ABUNDANT LIFE
By Tom Coulter
Thank you, Mr. Schmidt. Good morning everyone. I hope everyone is having a beautiful, wonderful Sabbath. If you would, open your bibles and let’s start right way in John 10:10. I want to look at a contrast here, and build on it, between the purpose of Satan and the purpose of why Christ came to this Earth.
John
Christ came to give eternal life, but also that we could have it more abundantly now so that people could look at our lives and say, “You know, they have something special. There is a spark about them. There’s a light about them.” And so, as we look at this, what about us? Are our lives more abundant? Do we have a contentment? Are we joyful? Well, what I want to do today is go through five steps on how we can have a more abundant life and use the scriptures, of course, to show them. But this word “abundantly” here that Christ spoke about is “super-abundant in quantity and superior in quality, above and beyond measure, a full life.” Christ did not promise that we were going to have all kinds of riches and have this spread of a plantation. He did come to give eternal life, but also that we could have a Spirit-filled abundant life now. So let’s go through several verses.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.
So the life was in Christ and that’s how each one of our lives become full. The more we take in of the words that Jesus Christ gave the better we can be guided in life. He is that life.
John 15:4-5 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you,
unless you abide in
We are here as Christians to
produce fruit. The only way we can
produce fruit in our lives, spiritual
fruit, is to make sure that we are connected firmly with Christ. That Christ is in us and that we are in Him
in the way we express and live our lives.
We are to be producing that fruit and be a light to the world, and to
have a dynamic, abundant life. People
should see how happy our families are, that we express the way that God expects
people to live, to be living that
So many people say, “I believe in Christ” and that is as far as it goes. They don’t dig those roots down in and make sure they are firmly attached to Christ, to the Word of God, to that perfect will of God that God wants to work out in our lives. And they just become carnal; on the surface the seed that fell on the stony ground. It never develops. We are going to touch on that stage and come back to that chapter a little later and bring in another point. So we need to make sure that we are spiritually fed Christians and that we are tightly connected with Christ and have Christ living in us. To make sure that we do not allow this world and the pulls of this world to suck us back in. The carnal mind, the carnal life, is circumstance controlled. It goes from one event that happens in a life to another, one tragedy or trial to another. Whatever happens throws that one in a tizzy. Where a Spirit controlled life is that abundant life. A life that if something comes up, you see the purpose for it. You see how God wants you to act within that trial or that event. So, it is like you step up to another level and indeed that is what it is. We are to worship God in Spirit. We are to be walking our lives as spirit beings in human flesh. To be reflecting Jesus Christ and God in our lives.
So the first step, how we can make sure that we’ve living life to the fullest potential now, to make sure we’re learning how to do it right now so we can live up to it eternally, is: 1) An abundant life is a yielded life.
Romans 6:10-13 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; [He paid that penalty] but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (11) Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (13) And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
We are out there. We are weapons of righteousness in this world of self, of hatred. We are showing people the way of love, the way of give, the way of God. And make sure that we are expressing that by the way we live our lives. It makes it a more abundant life.
Colossians 3:1-4 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
Christ put away the things of the world. He made sure He lived God’s way. He died and was resurrected. We agreed on our baptism that our old man died - the one that was attached to the physical, the wants, the desires of the flesh. We need to make sure that the old man is gone, that it is a thing of the past, that we are living like we are in that spiritual plane wanting to be there with God and Christ and reflecting them in our lives. This makes for a more abundant life. It’s one thing for someone to say that I believe by faith and will have eternal life, its quite another to believe that you’re going to have an abundant life by living your faith and putting it into action. Many people confess to know Christ; very few live Jesus Christ now.
We have a very special calling that is above and beyond what others will have later. We can actually witness to the world. And how we do that is by the way we live our lives as well as how we can preach the gospel to others in witnessing the truth there.
2
Corinthians
It’s one thing for us to be made righteous in God through Jesus Christ, but go over to 1 John 3:7. Because of what Christ did showing that avenue on how to live a life, by His example, and the words he inspired to be written with the power source that God gives in the Holy Spirit, we can be righteous. Christ, of course, is removing that penalty of sin that gives us that opportunity because all of us have earned death.
I John 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as [Christ] is righteous.
