TRANSCRIPTION | Sunday, July 4, 2021 | GREATER Series | Make It Happen

​

Pastor Eric Gilbert

1 john chapter four, verse four, it's familiar passage, most of you can quote part of it, if not all of it. “You are of God, little children, and you have overcome them, those that have come against you, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Can I get a witness from somebody? Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse 29; David was getting ready to fight Goliath and his brothers were giving him a hard time about it, and this is what he said, “What have I done? Is there not a cause?” Is there not a cause? Proverbs 23:7, says this, “So as a man thinks, so is he.” We're going somewhere. Verse number four, that we will read, is out of Luke chapter 22, verse number 19, and Jesus is settled into a moment of communion, and he took the bread, and he gave things and he broke it, and he said, this is my body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. And likewise, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you, which is shed for you.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Father helped me to preach, help me to teach. Give me an anointing, a special grace for this moment. Thank you, Father, in Jesus’ name, this church said, amen. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

1 John, chapter four, verse four, it clearly defines this reality. “Greater is He who is in you, than He that is in the world.” Here's the bottom line of that passage. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have consecrated your life to Him, if you are all in as a follower of Jesus Christ, then you are a winner. If you're sitting beside somebody you know are saved with all their heart, just look at them and tell them you're a winner. You are a winner. It doesn't mean that you will never take a loss. It doesn't mean that you will never suffer. It doesn't mean that you will never fail. What it means is that, that which is in you, is greater than that which is against you. So it doesn't mean you'll never have a bad day, it doesn't mean that nothing will ever go wrong, it doesn't mean that there won't be moments where you're wondering why me why here why now, it just means that because Jesus is on the inside of you that even death itself cannot hold you. That ultimately, you are a winner. And even when you read the book of Revelation, and you see how that there are so many wretched things that will unfold before the end of the world, that if Jesus is in you, if you're serving the Lord, and when you flip to the back of that book, somebody help me, you win. You win. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Now for some of you, you've never looked at yourself as a winner. In fact, when you look in the mirror, all you see is failure, all you see is defeat. The only thing you can process when you look in the mirror is somebody that's never measured up, somebody that's always made mistake after mistake. In fact, maybe you've even been told your whole life that you were just an accident, and therefore you don't even really live with any kind of purpose. The thing with that is that when I tell you, you're a winner, because you have Jesus in you, for some of you, there's almost this idea that you are learning something. But the truth of it is learning doesn't change your life. Doing something with what you know is what changes your life. So just learning that I'm a winner because Jesus is in my life, that that doesn't change anything. Like you got to do something with what you know. And I've repetitively seen throughout life, especially in ministry that there are three kinds of people, and some of you've heard this before, and you're aware of this. It seems to be an everlasting truth if you will. That there are people who, they make it happen, and then there are people who watch things happen, and then there's that other group of people that they just kind of wonder what happened. We all kind of know folks like that, that we got some friends, that man I mean, they'll just make it happen. Then we got other friends that they're not really early embraces, they’re gonna kind of lay back and just kind of watch everything unfold, and so the they'll observe that it happened, but they're not really a part of making anything happen. And then there's these other folks that it's just like they're just constantly clueless. Now, don't point anybody alright. But it's like, they just kind of get to the other side and wonder, well, I wonder when that happened. And you were just working like crazy and doing everything you possibly could. Like, I can tell you how that happened, I can tell you exactly how that happened. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Yesterday, I had mud all over me, started about 7:30-8 o'clock in the morning, and we finished up around seven 7-7:30 at night. And I mean, I had just mud just caked all over me. And so my daughter had been in the house, you know, she's a little creative, and so she's always doing something entrepreneurial online. And she's fooling around on social media and all these things. And me and Dawson, I mean, we had been outside, we'd been under the house, we've been under the deck. I've been using hydraulic jacks, jacking up decks, and putting in foundational supports and all different kinds of stuff, and trying to get the gutters run the right way and putting these drains in. And she comes out and she sees her daddy standing there, I mean, mud caked all over me. And she said, Daddy, what happened to you? I’ve been up under this house for 10 hours while you're sitting there pushing….! Some people make it happen. I will give my son credit, he used to watch it happen, now he's helping me make it happen. Some folks, just wonder what happened.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

