Category Archives: kingdom of God

Seven Teachings with Three Levels of Growth

I greet you now with encouraging words, words from the heart of Christ who grants us courage and strength and power. He is that positive One, the “Holy One of Israel,” who is all “Yes” and  all Love for us all. And His Spirit now lives in us.

And we are His body, despite the world that tries to corral us into a box of their own imagination as to who God is and what He want us to do and to be. We must continue to walk worthy of His great calling and election that rests upon us.

I know that many of you are seeking God fervently, longing to know His will for your lives. As I stated before in my latest book, The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect, God has a steadfast purpose, and that purpose is to reproduce Himself in us. “For consider what He has done—before the foundation of the world He chose us to become, in Christ, His holy and blameless children, living within His constant care” (Eph. 1: 4-5 Phillips).

He chose us before the foundation of the world! We are His elect, His chosen ones. (“Elect” and “chosen” are translated from the same Greek word). Brothers and sisters, the Almighty is for us! And “if God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom. 8: 31). He has chosen us to be recipients of Christ’s most precious and endearing qualities.

He has a plan to accomplish our transformation. His will is that we surrender to His commands to be holy as He is holy. We become holy when we set ourselves apart for His purpose. And His purpose is to magnify and multiply Himself in a “chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (I Pet. 2: 9).

Enduring the Sojourn

I know that many of you have been bounced around from church to church, rejected and ostracized and betrayed by those you loved. Think not that God has turned His back on you. Oh, no. He allows these things for our good. He ordains hardships, reluctant goodbyes, and mindless  misunderstandings to temper and then hone the sword of the Spirit within us, that we can “endure hardships as a good soldier of Christ.”

And, yet, we wander on, like Paul, shipwrecked at sea. We still cling to a bit of driftwood called “hope.” And as we are tossed to and fro, longing for a spiritual home that’s true, we wait like those poor souls in Casablanca. We wait for a word that signals passage into the Captain’s good ship.

I write to you who are still hoping to find a clarification as to what God wants for you to do. Your vision will clear as you simply believe His vision for your life. His vision for you is His purpose for you.

Doing His Purpose

To fulfill His purpose, our feet must tread in the footprints of giants—the giants of the faith, the apostles and prophets. Step one is to acquire true knowledge of their teachings. Then we must study and continue in their doctrine, which are Christ’s teachings (Heb. 5: 12-14; 6: 1-2). Then we share them, and sharing His teachings is breaking the bread of life. This is the communion so dear to His heart.

Seven doctrines of Christ were paramount in the early church. The early church “continued steadfastly” in them (Acts 2: 42). There are three levels of spiritual growth in each of the seven.

We see this three-leveled motif at work in several passages. In the Parable of the Sower, the word of God produced three levels of fruit production—thirty, sixty, and one hundred (Matt. 13: 3-9, 18-23). John writes to “children, young men, and fathers” (I John 2: 12-14). Christ likens the kingdom of God to a man who sows seed. It grows, and he does not know how it all works. “For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4: 26-29).That’s how the kingdom grows. Then you have Justification, Sanctification, Glorification. And the three sections of the Tabernacle. There are many more examples of the three levels of spiritual growth. There importance is indisputable.

7 Teachings, 3 Growth Levels in Each

Each of the seven doctrines of Christ have a 30 fold growth, a 60 fold, and a 100 fold growth. Let’s just look at the 30 fold level of understanding.

  1. Right now, let us take the first teaching of Christ—repentance from dead works. The 30 fold fruit of that doctrine in one’s life is the crucifixion of the old self on the cross with Christ. It is the getting rid of the sin nature we are born with. Our old self is dead already in God’s eyes. We must reckon it so. This is true repentance from sin and sinning; it frees us. “For He that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom 6: 6-11). This speaks of a spiritual death of our old sinful nature. When we really believe this, way down deep in our hearts, then we will experience the chains of sin falling off of us. Before, we are slaves to Sin; now we are free. Why? Because our old sinful heart died with Christ, the sin sacrifice. This is the cross experience. Someone says, “I know that.” But the churches rarely get into the death of our old man  nature.
  2. Faith toward God” is the second apostles’ doctrine. In the 30 fold child-of-God context, we then believe that Christ was raised from the dead, and that we are raised with Him. He had faith that He would be raised. Now we have faith that we are raised up along with Christ—raised from the death that sin had held us in. [For much more on these first two doctrines, read online Chapters 26-32 of Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality found here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality/ Or better yet, order your free hard copy with free shipping by sending your mailing address to wayneman5@hotmail.com Mention the book]
  3. Doctrine of Baptisms” is the third teaching that the apostles stayed in. There are several baptisms, but for a 30 fold child of God it is their immersion into Christ’s death. When He died, our sin nature died with Him. “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death” (Rom. 6: 3-4)?

{To be continued…I will share a 30 fold understanding of the other teachings a bit later. These first three are what the people need. We must understand them first and then share these keys to those trapped in sin. Be sure to order my latest book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. Absolutely free.}

A big agape-love hug to all of you.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Filed under apostles' doctrine, baptism, belief, children of God, church, cross, crucified with Christ, death, death of self, elect, eternal purpose, faith, hope, kingdom of God, love, Love from Above, old self, Parables, sin, spiritual growth, Spiritual Life Cycle

How God Uses Evil to Perfect Us

Most Christians are painfully aware of the world system’s heavy thumb pinning them down with oppressive taxes, intrusive regulations, and the invisible chains of political correctness.

However, we as God’s children here on earth must understand how our Father has set up and ordered the operation of the world system. Code name for the world system: Mystery Babylon the Great.

The prophet Daniel, a captive in Babylon, is enlightened by God in a “night vision.” You know the story in chapter 2. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and could not remember it, much less its interpretation. Daniel’s vision not only gave the dream and interpretation for the king of that era, but also instructs us about the world system in our day.

First, we learn from Yahweh’s prophet that He is sovereign, for “wisdom and might” are His, and His name is blessed forever. He “changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.” It is through this that God “has made known…the king’s matter” (2: 20-23).

