Sunday Sermon
DO YOU WANT LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY
Date: June 22, 2008
Speaker: Pastor Gerry Gregoire
Scriptural Reference: John 10:10
Listen to Audio Sermon

10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).

IF YOU LOOK UP THE WORD ABUNDANTLY IN THE CONCORDANCE IT READS AS SUCH, “4053 – (IN THE SENSE OF BEYOND) . SUPERABUNDANT IN QUANTITY OR SUPERIOR IN QUALITY; BY IMPLICATION EXCESSIVE; (AS A NOUN) PREEMINENCE EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE, MORE ABUNDANTLY; AT ADVANTAGE EXCEEDINGLY, VERY HIGHLY, BEYOND MEASURE, MORE SUPERFLUOUS, VEHEMENTLY. 4012 – ALL OVER, DERIVATIVELY OF BEING IN HIM, COMPLETENESS EXCESSIVELY.

TO RECEIVE THIS ABUNDANT LIFE TO THE MAX, PAUL STATES WHAT SORT OF ATTITUDE YOU MUST HAVE IN PHIL 4:20. This is in keeping with my own eager desire and persistent expectation and hope, that I shall not disgrace myself nor be put to shame in anything; but that with the utmost freedom of speech and unfailing courage, now as always heretofore, Christ (the Messiah) will be magnified and get glory and praise in this body of mine and be boldly exalted in my person, whether through (by) life or through (by) death.

THERE MUST BE AN EAGER DESIRE AND PERSISTENT EXPECTATION AND HOPE. THREE WORDS THAT MUST BE PRESENT AND ALIVE IN YOUR LIFE AND THEY ARE DESIRE AND EXPECTATION(HOPE) AND OBEDIENCE.
ABUNDANT LIFE CANNOT COME UNTIL YOU HAVE THESE THINGS INGRAINED IN YOUR SPIRIT. THEY ARE ALL VERY IMPORTANT TO THE TRUE BELIEVER.

BEFORE WE GET INTO THESE THREE WORDS LETS LOOK AT WHAT “LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY” MEANS IN EVERY DAY LANGUAGE.

IT MEANS A LIFE THAT IS ALIVE WITH GOD, WHERE ANY TYPE OF SICKNESS OR DISEASE HAS NO ENTRY OR CANNOT STAND TO BE IN YOUR BODY TOO LONG BECAUSE THE GIVER OF ABUNDANT LIFE RESIDES WITHIN!

CANCER DOESN’T STAND A CHANCE, DIABETES, DOESN’T STAND A CHANCE, BECAUSE THE HEALER REIGNS!

ALL THE ADDICTIONS TO ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND SEXUAL PERVERSIONS DON’T STAND A CHANCE.BECAUSE THE GREAT DELIVERER ABIDES WITHIN!

POVERTY MAY KNOCK AND WANT TO COME IN BUT IT CAN’T STAY THERE LONG, BECAUSE THE GREAT PROVIDER IS IN RESIDENCE!

YOU HAVE TO DESIRE HIM WITH EVERYTHING THAT IS WITHIN YOU. HE MUST BE THE FOREMOST THOUGHT IN YOUR MIND. WHEN YOU THINK OF HIM, EARTHLY PROBLEMS ARE NO LONGER IN VIEW. THEY JUST SEEM TO FADE AWAY.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS TO GIVE YOU? LOOK AT JEREMIAH 29:11 11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.

IN THIS CASE MAYBE THE KING JAMES SAYS IT BETTER.

11For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

HE WANTS TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTING!

DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT PAUL SAID IN PHIL 4:20? 20This is in keeping with my own eager desire and PERSISTENT EXPECTATION and hope, that I shall not disgrace myself nor be put to shame in anything; but that with the utmost freedom of speech and unfailing courage, now as always heretofore, Christ (the Messiah) will be magnified and get glory and praise in this body of mine and be boldly exalted in my person, whether through (by) life or through (by) death.

GOD WILL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU PERSISTENTLY EXPECT. WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FROM GOD?

WHAT ABOUT THE WORDS “EAGER DESIRE”? GO TO MARK 11:24 KING JAMES VERSION IS THE BEST. 24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

THERE HAS TO BE AN “EAGER DESIRE” TO SEE THE ABUNDANT LIFE COME INTO YOUR LIFE. THE AMPLIFIED VERSION LOSES THE WORD DESIRE IN IT’S TRANSLATION WHICH IS NOT RIGHT.

