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Pastor Ed Taylor: Gifted to glorify the Lord. Next on Abounding Grace.

You're going to have to come to terms with this, that no matter how God has gifted you, no matter where He's placed you in the world, you're going to have to shift your thinking. It's very simple. You're going to need to begin to see your gifting, your calling, your career, everything about you belongs to the Lord.

He has placed you where you are, gifted where you are, given you talents and abilities and education. I mean, some of you have the highest levels of education. I mean, there are some that have multiple doctorates. Why? Because God wants to place you somewhere in the world for His glory. It's not for your glory. It's not for your bank account. It's not for your career. It's not for your retirement, although all of that may come with it. It's first and foremost to glorify God.

Guest (Male): God calls us and gifts us to serve Him, too. Now, if you want a good explanation of how that actually works, turn with us to Exodus chapter 31, here on Abounding Grace. Pastor Ed Taylor is about to draw our attention to the final instructions God gave for the building of the Tabernacle. As you'll hear momentarily, it has a great deal to say about how God gifts us to serve Him.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 31. Exodus chapter 31, I've titled our Bible study: God Has Gifted You to Serve Him. Now, we're learning about the Tabernacle and how it points to Jesus Christ. The Tabernacle, this temporary tent, would be the place where God would meet His people. God wanted them to know that He's not far from them, but among them.

We learn later in John chapter 1 that Jesus Christ, He came and dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Tabernacle would give a picture and a type of Messiah to come. God is not far, He's not distant, but close and holy. And when you would approach, remember, just by way of review, when you would approach the Tabernacle, it was this long, narrow, 150-foot courtyard with one entrance, the gate.

And it reminds us of Jesus in John chapter 10, verse 7. Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture."

As we get into the courtyard, we see the first article of furniture. It would have been a brass or a bronze altar of sacrifice, because you would always approach God through sacrifice. Again, we're reminded of John chapter 14, verse 6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." When you come to the Father through Christ, you come to the Father through His sacrifice.

And the bronze laver would point all of the children of Israel to that future reality. Moving a little closer in the courtyard, there's a big basin there, the bronze laver, where the priests would be cleansed. You go from the altar of sacrifice to the laver, to the tub there, this basin. The priests here would be cleansed in preparation of entering in.

John chapter 13, verse 8, it says, "Peter said, 'You shall never wash my feet!' And Jesus answered, 'If I don't wash you, you have no part with Me.' Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.' And what did Jesus say? Jesus said, 'He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you,' speaking of Judas."

You're clean by the work and the finished work of Christ. You're clean. If we were a priest, a high priest, we'd go on in beyond the first curtain. On the right side, there would be the Table of Showbread. It reminds us of John chapter 6, verse 35. Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

To the left would be the lampstand, the candelabra, reminding us of two truths of Jesus. John chapter 8, verse 12, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 15:5, "I am the vine, but you're the branches." As the candelabra would come out and the branches would come out, "I'm the vine, you're the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

Directly in front was the veil that separated the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat from the outer room. Atonement was made there once a year. First John chapter 2, verse 2 speaks of Jesus Himself as our propitiation. Remember, we learned that big word, propitiation could be translated atoning sacrifice. He was our substitute, our propitiation for our sins, First John says, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

In the temple, when the temple was built later on, the veil was torn in two from top to bottom, inviting anyone into the Mercy Seat now by the finished work of Christ. Luke 23, verse 44, "Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness all over the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last."

Jesus fulfills the fullness of the meaning of the Tabernacle. He is the completion. He fulfills all of the sacrifices therein, which again, as I think back to the Tabernacle and all the studies we've done already, and we think of the fulfillment of everything related to the Tabernacle by Jesus, there was that time where Jesus met those two men on the road to Emmaus. Remember that? It was after the resurrection, these guys were bummed out, they're heading home.