You know, when I read something, like a promise, a statement, a principle, Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. That makes something begin to stir on the inside of me, that says, man, I can make some stuff happen. Not by my might, not by my power, but by His Spirit. Because He's in me, and because anything that comes against me will never be greater than that which is in me. I start to think, man, we can make some stuff happen. Why don't you just look over somebody and tell them, make it happen. And when we hear it, some of you are already feeling pressure. You're like, well, I don't know what to make happen. The drains are good at my house, Pastor. Foundation in my deck’s in good shape, you know. Make it happen?

What am I supposed to make happen? It's like there's a pressure that comes, what am I going to make happen?!  Some of you just text somebody, like what am I supposed to make happen?

What do I make happen? Here's the deal, you don'thave to have the ability to invent something, you just have to choose to use the invention.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Let me give you a little history lesson here. There's this dude by the name of Sam Walton, and he created this thing called Walmart. And when Walmart was created, he heard about the computers, and omputers were invented during World War II. And he realized, okay, if that thing has that kind of computing device, if we can measure data and calculate our metrics, we should bring that into our business, and we should use it to help us predict supply and demand. At the time that Sam Walton brought a computer in, Kmart was 50 times larger than Walmart.

Sam Walton did not invent the computer. He just used an invention. And the impending result is, Kmart ceases to exist, and Walmart is on every block and every corner. The thing of it is, Sam Walton decided I'm not just going to watch, and I'm just gonna watch what happens, and I'm not just gonna wonder what happened, like I'm gonna make something happen. And that's just in the realm of economics, that's just in the realm of secular success. But when you begin to think about bringing Jesus into the equation, it's just like 3trees. Sometimes it doesn't have to be overcomplicated. Sometimes it's just simple. We're going to seek the lost, we're going to make disciples, and we're going to meet needs. We did not invent seeking the lost, that one totally belongs to Jesus. We did not invent making disciples, that is a command from Scripture listing out over 2000 years prior to any of our arrival. We didn't come up with this ideology to meet needs, we are commanded by Jesus to meet needs in a vast category of needs. I think about even like little things that have been happening with our church. Like, we're trying to be out there in social media. We're trying to do the Facebook thing. We're trying to do the YouTube thing. We're trying to do the podcast thing. We're trying to do all of that, to reach as many people as we possibly can. We didn't invent any of it. But like so many other churches were trying to use it. And yet this, there's this old thing called radio, anybody still have one of those?

It's amazing how they kind of just run in the background, maybe they're in your vehicle, or maybe they're in a store somewhere. But, we felt like that there was just this impression on us that that was one of the things we weren't supposed to back off of. We were supposed to keep putting the pedal on the gas with that, keep trying to reach people with the radio. And just over the last three weeks, we have heard person, after person, after person communicate to us, hey, man, God is speaking to me through a radio broadcast that's put out on a number of different stations across South Central Kentucky. See, you don't have to invent it, you just got to use it. And sometimes we're trying to do something so dramatic, and we're trying to do something so over the top, and we miss the opportunities to make incredible things happen. That can change people's lives if we would just hear and obey. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I think about David. David shows up and he's up against this huge giant, and the giant is yelling blasphemes about his God, and everybody's afraid to take on the giant. And David steps up, and he's like, if nobody else will fight that joker, I'll fight him! And they're looking at David like you're just arrogant, you're a little punk, you don't  even know your place, like who do you think you are? And David, look back at them in 1 Samuel chapter 17, verse number 29. And he said, “Is there not a cause?” See, David knew his Bible. And David knew that according to the old text, that God said, If anyone blasphemes against me, I will take care of it. And David knew all God's looking is for a vehicle to run through this giant. I've already got a promise, I've already got a word. Is there not a cause? This man is blaspheming our God! Is there not a cause worth poking your head out of the hole for? Is there not a cause worth fighting for? It's not a cause worth risking everything for? David goes into battle, and you know, the story took a swing and he took a stone. But here's what maybe you've overlooked. Here's what maybe you missed, is there was a king sitting on a throne that was known to be a great warrior who was taller than anybody in the entire land of Israel, and he was from the tribe of the Benjamites. And in 1 Chronicles chapter 12, verses one and two, what we learned is that the tribe of Benjamites were known to be the greatest with slings and stones in all of the land of Israel. When David picked up that sling and that stone, he was saying, if there ain't nobody else gonna make anything happen around here, then stand back and give me just a minute cause I'm about to take the head off of a giant. And that goes for you too Saul. I'm not trying to be arrogant. I'm not trying to be otistal, but you know how to use this thing better than I do. But let me show you what

can... Well, I'm excited about it.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

