Category Archives: Christ

August 30, 2026 · 12:07 pm

The Bride of Christ Is Not What You Think

The Scripture We All Missed

Some truths confront us; others quietly invite us. What follows is not correction but gift—waiting in Revelation for the reader willing to see what the angel truly showed John.

Imagine standing beside John as the angel speaks: “Come here, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Every believer expects the next scene to be the church. But John does not see a congregation. He does not see a people gathered. He sees a city—New Jerusalem—descending from God.

According to the Spirit of God flowing through the apostle John, the bride of Christ is not the church itself, but the end time reality of New Jerusalem—the prepared, perfected dwelling of God with His redeemed people. The church is His body, the sons and daughters of Yahweh.

I. Scripture Identifies the Bride as New Jerusalem, Not the Church

The most decisive passage on the bride is Revelation 21:9–10. The angel does not say, “I will show you the church.” He says, “I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” And when John looks, he does not see a congregation, nor a company of saints, nor a symbolic picture of the redeemed. He sees a city — “that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.”

This is not metaphor. It is identification. The angel interprets the vision for John. The bride is New Jerusalem. The church is the “children of the bridechamber.” Not the bride (Mark 2:19).

This does not diminish the church; it enlarges its hope. The church is not replaced—it is included. It is not the bride; it is in the New Jerusalem. It is not the city; it is citizens of the city. The bride is the whole end time order of God’s redeemed people in their prepared dwelling. The bride itself is the city God has prepared and promised to believers.

This is Scripture’s own language, not a theological slogan. And once seen, it cannot be unseen.

II. New Jerusalem Is Both Place and People—The Completed Family of God

Throughout Scripture, cities often stand for the people who inhabit them. Babylon is both a literal city and the corporate identity of those who belong to her. Jerusalem is both a geographical place and the covenant people. Revelation follows this pattern: the bride is the city, and the redeemed are its citizens.

New Jerusalem is the consummation of all God’s promises—a place prepared, a people perfected, a dwelling where God Himself abides with His own. It is the home of the church, the saints of all ages, the redeemed from every nation, and the whole family of God gathered into one. The bride is not merely ecclesiological; it is cosmic. Not merely congregational; it is the glorious appearance of God’s bride at the time of the end of man’s rule over earth.

This truth does not contradict Paul’s marriage imagery in Ephesians 5. Rather, it completes it. Paul speaks of Christ sanctifying and cleansing the church unto something—unto its final presentation. Revelation shows what that presentation looks like: We, the body of Christ, the church, are purified and glorified, entering the prepared city that is called the bride.

III. Seeing the Bride as New Jerusalem Deepens Our Hope, Not Divides It

This truth is not meant to unsettle believers, but to strengthen them. When we see that the bride is New Jerusalem, we discover that our hope is larger than we imagined. We are not merely waiting for a wedding; we are waiting for a world. We are not merely anticipating union; we are anticipating a dwelling. The climax of Scripture is not the church being married, but God Himself dwelling with His people in a prepared, perfected city.

It is a city that will float down out of heaven. It is an enormous cube, a magnificent edifice unlike anything ever seen before.

This enlarges our worship. It expands our vision of what the time of the end entails. It deepens our understanding of divine indwelling. And it reminds us that the gospel does not end with the church—it ends with the new creation.

Conclusion Our King does not correct us harshly; He invites us gently. The angel’s words still echo: “Come, I will show thee the bride.” And what John saw is what we will one day enter—a city prepared, a dwelling perfected, a home where God Himself abides with His redeemed forever. This is our hope. This is our inheritance. This is the bride of Christ, New Jerusalem.

5 Comments

Filed under body of Christ, bride of Christ, Christ, New Jerusalem

Tagged as , , , , , ,

August 19, 2026 · 10:06 am

The Joy of the Whole Earth: Psalm 48 and the New Jerusalem

The Mountain of God and the End Declared from the Beginning

Psalm 48 stands as one of Scripture’s luminous windows into the destiny of God’s children. It is a psalm where the earthly Zion becomes translucent, revealing the heavenly Zion behind it—the New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven. The psalmist sings of a city whose glory exceeds the boundaries of history, whose permanence defies the rise and fall of nations, and whose beauty anticipates the consummation of all things.

“Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.” (Ps. 48:1)

This is not merely a celebration of ancient Jerusalem. It is a prophetic declaration of the end from the beginning. The psalmist beholds Zion not only as she was, but as she shall be—established forever, radiant with divine presence, the joy of the whole earth.

