Category Archives: glorification

The Shield of Faith and Hope—Working Together to Produce Agape Love

Faith and Hope United

Faith is “being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1, NET). Faith rests upon the promises of God and gives certainty to the hope He has placed before us. Though His promises remain invisible to our physical eyes, faith enables us to embrace them as realities that will surely come to pass.

Hope is founded upon the Word of God and the promises He has spoken. He has promised His children eternal life, a dwelling place in the New Jerusalem, and the inheritance of a glorified spiritual body (Revelation 21:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:42-54). Because these promises have not yet been fully realized, we hope for them. Faith, however, gives us assurance that what God has promised will indeed be fulfilled.

Thus, faith and hope are inseparably linked. Hope looks forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises, while faith is the confident assurance that those promises are certain. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and convinced of what we have not yet seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

Hope, Faith, and the Production of Agape

This relationship between faith and hope provides the foundation upon which agape love is manifested. Hope is generated through hearing the Word of God and receiving His promises. For this reason, Scripture says, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

As we hear His Word, the Holy Spirit works within us, revealing truth and granting understanding through His gentle illumination (John 16:13). These spiritual insights strengthen our faith and teach us to walk in His ways. As we continue on this path, agape love increasingly abides in our hearts. We become grateful to Christ for calling and choosing us and for revealing His divine purpose to us. Every road that leads to Him ultimately brings us into the blessing of His abiding presence (John 15:4-10). His presence and abiding in us is Agape Love.

The Hope Set Before Us

(Romans 8:14-29)

The Apostle Paul describes several aspects of the hope that God has given to His children:

  • God’s glory shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).
  • The sons and daughters of God are those who are led by His Spirit (Romans 8:14).
  • The whole creation eagerly awaits the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19).
  • Creation itself was subjected to futility in hope that it would one day be delivered from corruption and decay (Romans 8:20-21).
  • We hope for what we do not yet see, waiting patiently for its fulfillment (Romans 8:24-25).
  • God foreknew, called, and predestined His people to be conformed to the image of His Son, “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

These promises constitute the hope of our calling. Although they remain future realities, faith enables us to be fully persuaded that God will accomplish all that He has promised.

The Faith of Christ Toward Us

This is the hope of which we are sure and the faith by which we are convinced. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, demonstrating both the depth of His love and the certainty of His purpose (Romans 5:8). He saw beyond what we were and looked toward what we could become through His grace.

Christ endured the cross because of the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2). He looked forward to the harvest of sons and daughters who would respond to His calling. In this sense, His actions reveal a perfect confidence in the Father’s plan and purpose. He showed us the way and invited us to follow Him into the same hope-filled faith.

The Faith of God

(Genesis 1:26-28; Isaiah 46:9-10)

From the beginning, God exercised faith in the sense described by Hebrews 11:1. He was completely assured of what He purposed to accomplish and fully convinced that His plan would come to pass. Before creation itself unfolded, He declared the end from the beginning and established His purpose for humanity (Isaiah 46:9-10).

God’s purpose has always been to expand His family by bringing many sons and daughters to glory (Hebrews 2:10). He was certain that His plan would succeed and that His Word would not return void. This divine certainty is reflected in His works throughout history and is now shared with us through the faith that comes from hearing His Word.

A powerful example is found in the resurrection of Christ. The Father was fully assured that His power would raise His Son from the dead, fulfilling every promise He had spoken (Acts 2:24; Romans 6:4). This demonstrates God’s unwavering confidence in His own purpose and power. Before we ever existed, He had already determined that His promises would stand and that His redemptive plan would be fulfilled. Such confidence is the very foundation upon which our faith rests.