If we are practicing it, we are righteous
like Jesus Christ. Then we are
reflecting Him. It is amazing that we
have this opportunity, and it is right before us right here and now. The way to live our life is in Jesus Christ,
to make sure that we are drinking/eating of Christ constantly. The only way to have an abundant life is to
have a resource that will give you that abundant life. And, Christ is the resource. So God has not given us an impossible task
but a very attainable task if we do our part.
2
Corinthians
So,
we ask ourselves, have the old things passed away? Do we still have work to do? Are we worshiping Christ and God on a
spiritual plane? Are we reflecting Jesus
Christ in our lives? I am going to be
using a lot of scriptures. I think you
would rather hear what Christ has to say about it than my opinion anyhow. And it is a lot safer for me. He says it better than I could.
Colossians
Only
a few people have the opportunity at this time to have this mystery revealed,
that we can have Jesus Christ in our lives.
Let’s make sure that we are using that to have an abundant life.
The
second area of an abundant life is: 2) A
life of service.
Philippians 2:7-8 but made Himself of
no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of
men. (8) And being found in appearance
as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death,
So
Jesus Christ set the ultimate example that all of us are to follow, that we are
to serve. Our lives are a tool to help other
people. His whole purpose and why he
came was to give life and to give that life more abundantly. Our purpose as Christians is to make sure
that we are laying our life down in service to help others. Go over to Romans 12:1 probably one of the
most used scriptures here in this congregation.
But there’s so much there when you think about Romans 12:1 for us to be
putting into practice to learn from this passage.
Romans
12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which
is your reasonable service.
So
first of all, we see here that we are to present ourselves. Each one of us is
to present ourselves to God. God, I
accept the calling. I see what you want
to do in my life. Here I am. I am willing to do it. When you think about it, it’s also to present
your body. Well God needs all of
us. You can’t say, “Well, I’ll present
myself but I want to attain physical goals too.” That will not work. God needs us for service. He needs us not to hold back anything. So, we need to make sure we are presenting
our whole bodies.
1
Thessalonians
God
needs all of us. We cannot set things
back in the closet. Yes God, yes Lord, I
will give myself in service for you. The
whole. Back over in Romans 12:1, we are
to present our bodies in a living sacrifice. In Romans 1:1 (you do not need to go over
there) Paul said he laid his life down as a sacrifice. Think about the many things that Paul did and
the events he went through, and he was totally a servant and gave his life in
service to the gentiles. He went through
a lot of different trials to do that.
But we also have to be able to say, “whatever you want Lord, I submit.”
We
will pick up a couple of points here in Ephesians 6 about Paul’s life. He makes a statement here.
Ephesians 6:11-12 Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles [and the
cunningness] of the devil. [Paul knew
what he was in for as it says in verse twelve]
(12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,
against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
There
was this battle going on that is not just the guy at work that may have a gripe
against you or some temptation that is a physical temptation. That one, that thief, wants to steal what we
have. That relationship that we have
with God and with Christ, he wants to steal it and destroy it. Paul saw that. He saw that he was a warrior. He goes on to express this and when he talks
about fiery darts being fired at him and the events he had to go through. He saw his life as a warrior for Christ or
God. This is an interesting statement
that Paul makes here.
Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner
of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles--
Paul
wrote this letter from prison. He was a
Roman prisoner. But that is not the way
Paul saw his life. That circumstance he did not handle on a physical
level. He was a prisoner for Jesus
Christ. This is what the will of God was
in his life. He saw that, and he was
writing out the letters making sure, encouraging, and teaching people from
there. Not woe is me, but as a servant
of God. We can learn a lot from the
study and the life of Paul just like we learn from the study and the life of
Jesus Christ.
Philippians
This
man went through more torment, torture, and events in his life than hopefully
any one of us sitting here. But yet, he
saw the ultimate purpose. It turned out
for good. And that is how he saw his
service, his life, and the way that he could serve God.
You
don’t need to go over there but in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 he says that in death he was
victorious, that he won that battle that was going on, and that he was going to
be there with Christ and with God. So
even until death, Paul saw his life as a life of service. And that made an abundant life for Paul. He said he learned to be content in all
things.
So
now, lets look at the third area which is 3) The abundant life is a separated
life.
Let’s
go to Romans 1:1 again looking at Paul.
Romans
1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to
be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God
So
Paul was separated from the purpose of what a normal man would have and he had
a specific purpose that his life was all about.
He was supposed to go to the gentiles as it states in several other
places that I do not have time to go into.