The earthly city was the shadow; the heavenly city is the substance. Psalm 48 is the Spirit’s whisper of Revelation 21 long before John saw the city descending in glory.

II. Beautiful for Elevation: The Joy of the Whole Earth

The psalmist continues: “Beautiful for elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion… the city of the great King” (Ps. 48:2). No earthly Jerusalem has ever been the joy of the whole earth. But New Jerusalem is described precisely this way: “The nations of them which are saved shall walk in her light” (Rev. 21:24).

Psalm 48 lifts our eyes beyond geography to eschatology [having to do with the time of the end].  Zion’s “elevation” is not merely topographical—it is spiritual, eternal, and cosmic. It is the city where God dwells with humanity, where righteousness reigns, where the Lamb is the lamp, and where the redeemed abide forever. The psalmist sees what Abraham saw: a city whose builder and maker is God.

III. God Known in Her Palaces: The Manifest Presence

Psalm 48:3 declares: “God is known in her palaces as a refuge.” This anticipates the climactic promise of Revelation: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them.” (Rev. 21:3) In the earthly Zion, God was known through temple rituals, sacrifices, and shadows. In the New Jerusalem, God is known face‑to‑face. His presence is not mediated through priests or altars; it is immediate, radiant, and abiding.

This is the fulfillment of the abiding promise:

  • “Abide in Me, and I in you.” (John 15:4)
  • “We will come to him and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:23)

Psalm 48 sings of a city where abiding becomes permanent, unbroken, and glorified.

IV. The Kings of the Earth and the Terror of Glory

Psalm 48:4–6 describes a mysterious scene: “The kings assembled… they saw it and were troubled… fear took hold upon them.” This is not merely historical memory. It is prophetic foreshadowing.

The kings of the earth will one day behold the unveiled glory of God’s city and tremble. Revelation 6 echoes this: “The kings of the earth… hid themselves… for the great day of His wrath is come.” Psalm 48 anticipates the final confrontation between the kingdoms of this world and the kingdom of our God. Zion stands immovable; the nations tremble. The city of abiding becomes the city of judgment, where divine righteousness is revealed and human pride collapses.

V. The Ships of Tarshish and the East Wind of Judgment

Psalm 48:7: “With the east wind You break the ships of Tarshish.” Tarshish represents the farthest reaches of human commerce, strength, and ambition. The east wind symbolizes divine intervention—swift, sovereign, irresistible.

In the eschatological vision, all human systems that exalt themselves against God are shattered. The New Jerusalem is not built by human hands; it is established by divine decree. The psalmist sees the collapse of earthly power before the rising of heavenly glory.

VI. “God Will Establish Her Forever”: Eternal Zion

Psalm 48:8 proclaims: “God will establish her forever.” Earthly Jerusalem has been destroyed, rebuilt, besieged, and divided. Only the New Jerusalem fits the description of a city established forever.

Revelation 21:2: “The holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven.” Psalm 48 is not nostalgia; it is prophecy. It is the Spirit’s assurance that the dwelling place of God will one day be unshakable, eternal, and filled with His abiding presence.

VII. Walking About Zion: The Pilgrimage of the Redeemed

Psalm 48:12–13 invites: “Walk about Zion… consider her towers… tell it to the generation following.” This is not mere sightseeing. It is covenantal inheritance. In the New Jerusalem, the redeemed will walk its streets, behold its foundations, marvel at its gates, and drink from its river. They will see the architecture of salvation, the geometry of grace, the symmetry of divine wisdom. The psalmist’s invitation is eschatological: Come, behold the city prepared for the abiding ones.

VIII. “He Will Guide Us Over Death”: The Promise of Resurrection

Psalm 48 concludes: “For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will guide us over death.”

The Hebrew phrase for “over death” carries the sense of being led through death or beyond death. It is resurrection language. The God of Zion is the God who leads His people through the valley of the shadow into the light of eternal life. The New Jerusalem is the city where death is abolished: “There shall be no more death.” (Rev. 21:4) Psalm 48 ends with resurrection hope—just as Revelation ends with resurrection reality.

IX. Zion and the Theology of Abiding

Psalm 48 is not merely about a city; it is about a people in whom God dwells. Zion is the eschatological expression of abiding. It is the consummation of John 15, the fulfillment of John 14:23, and the eternal realization of Emmanuel—God with us.

In Zion:

  • Abiding becomes permanent.
  • Presence becomes visible.
  • Judgment becomes righteous.
  • Pilgrimage becomes inheritance.
  • Death becomes passage.
  • God becomes all in all.

Psalm 48 is the song of the abiding ones, the anthem of the redeemed, the prophecy of the city where God and humanity dwell together forever.

