Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Pastor Ed Taylor describes the pathway to joy and victory in your life.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Many today in the body of Christ are looking for this new thing and that new thing and what's going to happen. Let me give you an old thing that will put you ahead from any other thing that you ever find that somebody says is new, and that's this. This is the pathway to victory. This is the pathway to joy. This is the pathway to peace. This is the pathway to just about everything you truly want in your heart. Ready? Obedience. Read the Bible and do what it says. Don't try to explain it away with some fancy theology and, well, you know this and no, don't just, just do it.

Guest (Male): From Calvary Church in Aurora, Colorado, comes another edition of Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor. We're about to continue our miniseries titled Greater. As God works in our life little by little, how should we respond? By working out our salvation. Put another way, obedience to God. That's the emphasis of today's talk, based in Philippians chapter two. Here is Pastor Ed.

Pastor Ed Taylor: It says here that obedience is important, and out of obedience you work out, verse 12, your own salvation with fear and trembling. You work out. The phrase sounds just like it does today. If you're going to work out, you know it's going to be painful. Your muscles are going to ache. The cardio is going to make you ache. When you work out, you are growing and deepening your muscles and your body. It's going to be hard. It's going to hurt. It brings pain. But this is the will of God moving forward. As he works in your life little by little, you and I respond by working out our salvation.

Mark that word "work out." Out. Work out. It doesn't say in the original language, and it means exactly what they translated into the English. It's "out." He doesn't say work for your salvation. He doesn't say that as you are working, you're working on your salvation or working through your salvation. It says working out. It's a mining term, actually. It's as if you own the mine that's filled with precious jewels, and you're going in and you're working it out and taking what's already yours. You're not creating it.

You work out your own salvation. Mark that word, not only "out" but "own." Work out your own salvation. Why is that important? Each of you has your own individual personal relationship with Jesus. Your own personality, your own background, something that God is doing in you uniquely. Now, I know as a church, we're moving forward as a church, so collectively we're the church. This is a small part of the larger body of Christ that God is working through us, and it's amazing what he will do with just a building on a little corner in Aurora. It's amazing. But what's more amazing is the work that he's doing in you personally, your own salvation.

I'm sure you've met people. I meet them all the time, unfortunately, where they're so caught up in something else, someone else, everything that is going on, and I always think if you would just spend that kind amount of time on your own life, you'd be amazing. You would know you would never be stopped. But instead, you're over here, you're over here, you're over here. Do you know the Bible actually says stop being a busybody? Did you know that? Oh, thanks, pastor, for encouraging me today. It is encouragement. Live your own life and work out your own salvation. Take care of yourself. Do what God has called you to do.

If you would just spend the time that you spend on other people's lives and all the problems in the world and all the different, oh, oh, oh. No, no, no. How about you? Work out what your Bible says, your own salvation. God's doing something in you. He knows the thoughts that he thinks toward you, not just collectively us as a church, but individually in our own lives. Paul speaking to believers here, men and women with special talents and callings and gifts. When you concentrate on your own life, your own walk, your own situation, you know what you'll do? You'll keep your eyes fixed and focused on the prize that is set before you. Collectively, God will use us greatly.

Salvation requires exercise, a strengthening and a building upon it. Obedience is what God uses to strengthen us. Disobedience puts us backwards, and he is supremely interested in our obedience. Obedience, we're, many today in the body of Christ are looking for this new thing and that new thing and what's going to. Let me give you an old thing that will put you ahead from any other thing that you ever find that somebody says is new, and that's this.

This is the pathway to victory. This is the pathway to joy. This is the pathway to peace. This is the pathway to just about everything you truly want in your heart. Ready? Obedience. Read the Bible and do what it says. Don't try to explain it away with some fancy theology and, well, you know this and no, don't just, just do it.

I'll give you, I'll give you a real easy example because we're talking about working our salvation and God's work in us and we're looking to the future. And some of you today are just so unhappy with your life. You're so dissatisfied. Now, there might be some real reasons behind that, maybe a recent breakup or a financial challenge or foster care system you've been in and out of. I mean, on and on, there's a lot of good reasons. I'm certainly not minimizing the fact that we have tough lives and difficult things happen to us.

But to respond with a dissatisfaction that leads to the sin of complaining and murmuring, now that's something different. You go, Ed, where's that say that's a sin? Glad that you asked. You're already there. Philippians chapter two, verse 14. Do all things without murmuring and disputing, or it could also be translated grumbling and complaining. So complaining kind of speaks of the outside, grumbling speaks on the inside. And I'm sorry you're dissatisfied right now and that it's hard, and the new year could be something great and grand for you.

