PRAY: GREAT THINGS ARE AFOOT

Never stop praying. – 1Th 5:17 (GW)

Why should we Pray, Again?

Because No two prayers are the same, and no prayer is useless.

Contrary to popular perception, Heaven does not own a Voicemail; your past prayers are not in some storage device somewhere; they are before God’s very own eyes.

It also does not operate a switchboard; no angel is telling you to hold on while your prayer is being transferred. Your call goes directly to the Father.

Daniel was an Old Testament saint. Yet the Angel Gabriel told him, “At the very moment you started praying, I was sent to give you the answer.” (Dan 9:23 CEV). Why then should we, living under the New Covenant, imagine our prayers are just being filed away by some bureaucratic angels?

Prayer is the primary mechanism with which God uses to bring about change in our individual and corporate universe. Every time you pray, something happens. It’s like the constant chopping of the axe to a tree. It’s not the last swing that brings it down, it’s the accumulated force of all the previous blows.

The same is true of rain clouds. Ecclesiastes 11:3 says “If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth:”

That’s why we need to Pray, Again. That tree must come down; that rain must fall. You don’t need to Perceive it to know it’s happening, Scripture only asks you to Believe it; (Mt 21:22).

Great things are afoot Beloved,

That turnaround is nigh,

That breakthrough is around the corner,

That miracle is about to burst upon your scene,

That challenge is about to be knocked down.

Let’s not give up now, let’s keep digging downwards with our knees; because in not many days hence, we shall descend into the goldmine of our expectations.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

KEEP THE FLAMES ALIGHT

Our Lord’s words, “Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” is often quoted in the context of Judgement Day or Rapture. However, it should interest us to know that Jesus said it with respect to Prayer!

The words are the end lines of the Parable of the Persistent Widow, (Lk 18:1-8), in which our Lord tells of a widow who harasses a judge until he decided to give her justice.

God is Omniscient. And the purpose of prayer is not to inform Him about your problem; it’s to stay and receive the solution to the problem.

Nevertheless, God’s not a short-order cook or a waiting butler; when He grants our requests He makes sure they’re all in line with His will, His Purpose and His timing for our lives and destinies. Sometimes it is we who need to be prepared for the miracle. And other times, the miracle is delayed by third parties: unyielding persons or even satanic interference.

What do we do in these waiting times? We keep the fire hot and the pressure on. In popular Pentecostal lingo, we P-U-S-H, i.e. we Pray Until Something Happens. We must keep the fire burning  because the solution is still coming.

 “Though it tarries,” declares Prophet Habakkuk, “wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay” (Hab 2:2). Observe, however, what Habakkuk teaches us as the appropriate response to the delay. He says, “I will stand upon my watch, and set myself upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me,” – Hab 2:1

That, beloved, is a picture of Prayer, (Our Lord equates prayer to “Watching”, e.g. Mt 26:40,41).

Therefore, no matter the amount of hours spent before in prayer, or the enormity of the challenge, keep the prayer flames alight; so that when your Master turns to you with your miracle, He’ll find you expectant, faith-filled, and READY.

AMEN.

Your June shall be filled with Testimonies in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN 

KEEP THE LINES CLEAR

Prayer is a very powerful tool in the hands of a Believer. It effectively brings the Omnipotence of Heaven to the realities of Earth. Our Lord describes the limitlessness of the scope of prayer when He declared, “ALL things, WHATSOEVER you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.” and earlier He said, “Everyone that asks receives”; (Mt 21:22; 7:8).

Unfortunately, we can’t really boast that that has always been our experience in prayer. While there are several reasons why prayers are unanswered or delayed one that bears note is the issue of forgiveness – the absence of it, that is.

In Mk 11:24 when our Lord said, “Whatever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you shall have them,” He added a caveat:

And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any.

Prayer is like a pipe that channels the power of Heaven down to us and supplies us with all that we desire in our lives. But when we hold grudges and withhold forgiveness to others while still praying, that pipe gets dirty and clogged up.

We see a similar situation in 1Peter 3:7 where the Apostle enjoins husbands to be respectful and understanding of their wives, “that your prayers be not hindered.”

