Category Archives: false teachers

July 25, 2015 · 6:46 pm

Christian Growth–Additions to the Faith (Part Two)

Those of us who believe in the God of the Holy Bible have faith that He created the millions of galaxies and has a guiding hand in His creation. He made us and knows us and has instituted His plan and purpose for us and this earth. We have to believe that much.

Is it then a stretch for us to believe that this all-powerful Supreme Being has left us the map to find the treasures of His Spirit which is to grow up in our hearts? Christ is the truth, and now, if we are His, then His Spirit of truth is in us. Are not then the scriptures of truth, the Holy Bible, a book of written clues to help us find the treasures of His grace, mercy, and pleasure? He did say, Seek and ye shall find. So we have to believe that the Creator God is powerful enough to make sure some of His created human beings would preserve for us in our day a book that contains God’s treasure map.

For the scriptures contain for posterity the clues to the ultimate desire and longing of mortal man–immortality, eternal life, everlasting life. This is the reward Christ promised His followers.

It is all there in the Bible. Why then can’t we see clearly the clues to spiritual growth? Could it be unbelief that we can grow into having the same spiritual power as the early apostles? Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They like Peter saw that the tomb was empty, but they just did not believe that Christ was actually raised from the dead. And that unbelief blinded them so much that they did not recognize Christ Himself when He joined them on their walk. And after Christ showed Himself to them, then they believed and “their eyes were opened.” Before, “their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” And when He opened their eyes, they said, “He opened to us the scriptures” [1].

God Is the Only One that Can Open the Scriptures to Us

It is all Him, brethren. He opens the door that no man can close. And this door is the door to understanding and enlightenment as to the spiritual growth in His Kingdom. And this door that He opens is the opening of His written word that speaks of Him, the Word, the Logos.

Why are we not walking like the early apostles? It is because we have 2,000 years of false doctrines  and false concepts about Christ super-imposed on top of the initial truth. The early apostles literally saw Christ in action. He made them to be solid in their belief, for He needed witnesses to write the clues down that we would be pondering in our era.

They had the pure doctrines of Christ after He showed Himself after the resurrection. But now we have the traditions of men. That is why we do not grow very much. The mud of man’s traditions have been smeared on the eyes of the sheep of His pasture. And now He is crying to His people, Come home to Me! Leave your old concepts about Me behind. Cut off the traditions of men from your thinking. Repent of your sins, once and for all, and return to Me, and I will show you the new and living way.

Yes, what if the clues to the mysteries of spiritual growth are clearly given to us in the scriptures, and we have but to listen with fresh ears and hungry believing hearts the new thing that God wants to teach us.

For, brethren, there is so much more than what churchianity is teaching us. Let me put this in all capital letters. I hardly ever do this, but what I am about to write is so important. IF THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUR INFORMATION ABOUT GOD IS IN ERROR, THEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH IS NOT SPEAKING THROUGH THEM TO YOU.

That is why our Savior says for us to “prove all things.” Test everything. Examine all things. All things includes also what you think to be false. Prove it out from the scriptures, asking the Spirit of truth’s guidance. Seek and you will find the answers as to what is true and what is false. Getting this right is huge, and every one must bear their own burden of proof. And remember what the apostle John wrote to us: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many  false prophets are gone out into the world.” Test the teachings, for there are many false teachers out there (I Thes. 5: 21; I John 4: 1).

Once the old leaven teachings about Christ are purged out of our minds, then we are ready to add to His faith that “was once delivered to the saints.”  For it is His faith now in us. Seven attributes of His divine nature are to be added–not to just blind faithof ours in something about Christ. But added to His faith that was delivered to us. For there is only one faith, not many (II Peter 1).

Adding more of His divine nature is what spiritual growth is all about. But we must get rid of the false concepts before the Spirit of truth, which is God Himself, will come to take up His abode in us more fully. Which is the definition of real spiritual growth [2].        Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

1. Luke 24: 13-32

2. For more on this, check out these articles: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/false-prophets/

[For more on the additions, check out these articles: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/additions-to-our-faith/ ]

5 Comments

Filed under additions to our faith, apostles' doctrine, belief, children of God, eternal purpose, false doctrines, false prophets, false teachers, immortality, old leaven, spiritual growth, Spiritual Life Cycle

Tagged as , , , , ,

July 18, 2015 · 4:45 pm

Christian Growth–Additions to the Faith (Part One)

How does a Christian grow? What steps must be taken to “grow in grace”? What do we need to know and then to do, to spiritually progress to the growth God wants for us?

Somebody will say, Well, obviously you have to pray and read the Bible. But is that all there is to it? That’s a good start, but millions of well-meaning people have been uttering words to God and reading verses daily, and yet, they have not become mighty men and women of valor in God.

Will just praying and reading the Bible and going to church insure real spiritual growth? Millions sit in their weekly pews wanting to grow but remain stagnant and stunted like yellowed spindly  tomato plants, starving for rain and nourishment.

Stages to Our Spiritual Growth

To answer these questions, two major concepts must be understood. First, one must realize that there are stages to our spiritual growth. Christ taught these stages of spiritual growth in parables. In the parable of the sower the good ground (people with good and honest hearts) will bring forth fruit from the seed–some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some one hundred fold. In the parable of the seed cast into the ground, spiritual growth in the kingdom of God brings forth fruit, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” [1].

The apostles taught us about these three stages of spiritual growth. The apostle John wrote unto “children, young men, and fathers,” detailing spiritual characteristics of each level. We must recognize this reality. If we do not understand this, then we will not know how to judge ourselves and examine ourselves [2].

Thirty fold Christians are spiritual children, starting out as babes in Christ. Paul tells us how to recognize a babe in Christ. They are “dull of hearing.” They either have forgotten the “first principles of the doctrine of Christ” or were never taught them. They have need of milk and not strong meat. They are “unskilful  in the word of righteousness.” And they do not have “their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” [3].   They cannot tell the true doctrines of Christ and the false doctrines we are warned about by Christ and all of His apostles.