But each one of us, too, have a specific purpose. God has called us for a work, a gospel, a way
that we can preach. Be it by the way
we’re living our abundant lives or our opportunities we have to teach other
people at work, our neighbors, or by any
opportunity we have via the internet or whatever means that God makes available
to each one of us. But he has a will and
purpose for each one of us. We are not
Paul, but God called me and he called each one of you for a very specific
purpose. Our lives are important, and we
are to be separated for that purpose.
It
is a very difficult thing to separate ourselves from a world that we live
in. I think Paul understood that. I am sure Jesus Christ understood that with
all the temptations that take place and the pull.
2
Corinthians
So
they
2
Corinthians
If
you look up in verse 14,
2
Corinthians
Then
ultimately down in verse one of chapter seven,
2
Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, having these promises,
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
So,
we have to do our part to make sure that we are coming out of the world so then
God can work with us. We cannot come to
God and bring the world with us. He
needs our whole body and soul. Our whole
energy, that whole piece of clay, is God’s.
I
remember an analogy but I don’t remember which minister used it. He set up a cup of water on the lectern and
said he had one that was full and one that was empty. Of course, no cup is actually empty because
it is full of air. But it is like your
mind, and what you have put into your mind that is what you are. And if the world is constantly being poured
into your mind, with television, entertainment, job, then that is what you are.
You are carnal; you are physical. But if
you’re pouring God’s word into there, meditating, exercising, stimulating the
Holy Spirit in your life, then you’re full of that flowing water, the Holy
Spirit, and it can work marvelous things in our lives. Just a point I want to make,
John
So
here, Christ said, God in effect sets us apart.
Those who can understand, he has opened our eyes to see and ears to
hear. Now they are set apart by
God. They are sanctified. Because they are willing to come out of the
world, God’s going to take them to the next level. Sanctify them by your word and your word is
truth.
John
17:13-14 "But now I come to You, and these things
I speak in the world, [This is Christ] that they may have My joy fulfilled in
themselves. [So, we can have Christ joy
as the disciples could.] (14) I have
given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the
world, just as I am not of the world.
If
we truly live as a Christian, we’ll (1) be taken advantage of by this world and
(2) when it is time for fun, they are not going to want us around because we
are not what they call fun.
John
So,
this is a prayer that Christ is giving to God that they are not of the world
just as I am not of the world.
John
17:18-20 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent
them into the world. (19) And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that
they also may be sanctified by the truth.
(20) I do not pray for these
alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
Which
is us. We have read, we have studied,
and we understand the words of the apostles just as we understand the words of
Jesus Christ. And we are sanctified by
that truth. Set apart by God, different,
as God looks down than on the rest of the world. Christ loved the world and gave His life for
it, but now, God in Christ loved those that he’s working with and will work
with. And for others, they will have a
time yet to come. But still, we can
touch their lives by having an abundant life.
We went here earlier.
1 Thessalonians
It
is a thorough thing that God does in that he has pulled us out and set us and
stamped us by the truth and by the Holy Spirit completely. That’s the way He’s looking at us as
righteousness in Christ, that we are a work in progress and, as it says in
Philippians 1:6, that He will complete it as long as we continue to do our part
and choose to obey Him. But it is a done
deal, in God’s eyes; a done deal.
Ephesians 5:26-27 that He might
sanctify and cleanse it [This is talking about Christ with the Church,
with the people that God has given Him—that He might sanctify and cleanse] with
the washing of water by the word, (27)
that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or
wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
We
are washed by the words of Christ, so then, obviously, we’ve got to read the
words and think about the words for Jesus Christ to be able to wash us by the
words. By doing this, we will have an
abundant life. This is all in the
process of having a truly abundant life.
That Christ cleans us up, irons the wrinkles out, and makes us perfect.
II
Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God
always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose
you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
Again,
just nailing down the point that God has set you and I apart for a
purpose. Not just to save us so that we
can be a Spirit Being but because He wants us to be living and setting an
example of living that way of life that’s yet in the future now as human beings
as best as we possibly can. We are set
apart by God and that thought, when you really roll it around, leads one to an
abundant life, a separated life. A life
of coming out of this world and yielding
yourself to God. Sin separates us from
God, as we know, Isaiah says that. But
God separates us from sin, and God’s word separates us from sin. So let’s make sure we use the tools that we
have at our disposal.
