Good morning.
As we get started today, we have to understand that the Bible is full of great truth. It is full of wonder. It is full of wisdom. It is full of history of things from the past. And it is full of prophesy of things to come in the future.
But, all of that is only there for the person who will seek for it within the pages of God’s Word. So, with the idea of finding those nuggets of wisdom, and truth, and wonder, and history, and prophesy, I want us to begin a series today that is a little bit different than what we usually do.
Instead of going with a certain theme, or working our way through a book of the Bible, as we have done several times in the past, this series is going to take a look at several different things, and what it is that the Bible has to say about each of those things.
For some of these subjects we may be ranging all over scripture, from the Old Testament to the New and back again. For others, we will stick with a certain passage. Some weeks, I may ask questions, and some weeks I may have all of you, or some of you do things. But through it all, our goal is to see what the Bible has to tell us about a variety of subjects. So, with all the anticipation, what is this new series?
Well, today, we are going to being a series that is titled, “The ABC’s & XYZ’s Of The Bible.” We will obviously begin with the letter “A,” and move on from there.
We will see if we can make it through the alphabet. Now, I don’t know if we will cover all 26 letters of the alphabet or not, so I won’t make any promises. But, at the same time, I think that we can find something from the Bible to study with each letter. We may have to be creative at times, but I think we can do it.
Now, before we jump into the alphabet, let’s open with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
Now, I know that you are not use to answering questions on Sunday mornings, but we will try a couple today anyway.
As we begin with the letter “A,” what do you think our word or our subject might be for the letter “A”?
Well, those were all good suggestions, but as for today, we will begin with the letter “A,” and I want us to take a look at the word Abundance.
Now, here is question number 2, what does the word abundance mean?
Well, to get us started with this word, first of all, let’s take a look at the dictionary definition, and then we will look at the abundance of scriptures that talk about the word abundance.
According to the Dictionary, the word abundance means, a large amount, a more than plentiful quantity of something, a fullness that overflows, more than enough, or ample sufficiency.
All that sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Now, in relation to the Word of God, there are several things that God gives to us, to His children, that He gives in abundance.
First Off, God Gives Us Abundant Provisions
In Psalms 132:15 God says, “I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor will I satisfy with food.”
Now, when we think of provisions we think of the necessities of life. We think of things like: food, water, clothing, and shelter. Those are the things that we cannot live without. And here in this verse God is promising to bless His people with abundant provisions.
You see, He is not just promising to give us “just enough” to get by. Instead, He promises to take care of the needs of His people in abundant supply. He desires to give us MORE than enough. He wants to give us so much that we are full to overflowing, the kind of fulfillment that we say to ourselves, “my cup overfloweth.”
Think about your life as you have been following Christ. By looking around the room, I trust that since you are here today, you haven’t starved to death yet.
You may be able to think of times as you grew up when the food was running short. But you can also remember the times that God miraculously provided food when you were down to the last of your groceries. Or perhaps God supplied a need in your life at just the right time, when the money was about to run out.
You know, I can think of several occasions where God stepped in, and provided for a need in my life. God always has a way of providing for our needs, our needs for food and clothes and so on.
Now, you might say, “But Josh, that doesn’t sound like ABUNDANT supply, in fact, that sounds like just enough to get by.”
All I can say is that when God miraculously provides for all of your needs you sense that you are abundantly blessed. Granted, sometimes life is a struggle, sometimes, you get just what you need at just the right time. But from personal experience, we have always tried to be faithful to God in our tithes and offerings, and in our service to Him. And as a result of that, He has been abundantly faithful to us, blessing us in so many ways, and giving us MORE than enough to survive.
So, we have God’s abundant provisions.
# 2, God Also Provides Abundant Peace & Security
If you have your Bibles with you, go ahead and turn with me to Jeremiah 33:6-9. It is in this passage, that we read of the abundant peace and security that God gives to His children. Following along, Jeremiah 33:6-9 says, “1”
So, in spite of the sins of God’s people, God will forgive their sin and He will provide peace and security for them. You know what, that sounds pretty good to me. Have you ever experienced a time in life when you were facing something devastating in your life? Perhaps you didn’t know how you would move on. But then, God stepped in and provided you with a sense of peace and security that only He can give.
Or think of it in terms of our world today. Here we are as a nation in the midst of war. Our school children are under attack by evil. Marriages are struggling, relationships are falling apart, and many other things are going wrong in our world today. And still yet, we can have peace in the midst of the storm. But why?
Well, it is because Jesus is with us throughout our storms, and He will provide peace and security in abundant supply to those who seek Him. So, we have abundant peace and security. Moving on…
# 3, God Provides Abundant Mercy
In I Peter 1:3 it says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
Now, in the King James Version of the Bible, I believe that it says, “…in His abundant mercy…”
Mercy, by definition, means that we don’t deserve it, and yet, Christ, in His great, or abundant mercy, has given us this new birth, this new beginning. And it is through this new birth that we age given salvation and this hope of eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.
I guess a person could be the recipient of “A LITTLE” mercy. Think of it this way, if a person were guilty of a crime and sentenced to 50 years in prison, but then the judge cut that sentence to 25 years, that might be considered merciful. And if the judge cut the sentence to only 10 years, that would certainly be much more merciful. But what if that person got off scot-free? Well, that would be great mercy, it would be an abundance of mercy.
And as we think about that, that is the kind of mercy that the Christian has experienced. When we enter into a relationship with God, we are then forgiven of our sins. Through that, God shows us His great mercy by completely wiping out the punishment that we deserved. He shows us an abundance of mercy. And actually, that brings us to our next abundant…
# 4, Abundant Grace
In Romans 5:17 it says, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
God’s abundant provision of grace. The punishment that was ours to bear was placed squarely on the shoulders of Jesus. He bore the punishment that should have been ours. And as I said, when we accept Jesus into our lives and allow Him to control our living, we get off scot-free!
We don’t receive the punishment that we deserved, and that is called, “abundant grace.”
Also, in II Corinthians 9:9 it says, “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.”
As the song writer wrote:
“Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt,
marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
freely bestowed on all who believe,
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin!”
You see, that is abundant grace. That is more than enough grace. That is an all sufficient grace. And that is ours for the asking, if we will just come to the One that can abundantly give it to us. So, abundant grace.
And Finally, One Last Abundant, And That Is, Abundant Hope
Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
God provides many things in abundance, even more than just what we have studied here today. But that promise of overflowing hope, abundant hope, is ours to claim, if we will just follow Him. We have hope, we are not discouraged, Christ has provided a way out for us. It is a way out of our sins, a way out of the punishment that should have been ours, and even a way out of death.
Eternal life in Heaven in ours, and that is our abundant hope if we remain faithful to Him. He will reward us with that abundant hope of making Heaven our home.
Now, as we being to wrap things up, in Luke 6:45 it says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow (or the abundance) of his heart his mouth speaks.”
In other words, whatever is within a person in great supply, begins to overflow and come out. As God abundantly blesses you, you should share that with those you come in contact with.
So, have you experienced this great abundance in your own life?
Have you experienced God’s abundant provisions in your life?
Have you experienced God’s abundant peace and security?
Have you experienced God’s abundant mercy?
What about His abundant Grace?
And do you have hope in abundance?
If so, Jesus says that abundance just naturally comes out. Our lives overflow with the great abundances that are ours, and out of the overflow of our heart we speak, we talk about it, it is evident in the words we speak, it is evident in our attitudes, it is evident in the way we treat others.
So, we have the word abundance. It is an incredible word that God blesses us with from His Word, and in turn, we should bless others with the overflow of that abundance.
Let’s Pray!
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