Monthly Archives: July 2023

July 30, 2023 · 10:40 pm

Hidden Manna Is Spiritual, Not Material

 (from a journal article, 3-6-18)

“To him that overcomes, I will give to eat of the hidden manna…” (Rev. 2:17)

The manna that fell in the wilderness was a physical food that Yahweh sent down to earth to literally feed the children of Israel. It serves as a type and shadow of the true bread from heaven.

Yesterday’s concept of physical manna will not suffice the spiritual hunger of those whom He has called and chosen in these latter days. The children of Israel called manna “the bread from heaven.” Though it fed their physical bodies, it was not the real bread from heaven, the spiritual bread that comes down from heaven in the form of the Truth embodied in Yahshua, the Son of God.

Today Yahweh is giving us the “hidden manna.” It is the Truth about what God did with the flesh body and blood of His Son. It has been kept secret since the foundation of the world; Christ calls it “the hidden manna.” It is hidden from interlopers who think that they see, yet they are blind.

In essence, Christ said, My flesh is the bread of life. It is the spiritual food that if a man consume the spiritual truths contained in the sacrifice of My earthen, fleshly body, then he will receive eternal life. And My blood is drink indeed (John 6:35-37, 48-58)

The Problem: Understanding the Function of Christ’s Body and Blood

Hundreds of millions of professing Christians look on his body and blood after the flesh. They have the hocus pocus ritual of the Eucharist, or Lord’s supper, where they believe some man-made wafer and a sip of wine magically become the literal body and blood of Christ, activated with the hands of priests that sin. Many millions partake sincerely without knowing just what it all means. They think that the bread in this ceremony is latter day physical manna. This “manna” is not the “hidden manna” because it is a physical disc that is taken by mouth. Hidden manna can’t be seen, by definition; it is spiritual and invisible. That is why it is “hidden.”

Christian denominations who do not believe the wafer and the wine are translated into the literal body and blood of Christ, still look on the Lord’s Supper after the flesh.

But yesterday’s manna will not suffice today’s needs. Today’s “hidden manna” is the word of truth concerning Yahweh’s plan and purpose. Today Yahweh is revealing His whole plan that fulfills his purpose of multiplying Himself. He has His doctrines and teachers who teach the new light that Christ calls the “hidden manna.”

For this manna is the spiritual–not physical–bread from heaven. This bread from heaven came to us in the form of the Son of God. This manna has been hidden for ages and eons. We speak about a cosmic mystery, a “mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people” (Col. 1:26). It comes in the form of the Word, the Logos, the Spirit of Christ revealing Himself as the Father’s plan to fulfill His purpose. Christ Yahshua is Yahweh’s plan to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself—in us. “It is all Him. Christ, the Anointed King, in you and me! That is the mystery now revealed to whomever He chooses to reveal it to. Astonishing! [“And they were astonished at His doctrine.”]

The “hidden manna” is given when the Spirit of truth reveals more truth and understanding about God’s plan. It will not be given to those soaked in erroneous teachings. The “Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt among us.” This interaction of the Spirit in the many membered body of Christ, the church, is the Logos/ Word’s logical explanation of the plan illuminated by inspired words. However, repentance from being associated with false doctrines comes first. The overcomers in their personal Pergamos church age will receive the “hidden manna” (Rev. 2:12-17).

The revealing of His purpose through the “hidden manna ultimately is this: The mystery of the hidden manna reveals His eternal purpose: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). After all, He tells us that “man is the glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). Yahweh will reproduce Himself (Love); He is using a group of human beings to do this. When His Spirit of truth grows fully up in us, then God will be glorified. When He completes in us His will, which is manifesting His Spirit of love completely through us, then the Father will be glorified.

The Father is such a Giver of good things; He has it in His plan that His Son and His first fruit, manifested sons and daughters must be glorified. They must receive their immortal spiritual body first—then the Father will receive full glory. Yahweh, our Father, has such humility in His love for us.

For His ways are hidden. His purpose and plan have been kept secret, hidden from the insincere eyes of phonies and fair-weather saints. Only those who go through the cross experience will be allowed to partake of the “hidden manna.” Only those whose faith in Christ has been purified in the furnace of trials will overcome. Only those who are “[purging] out the old leaven” doctrines of this world’s religious and political systems—only those will receive the “hidden manna” that feeds those who are diving deep into the heart and mind of God. That hidden spiritual manna is the Spirit of Truth—Christ.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

4 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

July 26, 2023 · 9:12 am

Forgiveness Is at the Heart of Repentance

(from Journal,  5-11-15)

Repentance is the first step on the path of righteousness. “Unless you repent you shall all likewise perish,” (Luke 13:5). Repentance is a grave concept, not to be misunderstood. A seeker of God must not get this wrong.