Conclusion The shield of faith is inseparably connected to hope and agape love. Hope looks forward to the promises of God, faith embraces those promises with certainty, and agape is the fruit produced as God’s Spirit works within us. Through hearing His Word, receiving His promises, and walking in His ways, we grow in faith and become established in hope. As this process unfolds, the love of God increasingly fills our hearts, directing us ever closer to Him. Therefore, faith, hope, and agape remain inseparable companions in the life of every believer, for “now abideth faith, hope, charity [agape love], these three; but the greatest of these is charity [agape love]” (1 Corinthians 13:13).       Kenneth Wayne Hancock [Having made it this far, you have been blessed by our Father. For He is the One who gave this to me five days ago. This is His letter to us all. I have been studying it for five days. I found out that the knowledge found here is a precious spiritual commodity. Don’t skip over it like a butterfly floating to the next flower. Go over this several times. Dig deep and you will put your house upon the Rock.]

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The Seed‑Son: The Mystery of God’s Reproduction

Every generation asks, Who is the Son of God? But few ever ask the deeper question: What is the Son of God? Scripture speaks of Him not only as a Person but as a Seed, a Word, a Logos—containing within Himself the entire destiny of God’s purpose. To understand Christ is to understand the mystery of God’s reproduction, the mystery of election, and the mystery of the sons and daughters who will bear His image in the final harvest.

The Son of God is the Seed‑Word in whom the fullness of God and the destiny of His elect are written; and those whom the Father reveals this Seed to are the very ones through whom He will reproduce Himself, manifest His life, and finish His work on earth.

The Son as the Seed‑Word

“In the beginning was the Word.” Yahweh declares Himself the First, the Beginning, the One who calls all generations from the start. Christ likewise says He is the Alpha, the Beginning, the First. The Father is the Word, and the Word is the Logos, and the Logos is the Seed. Christ Himself interprets the parable: “The seed is the word of God.” Therefore the Seed/Word/Logos “was made flesh and dwelt among us,” and this Seed was called both the Son of God and the Son of Man. Christ is the Seed‑Son, the grain of wheat that must fall into the ground and die to bring forth much fruit. (Isaiah 41:4; John 1:1,14; Revelation 1:8; Luke 8:11; John 12:24)

The Seed Contains the Fullness of God and the Names of His Elect

Just as a tiny garden seed contains the entire destiny of the plant—from germination to harvest—so the Seed‑Son contains “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Inside this divine Seed is written the destiny of all whom He will reproduce Himself through. The Father’s business is the reproduction of Himself, and the Son declared, “I must be about My Father’s business.” The Seed is not merely Christ’s identity; it is the blueprint of God’s entire family, the encoded life of every son and daughter who will be conformed to His image. (Colossians 2:9; Luke 2:49; Romans 8:29)

The Son Reveals Himself Only to the Elect

Who is destined to see the Living Word? Scripture answers plainly: only those to whom He chooses to reveal Himself. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” It is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Jacob was loved; Esau was not chosen. This is not cruelty—it is the austere wisdom of God, who chooses vessels for His glory. Christ Himself prayed, “They were Yours, and You gave them to Me.” Those who receive His words, believe His sending, and keep His truth are the ones chosen to behold the Seed‑Son. (Romans 9:13–16; John 17:6–10)

The Elect Are Given to the Son for Reproduction and Warfare

Because we are given to Christ, we are not our own. We were bought with a price—the ransom of His own life. The Father gave Him souls who would follow Him into the hundredfold harvest, souls who would not follow a stranger’s voice. These chosen ones are enlisted into Yahweh’s spiritual army. The Old Testament battles, tribes, and patriarchs serve as types and shadows of the warfare required to defeat Satan today. The New Testament saints are like knights conquering strongholds, answering the call of the Father’s army. If God is for us, who can be against us? (1 Corinthians 6:20; Matthew 13:23; John 10:4–5; Romans 8:31; Hebrews 11)