I believe there were a multitude of reasons that he chose the sling and the stone, but I think 1 Chronicles 12 gives us one of the most vivid pictures. That it was the weapon that Saul was the best with most likely, according to his tribe's heritage. And David took it. He's like, man, you got to find a cause worth fighting for and make something happen. You have to find a cause worth fighting for and make something happen. If you don't, you're going to go to your grave without a legacy. So what are you making happen? What are you making happen right now? Ah, well Pastor, I'm just in a season to stand still and wait on the salvation of the Lord. You know what, I'm totally okay with that, and I'm not even trying to mock you because I get it. There are seasons like that. There are seasons to wait on the Lord and see him renew your strength. There are seasons to rest and take a Sabbath. I get it. And maybe that's your season. But John Wooden may have said it best, the great coach for UCLA basketball. He said if you are failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. So even when you're in a season of waiting, even when you're in a season of rest Even when you're in a season of Sabbath, maybe it makes sense to in some way, begin preparing yourself for the cause that God is calling you to so that you can make something happen.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

One of my favorite stories of revival. Now, the subject of revival may not appeal to you at all. but as a pastor and just wanting to see people on fire for God and not just wanting to hang out with dead dried up spiritual folks all the time, like revival is something I love. And I study it a lot. And I've read about ancient revivals of the past and historical revivals, and one of my favorite revivals to read about is the Hebrides revival. There's a group of islands that are just off the coast of Scotland. And inside one of those little islands is a very small village by the name of Barvas. And in this little village, there were two ladies. They were sisters. One was named Peggy, and the other was named Christine. Peggy was 84 years old and blind. Christine was 82 years old and had double arthritis. And they felt called to pray. And they wanted to see God do something in their little village. They wanted to see revival, and they began to pray. And they felt like the Lord spoke to them. That if they would have an evangelist by the name of Duncan Campbell, come to their little town and preach, revival would break out. Well, Duncan was a well known evangelist in that time period, especially in that area. He was preaching all over the place. He had a very busy, hectic schedule. They sent him a letter of invitation. He writes back, said, so sorry, can't come. They send another one. He wrote back, so sorry, can't come. They told this blind lady Peggy. They said, ma'am, he's just not gonna be able to come. He's too busy, and this is too small of an area for him to come and preach. And she said, that's what man says, God says otherwise, he'll be here in two weeks. She kept praying. And as she kept praying, ultimately, what happens is Duncan Campbell shows up in two weeks. And Duncan Campbell walks into this little bitty church, and he begins to preach. Now, while he's preaching, Peggy and Christine didn't even come to the service. They stayed over in a private prayer room and began to beseech the throne of God to do something spectacular. When he finished preaching, nothing had happened. Like nothing, there's no revival in the atmosphere that they can sense or feel. People begin to walk outside, and they're all kind of stunned, of like, well, I guess Peggy got it wrong. And then as people are standing outside, and they're congregating, there's this young man that was still in the sanctuary, and he began to cry out and spare not. And he was, “God send revival, God send revival!” And next thing you know, there's one of these other fellows that was in the fellowship, and he makes his way back in the church. And he begins to cry “God send revival! And the next thing you know, there was a stirring amongst those people, and that entire church broke out in a move of God that began to last through weeks, if not months. But in the middle of it, Mr. Campbell, still had not learned his lesson with Peggy. Because Peggy comes to him, she's brought to him, you remember, she's blind. She's brought to him, and she says to Mr. Campbell, God's moving right here in our little town of Barvas. But he wants to go over here to this far isolated area and do something there too. And Duncan knew about the area. He knew that they weren't a big fan of preachers. They weren't a big fan of revivalist. And so he says, ma'am, I don't think we ought to go over there. Like, I appreciate everything you've done thus far, but that one's probably not supposed to happen. She looked at him and she said, Mr. Campbell, if you were as close to God as you ought to be, he'd tell you his secrets too.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Mr. Campbell went to the little isolated revival. Before he went there, she looked at him and she said, when you get there, you're going to preach, and God's going to win seven men of influence that will become Seven Pillars of his church that will shake all of Scotland. He couldn’t even get a church building. He goes, they put him in the largest house they could find. He's preaching in the living room. And by the time he's done preaching, there are seven men of influence that are up at the front of that room giving their life to Jesus Christ, and they became Seven Pillars in God's Church in that area. She was just a blind lady 84 years old. But she's hanging out in a prayer room and she said, I may not be able to make much else happen, but I can make…! Is there not a cause? Is there not something worth making happen? Our problem is the way we think. I just don't think I have that much to offer. I mean, this lady and her sister one of them could have said, well I got double arthritis, I can't really serve, there’s not much I can offer, but she chose to pray. The other one is blind, and she's not seeing the healing in that realm. She could have just said God doesn't love me. He won't do this for me, so why would he do anything else for me? But she chose to make something happen. See, it's true as a man thinks, so is he. You're talking about to women who came to understand greater is He

