Abounding Grace

Pastor Ed Taylor: Pastor Ed says, remember who gets the glory when you're serving the Lord in ministry. Let me tell you something, the first way out of ministry is to take the glory to yourself. That's the first step. It could be the only step that will take you out of ministry completely because God won't share His glory with anyone.

We're just instruments. We don't want to dwell on look at us, we're the healers. People will rent out the Pepsi Center and invite everybody in town, come on out to heal, we'll heal you. You heal nobody. It's only God that heals and He does that sovereignly. He doesn't do what you might see or hear today where charlatans come around and draw attention to themselves.

Larry: We're delighted to be with you today here on Abounding Grace. Make your way over to Acts chapter three as we'll join Pastor Ed Taylor at verse 11 in just a second. The last time we observed the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate. It was truly an amazing miracle, which raises the question, who should get the glory for this? God or the human instrument that He uses? In light of all that's going on around us today, it is an important question for us to carefully consider even in our own lives as we go about serving the Lord. Here's Pastor Ed.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Would you open your Bibles to Acts chapter three? We're going to pick up where we left off last time in this Bible study. I think it's a timely one for where we are in light of what's happening around us. Acts chapter three, we're going to pick up in verse 11 and I titled our Bible study, "Many Shall See God's Work in You."

Maybe you've heard this phrase before. It goes something like this. There are a lot of variations to it, but it goes something like this: believers are the only Bibles that some people will ever read. There's a variation like, your life is the only Bible that some people will read. I don't think that's entirely accurate, but I do enjoy the perspective. I think it's a great illustration that our lives are on display.

You and I, we represent Christianity to a watching world, either in a positive way or a negative way. Your life, my life, represent Jesus to those that are around us. A lot of what people think about Christianity and Christians has come from watching our lives, watching the life of the church.

Think about this for a second. I know we mention it a lot and we kind of joke about it, and it's fine to joke about it, but people will say, "I don't go to church because it's filled with hypocrites." Then the joke is, "Of course, we're all hypocrites, there's hypocrisy in all of our lives." We want to be and grow in that area. It's true.

But I want you to consider this for a second, that someone coming to the conclusion that the church is filled with hypocrites most likely came from dealing with hypocrisy in a Christian, a person, maybe your life, maybe mine. There's certainly hypocrisy in my life. It's not always on purpose. It's not like I want to wake up in the morning and be the biggest hypocrite that I can.

But it comes from the battle of the spirit and the flesh. It comes from that place where I want to follow Christ, but my flesh wars against my spirit and we start making decisions and before you know it, we are living a life of hypocrisy. That's not okay because it is what people see and it is what people conclude. It's that sense of, "I have no problem with Jesus, but I have a lot of problem with His followers."

Why don't we really pay attention to our own personal walk and be one less hypocrite somebody needs to deal with? One less person that is living a life inconsistent with what would be expected in a person following Christ? Many people are watching our lives. We were going to read a Psalm, we didn't, but let me read to you the Psalm that I chose today in Psalm 40.

Just listen to it. It's a beautiful Psalm of salvation from David. He's declaring his joy of being delivered and he says this in Psalm 40, verse one: "I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and He set my feet upon a rock and established my steps. He's put a new song in my mouth, praise to our God." Listen to what he says: "Many will see it and fear and will trust in the Lord."

All that God is doing in your life, all that God was doing in David's life, all that God's doing in my life, many will see it. How about I change that a little bit and say many do see it? But many will see it and will learn to fear God and a whole life change can take place in someone else because of your testimony, because of the power of God through you. Many will see it.

That's what's happening here in chapter three of the book of Acts. Many people are seeing God's work in this man that was lame who was healed. Many people are seeing it. God is getting again the attention of many in that area around the temple. You'll remember in our time last time we learned how Peter and John were just headed to what we would call today church.

They're headed to the temple for a prayer meeting and they're walking by this man that was laid at the gate every day. There's a good chance that they've seen him and known him, but this day was different. It's almost as if there was this impression of God. It was almost as if God dropped into Peter's heart, "You know what Peter, I want you to stop right now, I want to heal that man."