But whatever God has, what are we learning? God knows what he's doing with your life. He knows the how, the why, the when, the what. God knows. And don't complain about your present situation. That's disobedient. Don't complain and grumble. Find yourself in a place of surrender and obedience. Remember, therefore, my beloved, look to Jesus, his humility, his obedience, his service, his name that's above all names.

But you see, it's not just working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, a healthy reverence and respect and honor for the holiness and the righteousness of God. But more importantly is not our working out, it's his work. You see this all throughout the Bible. There's a lot of action on our part, for sure. That's our life, our response. But remember, God is always the initiator. We're the responders. God is the initiator. He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

And who are we? Those that responded, placed our faith in Jesus and this blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us, we have eternal life. Why? God initiated that. In the beginning, Ed. No, that's not how the Bible reads. In the beginning, God. Your name's not there either. You're laughing at me, but your name's not there either. Everything doesn't start and end with you either. It starts with God. At the end of Revelation, it ends with God and everything in between.

We might get caught up, oh, obedience and disobedience and difficulty. Okay, but there's a greater, there's a greater initiator that's in your life and mine. And I love this in verse 13. It is God who works in you. It's God that works in you. God is at work in you. He is working in you. What he has begun, he will be faithful to complete, Paul already said in Philippians 1. David understood this when he wrote in the Psalms, God will perfect that which concerns me.

God is working. As you're working out, you're only working out what God has worked in. And what a beautiful thing that is. Isn't it true? Sometimes I think we just forget it's God. We forget that it's God. We so easily forget that he's working, that he's working in you. Another person I get to meet a lot, even last night I had someone come up and I love to be able to say this. But we're talking about life and there's a season right now is so hard and so difficult and they just feel like they're not making any progress.

But I know how they walked into the door and I know where they've been for the last five or 10 years, and I love the privilege of going, I know it's hard right now, bro, and I know you hit a speed bump, but don't you know how far you've come? Remember how you were. Remember the miry clay. Remember the pit that you were in. Remember what you were wrestling with. You're not wrestling with that anymore. God gave you a victory. Yeah, but pastor, I'm wrestling with this now. I know. Because God will take you from glory to glory, strength to strength, and victory to victory. It's not just one victory today. It's like, oh man, I overcame this temptation. Fantastic. It's going to prep you for the next one because there's another one coming.

And you go from strength to strength, victory to victory. And just today, that may be the word for you. I know it's hard and I know you've taken three steps forward and five back. I get it. But look how far you've come. Look how far you've come. Not only is God working in you, but he highlights two ways. I want you to note this. There are two things right now God is working in your life. Notice them in verse 13, to will and to do. To will and to do.

And that word "works" in verse 13 is the Greek word energeo. It's where we get our word energy. Through the Holy Spirit, God is energizing and enabling and empowering you and me to accomplish all that he has. He first gives us the desires and then the power. Right now as I'm speaking, God is working in you to achieve things in your life. All the load and all the pressure is off of your shoulders. We learned that through our study for 26 studies and nine months we were in the book of Galatians. We learned that. It's Jesus' finished work. Adding anything to salvation doesn't have the grace of God. It's not salvation anymore.

You and I, we have the privilege of responding to the work of God in our lives. We don't always know God's will and perhaps we don't always do it, but we can take courage that God is going to show us as he works in us. And all the pains and all the setbacks and all the sufferings in this world come because of sin. So don't beat yourself up for not living up to some standard because you see yourself falling short. God made you to enjoy fellowship with him and he's working in you giving you new desires.

Imagine that, new desires. Our missionary of the week, the Ochoas. They're serving faithfully for many, many years in Hawaii. Wouldn't that be a great gig? Like send me to Hawaii, Lord, send me. I would love to serve there. Send me to Hawaii. They're in Hawaii enjoying fruitful, doing a great thing. And then all of a sudden they have a desire to go to Peru. Now, who in their right mind in Hawaii would have a desire to leave Hawaii and go to Peru? The Ochoas did. Why? Because God put that desire in their heart.

They left paradise, man. It's beautiful there and wonderful. And the weather, the weather, the weather, unbelievable. And as they're serving the Lord, God puts a new desire in their heart that they pursue. I know no other reason why someone living in Hawaii would go to Peru to serve there, except that the Lord gave them that desire and they responded to it. And now we as a church support them in their new ministry in Peru. And who knows, maybe they're praying in Peru and God gives them a new desire, but it came from him. It came from him.