That is some weighty knowledge right there. We need to stop a moment and meditate on this. Sometimes we are all like butterflies flitting from flower to flower, sampling knowledge like nectar. We are so busy in this Information Age that we rarely pause to savor the knowledge.

What did Daniel learn from the night vision? He learned that God is sovereign; He can do anything He wants with His creation and creatures. God puts some of His human beings on thrones, and He overthrows some of those kings that He has ordained to rule over others. God does that. God is the source of all wisdom and might, and He gives wisdom and knowledge to some. He reveals secrets and mysteries—even the mysteries of what is taking place right now in this present evil world. He reveals secrets about His government and how the world system, which is Satan’s kingdom, interacts with His kingdom.

Some readers recoiled at “Satan’s kingdom.” But those are not my words; they are Christ’s words. “If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?” (Luke 11: 18). Satan is the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4: 4). Or could we say, “The king of this world system”? Satan is a little “k” king. And one of the things that we have just learned from Daniel is that Yahweh sets up kings, and He takes them down. Satan is one of the kings that our Father is taking down. But Satan is also one of the kings that God has set up.

The Revelation Contained in Daniel 2

The king’s dream and the interpretation thereof shows God setting up and removing Satan, the king of this world system. The dream’s interpretation shows “what shall be in the latter days” (Dan. 2: 28). “Thou, O king, saw and behold a great image” with a golden head, chest and arms of silver, with thighs of brass and iron legs. “Thou saw till that a stone was cut out without hands which smote the image…and the stone…became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” All of these body parts represent world empires that will all come down in the latter days. The stone kingdom is the Kingdom of God headed by the Stone that the builders rejected.

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (2: 44).

God is in the process of setting up His kingdom and will bring down the world system and establish Christ as King upon the throne of the Kingdom of God. This is what it is all about.

But Why Must We Have a Satanic World System?

Many Christians do not understand that God creates evil. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil…Isa. 45: 7. He has a purpose for the trials and tribulations that we endure in this life—globally, nationally and personally. So we are not to think that our trials and hardships are a strange thing that is happening to us (I Peter 4: 12).

All this is explained in the parable of the tares in the field. The tares are the children of the devil in the earth, and we are to let them grow up with the wheat, the children of God. At harvest time God will gather up the evil ones (Matt. 13: 24-30, 36-43). But in the meantime, we need to understand that evil is part of His plan. I know; it is a tough one. But God said that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways our ways [For more on this, read the following: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/parable-of-the-tares-in-the-field-exposing-the-rulers-of-the-darkness-of-this-world-part-i-conversations-with-the-seer/ This is in Chapter 35 of my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect available free with free shipping to those who send me your mailing address to wayneman5@hotmail.com ].

Knowing that God is using Satan and the evilness in the world to perfect His children is a gigantic piece of knowledge that will open up the scriptures to us.

We simply must understand how our Father has set up and ordered the world system’s operations. God is sovereign and controls the darkness and the light for His own purpose. And that purpose is to reproduce Himself. This is the theme of the new book mentioned above.

Many get angry with the world system. They get mad at the school board, the teachers, the mayor and city council, the police and sheriff, and even state and federal officials. The anger and frustration is vain and ill-conceived. For all of these offices are part of the world system which has been ordained by our Father.

Of course, the world government is not righteous; it is not the Kingdom of God. However, when we resist their authority over us—that God has ordained—we are resisting God. “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Rom. 13: 1-2 NIV). Paul understood God’s sovereignty and that He was in complete control.

He urges us to pay our taxes and “owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the law” (13: 8). Christ said that He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5: 17). He does that by sowing the seed of agape love into our hearts. And through His love in us, we no longer break the 10 Commandment Law (Rom. 13: 9-14).

Yet, some begin to despise the “powers that be,” and then it turns into the purple shroud of vengeance. And some young Christians become infected and are overcome in the spiritual struggle, not knowing how low they have fallen. And they have forgotten the admonition, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12: 21). It is this overcoming evil that develops His love and forgiveness in our hearts. As we grow in agape love within, then Christ’s Spirit grows and matures in us, “until Christ be formed in us.”

We are the sons and daughters of God. We are destined to be exactly like Him. Hence, our Master’s words: “Love your enemies” and pray for them. For when a Christian gets caught up in condemning another, he forgets the truer lesson here. He forgets that God is the supreme Power. It is God who allows rulers in the world system to rule over us—for now. God has given the various rulers of the world system power to create debt, and they dictate how much we own and at what interest rate.

On a personal level, it works the same. When we don’t forgive our wife, husband, children, relatives, friends and neighbors for slighting us, then they rule over our spirit. Until we forgive, they are our master. But when we forgive, agape love develops in us, and we are one step closer to being like Christ.

God wants us to be like Him. “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do,” Christ said. He spread love to his enemies as well as to His friends. He likened it to the Father raining down the life-giving showers of love upon the just and the unjust (Mt. 5: 43-48).

When we love and forgive all, we are fulfilling the Law by loving our neighbor as our selves. When we walk in this love, we awake out of a spiritual sleep. Paul likens this to throwing off the works of darkness” and putting on “the armor of light” (Rom. 13: 12). Flowing agape love to others becomes a shield that protects us from the arrows of deception hurled at us by the “god of this world.” However, the devil is not to be feared; he is just doing his sinister job. He has but a short time left. I think the devil still doesn’t know that he is helping us “go on unto perfection” (Heb. 6: 1).            Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Filed under children of God, end time prophecy, eternal purpose, forgiveness, glorification, kingdom of God, law, love, Love from Above, MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, Parables, spiritual growth, sufferings of Christians, world system

Write the Vision–Read the Letters

I have always considered articles published here my letters to the body of Christ. Like epistles, they are didactic in form and purpose, a teacher’s love distilled into lines of light. They are for your edification and instruction.

But they can serve an even higher purpose. They can be shared, literally read to the body of Christians near you. The scriptures encourage us to do this. I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. I Thes. 5: 27. Also, Paul tells the church of the Colossians to not only read these teachings of the Holy Spirit to the church there, but to also share it abroad. And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. Col. 4: 16.