I am not trying to be callously critical about these. God expects us to grow up into Him. And it takes a frank look at ourselves to see where we need to change. I love the babes in Christ and want them to grow up into Him. I am merely relating what Christ and His apostles said about this growth level. We have to know about this so that we can grow and help others to grow. For it is all about His Spirit growing up in us. I mention this to substantiate this teaching about growth levels. {For much more on this subject read the articles found here:  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/spiritual-life-cycle/ ]

Most neophyte Christians are mostly alive for what they can receive from our Father. They often “ask amiss” to consume their request on their own desires for themselves. Most of the time they are asking for material things–jobs, money, houses, goods–but God already knows our earthly needs. It is the spiritual things that He is most concerned with as in “the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

The Second Thing–Discerning Both Good and Evil

The second thing that we must exercise  in order to grow is the discernment of “both good and evil.” And to discern these, one must have knowledge of what are  the true doctrines and what are the false doctrines about Christ and His plan and eternal purpose.

To bear the same spiritual powerful fruit that the early apostles did, we must purge out the old leaven false teachings that we have learned growing up on the planet.  They must be repented of and forsaken for good. For believing false concepts about Christ is the main reason young Christians don’t grow into strong, powerful men and women of God. False doctrines will stunt our growth! But to get rid of them takes courage and a love of God, despite the blow back of the foes of our own household. The clinging to traditions of men will hinder us from growing into Him [4].

One of the most damaging faults committed by young Christians is to believe that every church that they choose to go to has what is needed to help them grow and please God. The truth is that many old leaven false teachings and false concepts are taught in the denominational churches. These would include congregations that are non-denominational and yet still teach the same traditions and doctrines.

How can one know the true from the false? Christ said that you will know them by their fruits. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, He said. If they teach things that you cannot prove in the scriptures of truth, then it is suspect. We are to prove all things. Take everything that is taught to you and ask God to help you prove it out whether it is true or false. For in the end, you and I are responsible for our own walk. We cannot blame the preacher. For the Judge will say to us, Why did you not study it out and trust Me to help you in your search for truth?

For His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If what is taught to you is not helping you grow, ask God to lead you in your search. Ask Him for the Spirit of truth, and He will grant your request. Ask and it shall be given. Once the Spirit of truth abides in you, then He will lead you into all truth.

Hundreds of millions of professing Christians are languishing, caught up on the broad way that leads to destruction. They need proper instruction so that they may grow and not be those who hear the heart-breaking words our Savior told to them who claimed to have taught in His name and done many mighty things “serving” Him: Depart from Me; I never knew you [5].

After Getting Rid of False Doctrines

After we know about the growth levels in the Spirit, and after we begin to throw out the false concepts, what if God has provided for us the teachings to replace them–pure teachings that like strands of golden threads lying on a table, the Spirit of truth now begins to weave them into a golden chain that supports a spiritual locket that is filled with all the mysteries of God? Knowledge of the holy, knowledge fit for the offspring of the King, knowledge that unlocks growth for His future kings and queens?

For the way into the holiest is lighted once the old false teachings are removed. For the false doctrines about Christ spiritually blind us. Remember Paul, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, full of false doctrines, and how when he was enlightened on the road to Damascus, the scales fell away from His eyes? That is what we are talking about here. After the scales fell, then He could see into the pure teachings of Christ.

I believe that He wants to show us these true doctrines and teachings, truth necessary for us to really grow like the early apostles.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1. Mark 4: 14-20, 26-29

2. I John 2: 13

3. Hebrews 5: 11-14

4. https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/warning-beware-of-mans-traditions-about-christ/

What Prevents Christian Growth–The Deceitfulness of Sin

5. Matt. 7: 23

2 Comments

Filed under additions to our faith, apostles' doctrine, children of God, false doctrines, false teachers, kingdom of God, light, old leaven, princes and princesses of God, righteousness, sons and daughters of God, spiritual growth, Spiritual Life Cycle, truth

Tagged as , , ,

July 1, 2015 · 8:29 pm

“I Will Do a New Thing,” Saith Yahweh

Yahweh is crying out to us through the lips and pen of His prophet Isaiah. “Behold, I will do a new thing” in the earth for the last days (43: 19).

A new thing? If you take a stroll through the myriad denominational churches including the Catholic church, where is this new thing to be found? Nothing much has changed. The services are about the same as they were 50-15o  years ago. In fact, you can almost predict the invitational hymn at the end of a service by pulling upon your childhood memories of that same old sermon. It’s about the same.

Instead of the Holy Spirit leading us into more truth, the message heard in the churches remains about the same. Each sermon is projected through the grid of their particular denomination’s assumptions, traditions, and interpretations. Therefore, scripture passages are squeezed through their preconceived ideas of what the Bible is about. Furthermore, verses plop like cookie dough onto a baking pan, and they are served up half baked–devoid of nourishment as to the real story that the prophets and apostles taught and diligently wrote about. Sadly, most preachers and laity do not know that this is happening.

The Warning to You and Me

While all of the denominations are singing the same old song about Christ, all of the prophets and apostles in the Bible are warning us about false teachers in the so-called Christian camp.

Beware of them, they all caution us. Have you ever noticed that it is not Vishnu or Zeus or Osiris or Venus or the Sun-god or Buddha that they warn us about? It is always the “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” These false ministers of Christ are the ones we are warned of.

The false gods of the other religions don’t deceive anybody in our era. So “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: 13-15).  We see here that Satan comes on as a messenger of the light and that he has ministers, and he deceives people by having his ministers preach things about Christ. Question: Who are these people teaching the “broad way that leads to destruction”?

Christ Himself warned us about these false ministers that preach about Him. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Sheep’s clothing. They will look and sound just like the sheep of God’s pasture, but “inwardly,” their heart is far from Him (Matt. 7: 15).

