Taylan Michael is the thief he’s warning you about…

Are you living the abundant life? On episode 391 of the Holy Nope, evangelist Talon Michael attempts to teach John 10 by just repeating the word abundantly over and over.

God does not want me broke. The reality is, Jesus came to give you life and life more abundantly. Jesus did not come so that you would have to struggle through life, dodging bullets, dodging poverty, dodging sickness, dodging disease.

No, the Bible says he came to give you life and life more abundantly. If you study John chapter 10 verse 10, it literally says in the Greek, Jesus came to give you abundant life and an abundant life more abundantly.

He's teaching that what Jesus means in John 10 10 is that God doesn't want you broke or sick. We've got to keep in mind that teachers are judged with greater strictness. This is why it is a terrible thing to teach God's word.

This man is speaking falsely and attributing his false word to the words of the incarnate Lord. Now, John 10 10 is a favorite proof text for charlatans. Does the abundant life Jesus speaks of mean worldly riches and perfect health?

This is a good opportunity to allow the context of a text to shed light on its meaning. In John 10, Jesus is giving the illustration of the Good Shepherd in which he identifies himself as the Good Shepherd.

And the Jews weren't getting it. We are told as much in verse 6, they did not understand what those things were which he had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, I am the door of the sheep.

All who come before me are thieves and robbers. What will be helpful for us to understand is that there is no discourse break between John 9 and John 10. The audience of John 9 is likely the same as Jesus' audience in John 10.

And in chapter 9, Jesus has just healed a blind man who believed in him as a result and whom the Pharisees then excommunicated from the synagogue for his faith in Jesus. And so the contextual setting of John 10 is that these Jewish leaders who, like their fathers, persecute the righteous are the thieves and robbers about whom Jesus is speaking.

And a lot of people like to quote John 10 .10 as if it says the devil comes to steal and kill and destroy. But it doesn't say devil, it says thief. I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved and will 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. The thief in reference here is being likened unto the Pharisees who are essentially false teachers.

We can say that false teachers are agents of the devil, but I don't think that gives us warrant to change the word in John 10 .10 from thief to devil. No, it refers instead to the false shepherds of Israel and it calls us back to Ezekiel 34.

Now, Jesus speaks of himself as the door through whom one will be saved and go in and out and find pasture. This language of finding pasture echoes the covenant blessing promised to an obedient Israel.

Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed shall you be when you go out. But it is an image that also has eschatological overtones. In Isaiah 49, the promised servant of the Lord will bring restoration to Israel.

He will say to those who are bound, go forth. To those who are in darkness, show yourselves. Along the roads they will feed and their pasture will be on all bare heights. They will not hunger or thirst, nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down.

For he who has compassion on them will lead them and will guide them to springs of water. In other words, in John 10, Jesus is identifying himself as the suffering servant in Isaiah, the good shepherd come to lead a new exodus and provide abundant pasture for his sheep.

And so, here the distinction that Jesus is getting at. While false shepherds take because they are thieves and in it for themselves, Jesus, the good shepherd, gives. And what does he give? While the false shepherds fed themselves at the expense of the sheep, the Lord says in verse 23, then I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will feed them.

He will feed them himself and be their shepherd. What Jesus gives is his own life. John 10 11, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am not an anti-money Christian who believes that poverty is inherently more virtuous than being wealthy.

But the abundant life spoken of here is the life of Christ in exchange for ours in contrast to the self-serving false shepherds of Ezekiel 34 and the Pharisees of Jesus' day and any modern false teacher who feed themselves at the expense of God's flock.

Abundant life is clarified later in the chapter as eternal life, secure in the hands of the good shepherd from which no man may snatch you. Eternal life is described later in John by Jesus as not merely a life forever in heaven, but that quality of life that is a living relationship with God through Christ.

This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. There is nothing about John 10 in its immediate context or its theological backdrop that suggests that abundant life means a life free from financial strain or illness.

This text is about who Jesus is, not about how God wants to materially bless you. Some might chime in, Jesus talked about money more than anything else. Have you ever heard that? He didn't. This is just another poor argument from those who don't understand the scriptures or don't know how to read the scriptures or who read it with ulterior motives.

While Jesus mentions money often as he does other things common to life like animals and agriculture, that doesn't mean that he's talking about money. So it's a true statistic that Jesus mentions money in one-fourth of his parables, but those parables weren't about money.

Jesus mentions food in 18 of his parables, but those parables are not about food. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and hid again, and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Jesus isn't teaching about finding money, he's teaching about the kingdom of God. Christians should use biblical principles to build generational wealth, yes and amen, but we are not permitted to twist scripture to promote false gospels.

God's going to encourage a thousand of you to help me with this mission. Click the link in my

Talon is one of the thieves of whom Jesus speaks.

And we'll get right into it. My main goal for this is people to know Jesus, not prosperity, gospel, young money, cash money, Jesus, period. And I believe that Talon Michael, Pastor Stan Potey, and the organization of Faith Church Rustin has disregarded that goal for their own financial interests.

This is Talon Michael, and the other day he responded to my asking for financial transparency in his non-profit ministry, given that he's always posting private jet flights and the fact that he just paid for, in cash, a $200 ,000 car.

Josh saw how much you liked my new car, so I figured I'd make this response video in front of it for you.

Okay.

The first piece of transparency that you requested, Revival Way Incorporated official legal documents.

So we were able to finally track down Talon's non-profit, and come to find out, it's not in good standing with the state of Louisiana.

I can show you how much we gave to one organization last year. Here are the bank statements of my tithes and offerings that I gave just last year, just to my church, $239 ,128.

Y 'all know that's not a real bank statement, but I'm gonna assume that that's the amount that Talon claims his non-profit, Revival Way, donated to his church. Did you know that Talon's father-in-law is also the lead pastor of said church, Faith Church Rustin?

Here's a picture of them in front of another private jet. Now, strangely enough, because most of the information on their website is password protected, which is weird, I've been led to believe that the only people that are on church staff and have access to church funds are Talon, his wife, his father-in-law, mother-in-law, and his brother-in-law.

Nope.

I feel like I'm losing my mind. Is everybody in the world blind? Please, Lord, give me a sign.

A sign.