The Seed‑Son Reproduces Himself Through His Body

In Christ we are part of the Seed‑Son. He is sowing His people across the earth. Some say the Genesis Seed has already been harvested in Christ, but Scripture shows the harvest is not yet complete. Christ is the Seed planted at His death and raised at His resurrection; His body is the field in which He multiplies Himself. Therefore, we must do what Christ is doing: believe on Him whom the Father has sent, finish His work, and bear witness to the truth of God’s reproduction. When the Seed germinates in us, resurrection power will manifest through signs and wonders. And it all begins with wisdom and knowledge—the first gifts of the Spirit—given to equip us for His purpose. (John 6:29; John 4:34; Matthew 13:38; John 14:12; 1 Corinthians 12:8)

Conclusion The Son of God is the Seed‑Word—the divine Logos containing the fullness of God and the destiny of His elect. Those whom the Father chooses to reveal this Seed to are the ones given to Christ for reproduction, transformation, and spiritual warfare. As the Seed germinates within His people, they become the instruments through whom God finishes His work on earth. The harvest is coming. The sons and daughters are rising. And the Seed‑Son will multiply Himself until the Father’s purpose is complete.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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

The Mountain of God and the End Declared from the Beginning

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

III. God Known in Her Palaces: The Manifest Presence

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

This is the fulfillment of the abiding promise:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VII. Walking About Zion: The Pilgrimage of the Redeemed

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

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

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

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

IX. Zion and the Theology of Abiding

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

In Zion:

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

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

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

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

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

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The Unveiling of God’s Sons: Love’s Final Act

God’s final act of love for this world is the unveiling of His children during these latter days. These sons and daughters are not the average church-going Christians. They will know that everything that has ever taken place on earth is prerequisite to this final revealing.

All the apostles spoke of their existence in His plan. The apostle John said that we are the sons (children) of God and that we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). Being like him is not just being saved and going to church. No, He’s promising to do the same things in the earth, the same miracle working power continuing.

John also said that when we receive the Spirit of Christ, God will give us “power to become the sons of God, even to them who believe on his name.” Christ’s Hebrew name is Yahshua. It means Yah is the Savior (John 1:12).

The central theme of Paul’s writings was God revealing His sons to the world. He said that the entire creation “groans and travails in pain waiting for the adoption, waiting for the “manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19-22). He said that Christ was the first-born son, “the first born among many brothers” (8: 29).

Peter Confirms It

Peter calls the sons of God “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people… the people of God” (I Peter 2 :9). He also says that God has given us promises wherein we are “partakers of the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4). We now take part in God’s sinless nature, growing up in Him. [You need to order my book, The Unveiling of the Sons of God. It’s free with free shipping.  Click here: Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road]

Not Many Mighty, Not Many Noble Are Called and Chosen

God has deliberately chosen people who are not powerful. In fact, these future 100-fold sons and daughters of God are taken from a lower state on the earth, so that when God effects great spiritual changes in their lives, and they begin to do the “greater works,” then they will know who is doing it–God and not them. “That no flesh should glory in His presence” (I Cor.1:29).

They are new recruits in Gideon’s army; they are very few; they are without weapons for earthly combat. These future manifested sons will be despised like Goliath despised David, but God has chosen them, and they will surrender to His call. And they will help bring an end to Satan’s government. This is the revelation that the stories from the Old Testament tell us.

The offspring of God, who once were dead in their sins, have now been made alive by his faith in Christ’s resurrection. God, “declaring the end from the beginning,” sees the end product of God’s spiritual life cycle within them and “calls those things that be not [Christ fully in them] as though they were.” (Romans 4:17).

Finally, this divine unveiling is not a distant hope but a present reality unfolding in the hearts of those who believe. The Spirit of Christ empowers His children to walk in the fullness of their identity—not merely as followers, but as manifest sons carrying His likeness and authority. As creation groans in anticipation, the sons of God arise, revealing Yahweh’s glory through lives transformed and miracles continued. This is the culmination of all history: the revelation of a people who reflect Him, move in Him, and fulfill His purpose on earth.   kwh [If this has stirred your heart, tell His people about it by commenting. Love to hear from you.]