A sincere seeker of truth will ask, How can we tell the difference between the true minister of Christ and the false? And Christ Himself answers, “You shall know them by their fruits…A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit” (7: 16-18).

We should not pass over this lightly. The true ministers of righteousness will teach that a good tree (a child of God) not only does not bring forth evil fruit (sin) but cannot bring forth evil fruit.   They will invariably teach that Christ may forgive you of your sins when you commit them, but you will always remain a sinner in your earthly walk.

He did not teach that; He said that “a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,” and “whosoever sins has not seen Him, neither known Him,” and [this one is very hard to take] “He that commits sin is of the devil…whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God” (I John 3: 6, 8-9). In a word, these ministers are not “doing a new thing” in Christianity.

So What Is the “New Thing” and When Will God Do It?

God will do His “new thing” after we get it right, after we purge out of our hearts and minds the false doctrines and concepts. Hence, all of the warnings about false teachers and prophets.

First we must take into our hearts that the great Spirit Father Yahweh dwelt in the Son Yahshua (spoken of as Jesus Christ in the English speaking world), and that Yahweh is the Savior, walking around in the Son (Isa. 43: 11; 45: 5, 21; Hos. 13: 4). “There is no savior besides Me,” says the LORD (Yahweh). Paul explains, “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Yahweh is the Redeemer (Isa. 43: 14). We simply must see and then receive into our hearts this revelation before He will do the new thing.

In fact, this revelation is part of the new thing that God is doing in the earth. He says that He is bringing down the old power structure of man. “They shall lie down together; they shall not rise; they are extinct” (43: 17). In fact, He is saying, Don’t remember these things, these “former things,” and do not “consider the things of old. Behold I will do a new thing” (v. 18-19).

And that new thing will be the pouring forth like a spring the “rivers of living water”out of the mouths of His elect in these latter days. This new thing will spring forth…making a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (v. 19).

There is a famine of hearing the word of God going on today. The earth is a barren spiritual wilderness, and through His Spirit, He is crying in this wilderness. And God is pouring out the “latter rain” of truth upon the thirsty ground, the “good ground,” and He is causing to flow “rivers in the desert.”

And only those who have ears to hear His words being taught by His Spirit through His teachers–they will drink. Even the heathen nations, the ethnos, the Gentiles, will honor God because He gives “waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to My people” (v. 20).

The new thing that He is doing is pouring out the truth of just who He is and what His plan and purpose is for this earth. And the “living waters” of truth will fall into those who have ears to hear, for not all have the ability to hear at this time. He is unambiguously giving the truth to those who can understand. The “truth” here would only include knowledge that is free from false concepts and traditions. Today He is revealing His truths and plainly putting them out there; He is not speaking in parables anymore. The “latter rain” of truth is the new thing.

And this latter rain that He is pouring out will drench the earth. And many shall drink of this Spirit of truth. But before one may drink, one must have a profound thirst for the “rivers of living waters” and not be drowned in the infected waters of falsehoods about God, which are legion.

And I say unto you once more, Beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothing.  kwh

 

 

5 Comments

Filed under elect, false doctrines, false prophets, false teachers, old leaven, truth, Yahweh

Tagged as , ,

February 28, 2015 · 6:25 pm

The False Vision and the True Vision

Two visions are given in the scriptures concerning this earth today. One is true and is from the Hebrew God Yahweh. And one is false. And both of these visions concerning God and His plan are out there on the airwaves, in cyberspace, and in the pulpits.

Since “there is nothing new under the sun,” and since “that which has been is now,” we look back to the prophet Jeremiah’s day. Then there were prophets speaking lies in God’s name to the people of Jerusalem. The Babylonian army was sweeping across the Middle East, and yet, they said that God was saying, “You will not see the sword, neither shall you have famine. But I will give you assured peace in this place” (Jer. 14: 13).

These “men of God” told the people what they wanted to hear–how God was going to spare them from Nebuchadnezzar’s army and how their “faithful worship” would be rewarded by God’s protection during the coming tribulation.

But Yahweh said to Jeremiah, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake to them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart” (14: 14). They were deceived and were predicting good things for the people in the face of imminent destruction. They wanted the “best” for their congregations and so were ripe to believe the lie that God would not punish their wickedness.

But Jeremiah had warned them earlier. “Be not proud…Give glory to Yahweh your God, before He cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while you look for light, He turn it into the shadow of death…Judah shall be carried away captive…and if thou say in thine heart, why come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity…” (13: 15-22).

And now I tell you that there is a sword coming upon us here in the West. The preachers today have told their flocks what they want to hear, how they will be lifted out of the earth just in the nick of time before the Tribulation Period starts. But like in Jeremiah’s day, today’s preachers, priests and prophets speak a “false vision” of what God will do during “the time of the end.”

A sword is coming upon the nations of this earth, upon the lost tribes of Israel, upon the West, and upon the whole world!

Devestation awaits the current edition of the world system, Babylon the Great, and its destruction will shake us all to our core. It will be so bad that only for His elect’s sake will God prevent total annihilation. Earthquakes, tidal waves, worldwide wars, famines, and cosmic catastrophes shall rack this earth and cause the survivors to wander in the “shadows of death.”

This world system is the rich man’s feeble attempt to rule this earth. It is Satan’s kingdom, and it is coming down. Read the vision of its fall in the book of Revelation.

The stage is being set for this final act. Devastation awaits, and Christians will suffer through the throes and agonies. And many will cry out to God, Why are these things coming upon us? We will suffer because of our iniquities–for tolerating the governments that legalized the murder of our helpless unborn babies; for condoning the addictions of drugs and pornography and the perversions of filthy movies and books; for sleeping while they shut our children’s mouths that just wanted to pray to the God of heaven; and for bowing our blindfolded eyes as they desecrated holy matrimony.