It's a word of knowledge that we learn in First Corinthians chapter 12. With that word of knowledge, what does Peter do? He stops. As the guy's asking him for money, he stops, he looks at him and he tells him, "Silver and gold I don't have, but I'll tell you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk."

He grabs him and pulls him up, which I think at that moment God gave him a manifestation of faith to obey that command. That was a wild time. What could have been seen as an interruption, what could have led to frustration, what could have been even used like, "I don't have time for you right now, I'm going to a prayer meeting, I'm doing something spiritual," none of that.

He stops, he obeys the prompting and the leading of the Holy Spirit and God heals that man. Let's be abundantly clear. God healed that man, not Peter. Peter is merely the instrument, just the instrument. It is God that healed him. With that in mind, pick up with me in verse 11 of Acts chapter three. You've got this guy leaping, praising God, clinging to Peter and John.

Check this out, verse 11. He says, "Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch, which is called Solomon's, greatly amazed." So Peter just witnessed the miracle and now he witnesses everybody running and this large crowd coming. When Peter sees this, he responded to the people, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this and why do you look so intently at us as though by our own power or godliness we made this man walk?"

Now let's pause there because something important is happening. There's a recognition of God's power interrupting lives, gathering attention. Peter sees it. He's filled with the Holy Spirit and now again he takes this divine appointment and chooses to address the crowd with the gospel. He's going to tell them about the condition of their life.

They're so concerned about the condition of this man that was healed, they're so concerned and amazed and surprised and shocked by it all, but God is more concerned about them. This is His divine appointment for them. The lame man is super excited, but actually the lame man, he's being used for all of them.

Notice what he says. He has two questions. Two questions that he poses to them. The first one is, why are you surprised by this? That's what the word marvel is. Why are you so shocked by it? Why is that an important question? Because these guys were religious. They studied the scriptures. Where are they? They're in the same region of the temple where that was the religious center of Israel.

They're there religiously, they're there following God. What does he ask? "Why are you guys so surprised? The same God you serve, this is what God does. God heals people. Why are you shocked by it? Why is this such a big deal to you?" That's a great question. Number two is even a greater question. He says, "Why are you guys looking at us? Why are you looking so intently at us as though it was our power and our godliness that we made this man walk?"

Peter understands something that you and I need to understand, and that is he is in a very dangerous place. This moment in time is one of the most dangerous times in Peter's entire life. It wasn't under great duress, it wasn't under great persecution, it wasn't when he was wrestling with whether he believed or not or doubting.

This is one of the most dangerous times in his entire life and the danger lies on whether he will take credit for the work of God. Whether he will take the credit and draw attention to himself. You know that's very popular today, right? That God is at work on the earth today and men and women love to take credit for the work of God.

They love to draw people after themselves. They love the applause, they love people following them, they love their name in lights, and they sin greatly by taking God's glory to themselves. It's something not just them, we all have to be careful. I've had to learn this the hard way. We were taught very early on in ministry, even as we teach the men and women in our school the same thing.

Listen, if God ever does anything good through you, He gets all the glory. If there's anything bad that comes from you, that's your fault. That's you. You don't blame God for it, that's us. If we stumble and fall, what are we to do? We're to repent, humble ourselves and allow the truth to come out. We aren't to respond with a bunch of excuses and make excuses like you could have, like we learned last time, "I'm not going to heal, I'm not going to be a part of it because God wants me to pray."

Whatever that might be, God gets all the glory. As a matter of fact, the Bible says it this way. This is so important. Let me just read to you what the Bible says. Isaiah 42, verse eight. I'll read it to you because I like the NLT on this: "I am the Lord, that's my name. I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols."

God shares His glory with no one. I've had to learn this the hard way. We were taught, look, just give all the glory to God. Don't get a big head. My pastor Jeff used to say, you know, there's pastors that get big head and they grow like a balloon, but God has a pin that He can pop at any moment.

There have been a few seasons in my ministry where I did allow through pride and arrogance, my head to get big as if something happened that wasn't God as the origin. My pastor was correct. You can humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. That's painful, but He'll lift you up. Or God will humble you Himself.