Nevertheless, the way to repentance is guided by the warm arms of forgiveness. For had not Christ forgiven us all, we would never be able to come to the altar of repentance from our sins.

Many believe that past sins are forgiven them by God, but they don’t believe that the sin nature within them—the old nature that produced the sin—is gone away for good. And therein lies the problem—the recurrence of sin in a person’s life. Why does sin keep cropping up? It is because of unbelief that our old sinful self has died with Christ on the cross. Through this unbelief, the old heart will still produce sin, the breaking of the Ten Commandments.

Sins Sent Away

The word “forgiveness” is translated from the Greek word aphiemi, a verb which means “to send away or depart.” Christ has sent our sins away.

We see this in the types and shadows of the old Mosaic law. One remembers how the Aaronic priest laid his hands on the scapegoat, transferring the people’s sins onto the goat. And then the goat was sent away into the wilderness, taking their sins with it. The scapegoat was a type of the Lamb of God “who takes away the sins of the world.” Christ had the heavy responsibility of being that Sacrifice. Christ took upon Himself all the sins of humanity. Shockingly for some, He died as a lost man that day; I say, in the similitude of a lost man. “For He was made to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

He was our scapegoat offering. He has forgiven us in that He has sent our old selfish heart away. He is saying to us, Thy sins are forgiven. Your sins are sent away; they are departed and gone. They are no longer there. “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).   

Forgiving the Debt

The Greek word translated “repentance” has another nuance of meaning. It means to “to forgive a debt.” When we owe someone money, for example, we have a debt until either it is paid or until the debt is forgiven. When forgiven, the debt is gone, poof! It is no longer a reality; it no longer exists.  

It is the same with the old heart that sins. That person has a debt to love his fellow man, for God has said, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Rom. 13:8 NIV). That is our debt: to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And yet, sin is the opposite of love, and it resides in unregenerated man. These are those that Christ has commanded us to love. We are to love the unlovable, those who have hurt us. We love them by forgiving them. This is how our debt is paid.

But our debt can never be paid by trying to do good works in our own strength. Yahweh takes away our sin through the sacrifice of His Son. We can repent through His grace to us.  This happens when we identify our sinful nature with Christ. Then the sin dies with Christ, and by belief/faith in His resurrection in us, we now walk in a “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).

Once this revelation sinks in, then we can say as Paul did that it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me (Gal 2:20). We need only read and believe Romans 6:1-15 and not question it.

When we do this, the sin will depart forever. The debt is paid. Our sins are forgiven. For good. All gone. Departed. Christ is big enough to make this happen. No more sin in our lives. It is a wondrous thing. This is His doctrine, and it is astonishing!

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

8 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , ,

July 23, 2023 · 10:33 am

Repentance from Sin–How to Be Freed from Sinning

“He that is dead is freed from sin…” (Rom. 6:7) [from Journal 4-23-15]

We’ve been digging into the heavier concepts lately—things like “healings, casting out unclean spirits, power, and authority.” These studies are a glimpse of our destiny. They are waymarks of our spiritual growth. But before these come mightily into and through our lives, we must make our calling and election sure by shoring up the “first principles of the doctrine of Christ.” Therefore, I thought it expedient to review the foundational first works that Christ preached before we get ahead of our skis.

The first words that Christ spoke as He came into a village was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And then He would say, “Have faith in God.” These are the first two teachings of “the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42; Heb. 6:1-2). Christians coming into His body must first repent of their sins. But they have been taught a watered-down conception of what “repentance” means. They say that feeling sorry for your sins is repentance. Not so. The same thing has happened to the word “sin.”

The false teachers say that you cannot live without sinning. But the scriptures say, “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin…” (I John 3:9).

Concerning the Sin Question

But someone will ask, “How then do I live without sinning? I’ve been told that I can’t, that I’ll always sin. That’s what they’ve told me.” Confusion abounds about the sin question, so not many people discuss it, much less preach it.

Christians have been taught to call every shortcoming that we have as sin. But “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). Which law? The Ten Commandments.