Faith “works by love” (Gal 5:6), if we want to wield faith enough to move mountains, we must flush the pipes of all the impurities.

Apostle Paul’s charge to the Ephesian Brethren is just as valid to us today:

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. (Eph 4:31-32)

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN 

KEEP THE LINES OPEN

...What profit should we have, if we pray unto Him?” – Job 21:15

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is probably the closest humanity got to self destruction. It pitted the then two superpowers, the U.S. and the USSR, against each other over the instalment of nuclear missiles by the USSR on the island nation of Cuba, right at the doorsteps of the U.S. Through a series of miscalculations, missteps and miscommunications, both nations almost entered an all-out nuclear war where mutual destruction was the only outcome. 

Realising how dangerous non-communication was – even among enemies – both nations established what is now popularly called “the Red Hotline” – a direct communication link between the two world leaders that was to remain open at ALL times whether in peace or war.

Believers, too, in a petty, comical way, do have their seasons of hostility with God. We call it by several names: “backsliding”, “mood phase”, “season of dryness”, “wilderness experience”, etc. In all, it describes a time when the Believer – due to real or imagined issues – is offended at God and/or His people (the church). Of course, God is faithful and though we turn our backs on Him, He never turns His back on us (2Ti 2:13; 1Co 1:9).

Nevertheless, these seasons of isolation are dangerous times. The worst thing a Believer can do to themselves is to decide to stop talking to their Father in prayer. It may be because of an unimaginable loss, growing cynicism, depression, etc.; but whatever the reason is, cutting the line of communication is never the solution.

We do not live in a vacuum; whenever we take that course of action, the Tempter is given free rein to manipulate, harass and torment. Cut off from all spiritual nourishment, the ‘aggrieved” Believer will quickly dry up and become spiritually atrophied.

The Psalms should be our guide. They contain several ‘complaint prayers’ from the upset Psalmist to God. Rather than sit back and sulk, they took their grudges to Him in honest, frank prayers and praise.

Beloved, even 5 minutes of talk during your dry season will do more good than not talking at all. Don’t give the Enemy a chance to cause more destruction, Keep the Line Open.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN 

LET US PRAY, AGAIN

And he prayed AGAIN, and the heavens gave rain, – Jas 5:18

If one were to poll the reason why Believers struggle to pray, the typical responses would be “carnality”, “laziness”, “sin”, “misplaced priorities”, “Social Media”, etc. Nevertheless, a cause for prayerlessness is one that doesn’t get mentioned a lot in Bible Study classes: i.e. Depression.

If the truth be told, not every Believer who skips Prayer Meetings is as carnal as we presume. Not every family that stops Morning Prayers do so because of the rush of modern life. And not every Believer who stifles a scoff when you said, “Let us pray” is backslidden.

It may surprise us that they probably were more prayerful than we are right now. Some were in the Church’s “Prayer Unit”, some had spent days in dry fastings, and others still had a reputation for praying for hours at a stretch by themselves.

But Life, cruel as it can sometimes be, has a way of dowsing the hottest flames. One loss here, a little disappointment there, a SUDDEN frustration that they’ve been praying for the same thing for years... and former Prayer Warrior becomes Cold Churchgoer.

Despondency happens to the best of us. It happened to Abraham, it happened to David, and it happened to Elijah. Nevertheless, whenever we find ourselves in such situation, we must do as they did. We must pray, AGAIN.

If Jesus’s prayer were answered the first time that He cried out in agony to God in Gethsemane, He wouldn’t have needed to pray again. But Mt 26:42 says He went away AGAIN THE SECOND TIME, AND PRAYED.

And even that was not sufficient enough, two verses later, He went away again, and PRAYED THE THIRD TIME, saying THE SAME WORDS.

Beloved, we have no other avenue of receiving spiritual grace, no other channel, no other route. If we presumed the solution to the problem was prayer back then, it is still the solution now. We mustn’t succumb to the lies and haunting pressures of the Devil.

Let us not be despondent. Let us Pray, AGAIN.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN 

THE SKY, NOT THE GRAVE

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,

The sky, not the grave, is our goal;

Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!

Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

One of the reasons why I love Horatio Stafford’s  hymn, “It is Well With My Soul”, is because of it deep insight and theological balance. It’s a song about sorrow and yet about joy. It’s a hymn about trails and yet about victory. In one verse it seems to resign to death yet in the next, it confidently denies that possibility.

Such apparent contradiction is what distinguishes a mature believer from a spiritual toddler. These ‘tensions’ are all over the pages of Scripture. For how can God be our deliverer if we’re never in trouble? How can God be our Jehovah Jireh if we’re never in need? How can we be termed Victors if we’re unwilling to face the battles of life?

Our Lord said in John 16:33, “In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Not embracing this balance is what causes lopsided Believers. One extreme group shouts that once you become a Christian, life will become a bed of roses; and the other side contends that Christianity is all about suffering, persecution and pain. Both are wrong.

Back to our hymn, the last verses show that, though Spafford was resolved to stand in faith in spite of the worst calamity Satan may throw at him, he didn’t accept that to be his life experience.

As Believers, we should know that God has promised us long life, deliverance, healing and prosperity – here on this Earth and in this lifetime (Mk 10:29,30); it's not a mark of high spirituality to deny this truth.

While maturity admits that “Many are the afflictions of the righteous”, it also affirms that “the LORD delivers him out of them ALL”. (Ps 34:19)

Look up Beloved, good things are ahead for you. Your deliverance, healing and prosperity are sure. And not many days hence, the world  shall see the resplendent greatness of God’s Grace upon your life in Jesus’ name.

AMEN.

GREG ELKAN

WHO’S SCARED OF CROSSING JORDAN?

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:

If Jordan above me shall roll...

The worst thing Satan can do to a Believer is death. When we think about that, we see why fighting Believers is frustrating for him. Because his ultimate assault on a child of God is something that will result in “Halleluyah”s and shouts of joy as the Believer steps into an Eternity with his Saviour.

This disarming of the sting of death is exactly what Jesus did on the Cross. Heb 2:14,15 says, “By embracing death, taking it into Himself, He destroyed the Devil’s hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.” (MSG)

A Believer cannot be threatened.

Satan threatening a Believer with death is like a kidnapper telling his victim to cooperate or else he will take them to the nearest Police Station. Does that really help his cause?

Unless, of course, the victim does not know what a “Police Station” is.

This is exactly how the Devil rules and manipulates us today. Looking around in the world, what do we see? Children of God panicking and scuttling in fear as though they are hopeless.

Remember the incident the Prophet Isaiah had with God? He said,

The LORD took hold of me with his powerful hand and said: “I’m warning you! Don’t act like these people... don’t be afraid of something, just because they are. I am the one you should fear and respect. I am the holy God, the LORD All-Powerful!” (Is 8:11-13 CEV)

Beloved, the fear of unbelievers should not be your fear. Mr Stafford knew this truth; that was why in spite of his trials (even though he would eventually qualify his statement in the next verse), he taunted the Devil by saying,

No pang shall be mine, FOR IN DEATH AS IN LIFE,

(GOD) WILT WHISPER (HIS) PEACE TO MY SOUL

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

ALL IS FORGIVEN

 “My sin, oh, the BLISS of this glorious thought!...”

One sad development in Mr Spafford’s trials is the reaction of the leadership of his church. Rather than support and encourage him during his dark times, they claimed that his problems were evidence of  divine judgment!

Beloved, does God kill a Believer’s children when the Believer sins? Does God wipe out all their property with fire if he feels they’re not holy enough? Does He strike the Believer’s 4-year-old son with an incurable disease if the Believer’s ‘altar’ is getting cold?  It’s saddening that three millennia after Job’s friends made the mistake of equating Pain with Punishment, (see the book of Job) many in the Church still commit the same error.

Another Christian of lesser stamina would have been crushed by this painful condemnation by the community of believers that are supposed to comfort them during this period of unimaginable tragedy. But thank God for this man Stafford; though a practicing lawyer, he apparently had spent enough time with the Scriptures to know that when God forgives, He forgives completely and totally.

 As though in response to their accusations, he writes:

...My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more...

