Category Archives: spiritual growth

August 15, 2022 · 6:34 am

Getting Wisdom through Overcoming Trials of Our Faith

Everyone will agree that we all need the wisdom of God in our lives. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom…” (Proverbs 4: 7). And wisdom is the fear of Yahweh (Job 28:28). “Fear” here is “reverential awe” in the Hebrew.

The apostle James says, “If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally and upbraids not” (1:5). This comes directly after verse three and four where he speaks of “patience.” We need wisdom, yes. And we need to ask Him for it. But we must be careful what we ask for, for He will send wisdom disguised as trials of your faith. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (1:3). These trials will cause us to go through suffering.

This is extremely important. Those of us called to “go on unto perfection” must realize that there are sufferings needed in our lives for us to grow spiritually “until Christ be formed in [us].”

But here is the rub; very few want to suffer with Christ to reign with Him. Paul said that he suffered “as an evildoer.” But he endured—patience was forming inside his heart—through the sufferings (2 Tim. 2:2). Very few desire the trials. It is counterintuitive. We think, Isn’t God supposed to deliver us from pain and sorrow and suffering? And, Why do good Christian people suffer?

Furthermore, many do not even believe that God works that way. What way is that? Most Christians don’t believe that God will love them enough to chasten them, and yet the Word says that if you endure chastening of the Lord, then God will deal with you as sons (Heb. 12:5-11). Patience is translated “endurance” in several places. If we endure Christ’s correction and chastening, then we will grow. This is part of the experience of adding patience.

“Let patience have her perfect work…” (James 1:4).  Patience/endurance brings forth a maturity in us. Trials and tribulations are painful but necessary for our spiritual growth. We tend to shun the very experiences that will bring about those changes because they are painful. This is why Christians remain children and not fathers of the faith like Paul, Peter, James and John.

Who among us would sincerely pray for patience to be added, knowing that we are asking God for trials of our faith? No child of God would, for a spiritual child wants to just feel good and be happy in the Lord. A “babe in Christ” is mostly alive for what blessings they can receive from God to ease the pain and suffering of earthly existence. When God’s elect receive the light concerning these necessary additions to the faith, they will begin to surrender to this phase of God’s spiritual growth in them.

Finally, because of all this, Paul says, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation works patience” (Romans 5: 3). We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance [patience]” (Romans 5:3 KJV, ESV).

Enduring the fiery trials produces a jewel called “Wisdom.” If you desire her “and search for her as for hid treasures,” then you will understand “the fear of the LORD.” With wisdom, you will understand “having reverential awe of Yahweh.” To be in awe of Yahweh–that is wisdom. Let us ask Him for wisdom; He will deliver.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Ordering My Free Books in Paperback]

I am now able to send you a copy of my books absolutely free with free shipping.  Please specify which one.

Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality explores the deeper meaning of our Savior’s Hebrew name Yahshua, which means Yahweh is the Savior.

The Unveiling of the Sons of God explains how the whole creation is waiting and longing for the manifestation (the unveiling) of the sons of God for these latter days. Christ will be totally formed in His elect as they will have grown and matured spiritually into His likeness and power.

The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It explores God’s vision for us, to be kings with Christ and how He will use us to reproduce His nature of Love.

My latest books are The Apostles’ Doctrine and The 11th Commandent. Their doctrine was Christ’s teachings. And the early church walked in those teachings. These books reveal just what they are and how to walk in them.

Send your request, specifying which one of my books you desire, to my email address:  wayneman5@hotmail.com 

Include your name and mailing address. For those outside the United States, or who may prefer a pdf copy of the last two books mentioned, please specify.  Also, you may read the first two books online at my website Immortality Road found here:   https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com

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August 10, 2022 · 10:26 am

We Gotta Know Before We Go and Do His Will

Now is the time that God is pouring forth deeper knowledge into thirsty ears and hungry hearts. We know that we are living in the time of the end. Signs of the end time are everywhere. The most glaring sign happened in 1948 when the fig tree nation of Israel was restored in the land of Palestine ( Fig Tree Is the Sign of Christ’s Return–Rapture Debunked | Immortality Road (wordpress.com). Gaining knowledge of His deeper truths always comes first, and then the doing comes.

