Category Archives: false teachers

October 29, 2016 · 6:16 pm

Beware of a Spiritual Cancer in the Body of Christ

A cancer is growing in the body of Christ, the church. It is a heresy that is spreading throughout the land. Many are being bewitched by a rather “righteous and holy” appearing doctrine. It is a false doctrine that seems true to the uninitiated and unlearned. It is the very same doctrine that was running wild throughout the era of the early church during the first and second century A.D.

This doctrine deceives people into thinking that by their own might and will they can keep the Ten Commandment Law–that by working to keep the law, they can be righteous in the Savior’s eyes. In fact, they are led to believe that by keeping the law, they will be justified by God; God will see that they are righteousness.

Someone will say, What’s wrong with that? Why are you putting them down? Keeping the Commandments is a good thing, isn’t it? Yes, the law is holy and good; it is the perfect law of liberty. The catch is that the old carnal nature cannot successfully keep it on its own strength. Only through the Spirit of God dwelling in us can we keep the law.

Paul writes about such matters. And because the apostle’s writings are diametrically opposed to this cancerous doctrine of trying-to-keep-the-law-on-our-own-strength-and-not-by-His-Spirit-dwelling-within, some people are rejecting Paul’s teachings! I have heard people say that Paul is in error! They reason that he could not be correct because he does not agree with their interpretation of scripture.

Well, God has news for them. Paul has a direct revelation from God, and the world would do well to take heed to what the Spirit through Paul is saying.

If You Throw Out Paul, You Must Throw Out the Rest of the NT Writings

If you get rid of his letters to us, then you will have to finally reject the rest of the New Testament. Peter will be the next one that the cancer consumes, for Peter believed that Paul was a prophet and an apostle of God (II Peter 3: 14-15). Peter said that Paul was a beloved brother, had wisdom from God, and that Paul was writing things that agreed with Peter’s thoughts. Peter did say that Paul wrote things that were hard to understand for the “unlearned and unstable,” who wrestle with his writings, “as they do the other scriptures.” Peter considered Paul’s writings of the same caliber and quality as the other inspired writings of the prophets and patriarchs.

Consequently, if you throw out Peter, you will eventually have to throw out James and John and Matthew and the other original disciples because they were all “in one mind and one accord” on the day of Pentecost in the upper room. They all saw eye to eye spiritually. And they all received the same immersion in the Holy Spirit and fire (Acts 2: 1-4).

The exploits of the early church are set forth in Luke’s book of the Acts of the Apostles. Luke, who had “perfect understanding of all things from the very first” (Luke 1: 3), vindicates Paul’s ministry, devoting 2/3 of Acts to it.

So let’s take an inventory. Those who throw out Paul must throw out also the gospels, Acts, Paul’s letters, James, the letters of Peter, John, Jude, and Revelation. Not much left of the Savior’s first coming and of His death, burial, and resurrection. All that is left is a looking forward to a first coming of the Messiah. This cancerous doctrine will leave you hopelessly  wandering to the nearest synagogue in search of others who are hopelessly trying to keep the 10 Commandments on their own strength.

This cancer is devouring the faith of many who have discovered the Sacred Names of Yahweh and Yahshua. Since they are names in the Hebrew tongue, the unlearned think that all things Hebrew is the answer, including getting into the Law of the Old Testament. The cancerous teaching is called “the works of the law” being our way to be justified, as if we could keep them in our own strength. The law leads us to Christ and His Spirit. After receiving His Spirit, His Spirit keeps the commandments by faith in the Christ of the New Testament.

As you explore the beauty of the sacred names of the Father and Son, beware of this cancer that is a “cunningly devised fable” that would deceive the very elect if it were possible. Oh, by the way, Paul and Peter warned us of it.                    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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July 9, 2016 · 3:20 pm

What Do We Do Now to Grow Spiritually? Part One

Okay. We understand now that God is Love and that His purpose is to reproduce Himself in us. We were created as a house for God to dwell in, for Love to dwell in.

And we understand now that God has a plan to carry out this purpose of reproducing Himself. We see that this plan entails His kingdom, first established in our hearts, and then it is to be set up as a literal worldwide government headed by our King, the Son of God upon His return to earth.

And we see that an integral part of God’s plan is the law of harvest. God is the Seed, the Word of God. And this Seed/Word “was made flesh and dwelt among us.” Christ is that Seed that germinates in our hearts and starts to grow as a grain of corn is planted, dies, and resurrects and grows in our gardens. We, too, begin to grow spiritually.

