Category Archives: kingdom of God

The Spirit in Us Searches the Deep Things

It is all about loving God and what He loves. “We love Him, because he first loved us” (I John 4: 19). We get our first impetus to really love God when we appreciate His love in giving Himself for us when we were so unworthy and wretched.

This wonderful deliverance He has wrought is great enough, but His blessings do not stop there. The things that await those that love Him are beyond our poor powers to comprehend at present. We have not seen nor heard them. They have not entered our minds and hearts, these “things that God has prepared for them that love Him.” Another translation reads, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him” (I Cor. 2: 9).

“But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit.” The hidden mysteries and wisdom are revealed to us by His Spirit. When we receive His Spirit, then the Spirit in us searches all things,” the “deep things of God.”  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the  Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God (v. 10).

For Those Who Love God

These unseen and unheard magnificent things of God, reserved for those who love Him, are only revealed by the Spirit that now resides in us. The natural man cannot know these things, but the Spirit knows God’s things, and He can reveal those deep things to us because of His presence within us (v. 11-12).

God has something special for those that love Him. It starts out as His secret surprise. We hear about it and get curious. We receive His Spirit and then His Spirit within begins to search for those deep things of God. Only the Spirit of God in a regenerated person can reveal the things of God to us. For only the Spirit of God searches out the deep things.

If any of us feel that we are not having that burning desire for the deep things of God, then we need to examine our hearts to see if we are really loving God and to see if we have the Spirit of God within us.

The Things that God Has Prepared

Knowing what God has prepared for those who love Him is the solving of the secret mystery of the “deep things.” Just what are these “deep things”? A clue can be gleaned from Christ’s parables which always likened the kingdom of God to things that can be seen and heard. The kingdom is prominent in the parables. Christ called them “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 13: 11).

Another clue is Christ’s words about what to seek first in life. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you.”

But what is most revealing is His statement to His disciples concerning the parables: “But blessed are your eyes for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them” (13: 16-17). [Much more is on the parables in my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect, absolutely free. See end of this article]

Wait a minute. There is some seeing and hearing of very secret things going on here. Things that only the Spirit can reveal. And we are seeing that it has to do with God’s kingdom and all that goes with it. The things that God has prepared for those who love Him is His kingdom and government in this earth!

Christ Is Coming Back to This Earth

Christ will not stay in heaven for very much longer. He promised that He would come back, bringing with Him all His followers that had passed away, joining all of us who are “alive and remain.” What will the scene be like upon His return?

He gives a clear picture of Him dealing with nations. He is sitting upon His throne in Jerusalem, and He is enacting judgements upon the peoples of the earth. His kingdom, His government, has arrived. If you read chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew, you will see Him speak incessantly about His kingdom.

He is sitting on His throne with all nations divided before Him as sheep nations and goat nations. He makes that distinction. He says to the sheep nations, “Come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (25: 34). Notice that the kingdom of God established right here on earth has been prepared for us! In fact, His kingdom is the “things that God has prepared for those who love Him.” God has prepared for us a city, a capital city of His kingdom.

The Spiritual Reasons Why Some Nations Will Be Blessed

Christ explains why the sheep nations are blessed and the goat nations are not. His words are Spirit and life. He is not speaking on just the natural level. He is saying, You sheep nations on my right hand are blessed because you loved Me when you loved others who were in need. You did not hold back. You fed them with the bread of life when they were hungry. You led them to the fount of the living waters and gave them drink when they were thirsty for the truth. You opened your heart to those who were estranged from Me and My Word, remembering that we all were strangers in a strange landscape, lost and sinking in sin at one time. And you clothed them with righteousness so that the shame of their spiritual nakedness would be covered. You anointed them with the balm of My Word, which healed their infirmities. And you freed them from the prison of doubt and fear and ignorance and showed them the sunlight out past the prison walls of darkness. You were not afraid of sharing the love that I am with the people. This is how I judge your love for Me. And because you love Me, Christ is saying, “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25: 31-40).

There it is—the deep things, the mysteries that are revealed to us by His Spirit. He has prepared a wonderful kingdom for us to dwell in as He reigns for a thousand years. It is all about the Kingdom of God in its reality, soon to fill the whole earth (Dan. 2: 44).      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{My latest book is absolutely free to all with free shipping in the USA. Merely send me your mailing address—it is, of course, safe with me. My email is wayneman5@hotmail.com  And I will get it right out to you. Some have wondered how I can make this free. This is my love offering to God, to freely share with you what He has given me. The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect has 220 pages of inspiring truths that some have never heard before. If you have appreciated the articles on this website, then you will love to get this in your hands. Order today… International readers, the book is free, but I ask you to pay for your own shipping and handling ($20 US). Email me for more details}

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Filed under end time prophecy, kingdom of God, love, Spirit of God, Word

The Apostles’ Doctrine Prepares Us to Go Inside the Veil

As I share these teachings on the apostles’ doctrine, I remember some 45 years ago when I received the seeds of this knowledge from my mentor. I thank God for him, for the patience he had with me as I exited for good the old life and entered the new life in Christ. I had help; I needed help. I was blessed to not be separated by hundreds and thousands of miles, desperately reaching out through a virtual reality atmosphere for the truth. We were family; we lived in our own community; we worked together every day for years and worked out our problems as a family. It was in this environment that I first learned of the apostles’ doctrine. My teacher with great joy and clarity taught us that and much more [When he passed away I published an elegy that you can read here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/i-will-remember-him-that-way-elegy-for-my-mentor/ ].