We have to know before we go and do His will. We cannot properly do His bidding if we do not have knowledge of it. Simply put, we must know his will before being able to do it. A major theme of God’s will is for His followers to “purge out the old leaven.” Get rid of the old false concepts, doctrines, and teachings about God, and learn his deeper way. This cannot be done without His knowledge and ways.

How is any knowledge transferred from one to another? In grammar school we received knowledge from teachers. In Sunday school we received knowledge from teachers. Is it such a grand mystery that now as we earnestly desire to grow in the Spirit, that we should have teachers that share the “deep things of God”? Teachers led by the Spirit?

“But God has revealed them [His mysteries] unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God” (I Cor. 2: 7, 10).

The Gifts of the Spirit

The first two gifts of the Spirit are “the word of wisdom” and the “word of knowledge (I Cor. 12:8). The Spirit first gives wisdom and knowledge. Then He gives miracles done through us as He did through Paul, Peter and John. But man has it backwards. He accepts Christ and in a month or two sets out to perform full blown miracles of healing before ever receiving wisdom and knowledge.

God’s children receive grace and truth from Him. God will put them in contact with one of His offices who knows the way. The Spirit will supply through him what the seeker wants. Truth will flow out of him as the Spirit leads.  

This is a description of God’s office of teacher. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are the fivefold ministry of the Spirit. These five offices are God’s gift to His called-out-ones, His body, His church, His ecclesia (Eph. 4:11).

They are called and chosen by the Master to accomplish these specific tasks: “the perfecting [the maturing] of the brothers and sisters; [they are] for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [spiritually mature] man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” They will serve Christ in this capacity “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”(Eph. 4:12-13 KJV & NIV).

This knowledge about God’s purpose and plan, and His five-fold-ministry offices, given to His body for their edification and maturity, is part of the “word of knowledge.” You have to know about His will, His mind, and His thoughts. After receiving knowledge, you will be able to begin to do, and by doing you begin to be what you do.

Church houses are way stations on the road to the heavenly city. That’s okay. Or you may not have found a group of believers along the way and worship God alone as it were [but you are not]. That is okay, too. God is leading and guiding you on your journey back to Him. Only one thing though. Remember this. When  you begin to yearn for the deep things, when you are hungry for the meat of the word and not just the milk, then do not quench the Spirit. For it is the Spirit leading you. Be humble as you go with Him. Trust Him to lead you into the deep pastures where very few of His sheep are grazing. He welcomes us to enter that pasture, but there is a narrow gate at the entrance.

For more on all of this request a book.

[Ordering My Free Books in Paperback]

I am now able to send you a copy of my books absolutely free with free shipping.  Please specify which one.

Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality explores the deeper meaning of our Savior’s Hebrew name Yahshua, which means Yahweh is the Savior.

The Unveiling of the Sons of God explains how the whole creation is waiting and longing for the manifestation (the unveiling) of the sons of God for these latter days. Christ will be totally formed in His elect as they will have grown and matured spiritually into His likeness and power.

The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It explores God’s vision for us, to be kings with Christ and how He will use us to reproduce His nature of Love.

My latest book is The Apostles’ Doctrine. Their doctrine was Christ’s teachings. And the early church walked in those teachings. This book reveals just what they are and how to walk in them.

Send your request, specifying which one of my books you desire, to my email address:  wayneman5@hotmail.com 

Include your name and mailing address. For those outside the United States, or who may prefer a pdf copy of the last two books mentioned, please specify.  Also, you may read the first two books online at my website Immortality Road found here:   https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com

Be sure to like, comment, and share these articles with others.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 29, 2022 · 2:23 pm

The “Sure Foundation”–The True Christ

The sons and daughters of God need a “sure foundation” upon which to build their new spiritual life. They need a foundation that is sure and steady. And, of course, we know that the sure foundation is Christ.