It is a spiritual law. These commandments deal with heavy, dark actions of the heart. They are given to show man what sin is. We are talking about murder, stealing, adultery, coveting, having other gods before the God of Moses, and others. These Ten Commandments were not made for a righteous man, but for the sinner. Let the apostle expound on this: “We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine” (I Tim. 1:9-10).

Nevertheless, many people say that eating too much is a sin, that impatience is a sin, that drinking a glass of wine is a sin, that losing your temper is a sin, that shuffling your feet on a sawdust floor is a sin. These are faults perhaps, but not sins. There is a big difference in the gravity of the offenses. It is like comparing a third degree misdemeanor with a first degree felony.

Considering this, we need to examine ourselves and ask, “Do I steal? Do I lie? Do I commit adultery? Do I hate and murder people or want to kill someone for selfish reasons? Go down the list of the Ten Commandments. Now think again about faults and shortcomings that you have.  Do you see the difference?

Sins are weighty things that make up this spiritual law. It is a law that natural man cannot keep on his own strength and merit. The sinner’s ineptness thereby is revealed. But the Spirit has shown us the way.

The New Heart

The Ten Commandment law can only be kept by God’s Spirit residing in the new heart of a Christian. And many of us have had the Spirit come down in a new life-giving way. And in God’s eyes, we are His sinless children. And He watches over us, and He cares for us and helps us when we neither know how to go in or come out. In other words, He looks on the heart and judges after the new heart that He has given us. He knows that we are immature and need the milk of the word so that we can grow up to be like Him and His apostles and prophets. We have faults and shortcomings, but we have been changed at our core.

And, perhaps, some sincere followers of Christ are still in sin. I am not their judge. I am not anyone’s judge. However, I am content to share the light that He has given me over these past 50 years.

The unregenerated human heart is a sinful one–lies, adultery, thefts, idolatry, coveting your neighbor’s possessions. But the new heart from God at our new birth from above is an astonishing miracle done by the invisible hands of our Savior. It is an amazing spiritual heart transplant. And we need to be able to explain how this happens.

His will is for us to grow to be like Him and His apostles. To do this we must know and do the foundational principles of Christ’s doctrine. We have a need to be rooted in the first works of repentance and faith before we go on to deeper doctrines. They go hand in hand and form the very matrix for the other teachings to grow.

Without faith, you cannot please God (Heb. 11:6). Why? Because God is an invisible Spirit. We cannot see Him, but we can see the effects of His presence within a person. We cannot see Him, but we take notice and are astonished when we see a man transformed by this Pneuma/Spirit we call God. He is the man who used to be a soldier who cursed worse than a sailor. He was an adulterer, a druggie, and a thief but was changed into a praise giving grateful follower of this invisible God.

I used to be that sinner. But I had a mentor that explained to me how to repent from sin by taking my old selfish sinful self to the cross and letting it die with Christ, and being buried with Him, and by faith in His resurrection, be raised to walk in a newness of life (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12).

You have read Romans 6:1-12. Read it again. “Knowing this that our old self is crucified with Christ.” We have been baptized into His death. When Christ died, sin died. When we die with Him—over and done with—our old sin nature dies with Him. That is repentance from sin.

Having faith in His resurrection is believing in our own resurrection. “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me…by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). That is repentance from sin and faith toward God. These two concepts must be rock solid in our hearts before the Spirit takes us into deeper living waters.

It all boils down to believing in Christ’s resurrection—not just His own personal resurrection, but our being raised to walk in a newness of life, too. He has faith in His own power and plan. He is waiting patiently until we all have this truth firmly in our hearts.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

For much more on this check out these articles:

Repentance from Sin and Faults–But What’s the Difference? | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

Christ Says, “Repent!” Repent from What? “Sin.” How Do I Do That? | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

[My books go into to these things much deeper. Send for a free copy with free shipping.  Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

12 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

July 18, 2023 · 11:57 am

God’s Sovereignty in Hardening Hearts and Casting Out Unclean Spirits

(from Journal, 3-18-19)

As His sons and daughters, we will see an unclean spirit in someone who needs deliverance. But before trying to help them, we first must have wisdom and knowledge from above. We must understand that they are spiritually afflicted by Satan and his minions.

This is major league stuff. Those evil spirits are fallen angels that we are dealing with. We must have understanding–which is “knowledge of the holy” about who these spirits are. They are ministering spirits for us, the heirs of salvation. Are not all angels our servants (Heb. 1:14)? All. The evil spirits in this case are providing an opportunity for us to show forth the power of God–in His timing—that He might be glorified in the showing of His mighty power to heal. We better know what we are doing before attempting to cast out an evil spirit. Remember in Acts when the spirit jumped on the unprepared follower?