After decades of study, which is the watering of those seeds that the Spirit planted by His teacher, I now share that harvest. The harvest of seeds is seeds. I now sow the seed. Never forget: “The parable is this; the seed is the word of God.”

We saw last time that doctrines are teachings. And the doctrine that the apostles had was Christ’s very doctrine. Some people have a big problem with the word “doctrine.” I have heard it said by preachers, “We don’t want doctrine; we just want Jesus.” That is so ignorant, in the pure sense of the word, because the word says, “Whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God” (II John 9). We are to not only know what His doctrine is, but we are also to abide in it. “Abide” in the Greek here means “to stay in, to continue in, to remain in.” We are to stay in these teachings. That’s heavy, yet it shows just how important Christ’s teachings are. And the comforting thing is that His apostles have the same doctrine. And the apostles’ doctrine is the very bedrock foundation of God’s house for the latter days.

It is interesting that God uses many different metaphors and similes taken from the everyday life of a farmer, a peasant, a gardener, or a builder. He likens His word to a seed that is sown, which is spoken into the ground or into a person’s ear. And for some, it will take root in their hearts as we see in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. And then He likens His word unto water, living waters delivered by His Spirit. Once a person has tasted the living waters–who has really taken a nice, huge gulp–nothing else on this planet will quench the thirst for the truth. Things of the earth, the material things that appease on a natural level will never suffice a human called by His Maker, for they are created to be the glory of God—a spiritual being.

But when the apostles’ doctrine is taught, many turn away. When repentance from sin is taught, then many begin to walk away. It is a tough one, especially if they believe that they are already in His good graces. And yet, “Repent” was the very first word that our Savior said to every one he met. He said over and over again, “Repent, for the…” For the what? For the “kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is so near that its very King was standing in their midst, and He knew that repentance from sin was their ticket into His kingdom. For no cheats, liars, thieves, and adulterers will reside in His kingdom. Repentance takes care of that. Which is to say, the cross experience takes care of that (more on that later).

Christ’s doctrine solidly in our hearts is the foundation. Only those who are solid and grounded and do not waver when the test comes—these are the ones who will go on to perfection, which is full spiritual maturity. This is when Christ is fully formed in us. These teachings are to be a part of us, yet we will have to leave them eventually in order to go on unto perfection (Heb. 5: 12-14). After a foundation is completed, a builder has to put up the walls, rafters, and roof, and finish the job. He can’t keep monkeying around with the foundation; he will never complete the vision of the architect; he will never finish.

The First Principles

The apostles’ doctrine is the “first principles of the oracles of God.” These teachings are only the first teachings that the elect must have in their heart. They are the milk of the word and not the meat. Though they seem at first glance to be advanced, they really are elementary principles. It is like when we took pre-algebra in grade school, how we thought it was so hard, while it was only just a preliminary to the mathematical pain that would be coming in the next few years.

These teachings are for little children, even “babes in Christ,” who are mostly alive to see what they can receive from their new spiritual Father. But our destiny is not to be little children of God. No. For we have this hope that God will be reproduced within us. And this “hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which enters into that within the veil” (Heb. 6: 18-20). Our Savior Yahshua (Jesus) has already entered into this 100 fold growth as our high priest to guide us on in.

Inside the Veil

“Entering into that within the veil” means going into the 100 fold growth, which is us fully matured spiritually with the Spirit of God manifested in us. It helps our growth to get a glimpse of just what is behind the veil. For the tabernacle in the wilderness, whose construction blueprint was given to Moses by God, serves as types and shadows of the spiritual house of God, “whose house are we.” The apostle escorts us on into these higher realms in Hebrews 6 and 7. Yet he encourages us to leave those very first principles in order to fulfill our calling as a “royal priesthood” (I Pet. 2: 9). We see our calling is to follow in Christ’s footsteps in being that kingly priest, “called after the order of Melchisedec.”

We do not enter this rarified atmosphere of knowledge without great humility, the kind shown in our service to our King Yahshua. He ever lives now to intercede for us when we come to Him with our petitions on this “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” As our High Priest, we thank Christ for obtaining for us a better covenant that has purged our “conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9: 9-14). No more recriminations, nor guilt, nor shame. No more guilty consciences, for He has wiped the slate clean. This is the fruit of the very first apostles’ doctrine—repentance from sin.

There is much to see inside the tabernacle, which is “the example and shadow of heavenly things.” The old covenant of the blood of animals only purified the “patterns of things in the heavens…but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these” (Heb. 9: 23). What is a better sacrifice than the blood of animals? The blood of the Lamb of God “that takes away the sins of the world.” So Christ’s blood cleanses whom? Human beings, who are the “heavenly things themselves.”

We are heavenly things, brethren. With Christ’s Spirit now within us, we are heavenly beings, not carnal and of the earth. We are spiritual beings now. And we need to walk in this truth. For this truth is an example of what we will get into after the apostles’ doctrine is solid in our hearts. This is where the Spirit wants to take us. The question is this: Can we dispel our doubts long enough to hear His voice. Can we humble our human minds long enough to receive from a teacher, who really is the Spirit of Truth in a human body. But when the Spirit of Truth is come, He will teach us all things. He does not just mystically float around willy-nilly seeking whom He may inspire. He resides in His teachers, apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors.

Inside the Veil

“Let us go on to perfection” [spiritual maturity]. Let us go on to where Christ wants us—inside the veil, sitting with Him. Wait a minute—get this—sitting down with Him on His throne!