If you believe that the articles found here on Immortality Road are true, then they’ve come from only one source–the Spirit of Truth. Once received, He will guide us into all truth and will abide with us forever. He will show us who the Savior really is (John 16: 13; 14: 16).

Reading a letter to the body of Christ when  you meet is scriptural. You don’t have to have a formalized preacher standing up front in a church building.  You do need the truth. And when you find it written down and dedicated to you and yours, share it with the body of Christ.

Remember this: The vision of God is to be written down and read by those who are running the race with patience, which is endurance. It is a race that entails much chastening of God, much hardship, and much suffering on the road to perfection/maturity. Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Hab. 2: 2-4; Hebrews 12).

The vision of God shows us His plan to carry out His purpose.*  It includes the manifestation of the sons of God. These offspring of God will be the fully matured Christians just like Christ who will arise at the time of the end. The vision explains how God will reproduce Himself in those He has chosen during these last days.

All this was not for Habakkuk’s day, but it is for ours. And this vision is the truth, and “it shall speak, and not lie.” Wait for it. But when it arrives, we better open our arms and hearts to receive the vision, for “it will surely come…When the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.” Here is a sign to show us who has the Spirit of truth: If they write and speak about the vision of God reproducing Himself, then we better “take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (II Peter 1: 19).

My brothers and sisters from all over the earth, I write these letters with great hope that they edify you and those you love. Read the vision written herein. Read it aloud to yourself and your group. Share them, and you will have fed His lambs and sheep.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

*  [Pages 103-135 of my new book details the vision.  Send for a free  copy of The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect with free shipping. Send your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com ]

 

 

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Filed under elect, end time prophecy, hope, kingdom of God, perfection, sufferings of Christians

THE ROYAL DESTINY OF GOD’S ELECT—The New Book in a Nutshell

Many have asked me, “What is your new book about?”

  1. It tells of God’s eternal purpose of reproducing Himself.
  2. It speaks of God’s plan to accomplish this. He is Love, and Love shares itself and gives of itself.
  3. So God planned it out and created mankind to reproduce Himself in. He will use human beings as the medium for the multiplying of Himself. God’s kingdom is wherever He rules.
  4. His plan uses the Law of Harvest. Whatever is sown, that is what shall be reaped. Since God is Love, He will sow the seed of Love into the human being, His spiritual garden. Each seed bears its own kind.
  5. And the seed of Love is God’s SEED/SON, the Word made flesh dwelling among us. No greater love exists on this earth than to give up your life for another. This the Son of God did. And this great display of love for you and me bought our ticket of deliverance from the sin we were in. For Christ, the Anointed One for this honor, said this: “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit.” He was that grain, and the much fruit is you and I.  After we receive the seed of Love into our hearts, He helps us grow spiritually to harvest.
  6. In the present dispensation of time, some humans will bear 30 fold, some 60 fold and some 100 fold fruit (Matt. 13: 1-23). Some will remain children of God; some will grow to young adulthood spiritually, and then there are some who will grow to full maturity, becoming just like the original Seed/Son and His apostles.
  7. Right now God is calling many. :Many are called, but few are chosen” by Him to come to full maturity during this age. These are called “the elect,” the remnant, and the first fruits. They will be the first ones to become like the early apostles.
  8. Moreover, they will be the first to be granted immortality. These over comers of all things are the manifested sons of God and will do the “greater works” that Christ spoke about.  They will sit with Christ on His throne (Rev. 3: 20-21). In a word, God will have reproduced Himself in them.
  9. This is the royal destiny of God’s elect. Hence, the title: The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. Who knows? You may be one of them. Perhaps we can walk together and help each other and love each other on this road to immortality. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

***This is the preview. If this book intrigues you, there is only one place on the earth to get it. Here’s how: For your free copy with free shipping, merely send your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com   And I will get it right out to  you. God bless you and yours***

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Filed under calling of God, Christ, elect, end time prophecy, eternal life, eternal purpose, glorification, God's desire, immortality, kingdom of God, manifestation of the sons of God, perfection, princes and princesses of God, sons and daughters of God, sons of God, spiritual growth

Faith Is Believing What God Believes

We have been sent into this world by Christ to bear witness to the truth (John 17: 18). A group of young Christians asks us to speak truth to them. What would we tell them? We should be speaking to them the exact same message that Christ spoke, not a message about Christ. Big difference. In fact, Christ’s very Spirit should be speaking through us to that group of young hungry seekers of God. But what would Christ say? Rather, what should He tell them through us?

  1. Christ spoke of God’s eternal purpose, which is this: God is reproducing Himself. He is agape love, and He intends to multiply Himself throughout all eternity.
  2. He spoke of His plan to accomplish this purpose. He created human beings to be the medium by which He would accomplish this magnificent purpose. God plants His Seed/Son in our hearts, and that seed of Love grows into His Kingdom of Love and Righteousness, till “God be all in all.”
  3. His plan is laid out in the Christ’s teachings.
  4. His teachings are His doctrine (Heb. 6: 1-2)
  5. The early apostles made it their doctrine.
  6. And the early church continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine
  7. Repentance from dead works is the first teaching. Sin is the breaking of the 10 Com. law (I John 3: 4). To repent one reckons their old self dead on the cross with Christ, buried with Christ. Then belief in His resurrection in us raises us up in a newness of life (Rom. 6: 1-12).
  8. The rest of the apostles’ doctrine is faith toward God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement, and perfection.
  9. We receive the faith of the Son of God when we believe.

Faith, the Second Apostles’ Doctrine

The early church were of one mind and one accord. And one faith. God’s faith. Like Paul said, “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God…”

It is all about belief—“faith” and “belief” are translated from the same Greek word. They both mean believing having not seen. But when we think of “faith” we immediately think about our faith in God. What we need to see is that we are dead and our life now is His life; our faith now is His faith, His belief in Himself, and His belief that we are in a right state with Him.

For it is God’s faith in Himself that moves mountains. “With God all things are possible.” His faith in His own intelligence and power is the foundation of His divine nature that He has imparted to us. We are to add to this faith other facets of His nature that now resides in us. God believed in His own abilities and power before He saw the fruit produced in us according to His plan of Sonship.