At first glance, we might think that this is a bit outlandish for God to do this–that He would allow affliction—on saints and sinners alike. But we need to reflect upon pharaoh’s experience with Yahweh. He was the king of Egypt, and he was used by God to make a name for Himself. God hardened pharaoh’s heart against God’s very own will, but for a master purpose. God sent an evil spirit into pharaoh to block the children of Israel from escaping bondage.

It was God who hardened his heart. But this provided the ultimate backdrop to showcase God’s mighty miracle working hand in delivering Israel from slavery. We must remember this: God caused many Egyptians to perish: Egypt’s first born, the Chariots lost in the Red Sea, the victims of the plagues, and others. It was all part of His plan to reveal Himself to His creation.

Yahweh is sovereign, and all of us humans—past, present, and future—are His creation. He can and will use us in any way that He chooses to fulfill His will, plan, and purpose. We all need to get over ourselves with all this battling God for the preeminence in this life. We humans were created for His pleasure, not ours. We think that we have a say in our lives, but we really do not in the end. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh” (Prov. 16:33).

“For the scripture says to pharaoh,’ for this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show my power in you, and that my name may be declared in all the earth’ (Rom. 9:17; Ex. 9:16). Things in God’s plan are not open to those who by their own strength and sheer will, endeavor to please God. Nor is it to those who run for the prize of pleasing God. But it falls upon those whom he has chosen to show mercy to” (Rom. 9:16).

The point is that He uses whomever He wants to use for His purposes. And if He chooses to harden a heart to further His purpose of making sons and daughters, He will do it! Just like he did with pharaoh. This should strike fear and awe of a God who would do this to accomplish His purposes. We should not be surprised. We do the same thing. You plant a garden, and then you harvest it. You decide whether to eat the vegetables or can them or sell them or give them away. You call the shots concerning your garden. God calls the shots concerning His Garden.

But most human beings either think they are in control, or they give up and become driftwood, floating aimlessly, tossed upon the waves of fate, without knowledge of the tree from whence they came. Still God has a purpose and plan. He will still use His power to cast out evil spirits and heal whomever He desires. And in this epoch, He said that He will use you and me. Praise Yah! HalleluYah! kwh

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , ,

July 15, 2023 · 9:47 am

Faith and the Power to Heal

[From Journal entry, 3-17-19]

Christ desires us to walk in the same power to heal that He and His apostles walked in. That is our high calling. He wants us to spiritually grow to the point that the power of the Spirit is not only present, but also active as a miraculous life force.

This power went out of Christ into the woman stricken with a blood disease. He was walking in 100-fold power and did not need to raise His voice and shout, “Be healed!” The woman believed, and her faith in the Savior’s nature and authority pulled the power to heal her out of Him.

So, what were the major elements in this demonstration of his power toward the woman? At that moment in time, her belief matched the Savior’s. For we know that He fully believed in His own power and ability. For His power was like igniting dynamite. In fact, the Greek word for power here is dynamis (Greek 1411).

The match that ignited the power was the woman’s faith (belief) that Christ could and would heal her. There were many who touched the Savior in the press of the crowd. But she was the only one who was healed. “For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”

“He said to her, Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Several times Christ would ask the person if they believed that He could heal them. In fact, He cleared the area of all unbelief before He could heal anyone. “And He could not do many mighty works because of their unbelief” in Nazareth. “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country” (Mark 5:24-43; 6:4-5). The people who knew you when will only see you after the flesh, judging you through their memories of you before your conversion to Christ. They will not believe that God is in you doing the healing.

Consequently, belief is the main ingredient. Secondly, the disciple must have authority and compassion. “He was moved with compassion. And healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14; Matt. 9: 36; Mark 6: 34).

The unbelief must be expelled before God heals. Christ always cast the evil spirits out before he started healing. Perhaps when He got rid of the unbelieving doubters, he was casting away the evil spirits–like when He only took three disciples to the raising up of Jairus’ daughter.

All this notwithstanding, where is the source of this power to heal? It comes from  Yahweh. All things are of Him. How do we grow to the point where He would use us in this manner?

He has placed in our hearts this desire to help others, to heal their wounds and their suffering. We have the desire. You and me. And I write this “not that I have already obtained [the power to heal at will] or have already become perfect, but I press on…” (Phil. 3:12).