that is in me than he that is in the world. And there is a cause that’s worth fighting for, to make something happen. And I'm not going to think in a beaten down, loser kind of scenario, and I'm going to believe that there's something God wants to win if it ain't anything but a small village on the backside of Scotland, or an isolated area in an island that few people have ever been. So I just want to ask you, how are you thinking? Are you thinking like this? Greater is He that is in you than he is in the world? Is that how you're thinking?

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Let me to help you out with something, or at least point something out. Some statistics say that one in three people will be diagnosed as senial before they die. Okay, I want you to lean over, and I want you to look to your left. Alright, now lean over and look to your right, t's either you or them. I wonder if there's anything worth remembering? Because regardless of what happens to this physical, natural body, there's one thing I want to make sure I never forget, greater is He that is in me, then he that is in the world. Don't you ever forget it. That if you have given your life to Jesus Christ, what's in you will always be greater than what’s against you. Even if you get knocked down, you can get back up again.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

We're gonna play some music softly. As they do so, I want you to think about how he got in you. You see, God had a law. God still has that law, and you must abide by that law, but all of us have broken that law. Even in the most minute of ways, every single one of us has broken it in some capacity. And that means that we are due wrath. God brings wrath to lawbreakers. But amazingly, God wanted to show us that his ultimate desire is not wrath. He just wants us to love him. And while you would think that maybe that law would push us to love him, for whatever reason, so often we continue to choose our own way and do our own thing. So, God decided

that he would show us his love. John 3:16, He so loved the world that He gave His Son. And all that wrath it was due me and due you, Jesus, put himself between God and the wrath of the father and the wrath. He put himself between it on a cross, and all that wrath against sin

was poured out on God's Son, poured out wrath. And God in that display is showing us. I love you so much, I'll take the wrath for you. That's what the Bible says we can love him. because he he showed us He first loved us. Jesus, he said, I don't ever want you to forget this. I mean, obviously the first things he wants us to accept it, to accept Jesus as our Savior, to accept Him as our Lord, to follow him with our whole heart to go all in to confess all of our sins and put it on his cross so that we can be free from that wrath. A matter of fact, Jason, can you bring me a cup of communion? Open the top for me if you would. Jesus sits down with his disciples at a moment of intimate conversation. And as he sits down, he holds in his hand the bread. He's got the bread in one hand. He's got the cup in the other. And he holds them up. And it's recorded in Luke 22, it's recording Matthew 26, it's recording the book of Mark, and he holds up the bread, and he says, he took it and he blessed it, and he broke it, and he gave it. And he said, I want you to do this in remembrance of me. I want you to remember me. So we sit down, we break bread together, we celebrate, he was taken from heaven, He was blessed with a life where he spoke as never a man had spoken, he conquered death, he conquered hail, he conquered the blind eye, he conquered the deaf ear, but then he was broken through that cross. But he was broken so that he could be given to you and me. And just as we eat this bread, and that bread becomes a part of us, he's wanting us to know that he, when we accept him, he becomes a part of us through the work of the Holy Spirit. He gets on the inside of our life, and there is no sin that is ever going to come against you that should be able to prevail, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. That the grave itself can come against you, and it can't prevail, because greater is He that is in you. So, when we live with that promise of what his blood poured out is done for our sins and our sickness, why is it that we settle for not making something happen? Maybe it starts simple, of you make yourself available to serve. Maybe it starts simple, you decide to start living a generous lifestyle. Maybe it starts simple, you're just sitting at a restaurant, and God tells you to do something for somebody. You don't have to get overly inventive, just use the invention and make something happen. 