I think of in the church today, just a few of the desires that perhaps God is changing, you don't even realize it yet. I mean, some of you listening to me, maybe once you wanted to be a millionaire. Like that was your solution in life. I'm going to make a lot of money and that's going to give me peace, that's going to give me freedom. And it doesn't have to be a millionaire, it could be any amount of money that you perceive will give you the kind of freedom and peace that you're looking through.

But then your desires changed and no longer do you want to be a millionaire, but rather you desire to have money and to use, maybe you were very good at business and you're going to start businesses and you're going to make money, but not for yourself, but for the kingdom of God. Now where would that come from? I mean, were you go from a place where I'm going to make a lot of money, I'm going to take care of my family, do everything I want to do and travel and do, where did that come from now, hey God, any dollar that I make it belongs to you?

Well, it came from the Lord. That's a desire from God. Or for some of you from a very young age all you've ever wanted to be is a teacher. That's all you've ever wanted to be is a teacher. And you just think I just want to help kids, I want to teach them the ABCs, I want them to have a teacher that you, they can trust. I had a great teacher in my life, I want to emulate that teacher. But then in the Lord your desire changed, and now not only do you want to be a teacher and help kids along the way in their ABCs, but as a believer you now see yourself as an ambassador of Jesus Christ, using your teaching as a vehicle to show kids the way of salvation.

You're an ambassador at a public school system, you're an ambassador at Christian school. I mean, I think some of you, you're homeschooling today and you never in a bajillion years ever saw yourself as homeschooling, but guess what? You got a desire. The Lord gave you a desire and you are living out in obedience in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's a testimony in our home. That is something neither Marie and I ever foresaw her doing primarily and me doing alongside of her, homeschooling our kids, but we homeschooled them all the way into college and it was like, whoa, that was not easy.

But God gave me a heart for my kids. You see, when I got saved, we were teenage parents. And although I could say I liked my son, my heart turned as a believer to take care of my family. I mean, I had a moral obligation I kind of felt, but the Lord gave me new desires. I think of all the desires here, maybe one, maybe, and it might be still with you, you go, I want to be famous, pastor, I want to be famous, I want to be an influencer. And maybe some money's tied to that.

But in the Lord now, you don't want to be famous just for yourself. You have the attitude now, if I'm ever famous, I'm going to use it for the gospel. I want to use this talent or this gift, this ability, put videos together. I think of Nate, another missionary that we support in Myanmar right now. He was a very famous successful MMA fighter and he used that avenue of what he trained and he's still using it today in MMA. But while he was a champion, he used that platform for the gospel and now he's still using that, training kids, discipline and helping them get through trials in Myanmar. Unbelievable what God will do.

If you'll pay attention, you'll start seeing the new desires God has put in your heart. Even some desires that are way beyond you. Like you, you have a desire today and go that will never happen. I don't think that could, like you might think of Peru and like, man, maybe God might, like he gave me a desire to go to Peru, I could, that would never happen. But God, the Bible says that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can think or ask, which brings us to the second thing God's doing in you.

He's not only giving you new desires to will, but he also is working in you to do. To do. So some of you view missions in Peru or somewhere, you go, I would, I don't, I don't ever think God would give me that desire. Or, and God will give you that desire if that's his. And the other side of that though is, you know, if God ever gave me that desire, I could not do it. That's a great place to be, by the way, because there's truth to that. You couldn't do it on your own strength. You couldn't. It would be impossible.

But God is working in you, he's enabling you and energizing you and literally giving you spiritual power that you don't currently have. New desires, new wants, new wishes, new power through the Holy Spirit. To do why? Why is all this happening? He says in verse 13, so that your life might please the Lord. It's for his good pleasure. And that's why this new year's going to require you to change your thinking, because there's some things you're holding on to and thinking that aren't pleasing to the Lord. And you need to change your mind about them and adapt yourself to the new desires God is giving you, to be open to that.

I think of a new desire that's so important. Maybe 2026 for some of you will be the year of sobriety. The year of sobriety. That's a new desire God is giving you. He doesn't want you to be drunk. He doesn't want you under the influence. He wants you sober-minded. That's a new thought. You're going to have to exchange that fleshly habit in you when times get tough or you just want to check out. You know, it's been hard day or hard week, just want to pull the bottle or the six-pack or the case or you want to smoke the joint and all of that that is holding you back. God's giving you a new desire. I want you sober. I want you sober. I want your mind. I want your body. I want you clear-headed. I want you to follow me and obey me. And in the obedience, I'm working in you. I gave you the new desire. But I can't do it, pastor. I can't do it, God. I can't do it. And God says, what do you mean you can't do it? I'm giving you the strength to do it day by day, moment by moment. I'm giving you that strength if you will just obey me. Just obey me day by day, abiding in Christ. His abounding grace pouring on.