Healing is one of the gifts of the Spirit (I Cor. 12:7-11). It is an action of the Spirit of Yah streaming out through us. He has promised His sons and daughters that He would use them to heal. We are but channels of His power.

But first, we must acquire knowledge about His power and how and why He uses it at certain times of His choosing. We must know this: “There is a time for every purpose under heaven.” There is “a time to heal” (Ecc. 3:1-3). We will know the time; He will show us. That is why I am not running all over the country right now trying to sincerely heal people. Healings will come in God’s good time.

We must remember the prophets and patriarchs. Moses tended flocks for forty years waiting for his destiny to deliver His people. He was eighty at the burning bush. His time had come after much patience/endurance. Same for Joseph. He suffered for many years in Pharoah’s prison until the time was ripe. Then Yah enabled him to interpret the king’s dreams. He endured, knowing that “he who waits on Yahweh shall renew their strength.”

So, let us dig deep and prepare ourselves for that glorious day of healings and miracles. Let us wait upon Him, and let us learn together from our Teacher, the Spirit of Truth.

Please share a comment as the Spirit of Truth reveals things to you. I would love to hear from you.

Finally, it is not to say that our Father the Healer has not already touched our lives many times. We have been talking about where few ever go in their growth, the few who like eagles soar to the heights of the 100-fold growth that Peter, John, and Paul experienced.

We must prepare ourselves against that day when He flows through us like He did with His apostles. On the day that the power arrives, there will be a throng around us, with crowds of people pressing upon us, clamoring to be healed. There will be viral videos as these miracles are performed by our hands. Perhaps even a sick woman in the crowd will say, “If I could just touch their garments, I would be healed.”

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

7 Comments

Filed under Christ, faith, healing, manifestation of the sons of God, Sacred Names, sons of God, spiritual growth

Tagged as , , ,

July 12, 2023 · 11:53 am

How Christ Abides in Us

(from journal entry, 11-8-14)

Seekers of God must believe that God wants them to grow. If they do not believe that, they will remain immature in the body of Christ, spiritually floundering like children being tossed like leaves on a windy winter’s night. Yahshua has lined out how to grow in a series of commandments. Christ commands us: “Abide in Me and I in you” and “Add to your faith” seven attributes of His divine nature.

[These and other commandments are explored in my book The Eleventh Commandment; it isfree with free shipping to all who ask: Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)] [John 15:4-6; II Peter 1:1-11.  Also, I have just published online my latest book, The Additions to the Faith, found here: The Additions to the Faith | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)]. The additions are seven attributes of Christ’s “divine nature” that is possible for us all to accomplish. If Peter, Paul, and John can do it, we can, too.]

Some of you may be thinking, Wayne, here you go again with “how to become like Christ.” Some may not even believe that it is possible. Well, I would be remiss if I did not remind you again. It is my job. Teachers are His gifts to the church, His body. They are for “the perfecting [the maturing] of the saints…and the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come to the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect/mature man” unto the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13). We are to grow “unto the fulness of Christ.”

This is the abiding of His heart and Spirit. The abiding of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” comes after the knowledge and then the doing of the seventh addition, which is Agape/Love.

It is one thing to recognize a command, but it is another to find out how to obey it. The point: First, we abide/remain/continue in Christ by believing His words concerning His promised presence within the Spirit of truth. Christ said that He is the vine, and we are the branches. When we abide or remain in Him, then we will “bring forth much fruit.”

This corresponds to the additions to the faith. When all seven are added, we will never be “barren nor unfruitful.” “Nor unfruitful” means “full of fruit.” “Full of fruit” means “much fruit.” And these additions will help us to make “our calling and election sure” (II Peter 1:4-10). When tied together, “the abiding” and the “additions” help us to be fruitful. If we abide in Him, then we bring forth “much fruit.”

The abiding is the sustained presence of the Spirit within us. This happens because of the seven additions, the seven qualities or attributes of the Spirit, leading to the seventh—agape love.

But how is all this done? How do we abide in Christ and He in us? How do we add to our faith? What is the formula, the steps, the way to do it?

Christlike Prayer

We abide in Christ and He in us through prayer. It is about the content of our communications with God. But it is not any old prayer. It must be like Christ’s prayers. It must not be asking Him and commanding Him for things for self. Prayer is worship, and “they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

So, the words that we speak to Him must be in accordance with what is important to God. Our prayers must agree with how Christ prayed and what he prayed for. We see this in the model prayer, called the Lord’s Prayer, given to His disciples when they asked him how to pray [page 28-60 in The Eleventh Commandment].