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The Final Act of the Play, “The Book of Life”

Every war waged on the battlefields of this blood-stained earth, every government’s shady dealings in back rooms with the super-rich, every sober gathering of this world’s elite as they plot out the next step to One World Government, and every humble gathering of God’s people who are concerned with the above–everything has led us to the final act in the performance of The Play that the Creator is staging.

The Final Act of The Play

The final act written by the Author of the Book of Life is soon to be finished.  It stars the Creator Himself as the protagonist, that glorious and righteous Spirit-of-Love clothed in His heavenly spiritual body.  He is known in the English speaking world as Jesus Christ, and in Hebrew His name is Yahshua [meaning “Yah Is Savior” in Hebrew].  The climax of The Play happens during this final act, which is known as the “time of the end” of this present evil world system.

In it we see the prince of darkness as the antagonist, with every advantage, who goes about deceiving the whole world and almost everyone in it.  He is an invisible spirit, “the prince of the power of the air,” who enters into the minds of humans, tempting them to do evil things.  And he has tricked all but a select few into believing him that he is the “Peace-giver” and not Christ–that he is the savior of the world.

The Leader of the One World Government

Satan will dwell fully in the antagonist, who is known by many names in scripture: the Anti-Christ, the Deceiver of the brethren, the devil, the Beast, et al.  He is the counterfeit Christ, come to save the world from itself, for in the final act, wars, famines, earthquakes, tsunamis, asteroid collisions and more shall plague the earth, according to the script of The Play, written in the Book of Life, found in the Bible.

So the whole world will “wonder after” this handsome, cosmopolitan leader of the One World Government, this New World Order.  He will be a sweet talker, with honeyed lips and candied words couched in viral smiles and will schmooze his way into the hearts of the masses.

Many have been his prototype: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, the many Popes who still hold the old pagan title Pontifice Maximus, Napoleon, Hitler, and now those in our day who call for, or who are sympathetic with the NWO and its One Word Government.

We are living in the end time!  I knew about this some forty years ago, but then it was in the mists of the future, like looking back into the mists of the past.  It was covered up, difficult to get information on.  We called it a conspiracy, but now its actions are done in the open.  They are blatant and audacious, for they believe that because of the apathy of the masses, they will succeed.  It is stunning to see it go that way so rapidly.

The Climax

This is the setting for the climax in which Satan’s government will fall, smashed to pieces by Christ’s “stone kingdom,” the Kingdom (Government) of Heaven.

Christ will bring down this evil worldly empire in a spectacular way.  “Vengeance is mine, saith the LORD, I will repay.”  He will use his hidden army of heavenly projectiles, the asteroids, to smash into the earth, destroying the super-rich’s plans for world domination.  This is God’s secret weapon; you can read all about it in Revelation 8 and 9.

We all know now that civilizations would be ruined by just one asteroid impact.  Movies and documentaries have given us a preview of coming events written in the prophecies.

The Unveiling of God’s Sons and Daughters

These disasters will set the final scene of the final act of  The Play.  It is during these horrible happenings that God brings forth on the earth His royal treasure–His sons and daughters.  These are redeemed from among mortal man.  These at this time will be revealed to the suffering inhabitants of the world as His progeny, His handiwork, the culmination of His patience.  For they are His offspring, the results of His reproductive process–His reproducing Himself!

Unbelievable?  “With God all things are possible.”  “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.”

These will be His rulers in the new government that He will set up literally in the earth in the aftermath of the destruction of the evil world system.  They are the crowning creative act of the Holy One.  They are the epitome of His eternal purpose.  And they will be the key players in the New Play that He will produce and direct in the next age.                                                                           Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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You Are Nothing, and You Will Be Happy

Here’s some gospel good news for you: You are nothing. Not just you. Me, too. I received this stupefying information from the apostle Paul, who wrote, “He who plants is nothing and he who waters is nothing, but it is God who gives the increase” (I Cor. 3:7).

If you are sowing the word, spreading the good news of Christ, you are still nothing. If you are not sowing the word of truth out into the good earth, you are still nothing. If you are watering the seed, the word of God, then you are still nothing. There is no place for one’s vaunted pride in the Master’s Regiment.