But then something bad happens to young Christians. The weeds spring up and begin to choke the word/seed. Babes in Christ are fed tainted milk, which are false concepts about God. Materialism with its many temptations subvert God’s plan from coming to fruition. Tough decisions arise for the babe in Christ for which Christ says to “count the cost.” The way grows narrow and difficult to navigate, where one finds few fellow travellers. And then the world extends a very wide and welcoming road where many go and seem to have wonderful fellowship, and the pilgrim is tempted to take that avenue.

What We Are to Do

But if God is calling us to the “higher calling” of being used for Him to reproduce Himself through, then we must ask ourselves, What do we do now to grow spiritually? Not what man’s traditions say to do, but what do the scriptures say for us to do. Tradition tells us, Go to church and give your tithes and offerings, confess your sins, do the best you can, and you will go to heaven when you die. But, is that all there is? Will God really be pleased with that? Is that all there is to it?

Surely not. For I do not see much growth in the lives in Christian circles. People do get cleaned up and start living a better life, but many backslide into their past actions. Many just remain regular attendees of their church services, content to be a part of a Christian social fabric. Is that what the prophets and apostles of old prescribed for our growth? Is that what the church in the book of Acts did?

First Thing to Do

No. We are given at least seven general “things to do” as Christians to effect proper spiritual growth. First, the early church “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2: 42). The apostles had a doctrine, and it was the same that Christ had. “Doctrine” means “teachings,” and they were delivering those teachings to the new converts. Some preachers asininely say, “We do not want doctrine; we just want Jesus.” They must not know that “whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ has not God” (II John 1: 9).

What were the apostles’ teachings? They are concisely found in Hebrews 6: 1-2. They are the foundation that when done, will help us grow unto “perfection,” or complete spiritual maturity. They are repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement, and perfection. How many Christians would be able to list these vital concepts that the apostles taught? Not many even know about them. Whose fault is that? God says it is their pastor’s fault. God pronouces a woe unto the shepherds for not feeding the flock of God with proper teachings (Ezk 34: 1-10).

[For more on the apostles’ doctrine go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/apostles-doctrine/ ; https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2016/02/13/life-comes-out-of-death-of-old-nature/ ; https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/faith-how-to-walk-in-the-newness-of-life/  These are just a few of the articles on this site that addresses the apostles’ doctrine]

Second Thing to Do to Grow

We are admonished to purge out the “old leaven.” Old leaven is the false concepts about God, the traditions of men, the imaginations of false teachers and preachers. We all come to Christ with them, and they must be gotten rid of.

[For more go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/purging-out-the-old-leaven-to-become-the-sons-and-daughters-of-god/ ;  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/warning-beware-of-mans-traditions-about-christ/ ; https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/purge-out-the-old-leaven-in-order-to-become-the-sons-of-god/ ].   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

To Be Continued…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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June 18, 2016 · 2:52 pm

The Spirit of Truth Gives the Gift of the Word of Wisdom

We have seen that God’s eternal purpose is to reproduce Himself. He is a Spirit that is the action of Love. We have learned that He has a definite plan to accomplish His purpose. He thought the plan through and spoke it and wrote it all down in a Word. And this Word was God, the Spirit of Love. And this Word was the Logos and it was “made flesh and dwelt among us.”

And God’s plan to reproduce Himself is all contained in His Son, the Word or Logos of God, which acts as a Seed. And the Son/Seed “fell into the ground and died,” like all seeds do in the earth. And the Seed Son was resurrected out of the earth after three days and three nights. And through His act of laying down His life for others, He showed the greatest Love.

Now human beings are enlisted by their Creator to simply believe this report of His Son, and in so doing, their faith energizes that same resurrected spirit of love in their hearts. For they will have laid down their old lives as He did His, thus showing the greatest love, also. They let their old sinful selfish lives die on the cross with Christ, and by believing in His resurrection, they receive a new life powered by His Spirit.

And just like the seeds in the garden grow to bear much fruit, God’s children do grow through proper nourishment to become just like the original Seed/Son. That is His plan for reproducing Himself in a nutshell.

The Problem

Someone will say, It is simple to understand, the way you put it. Why has it been so difficult for the world to see this?

It is because of the enemy, the devil. He has “transformed himself into an angel of light” and has spread many erroneous teachings called “old leaven” by the apostles. These false teachers started their lies about Christ while the original twelve disciples still walked the earth.

They get the people worried about themselves–whether or not they are going to heaven or hell. They scare the people in the pews, “promising them liberty while they themselves are the servants of corruption.” They never speak of God’s purpose and plan to reproduce Himself, for their center is on self.