Holy matrimony. For few spoke up for God as they trounced the words of our King and Savior: “Have you not read, that He that made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matt. 19: 4-6). Male and female. Pretty simple.

No, the false prophets of our generation, from the presidents, premiers, and prime ministers, all the way down to the street corner pastor–preach a “false vision.” It is the “other gospel” that the apostle Paul warned us of. And because of the lies, our planet aches and groans in pain waiting and hoping for someone to rise up and say, No more lies.

For it is the truth about what is happening and what will happen to this earth and its inhabitants that will make us free. And the truth is that out of the rubble of the misery coming to the earth, the remnant of God will rise! His elect, His chosen ones, like Jeremiah, who after tortured tears cried for his people, wrote the true vision down for us. That we through “the patience and comfort of the scriptures” could find the map leading to the immortal city.

The whole world will suffer together during the end time wrap up. But out of this crucible of tears, a remnant of His people will shine forth as the sun. With their King’s Spirit, they with Him will lead the people who remain into a thousand years of peace. That is the vision that is true. That is the vision that Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel and the others saw. That is the true vision–the soon coming Kingdom of God established right here on this troubled planet with Christ the King of kings sitting on the throne–right beside His elect.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

10 Comments

Filed under abortion, Bible, catching away of the saints, elect, end time prophecy, eternal purpose, false doctrines, false prophets, false teachers, gospel, great tribulation period, kingdom of God, Lost Sheep of the House of Israel, manifestation of the sons of God, new world order, old leaven, One World Government, princes and princesses of God, sons and daughters of God, sons of God, Spirit of God, sufferings of Christians, vision, Yahweh

Tagged as , , ,

January 31, 2015 · 5:55 pm

Warning: Beware of Man’s Traditions About Christ

You ever notice how the apostles of Christ never warned the early Christians about the dangers of being deceived by the gods of the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Indians, Persians, et al. They weren’t concerned about Sol Invictus, the worship of the Sun god, nor the worship of the Roman Emperor, nor any of the invading mystery cult gods of the East.

They warned Christians about organized churches and synagogues who professed to know God even while they were being infected by the false teachings found in the worship of those very false gods.

Paul makes this clear: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 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” (II Cor 11: 13-14).

Much to be gleaned here. First, there are false apostles, individuals who claim to be sent by Jesus Christ (Yahshua) with His message. Their stock in trade, however is deceit. How do they deceive would be followers of Christ? They “transform themselves into preachers, teachers, and priests of the God of the Bible.

“Transforming themselves” comes from the Greek words meta schema, which means “to change fashion.” Someone’s schema is “the habitus, as comprising everything in a person which strikes the senses, the figure, bearing, discourse, actions, manner of life” [1]. In other words, when you look at one of these “false apostles” of Christ, you see and hear someone who you would expect to be a man or woman of God. Their appearance, the way they carry themselves, their words about Christ, their actions in the community, and their “manner of life” testify as to their self-declaration that they are indeed a person of God.

The old way of checking out somebody–if they walk like a duck, and talk like a duck, and act like a duck, they must be a duck–does not work in this case. In fact, this is part of man’s wisdom that must be thrown away in order to go on to higher growth of discernment in God.

So Just Who Are These False Preachers, Teachers, and Priests?

Who are they? Just look around. Churches on many corners teach the “traditions of men.” Their leaders do not dig deep as Christ admonished us. They are content to poll parrot what they heard in seminary, joyfully passing on poisoned pablum to the lambs instead of the true vision.

And it just wasn’t a lone apostle Paul who warned us of these. The apostle Peter, who backs up Paul, warns of them, also (II Pet. 3: 15-16). After lining out the steps on the road to spiritual maturity and son ship, he warns us of them. “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies…And many will follow their destructive ways…” (2: 1-3  Read all of II Peter and Jude for the full picture).

In lieu of the many deceptions put forth by imposters–however sincere they may sound and appear–Paul warns us to not be spoiled through man’s philosophy and “vain deceit.” Young Christians can be deceived by man’s traditions “after the elements of this world” system. Being deceived comes from believing corrupt man’s spin on the Christian life. This comes from pagan traditions soldered onto Christ’s gospel (Col. 2: 8).

One need only thoroughly study out the major holidays of Easter, Halloween, and Christmas in order to see how man’s traditions have dominated “Christian” things the masses hold dear. It is astounding how deceived the oceans of people are, never questioning the source of their traditions. Sometimes I want to cry out, my arms stretched wide, my heart saying, Why do you persist in following pagan rites and traditions super-imposed upon Christian sounding observances? Even the History Channel has broadcast documentaries exposing the error of our holidays! And yet we slosh on and on, mired in the same false mudslides of the fetid river of lies. When will we ever learn as a nation, as a people?

But I know that the remnant of God’s people are learning. They know and discern the deceitful doctrines, and when they do, they turn away from the intoxicating fumes of those falsehoods about God.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock [to be continued]

1. http://www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4976&t=KJV

 

 

10 Comments

Filed under Easter, false doctrines, false prophets, false teachers, old leaven, pagan holidays

Tagged as , ,

December 26, 2014 · 2:53 pm

The Open Vision and the Third Seal Famine

We are in a famine today. It is not a famine of food and drink, for we are literally fat from eating an abundance of food. No, the famine is spiritual; the bread we are lacking is the bread of life, the truth, the word of God. God did say that He “will  send a famine…not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD (Yahweh)” [1].

What do you mean, God? We have got churches on every corner. Everywhere you turn a preacher is talking about the things of the Bible. How could there be a spiritual famine? How could the people be lacking the word of God?

There is nothing new under the sun. It was the same in Samuel and David’s day. “And the word of Yahweh was precious in those days; there was no open vision” [2]. The word of God was “rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation.” They had priests and men of the cloth, but the word of God was a rare thing in the earth; not many had the Spirit in a reality.

