Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Today on Abounding Grace,

Pastor Ed Taylor: you may never see an opportunity to get education or training. It's just not possible financially, practically, whatever that might be. But don't write yourself off because you feel inadequate. Don't write yourself off that you don't have some of the training that other people do or that you don't know as much as other people do. You can serve God with what you know. And the areas where you feel inadequate, you can trust him to give you what you need to know when you need to know it.

Guest (Male): Well, in the world today, if you have an upper class background, a good education, and a lot of money, you can go far. But you may be pleased to know that is not required to be used of God. We'll learn today on Abounding Grace, the Lord often uses common, ordinary people who have no formal education or money behind their name. And isn't that refreshing and encouraging? That comes to light through a study in Acts chapter 4. Here's pastor Ed Taylor.

Pastor Ed Taylor: Now, you have to understand there is a contextual there is a contextual definition here when they look at them and they say untrained and uneducated. It's not unlike our world today. There there is a system of education, even in the Christian world, that you're either in or out of. You know, in the Christian world, it would you you take your bachelors and then you go into seminary and then the seminary could give you a masters of divinity, all kinds of master and they can even give you PhDs and you can be well educated in the Christian system of education.

It's the way it was in the first century. There was a very precise way of education that you would follow all those steps in order to be accepted within the religious environment. There's a whole world like that in our own day and age that would look at someone like me and say, well, that guy's uneducated and untrained. And and they would be right. And this may shock some of you, uh, but I haven't been to seminary. I don't have a bachelors degree. I don't have a masters degree. I definitely don't have a PhD or any kind of doctorate.

However, I did finally finish about five or six years ago my associates degree in biblical studies. Yes, it's hanging on my wall. I can prove it to you and take a picture and you can see I've got a piece of paper on my wall. But do you know a piece of paper doesn't put me in the pulpit. It's God who's placed me in the pulpit. You see my back I started out backwards. I started out in such a way where I couldn't go to school. I was such a sinner and had so many consequences of my sin that by the time I got saved, I had already had a family, you know, I I I had no opportunity.

I just had to work. That's what I just worked worked worked to take care of my family. I wanted to go to school, but I couldn't. And so even today, if I was to enter into a seminary and say, hey, I'd love to teach here what's your degrees? I don't have any. I mean, I got that associates that I finished on my couch, but it's you know, it's hanging on my wall and it's a from an unaccredited school, but but I have the anointing of God on my life, but you don't have the degrees. You're right.

And so I wouldn't be able to teach in seminary. I wouldn't have the ability to go from level to level because unfortunately, I was outside the system. But I believe the Lord wants you to understand that you don't need to be a part of the system to serve him. We believe in the priesthood of all believers. We believe that the Holy Spirit is given freely to every single believer equally. We believe that the power of the Holy Spirit can come upon every believer and you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, given spiritual gifts to use, being led, strengthened, and helped along by the Spirit.

And one of the gifts that God had given to me is the gift in the office in the position of pastor teacher. And believe me, I'm just as shocked as you are. Now, by now you I don't want you to misunderstand me and those of you listening in, I don't want to be I'm not anti-education in any way. Just like I was raising my kids, I told them this. I said, kids, this is what you need to do. You need to get as much education as you can, as fast as you can, as cheap as you can.

Cuz that'll help you along the way cuz you guys are paying for it. So as much as you can, as fast as you can, as cheap as you can. Why? Because education is a door opener for sure. And many of you are called into a a realm of this world that requires education, that requires you to go through the training and to prepare for that. So so don't misunderstand me. I'm not anti-education, but I am very much not in favor of all these systems and places where there are churches today that if I applied for a position I've been serving the Lord for a long time.

If I applied for a position, they look at my resume and go, oh, oh, you're not qualified. Not qualified? What what qualifies me? Well, where's your degrees and what school did you go to? Well, I don't know what to tell you except that I want to serve the Lord. And for some reason, God has given me the gift to take his word and teach it and people understand it and they run with what God is doing and I might just be that foolish one or I might just be that weak one or I just might be that base one or I might just be that one that's despised.

