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Turn with me to the Gospel of
John and Chapter 10. We'll read the first 10 verses
of John Chapter 10. John Chapter 10, and if you're
there, I commence reading from the English Standard Version. The Bible reads, Truly, truly,
I say to you, he who does not enter the ship by the door, but
climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door
is the shepherd of the ship. To him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hears his voice, and
he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has
brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow
him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow,
but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice
of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used
with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So
Jesus again said to them, truly, truly, I said to you, I am the
door of the ship. All who come before me are thieves
and robbers, but the ship did not listen to them. I am the
door. If anyone enters by me, he will
be saved and you'll go in and out and find pasture. The thief
comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they
may have life and have it abundantly. Let's seek the Lord's face once
again. Our dear God and our Father in
heaven, we pause before you this morning,
giving you thanks for the way that you've been with us thus
far in our worship service. We give you thanks for the songs
we've sung, the Bible reading. Our Father, we now ask that you
be pleased to glorify yourself through the preaching of your
word. Our dear God, we plead with you
that as your word will be proclaimed, cause that each one of us will ask themselves the question,
what is it that thrills my soul? If it's not Jesus, Such a life
is on the brink of danger. Such a life is under the wrath
of God. So we pray that through the preaching
of your word, you cause each one to search their hearts or to
search our hearts under prayer and desire. is that all of us
may walk out of this place with the full assurance that Jesus
is what thrills us, because he's our savior and has saved us from
our sins. But also cause that your word
will be preached authoritatively, with simplicity, and may God
the Holy Spirit aid the preaching of your word for your glory, and for the salvation of those
still living in their sins, and for the encouragement of those
who are yours. Hear this our cry, for Jesus'
sake, amen. We are back in our study in the
Gospel of John, and we are now in chapter 10. the last time I was preaching,
which is about four Sundays ago, we began looking at chapter 10. And we considered the first 15
verses. And in those 15 verses, we were
looking at Jesus, the good shepherd. We looked at the character of
the good shepherd, the character that Jesus possesses, that is
in him, that makes him to be a good shepherd. but also looked
at his credentials that makes him to be a good shepherd, how
that is able to give his life for his own sheep, and how that
is not like any other shepherd, but also looked at the concern
that the good shepherd has for his sheep. And we saw in all
this that Jesus has everything, all the qualities, all the characteristics
for him to be a good shepherd. There's no one like him. There's
never been anyone like him. And there will never be anyone
like him. And the challenge that was posed,
the question that was posed to all of us was whether we knew
this good shepherd. Whether we had a relationship
with the Good Shepherd, whether the Good Shepherd knows you by
name and He calls you by name and He leads you to pastures. He leads you in paths that brings
honor and glory to His name. This morning, I would like us
to consider verse 10. And in looking at verse 10, we'll
be asking the question, why did Jesus Christ come? And this question is very important
to all of us this morning, especially as we think of the life to come. But also as we think of death. The memories of Mahongo are still
with us. Yesterday we put her remains
at Memorial Park. And so it's very important for
us to ask this question, why did Jesus come? And this question is very important
because many people have stumbled on this question and have given
all kinds of answers to the reason as why Jesus came into this world. Some would confidently say that
Christ came simply to be a teacher of morality. And so they try
to simply emulate that aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ, or
simply teaching morality to human beings. Others answer that Christ
came to simply be a good example of what it means to deny yourself
and to love others above you. And so people go on to try and
do different kinds of good works, hoping that as they are doing
this, they are answering the question why Christ came, and
that one day God will look at how they are following the example
of Christ, and the good deeds they did, and hopefully that
will give them an entrance into heaven. But verse 10 of chapter 10 of
the Gospel of John gives us a far higher reason as to why Christ
came. He came to bring life and life
in abundance. And so as we go through the preaching
of God's Word this morning, the question you need to ask yourself
The question you need to wrestle with is, do I have this life
that Christ came to bring? Do I know this life? Or I'm still
trying my level best to do everything possible within my means in order
to gain more points so that Christ can transfer this life as it