And he who waters what is planted, he who teaches and expounds on the spiritual truths that have been planted—he is nothing (I Cor. 3:6).

A few people reading this will notice a bit of bile rising in their craw when first being taught about our common spiritual state of nothingness. I call it the “good nothingness,” the nothingness born of truth and nurtured in love. Not the “bad nothingness,” that despondent nihilism, that dark and desperate and hopeless nothingness.

Conversely, the good nothingness is liberating. We are free to dance between the fingers of God, egoless, unconscious of those standing in selfish little pools of hubris, standing there judging the dancing David. For he danced knowing that he was nothing, and his father Yahweh was Everything.

For the Great Something is He who “gives the increase” in this life. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). He has called and chosen you and me to sow His word. We sow His seed/word, knowing that it is the power of his resurrection that causes the seeds we plant to spring to life.

If we are “in the picture,” and we think that we are something, when we are nothing, we deceive ourselves (Gal. 6:3). At best, we are a warm vapor distilling into the “voice of one crying in the wilderness.” And that voice plants and waters the seed, but it is that great, stupendous, and radiantly shining Everything, that shows us the way.

Being nothing begins at the cross. It is the beginning of our new spiritual life, and it is the ending of the old selfish life. We are nothing. After all, it is a “good nothingness” that brings happiness. There is no reputation to uphold, no sword of honor to fall on, no luxuriating in the “wonderfulness of ourselves.”

Rather, we are to have the mind of Christ. Though His destiny was to sit on the throne of the universe, He “made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7). He did say to his disciples, “Let the greatest among you be servant of all.”

[Let’s all say it together out loud: “I am nothing. He is Everything.” Now, that wasn’t so bad. I bet you’re smiling right now. See, I told you that you would be happy…]

With agape— Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Two Promises from God—Conditional, but Powerful (Part 1)

Christ made two great promises. But they are conditional. If the condition is met, then we are catapulted into the 60-fold and 100-fold spiritual growth (Matt. 13:3-23). This is the growth that Christ and His apostles walked in. Yes, this is the ticket for entry into His inner circle, the Round Table, if you will. {Please take a moment and hit the “Subscribe” button.}

Some of you may not believe me about being like Christ and attaining Christlike growth. Yet it was the King Himself who said, “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). What “greater works”? The miracles! This is the spiritual growth that the early apostles had: The power to raise the dead and heal the impossibly and terribly sick.

[This is what you have prayed and asked God for. You’ve asked Him for a great move, that He would fill you with His Holy Spirit, that His church would awaken. He is showing us how He is doing it. He is coming back for “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). To be ready for His coming, we must stand faultless, cleansed of all spiritual spots and moral blemishes. We must be holy and worthy to be immersed into the Holy Ghost and fire (Acts 2:1-4).

The First “If…”

Christ said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). “If a man love Me…” Here is the first condition. The person that loves Christ will “keep His words.” If we love Christ by keeping His words, then the Father will love us. And the godhead will come and stay and dwell within us. This is the abiding!

This is a powerful promise. The Father Himself has promised to live in us—if we keep Christ’s words! We want this relationship, to have the Father living in us and doing His works (Acts 2:33).

So, how do we “keep Christ’s words”? As we have seen before, the word “keep” is translated from the Greek word meaning “to guard, to preserve, to protect.” And the word “words” comes from the Greek word logos, which is the plan and purpose of God spelled out from the beginning. We know that Christ is the Logos, the Word “made flesh” that dwelt among us and still does in the Spirit. Christ is the Purpose enacted for us all to see. [For more on this, see links at the end of this article.]

A Higher Love

Someone will say, “The Father already loves us.” Yes, He does. But now He is talking about a higher love. The depth of this love for us comes after we love Christ by keeping His words.

For, you see, the Father loves us in our spiritual infancy. But the Father’s love for us in this context is a deeper kind of love. It is like in the natural world. Our love for an infant is on a certain beginning level. Our love for a baby is not based on the same criteria as for a mature human being walking in the Spirit, making their “calling and election sure.”