But it must be the true Christ and His vision for the world. For many teach a false Christ based on their imaginations as to who Christ is. And therein lies the problem. Many talk about Christ, but few have met Him at His special meeting place–the cross. Few speak of their own cross experience in their testimony. Their pastor would not dare lead them to the old rugged instrument that puts to death their sinful heart. They teach a soft Christ, a feel-good Christ, a different Christ than what the apostles wrote about in the Scriptures.

Dare I say it? The hireling pastors teach false doctrines about the entity they call Christ. They do not know that this meeting place is where their old sinful lives have perished with Him on the cross. Few want to go there. Few speak of their spiritual death with Christ. Few are buried with Him. But a few “are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead.” (Col. 2:11; Romans 6:1-12).

The apostles and Christ Himself warn us about false Christs in many passages of scripture. They teach a rapture and an escape from the tribulation. They say that they have made an agreement, that they will be spared when disaster strikes. They believe that they will be mystically delivered from the horrors coming upon this world (Isaiah 28:15).

But God calls this “believing a lie.” Instead, the Spirit through Isaiah says, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (verse 16).

And then He slams the lid on those who trusted in the erroneous false doctrine of the rapture: “Your agreement with death [that you will be spared] will be annulled…When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it.” The disaster is likened to what God did at Mount Perazim and at the Valley of Gibeon. He rained down meteorites upon them. And he will do it again through the trumpets and vials of wrath in Revelation (I Chronicles 14:10-11; Joshua 10:10). David and Joshua had Christ as their “sure foundation.”

Now we, like them, are “lively stones,” a part of Him, and He in us. A huge part of Christ’s foundation is having the true knowledge of His purpose and His plan to fulfill it. His purpose is to reproduce Himself, for He is agape Love. And He has a plan to do that. His purpose and plan are sure; nothing can prevent Him from carrying out His plan. Our part is to surrender to Him and learn of His purpose and plan.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 15, 2022 · 10:07 am

The “Deep Things of God”—Knowledge That Will Change Your Life

We are commanded, “Add to your faith.” The seven additions to the faith are “the deep things of God.” Knowledge is one of those deep things.

Man’s wisdom teaches us that knowledge comes as we get to know God better. But knowledge is not us knowing him or us knowing about him. It’s what he alone knows. It is proprietary knowledge—God being the Proprietor. For knowledge is an attribute of God. Knowledge emanates out of Him–not us. Knowledge is part of his “divine nature.”

And God has hidden His knowledge and wisdom from the eyes of natural man. The disciples inquired of Christ about the hidden knowledge. And He responded, “The knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them” (Matt. 13:11 NIV).

Example of Hidden Knowledge

The irony is rich. We were drowning in sin, and we reached for the lifeline. But we found that God’s lifeline does not save our old way of living; it puts it to death. His lifeline is the cross. Being crucified with Christ is God’s way of putting to death our old selfish heart. Then we are buried with Him, and then we are resurrected with Him by believing in Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 6:6-12). This is part of the hidden wisdom. It is a secret that natural man’s wisdom does not comprehend.

By this belief, we receive the Spirit of God into our hearts. Our old sinful life is dead and gone, whether we feel it or not. As we seek Him and grow, the Spirit now within us seeks and searches and shares with us the “deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:6-16).

The knowledge to be added to our faith is an attribute of the Spirit of God. It can only be attained through a gift from God to us; only the Spirit can teach us His knowledge. It is in the heart of God. It is the kind of knowledge that only God has. It’s the knowledge that is of Him and by Him and for Him, to be channeled through us out into the world.