were to me. Or maybe your basis for having
this life that John is talking about is not the Lord Jesus Christ,
but something else. So let us open up this verse,
verse 10, and see what John is saying to us as the reason why
Jesus Christ came. And the first thing we see is
that the Lord Jesus Christ is insisting that there's only one
means of receiving eternal life. There's only one means of receiving
eternal life. And he puts it in a very interesting
way at the beginning of verse 10. And this is how it is put
as recorded by John. The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. Now this is one way of the Lord
Jesus Christ insisting that there is no other way in which man
can receive eternal life if it's not the Lord Jesus Christ. Any
other means can be equated to those who come with ill motives
to steal, kill, and to destroy. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
showing us there that if your basis of having eternal life
is not Christ, that basis is not true. There is only one source of spiritual
life. There's only one sure fountain
of spiritual life. There's only one way in which
man can receive eternal life and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. All other fountains will lead
you to destruction. All other fountains will simply
be an act of deception by those who claim to be the means of
eternal life. And this is why the Lord Jesus
Christ puts it in a very interesting way, that the thief comes only
to steal, to kill, and to destroy. And Christ's insistence is that
if your basis of acceptance before God is not the Lord Jesus Christ,
you have been deceived. And because you've been deceived,
that will lead you to destruction. And isn't this true of the world
that we live in today? Human beings are always looking
to their fellow human beings as their saviors. When we look at the world today, we somehow conclude and convince
ourselves that the problem with the world today is bad leadership,
bad examples. And if we could simply have good
leaders, good examples, then everyone can follow those examples. And hopefully in those examples,
there will be salvation, as it were, from the problems that
the world is facing today. And the world seeks to create
some kind of utopia in their minds, that if only we could
have humanistic and political saviors, then all will be well. And sure enough, in the history
of the world, there've been many political leaders that have emerged. And many thought those who were
the saviors. They will save them from their
sins. They will save them from their
problems. But at the end of the rule of such political leaders,
it proved that they had their own agenda and their agenda had
shown in what they did. The idea that man by nature is a sinner
runs contrary to the modern religious, psychological, and philosophical
views that we have over ourselves. To think that man is by nature
a sinner runs contrary to everything we view of ourselves. And somehow
we convince ourselves that the root problem of man's problem
is the environment in which they live in, in which probably they
grew up. And so if we can only deal with
the environment, if we can only put in leaders that will help
look at the environment, maybe man's problems will be dealt
with. But we forget. the teachings
of the scriptures, that man by nature is wicked and has a selfish
heart. And it is not the Christian doctrine
of heaven that is a myth, but it is the humanistic dream of
some kind of utopia here on earth, while at the same time maintaining
that man is not a sinner. And hence in our efforts have
been to look at the outside of man, the environment of man,
and not to look at the heart of man. And here the Lord Jesus
Christ is reminding us, He's insisting that any other means
outside Christ will lead to destruction. The world as at so many political
leaders, that they put in so much hope
as to redeem them from their problems that they are facing. Think of the likes of Adolf Hitler. Think of the likes of Joseph
Stalin. Think of the likes of Idi Amin
and many others. When these individuals were coming
on the scene, propagating their message to their people, everyone
thought, these are the individuals that will bring hope to us. These
are the individuals that will solve our problems. And as they
came into power, they had their own agenda. And the end of their
lives showed. that they came to steal, kill
and destroy. Think of how many millions of
Jews that Adolf Hitler killed in the name of propagating his
message to the German people. Think of how many millions of
people that Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union killed in his
30 years rule. How that many were displaced
from their lands. how that many were forced into
hard labor, how that many were killed and their property were
gotten out from them. And yet when these men began
to bring their message, everyone thought they will redeem us from
our problems. And the end of their lives showed
what John is saying here. that the thief comes only to
kill, to steal, kill and destroy. And the message there is very
simple. Man who has a selfish heart will not put the interest
of others before his own. Man always find a way to coin
his message so that when he gets into power, he will do everything
for himself. He will do everything possible
to push his own agenda. And here the Lord Jesus Christ
is saying to us, and if you put your hope and trust in such a
one, you will be disappointed. Because there's no other means.