HOW MANY HERE ARE EAGERLY DESIRING TO HAVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE THAT JESUS TOLD US HE CAME TO BRING? WE NEED TO START DESIRING ALL THE THINGS THAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE TOLD THE JEWS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT IN DEUT 28:1-14 IF YOU will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you heed the voice of the Lord your God.
3Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field.4Blessed shall be the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your beasts, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock.
5Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading trough.6Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out.7The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouse and in all that you undertake. And He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.9The Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.
10And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name [and in the presence of] the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you.11And the Lord shall make you have a surplus of prosperity, through the fruit of your body, of your livestock, and of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.
12The Lord shall open to you His good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.13And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are watchful to do them.
14And you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

IF WE ARE NOT OBEDIENT TO DO WHAT GOD HAS COMMANDED, WE WILL NEVER HAVE THE ABUNDANT LIFE THAT JESUS SAID BELONGED TO US.

THE KEY WORDS ARE OBEY AND DO!

A TRULY OBEDIENT PERSON DOES NOT JUST OBEY GOD WHEN THEY ARE IN TROUBLE, LIKE MANY OF US! NO OBEDIENCE IS THEIR LIFESTYLE!

THEY OBEY GOD AND MEN THAT GOD HAS PLACED IN AUTHORITY OVER THEM. IF MEN DON’T OBEY NATURAL AUTHORITY THEY WILL MOST LIKELY NOT OBEY GOD.

WE MUST HAVE A SUBMISSIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD OUR BOSS, PARENTS, OUR PASTOR AND OTHER SPIRITUAL LEADERS. ALSO, GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY, SPEED LIMIT SIGNS, NO-PARKING SIGNS, HANDICAPPED-PARKING SIGNS, AND NO LITTERING SIGNS.

AND THERE THE PROBLEM LIES. IF WE REALLY LOOK INTO IT, WE DON’T LIKE AUTHORITY AND WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY REBELLING AGAINST ANY AND ALL AUTHORITY. AND THEREFORE THE DEVIL HAS STOLEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO STEAL YOUR ABUNDANT LIFE.

YOU ARE SURROUNDED BY SICKNESS AND DISEASE, LACK OF FINANCES, UNANSWERED PRAYERS AND IT MAY BE BECAUSE WE ARE NOT OBEDIENT. ALL THE PROMISES OF DEUTERONOMY 28 ARE REVERSED AND WE SAY HOW COME MY PRAYERS ARE NOT BEING ANSWERED?

YOU ARE NOT PERSISTENTLY DESIRING HIM AND HIS PRESENCE. YOU MAY NOT BE EXPECTING HIM TO WORK IN YOUR LIFE. YOU GOT TO WANT GOD IN YOUR LIFE SO BAD THAT NOTHING ELSE WILL DO.

THE DEVIL WILL CONTINUALLY PUT YOU IN NEUTRAL AND YOU ARE NOT PURSUING GOD WITH PASSION. SELFISHNESS SETS IN AND YOU SAY THAT IF I CAN’T GET MY PRAYERS ANSWERED WHY SERVE HIM? YET JAMES 4:7 SAYS 7So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.

THAT IS SUBMIT YOURSELF TO GOD AND YOU MUST RESIST THE SCHEMES AND TRICKS OF THE DEVIL. WHEN YOU DO THIS, HE HAS TO FLEE. DO YOU WANT GOD’S FIRE IN YOUR LIFE? THAN WHAT IS PREVENTING YOU FROM RECEIVING IT?

DO YOU WANT TO WALK IN ABUNDANT LIFE AND NOT BE HELD UP BY PAIN AND DISEASE SO THAT YOU END UP ALWAYS FEELING NEGATIVE? GOD DOES NOT WANT YOU NEGATIVE! YOU ARE HIS WITNESS TO HIS GREAT POWER AND TOUCH ON YOUR LIFE.

SOME HAVE NEVER FELT THAT ABUNDANT LIFE BECAUSE THEY ARE WALKING IN THE FLESH ALL THE TIME. HE IS NOT NUMBER ONE IN THEIR LIFE. THEY ARE!
GOD IS LOOKING FOR A CHURCH THAT IS ALIVE IN HIM AND DEPENDING ON HIM FOR ALL THINGS.