The Spiritual World Contains Secrets and Mysteries

His divine nature is painted in secrets and mysteries, to be meted out to those who seek Him with all their heart. Only God can give his own secrets and mysteries and knowledge to us. Therefore, we must ask Him for wisdom and knowledge. It is His to give. He is the Great Giver of His own secrets of hidden wisdom. And He “has freely given us all things” (Rom. 8:32).

To be in reverential awe of Yahweh is the first step in attaining knowledge. “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). Fearing Him, being in awe of Him—that is the start of knowledge and wisdom. When His omnipotence floods the heart and mind, then we begin to know Him and the power that He wields in His universe.

It Is All God’s Doing

Comprehending all this is having “the mind of Christ.” Paul speaks of “the wisdom of God in a mystery,” a “hidden wisdom.” God ordained it so. He ordered His plan to unfold in the very beginning. He planned it that there would be a wisdom and knowledge hidden from the eyes of the unregenerated ones. And God ordained the hidden wisdom, revealed along the way, as steps toward our glorification. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Cor. 2:7).

He planned everything—all the secrets and mysteries—to bring us into a glorified state. He ordered it; it was part of His plan. Our glorification is His way to reproduce Himself. He does it by sharing Himself. That is what agape Love does. It shares His glory with us. After all, He did say that man is the “glory of God” (I Cor. 11:7).

The Crucifixion—Hidden Knowledge

The crucifixion of Christ is an example of this “hidden wisdom,” which leads to our glory, culminating in us sitting with Him on His throne. The rulers of this world system did not know the “hidden wisdom.” Paul wrote, “We declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:7-8).

This is secret knowledge that is only attained by the Spirit revealing it to us. Natural man cannot give us secret wisdom; only God can give it. Millions of souls all over the earth are “destroyed for lack of  knowledge” (Hosea 4:6).

We are talking about knowing the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). This knowledge is indispensable, for we must know His thoughts before the Spirit will enable us to act according to that knowledge. Knowing comes before doing.

There is only one way for us to know the secret, hidden wisdom, and that is for the Spirit to reveal His knowledge to us (v. 10). Natural man’s eye, ear and heart cannot see, hear, nor feel the secret things and blessings that “God has prepared for them that love him (v. 9).

Once we receive the Spirit, then He will begin to “search all things, yea, the deep things God” in and through us! I repeat. The Spirit of God inside of us will search. The Spirit will be the driving force that leads us in our search for His truth. The hidden wisdom was this: God used hate and evil, that led to murder, to accomplish the crucifixion. It was the very thing that had to take place on the very day of Passover. The Pharisees and the Romans were serving God’s purposes, trying to wipe out the Savior through hateful murder. Their sin took the Savior’s human life but enabled the resurrection to become our lifegiving source of power. We will see that the “deep things of God” help us grow into powerhouses that bear much fruit for the King. Being in awe of Him will lead us into much more hidden knowledge and wisdom.

What Prevents Us from Going Deeper?

Later in chapter 3, Paul explains how he could not go further into the deep things of God with them. He could not teach them the “meat of the word” because they were “carnal” or worldly (3:2). And why were they worldly? Because of their “envying, strife, and divisions.” Think denominations and their thoughts of being the only true church. Christ is not divided. But that is for another time…

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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April 20, 2022 · 1:30 pm

Two Outpourings of the Spirit—One “Good,” One “Bad”

[Continued from 4-5-22]

In the dream, the Voice coming through my mouth shouted, “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh! UPON ALL FLESH! Through study, I discovered that the Spirit at Pentecost was not poured out on “all flesh” present that day in Jerusalem. It was only poured out on His servants and handmaidens, the disciples of that era. Here the scene is painted (Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2:17-21).

Both renditions contain two different and distinct visions of how the Spirit will be poured out. In Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:17-18 we see the blessed outpouring on His servants. Reading on in the very next verses, we see another kind of outpouring. Yahweh says, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD [Yahweh] come” (Joel 2:30-31).