There's no other way in which you will have eternal life. But the second thing we see is
now John goes to give us the reason why Christ came. Jesus came to bring life. Jesus Christ came to bring life. And this is what we see in the
next half of verse 10. The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life. I came that they may have life. Now the Lord Jesus Christ did
not just come to be a teacher of morality. He did not come
to simply be an example of self-denial. He did not leave heaven and live
on this earth for 33 years to simply be a good example. The Bible there shows us that
he had a far higher purpose when he came into this world. He came
into this world to procure eternal life, to bring eternal life. He came into this world to bring
life to you and I. He came into this world so that
we might live. He came into this world to be
a mighty fountain of spiritual life for all mankind. and that those who will believe
in Him, and as they drink from that fountain, will have life. That's why Christ came. And maybe
you're seated there and saying to yourself, but if Christ came
that I might have life, then there's no need for me to have
the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm living, I'm not dead. So why do I need Christ? Now the Lord Jesus Christ in
verse 10 is not simply talking about physical life. He's talking
about spiritual life, which leads to everlasting life. From the
time sin entered this world, through our parents Adam and
Eve, we are born sinners in rebellion against God. We are born in this
world spiritually dead. And to use the words of Martyn
Lloyd-Jones, human beings are a living death. They are living,
but they are dead. They are spiritually dead. They
cannot do anything to put a smile on the face of God. They are
dead, spiritually dead, because of sin. Human beings are unable to initiate
any movement towards God. They are unable to do anything
that will make them to move in the direction of God. They are
incapable of coming to God on their own. They have no initiative
because they are spiritually dead. Now when you think of death,
I think we all have a good idea what death is. When a person dies, they are
unable to respond to any impulse, any provocation, They are unable
to perform any functions. They are unable to do anything. They are dead. They can't respond
to anything outside of them. They can't respond to the environment. The body that has no life has
been reduced to simply an empty shell. There's no life in it. They possess no ability to see,
to hear, or to do anything. When a person is dead, they can't respond to anything. Even if you touched them, they
will not respond. Even if you brought something
that excites them, they will not respond. Even if you raised
your voice and called them out, that voice which once upon a
time they would recognize as the voice of my wife, the voice
of my husband, the voice of my child, the voice of my friend,
they can't respond to that voice any longer. They are dead. Their eyes that once upon a time
would marvel at the beauty of creation, would marvel at the
beauty of their spouse, can no longer do that anymore. Why? There's no life in them. They are dead. Their body that once upon a time
was full of energy and would do extraordinary things, can't
do anything because there's no life in them. And this is exactly
what the Bible refers to us when it says we are spiritually dead. There's no life in us to respond
to God. Even when God calls, As long
as we are dead in our sins, we will not respond. We will not
obey the voice of God. We will not see the beauty of
the salvation of God that is in Christ Jesus because we are
spiritually dead. There's no life in us. And the Bible is saying to us,
Christ came to a people in such a state to bring life, so that
as it brings life to them, they may begin to see and respond
to God. They may begin to see and marvel
at the beauty of God. They may begin to live the life
that God wants them to live. Christ came that you might have
life. you spiritually dead may live. God so loved the world. that His Son He gave with the
purpose that those who receive His Son with abiding trust and
confidence may have everlasting life. Those who believe in His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of their sins
will find salvation, and this salvation will manifest in having
fellowship with God, because of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why Christ came. He came
to bring life. Sin entered this world. And because
of sin, all of us are spiritually dead. And God would look and
all you'd see is a people dead in sin. A people unable to tell
they are left from their right. A people who can't appreciate
the salvation of God. A people who could not hear the
voice of God. And when Christ came into this
world, that was the reason why He came. He came to bring life
and this life is salvation that He has brought. Christ came. that you may have
life. And this shows us that it's God
who makes the first move in salvation. It's not man. And that's why he began by letting
us know that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and to destroy. And Christ came that you might
have life in you. And the life that the Lord Jesus
Christ brings is a life that makes a difference between life
and death. It's a life That makes a difference between
a life of turmoil and a life of peace. It's a life that makes