X. Conclusion: The City of Our God, Forever and Ever

Psalm 48 is a glimpse into the future of the people of God. It is a prophetic vision of the New Jerusalem, the city of abiding, the joy of the whole earth. It declares the end from the beginning, revealing the destiny of those who dwell in God and in whom God dwells.

This is our God. This is our city. This is our inheritance. This is abiding, consummated and glorified. kwh

3 Comments

Filed under abide, Christ, elect, end time prophecy, eternal purpose, glorification, immortality, manifestation of the sons of God, New Jerusalem, princes and princesses of God, resurrection, Sacred Names

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

August 3, 2026 · 9:09 am

The Rock of Israel

And the I AM answered me in a Thought: “Tell them who I AM.”

Throughout Scripture, the title “Rock of Israel” stands as one of the most vivid revelations of God’s character. It is a name that gathers His strength, His faithfulness, and His immovable sovereignty. When the biblical writers speak of God as the Rock, they are not reaching for poetic flourish—they are naming the One who is unchanging, unbreakable, and utterly dependable.

In the Old Testament, the Rock is unmistakably Yahweh. Moses sings, “He is the Rock, His work is perfect” (Deut. 32:4). David declares, “The LORD [Yahweh] is my rock and my fortress” (Ps. 18:2). And in David’s final words, the title becomes explicit: “The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me” (2 Sam. 23:3). The Rock is not an idea; He is a Personage—the covenant God who shelters, sustains, and judges His people.

Yet the New Testament unveils a deeper mystery. Paul writes that Israel “drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). The apostle does not hesitate. The Rock who accompanied Israel through the wilderness, the Rock who poured out water in their thirst, the Rock who bore them up in their rebellion—that Rock is Christ. The eternal Yahweh of Israel is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, the cornerstone rejected by men but chosen by God.

Thus the “Rock of Israel” is not merely a metaphor for stability. It is a divine name pointing to the One who stands at the center of redemptive history. He is the foundation of Israel, which includes the “lost sheep of the House of Israel, the lost ten tribes. He also is the refuge of the saints, the immovable ground upon which the sons and daughters of God are formed. In calling Him the Rock, Scripture invites us to rest our entire weight upon Him—to trust His sovereignty, His covenant love, and His unchanging purpose. The Rock of Israel is Yahweh. And Yahweh is revealed in Christ, the eternal foundation of all who are being brought into His likeness.

{Subscribe, like, share, and comment if this content bears witness with your spirit. “Let’s get together. Come on now people.”}  

3 Comments

Filed under Christ, elect, eternal purpose, God, Sacred Names, sons of God, sovereignty of God, Yahshua, Yahweh, Yahweh in human form

Tagged as , , ,

June 29, 2026 · 3:34 pm

A Book of Remembrance—For Those Who Think Upon His Name

God’s Last‑Day “Special Treasure”

He has a special treasure hidden in the earth. They are a chosen people whom He watches with keen attention as they walk through this world. He takes special note of them.

O, that God would remember us! There is a way for these special ones to be in God’s memory. Yahweh notices these characteristics about them:

(1) They fear Him. They stand in awe of Him. They know who He truly is, what He has done, and they hold a reverential awe toward His majesty.

(2) They speak often one to another. They find each other. And when they do, they “click.” God directs their steps until their paths meet.

(3) God listens to their conversations. He hearkens to their speech as they encourage one another.

(4) And then He remembers them. When they fear Him, He not only takes notice—He commands His angels to write “a book of remembrance…for them that feared Yahweh, and that thought upon His name” (Malachi 3:16–17). He remembers the humble as they remember Him. For His name is a memorial, that we would not forget Him and what He has done for us.

What were they speaking about? We know that whatever we think about, that is what we speak about. These chosen ones were speaking to each other about God’s Name—His Hebrew Name.

This moves God. How can we—little old us—ever touch God’s heart so that He would take notice of us? First, we fear Him; that is wisdom. Wisdom is reverential awe. And then we think on His Name. We ponder His Name, peruse it, explore it, understand the message contained in His Name, and then believe that message.

And this is the message contained in the Son’s Name Yahshua: Yahweh is the Savior (Isaiah 43:11).

He goes on to say that Yahweh will remember His elect “in that day when I make up my jewels” (“special treasure” in Hebrew). And these special ones He will spare.

Spare them from what? Spare them from the tribulation coming upon the earth. He will take care of His own—but not through a rapture. The humble who are in awe of Yahshua’s Name will make it through to the other side of earth’s destruction.