That day will not be nice day for many. In both prophetic passages, there are two vastly different outpourings. The first section reveals the baptism of the Holy Spirit that will take place during the “time of the end.” The second part of that prophetical flow reveals a pouring out of natural disasters and “acts of God,” a day of gloom and terror (Joel 2: 30- 31). This day of terror is when Yahweh has His angel pour out the vials of wrath. This shows us that both the latter day pouring forth of the Spirit and the pouring out of the vials of wrath happen at basically the same time in history—our time. The Upper Room pouring out of the Spirit was a type and shadow of what will take place on the earth at the beginning of “the time of the end” (Dan. 12:1). We are living in that time.

Christ warns us of that time (Matthew 24:15, 21- 22, 29). The pouring out of His Spirit that brings power from on high happens first. But not every human being will be so blessed.

But Joel, right after the first outpouring of His Spirit, speaks of a universal scourge. Christ calls it the pouring forth of the vials of wrath. How ghastly that will be for all the inhabitants of the earth. For all will see the sun “turned to darkness before the great and terrible day of the LORD  come.”

Some will say that the outpouring can only mean the baptism of the Holy Spirit like on the day of Pentecost. However, the scriptures are very clear that “all things are of God” (2 Cor. 5:18). And because “God is a Spirit,” then “all things are of the Spirit” (John 4:24). Even the pouring forth of the wrath of God upon all flesh [except those spared for the elect’s sake]. Yes, the elect, the sons and daughters of God will be on earth during tribulation.

He says, “Pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” After all seven vials are poured out, “a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne [said], It is done” (Rev. 16:1. 17). This pouring out of God’s wrath is heavy stuff. It is the destruction of the world system, including the Battle of Armageddon (v. 16). This is major end time misery for mankind and runs parallel with the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon His chosen ones.

The Former and Latter Rains

The pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost partially fulfilled the prophecy spoken by Joel and it was confirmed by the apostle Peter. We have seen that the Spirit was poured on “all flesh” that were prepared for this happening. It did not fall on everyone in Jerusalem that day.

This partial outpouring of the Spirit has been called the “former rain.” The Hebrew word translated “former rain” means “teacher of righteousness.” The Spirit moved them to teach this gospel throughout the Mediterranean world. Christ did promise us that the Spirit “shall be in you” (John 14: 17). He also promised that the Holy Spirit “shall teach you all things…” (John 14: 26). Furthermore, the Spirit “will guide you into all truth” (John 16: 13).

The Holy Spirit, teaching righteousness through the apostles, was that former rain. This has gone on for the past 2000 years. You and I know Christ because of the early apostles’ work. The beauty of this event is captured in the poetry of Hosea:

“Then shall we know, if we follow on to know Yahweh: His going forth is prepared as the morning;        And He shall come unto us as the rain, As the latter and the former rain unto the earth” (6:3).

He shall come to us as the former rain, as the teachings of righteousness. He is pouring His Spirit over our minds and hearts, and it will teach us and prepare us for the latter rain. The latter rain will fall on us at or near the “time of the end.” It will fall upon those who are prepared to bear 100-fold spiritual growth (Matt. 13:3-9; 18-23).

For the righteousness shared by the “former rain” apostles will engender growth in us to be sustained in these latter days. For they spoke of our time, the time when our exiled King returns to this earth to establish righteousness and peace and judgment in the earth. Brothers and sisters, that’s what we’re working for. We do not believe anything into existence. We just believe what Christ believes.

The latter rain will fall through the teaching of apostles and prophets that God is raising up. They will teach righteousness and the truth about our King. They will raise up many princes and princesses and Yahweh will wipe the slate of the earth clean. It is all there in the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, our King.