But I'll tell you what, I am definitely the one that God has chosen. And I embrace his choice in my life even though it is very very hard. I remember on not too long after my son passed away, I was very I was very distraught, very discouraged, and I was pretty much done with ministry. I didn't ever think I'd come back to the pulpit. Uh, I didn't think I could do it anymore. So I started investigating all these different places like like all the I heard about schools that could take your experience, right, and turn it into credits.

And I'm like, I better get a degree. I can't I'm going to have to land a job somewhere. I got to go get a degree. And so I 'm looking at him. I started making calls and I'm like, well, you know, I 've got 20 years of experience. And one of the schools said, well, you know, we can give you like six credits for that. Well, how much comedy credits do I need to graduate? 200. I'm like, nah, man, I don't think so. I only do I don't have the money, but I don't have the time.

And God even used that little phone call to go, no, Ed. I didn't call you to go back to school. I called you to go back to the pulpit. And I just know how hard it is. This whole system where you don't come and and I I'm not I'm not in favor and I want to be crystal clear about this. I recognize that people choose this route and and I don't look down at you or judge you at all. I 'm giving you a perspective that maybe you haven't heard before. But from from the scriptures and God's choice upon you, I I don't really agree with the seminary system that says we're going to take you out of your church for two years, teach you and tell you how to do ministry, charge you an exorbitant amount of money that you don't have, that you're going to have to get a loan, and you're going to have to pay it back the rest of your life.

And then once you're done with two years, we 're going to drop you back in your church and then you can just tell them how it 's done. Nah, I don't think so. Jesus has you and me learning among the flock. It's among you get trained from within and the Holy Spirit. I and and I just think again, the the real target here are for those of you that kind of look down on yourself because you view yourself as uneducated or untrained. You can be well trained and educated by the Holy Spirit. And this is in no way some negative statement among those, you know, some of your cynic or why I've got a doctorate.

I'm glad you got it. You should go get a second one. God's going to use it in your life. Why, you know, I've worked all my life, but but here's the thing. Here's the thing when it comes to education. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. So whatever knowledge God has given you and whatever training he has you and whatever degrees you're working for because that's what's needed in your field of work make sure it's evened out with love cuz that's the gospel. The gospel doesn't come by the conveyance of knowledge. The gospel comes by the conveyance of love.

And so here they are. And maybe you felt this way uneducated untrained. I I think of my dad. You know, the era of my dad's life, he had to to end his high school education to take care of his family. So I think he finished ninth or 10th grade. And many people would look at him and go, you know, he's uneducated and untrained. Man, my dad was a smart man. He was well educated and well trained. It was just different. And with the body of Christ, it's just different. You can stand with boldness and people will throw all kinds of things at you.

You don't know and you're not They'll throw all kinds of things, but what are you going to You're going to stand there in the boldness of God and say, I I don't know any other way to explain it, but I'll open the Bible and I'll show God I'm pretty foolish. God chooses foolish people. I 'm pretty weak. He chooses weak people. And it's good because then he gets all the glory for the great things he has done. So let me just ask you this question. They don't mind I mean, it's a little quiz here. So when the Sanhedrin looks at Peter and John and says, uh, we perceive you're uneducated, was Peter and John truly uneducated?

Yes or no? No. Three years with Jesus. Who's going to top that? Every day, all day. To learn from your mistakes, to be to be corrected and trained by Jesus himself. And then not only were they not uneducated, but let's ask this, were they untrained? No way. You can't pay for a training and education that Peter and John But just understand a person that walks simply with their God, humbly with their God, just obeying him is not going to be understood by the world. And they'll just start calling you names and they'll start looking all who are you and you're just so plain and simple.

Well, I like to keep it simple. They were wrong. They were misperceived the education. Secondly they misperceived the presence of Jesus. Look what they said. It says, and they realized that they had been with Jesus. Well, you know they're wrong, right? They're only partially right here. You could say the Sanhedrin, the religious rulers are only half right. It is true. They had been with Jesus, but you know what they missed? Not only had they been with Jesus, but they are with Jesus right then and there. Because they were so anti resurrection, at least the Sadducees and the religious leaders, you know, the high priests, they were so anti resurrection, they didn't even hear that.

