What Is The Abundant Life?

TITLE: Life is for Living

TEXT: John 10:1-11

INTRO: When a university student asked Billy Graham, "What is the greatest surprise you have found about life?" He answered, "The brevity of it." Life is, indeed, short and for some people it is filled with regret. Someone did a survey and came up with the Top Five Regrets that people had:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, and not what others expected of me

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends

5. I wish I had let myself be happier

# As someone said: If you look in the mirror long enough, you are bound to feel bad about yourself.

In the 10th chapter of John, Jesus talked about life and how it can be different,

[Read: John 10:1-11]

I. THE THIEVES WHO ROB OUR LIVES (v. 10a)

A. The Chief One is the Devil

(1Pe 5:8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1. He lies to us

2. Tempts us to sin

3. Discourages us

4. Blinds us to the will of God

B. The False Teachers

(Joh 10:8) All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

1. There were lots of false messiahs in NT times and there

are a lot of false teachers today.

2. You have seen the prosperity gospel preachers on TV,

who are out to fleece the flock

3. And the liberal preachers who don't believe the Bible

(Mat 7:15) Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

C. The Pessimists

1. Who discourage you, and rob you of your joy by

bringing up your failures

2. Remember, the heroes in the Bible were not perfect

people:

Noah got drunk.

Abraham lied about his wife.

Sarah laughed at God.

Jacob was a deceiver.

Moses murdered an Egyptian.

Rahab was a harlot.

Gideon was fearful.

Jephthah made a foolish vow.

Samson had serious problems with lust and anger.

Eli failed as a father.

David was an adulterer and a murderer.

Solomon married foreign wives who turned his heart toward idolatry.

Elijah struggled with depression.

Jonah ran away from God.

Peter denied Christ.

Paul argued with Barnabas.

Barnabas compromised the gospel.

James and John wanted special seats in the kingdom.

All the apostles argued about who was the greatest.

4. But God made a difference in their lives and used them,

in spite of their failures.

II. THE LORD WHO GIVES LIFE (v.10b)

A. God is the Creator of Life

B. He Gave His Son, so we could have eternal life

Jesus said, "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (Joh 10:28)

C. Eternal Life Doesn't Begin When You Die

-It begins when you received Jesus as your personal

Savior

(1Jn 5:11-12) And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

III. THE ABUNDANT LIFE

A. It is Not The Prosperity Gospel

-The meaning of life is not found in an abundance of material things

B. It Is a Gift from Jesus

1. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well,

"...If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (Joh 4:10)

2. The word “abundant” means “exceedingly, very

highly, beyond measure.

C. It is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit

(Gal 5:22-23) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

# Adrian Rogers said, "God is not some cosmic kill-joy. Every time He says, 'Thou shalt not,' He’s simply saying, 'Don’t hurt yourself,' and every time He says, 'Thou shalt,' He’s saying, 'Help yourself to happiness.'

# When you fail, it doesn’t mean you have blown everything. It means you have some hard lessons to learn.

It doesn’t mean you are a permanent loser. It means you aren’t as smart as you thought you were.

It doesn’t mean you should give up. It means you need the Lord to show you the next step.

It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned you. It means that God a better plan.

CONCL: There is no God like our God and no Savior like Jesus. He does not judge us by what we are, but by what we will some day be. He has destined us for heaven, and no matter how many mistakes we may make along the way, his grace is more than sufficient to cover them all.