The
fourth area of abundant life is: 4) A
spirit-filled life.
We
need to make sure that we are equipped to handle that thief who uses every
angle he can to get in and try to steal that special treasure that we
have.
Ephesians 5:17-20 Therefore do not be
unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (18) And do not be drunk with wine, in which
is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, [and when someone is filled the
spirit, we see] (19) speaking to one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord, (20) giving
thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
An
abundant life! Someone that is joyous at this wonderful opportunity that we
have to know Christ and to know God, to be able to know what it takes to have a
happy family, to have friends, to have a purpose in life, to know that someone
loved you not for their gain but loves you and was willing to lay his life down
for you to show that greatest love of all that we should follow in that same
example. We should have those hymns and those songs and a positive outlook on
life because we know what life is about, a spiritual life. Not just a physical existence like an animal,
live and die and that is it. There is a
greater purpose. We see that. It is an awesome privilege that we have.
Romans 8:9-11 But you are not in
the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, he is not His (10) and if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of
sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [So, we have got to be
producing the positive using that spirit for righteousness] (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised
Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
We
have a promise that God will give and continues to replenish that Spirit in us
to do that perfect will that He has for us to perform if we’re yielding to
that. We have a promise from God. We went there for Pentecost.
Acts
2:4 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak with other tongues...
They
had a responsibility that God wanted the apostles to do.
Acts
Let’s
go over to Acts 8 and see the story of Phillip. Philip, of course, was called and was a servant of Jesus Christ
Acts
Acts
So
then, he has this conversation of what this Ethiopian was reading and
obviously, God was calling this man.
Acts
So,
he explained what the man had read because he said he really did not understand
it to a deep level. So, Philip, again,
was relying on the Holy Spirit to guide him in understanding to the point where
the man repented and was baptized. So,
by Philip yielding to the Sprit, another person was called into the Family of
God.
Acts
That
is the opportunity each one of us has, by our example by our lives—yielding to
God. God can work miracles in other
people’s lives. We do not know, exactly
what that perfect will of God is. We
have to trust and have faith in God. He
is going to use us in the way He wants.
He said he is going to complete the work. So, if we believe and yield our self as
Philip, Paul, and the other men of the Bible did, then God’s going to use
us. It might only effect one person’s
life but who knows? We might affect
hundreds of lives. And that thought,
that idea, helps a person have an abundant life as a Christian. We have a purpose in our lives.
I
am just going to quote several of these scriptures and what they say.
Ephesians 5:19-20 says you are to be filled with the
Spirit and that Spirit will give you joy in your life. I believe we read that earlier.
Acts 6:3 says you are to be filled with the
Sprit and it will lead you for service so that we can serve God. And it shows us the direction that God wants
us to go.
Acts
Galatians 5:16-26 you are to be filled with the Holy
Spirit so that you can walk in the Spirit.
You will be walking and being led in that way of life. In that righteous way of life.
Rom
A
very defining God can look down and see who His sons are by the ones who are
being led by His Spirit. Not those who
are sometimes being led, but are being led. So to have an abundant life, we have to be
pleading with God to constantly fill us with His Holy Spirit. It is a promise; it is a promise to each one
of us that He will give it to us. So
let’s make sure that our cup runneth over, so to speak. And it will lead to an abundant life.
The
fifth area of an abundant life is: 5) A
mature life.
We
need to be mature in the way we approach our Christian life.
2
Peter
This
is a responsibility that each one of us has and so does everyone that has ever
been called to this way of life. The status quo is not good enough. God created humans that they constantly have
to be growing. Just as God himself is
creating and constantly doing and giving, a Christian must be growing. The Holy Spirit moves in and flows through
us. If we want to draw it in and keep it
just to ourselves, it becomes stagnant. We
have to make sure it is out-flowing, giving.
We need to make sure that we are growing by the works we are producing,
growing in truth and understanding, a responsibility each one of us has. I got to thinking about this subject. Actually, I could have given a whole message
on it. There are four stages of a
Christian’s life mentioned in the Bible.
1
Corinthians 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak to you
as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
There
are babes God has called. They are in
infant stage and that is all the further they go. They do not continue to grow. They just stagnate. And God looks down and sees them as
babes. Paul talks in other places about
how you should be able to handle meat.
But they could not. They did not
study. They did not meditate. They did not think about it. They did not exercise the Word of God. Spiritual Babes. That is how God looks at it.