That's painful. Either way, God requires humility in our lives. The less painful way is for you to obey God, humble yourself. It is not you. You are just an instrument. You are just an instrument. Anyone that's used by God has to learn how to give God the glory. Like for example, in a time like this, just the gifting that God has given to me as a pastor and teacher, God will use this Bible study.

He will use His word and this teaching to minister to many people. Some of those will email me or come up after a service and say thank you. Like the brother last night. Brother comes up last night, he thanks me for the Bible study. It really ministered to his heart and he was here at the right time and God did a great thing.

I have learned over the years to respond to that this way: "You're welcome." Then almost immediately in the same breath I'll say, "But isn't God so good that He'd use His word in your life?" God gets the glory. There's a human instrument involved, but what happened in his life wasn't me, it was God.

It was God taking His word and shooting it right to his heart. In his story it was amazing. He shared with me how he was in Texas at a live-in treatment center and now he's out and he's been sober, check this out, for eight months. Sober for eight months. We rejoice with the brother. I was able to look him in the eye and go, "Oh man bro, I was eight months once, but I have been sober now for 31 years."

31 years. You see, the glory of God, the strength of God that kept him sober for eight months, he left here knowing eight months can become eight years, can become 16 years. It's not going to be some program that keeps you sober. It's not going to be some steps that keep you sober. The sobriety and strength that's in this room comes alone from God.

There might be some tools along the way, but even being able to look him in the eye and go, not only have I been sober for 31 years, but God has kept me from alcohol completely. I don't want anything to do with it. Why in the world would I go back to something that I've been delivered from?

Haven't I learned my lesson that it can destroy me, take me under its control and hurt everyone around us? Why would I go back? "But Ed, but Ed, you have freedom." You're right. I have freedom to stay away from something that's so destructive so I can look a guy in the eye right here and say, "Look bro, I am sober by the grace of God and you can too."

That's the power of God. You don't take it like, "You know I've been sober all this time and now I'm a pastor." No, you got to step back because the lightning is going to come through here. You just step back and go, "No, you don't take that glory." Thank you. You're welcome. I'm glad that the Lord used His word.

Isn't He so good that anytime you open the Bible, anytime it's taught to you, the Holy Spirit will make it activate into your life? It's so good. You want to be careful whether you're a Sunday school teacher, a small group leader, whether you're a worship leader, you have a little prayer meeting, you got a Bible study in your house.

Let me tell you something, the first way out of ministry is to take the glory to yourself. That's the first step. It could be the only step that will take you out of ministry completely because God won't share His glory with anyone. We're just instruments. We don't want to dwell on look at us, we're the healers.

People will rent out the Pepsi Center and invite everybody in town, come on out to heal, we'll heal you. You heal nobody. It's only God that heals and He does that sovereignly. He doesn't do what you might see or hear today where charlatans come around and draw attention to themselves.

Even during these last couple years there's this big emphasis on prophets and prophetesses and you can follow them. Don't you be following prophetesses or prophets. You follow the Lord. You follow the Lord and you test all things and you hold fast to what is good. You don't follow some pastor, some pastor and his wife.

You've got to learn to follow the Lord. Anything a pastor says, anyone that teaches, anything that's taught, you test it and you hold fast to what is good because Jesus Himself is the embodiment of sound doctrine. He is good. You don't want to follow man and you also don't want people to follow you.

Peter takes the way of escape. Do you know anytime there's a temptation in your life, according to First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, there's always a way of escape? You are never stuck with temptation. God will always make a way for you to escape it. You can always say no. You can always side-step in the power of the spirit.

You're not overwhelmed to the point where "I just can't get out of this." You can get out of it right now. There is a way of escape available to you right now. You do not have to follow through with the sin you've planned. You don't have to sign those documents. You don't have to go through with whatever you've plotted and planned.

You can change your mind right now. I think of where we're going to get in later on in the book of Acts, we're going to look at Ananias and Sapphira. Do you know that chapter could have been written differently? They didn't have to lie to the Holy Spirit. After Ananias is wiped out for his lies, it says that Sapphira comes later.