I remember back when I was teaching English, I was looking to glean some Nuggets for my high school juniors who desperately needed help in interpersonal relations. Dale Carnegie in How to Win Friends and Influence People, gave us this point: “Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.” You will not only get their attention, but you will get them to like you and sincerely win their friendship.

Let us extrapolate. What if we talked to God in terms of His interests? What if we talked to Him about the things that He is interested in. Would that not be better communication? Would we get his ear by discussing with Him His plan and what He is interested in? Do you think that He listens to self-centered prayers like “Bless us, dear Lord. Help me get this new job”? I doubt it. If we talked to Him about His plan and purpose and asked Him to learn more of His ways, do you think He would turn a deaf ear to you?

After all, Christ said, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” We must ask Him, not tell Him what to do. It is He that gives the commands. If we are abiding/continuing/remaining in Christ’s words of His plan, praying, and communicating in accordance with His will—then when we ask Him for more of His Spirit, He will abide in us.

Where do we find a description of what God is interested in? It is found in the words of the Savior, the prophets, and the apostles. Their words show us that God is interested in His Kingdom and his way of right living. He thinks about His Kingdom.

Why not talk to him about His Kingdom? After all, Christ did say, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We could ask Him about how He will govern the sheep and the goat nations (Matt. 25:31-46). Our Father would surely take notice of us; we would gain His ear, for not too many ask Him about His governance over the nations.

When we think His thoughts, we are abiding and remaining in Him. As we abide in Christ, we continue in the things He taught. We think and act on the thoughts of His mind. The world system pulls us away from His thoughts. If we could think His thoughts exactly like He thinks, then we would be abiding in Him. We would literally have “the mind of Christ.” The apostle Paul admonishes us, “Let this mind be in you.”

And how do we attain His thoughts? Through knowledge emanating from His mind, explained by His teachers. And how do we sustain His thoughts to the point that our mind is full of his thinking? Through prayer and study of his plan and purpose.

Praying the way He wants us to is the rudder that steers our minds back onto the charted course and on toward the city of the living God, the New Jerusalem, and to countless angels, and to our fellow brethren and to God our Savior Yahshua.

Abiding in Him

Loving Christ comes from the gratefulness that we feel toward Him for our deliverance from sin. “We love Him because He first loved us and gave Himself for us…” And now, because we love Him, we will keep his words to us. “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14: 23).

We see here a progression: Initial gratefulness grows into loving Christ. Because we love Him, we will value and obey His words. And then He promises to come into our hearts with a lasting relationship. He promises to abide/continue/remain in us, thus, fulfilling His sentiment: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

And one of his words to us is “pray.” Christ talks about its necessity in scores of passages. So do His apostles. It must be extremely important. In fact, prayer is of the essence. Praying according to his plan and purpose keeps us abiding in Him. And in so doing, it makes us bear much spiritual fruit, which in turn fulfils our Father’s plan and purpose of reproducing Himself in us.

He said that if we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we shall ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us (John 15:7). That is the power that He wants us to wield. Abiding in Him yields much spiritual fruit in and through us. This would include the fruit of the Spirit, which is  “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5: 22 ).

Spiritual Growth  Abiding in Him and He in us insures spiritual growth for us. There is a growth; just look at Peter and Paul before and after the resurrection. Again—if they can grow into spiritual powerhouses, then we can, too. We just need to study and incorporate their teachings. And the teachings of Christ and His apostles speak of The Abiding.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1 Comment

Filed under abide, additions to our faith, Uncategorized

Tagged as , , ,

July 6, 2023 · 9:34 am

Pouring Out the Spirit of Mercy and the Spirit of Wrath

In the dream, the Voice coming through my mouth shouted, “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh! UPON ALL FLESH! Through study, I discovered that the Spirit at Pentecost was not poured out on “all flesh” present that day in Jerusalem. It was only poured out on His servants and handmaidens in the upper room, the disciples of that era. Here the scene is painted (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21).

Both renditions contain two different and distinct visions of how the Spirit will be poured out. In Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:17-18 we see the blessed outpouring on His servants. Reading on in the very next verses, we see another kind of outpouring. Yahweh says, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD [Yahweh] come” (Joel 2:30-31).