This is His vision, which will attack our meager belief system until we fully believe this: “All things are possible to him that believes.” Belief, which is faith, is the second of the apostles’ doctrine.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Filed under apostles' doctrine, eternal purpose, kingdom of God, manifestation of the sons of God, perfection, Spirit of God, spiritual growth, sufferings of Christians

God’s Five Offices Are for Your Perfection

{This is another excerpt from my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It will be out this spring. I want to get this book into as many interested hands as I can, so I am offering it totally free to my readers. The book is free; the shipping is free in the USA. All I need is your prayers and your mailing address. Don’t worry. Your mailing address is safe with me. Please send it to my email address: wayneman5@hotmail.com   On subject line write “New Book.”}

The notion that all Christians are God’s little lambs and will remain as such is a false concept. For God has set some members in the body as “apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.” These five offices are God’s gifts to His church, and they are not lambs nor little children.

Moreover, they are given to us by God to accomplish three certain things: “the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, and the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4: 11-15). Perfecting? One may ask. It means here “maturing.” When we come to Christ, we receive the seed, the word of God into our hearts. Through proper watering and nourishment the seed will grow and finally mature. The five offices of God help the members of the body of Christ grow spiritually and mature unto perfection. They show us the way of how to minister God’s light and truth to this world. And they build us up spiritually, feeding us with the truth of God’s purpose for this walk.

Now all of God’s children are important to Him. But He knows that some will mature faster in His plan than others. So He sends those who have matured first—by His grace—back to the others to nourish and help them on their walk with the Father.

Yet some Christians reject the idea of the manifested sons of God. They think that we are all equal and that there should not be one stone above another in the temple of God. The thought of having “super-Christians” walking the earth does not set well with some. But the fact that God has set these five offices in His body to help the church members achieve perfection and maturity shows that some Christians mature spiritually faster than others. And we are equally loved by our Father.

The five offices are a gift from God to us, and they will help the members of God’s body “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (4: 13). They will be with us, helping us, “till we all come…unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” All of us true Christians will grow into the fullness of Christ, that we all “may grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.” Don’t be shaken just because some Christians will mature faster than others. Just love them and help them because we all are going to make it.

These five offices help us become one with the Father’s vision. They will teach us how the Father is using His incarnation in the Son to work out His plan of deliverance for the inhabitants of the world. And they will teach us how to grow spiritually to the point that we become like Peter, James, John, and Paul. These four matured earlier than others. In our day some will do the same, but we are all growing up into Him.

That is what these five offices in the body of Christ will do and continue to do till we all get there. They are powered by God, who has that much faith in His own power to change us into dynamos of spiritual energy so that we like Christ can do the same works—greater works even—than what the Master Himself did. God’s faith is not in our old selves, but in the Spirit of Christ now in us—to do the growing and maturing.

How Will We Know If We’ve Found One of These Five Offices of God?

How will you know? Do they speak of you being like the Savior? Are you being edified and built up with the grand vision that the apostles and prophets spoke of? Do you feel like you are starving for the meat of the word? Do they speak about growing up to be like Christ?

If they are not doing this, then you need to ask God to lead you to a place that will feed your heart and soul. “You will know them by their fruit.” “Fruit” is that which is produced by your spiritual leader. If what they speak about is themselves, then run, for they can only take you to where they are. Run. Get out.

“Seek and ye shall find.” Seek God for His five offices to be a part of your life. You will know you have found one when their teachings line up with these criteria:

  • They will teach that God’s righteousness enters into us along with our new heart that sin in our life died on the cross when Christ died there. And with His resurrection, we too enter a new life of righteousness.
  • They will teach that we can grow to be just like the apostles and Christ.
  • They will speak often of the kingdom of God being a real kingdom with Christ as King, coming back to this earth, replacing the evil of the world system.
  • They will build you up with truth, pulling no punches.
  • They will call out the old leaven doctrines of the denominations, showing their fallacies in light of His word.
  • They will show the way, lighting the path for us.
  • They will share the knowledge of God’s secrets of His purpose and plan of reproducing Love.

And when you find one who teaches the truth, by faith step out there and follow them and pray for them, and help them through your spiritual support. And remember: You’ll know them by their fruit.

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The Good News of the Kingdom of God

The true gospel is the good news of our Father’s kingdom literally coming to fill the whole earth with His righteous ways. A kingdom is a form of government headed by a monarch. Christ is the King of God’s kingdom, and He teaches us the importance of the Father’s kingdom in His model prayer known as The Lord’s Prayer. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. His kingdom already rules in heaven; shortly it will rule completely on earth.

This is the good news proclaimed in the four gospels in the so-called “New Testament” of the Bible.  Many scriptures back this up.  “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).  Believe what gospel?  The “gospel of the kingdom of God.”  He is saying, God’s government is here.  Because it is at hand, you need to repent from your old selfish life, and believe this good news of God ruling on earth.

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14).  It is this good news of the kingdom of God that must be proclaimed in the whole world before the end of the age will come.  But most are preaching “another gospel,” for they very seldom mention a real government of God coming to this earth along with Christ’s return. They say the gospel/good news is salvation, but salvation, though wonderful, is just the first step. There’s so much more, like us growing spiritually and becoming royalty in God.

In Matthew 24: 15, Christ quotes the prophet Daniel concerning the end times.  In Ch. 2 Daniel saw the Father’s kingdom coming down out of heaven smashing the world system to pieces.

