TEXT: John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
We left off in part one of the ABUNDANT LIFE talking about the things that cause man to become corrupt (to pine or waste; shrivel; wither; spoil; ruin; defile) which is the “beastly nature” of his heart, soul, mind, and body, the areas with which we must totally love the Lord our God with (Mark 12:30). But if these areas of man haven’t been totally made subject to the Father, we can’t have the ABUNDANT LIFE Jesus has and is come to give us!
ABUNDANT is the root word perissos’), meaning, in the sense of beyond; superabundant
(in quantity) or superior (in quality); excessive; beyond measure; having the
advantage; exceedingly abundantly above; a great deal]: LIFE (Zoe), is life in the absolute (complete; perfect; eternal; everlasting).
This Zoe life is life as God Himself has in Himself! John 5:26: For as the Father has life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself! Jesus said: John 14:6: I am the way, and the truth, and the life!
Therefore,
He said in the theme scripture, I am come
(present tense), that they might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly.
This ETERNAL
and EVERLASTING LIFE is the ABUNDANT LIFE we have been given, by coming
to KNOW (understand; recognize; fully discern; acknowledge) the Father and the Son that is sent to us (John 17:3).
·
John 3:15: Whosoever
believes in him should not perish but have ETERNAL (quality) life: vs 16: God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have
EVERLASTING (unending) life.
What things cause us to become corrupt? The beastly
nature of the LION (soul); the CALF (strength; body), the FACE
AS A MAN (heart/spirit); and the FLYING EAGLE (mind), spoken
of in Revelation 4:7, that hasn’t been totally yielded to God to be cleansed
by the Word of God and purged or purified by the fire of God!
WE’RE STILL TALKING ABOUT THE
ABUNDANT LIFE!
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THESE AREAS we need deliverance in
to have LIFE
ABUNDANTLY!
FIRST THE LION [why the
lion?] this is the SOUL (the emotional department), the area
that’s easily upset that we must control.
· 1st
Peter 5:8: Be sober (ne’pho) [discreet; watch; free from influence or
intoxicant] (religious order), vigilant
(gregoreu’o)
[to keep awake] because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (swallow up).
This lion doesn’t walk around on four feet, but on
two feet. This lion or adversary works on the inside of people trying to
have the last word or get even. But we must remember that the battle is not
ours, it’s the Lord’s.
The Psalmist said: Psalm 30:5: For his anger endures
but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy (rinnah’)
[singing; gladness; shouting; triumph] cometh in the morning.
· 2nd
Corinthians 10:4: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds): vs 5:
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ. Vs 6: And having in a readiness to revenge all
disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
· Ephesians
6:10: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of
his might. Vs 11: Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. Vs 12: For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Vs
13: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Paul wrote 1st Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord”.
In Revelation 6 (the opening of the seals): vs
1: And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it
were the noise of thunder, one of the four
beasts saying, “Come and see”.
This first seal being opened must be the conquering
of the “lion” personality. He was able to say “come and see” because the
lion (soul [emotions]) has now been tamed by the Lamb (love)
personality of Christ!
Why does the SOUL (emotional department) have to
be conquered first?
· 3rd
John 2: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper
(euodo’o) [succeed in reaching; good; do well]
(business; etc, progress] and be in health (hugia’ino) [to
have sound health; be well (in body); to be uncorrupt (true in doctrine); be whole;
wholesome; safe and sound], even
as thy soul (psuche’) [breath, spirit (animal sentient principle) (irrational; mortal; natural (flesh aspect) prosper (succeed; do
well; progress).
The soul
of man encompasses the “natural man” or the psuhcikos’ (sensitive or sensual)
man that’s governed by what he sees,
tastes, touches, hears, and smells.
·
1st Corinthians 2:12: Now we have received not the spirit of the world (Kos’mos) (social system) [political; economical (commercial);
ecclesiastical], but the Spirit, which is of God, that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God. Vs 13: Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost
teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Vs 14: But the
natural (psuhcikos’)
[sensitive or sensual] man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness (mori’a) [silliness; absurdity] unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
Therefore,
when the Spirit man (CHRIST), takes over the soul man and that soul
(emotional department) operates in the love of God, then the heart,
mind, and body will also be conquered! Then the “lion” is no more roaring out of the kingdom of
darkness to devour people, but roaring out of Zion, the kingdom
of light to deliver them!!!
·
John 13:34: A new commandment I
give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also
love one another. Vs 35: By this shall all men know that you are
my disciples, if you have love one to another.
Therefore, the conquering of the total man, heart,
soul, mind, and body, hinges on us first conquering the soul (lion - emotional department) of man. Then the other
three areas heart (spirit---face as a man), strength (body---calf),
and mind (flying eagle) will be conquered, so that we can walk in divine
health and have eternal and
everlasting life or the
abundant life!!!
And while we’re STANDING in this victory, according
to Ephesians 6:13, we can REJOICE!!
· Philippians
4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say, rejoice (cha’iro)[to be
cheerful; calmly happy or well; be glad]!
SECONDLY THE BODY (strength) (THE
CALF) (why the calf?): this typifies the body or the strength of man,
that has not yet come to full maturity as an Ox.
· Romans
6:12: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should
obey it in the lusts thereof. Vs 13: Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. Vs 14: For sin shall not have dominion
over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace.
Paul said, “I beseech (beg) you therefore brethren by
the mercies of God that you present (paris’temi) [exhibit; substantiate; yield; show;
bring before; commend; provide] your bodies
a living sacrifice (offering), holy, acceptable unto God; which is your reasonable (logikos’)
[rational (logical)] service” (Romans 12:1). Vs 2: And be
not conformed (summorphos’) [jointly formed; similar; fashioned like unto; united;
associated with] to this world (kosmos) but be ye transformed (metamorpho’o) [changed]
by the
renewing (renovation)
of your mind (nous) [thoughts; feelings; will; understanding]: that you may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
· 1st
Corinthians 6:19: What? Know ye not that your BODY is the temple (sanctuary) of
the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your
own? Vs 20: For you are bought with a price: therefore, glorify
God in your BODY, and in your SPIRIT, which are God’s.
Remember, our God is a consuming Fire (Hebrews
12:29). Fire does two things. It can purify (purge) or consume (destroy).
If we yield ourselves totally to God and His plan for our lives, His fire will purify
us and burn out of us all that’s not like Him. But if we fight against Him,
this same fire of God will consume or destroy us. Therefore, it behooves us to totally yield to God so that He’s glorified in our lives!
Remember, we are made in the image and likeness of
God Himself!
·
Colossians 3:9: Lie (pseu’omi) [to
utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood] not one to another,
seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds: vs 10:
And have put on the new man which is renewed (anakaino’o) [renovated; refreshed] in
knowledge (epig’nosis) [recognition; full discernment; acknowledgement; become fully
acquainted with] after the image (eikon’) [likeness; representation] of
him that created him.
As he is, so are we, in this world (1st
John 4:17).
THIRDLY HEART [spirit;
face as a man] (not the muscle pumping blood throughout one’s
body) but (the center of one’s inner life [thoughts; feelings (mind);
understanding; will]):
· Proverbs
4:20: My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Vs
21: Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine
heart. Vs 22: For they are life unto those that find them, and
health (marpe’)
[curative; medicine; deliverance; healing; wholesomeness] to all their
flesh. Vs 23: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it
are the issues of life.
What is the HEART? In Hebrew it’s leb, meaning the feelings, the will; the intellect; the center of anything; mind; midst; understanding; wisdom; the aims; principles. It embraces the whole inner man. It’s receptive to the influences both from the outer world and from God Himself.
Issues are the root word
-towtsa’ah’ meaning, exit; boundary;
deliverance; source; goings out (forth); borders.
Therefore, out of the HEART (feelings; will; intellect; mind; understanding] a type of spring or fountainhead gushes forth thoughts, words, choices, desires, direction, and conduct of some sort.
These “issues of life” (that which proceeds outward) meaning the outgoings, springs, or sources of life —flowing out from your inner life, shapes the whole course of your life.
Guard your heart (feelings; will; intellect; mind; understanding) carefully, because your life flows out of it. Look at what Jesus said:
·
Luke 6:45: A good man out of the good treasure (thesauros’)
[deposit; wealth] of his heart brings forth that which is good: and an evil man
out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil (poneros’)
[degeneracy; calamity; diseased; culpable; derelict; vicious; facinorous;
mischief; malice; guilt; wicked; grievous; lewd; harm]: for of the ABUNDANCE (peris’seuma)
[surplus; superabundance] of the heart (kardi’a) [thoughts; feelings;
mind; middle] his mouth speaks.
GOOD is that which pertains to LIFE and the EVIL is that which pertains to DEATH!
· Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Man’s heart encapsulates his
entire mental and moral activity; both the rational and the emotional
elements.
That’s why the “heart” scripturally is
not the muscle that pumps blood throughout the body, but it is the middle or
the very core of one’s innermost being. That’s why Jesus said, John 7:38,
“He that believes on me as the scripture hath said, out of his belly (koili'a) [a cavity; abdomen; matrix; heart] shall flow rivers of living water”!!
So “issues of life” is not just
problems. In modern English, “issues” often means troubles or problems,
but here it means more like the forces; the streams; the expressions;
the course of your life. Again, Jesus says:
· Matthew 12:36: Every idle (lazy; inactive) word that men shall speak;
they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Vs 37: For by thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
The “day of judgment”
is not a coming or future event! The “day of judgment” is a present and continual
happening, and the time that an “idle word” comes or goes forth out of
one’s mouth the “judgment” has begun. That’s “the day of judgment”! Therefore, let what you say be
POSITIVE and not NEGATIVE, because you will have what you say!
James said: James 3:6: The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
· John 3:17: God sent not his
Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might
be saved. Vs 18: He that believes on him is not condemned: but he
that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the
name of the only begotten Son of God. Vs 19: And this is the
condemnation, that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil.
Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is
deceitful (aqob’) [fraudulent; crooked;
polluted] above all things, and desperately (anash’) [to be frail, feeble, or melancholy; incurable;
woeful; sick] wicked: who can know it”. Vs 10: I the LORD search the
heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and
according to the fruit of his doings.
· Proverbs 4:23: Keep thy heart with all
diligence (mishmar’) [guarded] (hedged about;
protected]; for out of it are the issues of life (chay – khah’-ee) [alive; raw flesh; creature; beast; appetite;
living thing].
The meaning of this verse teaches that the heart is the control center of a person’s life. If the heart is guarded, life is guarded. If the heart is corrupt, one’s life will reflect it. This means your inner condition determines your outer life; life is lived from the inside out; what rules the heart will eventually rule one’s life. That’s why Jesus said Matthew 6:21: For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The ‘issues of life’ are the outgoings, flowing’s, or sources of life. That means everything that proceeds out of a person’s inner being—thoughts, words, choices, conduct, and direction—comes from the heart. Therefore, if the HEART is kept right before God, the life that flows out of it will also be kept”.
STILL TALKING ABOUT “THE ABUNDANT LIFE”!
FOURTHLY (last but not
least) THE MIND (why the eagle?): Leviticus 11:13: And
these are they which you shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall
not be eaten, they are an abomination (shaqats’) [filthy; loathed; polluted; abhorred; detested]:
the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray.
Why these birds? The eagle
[a strong bird of prey]: ossifrage
[a vulture, sometimes known as a bonebreaker or bearded vulture]: osprey [a fish-eating bird of prey].
They are birds of prey or hunters and scavengers that feed on
flesh, blood, dead animals, or other creatures. The word abomination here
from shaqats’,
meaning filthy; to
loathe; pollute; abhor; detest, does not mean that the bird itself
was evil in creation, but under the law of Moses, many animals connected with death,
blood, uncleanness or predatory behavior were marked as unclean, and was
forbidden as food for Israel to take into themselves.
Therefore, this EAGLE (unclean bird) under
the law describes the “MIND” of man on the natural or flesh level,
until it becomes transformed, as spoken of in Romans.
· Romans
12:2: And be not conformed (suschemati’zo) [fashioned alike; to the same pattern]
to this world
(kosmos’): but
be ye transformed (metamorpho’o) [changed; transfigured] by the renewing (renovating) of
your mind (nous) [intellect; thoughts; feelings; will; understanding] that you may prove (try; test;
discern; examine] what is that good (beneficial), and acceptable
(fully
agreeable; well pleasing] and perfect (tel’ios) [complete
(in labor, growth, mental and moral character); of full age; man] will
(thel’ema)
[determination; choice; purpose; decree; volition; inclination; desire; pleasure]
of God.
The only way we can have this transformation is by
putting on the MIND of Christ:
·
Philippians 2:5: Let this mind (phrone’o) [to
exercise the mind; entertain; interest oneself; think; regard; be of the same
mind] be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: vs 6: Who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal (fully agreeable) with God.
Jesus being in the form of God was not just because He
had on a flesh body, but it was because He had His Father’s mind in Him!
This is the same mind we must have and we do have within us.
·
1s Corinthians 2:16: For
who hath known the mind (nous) of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ.
This
happens when our “mind” is transformed through the renovation
process!
· Romans
8:6: To be carnally minded is death; to be spiritually minded is life
and peace!
Therefore, the “unclean eagle” [the natural mind] that’s
continually feeding on fleshly things, as fear, pride, bitterness, and worldly (religious)
reasoning, it becomes polluted. But when the “flying eagle” (renewed mind]
continually feasts on the Word of God it is cleansed, renewed and transformed
into Christ’s mind with wisdom, knowledge, and understanding as it soars in
heights of victory in the heavenlies!
That’s why in the New Testament the eagle is used
in relation to the saints that have Christ’s mind!
· Luke
17:37 (Jesus said to His disciples): “Wheresoever the body is, there
will the eagles (aetos’) [an eagle (from its wind-like flight] be gathered
together”.
The eagle can soar at heights that other birds
can’t. That’s the way we become spiritually after putting on Christ’s mind -
we too can soar over the plots, plans, and snares of the devil,
through Christ Jesus!
Because we know that whatever is happening it is working
together for our good and we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Romans
8:28-39)!
Therefore sons of God (male/female), “Let this
mind (phrone’o)
[disposition; exercise; direction; interest] be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus: who being in the form of God thought it not robbery (thievery) to
be equal (in
total agreement; of the same mind) with God” (Philippians 2:5-6).
Jesus being equal with His Father meant that He
(Jesus) was in total agreement that He and His Father were one
(John 10:30). ONE is from the root word homothu’madon, meaning unanimously: with
one accord; with one mind!
This is
the way we must also think, knowing that we too are ONE with our
Heavenly Father, through CHRIST JESUS by the HOLY GHOST!!
·
John 17:20: Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word: vs 21: That they all may be ONE, as thou Father, art
in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE IN US: that the world may
believe that thou hast sent me.
Again, Revelation 4:7 states, “And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle”. Once these areas are brought under subjection to the love of the Lamb of God, the ABUNDANT LIFE OF CHRIST is activated totally in our lives!
HALLELUJAH and AMEN!!!
[To be continued]
Pastor, Gracie Perry