“For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Yahweh… But unto you that fear my Name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings…” (Mal. 4:1–2).

His “special treasure” is His elect—those who fear Him and think upon His Name. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1 Comment

Filed under abide, Christ, elect, end time prophecy, great tribulation period, Sacred Names, wisdom, Yahshua, Yahweh, Yahweh in human form

Tagged as , , ,

June 25, 2026 · 1:11 pm

Believing on the Name Brings Answered Prayer and the Abiding

The Way to Answered Prayer and the Indwelling Presence of Yahweh

There are commandments in Scripture that stand like doors. They do not merely instruct; they open into realms of divine experience. One such commandment appears in the writings of the apostle John: “This is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Yahshua the Messiah, and love one another” (1 John 3:23). This is not a suggestion, nor a theological footnote. It is the central requirement for those who desire answered prayer and the abiding presence of God.

John declares that “whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments” (1 John 3:22). And the first of these commandments is to believe on His Name. The Name Yahshua is not a mere label; it is a revelation. It means “Yahweh is the Savior.” To believe on His Name is to believe the message contained within it—that the invisible Yahweh has come in human form to save, that the Father was in the Son reconciling the world unto Himself, and that salvation is the work of Yahweh alone.

Yahweh confirms in many places that He is the Saviour. “I, even I, am the LORD (Yahweh), and beside Me there is no Savior” (Isaiah 43:11). [Compare Isa. 45:15, 21; 49:26; 60:16; Hosea 13:4]

This belief is not intellectual assent. It is the doorway into answered prayer, the gateway into divine indwelling, and the foundation of the abiding life. All of this hinges on faith: believing having not seen as yet.

The Name Yahshua: The Revelation We Are Commanded to Believe

The commandment to “believe on the name of His Son Yahshua” is rooted in the meaning of the Name itself. Yahshua is the Hebrew form of Joshua, meaning “Yahweh is salvation.” The Name is a declaration of identity. It proclaims that the One walking among men in flesh is none other than Yahweh Himself, the eternal Spirit clothed in humanity.

This is why John writes with such gravity: “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Condemnation does not come from failing to pronounce the Name correctly, but from rejecting the truth embedded within it. To deny that Yahweh is the Savior is to deny the Father who dwelt in the Son.

Thus, believing on His Name is the first act of obedience. It is the acceptance of heaven’s witness concerning Yahshua. It is the foundation upon which all spiritual experience rests.

Believing on His Name and Answered Prayer

John ties answered prayer directly to obedience: “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments” (1 John 3:22). And the first of these commandments is to believe on His Name.

Why is this the condition for answered prayer? Because to believe on His Name is to believe:

  • that Yahweh is the Savior
  • that Yahweh dwells in the Son
  • that Yahweh now dwells in us by the Spirit
  • that prayer is the communion of Yahweh-within speaking to Yahweh-above

Prayer is not a human reaching upward; it is Yahweh-in-us reaching toward Yahweh-in-heaven. This is why Yahshua said:

“If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:14) To ask “in His Name” is not to attach a formula to the end of a prayer. It is to pray according to the truth of His identity—Yahweh revealed in the Son, now abiding in the believer. When we pray from this place of union, our petitions align with His will, and He delights to answer. Thus, believing on His Name is the doorway into effective prayer.

Believing on His Name and the Abiding Presence

John continues: “He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him” (1 John 3:24). The commandment is to believe on His Name. Therefore: He that believes on His Name dwells in Yahweh, and Yahweh dwells in him.

This is the abiding life Yahshua described in John 15:

  • “Abide in me, and I in you.”
  • “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.”
  • “Without me ye can do nothing.”

Abiding is not mystical passivity. It is the result of believing the heavenly testimony concerning Yahshua. When we believe that Yahweh is the Savior, that Yahweh was in the Son, and that Yahweh now dwells in us by the Spirit, we enter into the abiding union that produces fruit. This is the earthly witness of the heavenly truth. This is the Spirit, the water, and the blood agreeing in one. This is the life of Yahweh flowing through the believer.

The Name as the Convergence Point of Heaven’s Witness and Earth’s Witness

In the previous chapter, we saw that 1 John 5:7–8 presents two witnesses:

  • Heaven’s witness: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit
  • Earth’s witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood

These two testimonies converge in the believer through the Name Yahshua.

  • Heaven declares who Yahshua is.
  • Earth reveals what Yahshua does in us.
  • The Name is the bridge between the two.