Moreover, they promise the churchgoers earthly prosperity if they give abundantly to the church organization. “Get all you can get from God,” they say. They think that’s all God has to do is bless them materially. But Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel weren’t in it for themselves. They were all about furthering what God wanted to accomplish. That is the reason  we still read of their exploits two and one half millenia later. They did not think of themselves, for they denied themselves to further God’s cause.

The Promise of His Spirit

Still God’s arms are outstreched, desiring to embrace all those who embrace Him. And we embrace Him when we cease thinking of our own petty little lives and “look to the Rock from whence we are hewn.” We do that by believing in what He believes in and helping Him to accomplish it.

To those who do this, He has promised to come to us. When we believe that the Father was in the Son, then He says that we will do “greater works than what He did.” In fact, the Son of God commanded us, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.” When we keep this new commandment, then He will ask the Father to send us the Comforter, which is the Spirit of truth, which is the Spirit of Christ, which is the Father, for “God is a Spirit” (John 14: 9-20; 4: 24).

The Son of God continues, “When He ,the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16: 13). This is His promise–to not leave us alone out here, but to comfort us with truth as to what is happening on this sin sick planet. The Spirit of truth will teach us “things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13: 35). And these “things” are the mysteries of God’s purpose and plan.

When He comes to us, the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth by giving us gifts. The very first gift of the Spirit is the “word of wisdom” (I Cor. 12: 8). [For more on “wisdom” go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality-chapter-2/ ]

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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May 21, 2016 · 4:13 pm

Knowledge of God’s Plan Reveals the Bible’s Mysteries

God says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” This is God’s knowledge that was offered to them, but was rejected by them (Hosea 4: 6).

But what knowledge exactly? It is nothing less than the knowledge of His thoughts that comprises the vision of His plan to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself right here on earth.

Anything biblical is part of this plan. Any biblical concept or precept like “grace” or “testimony” or “salvation” is a piece to the puzzle. “Salvation” is not God’s plan and purpose. It is an important first-step-part of His plan that God is doing, which is reproducing Himself.

The denominational churches are hung up on salvation. You go to a service in a small church. Everybody is saved in the congregation. And yet, the preacher feels compelled to have the organist play “Just As I Am” and invite the people to be saved. Why do they do this? It is because this is all they know. If they knew and believed God’s thoughts about His plan and purpose of becoming just like Him, then they would be seeking and teaching about growing up “into Christ.” They don’t know that Christ is coming back to earth the same way He left, and that He is coming to establish His government, and that the “dead in Christ” are coming with Him in new spiritual bodies.

Oh, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge!

But “whom shall He teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?” (Isa. 28: 9). It is certainly not the pastors and preachers that are drunk on the wine of false doctrines about God. “Wine” is universally recognized to be a symbol of doctrine or teachings. God cannot teach true knowledge to those who follow and teach false doctrines about God. “They also have erred through wine…the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink…they err in vision, they stumble in judgment”  (28: 7).

The old leaven false doctrines cause Christians to “err in vision.” And as long as these are not purged out of one’s thinking, He will not be able to teach them true knowledge.

To whom then can He teach His knowledge about His plan to reproduce Himself? God will teach “them who are weaned from the milk” (28: 9). Thinking spiritually, babes in Christ need the “milk of the word.” They need the fundamental doctrines of repentance from sin and faith toward God. When these teachings, called the “milk,” are solid in their hearts, then they may move on to the meat. Spiritual “babes in Christ” are mostly alive for what they can receive of the the Father. That is the definition of a baby or small child. We need only look at the natural to see the spiritual. We are admonished to grow up and be no more babes and get into the meat of the word [For more on the “milk of the word” https://themilkoftheword.wordpress.com/ ].

Many Christians in the pews of the churches are little children. Their spiritual concerns are revealed in their prayers, which are mostly about themselves and how things affect them and their families. They rarely pray for God’s kingdom to come, populated by “many sons unto glory.” They rarely pray for God’s will to be done, that He would be “all in all,” that His glory would fill the whole earth. Most don’t pray for the “manifestation of the sons of God” to become a reality. Most prayers are burning incense, infused with the acrid fumes of self.

So, God lays it out to the people a little at a time. “For precept must be upon precept…line upon line, line upon line…here a little and there a little” (Isa. 28: 13). God in ancient times  revealed His vision to only a few men who spoon fed small bits to the people, for the time of the fulfillment of His vision was very far away . But now He is sewing these remnants of knowledge together to make a coat of many colors that will cover the sins of countless generations.