And then the Bible says in Luke 24, verse 27, "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." And you might read through that in your devotions, you might see it in Luke and you go, "Well, wait a minute. How did He do that?" And in the last few weeks, you learned a place He would have done just that.

He would have gone to the Tabernacle and pointed out a piece and He said, "That's Me." And He points out another piece and, "That's Me." The cleansing, that cleansing pointed to My cleansing. That veil, it's going to be torn in two. You remember it was torn in two? And He went through. Don't you think that Bible study, don't you wish they would have recorded it? Somehow somebody taking notes of where Jesus took these men and said, "This is Me, this is Me, this is Me."

This is how you and I can read the Scriptures today. As we open up the Scriptures, part of our prayer as the Bible's before us, part of reading the Bible is like, "Where are You in this, Lord? I want to see You. I want to see the Old Testament teaching, but the New Testament reality." Now, with that in mind, I want to pick up in verse 31 as we come down to the end of this section on the Tabernacle and move into a new section of Exodus, beginning in verse 1, Exodus 31.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, and in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship."

I love how this starts. Here's the key, if you're taking notes, notice this. The key for this particular man was in verse 2: "I have called." And then later in verse 3: "I have filled him with the Spirit," a spirit of wisdom and understanding. This is where maturity comes. Maturity follows gifting, growing in what God has called us to do, who He's called us to be.

I love this. I love this personal touch. This man was personally called by God with his gifting of all manner of workmanship, all these, this special, wonderful artistic gifting in his life. Some of you are very gifted artistically, and it is a talent, but more so for the Lord, a gifting for you use that for the Kingdom, for you to find your place of what God has called you to, what He's filled you with wisdom and understanding, and then to step into it.

He called this man and gifted him personally. It's the same for you and me today. God has brought us together for you and I to be reminded that God knows you personally. You're not just some robot. You're not an expendable person. You're not one of many. You are one of one. Can you imagine that? And by the way, we're very happy there aren't two of you or three of you. You are one of one.

God has made you uniquely, gifted you uniquely. Everything about you is special. He knows you personally. He knows your family. He knows how He wants to shape you and equip you for the work He wants to accomplish through you. You're going to have to change your mind somewhere along the way. You're going to have to come to terms with this. That no matter how God has gifted you, no matter where He's placed you in the world, you're going to have to shift your thinking.

It's very simple. You're going to need to begin to see your gifting, your calling, your career, everything about you belongs to the Lord. He has placed you where you are, gifted where you are, given you talents and abilities and education. I mean, some of you have the highest levels of education. I mean, there are some that have multiple doctorates. Why? Because God wants to place you somewhere in the world for His glory.

It's not for your glory. It's not for your bank account. It's not for your career. It's not for your retirement, although all of that may come with it. It's first and foremost to glorify God. And you read back and you go, "Okay, in the building of the Tabernacle, there's a guy. I want you to call this guy. This is the man. I've called him and I filled him."

I see this. It says in verse 3, I've given him all this wisdom and understanding and knowledge. In what? Workmanship. This wasn't Bible knowledge. You know how you can be in a church and you can be in a small group, or you can be in a prayer, some of you are still very uncomfortable in praying because you feel like you may not pray correctly. But you're praying just fine. You're doing just fine.

But Pastor, I don't know what kind of words I'm supposed to use. Well, just talk. You already know what words to use because you already talk. You already communicate with others. Now just communicate with God. And when you pray as you gather together in these smaller groups, don't worry about everybody in the group. You're not praying to them. They're not the audience of your prayer.

I mean, there are times when you can be in a group and you're just so in tune with the Spirit you don't even remember you're praying with people. You could have been in a group like that today where somebody took nine and a half minutes. You're just in the zone. You're just in the zone praying and just, "Oh, yes, yes." You don't have to worry about what people think or be overly concerned.

You are who you are and where you are by the will of God. And not only do you have purpose, but you're not forgotten either. You're not forgotten. That God has given you a place and He's also given you at the same time contentment, to be satisfied with where God has you. Jeremiah chapter 29:11 is such a beautiful passage where God says, "I know the thoughts I think toward you."

