LIFE, LIFE, AND MORE LIFE John 10:7-11

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Felicity Benson
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1 LIFE, LIFE, AND MORE LIFE John 10:7-11 When we consider the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures fooling around with drink, sex, and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us. We are like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies because we cannot imagine what is meant by a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. 1 Yes we are. C. S. Lewis wrote those words in 1941, and they are just as true today. We settle for so much less than God wants to give us. God offers real treasure the treasures of His kingdom and we settle for trinkets. We re invited to a free full-course meal at God s Steak House, and we order a hamburger and fries. It s time to order the best and biggest steak on the menu. As we continue our series, Buried Treasure: Uncovering Our Priorities, I invite you to open your Bible to John 10:7-11. We re digging around in the Scriptures for a few Sundays looking for treasure. We say we value God s treasures and we want God s treasures, but evidence reveals we often settle for counterfeits, cheap imitations of the real thing. That s what Lewis was getting at in his statement. And that s what Jesus is getting at in our text. Hear the word of the Lord (read the text). I Did you identify the treasure Jesus wants to give us? It s there in v. 10: I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. The treasure is abundant life. The Greek word for abundant means super abundance of a thing, more than what one would expect or anticipate or imagine. I have a young friend who was severely injured in a car wreck: Get used to the wheelchair, the doctor said. You ll never walk again. He walked again and walks today that s abundance. 1 C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2001), 26.

2 A woman wanted to sell some land thought she d get 500 dollars an acre for it. She got 1200 dollars an acre that s abundance. I have a pastor friend with three kids. He and his wife decided to have one more. They had triplets that s abundance. And Jesus declares that He came to give us abundant life a superabundance of life, more life than we could expect, anticipate, or even imagine. It sort of reminds me of another Bible text from Isaiah and then from Paul, Eye has not seen, nor hear heard, nor the mind conceived what God has in store for those who love him (1 Cor. 2:9) that s abundance. Jesus said, I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. And the way the sentence is worded in Greek means that we are to keep on having abundant life. 2 Jesus doesn t give life on a ration system. When I decided to follow Jesus, He didn t say, Okay, McCallum, listen up and listen good. I ve only got so much of this life to go around, you know. So here s your share. And you better take care to protect it and conserve it because that s all the life you re ever going to get. Nope. Jesus came to keep on giving us abundant life. There s no shortage, no rationing, the supply never runs down or runs out. Jesus came to give us abundant life: life, life, and more life. Even though eternity is bound up in the treasure of abundant life, we don t have to wait till we get to heaven to receive and appropriate and enjoy this treasure. Jesus offers us this life now. II This is a life rooted in the gospel. Jesus describes himself in v. 7 as the door, but the overarching metaphor he uses to describe himself in this chapter is the good shepherd. He is the good shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep, who is the door by which His sheep come in and out and find pasture. He is the good shepherd who knows His sheep and speaks to His sheep and gives His sheep eternal life so they will never perish. His grip on His sheep is so secure no one can snatch them out of His hand. That, my friends, is the gospel. And at the heart of the gospel is grace God treating us better than we deserve, God loving us and saving us in spite of our sin, God giving us an abundant life that we could never manufacture on our own. There s nothing in 1932), A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, Vol. V (Nashville: Broadman,

3 this chapter to suggest that Jesus chooses His sheep because of any appealing quality about the sheep. There s nothing that indicates the sheep must pass some kind of test or meet some kind of requirement before they can have Jesus as their shepherd. The treasure of abundant life is rooted in the gospel of grace. And we Christians are quick to say how much we value grace and love grace and cherish grace. We sing about every Sunday: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. *** This is amazing grace! This is unfailing love! That you would take my place That you would bear my cross You lay down your life That I would be set free Oh, Jesus, I sing for All that you've done for me *** My chains are gone I've been set free My God, my Savior has ransomed me And like a flood His mercy reigns Unending love, amazing grace We sing about it, all right! This grace is at the root of the treasure of abundant life. The rich grace of God in Jesus Christ is the springboard into abundant life. III Sort of makes you wonder why so few dive into this life and enjoy this treasure, huh? Do you know any lifeless Christians? Are you a lifeless Christian?

4 Lifeless Christians are those who claim they value grace but settle for religion, for a moralistic checklist they use to manage their guilt and make them feel like they are at least a little better than others. There s no life in these people. And there s really no grace in them either, because one will never find abundant life based on his relative goodness or on the the relative badness of others. They are like the religious leaders who were audience to Jesus as He declared himself the good shepherd and the door to abundant life. In another place Jesus said of these leaders, They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the people s shoulders (Mt 23:4). Does that sound like abundant life? No. Abundant life sounds more like Jesus saying, Come to me all you who are weary and burdened down, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28). In still another place, Jesus said to these religious leaders, For you are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men s bones and all uncleanness (Mt 23:27). Does that sound like abundant life? No. But this does: Jesus said, I came that they might have life and have it abundantly. Jesus wasn t ragging on the law in his denunciation of the religious leaders. The law is helpful and has its place. Kept in proper perspective, the law keeps us humble. It reminds us that we are sinners who can never measure up. It points us to our desperate need for grace. A moralistic checklist is not all bad either. Jesus expects obedience to His commands and teaching. But the law can t give life. And at its worst a moralistic checklist becomes a means for us to sit in judgment on others as we smugly take some sense of pride and pleasure in being better than they are. But there s no life in any of that. In his book They Smell Like Sheep, Lynn Anderson recounts an incident from some of his travels in the Holy Land. Anderson and his local guide had spent part of a day traveling around the region learning about sheep and shepherds. Late in the day, they observed a man cruelly driving a flock of sheep through the streets of a town. This man yelled at the sheep and whacked them with a stick whenever they got out of line. The sheep kept moving forward, but they were visibly shaken. Anderson commented to his guide that this harsh, driving man was nothing like the description of the kind,

