Abundant Life

Justin Turney

Abundant • Sermon • Submitted 4 months ago • Presented 5 months ago

0 ratings

· 1 view

Notes

Transcript

Introduction

In our world today, there is a major crisis that is taking place.

I’m not talking about any natural disasters

I’m not talking about any man made disasters such the southern border nor the economy

I’m not talking about the demoralization of society

I’m not talking about the “threats to democracy”

I’m not talking about the fentanyl epidemic

Most of these things are but symptoms of a greater crisis…

What I am talking about today is the crisis of emptiness in life.

Chuck Swindoll once said, “Much of our activity these days is nothing more than a cheap anesthetic to deaden the pain of an empty life.”

Many are going through life aimlessly and without purpose.

It’s like the scene that Charles Schulz’s portrays in the Peanuts comic strip where Lucy is philosophizing to Charlie Brown. She says, “Charlie Brown, life is a lot like a deck chair. Some place it to see where they’ve been. And some so they can see where they are at the present.” Charlie just sighs and says, “I can’t even get mine unfolded.”

Most people are caught up in the tension and depression of a life that isn’t unfolding.

There’s a terrible reason for all of this waywardness in our lives, but there is also a great and awesome solution as well.

John 10:1–15 ESV

1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

ABUNDANT LIFE IS…

1) … Stolen, killed, and destroyed by thieves, strangers, and wolves.

The vast majority of our world is living in emptiness because life has been stolen, killed, and destroyed by our own selfishness and sin.

When Jesus was sharing this truth about Himself, He had just healed a blind man on the sabbath.

The religious leaders were confused that any kind of miraculous work would have been done on the holy day of rest.

Their own self-righteousness were keeping them blind to the reality of life that was in front of them.

Their own sinful preconceived understandings of righteousness didn’t leave room for Jesus, His teachings, and His ways.

When Jesus speaks here in John 10, He is talking about the thief of self-righteousness.

We often attribute the “thief” in vs. 10 to be Satan but in the context of the passage, Satan would more closely identify with the stranger and the wolf.

It is a combination of many things that leave people void of truly living:

Our own sinfulness and self-righteousness

The allurements and temptations of the enemy that flashes shiny things before us and sits in wait to set the hook.

The listening to other voices and setting our ambitions and hopes in things that don’t deliver anything but heartbreak, shame, and false-securities.

The biggest reason people don’t live abundant lives is because they set the attention and focus on all the wrong things and look to all the wrong places.

If you want to truly live, you have to ignore the stranger and deter the thief by getting to know the Good Shepherd!

2)… Knowing the Good Shepherd.

It’s no accident that Jesus uses the illustration of a sheep and a shepherd here.

This picture and illustration is used as a major theme in the Bible.

Sheep were a major part of society, primarily for their wool production.

When most of the wealth was discussed in the Old Testament, the number of sheep in their flocks were usually always mentioned.

Ezekiel 34 gives a great picture of God as a shepherd and His people are his sheep.

Isaiah 53:6 compares our waywardness to the fickleness of sheep.

The Prophet Micaiah in 2 Chronicles 18 tells King Jehoshaphat of Judah the Lord looks at His people and sees them as sheep on a mountain side with no Shepherd…scattered and vulnerable.

Jesus express the same sentiment in Matthew 9:36 where it says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

The reality is we as people really are like sheep.

Listen to how Kent Hughes describes sheep:

“Among the animal kingdom sheep seem to have come out on the short end. From all accounts they are of limited intelligence. When it comes to finding food, they are definitely uncreative. As creatures of habit, they will follow paths through desolate places even though not far away is excellent forage. Sheep are also given to listless wandering. There are even accounts of their walking into an open fire! Shepherds confirm that they are timid and stubborn. They can be frightened by the most ridiculous things, though at other times nothing can move them. They are absolutely defenseless. There is no way a sheep can defend itself. Furthermore, of all the animals subject to husbandry, they take the most work…[T]he existence of sheep is the prime evidence against the theory of evolution. There is no way sheep could have survived.”

The hard work of shepherding requires constant care, constant supervision, and constant connection between the shepherd and the sheep.

Jesus gives a distinctive between a shepherd and a hired hand.

He says that a hired hand may look the part from the distance but won’t play the part when it really counts.

A hired hand will only be with the sheep so long as it’s beneficial for him. When danger comes or the pay off is no longer favorable, the sheep are abandoned and left vulnerable and endangered.

A shepherd, however, is fully committed to his flock. He will spend most of his life with the sheep. Leading them to the place they need to be. Chasing after them when they wander off. Gathering them when something spooks them and scatters them. Rescuing them when they have ensnared themselves or become downcast.

Downcast is when a sheep who is heavy with wool will lay down and relax a little too much. When this happens, the center of gravity for the animal will shift and its feet will no longer be able to touch the ground. It panics, and starts kicking only making this worse. It’s feet lose all connection with the ground and becomes stuck and helpless, upside down under it’s own weight. Without any intervention it will die of either anxiety or thirst.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who puts His life and attention on His sheep.

3)… Listening to His Voice.

Jesus says His sheep hear His voice, know His voice, and follow Him. He says that He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him.

There is a distinction between those who listen to the strangers and those who listen to the Shepherd.

The voice you listen to shows who your shepherd is.

What’s even more confusing and frustrating is when a sheep becomes curious to the voice of one who is not the shepherd.

Many Christians are not experiencing true abundant life in Jesus because they are only halfway hearing or only partially listening. They’re curious to the strangers and the distractions of this world.

They are like the sheep that keep wandering off. Their immature in their faith and are like the young lamb who is still getting to know the Good Shepherd.

Do you know what happens to a young lamb that keeps wandering off. The Good Shepherd will try and draw them even more near to Himself. (1) To keep a closer eye on them. (2) To help them know that nearness to the Shepherd is their greatest good.

You may have heard a story before about shepherds breaking the legs of their lambs to keep them from running off. That’s not true. The Shepherd may temporarily tether the lamb to Himself so that it stays near, but breaking the lamb’s leg is too dangerous for the lamb and will most likely cause long term issues for the animal. That story has never had any evidence.

What is true however is the patience and perseverance of the shepherd to keep the animal near to himself for it’s own good.

We all need to grow in our listening skills. We need to not only hear but to follow and run to His voice because His voice draws us to His presence.

CALL TO RESPOND

DO YOU KNOW THE GOOD SHEPHERD TODAY? ARE YOU EXPERIENCING ABUNDANT LIFE IN HIM?

WHAT VOICES ARE DISTRACTING YOU FROM EXPERIENCING HIS ABUNDANT LIFE?

IN WHAT WAYS ARE YOU DRAWING NEAR TO THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND LISTENING TO HIS VOICE?