That day will not be a nice day for many. In both prophetic passages, there are two vastly different outpourings. The first section reveals the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will take place during the “time of the end.” The second part of that prophetical flow reveals a pouring out of natural disasters and “acts of God,” a day of gloom and horror (Joel 2: 30- 31). This day is when Yahweh has His angels pour out the vials of wrath. This shows us that both the latter day pouring forth of the Spirit and the pouring out of the vials of wrath happen at basically the same time in history—our time. The Upper Room pouring out of the Spirit was a type and shadow of what will take place on the earth at the beginning of “the time of the end” (Dan. 12:1). We are living in that time.

Christ warns us of that time (Matthew 24:15, 21- 22, 29). The pouring out of His Spirit that brings power from on high happens first. But not every human being will be so blessed.

But Joel, right after the first outpouring of His Spirit, speaks of a universal scourge. Christ calls it the pouring forth of the vials of wrath. How ghastly that will be for all the inhabitants of the earth. For all will see the sun “turned to darkness before the great and terrible day of the LORD  come.”

Some will say that the outpouring can only mean the baptism of the Holy Spirit like on the day of Pentecost. However, the scriptures are very clear that “all things are of God” (2 Cor. 5:18). And because “God is a Spirit,” then “all things are of the Spirit” (John 4:24). Even the pouring forth of the wrath of God upon all flesh [except those spared for the elect’s sake]. Yes, the elect, the sons and daughters of God will be on earth during tribulation. It will be horrible. The righteous will “scarcely be saved.” But, “for the elect’s sake” Yahweh will cut the time of the miseries short.

He says, “Pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” The first vial of wrath caused a “noisome and grievous sore upon” those who had taken the mark of the beast. The second vial fell into the sea, “and it became as the blood of a dead man, and every living soul died in the sea.” The third vial was poured on the rivers and they became as blood. The fourth vial was on the sun, increasing the heat to the scorching of men. The fifth was poured on the throne of the beast; it was plunged into darkness and pain and misery. And still they would not repent. The sixth vial hit the Euphrates River and dried it up. This enabled the “kings of the east to be prepared” to come down to Jerusalem. Then there was “a great earthquake…and every island fled away, and the the mountains were not found” (Rev. 16:20). This is utter and complete destruction of the world system.

This is a thumb nail sketch of the Great Tribulation seen in the pouring out of the vials of wrath of God.

After all seven vials are poured out, “a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne [said], It is done” (Rev. 16:1-17). This pouring out of God’s wrath is heavy stuff. It is the destruction of the world system, including the Battle of Armageddon (v. 16). This is major end time misery for mankind and runs parallel with the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His chosen ones.

There is a type of this destruction in the scriptures. Abraham implored Yahweh to spare the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, “if there be 50 righteous men” in the city. His heart was heavy; he was interceding for the people, hoping that God would spare the city. When we feel that gravity and heaviness in our spirit, then our hearts will turn to Him in our leaden state, and we will intercede for the masses of humanity all over the world who will fall in the hellish destruction of the world.

The hearts of the elect will feel this heaviness and they will grieve with their Father and plead for His mercy in sparing the peoples of the world. And they will thank Him for sparing them and their families while they continue to seek God on the matter.

The Former and Latter Rains

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost partially fulfilled the prophecy spoken by Joel and it was confirmed by the apostle Peter. We have seen that the Spirit was poured on “all flesh” that were prepared for this happening. It did not fall on everyone in Jerusalem that day.

This partial outpouring of the Spirit has been called the “former rain.” The Hebrew word translated “former rain” means “teacher of righteousness.” The Spirit moved them to teach this gospel throughout the Mediterranean world. Christ did promise us that the Spirit “shall be in you” (John 14: 17). He also promised that the Holy Spirit “shall teach you all things…” (John 14: 26). Furthermore, the Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (John 16: 13).

The Holy Spirit, teaching righteousness through the apostles, was that former rain. This has gone on for the past 2000 years. You and I know Christ because of the early apostles’ work. The beauty of this event is captured in the poetry of Hosea:

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know Yahweh: His going forth is prepared as the morning;        And He shall come unto us as the rain, As the latter and the former rain unto the earth” (6:3).

He shall come to us as the former rain, as the teachings of righteousness. He is pouring His Spirit over our minds and hearts, and it will teach us and prepare us for the latter rain. The latter rain will fall on us at or near the “time of the end.” It will fall upon those who are prepared to bear 100-fold spiritual growth (Matt. 13:3-9; 18-23).

