The Abundant Life
a) More Abundant Life (Intro)...
How many came here this morning seeking a blessing?
How many came with an expectation?
How many came expecting God to do exceedingly
abundantly above all that you can think or ask?
How many know that He can and will exceed
your expectations?
He wants you to be blessed!
He wants you to not only have life but
He wants you to have it more abundantly!
He said in...
Joh 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
See, God wants you to have a more abundant life, Amen?
You might think you’re living the abundant life
right now but Jesus said you can have life more
abundantly.
That’s even better than your present state.
He saying I want to bless you above and beyond
What you already have.
I you to live the more abundant life!
A life that’s filled with the fullness of God.
A life of blessings!
He wants you to be blessed.
Blessed in the field, blessed in the house,
blessed going in and blessed going out.
He didn’t come just to give you eternal life,
He wants you to have life more abundantly.
That’s fullness on earth, fullness in heaven
Fulness right now , and fulness later. Amen?
It’s a permanent state of being!
And on top of all that Jesus offers it to anyone who will receive it.
We as Christians often talk about having life
More abundantly, but do we really know what
that means? What is the abundant life?
It is a life filled with the glory of God
A life that walks with Him daily
A life that talks with Him daily
A life that says I no longer exist,
but Christ exists in me.
b) A Liberated Life...
It is a life that has experienced liberation
A life that is free in Christ
Joh 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
The problem with many Christians today is that
they are still walking around in bondage.
We’re not experiencing the abundant life because,
We aren’t liberated. We aren’t set free.
We haven’t laid down our burdens.
Some of us take them to the alter with us
every Sunday morning,
And then we pick them right back up and take
them home with us.
It’s time to shake off the chains of burden,
It’s time to lay them at the foot of the cross and leave them there.
The church of God has been burdened by bondage long enough
We’ve been bound up long enough!
Bound up with the world
Bound up by Satan
Bound up by self
Bound up by sin
It’s time to say ENOUGH!
It’s time to take off the grave clothes
and start walking in the newness of life,
the abundant life.
When we live in a state of bondage,
we fail to be the blessing that God has called us to be.
And at the same time When we live in a state of bondage,
we fail to receive the blessing that God has for us.
Then we want to whine about it.
why God why, how God how, when God when are.........
I can answer these three questions for you.
Why God Why? Because you are still in bondage.
How God How? When you surrender to Him.
When God When? NOW! NOW! NOW!
Many members of the Church can’t be what they
have been called to be because of bondage.
"I can’t dance in the church Lord, because I don’t know what others might think."
"I can’t serve on the Sunday school committee, because I feel inadequate".
"I can’t"
"I can’t"
"I can’t"
Whatever your I can’t is this morning it’s not acceptable to God.
Moses already tried this.
He said he couldn’t be the spokesman for God
because he could not speak eloquently.
God did not accept his excuse, and He’s not
going to accept yours either.
The church has forgotten that...
Php 4:13 says...I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
See, Paul wrote I can.
He had an "I Can" kind of attitude.
We need to have that same kind of confidence.
We need to stop screaming we can’t and start
Doing what His word says we can,
And His Word says that we can be free and
Have a more abundant life !
c) A Loving Life...
And how many know that
The abundant life is also a life of love.
1Jn 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
Church. When we fail to love one another,
we wind up unhappy, unsatisfied, and
unfulfilled in our quest to be as close to God as possible.
When love does not exist in our lives for
everyone, we wind up serving ourselves. (etc.)
Look, Gods more abundant life reaches out in love to others.
It is more concerned about their well being,
even more so than your own.
Abundant love touches the very heart of God and
cares for the less fortunate, the lonely, the
elderly, and the lost of the world. (true religion)
Love is a priority in obtaining the abundant life that God wants you to have.
(Scenario) "Well I love them brother John, but, I
don’t have time to do this, or that."
There is always a BUT, when it comes to the life of a Christian.
It’s time to get off your but and show forth the
love of God. Can I get an Amen?
God even told us to love one another.
But He didn’t just say love, He told us how we should love.
1Jn 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
We are to love in deed and in truth.
Not with our lips but with our actions.
So let your light shine before men.
d) A Lifting Life...
This means we are to have a lifting life.
We come here to lift up the name of Jesus,
but how many know that we are also supposed to lift up one another.
This is a training place, when you leave here you are going on your mission field.
So I’m telling you this morning to do the work
of a Christian and lift someone up.
Exalt and exhort one another, continuously.
Look at the life of Jesus, everywhere he went he healed and lifted up someone.
(Example)
Mark 9:27: But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
Here is a young man who was dealing with a foul spirit,
Christ rebuked it, the people took him for dead.
Then Jesus took his hand and lifted him up.
This is our example.
When we encounter those that are stricken with issues,
we are to encourage them and lift them up.
Christ could have said he’ll be fine and walked away.
But he didn’t. He stayed and lifted him up. Why?
For our benefit. That we might do the same by His example.
We need to grab hold of what He told the boys father.
"verse 23: Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth."
Many Christians are too busy putting others
down, talking about them, spreading rumors and
gossip, causing discontentment among the saints.
If you meet anyone with this type of attitude, you
need to stay away from getting involved in that conversation.
I’m not saying be rude and walk away,
I’m saying do not participate in it.
do not encourage them to continue speaking
down about someone by joining in.
Even if you feel they are right.
A person who does this is not living in Gods abundant life.
Because He requires us to be uplifting,
Ours is a cruel world. We must always be on
guard with the whole armor of God.
Keeping your tongue is probably the hardest
thing you will ever do in your walk with Christ.
But it is a necessity if you choose to live the more
abundant life God has called you to.
Very few things in the world today last.
Nearly everything in life depreciates, deteriorates, or dies.
You have heard the saying that, "nothing lasts forever."
Well, that is a lie.
e) A Lasting Life...
The more abundant life that Christ has offered you is a lasting life.
1 John 5:11: And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
The abundant life is everlasting, it is eternal, in Christ Jesus.
God made you in His image, He wants you to be like Him.
He is the beginning and the end, for everlasting to everlasting.
Jesus said,
John 11:26: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Death has no power over the more abundant life.
John 8:51: Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
Through faith, and obedience, the more abundant
life of Christ is yours today.
It’s time for us to receive the life that God wants us to have.
It’s time for us to let go of the mentality of a self
serving life and serve the one who has given us life.
The more abundant life of Christ is four times
greater than the life we have now.
I. A Liberated Life
II. A Loving Life
III. A Lifting Life
IV. A Lasting Life
It’s time for us to repent and make a total commitment to Him, that we might have life more abundantly!