Our Lord unequivocally stated in Jn 5:24, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

When we’re not sure whether we’re completely forgiven, when we suspect God may still be holding a grudge, we open our lives to satanic assaults masquerading as divine discipline. And rather than run into the arms of “the God of all comforts” (2Cor 1:3), we leave ourselves out in the rain: buffeted by Satan, a guilty conscience, and insensitive brethren. 

Col 2:14 (ERV) says, Because we broke God's laws, we owed a debt – a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.

Halleluyah!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

A CONTROLLING ASSURANCE

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,..

Satanic buffeting: attacks on our health, finances and family is a given in the Christian race. The Apostle Paul and Our Lord Himself guaranteed it (Jn 16:33, 2Ti 3:12).

The Devil knows that PAIN is a good way to make a Believer doubt their salvation and their faith. Christians with fat bank accounts do not question their salvation. A new mother does not sit during the naming ceremony doubting the love of God in her life. And a businessman does not ponder on the existence of God at the opening of his third business branch.

Doubts, fears and uncertainties are fruits of troubled times. When we go through seasons of severe financial drought, when we find ourselves flat on our backs and bedridden for some strange ailment, when all our speaking in tongues, confessions and prayers seem not to even budge the mountain... then we find ourselves questioning the well-established truths we have known and have been held on to for years.

A little bit of pain can erode a lifetime’s experience of certainty. That’s why Mr Spafford cautions us never to allow trials make us lose our spiritual bearing. When Satan tries to point out the things in our lives that God has NOT done, Spafford tells us to ponder instead on what God HAS already done: namely, the giving of His only begotten Son to us as payment for our sins.

Beloved, because of what happened at the Cross, it’s too late to wonder whether God loves or cares for you. Jn 15:13 says, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” God loves you dearly and wants the best for you.

Regardless of what the situation looks like right now...

Let this blest assurance control;

that Christ has regarded (your) helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for (your) soul.

It is Well With You in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

THE BLISS OF LEGACY (IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL)

...And she answered, IT IS WELL. – 2Ki 4:26

Some months ago here on TWFT, we dwelt on the life and legacy of the great hymnist “P. P. Bliss”. Philip Paul Bliss was an accomplished hymn writer and composer of world acclaim. However, he was not the author of the famous hymn attached to his name. The words were written by a lay Christian: a man named Horatio Spafford.

Few persons, Christian or not, could have handled the kind of grief Mr Spafford had to face in his lifetime. He was a successful lawyer with investments in several properties in the city of Chicago and a father of five children. At age 2, his only son died. This was followed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed most of his investments. The rest of his finances suffered even more loss from the economic downturn of 1873.

But these losses were nothing compared to what was to come. That same year, the ship on which his wife and remaining children were travelling in collided with a sea vessel, and all four of Spafford's daughters died.

It’s from the heart of such a grief-stricken man that the words of the now famous hymn “It Is Well With My Soul” poured out from, (P.P. Bliss composed the tune). Indeed, the words came to Spafford just as he approached the spot where the tragedy happened!

In this day and age where talk is cheap and people blurt out easy-believy Quotable Quotes; in this modern church times where faith has been reduced to formulaic expressions and canned prayer points; in these last days where a Pastor’s qualification is tied to his oratorical and project-management skills and not about their life experiences... It’s helpful once in a while to sit back and meditate on the words of one who has earned his right to teach us a thing or two about faith and perseverance.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Regardless of my current circumstances, I’ve learnt from Mr Spafford and have made it a practice to always declare, because I KNOW, that

“It Is Well, It Is Well, With My Soul.”

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

TAKE CARE OF GOD’S HOUSE

therefore glorify God in your body... – 1Co 6:20

1Co 6:19 tells us clearly that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. God, who used to dwell in the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament temple, now chooses to dwell permanently in our body – warts and all. This sacred and reverential view of the body is unique to biblical Christianity.

It is this understanding of the Body that Paul sought to impress upon the Corinthian Believers, (1Co 3:16; 6:15-16; 2Co 6:16). Your body is not yours, it was bought with a price, and a very high one at that: the Blood of Jesus!