To believe on His Name is to accept heaven’s witness. To receive the Spirit is to receive earth’s witness. To abide is to experience the agreement of water and blood. To bear fruit is to manifest the life of Yahweh. Thus, the Name Yahshua is not merely a theological concept. It is the meeting place of revelation and experience, of identity and indwelling, of heaven’s testimony and earth’s testimony.

The Unified Thesis: The Name Unlocks Prayer and Presence

The commandment is simple: believe on His Name. The promise is profound:

  • Answered prayer — “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him.”
  • Abiding presence — “He dwelleth in him, and he in Him.”
  • Fruit-bearing life — “The same bringeth forth much fruit.”

The Name Yahshua holds precious blessings and powers for the followers of Christ. It is the revelation of Yahweh as Savior. It is the key to prayer. It is the doorway to abiding. It is the foundation of fruitfulness. It is the center of the believer’s life. To believe on His Name is to enter into the fullness of what Yahweh has given in His Son. kwh

1 Comment

Filed under abide, Christ, faith, love, Love from Above, Yahshua, Yahweh, Yahweh in human form

Tagged as , , , ,

June 17, 2026 · 7:00 pm

Abide in Me: The Spirit Sent in the Name “Yahshua”

The Name, the Spirit, and the Fruit: Three Threads Woven Into One Revelation

There are seasons when the Spirit lays scattered truths before us, not as finished doctrines but as threads waiting to be woven. These notes, carried in my journal since 2003, have ripened into a single vision. Three truths appear again and again: the Name Yahshua, the abiding of His Spirit, and the bearing of spiritual fruit. At first, they seem like separate teachings, but they are in fact one revelation unfolding in three movements.

Believing the message contained in the Name Yahshua brings the Spirit into us.

The Spirit’s indwelling enables us to abide in the Spirit.

The abiding produces spiritual fruit. Or more tightly: The Name reveals the Savior; the Spirit unites us to Him, and the abiding manifests His life in us.

I. The Name Yahshua — The Revelation of Who Saves

Scripture declares that a man is condemned “because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Condemnation is not merely unbelief in a person, but unbelief in the message contained in the Name. The Hebrew name Yahshua means “Yahweh is the Savior.”

To believe in His Name is to believe that:

  • Yahweh Himself has come in human form,
  • Yahweh was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself,
  • Yahweh took on flesh to offer that flesh as the sacrifice for sin.

Rejecting this is rejecting Yahweh-in-the-Son. Accepting it is receiving the revelation of who God truly is.

II. The Spirit Sent in His Name — The Indwelling Witness

The Master promised, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26). The Spirit comes in the Name because the Spirit confirms the truth of the Name.

Believing the message inside Yahshua’s Name opens the door for the Spirit to enter. The Spirit is the inward witness that the Father was in the Son, and that the Son is in us. The Spirit brings all things to remembrance because He is the same Spirit that dwelt in Yahshua from the beginning.

This is why John writes, “He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” The Spirit enables the doing, and the doing reveals the abiding.

III. Abiding in Him — The Union That Bears Fruit

The Master’s words are clear: “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Abiding (μένω) means to remain, dwell, continue, stay. It is the language of union.

Fruit is not the result of human effort; it is the result of divine indwelling. Christ said, “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit… that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you” (John 15:16).

Here the three threads meet:

  • The Name reveals who He is.
  • The Spirit enters because we believe that Name.
  • Abiding becomes possible because the Spirit dwells within.
  • Fruit appears because His life flows through us.

To ask “in His Name” is to ask according to the truth of His identity — Yahweh dwelling in the Son, now dwelling in us by the Spirit. Such asking is always answered, for it is the will of God that we bear much fruit.

IV. The Witness Within

“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself” (1 John 5:10). The witness is the Spirit. The Spirit is sent in the Name. The Name reveals Yahweh as Savior.

Thus, the believer becomes a living testimony that Yahweh has come in the flesh, that He abides in us, and that His life is now bearing fruit through us.

This is the golden cord tying the three threads together: Believing the Name brings the Spirit. The Spirit enables abiding. Abiding produces fruit. This is the will of God. This is the life of God. This is the revelation of Yahshua. kwh [I pray a blessing on all my readers. If this revelation has met a need, hit that like button and subscribe and make a comment.]

2 Comments

Filed under abide, Bible, Christ, elect, eternal purpose, fruit of the Spirit, oneness, Sacred Names, sons of God, spiritual growth, Spiritual Life Cycle, truth, Yahshua, Yahweh, Yahweh in human form

Tagged as , , , , ,

June 12, 2026 · 8:20 am

The Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of Antichrist

A Study on the Identity of God and the Discernment of Spirits

The true Spirit of God is identified by one central confession: that Yahweh—the eternal Father and Creator—has come in the flesh as Yahshua the Messiah. Anyone who denies that the Father Yahweh dwelt in the Son is operating under the spirit of antichrist, which means “instead of Christ” from the Greek.