Knowledge of His vision of His plan to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself in the earth is the key that will unlock the mysteries of the Bible. For every precept presented therein is a part of the vision to accomplish His purpose. Once we see it, we can begin to connect the dots, for each biblical concept is a dot to be connected to the others. This knowledge of which we speak connects those dots.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 23, 2016 · 4:45 pm

“Walking in the Spirit”…of Truth

Simple, really, isn’t it? Understanding the plan of God. Yes, simple to comprehend once He opens our eyes and anoints them with His eye salve.

Anoints. That word is so abused in today’s Christian circles. Preachers boasting about “having the anointing” while being eaten up inside by false doctrines and concepts. It is  enough to make the angels around the throne of God weep and say, “How much longer, O Lord?”

Do they not know that the “anointing is truth”? We are anointed with the truth when the Spirit of truth comes into our lives. Question: Does someone have the “Spirit of truth, the Comforter” when they are still practicing false concepts and false teachings about God? “Truth” and “false” (I John 2: 27).

How can a Christian have the Spirit of truth and still walk in false teachings? Christ said that a good tree does not bear corrupt fruit (Luke 6: 43). We are told to “examine ourselves” and to “purge out the old leaven” of false teachings. It is only then that we will be anointed with the Spirit of truth, who will lead us into all truth.

This takes courage to start with “the man in the mirror,” and to be brutally honest with ourselves about purifying our walk with God.

The “simplicity of Christ.” We are admonished to not corrupt it (2 Cor. 11: 3). “Simplicity” is from a Greek word meaning “free from pretense” and hypocrisy; sincerity, single minded and not double minded. How can it be corrupted? Through the same deceit that Satan used to beguile Eve, the apostle Paul says (v. 4). Satan taught falsehoods about God in the Garden, and we know how that ended. Paul goes on to warn us to beware of those who preach another Jesus (Yahshua), and those who receive another spirit, and those who teach another gospel than the one that Paul taught.

The Masses and Their Teachers Are Asleep

So, how can we corrupt the simplicity of Christ? By interpreting God’s precepts using the worldly wisdom of the sleeping blind.

“For the LORD has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers” (Isa. 29: 10).

The religious teachers of the people today–today–are in a deep sleep and cannot see what God is doing in the earth. The blind are leading the blind, and the people, incredibly, are asking to be deceived.

“The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule by their own power;
And My people love to have it so.
But what will you do in the end?” He’s talking about our time, the “latter days” (Jer. 5: 31; Jer. 23: 20).

In our day, brothers and sisters, the people will be so deceived that they will be demanding of their preachers, pastors, priests, and prophets to teach them false teachings about God and not the truth. The Spirit of Christ in Isaiah says the people will “say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (30: 8-10).

There is a deep sleep of deceit that covers the people, according to Isaiah and Jeremiah. And until God awakens His people out of the darkness of their first natural life, they stammer, unable to read the book that contains the vision of God. Most of the masses sincerely speak words trying to get closer to God, but they “have removed their heart far from” [Him]. They teach and learn about God, but it is taught by the precept of man (Isa. 29: 9-14).

The book that details the vision of God’s plan to carry out His purpose of reproducing Himself is sealed and closed and cannot be read without the Spirit of Truth really operating in one’s life. And to have the Spirit of God operating in one’s life, one has to “walk in the Spirit”–the Spirit of Truth. If a person is still walking in falsehoods about God and His plan, how, pray tell, can they be walking in the Spirit of Truth?

Walking in the Spirit

How do we do it? When we answer this question: “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” (Amos 3: 3). We will walk with God when our hearts agree with Him.

Before we can agree with anyone, we first must know what they are about, what they stand for, what their purpose is, what their goals and philosophy of life are, and what their thoughts are. It is the same with God. We must not only know these things about Him, but we must change our thinking to match His thoughts. That’s the difficult part.

We must have a deeper knowledge of God and His mind to be able to agree with Him.  We must change our thinking to agree with His thoughts. We must submit to Him. And when we do this, He will meet us there in that spiritual neighborhood. And He will walk with us because we went to where He is. When we repent of the false teachings and agree with His thoughts about what He is doing in the earth, then He will meet us there and will walk with us in Spirit and in truth.

And with the agreement comes the walking in the Spirit, which yields many benefits. Abraham walked with God, and he was called the “Friend of God” (James 2: 23).

Friends with God. God’s friends. That is what is ahead for us. Christ said that a mere servant does not know what  their Master is really doing. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15: 15).