The Father’s love for us as seen in John 14:23 is deeper, based on our hunger for His knowledge and our performance of His desires. God’s love at this stage of growth is a profound appreciation of our walk of faith, trusting Him, even though the trials are daunting. We are spiritually talking about young men and women in spiritual growth.

John wrote to “young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (I John 2:14). John is not writing to a “babe in Christ.” He is writing to the spiritually strong, to those with the word of God dwelling in them, having overcome Satan’s tricky ploys. This is 60-fold fruit bearing. They know God’s plan and purpose of reproducing Himself in a body of sons and daughters. They are strong with the Spirit abiding in them. They have overcome the devil.

The trouble is this: Most children of God want to remain spiritual baby Christians. They are content to bask in the Father’s love. They are mostly alive for what they can receive from the Father. But He wants them to grow in wisdom and understanding that they might learn how to love Him like He loves them. But most really don’t want to grow; they want to be happy and not face any trials and problems. God sees this as being “lukewarm.”

To show that we love Him more deeply, He tells us to guard, protect, cherish, and preserve His words, the Logos. We are to watch and guard His eternal purpose, which was with God in the beginning. And His purpose is this: God is reproducing Himself in us. When we guard the Logos, the Father will love us, and God will feel welcome to abide, stay, and remain in us. This process brings the abiding.

Why isn’t this happening much more often in the world? Because before you can guard and preserve His eternal plan and purpose, you must know what His plan and purpose is. We are talking about “knowledge of the holy.” Those that love Christ will learn of the Logos (November | 2024 | Immortality Road; Guarding the Logos | Immortality Road).

God loves those who guard, cherish, and protect the logos, the mind of Christ. He promised that He would dwell and abide in us! A wonderful promise!     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[For more: “Love Makes Known the Plan of God” | Immortality Road; abide | Immortality Road ]

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Guarding the Logos

As Christians, we have feelings for Christ. We see His love for us, and it touches our hearts. But do we love Him the way He desires us to? Let us learn from the Master Teacher how to love Him more deeply.

Christ said, “If a man love Me, he will keep my words” (John 14:23). Let’s dive a bit deeper. Let’s focus on the words “keep” and “words.”

“Keep” is translated from the Greek word that means “to guard from attacks.” The word “words” is translated from the word logos. This is the same “logos” used in the famous verse of John 1:1. “In the beginning was the Logos…and the Logos was God.” The logos is the mind of Christ. It is His thoughts and words of His purpose and plan.

Therefore, Christ is saying, If a man loves Me, he will guard the logos; he will guard the Word, the mind of Christ, from any assaults from the enemy. He will stand guard against any attack on His thoughts and His mind. Guarding the logos means not allowing the enemy to sully His purpose and plan.

Starting with Our Own Minds

And it starts with us. First, we must start by guarding our own minds from the attacks of the devil. This entails putting on the “whole armor of God.” We, with the Spirit’s help, must start “casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor. 10:5). This is guarding the Logos.

Since we are to have the same mind of Christ, we are to guard His thoughts that are developing within our own mind. We do this through purging and pruning away old false concepts about Him. We then begin to share the truth by the Holy Spirit. This truth is found in His thoughts concerning His kingdom.

The mind of Christ is the Logos. It is the whole plan and purpose of God. We are to guard this truth, this Logos, in our own minds and then protect it as we grow spiritually for His sake. He said, “If a man loves Me, he will keep [guard] my words [logos]…” He is saying, The person who loves Me will watch, guard and protect the Logos. He will stand watch and guard the mind of Christ. By this, we show Him our belief and dedication to His cause. This is us abiding in Him.

When we guard the Logos, then something wonderful happens. Christ says, “And My Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him” (Jn 14:23). This is God abiding in us.

First, it is us abiding in Him. This opens the door to Him abiding in us. Again, this glorious presence happens when Christ sees us guarding His logos, when He sees us “keep His words.”     