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Even if you're in a season of waiting, even if you're in a season of resting, prepare yourself, get yourself ready, because there's a cause that's worth fighting for. And if you can't find anything else to join yourself to, I would say everyone needs Jesus. I'm gonna ask you to reach into the seat back in front of you, I want you to take out the elements for communion. There is only one obligation that must be met in order to participate in this. If you're on the front row, they'll serve you. If you're at home, if you need to pause the broadcast for a minute, run over and grab some crackers and some juice. I believe the Lord would understand that improvisation so that you could be apart. There's only one obligation and that is that Jesus must be your Lord. This does not belong to you and me. This doesn't belong to the church. This is not the invention of 3trees. This is the Lord's invention. And even as we get to use this moment, the bread and the cup, we get to celebrate the fact he's in is the same way this brea, He's in us. And whatever has been coming against you that feels like it's greater, whatever has been beaten up on you, whatever sin you've not been able to conquer, it just feels like it's habitually coming back into your life, this is your moment to say I'm done, I'm done giving into my anger. I'm done giving into my lust. I'm done giving into my bitterness. Greater is He that is in me than he is in the world. If you've never called on Jesus as Savior, this is your moment right here right now.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Father, I ask you in the name of Jesus, somebody that's under the sound of my voice and right now they hold bread and cup in their hand. But they've never really went all in with you, Jesus. I pray right now, let them surrender, let them totally and completely surrender. Let them stop running from grace. Let them stop pushing your mercy away. God let them right now call upon you as Savior and Lord. Let them start confessing their deepest and darkest sins, even now God, and I pray that you'll begin to just wipe that slate clean God get all that mess off their record books, pull their sin as far away from them as the east is from the west. And God,

even today, give them the courage to tell somebody whether it's going, God, to our website and telling us I gave my life to Jesus or it's calling every friend they've got, calling every family member they've got, and saying, I finally got liberty, I’ve finally been set free. God, I thank you. I thank you. I thank you.

 

Pastor Eric Gilbert

Jesus, he held the bread, he took it, he blessed it, he broke it. If you haven't broken, I invite you to break it, just out of the symbolic gesture of remembering how he was broken so that he could come into your life. If you're believing for breakthrough in your life, I'm going to ask you right now to take and just eat of this bread. I've allowed you to be seated this morning while we partake of communion, because ultimately, they were seated with Jesus when communion was instituted. I just want you to envision yourself pulled up to the Lord's table, the Lord's Supper, and just received his goodness and his grace. Jesus, he took that cup, and he told them it represented his blood that was poured out for their sins. His blood is greater than any sin in your life. I’m going to ask you to take a drink of the cup. Church online, I just want to remind you the same as I'm going to remind this congregation right now, of Isaiah 61. it's a prophecy about Jesus. And in that passage, Jesus says, we learn that Jesus was anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives. And some of you have been captive to the way you think. Some of you have been captive to this ideology, I'm never gonna be able to make anything happen, I'm never going to be able to do anything of significance. Significance starts in the smallest of ways and the smallest of places. You ain't got to invent anything, just use what God puts in front of you. One of the things I try to live by is, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can, and trust God to do what you can. I believe that ought to get an amen in the house of the Lord this morning, amen. So come out of your captivity.