And today we have the same condition. We are in a state of spiritual famine, for very few speak God’s mind, God’s thoughts. He says to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and yet, the preachers are one trick ponies, speaking about Christ, but never allowing Christ to speak through them. Each denomination has a pet doctrine that they have hammered into their followers; nothing new is breaking forth. If His Spirit were within the pastors and preachers, then they would speak what is on His mind, which is His kingdom and His righteousness.

But you never hear anything about it. Not really. The word says that God is “bringing many sons unto glory,” that Christ will allow the over comers to sit with Him “in His throne” [3].  But they just speak of “going to heaven”  and staying there, I suppose. But the word says that He is coming back to earth to set up His kingdom, His literal government, and He is bringing us with Him.

At His return He promises to resurrect the “dead in Christ,” giving them new spiritual bodies. And those of His who are alive when He returns will be given a new spiritual immortal body [4]. And we are going to be with Him as He separates the sheep nations from the goat nations.

Get the scene. He is sitting on His throne here on earth, having “come in His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.” Yes, He makes a distinction; He is so politically incorrect. All ethnos, all nations are gathered [5].

So we have sheep nations on His right hand and goat nations on His left. The question that should be on our minds at this juncture is, Who is who? Which one is which? Who are the blessed sheep nations, and which nations are the unblessed on His left.

For He says to those on His right, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Why them and not the other nations? “For I was hungry and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in. Naked, and you clothed me…” And the sheep nations ask Him, When did we do all that? And He says, “Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto Me.”

The goat nations did not do this. Therefore, they did not show mercy to Him. They have their reward (v. 46). Who are these sheep nations blessed by the King? Just look around and see who reached out in Christian love down through the centuries and you will have your answer. Who are the generous and charitable nations that have reached out and helped the other nations? You make the call.

But the preachers never speak of these things that fill His mind and thoughts. They issue shallow platitudes about this passage in Matthew that they heard from someone, if they comment at all. No wonder He said, “My thoughts are not your thoughts” [6].

A Spiritual Famine in the Land

No, we have a famine in the land, a famine of hearing the true words and thoughts of God. We have come to a point in time that signals the last days are upon us. His sheep nations are prosperous but have grown fat and “have forgotten the Rock from whence they are hewn.” And because of this apostate condition, God has sent a spiritual famine upon the earth. Before in the old days, it was a literal physical famine that God would send to His people when they strayed to serve other gods. Now it is a spiritual dearth that is enveloping the land.

There is “no open vision.” The Hebrew word for “open” in this passage is translated in other places as “bursting forth,” signifying a “overflowing”  (Prov. 3: 9-10). If we honor the LORD (Yahweh), then our presses will “burst out with new wine.” The word of God via His Spirit will burst out, will overflow our hearts and minds–if we trust in Him (v. 5) and keep His commandments (v. 1). If we “fear God”–if we have reverential awe of Him and His greatness and power, then the wine presses of our lives will “burst forth with new wine.” The new wine is the new doctrine, the new teachings that His Spirit is putting forth today. The famine will cease when we awaken to Him as the scripture truly depicts Him and not as the old ossified traditional teachings describe Christ.

When we get it right with the correct concepts of Him in line with His thinking, then we will not be blind. We will be able to see that Yahweh is the Savior [7], and that He was in the man Christ, saving us through Him [8]. When we get rid of the old leaven concepts about Him and begin to walk and think His true thoughts, then the famine will be lifted, and His Spirit will break out and overflow us and be abundant in our lives.

The Third Seal

We are in the midst of the third seal on the book of the earth’s end time future. We are in a famine as it was in Samuel and David’s day. There are many false teachers speaking words, but not the words of Yahweh. The third seal speaks of famine which leads to the fourth seal, Death. No word of God = no life = death [ 9].

These teachers and preachers of false doctrines are the ones that the apostles and prophets warned us of incessantly. They are either sincerely ignorant or willfully ignorant; God is their judge. But we are admonished to turn away from them, for they are “blind leaders of the blind.”

Why are they blind? “For Yahweh has poured out upon you the spirit of sleep, and has closed your eyes.” Who are these spiritually asleep? “The prophets…and their seers.” The preachers are asleep, put in that condition by God Himself (Isa. 29: 10-14).

Consequently, the whole vision, plan and purpose of God is a sealed book (v. 11). And those whom God has blinded with a spiritual sleep, they can’t read what is in God’s sealed book of what is taking place and what will take place shortly on the earth. We must put the sealed book of Isaiah 29 with the sealed book of Revelation 6.

Why are they blind and asleep and can’t read the sealed book? Because their worship of God is based on man made concepts and precepts and doctrines and teachings (v. 13). And because of this, we have a famine “of the hearing of God’s word” about His real vision and purpose.

But some will shake themselves out of this sleep and awaken to Him in a reality. They will build the old waste places and will with Him at their side administer in this earth a new beginning in His kingdom.  We must ask ourselves, Are we willing to pay the price to become one of His future kings?     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

1. Amos 8: 11

2. I Samuel 3: 1 KJV; NKJV

3. Rom. 8: 18-30; Rev. 3: 21

4. I Cor. 15: 42-54

5. Matt. 25: 31-46

6. Isa. 55: 8

7. Isa. 42: 3, 11

8. II Cor. 5: 19

9. Rev. 6: 5-8

6 Comments

Filed under death, elect, eternal purpose, false doctrines, false prophets, false teachers, great tribulation period, kingdom of God, old leaven, Yahweh

Tagged as , , , ,

March 1, 2014 · 8:15 pm

Self-Sacrifice Versus Self-Improvement in Christian Growth

Life is all about love.  It is about living to love. Life is our time to love.

But it is about great love, selfless love, agape love. For that is what touches the human heart–love. But this the highest love is the giving-up-one’s-life-for-another kind of love. It is that rare selfless love. And that is the part of the Christian story that reaches into the inner recesses of the heart and gently breaks it. It touches us. That’s the kind of love that is great–laying down one’s life for a friend.