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms.” These are four historical world governmental systems–Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome. At this present time, we are seeing the last revival of the old Roman Empire.  Think “Euro and the EU”.  We are coming to the end of “the days of these kings.”  “Thy kingdom come.”

To God’s faithful, this collapse of the present world system is “good news.”  To others it will be “bad news.”  Good or bad, the Father’s Kingdom is coming in a fullness.

We, then, should pray with this grand and glorious vision that Christ had, when He taught His disciples to pray.  A vision of an earth free from corruption and cruelty–free from addiction and selfishness–free from hunger and desperation–free from greedy leaders who cast the poor in chains of lies and deceit–free from husbands and wives betraying those who love them the most–free from brokenhearted children thrown out like trash by selfish parents–free from the evil that rapes and pillages every lost soul on earth…

The Kingdom of God brings what every soul is crying for.  This is the good news that will fill the earth when Christ comes back and sits down on the throne of our invisible Father.  And His sons and daughters will sit alongside Him in His kingdom right here on earth (Rev. 3: 21). And He will dispatch us His princes and princesses out into the ravished earth to rebuild and restore what the evil ones wasted. “Thy kingdom come” evokes much about the glorious vision God has for His earth.  We need to pray toward this end.  He told us to not ask for things for ourselves, but rather, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”  If we have His back, He’ll have ours.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock  {This is Chapter 28 of my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect }

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Belief–The Key to Growing into the Manifestation of the Sons of God

Life is all about love and belief. It is all about believing the love that God showed to us when He had His Son give up His life to ransom us from the darkness of sin.

The “Life” we speak of is not the selfish little mortal life we first knew here on earth. No, we speak now about the life that  is in the Son of God. We speak of life without end, eternal life, life everlasting. Eternal life is the only true life, for life is not really life if it can die.

In order to exchange our first natural, mortal life for the eternal life that God is and wants for us, He merely requires us to just believe Him and have faith in His word concerning all this.

Our belief in His death [the death of our old life], His burial [the burial of our old life], and His resurrection [our being “raised to walk in a newness of life“] is the key. God has ordained belief to be the spark of spiritual energy that surges into our hearts, igniting the fire of life, causing us to begin to grow spiritually.

Like sunshine in spring upon the moist earth energizes the seed to awaken to its potential, even so we now spring to life in the garden of the King. In believing Him, we become His plants, flourishing in watered terraces, bearing the fruits of love, compassion, and justice for all to enjoy. For we are those trees He speaks of, trees planted by the river of life. Oh, how we should thank Him! And the sincerest form of thanks is belief.

Belief of God Is Elemental

We humans are created beings. Our origin, therefore, comes not from our own volition, but from the mind of a Superior Being who wanted us to be, to have life. Consequently, our sole responsibility is to believe the One who says that He is the Word. We are to believe His words. Belief is elemental and seminal in this walk on earth.

Belief, rendered “faith” in many verses, is profound, yet simple. In fact, the profound things of God, the mysteries, riddles, parables, precepts, and the puzzling enigmas that have perplexed prophets and wise men, and beggars and kings–they remain profoundly simple.

Remember the simplicity of the innocence of a little child that Christ spoke about? Unencumbered by the adult mind, the child believes simply. But man’s wisdom blunts the human mind like the granite rock dulls the sword that dares to strike it. The rock and the sword are not for each other. They are out of place, out of time. Such is the mind of old man Adam when endeavoring to comprehend the things of God.

Such are the mysteries of the mind of God. But childlike belief opens them up to our understanding. It is like when a child of three years plucks the petals of his first daisy or smells his first red rose. He does not need the botanist to analyze their parts. He needs no chart or graph depicting how to cultivate them. As the flower’s fragrance enters the child’s nostrils, he understands, yea, believes in the beauty and simplicity of the rose. He inhales its grace and its love. Of such belief, is the kingdom of heaven.

In like manner, let us savor the truth about how the Spirit grows within us to the point of God reproducing Himself. But it will take a childlike belief of God’s word, free from all doubt.

The “Greater Works”

As Christians we have wondered how it would be to have the same power to do good as the apostles of the early church. Through the Spirit, they raised the dead and healed the sick and did many astounding miracles. Whole denominations today have as their main purpose a return to the power of those early days.

Did Christ ever speak about this kind of growth? Did He ever promise us that we could grow to this point in Him? to do what He and His disciples did?

Yes, He did. He said, “He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do…” (John 14: 12). There it is. “Belief” is right there. The person that believes on Him shall do not only the works of Christ, but “greater works” than what He did. It’s there in irrefutable black and white.

But wait. There’s a problem here. Hundreds of millions of believers of Christ are out there. Why aren’t we all raising the dead and healing the sick and doing these “greater works” that He promised? We believe that He not only existed as an historical figure, but that He also is the Son of God and that He arose from the dead. Why don’t we have the power of the early apostles?

To find out what the words “he that believes on Me” mean, we must back up to John 14: 1. Christ tells his disciples, You believe in God; believe in Me, also. In our Father’s house are many abodes, many dwelling places. I am going now to prepare a place for you to dwell. I’ll return and you will be with Me. You know where I am going. And you know the way (1-4).

Thomas then asks Him the famous question. We do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way to the Father (v. 5). Christ replies, “I am the way.” I am the way; I am the traveled road, that will get you to the Father. “I am the truth.” I won’t steer you wrong with bad directions on your road to the Father. I am full of grace and truth for all seekers of the divine. “I am the life.” Life dwells in Me. That is the truth. That is the way to the Father. In fact, “no man comes to the Father but by Me” (v. 6).

