God has given you the authority through the name of his son, over the spirit of addiction, you now receive the light of God into that previously dark place. That you might be struggling with sickness. But when you read the Word of God, by his stripes, you were healed. If you believe that word, it brings light into that dark place of sickness in your life. So you receive the light by believing the word. And that's not the problem with most Jesus followers. That's not the problem with most believers. The problem is that we never release the light. And that's why the world is so dark is because we are content to consume but never contribute. And so we have to become people who are willing to also release what we have received. And so when we do things like love God, we're releasing the lot of God. And when we do things like love people, we're releasing the light of God. How do I know that? Because it is obeying God's word. And when you obey God's word, it shines light into dark places. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

We talked about this verse, and I want you to see it again: Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and then glorify your Father in heaven.” Here's the thing, when you do good works, it is not so that you can get the glory. And it's not so that people will talk about how wonderful you are. That's not why you're doing it, and that's not who you're doing it for. When you do good works, it is so that people will glorify your heavenly Father which is in heaven, and that's what allows the light to truly shine. So one of the things I want to do is I want to walk you through the New Testament a little bit, and I want to show you how important it is that we be people who do good works. In fact, the brother of Jesus, James, wrote this in chapter two, verse 26, of his little book, he said, “For as the body without spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.” Here's what James is teaching you, that even if you have faith, and you've received something, it is dead, until you take action and release something. That faith without works is dead. So it becomes important for us to be people that not only receive, but people that release. Now, here's the thing, works do not save you. There is absolutely nothing you can do that would cause you to earn eternal life. Grace is a gift. And the only way that you can get that is by faith. You will never be able to work enough to earn heaven, cannot happen. However, once you receive salvation, you begin to release works. Because the works are evidence on the outside of the grace that has touched your life on the inside. And so now, as you do the works of God in the earth, you are shining the same lot you have received to the people who have not yet received it. And as you do those works, and you keep pointing people back to Jesus, it causes them to ultimately not glorify you, but to glorify your heavenly Father. So don't get it confused. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Works cannot gain you entrance to heaven. But there is a record of your works in heaven. The thing that I love about DL Moody's statement, he is a great evangelist of old, he said this, “I'm glad we're not saved by good works, because I don't want to sit in heaven listening to people brag about how they got there.” Can I get an amen from somebody? You ever been to that small group? You ever sat on that row in church? You ever hung out with that old religious fella, that it's all bragging about their works and everything that they've done? Listen, your good works are not going to gain you entrance into heaven, but there is a record of your good works in heaven. The apostle Paul, he talked about, over and over again, the importance of us being people who do good works in the earth. In fact, some would say Paul wrote 10 books, some scholars say he wrote 11 books. In either regard, he wrote more books in the New Testament than any other author. And in seven of those books, he explicitly said that people who follow God should do good works. I want to show you three of those instances, he wrote to his spiritual son, Titus, and he said they profess to know God, but in their works, they deny him: being abominable, disobedient and disqualified for every good work. He wrote to the Colossians, and he said, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. It’s the second letter that he wrote to his spiritual son, Timothy, who was a prominent pastor in the day that this is written. He said, I want you to understand, the man of God is to be made complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Over and over again, the New Testament talks about the fact that we are to be people who does good works. Jesus Himself taught us that if those good works are coming directly from the Word of God, then ultimately it will cause people to experience the Heavenly Father in a brand new way because of the light that shines as a result of those good works. But here's the thing, when you start doing good works, at some point, with someone, you are going to become an answer to their prayer. Think about that for a minute, that you may be the answer to someone's prayer. When that happens, if you're not careful, they will be so excited to see you and experience what you have to offer that they will start to glorify you instead of glorifying God. It's not a new problem. 2000 years ago, Simon Peter was one of Jesus' most prominent followers. After Jesus had died, been buried, resurrected, ascended to the right hand of the Father, Simon Peters still on earth trying to propagate the Church of Jesus Christ, and he's still bold; and he's still vocal; and he's still doing good works to the north, the South, the East and the West. And in one instance, there's this man named Cornelius; he evidently was wealthy, maybe even affluent. And he prays and asks God to do something for him. Well, guess what Simon Peter showed up and as a result became the answer to Cornelius’ prayer. Cornelius got down on his hands and knees and started to worship Simon Peter and bless him for being the answer to his prayer. And Simon Peter was like, wait a second, man, you got to get up. Don't be doing this. Don't worship me like this. Don't affirm me like this, don't adore me like this. This ain't about me. This is about Jesus. The only reason I'm here is because he sent me. You got to get up and give this glory to God, not to me. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Have you ever thought about what a sacrifice of praise is? Think about that, a sacrifice of praise. I believe a sacrifice of praise is when you receive a compliment for the good work. You bring that compliment back to the altar, and you offer it to God as a sacrifice of praise. And you let God know, they complimented me, Lord, on behalf of the good work you sent me to do, but I know I'd never been there to start with if it wasn't for your grace at work in my life. And so God, I'm giving this thing back to you. Learn how to give God the sacrifice of praise. I think that's what we do when we tithe, that we bring God the first fruits of our income, and we give it back to him as a sacrifice of praise to say God, I'd have never had the other part if it hadn't been for you. So I give you the sacrifice of praise. So I think we have to consistently ask ourselves this question, or these questions, why are you doing it? Who are you doing it for? Because what's going to happen, you're going to burn out, if you're not doing it for the right reason, or the right person. If you start serving at church, and the only reason you're doing it is because you feel like someone guilted you into it, you are going to burn out. If you start giving of your time, or giving of your talent, or giving of your treasure, it does not matter if it is a church house, a schoolhouse, or a nonprofit organization, if you are doing it for the wrong reason or the wrong person, you will burn out. Why? Because one of the things we learn from the context of Scripture is that God won't fuel your empire, but he will fill his kingdom. And so when you're trying to just build your empire, and trying to build your name, and trying to get acknowledged or affirmed by other people, you're going to ultimately get burned out because there'll never be enough to satisfy you. But when you come to realize who it really should be for and why it really should be done, it changes everything, and instead of feeling empty, you feel filled to overflowing. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I don't know if you've ever spent much time in the book of Ecclesiastes, but if you do, you're going to discover that book ain't like every other book in the Bible. In fact, if you don't go into it with a little bit of commentary, it'll mess you up. Because the book of Ecclesiastes cannot be pulled apart a verse at a time. The Book of Ecclesiastes is a book that has to be read start to finish. It's written in a philosophical way. The author is portraying questions and trying to bring the readers to an understanding that there's something in life that can only be attained over the course of time. Here's one of the most powerful verses in that book, Ecclesiastes 4:4 it says, “And I saw that all the toil, and all the achievement was springing forth from one person's envy of another.: So in other words he’s saying everything I see being built is being done because this person wants to have more than the other person. So this person built onto their house, but the reason they built onto their house is because they wanted a bigger house than anybody else on the cul-de-sac. And this person got a new vehicle, but the reason they got a new vehicle was only because it had to be nicer than their friends. And they were doing this thing for their kid, but really, the only reason they were doing it is because someone else's kid was about to get ahead of their own. So the writer of Ecclesiastes is looking at it, and he's saying everything that's happened in the earth is coming from covetousness and jealousy, and people trying to get ahead of one another. And he said, the problem with this is it's meaningless. And he says, this is why everyone feels so empty and feels so exhausted is because it's like chasing after the wind. Because the moment you grab something that makes you feel like you got ahead of your brother or your sister, they're going to grab something that then puts them back ahead of you. And then the moment that you grab something that puts you back at the front of the line, they're going to grab something that moves them further up the totem pole. And the impending result of it is everybody's always trying to grab or chase after the wind, it's unattainable. It's empty, and it makes your life feel meaningless. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

You want to know what's wrong with the present generation, in my opinion, if you would allow me the opportunity to share? Like I'm looking at a generation right now that statistics say wrestled with suicide at a greater level than any generation in history. We right now have on the face of the earth, a teenage generation that is more medicated for depression and anxiety than any generation prior to them in the history of the world. So why are they so depressed? Why are they dealing so much with anxiety? Why are they so prone to the darkness of suicidal thoughts? And I think part of the answer is because they live in a constant state of comparison, that unlike any other generation, every time that they pick up their phone, which now is said the average person picks up their phone over 5500 times a day. It's believed that some teenagers are between eight and 10,000 times a day. The average teenager spends north of five hours throughout the day scrolling Instagram, doing nothing but watching all of their friends highlight reels in a filtered capacity. And now they're like, how do I get more followers? How do I get more likes? How do I get more friends? How do I show that my life is more interesting, my life has more going on, how do I get back to the front? And the pressure of all of that is leading kids who feel like that they are chasing after the wind to say I shouldn't even live anymore. I can't keep up, I can't measure up. I quit on life, I'll just never be good enough. And some of you are dealing with depression personally, and the whole reason for it is because you're spending your life chasing after the wind. And you thought that if you got that promotion, you thought that if you built your business to that level, you thought if you finally had that thing in your garage, that you would suddenly have meaning in your life, and now you've gotten there. And it's like the moment you had just one little function of wow, that felt good, and then the wind blew it away. And now you're back to like, I just I feel I feel like everything's so meaningless and I'm so burned out, and I'm so fatigued, and I just don't feel like I could keep...The whole reason for it is because the enemy has brought you into a toil that is surrounded by the thorns and the thistles of comparison as everything springs forth from. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