Guest (Male): This is Abounding Grace. Hey, don't go away. Pastor Ed Taylor will share some practical things we can start doing today as we're working out our salvation. Simply go online to hear it again at aboundinggraceradio.com. Again, we're at aboundinggraceradio.com. Or listen wherever you get your podcasts. We also offer an app, too. Just search for Ed Taylor in the App Store. Here at the beginning of a new year, we'd like to recommend a helpful 100-day devotional from Jim Cymbala. This daily devotional called Jesus Every Day will inspire you to experience Jesus anew each and every day. Find strength in the promises of the Lord, place your trust in Christ alone, and discover hope, encouragement, and fulfilling purpose on a daily basis.

Learn how to live by God's unshakable promises in Jesus Every Day. When you give a donation of $25 or more to Abounding Grace, ask for a copy. Give us a call at 877-30-GRACE. That number again is 877-30-GRACE. You can also order online at calvaryco.store. Also, please remember it is your financial support that helps us continue Abounding Grace on this station and many others like it. We're constantly hearing great reports of what God is doing in our listeners' lives, and your support helps to make that possible. So thank you. You can make a secure donation online at aboundinggraceradio.com. We'll leave you now with this practical application as we close.

Pastor Ed Taylor: You say, okay, pastor, while I'm working out my own salvation, I know God's working. What can I do practically? Like what's some practical things that I can do? Turn over to Psalm 37. Let me give you 12 of them. If you were looking, let me give you 12 things you can spend some time thinking about for the new year. But consider these. You might even find more than 12 in this short section. But these are, these are, I wrote them down as I went through this text years ago, and following along with what David is writing, he gives some real good direction of what it looks like to work out your own salvation, what it looks like to respond to the new desires, what it looks like as God is working in you and you're responding in obedience.

Here's some things to consider in verse three. He says in Psalm 37, verse three, trust in the Lord and do good. You can do that. Dwell in the land and feed on his faithfulness. That's good. Delight yourself also in the Lord. And notice, he shall give you the desires of your heart. Not only will he give you new desires, but the desires he's given you, he'll give you what you want. When your want, when what you want matches what God wants, you get it. That's so cool.

When your desires are God's desires, that's where answered prayer comes together. His desires, your desire, so cool. You can do that. Verse five, commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday. Have you been wronged? Difficulty with other people? Listen, justice is right around the corner just like the noonday.

Justice is coming, but you have to rest and be patient. Verse seven, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Now, in my Bible, there's a little space next to that. You may not have that space. You can use your margins, but you should write this down because this is what it's saying, another way of saying this. When it says to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him, here's another way of thinking of this. Don't take matters into your own hands. Or don't try to help God out.

Or you go, pastor, I run out of space. Keep going down the line. Write it down in your notes. You should be taking notes. It's very helpful as you're writing down what the Holy Spirit's telling you through the Bible study. Don't take things into your own hands. Don't be in a position where you're trying to help God out a little bit. And here's a third way of thinking about it. When you're, when you're faced with a situation and a challenge, you try to figure it out. You don't need to figure it out, just rest in the Lord.

Trust him moment by moment. He says in verse seven then, don't fret. Or that's another word for saying don't worry. Don't worry. And then what did Jesus say about worrying? Shall I remind you? Flowers and birds. The whole chapter's about worry. Trust me. It seems as if every page on the scriptures, God is saying trust me, trust me, trust me, trust me. Look what I did in the children of Israel. Trust me. Yeah, but it's happening so slowly, pastor. Little by little, trust me. It's so hard. I know. It's so hard. And it's so hard. God says so you'll look to me. I mean, as you see this, don't fret because of him who prospers in the way. Another way of looking at verse seven there, don't fret because of him who prospers in the way. Stop looking at him who's prospering in his way. Get your eyes off the circumstances and the people and get them back on the Lord. He says in verse eight, cease from anger and forsake wrath. Maybe this is the year that God deals with your anger. You finally deal a death blow to your outburst of wrath. You stop making excuses for it. You stop intimidating people in your home. You start screaming. You stop screaming and yelling and just using anger as a way to keep people at arm's length and you trust the Lord with your emotions. Maybe that's it. Cease from anger.

Guest (Male): Next time on Abounding Grace, we'll hear all about greater faith when Pastor Ed takes us to Hebrews chapter 11. See you then. Abounding Grace is brought to you by Calvary Church Colorado here in Aurora.