How to Believe on Christ

In John 14, Christ is, no less, telling us how to believe on Him so that we can do the “greater works”!

He is saying, You can’t get to the Father without Me. Besides, If you really knew Me, you would know My Father also. And from now on, after this teaching that I am giving you, you know the Father and you have seen Him (v. 7).

Christ is saying, Right now you are seeing the Father, who is an invisible Spirit, dwelling in the abode of His Son. Then Philip says to Him, If You will just show us the Father, we’ll be satisfied and contented (v. 8).

I am persuaded that Christ just shook his head and said, I have been with you for a long time and you don’t know Me? If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The Father dwells inside of Me, and He speaks the words through Me and does the works (vs. 9-10).

Christ in v. 11 is pleading with us, imploring us, commanding us: “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.” Christ is “in the Father” because He is doing His will perfectly. The Son is a vessel, then, that is in the Father, in the Spirit. And the Father, in turn, is also in the Son as that same one invisible Spirit. Christ is saying, The miracles that I have been performing, only the Father can do, so believe what I am saying to you about the Father being now present with you in Me.

The above is the prologue to Christ’s promise to us that we will do greater miracles than what He and His disciples did (John 14: 12). This is an astounding promise that is predicated on our understanding of the following: “He that believes on Me, the works I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall He do.”

“Believes on Me…” With the promise of growing up to become like–I am going to say it–like Christ, what do these three words mean? What kind of belief in Christ are we talking about here? We must believe that Christ is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. The invisible Spirit of Love, the Creator Himself, “dwelt bodily” in Christ. They are not sitting on two thrones; they are not a Twinity. Christ sits right now with the Father still inside of His vessel. The Father is invisible. The scriptures tell us this (Col. 1: 15; I Tim. 1: 17).

The question is this. Can we smell this rose as a little child? Can we simply believe, not my words, but Christ’s very own words: “The Father is in Me.” If we can believe on Christ this way, in child like faith, then our growth in Him is limitless.The great Yahweh, walking around in human form, left us with this commandment: Believe Me that I am in My Son. If we keep this commandment, nothing shall be impossible for us.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Resurrection of the Dead–Apostles’ Doctrine #5

Vital for Today’s Church

The apostles’ doctrine was the teachings that the early church walked in. Many Christians want what they had, but few in the pews (or pulpits, for that matter) know what those teachings are (Acts 2: 42).

In fact, some will say, We don’t want doctrine; we just want Jesus. Newsflash: You can’t have Jesus without His teachings. For the word for “doctrine” in the Greek means “teachings.” As the apostle states: “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 9). So the doctrine of Christ is vitally important.

And His teachings are plainly listed in the scriptures: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement, and perfection (Heb. 6: 1-2). Of course, there are seven of them.

The Resurrection of the Dead

To understand this teaching, we need to remember two things. First, there can obviously be no resurrection without a death. Self-preservation is built into a mortal’s DNA. We want to live forever, but our longings for immortality exist in a clay body that will die. So, ironically, the immortality that we long for will only come as a result of our inevitable death.

We cannot prevent our own demise. We need a Savior. We need One who understands, who has conquered death. We need someone to take our hand and lead us through this minefield of mortality and across the river of death to the green fields of everlasting life. We have that Savior who has tasted death for every man and woman. We see Him now, “who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2: 9).

Second, in this doctrine there are several distinct types of resurrection. We have Christ’s bodily resurrection without which there would be no other resurrections. There is the spiritual side of His resurrection that provides our spiritual resurrection while still in these earthly bodies. There is the resurrection of the souls that lead into “eternal judgment.” And there is the resurrection and restoration of the House of Israel (12 tribes)–the dry bones of Ezekiel receiving life after so long a time. And then there is when we receive our immortal spiritual bodies at the end of this age.

Our Individual Spiritual Resurrection

This spiritual resurrection comes when we believe the following: He took upon Himself our sin, and when He died on the cross, it was our sinful old self dying with Him. Then we believe that we are buried with Him. And when we believe that He rose from the dead, we, too, receive a spiritual resurrection inside our current mortal bodies. We through faith and belief do now walk in “a newness of life.” He provides a new heart and a new spirit through faith where “all things are become new” (Romans 6: 1-11; Gal. 2: 20; Col. 2: 11).

His resurrection provides the way for our spiritual resurrection in Him. For by faith we have now received His Spirit. We are now “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1: 13-14).

What “possession”? Us. We are bought with a price–His blood. He owns us. What “promise”? He has promised us that He would grant us everlasting life if we go with Him on this great spiritual adventure. Immortality is our “inheritance.” He is our Redeemer. He bought us out of the chains of sin and misery. We owe everything to the King.

It is this personal resurrection where we receive a new Spirit while still in these earthly bodies. This admits us into the receiving of our new spiritual bodies at the end of this age. Our earthly bodies can’t handle a fullness of the Spirit. God wants to reproduce Himself; that is His overriding purpose and plan. And He cannot do it in us as long as we are in these mortal bodies. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” There’s that “inheritance” we talked about. Our inheritance is immortality. But we cannot receive it as long as we are in these aging, decaying, curruptible earthly bodies. We need a new spiritual body, a new wineskin, to contain the new wine of His spiritual fullness. Read I Corinthians 15; 35-58, the resurrection chapter, with new eyes. And rejoice knowing that in Him it is all worthwhile. For “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

In the end, these old decaying and aging earthly bodies have got to go. They must die in order to fulfill God’s purpose. He is reproducing Himself–in us.  This is the key to understanding everything else.