But what they missed is they just weren't with Jesus. They are living out the promises of Jesus. He is with them right there. What they're recognizing is actually not Peter and John. What they're recognizing is the present power and the power and presence of Jesus Christ with them. And do you know you have the same thing? You have exactly the same thing that Peter and John. You have the indwelling presence of Jesus in your life wherever you go. And you also have the empowering of Jesus through the Holy Spirit wherever you go. Peter and John here in chapter four are no different than you.

None. They're they're they're no different than you. You are in the same family of God that they are. They hadn't just been with Jesus. They're with him right now. And it 's true that spending time with Jesus is always the key to our lives. Abiding in Christ, trusting him daily. Like right now, this is you kind of look at it maybe as a church service or listening to the radio, you know, watching online, watching a YouTube video, but what you're really doing is spending time with Jesus. Why? Because you presented yourself to the teaching of God's word.

You are learning his ways. You are learning his thoughts. As they stand there there's boldness. There is courage. We know that because back in verse eight, it says Peter filled with the Holy Spirit. So when you're thinking, what does this Holy Spirit look like in my life? Boldness courage a tactfulness a staying put. Truly that's what the word abide means. Would you turn over to John 15 as we wind down today? That's what the word abide means. It literally means to stay put. And that is God's word to you and me today. You may view yourself as uneducated or untrained spirit in spiritual things.

You may never see an opportunity to get education or training. It's just not possible financially, practically, whatever that might be. But don't write yourself off because you feel inadequate. Don't write yourself off that you don't have some of the training that other people do or that you don't know as much as other people do. You can serve God with what you know. And the areas where you feel inadequate, you can trust him to give you what you need to know when you need to know it. He's not going to give You know, when he is preparing you, he's not going to dump God doesn't dump everything in your life all at once so that you can just live it out and coast for the next 40 years.

God gives you what you need in the moment. And then you come to the next day and you come to the next day. You come to the next day. You draw on the very presence of Jesus not just because you were with him, but because you are with him. You guys with me so far? This how do you stay with him? Well, notice John 15, Jesus is speaking. How do we spend time? How do we abide? Well, he says in verse 15 or verse one of chapter 15 I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser.

Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You're already clean because of the word which I've spoken to you. And then listen, verse four, abide in me and I in you. If you haven't already, circle the word abide and you can write next to it to dwell to remain or to stay put. It's actually the Greek word if you want to jot it down, m e n o meno. It means to stay put. It means that that is where you live.

It's where you spend your life. You you are in the presence. You're there physically, you're there mentally, you're there emotionally. Stay in Christ. Don't allow all the other influences to pull you away from your sweet time abiding in Christ. And this is why he says as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, he says in verse five, and you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit because without me, you can do nothing.

Don't you love the depth of Jesus teaching at the same time using very simple illustrations? So you got a branch. A branch separated from the vine and here using the illustration of a vineyard. A branch separated from the vine is going to bear nothing. It's going to die. It's going to be on the You don't You know, if you go out as a vine dresser and you're looking at your vineyard, you're you're not going to be looking for fruit from branches that are on the ground. You're going to be looking to the vine and the branches that are connected.

You know, we determined in our service last night that in Colorado, you can grow apple trees. So let's use an apple tree as an illustration. You got that apple tree in your backyard. You're going outside looking for apples. The one place you're not going to look for apples are on broken branches that are away from the tree. I mean, if you do, tell me afterwards why. But but they're not. They're not They're You're not You're going to look where? Up. You're going to look to the branches connected. You're going to look for the apples that are there ripe and ready to pick.

The the low hanging fruit even. And because you know the branch that's connected to the the the trunk you know it's going to bear fruit. At least you hope it's going to bear fruit. And there's a lot of assumptions that take place with that tree that you don't even think through. First of all, you're going to look for branches connected, number one. Number two, you're going to look for apples. Why? Well, because it's not a watermelon tree. There's no such thing. It's not an orange tree. If it's an apple tree, they're going to look for apples.