For the righteousness shared by the “former rain” apostles will engender growth in us to be sustained in these latter days. For they spoke of our time, the time when our exiled King returns to this earth to establish righteousness and peace and judgment in the earth. Brothers and sisters, that’s what we’re working for. We do not believe anything into existence. We just believe what Christ believes.

The latter rain will fall through the teaching of apostles and prophets that God is raising up. They will teach righteousness and the truth about our King. They will raise up many princes and princesses and Yahweh will wipe the slate of the earth clean. It is all there in the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, our King.

This shows that God pours from His mind His plan according to the record in heaven. He pours forth out of his Spirit, what we would call the “good” and the “bad.” We need only think about Pentecost and, conversely, Him pouring out the vials of wrath. Yahweh spoke in the dream: “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. UPON ALL FLESH!” We see that these words are not only precious promises of personal spiritual growth, but also a dire warning of His displeasure and a subsequent cleansing of evil from the earth. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1 Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , ,

July 4, 2023 · 10:32 am

Pouring Out His Spirit on All Flesh–A Dream

[From Journal entry, 9-18-2020]

“I will pour my Spirit upon all flesh.” Last night God gave me this word in a dream. As I lay in bed praying, waiting to fall asleep, I asked Him, “Please, Father, will you give me a word from You, a dream from you?”

I went on to sleep, and then this voice found its way into me, and I began to be its vocal cords. And it resounded, and the voice blasted these words: “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. UPON ALL FLESH!!” It was hair-raising from neck to lower back. The voice seemed like it was loud enough to rattle the windows.

That is when my wife Linda shook me and said, “Wake up! You are dreaming!” She said that I had bolted upright in bed and was shouting unintelligible words.

And as I woke up, I knew that the voice was not my voice that came through my mouth. I did not originate the voice or the volume. It was not my will or desire that it spoke using my vocal cords.

I got up out of bed. It was 2:00 o’clock in the morning. I stumbled to my desk, turned on the lamp, and penned these very words into my journal. I did not want to forget any of this experience.

I wanted to share it immediately, but I was not ready to make sense of it. It was unsettling and unnerving. It was not the joyous upper room experience. It had a blanket of dread draped over the words. It was ominous and foreboding. I knew that there was much more to it, but I would have to wait on Him to help me understand its profundity.

Consequently, I put the experience on the back burner to let it simmer for a while. Other work kept me busy. I was in the middle of writing my fifth book, The Eleventh Commandment, at the time.  And then the sixth came, The Additions to the Faith, which I have just published online on Immortality Road [The Additions to the Faith | Immortality Road (wordpress.com).

These books have an uncanny connection to the dream. They show us how to grow into “mighty men and women of valor,” to borrow Gideon’s heavenly accolade. These books are primers, teaching us His Law of Harvest and showing us how to grow to be His apostles, prophets, and teachers. They prepare us for the “time of the end,” the great catastrophe, and the cataclysm coming to this earth just before Christ returns.

Making Sense of the Dream

But what does this dream-message mean? “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” My first thought was that joyous time at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and filled the disciples. It was a time of great joy. Peter is quoting the prophet Joel 2:28. We have read it and marveled at the scene of Christ’s disciples receiving power, as found in Acts 2:17: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, sayeth God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.”

Peter spoke of the Holy Spirit being received, changing lives, and turning many to Christ through the apostles’ spiritual exploits. It was glorious stuff that we would all like to experience. Speaking in a language that you have never heard before! Having a voice taking over your tongue and vocal cords, witnessing God’s glory to strangers in their own language! “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them utterance” (2: 4).

And so, I went to Joel 2:28 to see the words Peter was quoting. “And it shall come to pass afterward, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh…” Wait a minute. Before God pours the Holy Spirit out like that at Pentecost for our day, His word says, “And it shall come to pass afterward…” After what, exactly? It is a moment of putting things in perspective and in context. The passage in Joel that Peter quoted says that things will be happening before the Pentecost experience and the obtaining of 100-fold power through the pouring out of His Spirit.  

In our study of His words, especially prophetic words, we must widen our myopic lenses to see things big-picture, and not be quasi-blind, “unable to see afar off.”

We are keying in on what is to take place before our upper room experience. The Spirit through Joel shows us the state of the earth and its corrupt world system at the time of the end. And then we see a massive divine intervention—different pouring out—this time of His wrath. [To be continued in Part Two] Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1 Comment

Filed under end time prophecy, speaking in tongues, spiritual growth, Spiritual Life Cycle

Tagged as , , , ,