[I understand that the riches of His teachings are unsearchable. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the depth and breadth of His doctrine. I am humbled in this attempt to put into English a tiny bit of them. It will take us ages to search His treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Perhaps that is why He is granting us everlasting life].

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

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“To the Law and to the Testimony”–Being the Witness of God’s Love

God is Love, and He is Light. Therefore Love is Light, for agape Love makes known God’s plan to carry out His purpose, which is to reproduce Himself, to magnify His nature of Love in and through us. He will accomplish His purpose  of reproducing Himself, and He will use us humans to do it. Consequently, mankind has an extremely important part to play in God’s purpose and plan. After all, God did say in His word that “man is the glory of God.” And God is glorified when His Love, His nature is reproduced in us.

God’s plan to accomplish this reproduction of Himself, then, centers on man as the environment where it will take place. And His plan has been written down in words, called the Logos, the Word, which was “made flesh and dwelt among us” in the form of the Son of God (for more see the previous four essays).

Instructions

The Holy Bible is this library of books comprised of the written down word of God that gives us instructions on how He will accomplish this reproduction of Himself (Love). [The Spirit in this moment is giving us precious secrets as to what He is doing–secrets so rare that some may never have heard them before. His servants do not know these secrets; His friends, however, are privy to them, for He reveals the mysteries of His will, His purpose and His plan to His friends, His confidants, His followers chosen to walk in the “high calling” (John 15: 15; Phil. 3: 14).

These instructions are called the law. In the OT Hebrew, the word is torah, meaning “instruction, doctrine”               (https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H8451&t=KJV). It is from an old root verb meaning “to teach.” Teach what? Instruct us in what? The law instructs us as to God’s purpose and plan and how we can be a part of it.

The reader will notice the words above in bold print. There is an enigmatic passage of scripture containing all of these words and more. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8: 20). If they do not speak concerning the law (the standard of God’s reproduction of Himself) and the testimony (the Spirit of Christ, which is the Spirit of Love)–if they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. They just will not know what they are talking about.

“No light in them…” But in Christ “was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.” Love is the light shining into the dark, lost hearts of this world. Love loves the unlovable (John 1: 4-7). The Word (Logos) was God. The Word contained life, and this life was the light of men.  The Word was made flesh and became the Light that lightens every man who comes into the world.

The words we speak should agree with the law and the testimony. If someone speaks a word not in agreement with them, then there is no light in them. And because the light makes known as to who God is (Love) and what He has done for us in including us in His plan of reproducing Himself, those with “no light” are in trouble. They do not know God nor His purpose, plan, nor vision of sharing His nature of Love with His creation.

The “law” instructs us as to what Love will do when present in the human being. The “testimony” is the witness of the presence of the Spirit of God operating and loving through a person. It all goes back to the nature and heart of God, which is the Spirit of love. His eternal purpose of sharing love and His plan to reproduce Himself (Love) in us is prelude in seeing clearly the kingdom of God as the vision of God in the past, present, and future.

The law is what Love demands. It is the standard by which we may know who has the Holy Spirit of Love and who does not. The testimony is that Spirit of Love in action through a human being because of God’s presence in them.  God’s Spirit of Love in a person is the witness (testimony) of God in the earth. The Love that Christ showed the world when He laid down His life for us–when that same Spirit of Love abides in us, the law is fulfilled. “For he that loves another has fulfilled the law.” For all of the Ten Commandments “is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13: 8-10; Gal. 5: 14).

I cannot say, “In conclusion…” because this is just the beginning. It is all about Love, which is to say, God. He wants to share Himself, multiply Himself, reproduce Himself–in us. This knowledge is paramount , for we cannot spiritually grow properly without this knowledge. Without it we are as Martha of Bethany, who was satisfied with being a servant of earthly things to the Master. With this knowledge we become as Mary of Bethany, who sat at the Master’s feet, soaking in the glorious mysteries of His love. And when Martha complained to Christ that Mary wasn’t helping serve, He said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10: 38-42 NKJV).   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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What Do We Do Now to Grow Spiritually? Part Two–Additions to the Faith and the Armor of God

We cannot do things to achieve salvation from God, but we must do certain things in order to grow His Spirit within us after we receive a new heart, after we are “born from above.”

Because our Creator has a purpose of reproducing Himself (Love) in us, He, of course, has a definite plan to fulfill His purpose. He has thought it all through and lined it all out in His written word. And in His scriptures of truth is contained the thoughts of the Son of God, the “Word made flesh.” And these thoughts contain admonishments, and when done by us Christians, we will grow up to be like Him, which fulfills His purpose.

In Part One we explored the apostles’ doctrine as the first thing we need to be learning and doing. We also saw that we are to “purge out the old leaven,” which are the false concepts and teachings about God that we learned coming up.

The Additions to the True Faith

The apostle Peter admonishes us to add to our faith certain spiritual qualities of the King. In order that we may “partake of the divine nature,” we are to add virtue to our faith, and “to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness charity (agape love).” He goes on to say that we will be blind without them. But with them we will “make [our] calling and election sure, and that will ensure our entrance “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1: 3-11).

These additions are not little romper room words to be pasted on a bulletin board. Rather they are facets of a jewel of great price, and that jewel is His very character. These additions are aspects of God’s divine nature. A shallow perusal will not do. They must be studied and prayed over and sought with a whole heart in reverential awe.