5 leading shepherd that his guide had given him throughout the day. Oh, that man s not the shepherd, his guide replied. That man s the butcher. 3 That man is like the thief Jesus mentions in v. 10, the thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The law can do that too. So can a moralistic checklist. It can beat your back with a rod: Do this! Don t do that! Stay in line! You better perform better than these other sheep or no pasture for you! This butcher of moralism leaves casualties in his wake. He either leaves the sheep feeling worthless and inferior ( I m a lousy sheep. I ll never measure up ) or puffed up with pride (At least I m better than Sam the Lamb over there ). Where s the life in that? Why would any Christian want to settle for that? When digging for treasure, don t stop at the law, don t unearth a moralistic checklist and celebrate as if you ve found the treasure. Don t stop digging when you pull up a rubber-band bracelet that reads What would Jesus do? IV Dig deeper. Dig all the way down to What has Jesus done? Dig all the way down to grace. Dig all the way down to gospel. Michael Horton nails it: The gospel is good news, not good instructions, good ideas, or good techniques. It announces the new thing that God has accomplished in history for us and for our salvation. 4 Dig all the way down to that, and your shovel will strike abundant life. That s the treasure. The good shepherd Jesus has come to give abundant life life, life, and more life. He gives it freely. He gives it to those who hear His voice and follow Him. And this abundant life is eternal not just in length but in quality. Abundant life has the breath of heaven about it. It lives in the moment and beyond the moment at the same time. It s not immune to the struggles of this world to the cancers and the heartaches and the divorces and the temptations and the failures and the frustrations that come on anyone who lives on this 3 Cited by Blaine McCormick and David Davenport, Shepherd Leadership: Wisdom for Leaders from Psalm 23 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), Michael Horton, The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011), 20.

6 planet. Abundant life is not immune to these struggles it feels the pain of such things in the moment. But it also sees beyond the moment. It sees these things from the perspective of eternity. Abundant life knows that failure is not final, suffering is only temporary, heartaches aren t forever, the devil is on God s leash, evil will one day be no more, and death won t get the last word. Abundant life is the treasure. And it looks a lot like Jesus life who was filled with love for the Father, obedience to the Father s will, patience with people, service to others, a sense of selflessness, a capacity to suffer with courage, a willingness to spend His life for the good of others and the glory of His Father in heaven, and resurrection when it was all said and done. Abundant life is the treasure. It looks a like the fruit of the Spirit Paul describes in Galatians 5:22-23 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Does your life look like that? Abundant life is the treasure. I ve seen glimpses of abundant life in the woman who, though facing a recurrence of cancer, tackles that challenge with honesty, courage, faith and joy. Abundant life is the treasure. I ve seen glimpses of it in a well-to-do-man who could probably retire and check out of life s demands but instead pours his resources into helping the poor and into discipling young men who need to grow into the abundant life. Abundant life is the treasure. I ve seen glimpses of it in a teenage girl who shares Christ with her friends without fear of rejection or ridicule. Abundant life is the treasure. And you can only get it from Jesus. Your friends can t give it to you. A great marriage can t give it to you. Obedient kids can t give it to you. Straight A s can t give it to you. Your job can t give it to you. Popularity can t give it to you. The party life can t give it to you. Money can t give it to you. Only Jesus can give it to you. Jesus died for your sins. Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus can shepherd you through the highs and lows of this life into the next. And when no pasture can be found, Jesus can still get you there. The Lord is my shepherd, He gives me everything I need. He gives it by the still waters. He gives it on the paths of righteousness. He gives it in the valley of the shadow of death. He gives it in the presence of our enemies. And one day He gives it in full when we dwell in the house of the Lord forever! Now that s life! And only

7 Jesus can give you the treasure of abundant life. Come to the Shepherd. Give your life to the Shepherd who gave His life for you. Dig down deep into Jesus and get this treasure. V Jack Taylor describes the life of Christians who settle for trinkets instead of treasure, for dust instead of diamonds, for life-lite instead of abundant life. He says: The Christian life is an event followed by a process. It is an experience followed by a relationship. It is a step followed by a walk. Many a believer has stopped with the event, the experience, the step and has never gone on to maturity. He has lived a life of spiritual poverty and defeat, always under the suspicion that there must be MORE. 5 There is MORE and that more is the kingdom treasure of abundant life life, life, and more life! Come get this treasure from Jesus. Why would you settle for less? Preached: September 6, 2015 First Baptist Church, Hot Springs, AR John Scott McCallum II 5 Quoted by Drew Hill in his sermon, The Forgotten God, Memorial Baptist Church, Arlington, VA (April 19, 2015).

Spiritual Leadership for the 21 st Century

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