The apostle John teaches that the ultimate test of spiritual discernment is not emotion, religious activity, or outward appearance, but confession—specifically, the confession of who God is and how He came among us. To discern the Spirit of God from the spirit of antichrist, we must begin where Scripture begins: with the name and identity of God Himself.

The Name of God and the Incarnation of Yahweh

The first step in spiritual discernment is to get the name of God right. Scripture reveals that Yahshua is the name of the incarnate Yahweh—Yah in human form. Yahweh is the Father, and Christ Himself testified that the Father dwelling within Him performed the miracles (John 14:10).

Yahweh declares plainly: “For I am the LORD [YAHWEH] your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… and beside Me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:3, 11) Therefore, the one who confesses that Yahweh is the Savior, and that He has come in the flesh as the Anointed One, is confessing the truth revealed by the Spirit of God.

The Spirit of God vs. the Spirit of Antichrist

John gives the test: “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of the antichrist…” (1 John 4:2–3). To “confess Christ come in the flesh” is not merely to acknowledge that a man named Jesus once lived. It is to confess who came in that flesh: Yahweh Himself—the Father—dwelling in the Son.

John later calls this “the Spirit of truth.” The “spirit of error” denies that Yahweh has come in the flesh of Christ. He sharpens the point: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). To deny the Son is to deny the Father, because the Father was in the Son. To deny the Father in the Son is to deny the Son Himself. This is the essence of the antichrist spirit.

The Witness of the Spirit

John also teaches that eternal life is in the Son (1 John 5:11). Paul calls this the “Spirit of life” (Romans 8:2), and John says, “the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). This Spirit bears witness with our spirit (Romans 8:16), testifying to the truth of God’s identity.

What truth does the Spirit testify? That Yahweh, the great Creator Spirit, poured Himself into a human vessel—the Son Yahshua—whose very name means “Yahweh is the Savior.” This is the witness the Spirit gives inside every believer.

Believing in the Name of the Son

John concludes his first epistle with this assurance: “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life…” (1 John 5:13)

To “believe in the name of the Son of God” is to believe that the Father was in the Son, and that through this union Yahweh saves His people from their sins. “He who believes in the Son has the witness in himself” (1 John 5:10). That person has the Spirit. That person has eternal life.

John echoes this in his Gospel: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). To receive Him is to believe in His name—Yahshua, the same name as Joshua of old, meaning “Savior.”

Conclusion: The Foundation of Spiritual Growth

Spiritual growth begins with getting the identity of God right. Everything in the life of faith flows from this revelation: Yahweh the Father has come in the flesh as Yahshua the Messiah.

This is the Spirit of truth. This is the confession of the Spirit of God. This is the foundation of eternal life. To deny this is to embrace the spirit of antichrist. To confess it is to walk in the light, to receive the witness of the Spirit, and to enter into the life of the sons of God.

{What are your thoughts on these things? Leave a comment and like and subscribe. kwh}

2 Comments

Filed under Christ, elect, false prophets, Sacred Names, sons and daughters of God, sons of God, Spirit of God, Yahshua, Yahweh, Yahweh in human form

Tagged as , , , ,

May 29, 2026 · 10:31 am

When Family and Friends Become the Furnace of Love

Nothing tests the reality of our conversion like the people who know us best. Their resistance becomes the very fire God uses to forge His love in us.

When our friends and family reject our newfound faith, we must not grow frustrated. Christ commands us to forgive, bless, and love them — and in doing so, His Spirit grows within us.

Christ said, “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matthew 10:36). It is often our families and closest friends who resist us the most when we begin to share the gospel. Their pushback can feel like a deep wound, especially when our hearts burn with new faith and we long for fellowship with them.

The Birth of Agape Love

But we must understand something vital: our Creator includes this resistance as part of His plan for our spiritual growth. Through these painful moments, He is cultivating agapē love in us. This is how we add love to our faith.

By faith we seek God, and by faith we receive into our spirit the love that flows from His divine nature. Agapē is described in 1 Corinthians 13 — patience, kindness, humility, endurance. These qualities are not learned in comfort. They are formed in us through suffering, especially through rejection.

Our loved ones “rub” against us. Through their unbelief they withstand us, just as Cain withstood Abel, Esau resisted Jacob, and the Pharisees opposed Christ. David faced pagan nations, but he also endured Saul and Absalom and his wives — enemies from within his own house. Without this friction, there would be little spiritual growth. Our spiritual muscles grow when we forgive.