a difference between a life of sin and a life of sorrow. It is a life that is lived for
the glory of God because God has brought life into you and
now you are able to respond to God. Now you're able to appreciate
the beauty of God's salvation. Now you're able to appreciate
the love of God for the world. Why? Because there's life in
you. There's spiritual life. And when
God calls you, you are able to appreciate and know that that's
the voice of my Father calling me out. Because there's life
in you. You have life in you. Christ
has brought life into you. Christ didn't come to simply
be a teacher of morals. Because he knew that teaching
morals to dead people is a waste of time. How would they appreciate
the lessons? What these people need is life. And Christ came to bring that
life. And so the question is, do you
know this something of this life? Do you know what it means to
be made alive in Christ? Or you're still living in your
sins. Though everyone around you thinks you are full of life
and energy, and yet God looks at you and he sees a living death. One who's alive physically, but
dead spiritually. So where are you this morning? Do you have this life? But in the last place, we are
told that Christ came to bring life and life in abundance. Christ came to bring life and
life in abundance. That's what the last part of
verse 10 tells us. The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly. Now there the Lord Jesus Christ is
saying us, he did not just come to bring life, but to bring it
abundantly. to bring life in its abundance. We've already seen what life
is that Christ brings. But we need to ask ourselves
the question, what is an abundant life? What does it mean to have
life abundantly? Abundant life does not necessarily
mean a long life. Although when you read the Bible,
there are verses in Exodus and Ephesians that promise long life
to children if they obey their parents. But abundant life does
not necessarily means a long life. Abundant life does not necessarily
mean a life free from sorrow, sickness, and pain. It does not mean that. Abundant
life does not mean a life where everything is beautiful, is wonderful,
and is precious. That's not what abundant life
means. But the question we need to ask
ourselves, when John says that Christ came to bring life, and
life in its abundance, what does that mean? Abundant life is a content life. Abundant life is a content life
in which contentment comes from the confidence that God is equal
to every emergency and does indeed supply or our genuine needs according to
his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Abundant life is a content
life in which contentment comes from confidence that God is equal
to every emergency of our life. And He does supply all our genuine
needs according to the riches in glory in Christ Jesus. That's what abundant life means.
It means you are content. And you are not simply content
with what you have, but you are content with the confidence you
have in God. that whatever my situation, whatever
life throws at me, my God will supply what I need for that particular
moment to pull through so that as I live my life, I'm radiating
the life of Christ in me. And you see, contentment means
satisfaction. And satisfaction means enough. In Christ, you have all that
you need to live your life here on earth and in the life to come. As Christ brings life, spiritual
life in you, he makes you alive. And as he makes you alive, He
helps you to see and builds confidence in you that you have a God who
supply all your genuine needs for your life on earth. And in that confidence, you will
be satisfied. Now this understanding is reinforced
by the meaning of the word abundance. The word abundance comes from
two Latin words which give us the idea to rise in the waves
or to overflow. To rise in the waves or to overflow. And the picture that these words
give us is that as the continuous rise of waves are upon the shore
or the banks of the sea, And as they rise over and over
again, as the waves bring their force to the seashore, and as
they continue to do that, you are not being shaken because
of the confidence that you have in God. And so as one wave of
life brings its trials, brings its temptations, brings its sorrows. You are not being swept off your
feet by those waves of life. You are firm and you are stable
because God is supplying all your needs, equal to any given
situation. But also being given the idea
of an overflow, A surplus. There's also a mathematical formula
in that word, abundance. It means there's a surplus. If
you're an accountant, when you see a surplus at the end of the
year, as you are closing your book, you know that year was
good. You did not make a loss. So if
you're a businessman, what you want to see is a surplus at the
end of your balance sheet. And this is the idea that we
are getting in what John is saying, that Christ came to bring life
and to bring life abundantly. We are being taught there that
there is this overflow of the life of Christ in us and as Christ
communicates his life in us and as God the Holy Spirit takes
residence in our lives, there is an overflow of the life of
Christ that radiates to all those around us so that they see that
the life we live is because of Christ. It's not because of what I've
accumulated or achieved. It's because of Christ in me. Christ is the one causing the
