Life

September 16, 2007 by PastorDave.

Life, Sunday 09-16-2007, Pastor David McIntosh

Text: John 14:6, 10:10

INTRODUCTION

1. Genesis 2:7 –“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of LIFE; and man became a living soul.”
2. Psalm 27:1 – “The Lord is the strength of my LIFE.”
3. LIFE = “chay”; living, alive, sustain life, as one lives. It is a set of experiences, not an abstract principle that is separate from the body. It is the holistic experience (body, mind and spirit).
4. James 4:14 proclaims this message: “For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.”
5. Jesus turns the whole thing upside down with this statement in Matthew 10:39- “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

TRANSITION

1. Some people think life is a big game: play to it’s over and then your done
2. Others think life is to be devoured; eat all you can because you go around once.
3. Then others think life is made up of the opinions of other people.
4. But I want us to see life from two perspectives this morning; two verses of Scripture that affect everyone’s life whether you are Christian or not.

THE THIEF OF LIFE

1. John 10:10 –“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
2. The thief of life has come with a three-fold purpose.
3. Steal: He is looking to steal your most precious commodity: time & energy
   1. One day measure 24 hours.
   2. Recent study of how Americans spend there time in one year showed:
   3. 99 days sleeping
   4. 87 days working
   5. 65 days in front of the TV
   6. 41 days listening to the radio
   7. 30 days doing sports & leisure
   8. 7 days reading the newspaper
   9. 7 days listening to cd’s
   10. 7 days on the internet
   11. Total: 343 days; which consumes 94% of every year we live.
   12. None of these activities are “evil” in and of themselves.
   13. However, this reveals that we have to be intentional about how we spend our time, if we just let each day run itself without having purpose, order and goals, then the enemy is working his work and stealing our time by baiting us with the “good” so we never get to the “best.”

4. Kill: The thief is looking to kill our bodies.
5. Romans 12:1, exhorts us to present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God for His work; the thief wants to kill the body God has given you.
6. Annual Causes of death in the U.S.:
   1. Tobacco = 435,000
   2. Poor diet/Physical Inactivity = 365,000
   3. Alcohol = 85,000
   4. Sexual Behavior = 20,000
   5. Illicit Drug Use = 17,000
   6. Total: 922,000 deaths per year.

7. Destroy: The thief is thirdly looking to destroy relationships.
8. Genesis 1:28 – “God blessed them and said to them, be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (God created relationship, husband & wife and from this relationship flows this command)
9. Psalm 78:5-7 – “He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, they in turn would tell their children. That they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.”
10. It is through God designed relationships (husband/wife; parents/children; grandparents/grandchildren, brothers/sisters etc) that the next generation becomes grounded & established in the Ways of the Lord.
11. “Everyday 40% of American children to bed in a home in which their fathers do not live.
12. Before the age of 18, over 50% of American children will spend the majority of their childhood living apart from their father.
13. “Yet, despite its scale and social consequences, fatherlessness is a problem that is frequently ignored or denied. It remains largely a problem with no name.” –David Blankenhorn; Fatherless America. (This is one relational area)
14. So, the thief comes to steal our time, kill our bodies and destroy our relationships, what is our response, how do we react to his?

THE AUTHOR OF LIFE

1. John 14:6 – “Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
2. The Author of Life also as a three-fold message for anyone who wants to hear.
3. I am the Way. The “Way” is narrow.
4. Matthew 7:14, Jesus told us that, “Narrow is the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
5. Narrow = hemmed in by divine conditions. (The Bible is that narrow road)
6. On the topic you are wrestling with in life, have you done a personal study of what the Bible all by itself would counsel you to do?
7. The Truth: If the Way is narrow the truth is specific.
8. We often like to say, “The truth will set you free,” what listen to what Jesus specifically said in John 8:31.
9. Jn. 8:31 – “To the Jews who had believed him Jesus said, “If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
10. Specific order here: hold to Jesus specific teachings, changed into a disciple, then that will cause you to begin to know the truth, that truth produced by holding his teachings and becoming His follower, will set you free. Jesus was specific.
11. The way is narrow, the truth is specific, the life is ABUNDANT!
12. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
13. “More Abundantly” is one word in the Greek which means: above the greatest abundance, superabundantly, over and above, more, more abundant, extraordinary, more excellent.
14. Five “Abundances” that belong to those who pledge their entire life to the Author of Life:

14. 1. Abundant Joy: Ps. 36:8 – “They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
    2. Abundant Grace: 2 Cor. 9:8 – “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
    3. Abundant Power: Eph. 3:20 – “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”
    4. Abundant Supplies: Php. 4:19 – “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
    5. Abundant Entrance: 2 Pe 1:11 – “For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

CLOSING

• Everyday we live “Life.” There is a Thief & an Author, both have an agenda.
• Christian or not, everyday we have choices to make…I choose life!
• I choose the narrow way, specific truth and the abundant blessings.
• How about you, you only have a vapor then it’s gone, make some choices!

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