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[If you have read this article to the end, you must like the content. Please hit the like button; I’d like to know how many have read these words of truth. Yes, the Spirit is taking us into deeper living water. He did say that the Spirit of truth “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). This essay will soon become a chapter in the new book that we are working on, called The Abiding. I hope you enjoyed the preview. Meanwhile, get all crazy and make a comment or send me an email. Tell me what you think about it. Ask a question. Start a dialogue. I would love to know better the “few there be to find” life (Mat. 7:14).]

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Catching Bigger Fish for Christ

Christ has invited us to become fishermen. He does not want us necessarily to catch fish in the sea; He wants us to catch men. Christ likens men to fish. In this analogy, He has some followers as fishermen and some as fish. He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

In Christ’s kingdom, there are three levels of spiritual growth attainable with God’s grace and mercy—children, young men, and fathers (I John 1:12-14). The spiritual fathers have “known Him that is from the beginning.” Those who will become fathers like Paul, Peter, James, and John—they are the big fish. We need these future sons of God who will arise in power and do the “greater works” than even what Christ did.

So, How Do You Catch the Bigger Fish for Christ?

You use bigger bait.

Continuing the analogy, more questions surface. What bait should we choose to catch a “big fish”? And how much of that bait should we use?

In fact, what is the bait? The bait is Christ’s words of truth. The amount of truth [the bait] depends upon the person’s spiritual growth. He wants us to feed them with spiritual food that meets their need. You feed a kitten milk; you feed its mother meat. Spiritual discernment is needed. Remember how He admonished them: “Don’t cast your pearls before swine…” It is difficult for novices in the word to handle the heavier truths, much less Satan’s thugs who are always around to mug you.

To “fish for men,” we need to know where someone is spiritually. Throwing big bait into a pool of tiny perch will not do. As we know from previous studies, Christians will grow and bear fruit in three levels: Thirty-fold, Sixty-fold, and 100-fold fruit bearing (Matt. 13:3-23). 30-fold fruit is borne by babes in Christ and little children of God. They believe God for personal salvation. This is a good start, but most little children of God stay on this level where they are mostly alive for what they can receive from God. You can hear it in their prayers; they want to be blessed by Him. This is categorized as “Knowing.” These are the children.

I have said it many times. We are to keep growing “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  That we henceforth be no more children…” And who are the children who are not yet mature in the spiritual growth cycle? It is those who are “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine…” Deceivers have sowed seeds of false teachings; children cannot discern the good from the bad. But many shall grow into the maturity that the apostle Paul is referring to (Ephesians 4:13-14).

Doing

60-fold Christians are those who have been taught more truth about the Son of God and His Kingdom. The truth is that God wants them to be the channel of His blessings and not the object. They begin to awaken to His desire for them to be “doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving themselves…” (James 1:22). The truth about Christ’s purpose and plan is the bigger bait that is offered to them by the fishers of men, who are the teachers sent by Yahweh.

Those foreordained by God to grow into 60-fold fruit bearing will accept and desire and latch on to the bigger bait. They will begin to see the deeper teachings of truth, and they will be drawn to it. They will see that by doing the deeper truths they will grow spiritually. This is part of fishing for men. And these doers of the word will grow into the 60-fold level of growth known as “Doing.”

The bigger bait is the deeper truth which solves the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” The big fish are those foreordained by God to respond to Him. They may grab the line and get hooked and try to run away from God like Jonah did for a season, but after God reels them in, they will do grand and glorious works as a testimony that the Father is real.

Some May Think This Is “Out There”

Some may not like this fish analogy. But they are Christ’s words, not mine. He wants us to fish for men, not minnows. This notwithstanding, He wants us to win souls for His sake. So how do you win someone who is destined to bear 100-fold fruit. Some will reach maturity and be like Paul, Peter and John? The answer: You cast out the biggest baits, the deepest truths. You cast before them the big truth that Christ has a plan to fulfill His purpose. And His purpose is to reproduce Himself in and through us. The “us” being those chosen by Him to become His manifested sons and daughters who will rule with Him on His throne during the 1,000-year reign of Christ. These will bear 100-fold fruit. This is “Being.”