And that is where the Christian’s Savior reigns supreme in touching hearts. Hearing of His undeniable love in taking our sins upon Himself and providing Himself as an offering for our sins–for the selfish likes of us–that is what touches us.

The cool untouchable reflection of Buddha does not touch us like Christ does. It is, after all, an exercise in helping one’s self gain peace. The busy petty pantheons of India, Rome, and Greece do not move us like Christ does.

Nor do nebulous new age imaginations touch us, for they all are mere means of self-improvement, not self-denial to help others.

And we humans know too well deep down in the core of our beings that self-improvement of the self is, well, self-centered and self-important and has little to do with worshipping the Creator who needs no improvement. For His ways are perfect; His thoughts are law.

This then should give us Christians pause. For we are warned repeatedly in almost every book in the New Testament that there will be false teachers. And even though well-meaning, they “will bring in damnable heresies.”

And the heretical teaching most damning, that condemns that vulnerable babe in Christ to a stunted spiritual growth is the doctrine of “self-improvement.” In an old tract it was call “The Modern Smooth Cross,” as opposed to the austerity of the “old rugged cross.”

The smooth modern cross does not demand the death of the old self on the cross with Christ, our sin Sacrifice, the Passover Lamb of God. This doctrine merely re-directs ambitions, improves little idiosyncrasies. It never gets down to the real problem–the sin nature that is brought to the church house.

In this modern doctrine of self-improvement, the self is still there. It is never demanded to die with Christ. Therefore, the sinful self is hibernating there under the initial rush and excitement of fellowship, hiding like a cornered wild animal waiting to strike out and wound whoever would pressure it out of its comfortable lair. Some feel quite at home and feel no threats to their current status in Christendom and carry on walking through the wide gate.

The Self-Sacrifice of Spiritual Circumcision

However, we now must remember that we Christians have undergone an invisible spiritual circumcision, “made without hands, in putting off the body of sins of the flesh (Col. 2: 11-13).  For we were already “dead in our sins (v. 13). And now God has provided a way to let that sinful nature die now and avoid the rush. And we have been “buried with Him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead” (v. 12). That is how God sees it and judges it regardless of whether we see it or even feel it. The “we,” the self is dead. He said it; now we believe it.

He died on the cross; our sinful nature died with Him. He was buried; we were buried spiritually, our old sinful nature entombed forever. He was raised from the dead; we are raised with Him and “walk in newness of life (Rom. 6: 4). And we must know this one thing: “That our old man is crucified with  Him [it is already done and over with], that the body of sin might be destroyed [that means dead, caput, no more, totally annihilated], that henceforth we should not serve sin”  (Rom. 6: 6).

So how to do this in a reality? We must reckon it so. We must account that it is done like God has already done. “Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God” (6: 11). Let the invisible chains of sin’s slavery fall off of you. Just walk off of the plantation. You are already dead, so just let the old sinful life go. Be alive unto God. Walk in a new life through Him and through belief in His resurrection. It is already done. God’s Emancipation Proclamation has gone forth. Just believe it, and walk off of the plantation. You are free. You don’t have to sin anymore. Whether you have been going to church three months, three years, or thirty or more years–you are free now. Just believe it; it is already accomplished. I am proclaiming liberty to the captives. Walk on in the light of His love. Give up your life for others. Sacrifice your self to help save mankind. In a word, be like Christ. That is what He is asking us to do. After he told His disciples of these things, He asked them, Are you sure you want to do this? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

The Effect?

“He that is dead is freed from sin” (6: 7). Very few preachers tell their congregations that they are freed from sin. To the contrary, they tell them how sinful they are, but never tell them how to be free from that bondage to sinning. They proudly proclaim that they are a “sinner saved by grace” and will always be a sinner. Where does the Bible say that? Just read  1 John 3: 9. They will proclaim that they “sin every day.”

But why won’t they tell them that they are freed from the clutches of sin? Because they have not taught them that they must let their sinful old nature die with Christ on the cross. No death of sinful heart=no freedom from its bondage. For “whoever commits sin is the servant [slave] of sin,” Christ said (John 8: 34). He also said that “no man can serve two masters.” You cannot serve God and serve sin. Sharp cutting words, but needful.

But tired old churchianity slogs on, “teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.” Their leaders “cause them to err,” and they will give an account to the Judge who will weigh all their justifications and give His verdict, as they are led from the room muttering, “But did we not prophesy in Your name?”

The message written here will bless the hearts of some, but some will scurry out of its light, back to the friendly confines of modern Christendom’s “Today’s Tips for Self-Improvement. ”   Kenneth Wayne Hancock    {If you haven’t visited my website Immortality Road, please do. There you will find over 300 articles and books exploring the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” all written for you, the elect sons and daughters of God, the future rulers with Christ in His soon coming kingdom
https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com }

2 Comments

Filed under agape, baptism, belief, Bible, cross, crucified with Christ, death, death of self, faith, false doctrines, false teachers, love, repentance, resurrection, sin

Tagged as , , , ,

December 28, 2013 · 10:53 pm

Making Our Calling and Election Sure

We are admonished by the apostle Peter to “make our calling and election sure.” You mean that we have to do something? I thought it was all God and His grace that helps us to be what He wants us to be. It is, but there remains things we must do in order for the spiritual growth to take place.

We must study and pray and eventually fast that the culprit Unbelief might skulk away out of our spiritual lives. For it is unbelief that hinders our growth. But the Spirit has left us a roadmap, a way of cutting through the haze of phony doctrines about God.

Peter tells us in his second letter the steps we should take. He explains that to grow to full maturity, we must add seven attributes to our faith.

Peter writes to those who “have obtained like precious faith with us” (2 Peter 1: 1). The elect, God’s chosen ones for this high calling, have received the same exact precious faith that the early apostles received.