And so I would just challenge you this morning to realize that God did not design you to live your life in a meaningless way. He did not design you to live your life without purpose. But he designed you to live your life in such a way that there is a sense of fulfillment in the here and in the now. I read a book, it's called Every Good Work by Tim Keller. Great book. In it he poses the question, if God were to have a book called Most Valuable players, who do you think would be in it? You automatically expect that it would be the pastor or the prophet or the priest, both of olden times in modern times. But he brings out the fact that that's probably not the case at all. Although there may be a few that are scattered here and there, the truth of it is to really do something great for God, you don't have to become a pastor and start a church. To really do something amazing for God you, you don't have to be in full-time ministry. In fact, in Scripture, there are two individuals that literally saved entire nations, but for no other reason than they decided that God could work through their life. One of them is Joseph. Joseph was favored by his father, he wore a coat of many colors. He winds up, though, in a pit, and then in a prison, but ultimately in a palace. And once he got in that palace, he used his influence to not only save his family, but to save the entire nation of Israel from famine. And he was never a prophet. He was never a priest. He was never a pastor. He was just a man who said, God, you can work through my life and use my influence. You go in the Old Testament further, there's a woman. Her name is Esther. Through an unbelievable series of events, she is given a position in the king's Throne Room. But she's not a prophetess. She's not a pastor. She's never been a priest. But she finds out that she can use her position to do a good work on behalf of God, and through her influence, save an entire nation. She struggled with it. She struggled with it a lot. And so God had to send a man into her life named Mordecai who started asking her the right questions. And Esther chapter four, verse 14, Mordecai shows up and he says “Esther yet who knows whether you've been brought to the kingdom of God for such a time as this.” Sometimes when I'm getting ready to preach, I ask God, I pray and I say, God, that same anointing that you put on Mordecai, would you put it on me? And the reason I pray that is because I realize sometimes you're not the one, but you're supposed to help the one. Sometimes you're not the one who has the answer, you're the one who's supposed to ask the question. And all day long, I have felt it. Just this unction, and I may feel it stronger right now than I have, at any point throughout the day, that there are some people under the sound of my voice, that you need to realize you're not waiting on the one, you are the one. And you're maybe not the person that you even anticipated or expected when you were looking in the mirror, but God would say to you for such a time as this, you were brought to that athletic team; for such a time as this, you were put in that school hallway; for such a time as this, you were put in that workplace with that level of influence; for such a time as this, you were put in your family tree brought to this community and positioned in this church for such a time as this. But we struggle with that. Because when we start talking about doing good works, we're pretty cool with okay, God, you can have my hands. God, I'll give you my time. God, I'll give you my talent. We might even go as far as to say, God, I'll give you my treasure. Why is it that we're so reluctant to give God our influence? Because sometimes the work that God wants to fulfill through you is not something you will do, it is something you will say. And that is when influence comes into play. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Tim Keller, this is one of the quotes from the book I shared, “Don't just serve God with your competency,” your time, your talent, your treasure, “allow him to leverage your influence.” And there's only one way that you can do that. You have to reach a place mentally, spiritually and emotionally where you can quote Esther and mean it with your whole heart. If I perish, I perish. If I lose everything, because I go all in, then so be it. I realize I wouldn't be in this position if he hadn't given me the seat. He opens doors that no man can close, and he shuts doors that no man can open. I believe that the hand of God is at work, and he's older and my steps, and I got to step back and say if I perish, I perish. God, I'm not just going to give you my time or my talent or my treasure. I'm also going to give you my influence also, but we will do it, because we're suffering from the mentality of Babel. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Genesis chapter 11, verse four, “And they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens,” say it out loud with me, “let us make a name for ourselves. Lest we be scattered abroad over the whole earth.” Isn't that all of our problems? Oh, you know, you've wrestled with it. You came from the wrong side of the tracks, you don't have the right pedigree, your education don't measure up, and your whole life you've been trying to make a name for yourself to prove you are somebody. Oh, you know what it is, you get out of bed in the morning, and you're so tired of people looking down their nose at you. And that's why you put in the hard work. And that's why you put in the extra effort. And that's why you're so driven is because you're just trying to make a name for yourself. Man, we've all been there. We've all wrestled with it. And here's the deal. There is nothing wrong with being driven. There's nothing wrong with working hard, or striving for excellence, or demanding your best and the best of everybody around you. But you got to be really, really careful with this deal right here, let us make a name for ourselves. Because God showed up and told them you could have done it, but I'm not going to allow it. And the very thing they were trying to prevent getting scattered is the very thing that happened. Why? They were chasing after the wrong wind. So be driven and work hard, and give it everything you got. And do good works, but don't you ever let people make it about you. Live your life with this mandate: I am blessed to be a blessing. Why don't you just practice saying to somebody, “I am blessed to be a blessing.” As long as you think you are blessed, so that you can consume blessings, your life is going to be meaningless and miserable. But when you realize I am blessed to be a blessing, your life starts to take meaning. And you might have a name that people recognize, but you use the influence of that name, that brand, whatever God put under your sphere of influence to point people back to Jesus because you realize it's about Jesus, it's all about Jesus, and it will always be about Jesus. I dare somebody to shout Jesus one time. So don't you ever stop asking this question. Why are you doing it, and who are you doing it for? Because the writer of Hebrews summed it up for us, as they begin to play the music, “God wants to make you complete in every good work, to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight through,” somebody say it, “Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever, amen.” Amen. Blessed to be a blessing. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I saw something on Wednesday night. I've been doing this 21 years; I've never seen anything like it. Like, I'm still taken aback by it. I wept like crazy while it was happening. And I've wept like crazy multiple times since then. I've never seen anything like it. Our church began to realize that we're at a place where we're blessed. I mean, God's been incredibly good to us. We're blessed. But we're not just blessed so that we can lean back and celebrate those blessings. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing. And we believe with all of our heart that God is calling us, not just to Russell Springs, Columbia, or Campbellsville, but God is calling us to the state of Kentucky. And we believe that there's zip codes that we've never even thought about, that we are supposed to go and bless with good works unto Jesus Christ so that people would begin to glorify the Father. We have no idea how it's going to totally unfold, we have no idea what it's going to look like. But I began to share with our church that there was one thing that stood in the way of that expansion above anything else, and that is debt. And how that our church has been through a miraculous season, we've been able to get the debt load down to $500,000, but it's still $500,000. And it's not gone yet. But that we are believing God that somehow some way before the month of September is gone, before the 21st anniversary of this church passes by that this church will be able to claim in the name of Jesus, that it is debt free. And nobody said we were taking up an offering, and nobody challenged people to give, and nobody invited people to start moving forward. But somehow, someway, people started moving all over that building. And it went on for an extended period of time. And all I knew to do is to step back and weep. And it was people, and there happened to be a Bible that was open on the pulpit. And that's where it wound up getting laid, most of it. And people was coming and laying it in that Bible. And I was just thinking in my life, in my heart, in my mind how that the Word of God, man, when you begin to believe it, you receive it, but then you get to release it. And I just believe it's a sign that there's going to be a light that's going to be released to the North, the South, the East in the West. And our church, we've got maintenance needs that we put off, and we've got a staff that we've got to hire that we've put off. But once this debt is out of the way, we believe that coming into 2022, we are going to put the pedal to the floor, and we're about to advance in the enemy-held territory and announce once and for all that Kentucky is going to be a place that it's going to be hard to go to hell from. And we're not doing that to try to make a name for 3trees church or a name for some pastor or some preacher, we're trying to make a name for Jesus because He is the name that is above every name, including my name, your name and this Church's name. It's the name of Jesus. Can I get a witness from somebody? And I just felt while everybody was moving on Wednesday night, and I was just broken by it. Just the buy-in towards the vision. I've never seen anything like it. And as I was processing it, I felt like God was speaking to our house. And we had this savings account we've been saving in for an extended period of time. And we had this dream, this thing we were saving up for, and we really wanted to do it. And it was like God was just saying, will you sow the dream into a vision. And I called Mandy up, and we began to talk...well we talked about it in front of everybody, it wouldn’t much of a talk. It was like, hey, let's do this. She's like, let's do this. And we felt led to give that. And the next day as we were sitting down together, and we were writing that check, and getting ready to give it, the thing that the Lord just brought to my heart is Eric, don't ever be blessed just to be blessed. Pray, Eric, that you will always approach life in such a way that you are blessed to be a blessing.  So I wonder, how does God want your time? How does God want your talent? How does God want your treasure? How does God want to use your influence to where that you're not just blessed but you're blessed to be a blessing?