I don't even know the thoughts I think toward myself sometimes. I don't even know where I'm at emotionally or mentally sometimes, but God does. He knows what He's called me to. He's given me a special gifting of wisdom to do what He's called me to do. He's given me knowledge. It's not in workmanship, unfortunately. I am not good with that.

I just shared with the men, I had to be clean with the men in Florida. These hands were not built to build. Every tool in our, excuse me, every tool in our house, maybe toys are mine, but every tool in our house belongs to my Marie. They're all hers. "Hey, what do you want for Christmas?" "Oh, I think a band saw." "What? A band saw? What are you going to do with that?"

I can't fix anything. I can barely take things apart. I know what I'm called to do, and I know what to avoid, but I also know what to pour my life into. So that's where the wisdom and the knowledge comes. And on top of that, what you are called to, God has given you an abundance of wisdom and knowledge in that, so that you might be as fruitful as He desires for you.

His fruitfulness is to be matched with your faithfulness. It always works that way. It's not passive. For Bezalel, this brother had to participate. God gave him all this, and the response was, "Here it's all back. It's to Your glory, Lord. It's to Your glory." I mean, some of you listening, whether you're here or listening live on the radio online, I know this is happening in the room right now.

I prayed as I was typing all this up, that there are many listening to me right now with this singular question: "What is God's will for my life?" It's a big one. It's hardly ever asked, "What's God's will for me right now?" Or "What's God's will for me in the next month?" It's usually, "What is God's will for my life?" That's a big one. Like that's your whole life, from here until who knows when. "What's God's will for my life?" It's a great question to ask.

You might even reduce that down to "What is my calling? Where do I belong?" So let me help you with that. What's my calling? Where do I belong? Let me ask you a question: what do you like to do? What do you like to do? What's your natural desire? For Bezalel, he was good with his hands. He made stuff. I mean, really nice stuff, cutting jewels, carving wood, all manner of workmanship.

What do you like to do? What are you good at? And you begin to see, and it starts to narrow down. It's not what you want. It's not what you want to do, like, "Well, you know, I'm good with cutting stones, but really what I want to do is be a stockbroker." All right, I mean, you could step into that area, but when's the last time you cut a stone? You're really good at that.

When's the last time you began to look at that intricate, that eye that you have that's very intricate? You could go in a direction because you think that's the direction you want to go, but what has God made you good at? What do you want to do? What do you like to do? Begin there. You like music? Do something with music. You like art? Then draw something, paint something, do something in the realm of art.

Are you an engineering mind? Then engineer something. Step in that direction. Do you like programming? Then program something. Do you like driving? Then drive safely. Drive something. I was thinking today, it's a big day. We didn't mention much in the staff meeting or anything today, but I carry it heavy. Today's the two-year mark since Pastor Avan died, two years today.

For many, many years, you know what Avan did? Faithfully, every day, morning to night, you know what he did? Drove a UPS truck all around town delivering packages. Blew out his knees, I think one of his hips. And you know how he drove that UPS truck? Exactly as they trained him, exactly as he was told, following his little clipboard and everything he did, delivering, going upstairs, all the DTC area he would do that.

But you know how he would do it? He would do it unto the Lord. We were here for the memorial. The memorial was filled with people that not only did he work with, but also that he delivered to. Why? Because he knew this is where God wanted him. And he went all the way to the end until the retirement. He went all the way to the end.

He served here faithfully, because he had a pastoral gifting in his life, too. But what fueled his pastoral gifting? UPS. So everyone that ships with UPS, thank you, because you help pay the salary of Pastor Avan. That's what he was made to do. He was made to drive. And out of driving, he was made to meet people.