It Is All About the Seed

Like every spring, we get the urge to plant a seed in the garden. We take a seed and place it in the broken earth. We do this by faith, by believing that it will spring to life and shoot up and grow and finally bear fruit. We believe that this tiny seed will bear fruit before we ever plant it.

This is like God’s faith. He believes in His Seed, His Son. He has faith that His plan will work; He knows that it will, for He has spoken it, and His word is that Seed, and it always comes up and grows comes to pass.

That’s the faith we now walk in! It is not our puny faith that we have to muster up out of our depleted reserves. It is His faith! It is all about believing what He believes! Hey, He believes in His Spirit that He has placed now in us. Now we can say, “It is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.” It is the Son’s faith that we live by now! (Gal. 2: 20).

I believe that this is what those young Christians need to hear. Not some tired, old, worn out platitudes about Christ, used in the 19th  and 20th Centuries. Yesterday’s light was a needed candle back then. But now Christ has arisen in our hearts with a new powerful light that illuminates our path to the entrance “into the everlasting kingdom of our” God (II Pet. 1: 4-11). Remember that yesterday’s manna is of no use today. Christ is now giving “the hidden manna” to the over comers (Ex. 16: 14-21; Rev. 2: 17).

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Filed under additions to our faith, agape, apostles' doctrine, baptism, belief, cross, crucified with Christ, death, death of self, elect, eternal purpose, faith, glorification, kingdom of God, light, Love from Above, manifestation of the sons of God, repentance

True Prayer–What to Ask For

[This is Chapter 13 of my book The Unveiling of the Sons of God, “Prayer—the Portal into Yah’s Spiritual World.” To order your free copy with free shipping, send your mailing address to my email:  wayneman5@hotmail.com ]

How do we make contact with the Great Invisible One?

     We have seen that words are spirit; they are invisible, and they are powerful.  We have seen that God is Spirit; He is an invisible Spirit-Entity that manifests Himself in human beings as He sees fit.

     We are admonished by Yahshua the Master to worship this Invisible One.  In fact, the Father is seeking people to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).  He said that we should worship the Father, not just in spirit, but in spirit and in truth.  So how do we worship the Father in spirit and in truth?  How do we enter into His invisible spirit world?  How do we make contact with the Great Invisible One?  We communicate with Him through words.  It is called prayer.

     “Prayer” is a word itself that carries a lot of baggage.  Every religion and every denomination in Churchianity has a different concept of prayer as to what, when, and how to do it.  But stripped of all of its negative connotations, simply put, “prayer” is communication to the Invisible Spirit God.  Prayer is made up of invisible words spoken from the heart, either audibly or silently.  These words are offered up to the Eternal Spirit and are likened to a kind of incense that smells sweet to Yahweh in His spirit domain.

     Prayer demands first that we humans believe.  Prayer exercises belief.  We find it difficult to communicate to an invisible  Spirit  if we don’t believe that He is there or that He is listening.  One-sided conversations are always limited.  Messages left on answering machines rarely shine like live feedback conversations.

     Nevertheless, we are shut up to worshiping God through word communications.  This helps our faith to grow, for when we speak to Him, we must believe that He exists and that He listens, and that He will reward us with answers to our prayers. Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Mt. 7:7.  What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:24.

 And what are we to ask for?  “One thing is needful,” and there is no better thing that we could ask for than His Spirit.  How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13.  We should ask Him for His Spirit.  He expects us to.  He understands that we know how to give good gifts unto our own children when they ask of us.  And He loves us more than we love our own children.  So He wants to give us His Spirit, which is the greatest gift that could ever be given to us.

     In other words, when we communicate with our invisible Spirit Father, we thank Him for His blessings to us; we praise Him and praise His name; we ask Him to grant desires that we have; we then believe that we are receiving those things we ask in prayer; then we receive them.

     It is through prayer, then, that we enter into the Spirit World of Yah. We make contact with our invisible Father.  We start the spiritual processes in motion; we touch eternity.

     This all sounds so simple and good, but why is it so difficult to put prayer into practice?  He has promised us His very nature and Spirit.  But we find it hard to receive. We  either  lack  enough belief, or we do not want to make the sacrifices needed in order to effect it.  You mean that we can partake of His very nature, His divine nature?  That is what the scriptures say.  Passages about prayer are a key part of the knowledge we need in order to receive the Spirit.

     The Messiah was praying.  The disciples saw Him and asked Him to teach them to pray.  It was at this time that He gave them a pattern prayer, whose components outline how we all should approach the Creator.

     First, we are to address Him as “Father.”  This was clearly before the life-changing experience they would have several months later after the Messiah’s death, burial, and resurrection.  Our Father which art in heaven. Luke 11:2.

     Second, we learn in this special prayer that the Father’s name is “holy,” which means “set apart.”  The Father’s name is very special.  Something in that name holds great significance.  His name is not of this sinful world system; it is separate from the fleshly clamoring of this present world.  Carnal man in his death throes comes short of the glory of what the Creator wanted him to be.  Man seethes in his own lusts for himself—desires that can never be fulfilled.  And we are reminded by the Messiah in this special prayer that our Creator, who is our Father, has a name that is above this strife here on earth.  It is hallowed, holy, and set apart from the insanity of mortal man…hallowed be thy name.

    Third, our Father has a kingdom.  A kingdom is a form of government with a king as the ruling executive.  It is a political or territorial unit ruled by a sovereign.  The Father is that King.  He has His own kingdom that shall come to this earth.  The Messiah models this in the prayer, expressing the longing for it…Thy kingdom come.

    Fourth, the King has deliberately chosen and decided upon an exact course of action that will take place here on this earth. Things are going His way in heaven, and they will go His way here on earth.   Nothing takes place by accident.  He is totally in control.  The Messiah is praying here, showing us how to get into one mind, one accord with the Father’s “pre-determinate counsel of his own will.”  What the Father has determined, that is what shall come to pass…Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

    We are to ask Him for our daily spiritual food.  He said for us to not think about the physical necessities that we must have to sustain our lives here on earth.  But we are to ask Him for the spiritual sustenance.  Give us day by day our daily bread…Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.  And we are to forgive, and we will be forgiven by Him  [For much more in depth study on prayer as the portal, read this series of articles https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=lord%27s+prayer ].