Christ’s Spirit will give us the knowledge of what the Father wants us to agree with Him on. When we agree with our whole hearts, then we will walk in the Spirit and become the friends of God.

But let us all be forewarned.  If we do not purge out the things that don’t agree with God’s thoughts and truth, then we will not be His friend. For example, what will we tell Him on Judgement Day when He asks, “What about the green tree that you have brought into your home during the winter solstice?” How would we answer? (Jer. 10).

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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March 27, 2016 · 6:30 pm

36 Hours from Good Friday to Easter Morning–Not 3 Days and 3 Nights

Millions today have gone to sunrise and Easter services and have reverently endeavored to commemorate the Resurrection of the Son of God. Millions have observed Good Friday, also, and they will feel assured that their efforts are pleasing to the Most High God.

However, very few are aware that this 36 hour time frame comes up about 36 hours short of the only sign that God has given us as to who is the true Messiah. When the Pharisees demanded a sign from Christ, He said, “There shall no sign be given…but the sign of the prophet Jonah: for as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt. 12: 40-41).

Some will say, So what is your point?  Tomayto, tomahto. 36 hours, 72 hours. No big deal, right? Perhaps if it were not the only sign that we have of the true Messiah. For there were and are many “messiahs” out there, as there are many concepts of the Messiah. Perhaps, it would not be a big deal if the prophecies had declared that the Messiah would rise from the dead somewhere between one and three days after the crucifixion. But they did not.

How Did This Happen?

Something is off somewhere. We need to dig into it. After all, aren’t we told by our very own Savior and Teacher to dig deep and build our house upon the rock. We must go deep, for if we just build our spiritual house on the earth and not dig down to the rock, our  house will not stand the floods of trials that will come, and great will be our ruin (Luke 6: 48-49).

How did this one and one half day gap come down to us in the 21st century? The same way we found out when  to observe Good Friday through Easter services. Somebody told us that those were the days to worship. Our parents said to us, Let’s get dressed up and go to church. It’s Easter! And, of course, we did not question it just like they did not question the pastor, preacher, or priest when they put out the call to worship on those days.

For all ministers were once  children who were told about this Easter weekend. And so, on and on it goes, back, back, back through the centuries to the days of the early church, to the time when somebody in power instituted these dates. And the vast majority, perhaps 99% of Christians have never pondered these things, nor the importance of them.

And so we must ask, Are the times for the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ  important to God? We know the current set up is important to the church organizations and the merchants who sell their candy bunnies and eggs and Easter bonnets, et al (That’s a whole other can of worms you can open and dig into by googling “Easter bunnies or Easter eggs”).

Is all this important to God for His people? We need only remember that He is holy and wants us to be holy and set apart for Him, that He is jealous, that He wants His people walking in the truth, that He does everything decently and in order and will not allow any strange incense on His altar, incense being a symbol of our prayers to Him.

To those who minimize the importance and inadvertently quote a current candidate for President by saying, “What difference does it really make? We are celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ”–I would say this: Would the following scenario be important to you?

You have gone to great expense to plan a wonderful three day vacation, 72 hours of family fun in the sun. You have purchased all the food and refreshments and paid in advance for the beach house rental with all the extras. You love your parents and siblings and their families, and this is your way of showing your love for them.

Every thing is paid for and provided beginning from Thursday at noon to Sunday at noon. So what happens? No one shows up until late Friday afternoon. You can’t believe it. You ask them, Why? And they say, We just thought this would be a better time. We’re here, so what is the problem?

You just shake your head and say, The problem is that I sent you all invitations with the dates and times clearly stated, and you led me to believe that it was all settled, but now….

You fill in the rest. I dare say that it would make a big difference. I think that it makes a big difference to God, as well.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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February 6, 2016 · 6:45 pm

The Difference Between 1st and 21st Century Christianity

The difference between 1st and 21st Century Christianity is vast. The God worshiped is the same, of course. But it is a question of focus.

The central point of the early church teachings was to introduce to both the followers of Judaism and to the pagan masses the Savior and His Passion. Neither of the two audiences believed the story of the Savior and His death, burial, and resurrection upon first hearing.

In the early disciples’ writings preserved for us in the New Testament, we find the “apostles’ doctrine,” which is the teachings of Christ concerning His kingdom and our place in it. To the Jews they taught that Christ was the Messiah prophesied of old and that He is the Son of Yahweh of the Old Testament writings. To the Gentiles they taught that Christ is the true God and Savior of the whole world. They were powerful advocates with His Spirit confirming with many signs and wonders.