And you take that for granted, but when you're a branch that is connected to the vine, you what are you going to look for? The fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness faithfulness, self-control. Branches connected to the vine are going to produce those things very naturally. Another thing we don't pay attention to is as the branch is connected to the trunk, that the trunk goes down into the ground and then there's root system under. What is the root system doing? But taking all the nutrients and the roots do what they need to do, the trunk does what he needs to do, the branch does what it needs to do.

What does the branch do? Just stays there. That's it. That's all the branch does. Branch has one purpose, stay there. You are the branches. And your purpose is just stay there. That's how fruit You don't The fruit that God requires is the fruit that he produces. You can't give. You can't force it and then offer it to God. Here it is. Cuz I know as well as you, you would not take a chair in at the at the time of where it's time for apples to be produced. You wouldn't take a chair, sit on the on the in front of the tree, look up at it, and then very carefully listen cuz you want to hear the tree producing, right?

So I know if you did that and I go ahead and try it and tell me how it goes. So you're standing there for a an hour and you're listening for the tree. One thing you will not hear is the tree doing this. Why? Because the tree doesn't work at producing. It just does. It's not all your effort and performance, church. You just stay put in Christ and he'll produce much fruit out of your life. Because you cannot produce fruit without him. But like Paul teaches us, I even though I can do nothing without him, right?

For without me, you can do nothing. Paul tells us the other side of that coin, I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. Why? Because I've chosen to stay put. I This is where I belong. I belong in Christ. It's the safest place on the planet Earth is to be in Christ. With the world and the turmoil that we're facing right now, the challenges that we're facing globally the challenges that we're facing in our own nation the challenges we're facing in our own city some of you have challenges in your own homes in your own families, in your own singleness, in your own marriage.

I mean, challenge after challenge after challenge. You will not find safety and security in any of those things only in Christ. Why is it that we run away from him when times get tough? Because a branch that's disconnected will not bear fruit. That branch will have to come to the end of them senses and come back and be grafted back in cuz the Lord is faithful. He's so faithful to us. He says in verse seven of John 15, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you're going to ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.

It's such a beautiful truth because if you're abiding in Christ, his desires are your desires. So you're going to ask what the things he's already planted in your heart. You're going to be in unity with him. His words, you reading your Bible every day you're in prayer every day. You're living with the consciousness of God in your life. I mean, nobody ever sins with the consciousness of God in their life. You have to dismiss God in order to sin. You just have to write them off. You just explain them away. But that's not God's heart for you.

It's not God's heart for me. He wants us to what? Abide. That's it. Just abide. Enjoy him. Trust him. Cuz this is where many Christians get upset and frustrated. This sense of obligation. I need to work harder. I need to do more. No, just stop. You don't need to work harder or do more. Just surrender. Just surrender. You're in the back side of the desert right now. Just throw your hands up. Like surrender is like give up. Stop fighting God. Stop fighting your circumstances. Trust God with your life. He's working all things together for the good.

He's sovereign. He knows things you don't know. Cuz I'll tell you this, if you knew what God knew, you would do what God wants you to do. If you knew what God knew about your life, you would do what God wants you to do. And so seek his face. Seek first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness and all these things will be added up to you. Amen.

Guest (Male): This is Abounding Grace with pastor Ed Taylor. And if you missed any portion of today's Bible study, you can simply go online to aboundinggraceradio.com. Abounding Grace is available by podcast on most platforms including oneplace.com. Listen and learn when it's most convenient at the gym, in the car, or as you're getting ready in the morning. You can also get our app and it's available on all platforms. This is another way to hear pastor Ed's teachings. Search for Ed Taylor in your favorite app store. Well, hot off the press is pastor Ed's new book, How to Take Notes.

Learning to take notes as you read the Bible or listen to a sermon is one of the simplest ways to add to your personal spiritual growth. Intentionally taking notes also turns listening into action. Instead of just sitting back as a listener, you begin engaging with scripture and the teaching in a more personal way. This practical guide with ideas for taking notes will stir your creativity and help you grow in God's grace as you listen to Bible studies and take notes on what the Lord is teaching you. We'll gladly send you a copy with our thanks for a gift of $25 or more to Abounding Grace.

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