The Abundant Life Of Jesus: # 1 Series

The Abundant Life of Jesus

Part I - The Promised Life

John 10:10 -- "The thief cometh, to kill, steal and destroy, but I

have come that you might have life and this life MORE

ABUNDANTLY!

INTRODUCTION

A little girl once went to visit her grandmother in the country.

Things were fine until Sunday. This lady went to an very old

fashioned Church that kept the Sabbath by forbidding all work, fun,

levity, laughing and playing. The little girl woke up Sunday and

started right off playing and laughing, as little girls do. Her

grandmother immediately rebuked her for breaking the Sabbath.

Well, she quieted down, went to Church and later went for a walk

out by the barn. She went over to an old mule, a droopy eyed, sad

faced, long-eared mule. She looked at the mule for a while, then

said, "Mr. Mule, you look like you go to my grandmother’s

Church!"

I think a lot of people in Churches are living in a place, I call

"Depression Avenue." 201 Depression Avenue. You know the

place; it’s on the corner of "Despair" and "Self-Pity." We all

know the place, many of us live there, and many others spend

a lot of time there. It’s a place of darkness and gloom and doom,

where sounds of complaining, condemnation, accusation and

the "can’t’s" are heard. "I can’t do this, and I can’t do that;" You

know.

Well, the Lord Jesus, in John 10:10 is calling us to move!

Let the old place go. Let it be condemned and torn down as it

ought to be and MOVE! JESUS wants us to come and live with

HIM over on the beautiful, marvelous, hillside estate called:

ABUNDANT ACRES! It’s on the corner of "Joy and Thanks-

giving" surrounded by grace and mercy, overflowing with love,

laughter, light and abundance of every kind. There’s a gate

leading to a long driveway, and over the gate reads:

WHOSOEVER WILL, MAY ENTER

A smaller, sign says,

IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY PREFERRED!

The sad fact is, however, that "Depression Avenue" is

teeming with people, crowded with sadness and sorrow, while

"Abundant Acres," has hardly a soul to claim it. Most people

would LIKE to believe it’s true, but CAN’T and so, eek out a

miserable existance to their dying day . . . in the darkness.

I say, LET’S MOVE!!! I, for one am tired of living a life

that is tossed about by every wind of circumstances that comes

along. I believe Jesus came to give us this Abundant Life, and I

mean to live it! How about you!

How CAN we do this? The Bible has the answer. We need

to understand: (1) The Promise, (2) The Picture, (3) the Problem

and the (4) Plan of the Abundant Life of Jesus.

(1) The Promise of the Abundant Life of Jesus

John 10:10 contains the word "More Abundantly." This is a

fairly unique word in the Greek. "Abundance" is already a "super-

lative." You remember English, "Comparatives and Superlatives?"

"Good, Better, Best?" Which is superlative? Best! Great, Greatest!

Here in John 10:10, the word is "More." It’s "better than the best!"

It’s "greater than the greatest." It’s "fuller than the fullest!"

And Jesus said, "I have come . . . ," remember how He

came? Remember the pain of the nails driven into His flesh, the

thorns pounded into His skull until his face was painted red by His

blood, remember how his back was ripped to the bone, by the whip?

Remember the PRICE HE PAID. And this was to give US LIFE,

MORE ABUNDANTLY!

How rude, and foolish for us NOT to live this life! It would

be like being invited out to a nice restaurant by someone wealthy

and who wanted to bless us with a wonderfully abundant feast. To

go there and nibble at the salad, or take a bite of a roll and say, "No

thanks, I don’t want your lobster, steak, whatever, I don’t even want

a doggie bag, THROW IT AWAY!" If we AREN’T living the

abundant life of Jesus, that’s what we’re doing to HIM!

Let’s give ourselves a test, to see how we’re doing at living

this Abundant Life of Jesus. On a scale of "1 to 10," "10," being

Life More Abundantly, and "1" being the worst, most unhappy

kind of life, where are YOU?

If you’re a "10," you are "more than a conqueror," you are

bold, unstoppable, in Jesus, you are doing great exploits, you are

in Control, you are Joyful, and Successful in every area of life. Paul

said, "Rejoice in the Lord always." (Doesn’t that bother you?

Doesn’t Paul know that bad things happen to good people? Doesn’t

Paul know that sometimes life has a way of DUMPING on us?)

If you’re a "10," however you ARE rejoicing ALWAYS!