She didn't have to lie either. They could have changed their mind. I say that as a word from the Lord to someone today. You can change your mind right now and choose not to sin. You don't have to go through with it. You can choose to follow the Lord and He will honor you.

Back in Acts chapter three, here he is. He says, "Don't look at us, it's not about us." Then in verse 13 he says, "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he was determined to let Him go. But you denied the Holy One and the Just and you asked for a murderer to be granted to you and you killed the Prince of life whom God raised from the dead of which we are witnesses."

You got to understand something. These are heavy words. He says, "You guys are looking at us like we're something special." Again, this was a momentous time in his ministry. He could have taken all their glory. He could have asked them to follow. He could have built on that, but he did the exact opposite.

He spoke the truth in love and said three very hard things. Did you see them? Number one he said, "You delivered up Messiah." Number two in verse 14 he said, "You denied." That's the second time he said that. "You denied the Holy One and the Just." Then finally in verse 15 he says, "You guys killed Him."

Now they didn't literally kill Him. Many of them weren't there. The authorities were the ones that handed Him over to Rome. So it's not like by their hands they did. So how is it that they denied Him? How is it that they turned on Him? How is it that they killed Him? Their sin.

Which you could say today, as we prepare our hearts for communion, you could say today that it was your sin that put Jesus on the cross. It was mine. These are the very same things that could be said of us because of our sinful ways. Yeah, surely some of them might have said, "Crucify Him, crucify Him."

Perhaps some of them listening could be some of the religious rulers there and they were literally the ones that did this. But you see, we're all guilty because of sin. It's not a select few. Peter knows this is what needs to be shared because he's walking in the spirit. You ignored the Bible.

You ignored and denied and killed the Savior. Peter uses all these paradoxes here to prove a point. He says, "Jesus was a servant, but God exalted Him. Jesus was a deliverer, but the nation delivered Him to Pilate. They rejected the Holy and Righteous One and they received a murderer, an unholy, unjust murderer. They put to death the Prince of life, but asked for one who literally took life." What is he doing but leading them down the road to repentance?

Larry: You're listening to Abounding Grace and Pastor Ed Taylor is our Bible teacher. Would you like to hear this again? If so, just visit us online at aboundinggraceradio.com or oneplace.com. You can also download the Calvary Church app as well.

Today we'd like to tell you about a book from Ron Rhodes titled, "The End Times in Chronological Order." Think of it as a complete overview to understanding Bible prophecy. You've probably heard about the rapture, the Great Tribulation, second coming, mark of the beast, but how do they all fit together?

This chronological tour through the Bible's most important predictions will help you connect the dots. We'll gladly send you a copy for a gift of $25 or more to Abounding Grace. Call toll-free at 877-30-GRACE. That's 877-30-GRACE or order it online at calvaryco.store.

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Pastor Ed is back with us now and Ed, I like what you said today regarding how you personally respond when someone thanks you for a message that you've given. But let's provide another example that many of our listeners might relate to. Let's say that they are praised for a job well done, a great performance on the athletic field or after singing a song at a wedding. Should we be quick to give God the glory outside the walls of the church too when opportunity arises?

Pastor Ed Taylor: That's exactly what we should be doing, Larry. That's such a great question. When we receive appreciation or someone comes to us and acknowledges something that we did, it's super important that not only do we participate in that conversation and say thank you or whatever's necessary, but that it be used as a bridge to get someone to the Lord.

For example, "Thank you for all that hard work." "Oh, the Lord was so gracious to me," or "My God was so gracious to me to give me the strength to stay up and work really hard." Then maybe go back and go, "It was years ago that I don't think I would have done that kind of work, but after I became a Christian my whole mind changed."

You can use anything as a bridge for the gospel, but especially when you receive that thanks or that appreciation. It's a really wonderful time to give God the glory for the great things He has done. And you can learn a new habit. You watch and you see how God will use it.

Larry: Thanks again, Pastor Ed. This has been Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed. We'll look for you next time as we open the word together in search of God's abounding grace.