      Right after this prayer, in Luke 11:5-13, the Master shows in a parable just what we should ask the Father for.  One thing is needful, and that is what we should be asking for.  The physical, earthly things—He already knows that we need those things to survive.  He knows our temporal fleshly needs, for He put us here in the flesh and has no need that any of us tell Him how it is being human.  For He partook of flesh and blood.

     The story: Your friend next door comes over around midnight, after you have gone to bed.  He pounds on your door.  “What do you want?” you ask, rather perturbed.

     “Could you give me some food.  A friend of mine has come over and I do not have any food in the house to give to him.”

     “Come back in the morning,” you say.  “I’m already in bed, me and all my family.  I’ll get something for you in the morning.”

     But he keeps on pounding on the door.  And keeps on.  And because of the constant knocking, because of the bold  and  shameless, repeated  and  urgent  requests, you will get up finally and give him what he asks for.

     And so it is with us.  We must keep asking.  We must ask like this friend.  We must keep banging boldly, not fearing what the owner of the house, God, thinks.  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened…Your heavenly Father shall give the Holy Spirit to them that asks Him. Luke 11:9-10.  The Master is saying that the Father will give us the Spirit because of our importunity, our urgent and repeated requests, desiring His Spirit in our lives in order to help others.

     We must not be discouraged by delayed answers.  Daniel prayed 21 straight days, expecting an answer.  And finally, Gabriel came and said that he had been hindered and delayed by Satan.  God allows delays to test us, to try us.  So we must persevere and never give up, and He will give us His Spirit.

Why Settle for a Part of the Creation When You Can Have All of the Creator?

     Prayer is the portal through which we enter Yahweh’s spiritual world.  Through prayer we not only make contact with God, but we put forth petitions in order to receive more of His Spirit.  For He is all that we really need.  Why ask for only a part of the creation, when we can have all of the Creator?  We must pray according to His will.  But first we must know the truth about what His will is.  If we ask Him to reveal the secret truths of His will, will He give us a false reading?  We have to believe that He is faithful that promised and will never lead us astray.  All of our concerns can be allayed through true prayer.          Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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True Worship and Prayer

True worship, then, is worshiping God in spirit and in truth. “And so it is written: ‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” When we are born into this world, we are a living being, a living soul. But when we are born from above, we become a spirit that gives life; we become a “life-giving spirit.” (I Cor. 15: 45 NIV)

“For that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3: 6). Brothers and sisters, as born again Christians, we are now spirit because we have been born of the Spirit of God. Each seed bears its own kind.

We are new creatures—spirit-creatures now. We are no longer of the earth, although we do dwell in these clay earthen bodies. Now that we are changed into a spirit, He calls us the “last Adam.” Since we are new spiritual creatures, we simply must stop speaking as the first Adam did, as we used to. But someone will say, “Well, it is all I know.” True, but that is why we must study the written word and dig deep and get it into our new hearts. For the word of God is spirit. Christ said, “The words I speak unto you are spirit and they are life.” And He has told us to study His words, and study we must in order to do Him justice. We owe our King that (II Cor. 5: 17-19; John 6: 63).

Now That We Are Spirit

We now may enter into true worship of our Father, for only a spirit being, born of the Spirit, can worship the Spirit of Truth, which is our Father. “God is a Spirit,” a Spirit-Being that gives life to the dead. We know this because we were once dead in our sins, but now we are made “alive unto God” through Christ’s resurrection of the dead. Engendered by the Supreme Spirit-Being, we now have His life-giving seed within our hearts. And this seed is the word that the Father has spoken and now written down in our hearts. We now are a part of His heart, born of His Spirit, and now able to give life like He did for us. We do this by sharing His word with others. This is the bread of life, broken for you and others. His seed becomes bread that will sustain others unto eternal life. His word is the seed, now ground into unleavened flour through our shared sufferings and baked into the bread of life. This is the partaking of the bread; this is communion—the spiritual sharing of His word, plan and purpose. Everything else is window dressing, if it is done without true knowledge in true worship (John 4: 24; Rom. 6: 4-11; I Pet. 1: 23; John 6: 33-35).

We now are a spirit that can make others alive. When we relate the truth of Christ to the lost, and they respond, we are being used by God to raise the dead, for they are dead in their sins. As we share our testimony of how God gave us new life in Him, we are giving new life to others. This is how we are a “life-giving spirit.” This is part of the 30 fold “resurrection of the dead,” the fifth apostles’ doctrine. If we are faithful in giving others a new spiritual life, then the Father will grant us more power to perform Lazarus-like miracles. It is coming for those who can receive it.

Those who have ears that can hear what the Spirit is saying to us—they will stand in reverential awe of this mighty Spirit of Love, who shares Himself. And as our hearts bow before Him, stupefied beyond mere human words at His majestic mercy, a brokenness comes over us as we begin to worship our humble Father and King. For He seeks such who are like Him, who have a broken spirit and a contrite heart. For they are the only ones who may enter into this rareified court. For God’s love has melted our hearts from which gratefulness pours forth. And this gratitude is expressed in communication back to the Father in the form of prayer.

Prayer—What Do We Say after “Thank You”?

We cannot but pray, for it is the foundation of a spirit’s worship of the Great Spirit Yahweh. Prayer is invisible; it ushers forth from the spiritual heart with waves of thanks splashing on heaven’s shores.

No wonder we are told to “pray always.” I could not understand that as a young Christian. It sounded impossible. How many times can we say thank you to God? What else should we express to Him? What other things should we discuss with Him?

In essence the disciples asked these same questions. After seeing Christ pray, they said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” First He told them how not to pray. Don’t pray in public to be seen of men like the hypocrites do. Go into a secret place. Don’t use “vain repetitions, as the heathen do.” Then He taught them what to say by giving them a model prayer.