The Difference

The early church was starting at ground zero. Most Jews rejected the Messiah, and the pagan masses clung to their false gods. So they told them about Jesus Christ of Nazareth and His love for them. This was a message that they had not heard before.

But today it is different. Hundreds and hundreds of millions of professing Christians reside all over this planet. It’s like that commercial: Q: Did you know that Christ is the Savior of the world?  A: Yes. Everyone knows that.

Today billions of Christians don’t need to be introduced to Christ and Him dying for us. What we need to know are the spiritual intricacies of what His death, burial, and resurrection mean in our own lives and how that ties into the greater plan and purpose of God reproducing Himself–in us! We need to know how His plan and purpose will come to pass since we as Christians are smack dab in it; we are, after all “the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23). Oh, we do need to know how to get from being puny and powerless little babes in Christ to being the “fulness of Him.” In other words, to be like Christ.

And the early apostles planted the seeds on how to get there in our spiritual growth. But man’s religious Christian leaders have been stuck in the First Century, continually teaching their flocks today about Christ, seldom mentioning how to ignite the power of the Spirit in a believer’s heart and how to grow to become part of the “manifested sons of the living God.”

Why are the pastors and priests today still preaching sermons about Christ and not about how to become like Christ? Most don’t know, for they were never taught by their mentors. And if they do find out, they become afraid of their jobs, for most are hirelings, and they did not “count the cost” to fully follow Him. They are purveyors of weak pablum, for they have not “purged out the old leaven” of hypocrisy and falseness.

And yet, the early apostles sowed seeds for our growth as Christians in the 21st Century. They told us what would thwart our attempts to grow spiritually. Yes, they gave us the timeless truths of His salvation, but they also warned us of the treacherous times to come. They warned us of the blasphemy of some in the last days who would be selfish, ungrateful, unholy, hateful, and be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” They warned of evil seducers and how it would get worse and worse in their deceiving of Christians (II Tim. 3: 1-13). They called them “false prophets” and “false teachers” that will definitely “bring in damnable heresies” into the church congregations (2 Pet. 2; Jude 3-12).

And this is the tough one to swallow; they warned us that these deceivers would come to us as Christian pastors and teachers. Even in Paul’s day, the heresy had already begun. “False apostles and deceitful workers” were already “transforming themselves into the apostles of light. And no marvel: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11: 13-15). I believe that many pastors today are sincere and have been deceived through the false teachings that started way back in the day.

And so these old leaven teachings are passed on down from generation to generation. That is why the deeper things are not taught. Our adversary does not want them taught; he does not desire God’s plan for His body to come to fruition. Satan does not want us to grow. He does not want us to dig deep and grow up into Him.

Some Deeper Things

We all know that through His great love for us, Christ offered up Himself on the cross unto death. However, it is not enough to believe that He died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. We must believe that our old sinful nature died with Christ on the cross. When He died, all the sins of every human being died, also. When He gave up the ghost, our old heart, old spirit, and old nature died along with Him. Then we are buried with Him, and then we are “raised to walk in a newness of life.” It is all right there in Romans 6.

“He that is dead is freed from sin.” When we truly believe in His resurrection, we are believing in our own resurrection. For at the moment of Christ’s death, He took on Himself the sin of us all. He died as a sinner. He was our scapegoat offering for sin. That was us up there on the cross. That’s why the apostle Paul tells us, “You are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3: 3).

But this message is not preached very often. Not many anymore want to be told that they have to “reckon themselves dead” on the cross and let their old sinful selves die, and then by faith in Christ’s resurrection, be risen with Him (Col. 2: 12). Not a popular message. Most would rather hear about Christ dying, not them dying.

Now when we really believe this, astounding things happen. The hand that stole, steals no more. The eye that lusted and coveted no longer yearns for things it cannot have. Cursing vanishes. Joy replaces bitterness and despair. We become new creatures in Christ.

This transformation, of course, is provided by our Savior through His great love and mercy. This is wonderful, but it is only the first step in “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” But this puts us on the right track, on the way to growing up and maturing into the full grown sons and daughters of God.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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January 9, 2016 · 7:08 pm

Lord’s Prayer–“Which Art in Heaven”–He Is from Above, Not Beneath

Our Father is the God of heaven. That is a profound thought that is easily passed over. In other words, the true God is not born of the imagination of earthly man.  This is what we are to take away from the words in the Lord’s prayer, “Which art in heaven.”  There are “gods many, but for us there is only one God.”  These “gods many” are conjured up by natural unregenerated man–“cunningly devised fables,” false conceptions of Christ.