Christ taught that our enemies would arise from our own home. Yet He also commanded us not to reject them, not to curse them, but to bless them, pray for them, and love them. They are not obstacles to our maturity — they are instruments of it.

Did not Christ say, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” (Matthew 5:44)? And why? “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (v. 45). When we respond with divine love, we grow into His likeness. When we bless instead of retaliating, we mature. When we forgive instead of resent, we bear fruit. This is walking in the Spirit.

Christ gave us a new commandment: love your enemies. When someone puts us down, the old spirit of vindictiveness tries to rise. But this is the moment to exercise the divine nature within us. He has given us power to resist the old reactions that ruled us before our conversion. This is the first step in the journey of spiritual growth — knowing, doing, and being — the path toward 30‑fold, 60‑fold, and 100‑fold fruit‑bearing. This is what Christ was teaching in the parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:1-23. And it begins right where it hurts the most: forgiving those closest to us.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Leave a comment

Filed under agape, Christ, heartbreak, husbands and wives, King David, spiritual growth, Spiritual Life Cycle, sufferings of Christians

Tagged as , , , , ,

May 13, 2026 · 11:25 am

Christ Cannot Come Back Tonight

Here Is Why

In 54 A.D., the believers in Thessalonica were troubled by the idea that Christ could return at any moment. Paul writes his second letter to correct this very fear. He tells them plainly that the day of Christ will not come until certain events take place. His warning is sharp: “Let no man deceive you.” False teachers were already spreading the idea of an any‑moment return. The same deception echoes today in pulpits across the land: “Christ could come back tonight!” they proclaim.

But Paul contradicts that notion. He lays out a sequence—clear, unavoidable, prophetic markers that must unfold before Christ returns.

1. The Falling Away

Paul’s first sign is a great apostasy: “There shall come a falling away first” (2 Thess. 2:3). This is not a minor drift but a wholesale departure from the apostolic faith. Many who claim Christ, will abandon the truth. They will embrace darkness while believing themselves enlightened. They will exchange the gospel of the Kingdom for “another gospel,” crafted by false teachers who preach a Christ of their own imagination.

The devil’s ministers will not proclaim the righteousness of God’s Kingdom. They will offer a counterfeit Christianity—comfortable, powerless, and blind. This falling away is not merely doctrinal confusion; it is spiritual rebellion, and it is already happening in many churches.

2. The Man of Sin Revealed

The second sign is even more sobering: “That man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” This is not merely a spirit of deception but a specific human being—Satan’s masterpiece of delusion. He will possess extraordinary power, granted by God as judgment upon a world that “received not the love of the truth.” Because they rejected truth, God sends them a strong delusion (2:11). They will believe the lie, and the masses will follow this man straight into perdition.

Before Christ returns, the elect will recognize this man. His identity will not be hidden from those who walk in the light. Therefore, the modern claim that Christ could return “tonight” collapses under Paul’s teaching. If the elect cannot identify the Antichrist, then the day of Christ is not yet here.

3. The Antichrist in the Temple

Paul gives the defining mark of this man of sin: he will oppose God and exalt himself above God. How? By sitting “in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” This is not symbolic language. It is a literal act of blasphemous self‑exaltation.

But there is no temple in Jerusalem today. Therefore, the temple must be rebuilt before this prophecy can be fulfilled. Christ Himself confirms this sequence in Matthew 24. After the early birth pangs—wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes—He points to a specific event: the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel. This abomination is the Antichrist enthroning himself in the temple as God (Matt. 24:15; Daniel 9:23).

This moment will ignite the Great Tribulation: “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world” (Matt. 24:21). It will be the darkest hour humanity has ever known. Yet for the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened. God will not allow His chosen ones to be swept away with the wicked. But this also means the elect are still on earth during the tribulation—so much for the escapist fantasy of a secret rapture. The rapture doctrine says that all Christians will be raptured before the great tribulation. Christ says that the elect will be going through the Tribulation Period and will come close to annihilation.

The True Sign of Christ’s Return

As this age draws to its close, Scripture gives us one unmistakable sign: the revealing of the Antichrist in the rebuilt temple. This false messiah will blaspheme God before the nations, and the world will marvel after him. His rise will mark the final counterfeit kingdom of Satan before the true King appears.

Therefore, Christ cannot come back tonight. Not because we doubt His promise, but because He Himself told us what must happen first. The temple must rise. The man of sin must be revealed. The abomination must stand in the rebuilt temple declaring himself God. Only then will the heavens open and the Son of Man appear in power and great glory.