Therefore, we’re meant to take care of it for the Master. Some believers are of the belief that, since this body is destined for destruction and decay, it’s to be used to the extreme.

Firstly, that’s ungodly stewardship. Do we condone air pollution and the dumping of industrial waste into our waterways since “the world and everything in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10 BBE)? No, we don’t.

Secondly, the Body is our earth-suit. It is to us what a spacesuit is to an astronaut. Without it, we can no longer stay on this planet. No matter how anointed, loaded and promising a destiny is, if the body crumbles, that’s the end. Earth has a strict “No Ghosts Allowed” policy.

The Human Body is probably the most complicated machine on Earth, and it deserves more attention than that 300,000-dollar car we’re drooling over.

Neglect of the Body – unhealthy diets, lack of adequate sleep, lack of exercise, etc. – isn’t a sign of spirituality, it’s a sign of lack of understanding. Some Pastors boast of sleeping less than 2 hours a day (... and we still wonder how some churches plunge into chaos from terrible leadership decisions).

We’re supposed to burn on for God, not suffer BURN OUT because of Kingdom work!

Take care of God’s House. It adds quality to your life, it serves as a healthy witness to the world, it blesses your loved ones and – in a direct sense – it glorifies God.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

BODY THINGS

therefore glorify God in your body... – 1Co 6:20

Your body – that handsome/beautiful thing that looks back at you when you look in the mirror – is a gift from God to you. Not one square inch of it is from the Devil. It was “beautifully and wonderfully made”: crafted preciously by the Maker Himself as a showpiece of His exquisite workmanship. There is no body (pun intended) on earth like you.

Every beautiful and desirable thing in your body was put there intentionally by God for His own glory. Jam 1:17 says “EVERY good gift and every perfect gift is from above,” and Rev 4:11 tells us that that stunning craftsmanship you call your body was created to glorify God.

It is the Devil, not God, that hates the Body. That is why he seeks to corrupt its desires; that is why a tell-tale sign of demonic possession in a person is self-mutilation and affliction of the body, (see Mk 5:5; 9:22; 1Ki 18:28). That is why those who have dabbled into the occult will tell you affliction of the Body is the Devil’s rule of thumb.

In all Devil-inspired religions we have today, the Body is always the ‘scapegoat’ to explain their inability to live holy. In Christianity, however, the body is not the enemy, but is the temple of the Holy Spirit (2Cor 6:19)!

 It is quite revealing of God’s nature, that Leviticus – replete with rules, rituals and regulations as it is – gives no room for ONE act of mutilation.

It’s only the Devil, who did not (and cannot) create your body, that will ask you to harm it in the name of religion or piety.

Don’t look at the mirror with loathing, look at it with gratitude. Your body is like your child, it will always ask to be pampered ignoring the consequences; but what it needs is DISCIPLINE, not EXORCISM. Under the control of a regenerate mind, the body will be a vessel of righteousness: giving glory to God and being of great use to His Kingdom on Earth.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

PROPER MORTIFICATION

Biblical Christianity is not a religion; indeed, it is the direct antithesis of all the manmade, hell-inspired religions we have in the world today. So, it should be disturbing if there seems to be no distinction between their beliefs and ours.

An example is in the doctrine of Mortification-based holiness. Scriptures does ask us to “Mortify” our members. But the demonization of the physical body, resulting from the twisting of this word, just as – and actually in conjunction with – “sarx”, is a hallmark of cults and false religions right form the time of the first Apostles.

Many of the Church’s canonised ‘saints’ attained that appellation from their reputation of being ‘holy’ through the subjecting of the flesh.

One was said to have “performed Penance by chanting 20 psalters accompanied by 300,000 lashes over six days”; another had self-afflicted penances of “vigils, fasts, frequent flagellations and the use of a hairshirt”. A woman flogged herself thrice a day and lived on nothing except Communion elements, and another girl ‘saint’ got paralysed through her self-flagellation.

While we may consider these examples extreme, or seek to distance ourselves from those who venerate them, can we claim to be totally cleansed from this religious mindset?