Peter sums it up by saying, You better take heed to what I am saying to you. I have a “more sure word of prophecy.” I know what  I am talking about because I was there with our Savior on the Mount of Transfiguration, and I beheld His glory. I am speaking to you now as “a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts” (1: 16-19).

God has miraculously preserved Peter’s words to us for all these 2,000 years. The Spirit still speaks through him to us. We need to study this out thoroughly, or we are going to miss something very big in God’s plan.

[For more on the additions to the faith go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/additions-to-our-faith/ ]

The Whole Armor of God

The fourth thing we are admonished to do is put on the armor of God (Eph. 6: 11-18). Since “God is a Spirit,” Paul is talking about spiritual things. He uses earthly military metaphors that a combat soldier of his time might wear to elucidate the spiritual. For we are in a spiritual war “against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It is spiritual wickedness that we battle, not literal things.

The battlefield is in our minds. So it is the replacing of erroneous thoughts with thoughts about godly truth that will shield our minds from succumbing to the adversary, the devil. We are told to “arm yourselves with the same mind” as Christ (I Pet. 4: 1).

So the whole armor of God is thinking the thoughts that Christ and His apostles thought. Peter also tells us to “girt up the loins of your mind” (I Pet. 1: 13). The first piece of armor is to have “your loins girt abut with truth.” Think on the truth; get rid of the false concepts that we know to be in error.

Then we are to put on the “breastplate of righteousness.” We need to study out the word “righteousness” to take to heart its real scriptural meaning. It has to do with the purging of sin out of our lives.

The we are to have our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” The gospel of the good news of God’s kingdom coming to this earth along with the King’s return (Mark 1: 14-15). We should study it out and think God’s thoughts about it. We should be prepared to share these thoughts about the “gospel of the kingdom of God.” For His kingdom is the good news.

We are to take the “shield of faith.” Knowing and believing in His faith, which has been “once delivered to the saints,” will protects us from attacks of the wicked one. And then we must take the “helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God.”

All these are portions of the armor of God. But it would not be the whole armor without “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

Prayer is the last but not the least of the armor. For it is the most difficult to exercise, it would seem. For we all must be taught to pray, as the disciples asked the Savior to teach them to pray.

It was then that He gave them a prayer to model their prayers after. It is called The Lord’s Prayer. And it has been used and abused so often that the deep meaning has been lost. We are not to mouth vain repetitions of this very prayer, but rather pray according to its precepts. It is not a poll parrot incantation to mindlessly repeat; it is a blue print of how to literally touch God in heaven.

But the old leaven about this prayer is so thick that few can get through it to the truth the Savior was trying to teach us.

[For more on what the Lord’s Prayer means go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/the-lords-prayer-is-not-an-incantation-chant-or-ritual/                                        https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/the-lords-prayer-blueprint-for-building-gods-temple-us/ ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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God Is Love and Is the Light of the World

“You can fight against hatred and sadness and chaos, but you cannot fight love, joy, and peace. If you do, you will lose. For light vanquishes darkness, even as the morning conquers the night.” [Jan. 7, 2016, spoken to some  of my negative thinking students.]

Christ said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8: 12). How is He the light of the world? The apostle Paul said that light makes things known (Eph. 5: 13). We enter a dark room; we switch on the light. Now we know what is around us, what is coming at us. With the light we can see what the future holds for us.

Darkness is the opposite and is the absence of light. And people are sitting in darkness at present, just like they did as Christ was beginning His ministry in Galilee (Matt. 4: 16; Isa. 8: 22). And then they saw a great Light, just like the masses in our age will see at His second coming. Yet, a remnant will see that Light before His return, and they will respond to God’s plan and purpose to reproduce Himself through Christ in them.

Spiritual darkness has descended upon the people, and they know that they are in darkness. They realize their sinful state because they do not want their deeds brought to light. They know innately that what they do is not done in agape love but in selfishness. For this reason those eaten up with darkness hate the light because the light exposes their evil actions. Their death warrant is already signed; their rejection of Light’s pardon seals it (John 3: 19-21). But some will come to the light.

How, then, is Christ the Light of the world? His life illuminates God’s purpose. He is the plan to carry out that purpose. For the Father has poured it all out, written it all down, and has enacted His whole plan to reproduce Love, which is God Himself–it is all in the Son of God. Knowing Christ is knowing the Father’s plan, for “He has declared” the Father (John 1: 18). Christ has “unfolded in a teaching” God’s plan; He has laid it all out for us to see. For He is the Logos, the Word made flesh.

God is love. His purpose is to reproduce Himself (Love) in the earth. This love is His life. And His life of love is the light that illumines our path here on earth. It is the ray of light that overcomes the darkness of hatred and despair. And this Love/Light/Life is poured into Love’s Son, the Logos/Word that declares all this, which is the Father’s heart and mind.

How Love Is the Light

We know that God is love and God is light. Therefore, Love is Light. Since Light makes things known, then Love makes manifest as well. Love sheds light on what and who God is. Where love is present, the Spirit of Love makes God known. We see God when we see love–true selfless love from above, as we see in Christ’s laying down His life for His friends. Thus, Christ saying, “I am the light of the world.”

John’s Letter to Fully Matured Christians

John wrote to Christians of all spiritual growths about these matters. “I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning” (I John 2: 12-14).  It is as if John is speaking to us now: “You fathers have settled the sin question that plagues little children of God; sin is eradicated out of your lives. And you as ‘young men’ have conquered the devil and his temptations. And now you are fully matured spiritually and have known God that is from the beginning. As one of God’s friends, you not only know, but have  His mind and heart that existed from the very beginning. You know His purpose of reproducing Himself. You know His plan to implement that purpose–a plan to create a kingdom, a government with His Son as the King, who will rule and reign for 1,000 years here on earth. You know that some of us humans will rule with Him, as His Spirit will inhabit them fully, thus fulfilling His purpose.