Now this comes about in our lives “through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Yahshua)” (v. 1). After we were convicted of our sin-guiltiness, and after we stepped out and laid down our old sinful self on the cross and died in revelation with the sacrificial Lamb of God, we, by believing that Christ was raised from the dead, receive a newly resurrected life by faith.

It is His faith that we have received. God believed in His own power to raise up the Lamb of God, and when we believed that, then we obtained that very same belief in the form of a “new heart” and a new spirit. By believing in His resurrection, we also believe that we were raised from the dead, for we were definitely dead in our sins—the walking dead, as it were. But now we are  alive from the dead, and we bear God’s very own faith in our bosom. As Paul said, “Old things are passed away,” and all things “are become new.” It is no longer the old Adamic man, writhing in the guilt of sin, that now lives, but rather the new man Christ, who has now begun His growth within our new hearts.

This is the faith we have obtained with Peter, Paul, James, and John. Faith is the foundation that must be added to, just like a builder adds walls, a roof, windows and doors to the foundation of the new house he is building. And it is this faith—God’s faith now in us, not our faith in Him—that must be added unto.

Adding Seven Spiritual Attributes Insures Three Things

We are to add to our faith “virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity [agape love]” (1: 5-7).

Peter writes that adding these seven spiritual attributes to His faith in us yields three major things in God’s plan for these latter days. First, they insure that we will not “be barren nor unfruitful” (1: 8). God wants us to bear “much fruit” and is glorified when we do (John 15: 8).

Second, the additions to our faith are how we solidify our standing as one of God’s elect; it is how we “make our calling and election sure.” Walking in these seven attributes of God’s nature insures our place in the elect. Or better put, those destined to be part of the elect will build their spiritual house with these attributes (1: 10).

Furthermore, it is through them that “an entrance shall be ministered unto [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior” (1: 11).

Adding them is how we “partake of His divine nature” (1: 4). It is how we make our calling and election sure, how we never fall, how we will be full of spiritual fruit, how we will receive an entrance into His kingdom, and how we will “partake of His divine nature.” That sums up what spiritual growth is about. That is how important these things are as outlined by Peter in his Second Epistle, Chapter 1.

A Serious Assignment

Adding these attributes is a serious assignment that only the Spirit of truth can teach, for it is He that leads us into all truth. Truth being the key word.

“Truth is fallen in the streets,” says the prophet. And there is a famine in the land, a famine of the word of God. Because of this dearth, adding these seven attributes is a formidable task. Why? Peter in the very next chapter forewarns us of how the devil will hinder our growth in becoming God’s elect. He warns us to beware of false prophets and false teachers who “shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” And many will follow these hypocrites, who will “speak great swelling words of vanity” and will “promise them liberty” while they are “the servants of corruption” (II Peter 2:1-19).

And how does this second chapter tie into the first? These false “Christian” teachers will spew out false teachings that will hinder a young Christian’s spiritual growth. Peter gives his stark warning to us so that we would not be hijacked and taken away by the enemy, thus prohibiting us from making our calling and election sure. Bluntly put, false teachings will thwart the children of God from growing into fully matured Christians, fit to sit on the throne with Christ. Getting rid of these false concepts about God is where the study and prayer come in after true knowledge comes to us.

Isaiah wonders, “Who hath believed our report?” Who will answer the call to go all the way to the throne of God? Only the adventurous. Only the unafraid. Only the rebels who refuse to come under the yoke of the god of this world. Only those who trust in the Spirit of God within themselves, as He helps them separate the good teachings from the bad.

But man’s wisdom cannot teach this truth to the elect. Old Adamic man just cannot teach it to us, nor the well-meaning manna-gatherers of yesteryear, who fed the flock of God with the spiritual bread that they had one hundred, five hundred, or one thousand or more years ago. That cannot sustain the elect of God for these latter days. For these elect must have the “present truth”—food convenient for them.

God is doing a new thing; He is pouring out new light as to His plan and purpose. The Spirit is pouring out His truth today all over the earth. He has seven thousand unbowed to Baal, and they are like river bed conduits of His living water. Those who thirst will drink. The rest will with parched throats persist in scratching moisture out of broken cisterns of the waters of the past, repositories of the damp shadows of truth.

For God is doing a new thing in the earth, a thing that men will not believe though God Himself tells them. For He has already, even though He has blinded all but the remnant, the elect. But they will prepare and do and put on these additions to the “faith once delivered to the saints.”   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment

Filed under additions to our faith, agape, death of self, elect, faith, false doctrines, false prophets, false teachers, Spirit of God

Tagged as , , ,

December 6, 2013 · 9:57 pm

Disproving the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory

Scant few scripture passages are used to “prove” the erroneous pre-tribulation rapture theory. Some people use this one: “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Mt. 24: 40). They will just pluck it up out of its context, prop it up, display it, and use it to try to prove that the rapture happens before the Tribulation Period begins.

I agree that the word “taken” here is a good thing, for the Greek word (#3880) is translated in other places as “receive,” as in receiving the word of God [ http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3880&t=KJV ]. So, yes, one is “received” or “taken” by God and the other is left. But, when does this take place? Is it before the tribulation starts or after? That is the question whose scriptural answer cannot be ascertained by just plucking the verse out of context.

So let’s dig deeper into the “one taken, the other left” passage. This verse starts with the word “Then.” “Then” signifies that something else has had to have happened before “one is taken.”

And that something that Christ alludes to is the flood of Noah, as seen in verses 37-39, just before the “taken/left” passage. We are talking ultimately here about the “coming of the Son of man” (v. 37). Noah and his family were those who were taken or received by God and preserved through the tribulation of the flood. The others would not listen to Noah and “knew not until the flood came” (v. 39).