And out of meeting people, he was made to love them and speak to them and pray with them, not in this building, but on their doorstep, in their office, walking the hallways, in the parking lot. What do you like to do? Embrace it. Pour yourself into it and give it to the Lord. Give it to the Lord. In Psalm 37, verse 4, you can jot it down, it says, "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Now, I really don't believe, although I can see an application here to some degree, but I really don't believe that means that God is going to grant you every little desire you ever had, like He's a genie and you can just say, "Well, you know, this is, I have this desire, so God give it to me because I'm delighting." I really don't think that.

But rather, as you are communing and abiding in Jesus and communing with God, what happens? Your selfish, self-centered thoughts of your life and your future are replaced with what? His desires. So now you have new desires. It's a radical thing. You come to Him and you're praying and you go, "Well, Lord, this and this and this," and as your open, the Bible's open, as you're open, what happens? He changes your mind and He gives you a new desire, and you think differently.

I just love this section. It could be its own Bible study in and of itself. We could develop this to see in all kinds of different areas this craftsman, gifted, talented, but God came upon him, and that's what sanctified his gift. That's what sanctified his talent. Not only the desires, but what do I have to offer the Lord that I now want to use for Him?

What do you have to offer God? You have yourself, you have your talent, you have your likes, and when you take that offering to Him, He empowers you and uses you greatly, collectively. And God will choose different people to do different things according to the calling that's on his life. God will use different people, different men, different women, to do different things according to where He wants us in the body.

Remember that description in First Corinthians, where we the body of Christ is described like a human body. There's hands, there's feet, there's ears, there's like you want to be in the right place. If you're the toe and you go, "Oh, I just don't like being a toe. I don't want to be in the shoe all the time. It stinks so much. I want to be the mouth, everybody can see me, I want to be on the face."

But without the toe, we have no balance. Some of you just be content being a toe, okay? Just be content where God has you. You bring balance to the body of Christ. That's not even a negative thing. You bring balance. Some of you are encouragers and Barnabas, like be used of the Lord. Sometimes God will use people to create beautiful works of art or to compose beautiful songs.

And here's the underlying fear. The underlying fear with the gifts and talents that you have is that if you give yourself completely to God with what He's given to you, somehow you fear that God would call you and lead you into something that you would just hate. And that if you did surrender, somehow you would be miserable. Like, "Well, you know, I kind of feel like I want to be a missionary," and your thought is He's just going to send me to the middle of a jungle all by myself, I'm going to get bit with mosquitoes, and I'm going to hate it.

You just have a wrong view of God. You have the completely wrong view of God because He would take you, He would lead you, call you, send you according to your gifting and you will like it. It won't be without spiritual warfare and it won't be without challenges, but you will love being used so much where you belong. And the converse is equally true. You will be so miserable trying to do something you weren't gifted to do.

You may look at a Bible study like this and go, "No, I think, you know, Ed, what do you do all week? I mean, basically you just what, you just talk? I can talk. And you read the Bible. I got a Bible. I think I'll be a pastor." Hey, listen, you don't want to be a pastor unless God called you to be a pastor. I met a lot of men that love to take that title on themselves and gather a little group around them, but the Lord's hand's not upon them.

And that's a we learn what it's like to offer strange fire to the Lord. You don't mess around. God wants you to do things His way, and He wants you to follow His calling. You don't want to just place a calling and say, "Well, you know, God called me." Well, why did God call you? "Well, because I can teach." Well, for goodness' sake, I mean, a lot of people could teach. Where's the fruit? "Well, people are coming."

Well, a lot of people are going to come. Where's the fruit? Where's the affirmation of the elders of the church? Where's the affirmation of the people and not just the people that are calling you Pastor, but where is the hand of God like His? Where God says, "I have called you, I filled you with the Spirit and wisdom and understanding," and you just know. You just know.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us today as we study through the Bible and learn of God's abounding grace. This is Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. Are you interested in hearing this message again? It's easy to do, just visit aboundinggraceradio.com, oneplace.com, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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