And the masses are deceived.  “Satan deceives the whole world.”  How can he do that?  “For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:14-15). But every “Christian minister” will tell you that they are a teacher of the truth. Just ask them. But they all cannot be right because they disagree so wildly in their doctrines. So we must ask ourselves: Who then are Satan’s ministers who speak about Christ and yet deceive the whole world with their teachings? Since there is no idle word in God, somebody is fulfilling this word right now!

Wait a minute.  Paul has just said that Satan will come as a messenger of truth and light by having priests, pastors, and preachers bringing forth sermons about Christ and His righteousness!  Satan’s ministers will be preaching about Christ in the last days.  But it will not be the true “gospel of the kingdom of heaven.”  It will be “another gospel” other than the one that the apostle Paul preached.  It will not be from heaven, but it will be from beneath.

It will be a gospel concocted by the vain imaginations of natural thinking men.  It will be based on “what God can do for you,” and not “what God can do through your vessel.”  They will claim to be His servants, but at the end, He will say, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity.  I never knew you.”  You wanted prosperity instead of Me. You wanted your spin on the end time and not My timetable.  You wanted a rapturously easy way out of the hard times ahead and not “to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ.”

This false gospel from beneath will emanate from an “earthly, sensual, and devilish” wisdom and not from heaven above.  This false gospel will spout “in Jesus’ name” but their hearts will be far from the God of Heaven and far from His heart.

This false gospel comes in many colors and flavors.  Most people shop around until they find a church with their kind of “Jesus” in it.  Most depend on the pastor to do their studying for them.  Few dig deep and “prove all things” with the Spirit’s help. This false gospel of Jesus is not from our Father, which is in heaven.  It is not from above, but from beneath. {Note: Church is a way station only on our pilgrimage to the Holy City.  We must eventually leave the way station, grow out of it, etc.}

Our Father and His plan of reproducing Himself in His sons and daughters is from heaven, not from sinful man’s imagination of what they thought God meant.  No, our Father emanates from the finer spiritual dimension we call heaven.  He is far above the selfish, conniving imaginations of un-spiritual man trying to be religious, leaning to his own understanding.

His thoughts are not our thoughts.  “It is a heavenly vision, a heavenly faith, a heavenly destiny, a heavenly plan, a heavenly purpose, a heavenly blueprint, a heavenly way, a heavenly thought of a heavenly Father, who is above all this on earth and is in us whom He has called”   (quoted from The Unveiling of the Sons of God  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/ebook-the-unveiling-of-the-sons-of-god/ ).

We must keep this in mind in our communication to Him because He is “Our Father, which art in heaven.”  He’s from above and not from beneath.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 3, 2016 · 5:28 pm

“Our Father”–God Is Everyone’s Creator, Not Everyone’s Father

We have learned that the “Lord’s Prayer” is a blueprint for our communication with God. It is not a  chant nor hollow words mouthed in repetitious recital. It is rather the “manner” that we should speak with our Father. In other words, we should pray with the understanding of the concepts presented in this model prayer.

And the first words that we should speak to Him when addressing Him is “Our Father.” Our Father. As we stop and savor these words, we see that God is the closest of our kin. He engendered us. We have His spiritual genes in our spirit. In our spiritual family tree, He is just above us. He is our closest family member.

Our closest family member. We are not an only child of the King. This is the second big take away in our meditation on the first two words of God’s example prayer. We have brothers and sisters that He loves as much as He loves us. It is a pretty big family.

The Father and the Creator

God is “our Father.” God is not everyone’s Father.  He is the Creator of all, but not the Father of all. The Pharisees claimed God as their Father. They said to Christ, “We have one Father, even God.” But Christ told the Pharisees, “If God were your Father, you would love me…You seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth…You are of your father the devil…a murderer from the beginning…a liar, and the father of it” (John 8:40-44).

We see, then, two spiritual fathers at work in the earth: “Our Father”  and “your father the devil.”  And to help the sons and daughters of God, Christ left us the salutation in His Blueprint Prayer, “Our Father” to distinguish our Father from their father.

Describing their father the devil, Christ said that there was no truth in him, that he is the father of all lies. Earlier, Christ told the Pharisees that the truth–not the lies–would make you free. Free from what? they responded. We’ve never been a slave to any man. Then Christ told them that their slavery to sin and sinning was what the truth would free them from. And that truth was Him (Jn 8: 32-36)   To read more on them, see https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2011/01/16/parable-of-the-tares-in-the-field-who-are-these-children-of-the-wicked-one-part-ii-conversations-with-the-seer 

The words, “Our Father,” also signify an engendering by God, begetting several spiritual offspring. The LORD (Yahweh in the Hebrew), told the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (Jer. 1:4-5).  God knew Jeremiah before his earthly conception and gestation.  And God chose him and ordained him a prophet before he “came forth out of the womb.”  Jeremiah was “born from above”–begotten by God long before coming to earth.  Jeremiah was in the very heart of God–and so were we, His sons and daughters, before the time of our earthly, fleshly sojourn.