But Noah knew when the flood would come! “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights…” (Gen. 7: 4). Noah knew that in seven days the flood would start. He knew, for God told him. And, yet, unenlightened preachers  expound in pulpits across the land that “no one can know the day or hour of His coming.” And they cite this very passage! But Noah knew! In seven days the flood would come. Will God tell a righteous man in our day when His coming will be?

What no man will know is when “heaven and earth shall pass away” in Matt. 24: 35! “But of that day and hour knows no man” (v. 36). “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (v. 37). Christ likens when the coming of the Son of man will be just like it was in Noah’s day. Noah knew and was “taken” by God in the Ark, and the others were left.

This is the context leading to verse 40: “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” The Tribulation has already started! The “abomination of desolation has already taken place in verse 15, which is further context for v. 40.

The Anti-Christ standing in the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem is a stupendous sign. “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (24: 21). The Tribulation Period starts here, 19 verses before the supposed rapture-proving verse 40 where one is taken, one left.

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved” (v. 22). Great calamity and distress and destruction is happening. But for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (v. 22). The elect chosen ones of God, His church, are in grave danger of being destroyed in the tribulation. They are on earth in harm’s way, and to spare them, God shortens the time of destruction; He cuts it short to save their lives.” They are still on earth, for why would God have to spare them if they were with Him in heaven, having been raptured out of danger earlier?

And make no mistake who the elect in this passage are.  They are His church, His body of believers. And since they will be “caught up to meet Him in the air,” upon His return, it must be after the tribulation period ends.

The going will get rough for the last generation of His elect, those alive when Christ returns to set up His kingdom here on earth. For they will have to endure the Great Tribulation Period. But He is faithful to protect us from those hard times.                                                     [For other articles disproving the pre-tribulation rapture theory click here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=rapture ]

9 Comments

Filed under elect, end time prophecy, false teachers, great tribulation period, knowledge, Rapture

Tagged as , ,

October 19, 2013 · 4:30 pm

The Hidden Wisdom and the Power of God

It is hiding in plain sight, this great mystery that the apostles and prophets wrote about. It is not in man’s old nature to see and understand what it is, for this hidden wisdom of God entails attributes that are completely opposite of the old nature man is born with.

In fact, when old man Adam glimpses the hidden wisdom in operation in a human’s life, it appears as foolishness. But God has chosen the foolish, weak, base, and despised things on this planet to confound the current powers that be–those humans who think that they in their own strength and position rule their own destinies (I Cor. 1: 25-29).

So just what is this wisdom of God that is hidden from men? What is this secret mystery of God that He withholds from carnal man’s eyes? The answer is in that first letter to the church at Corinth that the apostle Paul wrote.  In it he upbraids them for their lack of spirituality, citing many instances of their carnality and lack of the Spirit.

Paul explains early on in the letter that he was not coming to them “with enticing words of man’s wisdom,” but in the Spirit and its power” (2: 4).  They were hung up on following the teachings of a man. Some were saying, “I am of Paul and I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas” (1: 12).  Sounds like, I am of Luther; I am of the Pope; I am of Wesley; I am of Russell; I am of…ad infinitum. Denominationalism was already in full bloom by AD 59. “Only by pride comes contention.” And such contention as seen in the modern day churches comes in believing that they are the only ones who have the truth.

It is this vain glory that causes the divisions and schisms in the church (1: 10-17). Most denominations, distrustful of each other, labor in carnality, thus showing a lack of the wisdom of God.  We all should be “perfectly joined together.” But how? “By having the same mind.” Which mind? “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ,” which was a mind of humility, which is exemplified in the cross.

The Preaching of the Cross

The cross experience is for us to go through, not just observe in another.  Man’s wisdom looks at this as the man Christ dying on the cross for our sins.  But Paul speaks of the hidden wisdom of God as “the preaching of the cross” and what it spiritually represents.

Had the rulers of this world in Christ’s day known of this hidden wisdom of God, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  Make no mistake of who they were.  They were the offspring of Edom who had converted to Pharisaism and by Christ’s day held most of the top posts in the religious hierarchy of Jerusalem.  They were the chief priests and religious henchmen who conspired on trumped up charges to get rid of Christ.  They goaded the people and the Romans to crucify Him, which is just what God wanted them to do. They thought in their carnal man’s wisdom that they were getting rid of Him, when they were in reality ensuring that “the cross” and the humility of God that it signified in the hearts of all mankind would ring down like joyful bells through the ages.

Of course, if the rulers at Jerusalem knew of this hidden wisdom of humility, they would not have crucified Christ.  For His cross experience put to death our old sinful nature, which was placed upon Him just before He expired on that cross.  Not only our sins died with Him that day, but also our old sinful carnal nature died as well. When He died, our old sinful self died; when He was buried, our old lives were buried with Him.  When He was resurrected, we were also “raised to walk in a newness of life.”  We are free from the bondage of having to sin,” for “he that is dead is freed from sin.” Those who believe this become “new creatures” by faith, and we receive His Spirit within and receive a new heart.

This is the preaching of the cross.  This is the hidden wisdom; this is that special knowledge of God that is hidden from carnal man and definitely hidden from the rulers of this world system, as it was hidden from the rulers of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. This act of humility–giving up our old lives–is the cross experience and is the hidden wisdom put into action in our hearts.  It is the only sacrifice that God is pleased with, for it takes faith.  It takes believing that He has done all this for us.

Those who go through this cross experience receive the resurrection power of the Spirit into their new hearts and their lives begin to change, and through proper nurturing, they will grow up into Him and He in them. But they are the desperate ones to change, and they will love much, for they will know that they have been forgiven much.  In this crucible lies the hidden wisdom and the power of God.     KWH

8 Comments

Filed under belief, body of Christ, church, cross, crucified with Christ, death of self, faith, false teachers, glorification, humility, old self, repentance, resurrection, sin, spiritual growth, wisdom

Tagged as , , ,