“You fathers have known Him from the beginning, how the Father shaped His purpose and plan into thoughts expressed in words, which comprises the Logos, the Word of God. And you know now how the Father poured the Word into His Son, ‘made of a woman, made under the law.’ And you know that the Son was the Seed of Love, giving up His life a ransom for many. And you know that the harvest of that Seed in our hearts is the ultimate realization  of the fulfillment of God’s Purpose of reproducing Himself. This harvest is called ‘the manifestation of the sons of God,’ or the unveiling of the sons of God. Fathers, you now, like Paul and Peter and John among others 2,000 years ago, are privy to the mind of God and His Son, thoughts so precious and ancient, that little finite minds fizzle into the ether of the spiritual world, that heavenly paradise that was in the beginning before the earth ever existed.”

Now We Know

It has all been written down in the scriptures of truth. It is there for the spiritually hungry, for the thirsty, for the famished. For only a few will find this way of truth (Matt. 7: 14). Christ is the way, the path to God’s heart. Only those desperate enough to want to change their current life will find this path in the wilderness of sin. Only those who are willing to go through Christ’s sufferings will be exalted in that day.

Christ’s life illuminates man’s path to comprehending just who God is and what He is accomplishing in the earth. We can only see God and His purpose and plan when we see the love shown in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, which is the greatest love. When we believe in His resurrection–in us–then we enter into this hidden realm of which we speak.

Christ is the Light that makes known the Father’s purpose. And we all should take heed to the “more sure word of prophecy…as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in [our] hearts” (II Pet. 1: 19). And that “day star” is the Spirit of truth that is the Word which is a “light unto our path” (Psm 119: 105).

And this light will speak “to the law and to the testimony” (Isa. 8: 20).

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

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The Parable Is This–The Seed Is the Word of God

To understand God’s plan and purpose of reproducing Himself, we must understand the Law of Harvest. “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6: 7). Since the beginning, man has sown seed and has harvested that very seed.

This law was enacted by God Himself in the beginning. It is a law that governs both the celestial and terrestrial realms. God reassured Noah and all of mankind, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8: 22).

Seedtime and harvest. There is a “a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted” (Ecc. 3: 2). A time to plant the seed, and a time to harvest that seed.

The Son of God referred to Himself as a seed, the grain of wheat that must be buried in the earth before it germinates and springs up out of the ground. Thus that seed begins its life cycle that culminates in much fruit, the many grains of wheat at harvest time. “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified…Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit” (John 12: 23-24).

The much fruit is the “many sons unto glory” (Heb 2: 10). Just like the harvest of wheat yields many grains of that same wheat, identical to the seed, so shall it be in the harvest of this present world age. The sons of God will be the harvest that will “make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb 2: 10). Their destiny as kings sitting on the throne with Christ is the fulfillment of Christ’s own life cycle–just like that solitary wheat seed finds its fulfillment when it multiplies itself at harvest time.

The Secret

“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God” (Luke 8: 11). The parables reveal “things that have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Mat. 13: 35). The seed is the Word, and “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). And that Seed, the Son of man, died, was buried, and sprang up from the dead. And that Seed germinates in the ground of our hearts when we believe the Savior rose from the dead.

This spiritual life cycle begins anew in us when we believe. And the Spirit within us now grows, and it will end in a harvest of many sons and daughters with the same  spiritual DNA that Christ has. That is us that I am talking about! Not some heavenly apple pie in the sky by and by. Not floating around heaven all day. No. I am talking about being like Christ. Okay. If you are not quite ready to go that far, then how about Peter, James, John, and Paul.

The Seed is the Word. The Word is the logos, which is the whole plan and purpose of God written out and spoken and wrapped up into it. And this logos/purpose/plan/kingdom/vision is all in the mind of God, in His thoughts, which are comprised of words.

And this Word/Logos was made flesh, the Son of God, our Savior. This is the Seed. Inside any seed is contained the whole life cycle of the plant-to-be, from the time of its germination, resurrection, and new life to its full harvest when the seed has reproduced itself. The seed’s destiny is foreordained inside the husk of that seed. With the proper nourishment and moisture, the seed will reproduce to its potential.

Now Christ is the Seed, the Word made flesh. And we, the children of God, are inside that Seed! We are in that Word; we are in that Seed. We are in that purpose, that plan, that kingdom, that vision. We originated in the very thoughts of God; we are in His mind, and He has poured all into His Son, the Seed. We are all in the Seed’s DNA. We who get it are part and parcel of God’s heart and mind. We are inside the mind of Christ, inside the Word, the Seed of God. For “He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1: 4).

The Word/Seed contains us. We are in His mind, thoughts, and plan. And inside this Word/Seed is the complete plan, including the pre-destiny of those who will be used in God’s plan–those who will be exactly like Him. That is us, “for in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17: 28). And “we are in Him that is true, even in His Son” (I John 5: 20).

That’s the long and short of it. God believes all this about Himself and us. Now we just need to stretch our small minds and hearts to believe like He believes. When we believe in Him, we are believing in our personal destiny that He has written down about us, written in the Logos/Word/Seed, written in the Son, the Word made flesh.  The Word becomes light, for it makes His purpose and plan manifest; light reveals and makes known God’s secrets.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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