Watch for the counterfeit kingdom. Watch for the man of sin. These are the signs that the end is truly near. Comment on how you see these things. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Leave a comment

Filed under Christ, elect, end time prophecy, false doctrines, false prophets, great tribulation period, vials of wrath, Yahshua

Tagged as , , , , ,

April 12, 2026 · 12:38 pm

Abraham’s Vision: The Promise of New Jerusalem

The writer of Hebrews gives us a rare window into the inner vision that sustained Abraham through his long pilgrimage. Scripture says he “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10). This single statement lifts Abraham’s hope far above the realm of earthly geography, political nationhood, or human architecture.

His expectation was not tied to any manmade structure—not a temple, not an earthly Jerusalem, not even the land in its temporal form. Abraham’s eyes were fixed on something only God could build.

The text is explicit: the city has foundations, and its builder and maker is God. The Greek terms emphasize divine craftsmanship—God as both architect and artisan. Nothing constructed by human hands, however sacred or impressive, could satisfy the promise given to Abraham. His hope was anchored in a reality entirely of God’s making.

This promise did not end with Abraham. Hebrews tells us that Isaac and Jacob were “heirs with him of the same promise” (Heb. 11:9). Though they lived in the land, they confessed themselves to be strangers and pilgrims. Their inheritance was not exhausted by Canaan’s soil. They carried the same forward‑looking expectation of a divine city, a heavenly homeland prepared by God Himself. Hebrews 11:16 makes this unmistakable: “They desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city.”

This heavenly city is not a New Testament innovation. The Psalms themselves anticipate it. Psalm 48 opens with the declaration, “Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.” The psalmist is not describing the shifting political fortunes of earthly Jerusalem, which was repeatedly conquered, burned, and rebuilt. Instead, he speaks of a city marked by divine stability—“beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth”—a city whose security comes from God’s presence, not human walls. This “mountain of His holiness” is kingdom language, pointing beyond the earthly hill of Zion to the eternal kingdom‑mountain Daniel saw, which would fill the whole earth. Psalm 48 therefore stands as an Old Testament witness to the same God‑built city Abraham sought: a city defined by God’s presence, God’s holiness, and God’s unshakable foundations.

Revelation completes the picture. John sees “the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven” (Rev. 21:2). This is the city with foundations. This is the city prepared by God. This is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham and inherited by Isaac and Jacob. Its foundations bear the names of the apostles (Rev. 21:14), linking the patriarchal hope with the apostolic witness. Its builder is God alone. No human temple can stand as its substitute, for John declares, “I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it” (Rev. 21:22).

Paul affirms the same truth when he identifies “Jerusalem which is above” as the mother of all believers (Gal. 4:26). This heavenly Jerusalem is not a metaphor but the very city Abraham sought. It is the eternal dwelling of God with His people, the consummation of the covenant promise, and the inheritance of all who walk in the faith of Abraham.

Thus the biblical narrative—from Genesis to Revelation—presents a single, unbroken line of expectation. Abraham’s promised city is not earthly but heavenly, not temporal but eternal, not manmade but God‑built. Psalm 48 sings of it. Hebrews explains it. Revelation unveils it. New Jerusalem is the fulfillment of the patriarchal promise, the hope of the saints, and the final expression of God’s desire to dwell with His people forever.

All roads lead to the heavenly city New Jerusalem. It is coming to earth. Everything in scripture leads us to that destination. The patriarchs, prophets and apostles all looked for its arrival. They believed Yahweh’s promise that it was coming to earth. But they “all died in faith”—in their belief of the heavenly city’s touchdown on earth. We can read more about her (Rev. 21).

All the spiritual truths about salvation, spiritual growth, and the election—all has to do with getting ready to be a citizen of New Jerusalem. This truth is secreted in parables. Christ repeatedly speaks of the Kingdom of God when He says, “The kingdom is like…” He is giving us another clue of how it comes to fill the whole earth.    

It is all there for us to overcome the doubts. For the King has said, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son” (Rev. 21:7). The King will be inside the heavenly city. His children will be with Him. Let us lay hold of this regal promise by faith like Abraham did.

[If this has helped you, please share, like, and subscribe, and make a comment about how you see the New Jerusalem, as through the eyes of the patriarchs and prophets. For more on this go here:Looking for Our Mother, New Jerusalem | Immortality Road]

2 Comments

Filed under children of God, Christ, elect, King David, kingdom of God, knowledge

Tagged as , , , ,