Our Father “has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).  He knew us before and has predestined us “to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29).   He has given us a destiny to be like Christ before the world was ever founded.  This is nothing less that God’s purpose–reproducing Himself.

And so the cycle goes: seed time and harvest.  God the husbandman has great patience waiting for His children to grow up until they are “conformed to the image of His Son.”  He will endure the “vessels fitted unto destruction” in order to create His “royal priesthood,” His ruling offspring.  This is our destiny, ordered for us by “our Father.”

For make no mistake.  Christ told it like it is.  He warned that in the last days, many will be deceived by false prophets and false teachers who lead the sheep through the wide and broad gate to destruction.  They are wolves in “sheep’s clothing.”  They show themselves as God’s spokesmen, but are really modern day Pharisees, whose father is not “our Father.”

And to the many who are deceived by them Christ warns: “Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:13-23).  Let’s see: God knew Jeremiah–even before he was born. But these He never knew. He knew all things with foreknowledge and knew that they would not believe Him and His words. And yet they mouthed a bunch of half-truths about Him, but they didn’t do the will of our Father “which is in heaven” (v. 21).

There is a lot in the phrase “Our Father.” We must begin to pray with the understanding of His words.  It is a great privilege to call Him “our Father.”  Not everyone truthfully can.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

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November 21, 2015 · 2:58 pm

Beware of Man’s Traditions

The early apostles constantly warned of false doctrines being taught to the new Christians. Since past is prologue and since there is nothing new under the sun, their warnings are valid for us in these last days.

A great deception was already sweeping through the little congregations scattered over the Mediterranean world. Paul is warning the Colossians. Walk in Christ the way you have been taught by His true teachers. And don’t be spoiled by men “through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2: 6-8).

What were they teaching? What were these “traditions of men” that were obviously false and spiritually injurious to young Christians? What was this worldly thinking that is so deceiving?

In other words, those who believe man’s traditions about Christ will try to deceive you concerning the Savior. Beware of them, Paul is saying. All these seemingly innocuous platitudes about Christ will have “grand” intentions, but they will hurt the hearers. Beware.

Then in the next verse,  Paul counters the deceptive traditions that they were teaching. “For in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (v. 9). Huh? At first glance, this does not seem to go with the previous three verses, but it has everything to do with them. For man’s philosophy and traditions are the opposite of the truth found in this verse.

First, the man Christ Jesus (Yahshua) had dwelling in Him the fullness of the Godhead. That means that the Father Yahweh dwelt fully in Christ. The Spirit dwelt fully in Christ. But man’s tradition teaches that Christ was only one person out of the three of the Tri-une God. They do not teach that Yahweh dwelt and walked around in the man Christ, even though He constantly told bystanders that it was the Father within Him that was doing the miracles.

“And you are complete in Christ, which is the head of all principality and power” (v. 10). Man’s tradition teaches that we need a priest to intercede for us and saints to pray to, that we need a church house and elders and a pastor and ceremonies and candles and tithes and offerings, et al.

And man’s traditions don’t teach that baptism is more than an outward show that you are joining the church. They don’t teach you that he that is “baptized into Christ is baptized into His death. “We are buried with Christ by baptism” so that our old sinful heart and spirit “might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin” (Col. 2: 11-12; Rom. 6: 1-12).

The churches say you have to be baptized to show obedience to Christ. But they don’t have the spiritual depth to explain that the old sinful self is cut out without man’s hands by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The old sin guilt and desire to sin is cut out of our spirit and is replaced by a portion of His Spirit, resulting in a miracle heart transplant!

Sadly, in fact, man’s traditions teach just the opposite. They teach, You are a sinner saved by grace, and you will always be a sinner. And they say this with pride. But the apostles taught that you can in Him be free from sin (I John 3: 9).
Man’s teachings say that you cannot grow spiritually to eventually be like Christ. Their teachings, in a word, stunt a Christian’s growth like a seedling in the garden wilts under a sunless sky and brackish water.

These are some of the traditions of men that Paul warns us of. We must beware in order to grow up unto Him. For they will deceive and beguile and spoil the wonderful future that God has for those who believe His promises to us.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

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