And then He gives them the key. “After this manner therefore pray ye…”  He then gives them the example prayer. Just mouthing the words of it does nothing. He wants our hearts full of His ideas that are contained in the phrases of the prayer communicated back to Him. When we earnestly speak to Him about the things that are on His heart—wow! We make contact with the Power of the universe, the Power that created it all, the Power whose thoughts and ideas will come to pass. When we get on His page, speaking to Him with details of His plan to carry out His will and purpose—then we will have effective communication, then our prayers will touch His heart and take on a gravity in His heart and mind.

When we pray in accordance with the concepts contained in His model prayer, then we will get His attention. Then He will say, “Wait, I believe that they are getting it. Let’s give them what they need, and have asked for, to get the job done. They asked for the tools to complete My plan. Let’s give them the power to finish the work before us.”

The so-called Lord’s Prayer shows us exactly what to pray for. It lines out His plan. But natural man does not perceive the things of God; he has misused the prayer and cheapened it. He has used it as penance and a good luck spiritual charm to be chanted. Satan has made it so common that many reading this now will not be able at first to see just how important it is, for it has lost its original meaning.

A Blueprint

Christ gave us the model prayer as a blueprint to show us what to pray for. Each phrase has deep meaning pertinent to our one-on-one relationship with our Father. God wants to hear the meaning of the phrases of the prayer come forth out of our mouths. This is a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savor to Him. He wants us to be able to elaborate upon His plan and purpose, and share with Him our desire to accomplish His plan for mankind. All this is contained in the model prayer. God wants us on board with what He is doing, which is establishing the Kingdom of God right here on this planet. For He told us, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” He is saying, Don’t ask for material things for you and your family. He already knows all about your wants and needs. What He wants to know is this: Are you in or out? If you are in then speak to Him about His plan and purpose; speak to Him of the spiritual. Show Him that you care for what He cares for. In a word, He wants us to be like Him.

His vision of His plan to fulfill His purpose of multiplying Himself in human beings—it is all there in the concepts and thoughts of His example prayer.

Take the phrase: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” May the Father’s government come to this earth. Let the Father’s will make it happen here. His plan encompasses His kingdom and government. We should be seeking it first.

So much more can be said about His kingdom—the who, the what, the where, the when, the how, and the why. We’ve only just begun. I have written specifically about the model prayer, which gives more information about the meaning of each of its phrases.  [Check out these articles: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=Lord%27s+prayer ].

The bottom line for the future manifested sons and daughters is that we must begin to pray the way He wants us to. His example prayer shows us what to pray for. It reveals the mind of Christ, which we are to have. It shows God that we are serious about His plan. Praying with the mind of Christ forming the words is worshiping in spirit and in truth.

It’s like when Christ asked, If your son asked you for bread, would you give Him a stone? If we ask Him for the spiritual tools to bring in His kingdom, He will have our back.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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The Cross Experience, Repentance, and the Kingdom of God

You are a Christian. You want to win souls to Christ. But what is the exact message that you need to deliver? Christ is our example. What did He say to them?

Christ did not mince words. The first words out of His mouth were these: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Abrupt, perhaps. Straight to the point. Yet that short message is packed with meaning. He is saying, You must repent of your sins because God’s kingdom is right here, right now, waiting for you to enter. But you must make a spiritual entrance. If you do not change your old ways, you will miss this opportunity to be with Me in My kingdom, for I am its King.

The Spirit of Christ in the apostle John continues explaining what He is talking about. Unless you are born from above—born again—you cannot see nor enter the spiritual kingdom of God. This is being born of the Spirit. Except a man be born again [born from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. John 3: 3-5.

Everybody has heard that, but few know what it means. In order to be born of the Spirit, thereby guaranteeing your entrance into His kingdom, there must be a dying of the old seed within us. And that old seed is the old heart, the old Adamic sinful nature. “Except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit” (John 12: 24).

Our old sin nature is like a bad seed that keeps producing sinful actions. And there is only one way to rid ourselves of it, and that is to surrender it to the death of the cross with Christ. That will bring the change of heart when we believe that He plants a new righteous seed in our hearts. This new seed germinates by faith in His resurrection. It sprouts forth love, joy, and peace. This is the born again experience. It comes out of repentance from sin. When a man gets this right, then he will have seen and entered the kingdom of God.

The Cross Experience

Many preachers speak about Christ suffering and dying on the cross for us. They say that He was our substitute; they say to just believe in His death and resurrection and you are saved. Many speak of this, but few explain what God requires of us concerning the cross. Just acknowledging Christ’s death is not enough to get rid of the old sinful nature. The old nature that we are born with has to die, or it will keep sprouting up. That’s why so many people back slide into sin. They back slide because their old sin nature is still there.

What the preachers fail to realize is that when Christ died on the cross, mankind’s old sinful nature died with Him. We are to examine ourselves. God is now asking, Has your old sin nature died on the cross with Christ? As professing Christians, have you laid down willingly your old sinful life, letting it die with Christ? Or have you just felt sorry for your sinful ways and “walked the aisle” like they encouraged you to do? Most mistake this experience as being “born again.” It is good to feel sorrow for the sinful way we have lived. “Godly sorrow leads us to repentance.” However, it is not repentance from sin (II Cor. 7: 10).

To the Cross

Godly sorrow leads you to the cross, the spiritual place of your repentance, which is the first of the apostles’ doctrine. Next, you must realize that Christ took upon Himself the sins of all mankind, and He died as a lost man. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. II Cor. 5: 21.

When Christ died on the cross, the sin of all mankind died with Him. In God’s eyes, everyone’s  old sinful self died when He died. He could take all the sins of the whole world on Himself because He is the only man in history who was perfect–a perfectly sinless human being. He was the only One pure enough to be the sacrificial “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29). He was the only One pure enough to wash away your sin and mine.

This is how the shedding of His blood cleanses us of all sin. The life is in the blood. When Christ bled out on the cross, the life of sin, the strength of sin, the force of sin died. That is the power of the blood of Christ—because sin’s life force, sin’s blood, drained out, leaving sin lifeless within us. God just requires us to believe it, to believe His word about it. It is through belief that we become new creatures whose life force is restored by the power of His resurrection.

Our old nature died with Him on the cross. It is a spiritual death, not a physical one. Our old selves are already dead in God’s eyes. Why would any one knowing this continue to go on sinning? “Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” And they won’t come to the light lest their “deeds should be discovered” (John 3: 19-20).