Fishers of Men

Once landed, the big fish analogy is transposed into another extended metaphor: To become fishers of men. These future 100-folders “are the called according to His purpose.” These that He knew before, “He also did predestinate.” He gave them a destiny “to be conformed to the image of His Son” They will be just like Christ: that He might be the “first born among many brethren.” Those bearing 100-fold fruit believe that they have been predestinated, then called by Him and then justified, and then He glorified them. This has already happened in the mind of God (Romans 8: 28-30; Ephesians 1:4-5).

This vision of manifested sonship, 100-fold growth, is the “big bait.” Fully grown sons and daughters of God are His body with power. This vision contains the deep truths that the “big fish” are hungry for. When you arrive in these deeper waters, humility is needed, for this is heady stuff.

Christ sees us as already mature, for He “calls those things that be not as though they were” (Rom. 4:17). Therefore, Christ’s big fish are the Christians who have passed the stage and growth where they are not in this race to receive something for themselves. Rather they want to not just attain knowledge and things, but they desire to do and obey Christ’s new commandments. One of them is this: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” {Send for my book The Eleventh Commandment. Free with free shipping. Send your name, mailing address and name of the book to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com}

Obeying this commandment—“Follow me”—brings us closer to Him, for Christ said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love” (John 15:10). [There’s The Abiding—the new book that the Spirit is writing through this vessel.]

Abiding/continuing/staying in His love! What a promise our Head has given us! To stay in the kind of incomparable love that Christ is! We can abide in Him and He in us! And then His love will flow through us to His people, and He will show Himself that He is alive by the movement of His Spirit—through us! Those whom He has chosen will think on these things, for they are His thoughts, not our thoughts.

When we think on His purpose, when our thoughts about His kingdom are first and foremost in our meditations, when we give His testimony—from the cross to the Throne with us seated with Him—This Is the Spirit of prophecy! These are the things in the future that His true prophets speak of. “The testimony of Jesus/Yahshua is the spirit of prophecy.” God’s prophets today speak of Christ’s testimony as to the fulfilling of His purpose and plan. In the meantime, we will follow Him, and He will help us become “fishers of men.”   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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The Ebb and Flow of the Abiding

I have noticed that there is an ebb and flow of the Spirit’s presence in my life. I say this not as a criticism of our merciful Savior, for He does all things well.

But I have observed that after a wonderful welling up of His presence within me, His Spirit subsides. Of course, it is I that backs out of the light that He shines. The rays of understanding engulf me, and then, I must back away a bit. I realize that it is “line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.”

It is as if this old wine skin of my mind and body cannot stand the constant pressure of the new wine, so I recede a bit. It’s like being in the heavenlies for a while, and then needing to return to the earth’s atmosphere where I may breathe again the accustomed mixture of gases suitable for my current mortal tabernacle. I ponder this ebb and flow of His Spirit, or rather, my drifting away from His rarefied heavenly atmosphere.

I recall passages of scriptures describing what happens to his children who abide in him and not ebb and flow, but rather stay in him.

Our Savior said much about the abiding that we are to maintain. He believes that it is possible and necessary for us to have His Spirit remain, stay, dwell, and continue in our vessels.

Oh, how we need our new spiritual bodies that He has promised us! He knows our frailties, our weaknesses, and our faults. But He has promised us that He would raise us up at the end of this earth age. If we are alive upon His return, He will change us, as “mortality is swallowed up” by  our new spiritual body. If we expire before He returns, He will change us when He sweeps down to earth. We are coming back with Him, our Captain and leader. The ebb and flow will be no more, for we will be full of His Spirit. A glorious time is coming. Now we must wait until our time. “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come” (Job 14:14).     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

(From a Journal entry, 3-29-19)

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