SOMETIMES WE FORGET THAT WE NEED TO BE FAITHFUL IN THE SMALL THINGS. SEE MATTHEW 25:21 21His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE SMALL THINGS? OH! MAYBE GOING TO CHURCH AND BEING ON TIME, STUDYING YOUR WORD BY YOURSELF AND IN A GROUP. PRAYING WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS. TITHING AND OFFERINGS.

GOD WANTS YOU TO SHARE IN HIS JOY. HIS JOY IS YOUR STRENGTH! AS YOU ARE FAITHFUL IN THE SMALL THINGS HE WILL GIVE YOU MORE RESPONSIBILITY AND THAT MANIFESTATION OF THAT ABUNDANT LIFE,THAT JESUS SAID BELONGS TO YOU.

LOOK AT MATTHEW 5:6 Blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous (in that state in which the born-again child of God enjoys His favor and salvation) are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), for they shall be completely satisfied!

AS HIS CHILDREN, WE MUST HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER JESUS BECAUSE HE IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.LOOK AT 1 COR 1:30 30But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].

DID YOU CATCH THAT? SINCE JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, WE MUST HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER HIM AND NOT THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD.

AND VERSE 6 OF MATTHEW SAID THAT IF WE DID THAT WE WOULD BE COMPLETELY SATISFIED!

WHAT DOES COMPLETELY SATISFIED MEAN TO YOU? THERE IS NOTHING LIKE BEING IN RIGHT STANDING WITH GOD, BECAUSE THEN NO SICKNESS OR DISEASE OR ANY EVIL THINGS CAN FIND IT’S WAY TO YOUR DOORSTEP. HIS BLOOD COVERS YOU COMPLETELY.

LORD, WE WANT TO BE TOTALLY SOLD OUT TO YOU, WE WANT YOUR FIRE AND LOVE TO CONSUME OUR LIVES. WE WANT TO OBEY YOUR EVERY COMMAND, SO LORD HELP US TO DO THAT TODAY.

WE TAKE AUTHORITY AND DOMINION OVER SICKNESS AND DISEASE AND BELIEVE AND DESIRE AND EXPECT THAT YOU ARE HEALING US TODAY. YOU ARE SETTING US FREE TO BE THOSE WITNESSES THAT CAN ATTEST OF YOUR GREAT POWER IN OUR LIVES. USE OUR TESTIMONIES TO WIN OTHERS INTO YOUR KEEPING.

WE CLOSE TODAY WITH THIS THOUGHT, GOD NEVER SPOKE AND IDLE WORD. EVERY WORD THAT HE SPOKE WAS FOR A PURPOSE. HIS WORD IS INDISPENSABLE TO OUR LIVES, WITHOUT IT WE ARE LOST AND WITH IT WE WIN ALL BATTLES IF WE FOLLOW OUR GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS. LOOK AT JOSHUA 1:8 8This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.

HIS WORD IS WHO GOD IS, THAT IS TO SAY GOD AND HIS WORD ARE ONE. SO IN THAT SCRIPTURE IN JOSHUA WE ARE TOLD TO MEDITATE ON HIM DAY AND NIGHT AND WE ARE TO DO WHAT HE HAS COMMANDED BY VIRTUE OF WHO HE IS. THIS MY FRIENDS IS A COMMANDMENT THAT IF WE DO EXACTLY THAT WE WILL HAVE THAT ABUNDANT LIFE THAT JESUS SPOKE OF AND WE WILL HAVE GOOD SUCCESS IN WHATEVER WE DO IN THIS LIFE.

NOW LETS PRAISE HIM LIKE WE UNDERSTAND WHAT CAME TO US FROM HIS WORD.
NOT ONE WORD FROM HIM HAS ONLY LITTLE EFFECT. EVERY WORD HOLDS A KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL LIFE, BUT THE REALITY OF IT IS THAT WE MUST NOT ONLY HEAR HIS WORD BUT WE MUST DO HIS WORD ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES. IF WE WANT TO SEE SIGNS AND WONDERS AND MIRACLES IN OUR LIFE AND IN OUR CHURCH, WE HAVE TO TRULY LIVE FOR HIM AND BELIEVE HIS WORD WITHOUT DOUBT.