But I Am Baptized

Yet, some believe that after they are baptized in water, somehow mystically they are okay. But baptism is an outward symbol of a spiritual event called the cross experience. Do you not know that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Romans 6: 3-6.

Our sin nature died on the cross. We are free! Free from the guilt, the shame, the mental torture, the indignity, the pain, and the fear. Free!

Sin is the breaking of the Ten Commandments, and it is the written record of what the old sinful nature can and will do (I John 3: 4). Sinning is the old nature still manifesting itself through actions that break the law. “And we know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin” (I John 3: 5). By dying with Him, we are freed from the bondage of sinning!

Free! Free from sin and sinning! Free now to grow spiritually to the point where we will bear much fruit like Peter, James, John and Paul. Free! Are you kidding me? Believe this truth in Christ, and you’ll be walking in a new life, freed from sin, for He has given us a new heart (Ezek. 18: 31).

This is true repentance. This is being born again of His incorruptible seed, the word of God (I Peter 1: 23). By faith we have to reckon our old self dead and gone with Christ on the cross, and also reckon ourselves alive unto God by faith in Christ’s resurrection. He said it; we believe it, and now we walk in its light. He gave His word on this. He is way ahead of us. He already sees us as righteous before Him. He is just waiting on His elect to believe His word, to believe like He believes. He with great patience waits for His chosen ones to awake unto righteousness, thus fulfilling His purpose of reproducing Himself.

This freedom from sin and sinning is the fruit of repentance wrought at the cross. It is the key to being born again and entering into His kingdom. This is why, to win souls, Christ spoke these words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{If you liked this article, hit the “like” button. Please make a comment. I will answer them all. And be sure to send for my latest book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect; it is totally free. Just send me your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com If you appreciated this article, you will be thrilled with the new book. I wrote it for you. You need this book if you want to grow spiritually and be like Peter, James, John, and Paul.
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The Prosperity Doctrine Debunked

[Turn on to any of the televangelists, any time of day or night, and the vast majority will be preaching the prosperity doctrine. Simply put, it goes like this: Support them with your dollars, and God will bless you financially in return.]

As the Spirit of Truth shines more light into the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” it is easy to get sidetracked, wandering down side paths in His glorious garden of knowledge. And then there’s the constant Sirens’ song enticing the pilgrim to believe their false teachings about Christ. By wandering around, we can lose sight of the central purpose of God, which is a compass that leads us north to His throne. And that purpose is, of course, that God is using us to reproduce Himself in. He calls it “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8: 19). His purpose should be our meditation.

We must keep God’s truths in context. Knowledge of Him must be tempered with decency and  order (I Cor. 14: 40). We are “to know, and by knowledge to lift up the mind from the dungeon of the body to the enjoying his own divine essence” [1].

Hundreds of denominations are born because someone thought that they had received some insight on “faith” or “grace” or some other idea, and they built an organization around that soundbite, and it became a denomination. And the kicker is that most of the time their “revelation” was unscriptural and just plain wrong. One of the most insidious and onerous of these false doctrines is the prosperity doctrine. Exulting over this teaching is against God’s word, and it needs to be repented of.

The Prosperity Doctrine

Christ’s very first warning when He gave prophecy about the time of the end was this: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” And they will speak about Christ, but they will deceive many (Matt. 24: 4-5). The preachers are slick. They concoct convoluted doctrines of how money will pour into your life. The prosperity teaching is pervasive and is a perversion of the law of harvest. They say that your offering or tithe of money is the seed of faith that must be sowed. They say that this is the way to show your faith in God. They say that giving money to keep their church house doors open and their TV airwaves humming is a seed of faith that God will give back many more dollars as a harvest blessing.

The Problem

There is only one problem with this teaching. It is against Christ’s teachings. Let me explain from the scriptures.

Yes, the law of harvest with the word “seed” and “harvest” is in there, but “money” is not the seed. The seed is a spiritual thing that we sow with God—not a material thing like money. The apostle clears this up. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap…For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6: 7-8). God wants spiritual change, not pocket change.

The “seed” in the passage just quoted is a spiritual offering, not a fleshly one like money. And the harvest is eternal life not financial blessings. Besides, our offering should be our very lives. We are to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Rom. 12: 1).

God Warns about Preaching for Money

Moreover, the Spirit of Christ in the prophet Micah makes it very clear what God thinks of pastors, preachers, evangelists, bishops, priests, and prophets who get paid for ministering. Yahweh says, “Concerning the prophets that make my people err.” While they lead the flock into error, they are devouring them. Therefore, God will not give them His vision. “The sun will go down over the prophets.” There will be “no answer from God.” He is also talking to the heads of the house of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel (Ten tribes), you “that abhor judgement, and pervert all equity” (3: 5-9). He is castigating the political leaders as well as the religious.

Here is the warning about preaching for money. Yahweh continues, “Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.” Political  leaders are corrupt, taking bribes. Religious leaders preach and pastor for money. Cut their salaries off and see if they are around in a couple of Sundays. And the televangelists today give prophecy for money. The people in the pews are getting fleeced, and they are not being fed the milk of the word (Micah 3: 11).

This false prosperity doctrine is a snare, couched in Christian terminology. Our center should not be on material blessings. Our Savior told us to not be concerned with the physical and material things. “Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on…neither be of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after… But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Luke 12: 28-31.

