Introduction
1. The Bible is full of great truth...
it is full of wonder...
it is full of wisdom...
it is full of history of things past...
and it is full of prophesy of things to come...
but the wonder...the wisdom...and the great truth is only there for the person who will seek for it within the pages of God’s holy Word.
2. With the idea of finding those nuggets of wisdom, and truth and wonder...
I want us to begin a study that’s a little different...
instead of working our way through a book of the Bible...
as we have done several times in the past...
I would like for us to look at certain subjects and find out what the Bible has to say about that particular subject...
for some of these subjects...
we may be ranging all over Scripture...
from the Old Testament...
To the New...
and back again.
The title of this series will be “The ABC’s and XYZ’s of the Bible”...
And starting with A...
we will look at a different word starting with successive letters of the alphabet...
I don’t know if we will cover all 26 letters of the alphabet or not...
But let’s allow the Lord to speak to us through the study of His Word.
For the letter A...
I would like for us to look at the word “abundance” and its forms...
abound...abundant...etc.
3. First of all, let’s look at the dictionary definition...
and then we will look at the abundance of Scriptures that talk about abundance!!
According to the dictionary...
abundance means, “a large amount”...
“a more than plentiful quantity of something”...
“a fullness that overflows”...
“more than enough”...
“ample sufficiency”...
Sounds pretty good doesn’t it?...
Well, in relation to the Word of God...
There are several things that God gives to us in abundance...
Body
1. First of all, God gives us Abundant Provision (Ps 132:15)
A. In Psalms 132:15, God says, “ I will bless
When we think of “provisions”...
we think of the necessities of life...
food, water, clothing, shelter...
Here in this verse...
God is promising to bless His people with abundant provisions...
He is not just promising “just enough” to get by...
He promises to take care of the needs of His people...
In ABUNDANT supply...
MORE than enough...
full to overflowing...
B. Think about the time that you have been following Christ...
I trust that since you are here tonight...
you haven’t starved to death yet!!
I know, when I was growing up in a Nazarene Parsonage...
there were times when food was running short...
but I also remember the times that God miraculously provided food when we were down to the last of our groceries...
There was one particular incident where my parents had felt led to give a week’s salary in the Thanksgiving Offering...
This was while Dad was pastoring in Waukesha, Wisconsin...
not knowing how the Lord would provide for our physical needs that week...
no one know about the decision my parents made to give that much to the Lord...over and above their tithe...
But on that exact day, when we came home from Church...
There were 2 sacks of groceries left on our doorstep.
God always had a way of providing for our needs...
our needs for food and clothes and so forth...
C. You might, “Pastor, that doesn’t sound like ABUNDANT supply...
that just sounds like enough to get by”...
All I can say is that when God miraculously provides for all your needs...
you sense that you are abundantly blessed...
Sometimes life is a struggle...
But, we have always tried to be faithful to God in our tithes and offerings...
and in our service to Him...
and He has been abundantly faithful...
blessing us in so many ways...
giving us more than enough....
God’s ABUNDANT provisions...
2. God also provides Abundant Peace & Security (Jer. 33:6-9)
A. Let’s read Jeremiah 33:6-9...
here, in spite of the sins of God’s people...
God will forgive their sin...
and He will provide peace and security for them...
that sounds pretty good to us tonight...
here we are in the midst of war in the middle East...
our school children are under attack by evil...
and yet, like Pastor Debbie preached Sunday night...
We can have peace in the midst of the storm...
Why?...
Because Jesus is with us throughout our storms...
and He will provide peace and security in abundant supply...
3. God also provides Abundant Mercy (1 Peter 1:3)
A. 1 Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...
The KJV says, “ABUNDANT mercy”...
Mercy, by definition, means that we don’t deserve it...
and yet, Christ, in His GREAT ABUNDANT mercy...
He has given us this great salvation...
and through this great salvation...
we have this hope of eternal life...
through the resurrection of Jesus from the grave...
B. I guess a person could be the recipient of A LITTLE mercy...
if they were guilty of a crime and sentenced to 50 years in prison...
But then, the Judge cut that sentence to 35 years...
that might be considered merciful...
and if the judge cut the sentence to only 10 years...
that would certainly be much more merciful...
But, what if that person got off scot-free...
well, that would be GREAT mercy...
an ABUNDANCE of mercy...
and yet, that is the mercy that the Christian has experienced...
when we are forgiven of our sins...
God shows great mercy upon us by completely wiping out the punishment that we deserved...
and, actually, that brings us to our next “abundant”...
4. Abundant Grace (Romans 5:17, 2 Cor. 9:9)
A. Romans 5:17 says, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
God’s abundant provision of GRACE...
the punishment that was ours to bear...
was placed squarely on the shoulders of Jesus Christ...
He bore the punishment that should have been ours...
and as I said, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior...
we get off scot-free!!!
we don’t receive that punishment that we deserved...
and that is called, abundant grace...
2 Corinthians 9:9 says,
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you,
so that in all things at all times,
having all that you need,
you will abound in every good work”
B. As the song writer wrote:...
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt...
marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
freely bestowed on all who believe...
Grace, grace, God’s grace...
grace that is greater than all our sin!”1
That is ABUNDANT grace!!
that is MORE THAN ENOUGH grace...
that is ALL-SUFFICIENT grace...
and it’s ours for the asking!!
5. And finally, one more “abundant”...Abundant Hope (Romans 15:13)
A. Romans 15:13 says,
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy
and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God provides many things in abundance...
even more than just what we have studied here this evening...
But that promise of hope-overflowing...
abundant hope...
we have hope...
we are not discouraged...
Christ has provided a way out for us...
a way out of our sins...
a way out of the punishment that should have been ours...
and even a way out of death...
eternal life in heaven in ours...
that is our abundant hope...
if we remain faithful to Him...
He will reward us with that great hope of making heaven our home!!!
Conclusion
1. Luke 6:45 says, “out of the abundance of the heart....a person speaks”...
in other words...whatever is within a person in great supply...
begins to overflow and come out...
have you experienced this great abundance in your own life?...
have you experienced God’s abundant provisions in your life?...
have you experienced God’s abundant peace and security?...
have you experienced God’s abundant mercy?...
and His abundant Grace?...
do you have hope in abundance?...
If so, Jesus says that abundance just naturally comes out...
our lives overflow with the great abundances that are ours...
and out of that overflow of our heart...
we speak...
we talk about it...
it is evident in the words we speak...
it is evident in our attitudes...
it is evident in the way we treat others...
2. ABUNDANCE...what an incredible word God blesses us with from His Word...
may we in turn bless others in overflow of that abundance.