When we equate humour or boisterousness with carnality, or rank a Believer/church’s spirituality based on their gravity of conduct, it evinces a wrong perception of sanctification and holiness.

It’s interesting that Scripture didn’t ask us to “crucify the flesh”! Gal 5:24 says “they that are Christ’s HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh ...” And Rom 6:6 says “our old man IS CRUCIFIED with Him...”

The key to biblical mortification and holy living is the revelation that the flesh has ALREADY been crucified (with Christ). This is why holiness is IMPOSSIBLE outside of biblical Christianity, but DEMANDED in it. Other belief systems may venerate their saints/’holy’ men in their ability to flagellate the physical flesh, but like Paul rightly pointed out in Col 2:23 “These things look like wisdom with their self-imposed worship, false humility, and harsh treatment of the body. But they have no value for holding back the constant desires of your corrupt nature.” (GW)

Only Biblical Christianity can that.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

“ALL SARX IS NOT THE SAME SARX”

 “...RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of truth.” – 2Ti 2:15

The Apostle Paul may not have had the “Sarx controversy” in mind when he told the Corinthian church, “All sarx is not the same sarx (“All flesh is not the same flesh”; 1Co 15:39), but his choice of words has become of very real significance to us today.

During sermons, we are often asked to “crucify the flesh”, but I never saw anyone put up their hands to ask, “which flesh?”

This lack of distinction and clarification has not only led to frustration among God-loving Believers, but actual heresy in some segments of the Church.

There is the obvious “flesh” that refers to our corpus: our body, the physical ‘meat’ with which we see, feel, taste or otherwise interact with the physical universe.

Then there’s the “flesh” that refers to the carnal, un-renewed MIND. (Of course, “flesh” also has many other meanings in the NT).

We should know that it is of great advantage to the Devil that we focus our energies on our body and neglect the mind. The physical body is not your enemy, your mind is. If the body is the source of our sinful predilections, then the ICU of hospitals should contain the holiest people on earth.

When Paul beseeched us to be living sacrifices (Rom 12:1,2), he qualified it by asking us to be “transformed BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND”.

Some persons, for example, have tried to suppress lust through dry fastings and literal flogging of the body, only to find the monster raise its ugly head days later. It never occurs to them that maybe they’ve been flogging the wrong “sarx”. 

Let’s learn from our Lord’s teaching (see Mk 721-23) and focus on the right “sarx”; when we do that, the body will follow.

 “Think over these things I am saying [understand them and grasp their application], for the Lord will grant you full insight and understanding in everything.” – 2 Timothy 2:7 (AMP)

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

THE ‘SARX’ CONTROVERSY

“All flesh is not the same flesh:” – 1Co 15:39

It’s not very often that the fight among academic Bible scholars is spilled into the streets. They usually restrict their queer quarrels to scholarly journals, reviews and colloquiums. So, I found it interesting when a certain Greek scholar made public his reservations with the translation methodology of some modern Bible versions.

In this case, it was with the Holman Christian Standard Bible and the issue was with their translation of a rather unexceptional Greek word: “SARX”.

But what is “sarx” and (more importantly) why should we care? While it does sound exotic, it’s actually one of the more common words in the New Testament; occurring over 150 times and in almost each book.

Here’re four out of the five times Matthew used “sarx” in his Gospel:

...Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for SARX and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Mt 16:17)

...For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one SARX (Mt 19:5)

And except those days should be shortened, there should no SARX be saved… (Mt 24:22)

Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the SARX is weak. (Mt 26:41)

From the above, we can see that “sarx” apparently means “flesh”. But we also notice that “flesh” in one verse is different from the “flesh” in the other. 2Ti 2:15 tells us to “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING the word of truth.”

This “rightly dividing”, lacking in many Bible studies today, has caused no small error in theologies and doctrine.

When studying the Word, we must let each word in each verse determine its meaning based on its immediate context. Transposing the meaning of the same word in another verse, or giving the same meaning to ALL incidences of that word will only lead to confusion at best, or heresy at worst.

Let’s not be like that Russian computer which, when asked to translate Mt 26:41 (quoted above), replied in Russian “The whisky is agreeable, but the meat has gone bad”. J

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN