JREnsey blog for March 2023

Welcome to the JREnsey blog for March 2023!

The Word for today

Proverbs 28:9: – “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (KJV).

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How carnal people get the wrong answers to their prayers

A woman once came to Bro. E. L. Holley with this word: “I prayed about cutting my hair and the Lord told me that it was OK and not a sin.” Bro. Holley acknowledged that the Lord may indeed have allowed that answer to come to her. He read her the following account:

“Then some of the leaders of Israel visited me, and while they were sitting with me, this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, these leaders have set up idols in their hearts. They have embraced things that will make them fall into sin. Why should I listen to their requests? Tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Israel have set up idols in their hearts and fallen into sin, and then they go to a prophet asking for a message. So I, the Lord, will give them the kind of answer their great idolatry deserves” (Ezekiel 14:1-4 NLT).

If we have allowed idols to take up residence in our heart, our prayers might be answered through the filter of those idols. Tear down the little gods of pride, rebellion and self-justification, then clarity and truth will come through, untainted by the idols of the carnal heart. The presence of idols caused the prophet Jeremiah to say, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Is it wicked by nature only, or has wickedness been augmented by some idols we have set up there?

But if one feels no conviction of conscience, would that be a clear sign that whatever he is doing is okay with God? Can’t we trust our conscience? Let the apostle Paul answer those questions: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me” (I Corinthians 4:2-5 NIV 84). Oops…there goes that excuse.

Down with the idols!

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Bible question:

Do angels gather and carry our prayers to God in a golden vial?

The concept is derived from Daniel 10:12-13 which seems to suggest that an angel came to get Daniel’s prayer words to deliver them to God. Is this one of the ministries of angels…to take prayer words to heaven and deliver them to the Lord?

This is the way the KJV reads: “And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. ¹²Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.”

“Come for thy words….” That is the way it might be said if we meant that the angel had arrived to collect Daniel’s words and deliver them to God. This is an unfortunate rendering of the Hebrew since it can easily evoke a misinterpretation…and has indeed. I read it in a book just a few days ago. But it is highly unlikely that the team of KJV translators were attempting to convey that angels possessed that ministry.

The word “for” is substituted for the phrase “in response to” or “because of,” which is the real meaning of the Hebrew. They knew what they were saying but they had no idea that it would be interpreted in some other way in 2023. The Hebrew is biḏ•ḇā•rê•ḵā, rendered “because of your words” in the Orthodox Jewish Bible and by the Bible Hub Hebrew lexicon. BibleGateway.com has about sixty different Bible translations. Only two or three use “for” here, all in the KJV genre. Almost all of the other 58 or so translations have either “because of” or “in response to” as a rendering of the Hebrew. A poor translation of a word or phrase is not a sure foundation on which to build a doctrine.

The attachment of Revelation 5:8 as a supporting text for this angel ministry is weak since there is no mention of angels in that verse, only a metaphorical reference to “golden vials full of odours which are the prayers of the saints.” A similar figure of speech is used in Psalm 56:8 where it speaks of tears preserved “in a bottle.”

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C. S. Lewis on modern Bible translations

In the Introduction to J. B. Phillips’ 1953 translation of the NT Epistles, the widely-read and respected C. S. Lewis wrote the following words:

“It is possible that the reader who opens this volume on the counter of a bookshop may ask himself why we need a new translation of any part of the Bible, and, if of any, why of the Epistles? “Do we not already possess,” it may be said, “in the Authorized Version the most beautiful rendering which any language can boast?” Some people whom I have met go even further and feel that a modem translation is not only unnecessary but even offensive. They cannot bear to see the time honored words altered; it seems to them irreverent.

There are several answers to such people. In the first place the kind of objection which they feel to a new translation is very like the objection which was once felt to any English translation at all. Dozens of sincerely pious people in the sixteenth century shuddered at the No one ever achieved freedom by appealing to the moral sense of their oppressors idea of turning the time-honored Latin of the Vulgate into our common and (as they thought) “barbarous” English. A sacred truth seemed to them to have lost its sanctity when it was stripped of the polysyllabic Latin, long heard at Mass and at Hours, and put into “language such as men do use”—language steeped in all the commonplace associations of the nursery, the inn, the stable, and the street. The answer then was the same as the answer now. The only kind of sanctity which Scripture can lose (or, at least, New Testament Scripture) by being modernized is an accidental kind which it never had for its writers or its earliest readers. The New Testament in the original Greek is not a work of literary art: it is not written in a solemn, ecclesiastical language, it is written in the sort of Greek which was spoken over the Eastern Mediterranean after Greek had become an international language and therefore lost its real beauty and subtlety. In it we see Greek used by people who have no real feeling for Greek words because Greek words are not the words they spoke when they were children. It is a sort of “basic” Greek; a language without roots in the soil, a utilitarian, commercial and administrative language. Does this shock us?

It ought not to, except as the Incarnation itself ought to shock by ravishing hopes and adorations. Does the word “scourged” really come home to us like “flogged”? Does “mocked him” sting like “jeered at him”?

We ought therefore to welcome all new translations (when they are made by sound scholars) and most certainly those who are approaching the Bible for the first time will be wise not to begin with the Authorized Version—except perhaps for the historical books of the Old Testament where…to continue reading this brief, informative article, click here.

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More points to ponder

Faith isn’t faith until it is all you are holding onto.
Everyone thinks about forgiveness until they have something to forgive. – C. S. Lewis
Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light. – V. Raymond Edman
“The kingdom of God is God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule, receiving God’s blessing.” – Graham Goldsworthy in Gospel and Kingdom
No one ever achieved freedom by appealing to the moral sense of their oppressors. – Anon.
Wearing face masks made little or no difference in the spread of Covid, study shows: https://news.yahoo.com/face-masks-made-little-no-001748577.html
If everyone followed through on their resolutions, the consequences wold be dire: The fast food industry would collapse, the gym could become unbearably crowded, and lifestyle magazines would have noting left to say. – Amanda Foreman

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“My Father’s Business” (Jesus, Luke 2:49)

What it was: To reveal to earth’s inhabitants the living blood sacrifice—God’s only begotten Son—being offered for redemption of mankind (John 1:29 KJV; 3:16 KJV; 10:10 NCV; 3:36 NLT).

What it is: To tell the world how to apply the blood of Christ to remove our sins and have a right standing with God in the present age (Acts 2:38; Luke 24:47).

What it shall be: To remove all redeemed believers from the earth before the terrible judgments of the Day of the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:15-17 NCV; II Thessalonians 2:2-3 GNV; Titus 2:13 NLT; II Peter 3:10), to establish His earthly millennial reign prior to unpacking the “new heavens and new earth”—our eternal home (Revelation 20:1-22:4).

What a privilege to be employed in “our Father’s business.”

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“Broiding” women’s hair

I see that questions still perplex Christian women, particularly Apostolic ladies, regarding “broided” hair (KJV rendering). Almost ten years ago, I posted a response to these questions. For those who are interested, they can find that post on the October 2013 edition of this blog. To go there, click here: https://jrenseyblog.wordpress.com/?s=Broided

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Putin: “Look what they are doing to their own people…a spiritual disaster.”

In his annual message to the Russian people on Feb. 21, President Vladimir Putin covered numerous topics, none more revealing that what he said about America and the West:

“Look what they are doing to their own people. It is all about the destruction of the family, of cultural and national identity, perversion and abuse of children, including pedophilia, all of which are declared normal in their life. They are forcing their clergy and priests to bless same-sex marriages. Bless their hearts, let them do as they please. Here is what I would like to say in this regard: Adult people can do as they please. We in Russia have always seen it that way and always will: no one is going to intrude into other people’s private lives, and we are not going to do it, either.

But here is what I would like to tell them: look at the holy scripture and the main books of other world religions. They say it all, including that family is the union of a man and a woman, but these sacred texts are now being questioned. Reportedly, the Anglican Church is planning, just planning, to explore the idea of a gender-neutral god. What is there to say? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Millions of people in the West realize that they are being led to a spiritual disaster. Frankly, the elite appear to have gone crazy, and it looks like there is no cure for that. But like I said, these are their problems, while we must protect our children, which we will do. We will protect our children from degradation and degeneration.” [End of quote. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/70565.]

I’m not a Putin pusher, but he nailed it right there! My guess is that his quote will never see the light of day in America’s mainstream media.

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Books <<SALE>> See below! We just discovered some extra printed copies of these titles. While the last…

A Hill To Die On

by J. R. Ensey
Is truth worth dying for? If so, which truth? Which doctrine? This book suggests that there are some things worth risking our reputations, our resources, and perhaps our lives for. Two years ago we would never have thought we would be where we are today as a nation. The Christian faith is rapidly being dismembered and deconstructed to make way for Islam and anti-Christian atheists. The rush of endtime prophecy fulfillment should stiffen the backbone of every Christian and make us realize there will be a price to pay for our faith. The nine chapters include:

– A Hill To Die On

– Truth in an Age of Deception

– Unity in an Age of Division

– Righteousness in an Age of Hedonism

– The Church in an Age of Spirituality

– Absolutes in an Age of Relativism

– God and Government

– Is American Christianity Returning to the Social Gospel?

– Our Finest Hour

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Why…?

by J. R. Ensey

Some younger men have called for reasons that specific doctrines and holiness standards appear in the UPCI Manual. They were not around when the issues were debated and passed in conferences. It is easier in today’s cultural climate to give up the fight than to take the time to find out why Pentecostals believe what we do. Here are 224 pages of some common sense, Word-based answers for our apostolic positions.
Chapters:

• Why do Apostolics embrace the Bible as the Word of God?

• Why do Apostolics teach monotheism?

• Why do Apostolics receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues?

• Why do Apostolics disengage from a worldly lifestyle?

• Why do Apostolics abandon or avoid harmful personal practices?

• Why do Apostolics choose modest apparel and shun ornamental
jewelry?

• Why do Apostolic ladies refrain from cutting their hair and wearing
cosmetics?

• Why do Apostolics live with a blessed hope?

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (I Peter 3:15,16). SALE PRICE $9.95

Faith In The Furnace

by J. R. Ensey
When pain racks the body, and when death is staring you in the face, you need answers, not just questions. Here are some down-to-earth, no-nonsense approaches to life when you are in the furnace of affliction. No hype, just biblical truth focusing on divine healing. Easy to read, thousands sold. SALE PRICE $7.95