This prosperity doctrine is a trap. Giving money to pastors and preachers is a modern day example of the old pagan worship. The people offered their flocks, their grain, and even their children to their pagan idol gods in hopes of a bigger harvest of grain and animal fertility for the next year. We all must take this very seriously and repent from this dead work, which is the first of the apostles’ doctrines.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

  1. Sir Philip Sydney, The Defense of Poesy, “Poetry, Philosophy, History.”

{If you liked this article, hit the “like” button. Please make a comment. I will answer them all. And be sure to send for my latest book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect; it is totally free. Just send me your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com If you appreciated this article, you will be thrilled with the new book. I wrote it for you. You need this book if you want to grow spiritually and be like Peter, James, John, and Paul.
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Seeing and Entering the Kingdom of God

Oh, how we need the Prince of Peace to return! Our hearts break when we see a toddler’s legs reduced to jelly in a Syrian minefield, when we see a sobbing volunteer who could not save her. Oh, how we need Him to come and rule with a rod of iron the forces who have strangled the earth with merciless savagery! We need His righteous judgement on the masters of war, the rulers of darkness. Oh, how we need His Love to rise like the sun across the blood-soaked earth, and with its light begin to heal our wounds and dry our tears. We here on this crimson plain ask You to come back soon. We need your kingdom to come. Come back and heal us. Take away our fears of each other. Banish hatred from the land. Sow in its stead tender grains of love and peace. Everlasting Father, please help us. We won’t make it without your touch. We won’t make it without your righteous government coming to earth.

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With a broken spirit, we will begin to see the kingdom of God after being born from above (translated “born again” in the KJV). We then may enter the kingdom of God after being born of water and of the Spirit (John 3: 3-5).

We receive a new heart and new spirit, and this is the start of His kingdom within. For now a portion of the King’s Spirit dwells inside of our hearts. He begins His rule within us. Our desires change for the better. We are less and less selfish; we begin to think of others instead of ourselves. When He is ruling in our hearts, the kingdom is present in us. His Spirit of Love enters our hearts, and God’s reproduction of Himself in us begins. The kingdom of God is the spiritual and physical location where this reproduction is taking place.

The kingdom of God starts small like a tiny grain of belief in Christ in a person’s heart. Then this little light, this little seed of faith grows as others are won to His cause. But they will only seek Him desperately when their creature comforts are taken away. Then they will find  Him. It was always so. As more respond to the kingdom message, then it grows into a nation, which is Christ’s body of believers. Inside them, Love (God) is growing and maturing by His Spirit within them. Then this kingdom goes national, international, worldwide, galactic and universal.

The Spirit in Isaiah speaks eloquently of the King of this Kingdom: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (9: 6-7). The underlined and bold words prove that the Kingdom of God is a government with political as well as religious overtones because it institutes peace and not war.

Let us dig deeper into this passage. Everyone agrees that the “child” referenced above is Jesus Christ, Yahshua the Messiah. But let us see what the Spirit says about His kingdom. The kingdom of God is a “government.” And it is Christ’s government, for He is its sovereign ruler. He shoulders all of the responsibility of rulership. He is called “The everlasting Father” because the Father Yahweh resides fully in Him. He is called “The Prince of Peace” because through His rule, 1,000 years of peace will permeate this planet. And there will be no end to Christ’s government and peace, for He will be “upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom.” Christ will rule here on earth with righteous judgement and justice forever. The zeal of Yahweh will make it all happen.

Being a Citizen in His Kingdom

The Kingdom of God at present a spiritual one. Upon Christ’s return to assume His throne and rule, it will add a political dimension, for He will rule all nations. For now, to be a part of His government/kingdom, we must give up our earthly life with its lusts, desires, and aspirations for self. That is what it costs to be a citizen in His kingdom. Then we must replace our petty desires with His desires. We must take Christ’s yoke upon us and pull the plow with Him, never looking back.

What are we plowing with Christ? He’s plowing up the whole earth in order to plant His righteous word everywhere. Unregenerate man is the ground that is plowed and then planted. When the Sower begins to sow the seed, only the broken ground will receive the seed (Matt. 13). The broken ground is a broken heart and a contrite spirit in a humbled person. That is the ground that is able to receive the seed, the word of God.

Many nations and peoples will flow into His government. And He will bring some of us to His throne room. Those chosen for this honor will sit with Him, and He will make them “rulers over ten cities.” If chosen for this honor, we will be viceroys, ambassadors, and administrators for the King (Luke 19: 17; Rev. 3: 21; Isa. 2: 2-4).

It’s All about the Kingdom

For 1,300 days, both pre- and post-resurrection, Christ taught exclusively about His Kingdom. He spoke of Himself as a soon-to-be exiled King. His teachings are centered in the government/kingdom of God. His doctrine separates the good and true from the bad and false concepts, ideas, and assumptions of false teachers. By purging the doctrinal errors, He brings His subjects into a closer walk with their King.

The Kingdom is the place where God is growing. His Kingdom is the realm of His influence. He is not fellowshipping with those in error. He commands all people everywhere to repent from what they are doing and who they are serving because the Kingdom is here. Right now the King through His Spirit of truth has taken up residence in the hearts of His saints. His presence is growing and will grow until His kingdom fills the whole earth.

Many Are in Error

Many professing Christians are in error. Christ has harsh words for those who claim to know Him and fail to seek first His kingdom. Again, His kingdom/government is utmost in His mind. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’(Mat. 7: 21-23).

There will be much weeping on that sad day for lukewarm Christians. These professing Christians thought that they were worshipping and serving God. They knew the lingo and the outer trappings, but not Him and His purpose. They will be rejected by Him and they will weep bitter tears. It would have been much better for them to have wept for the widows and orphans and little children who were being slaughtered in the killing fields of this wicked world system—much better had they sobbed and cried out for Him and His kingdom to come and end the injustice and suffering. Much better had they not relied on the pastors’ and preachers’ faulty vision for them.

Nevertheless, upon being rejected, millions of people will try to justify their brand of Christianity to the King Himself! And they will weep in shame after He says to them, “I never knew you.” And why will this happen? Because they did not know Him as He really is! They did not believe the Son’s own witness about Himself, when He commanded us, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” They had Him as a third person of a Trinity; they did not believe that the fullness of the Father dwelt bodily in Christ. They missed it. They missed His oneness; they missed the “Holy One of Israel.” That will be a sad  and dreadful day.

Only the one who does the will of my Father” will be allowed to enter the kingdom. And what’s the Father’s will? “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life…” And to “believe in Him” one must believe His words, especially His words about Himself, which are these: “The Father is in Me” (John 6: 40; 14: 11). And, of course, this further proves that God is One and not three. Simple belief in what He says about Himself emanating from a clear mind free from false doctrines—that is all He wants us to do. That’s the kingdom walk.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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