I
got to thinking about the attributes of a baby to see if this might apply to
anyone. Hopefully not any of us, but
there may be one of us in there. A baby
thinks only of itself. If it’s denied,
it raises a fuss or throws a fit, it’s feelings are easily hurt, it is often
jealous, it lives to be served and never serves, it drinks only milk and can’t
handle meat, it cries and never sings, it tries to talk but doesn’t make a lick
of sense. And at times, I have to admit,
I probably fit in that area! Maybe I
should not have given that one. But anyhow, we need to grow past that stage.
And if we have any of those attributes, make sure that we go up to the next
step. We should not be to the point
where we still need milk. A lot of us
have been around for years, and we should be able to handle meat and be able to
teach other people to help other people understand.
I
John 2:12-13 I write to you, little children, because your
sins are forgiven you for His name's sake.
[And then you jump over to the middle part of verse 13] (13)…I write to you, little children, because
you have known the Father.
Second
step is little children. They have known
the Father but yet they are in need of instruction. And there are numerous scriptures. Especially, Paul refers to different areas as
little children because they cannot handle the deep things. Mr. Lee read a scripture, last week I
believe, 1 John 5:21. It says little
children keep yourselves from idols. A
very basic one of the Ten Commandments yet they had to be reminded to keep away
from idols. But yet, we all have to make
sure that we keep idols out of our lives, things, possessions, etc.
Well,
these are some of the characteristics of a little child. Of course, all of us can probably come up
with some on our own. They are often
untruthful, envious, cruel, if crossed they are resentful and often make a
scene. They are talebearers repeating
everything they hear, given to emotional outbursts, easily puffed up by the
praise of others and they will accept it from any source, it does not
matter. Just give me praise. And they seek only the things that are
pleasing to themselves. So, we’ve got to
make sure that as Christians we are not in this stage. That we continue to grow in that grace and
knowledge of God.
The
third stage is the young men. That is
over in the middle part of 13. I write
to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. The middle part of 14 says, I have written to
you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and
you have overcome the wicked one. And
hopefully this would be at least most of us that could say this if not all of
us. A young man is strong and
virile. He is able to overcome the
enemy. He has a vision for his future,
and the faith and courage to take it on.
He is prepared. He is preparing
for those productive years as a father, as a full-blown Son of God. The young man stage.
Then
comes the Father stage. I write to you,
fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. You are full of wisdom. You have studied the bible and know God. Verse 14, I have written to you, fathers,
because you have known Him who is from the beginning. They truly know God and have a personal
relationship with Him. And that is the
stage each one of us wants to be. We
have put away the childish things and we are like a fatherly figure, a mature
Christian in God’s eyes.
Rom
5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
A
mature Christian is not torn up, is not in this battle. He has peace with God. He is overcoming and he has overcome most
things to the point where he sees God’s perfect will in his life and he is
walking in that path. There is not a
torment going on within him at all. He
is a mature Christian. Philippians 4:7 says he knows the peace
of God. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 says he rejoices with the spiritual
children. He rejoices with the mature to
try to help them, to encourage them, to teach them. We are to be mature Christian and it leads to
an abundant life now.
Phil
This
is Paul making a statement that whatever circumstance came up in life, it
didn’t throw Paul through a loop. He was
in touch with Christ and in touch with God.
He knew it was all going to work out.
He put it in God’s hands. He did
the best He could. God takes care of the
rest. A mature Christian.
Phil
There
is nothing, there are no limits. If it’s
God’s will and you submit to it, you are going to accomplish it. This is a promise from God; a promise from
Jesus Christ.
Phil
A
mature Christian does not fret over sins of the past—that is history. He is looking ahead. What more can I change? How else can I serve God? How can I yield to God? How can I make sure that I am pleasing God in
every way? Not fretting on the past but
looking forward to tomorrow and enjoying today.
Romans
So
when Christ makes the statement that he came to give life and he came to give
it more abundantly, he is talking about life as a whole. A spiritual life and the future as being sons
of God, but also, through His words, we can have a more abundant life right here,
today, now. It’s time for us to make sure
we are that mature Christian who is having an abundant life. Time to take that basket off, so to speak,
and make sure we’re that light up on the hill that other people can see and
they can look and know that we truly are the sons of God.
Transcribed by JMF,
July 2004