surplus, the overflow in my life, and I have abundant life. I have
all that I need at any particular moment because of Christ. And this abundant life is one
in which we are content in the knowledge that God's grace is
more than sufficient for you, for your life. And that there's
nothing that can suppress it. And God's favor towards you is
unending. And that's why the life that
Christ brings is everlasting life. Because the love of Christ
towards you is unending. Because God himself has no beginning,
he has no ending, and so everything from him is everlasting. And
this is the idea that John is giving us. The reason why Christ
came is that you and I may have life and life in abundance. And Christ is able to give you
such a life because he possesses all authority in heaven and on
earth. He's more than capable. to do
beyond what you can imagine. When Christ saves you from your
sins, he leaves you in this world as a trophy of his grace. He
leaves you in this world so that through your life, others may
come to see what abundant life is. that through you others may
come to see the power of God, that God can save sinners from
their sins. If you are a Christian this morning,
you are a billboard upon which God writes his love so that he
can show and advertise it to the world. God is writing his
love upon you so that when the world looks at you and they inquire
of how come that in the midst of all these life trials you
seem to be satisfied, you seem to be content, then you can show
them it is because of Christ he came that I might have life
and life in abundance. Your life is a testimony to the power of
God in saving sinners from their sins. Yesterday, we gathered in this
place for the funeral service of Mahongo Nyongola, who passed
away on Thursday morning. And this place was full and there
were still others standing outside. And when you heard her testimonies,
tribute from her workplace, from her friends, one of the things
you could not miss was that there was a person who had the life
of Christ in her. She was a trophy of God's grace,
She was a billboard upon which the world came to see the power
of God in saving sinners from their sins. She had found life
and life in its abundance. You heard the mother's tribute
to her. She said, through you have come
to appreciate even God's love more. And all things happen for
good of those that love God. And nothing will separate me
from the love of God. And you can't tell me those tributes
were simply because she was a hardworking young lady at her workplace. Oh, she was the darling of the
family. They saw something of God's amazing
love in her. And it was difficult for everyone
who came to give a tribute to keep it to themselves. They wanted
everyone present in this room to know that even though once
upon a time she lived a life of sin, Christ came into our
life and gave her life and life in its abundance. And as she
lived her life, she continued to radiate the love of Christ
around all those who came in contact with her. And she lived her life as a pyramid
of praise to her God, who had saved her from her sins. There was a life, short-lived,
but a life that had found abundant life
in Christ. Before you can know this abundant
life, you must first know life. Before this life of Christ can
begin to overflow within you, you must know the life that Christ
leads, the life that Christ brings. You must be made alive from your death, from your spiritual
death. You must be awakened from that
death by the power of Christ. You must believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, putting your abiding
trust and confidence in Christ and his power to save sin. Christ will wake you from your
dead. He will give you his spiritual
life. And once he does that, then you
can know this abundant life. You will not be satisfied by
any created things. The vacuum in you can only be
satisfied by Christ. Man is spiritually dead. You are spiritually dead in your
sins. You have no defenses. against
sin. Because you are dead, that's
what you are. So sin has taken control of your
life. You have no desire to resist
sin. You don't have the capacity or
the ability to resist sin. Don't you get amazed at times
when you hear of some of the deeds of men. And you ask yourself,
why would a person do such a thing? It's because they don't have
the power to resist sin. And when sin commands, they do
what sin is telling them to do. People were spiritually dead. do not have the power to resist
sin. They have no defense mechanism. Even when they come up with their
resolutions, they break them because sin has taken control
of their lives. And because there's no spiritual
lives in them, they only do that which their master wants them
to do. Only Christ gives life. Only Christ can give you life. Only Christ can give you abundant
life. Only Christ is able to break
the power of sin in your life. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins and you too can sing joyfully
with God's people. Life, life, abundant life. Jesus alone is the giver. Life, life, abundant life. Glory be to God forever. If you only believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins
will you know life and life in its abundance. Amen.
Why Christ Came
| Sermon ID | 5151710016 |
| Duration | 51:08 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | John 10:10 |
| Language | English |
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