This shows that God pours from His mind His plan according to the record in heaven. He pours forth out of his Spirit, what we would call the “good” and the “bad.” We need only think about Pentecost and Him pouring out the vials of wrath. Yahweh spoke in the dream: “I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. UPON ALL FLESH!” We see that these words are not only precious promises of personal spiritual growth, but also a dire warning of His displeasure and a subsequent cleansing of evil from the earth. [Share with us your thoughts about these things in the comments.] Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 16, 2022 · 11:56 am

By Promises We Partake of His Divinity

I write to my courageous brothers and sisters today. I share with the souls who have braved the turbulent oceans of man’s fickle and false claims of knowing Divinity. When quizzed about the “divine nature,” they will salute the greatness of God perhaps. But when asked how do we “partake of the divine nature,” very few will know the answer. Go ahead. Choose out a pastor/preacher. Ask them. Chances are that you will be disappointed, for they will not know the apostle Peter’s mind, which is the mind of Christ.

The Spirit dwelling in the apostle repeatedly taught the early church that they had “obtained like precious faith with us,” the early apostles (II Peter 1:1). First rattle out of the box, the Spirit says now to us, You all have received the very same faith that was delivered to the apostles. There is only one faith, the faith of the Son of God. The one faith is His faith, His belief system, what He believes.

The early church had access to the same power. They were not powerless. In fact, “His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” And through all of this, God has given us “great and precious promises.”

Great and Precious Promises

What are these promises? Christ promised us that He would send the Spirit to us and that through His spiritual presence in you, “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Christ promised that if we asked anything in his name that he would do it (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23). [“In His name” is the key phrase that opens the door to answered prayer. What is His name? And what does it mean? You need to order my book Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality.   It is free with free shipping. Details here:  Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com) ]

Christ also made this astounding promise: “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father” (14:12). What works did He do? He healed the sick and raised the dead for starters. He has promised us that we will do greater miracles than He did!

The preachers don’t believe that, for they will say that this Christlike power comes later for us, after we “go to heaven.” One thing is wrong with that theory. In heaven there are no sick people to heal, nor earthly dead to raise. So, His promises are for us who are alive on the earth. Just look at our examples Peter, John and Paul. The Spirit in them healed the sick and raised the dead.

He also promised that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He promised to return to set up the Kingdom of God, with Christ our King on the throne. He also promised to give us eternal life and a place in His Government.

These are just some of the “exceeding great and precious promises.” We are still talking about a spiritual growth—growing into apostleship. These promises encourage us and spur us on to the finish line. And it is through these promises that we “might be partakers of the divine nature…” (II Peter 1:4).

To secure these precious promises, the apostle continues, we need to diligently “add to your faith” seven attributes of God’s nature. “If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ [Yahshua]” (verses  5-8).

These additions make our calling and election sure, where we will never fall (v. 10). Adding them opens the door into His Kingdom (v. 11). They are virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity/agape love (I Peter 1:5-8).

Knowledge about what these additions are, their importance in helping us spiritually grow, and how we are to add them to our faith is the thesis of my new book, The Additions to the Faith, due out in the spring of 2023.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 3, 2022 · 3:42 pm

Adding Godliness to Patience

To bear the spiritual fruit that we are to bear in these last days, to be found worthy to sit with Christ on His throne, we must add to our faith certain spiritual attributes (II Pet. 1).

We are to add patience to temperance. And patience is endurance, as seen in the Greek text. We must “endure unto the end,” enduring persecution and tribulations, enduring “hardness as a good soldier” of Christ (Matthew 24:13; II Thes. 1:4; II Tim. 2:3). We must “endure all things for the elect’s sake,” especially “sound doctrine,” which are those Christ-borne teachings that attack man’s traditions that we have all been taught since childhood (II Tim. 2:10; 4:3).

And perhaps the most difficult thing to endure is the chastening of God. We must endure His correction when He begins to purge out the false teachings about Him and the immature ways we carry ourselves.

God will scourge us and prove us. He forewarns us: “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him.” For He chastens those He loves. “If we endure [this is the adding of patience/endurance] chastening [correction, disciplining], then God deals with us as sons and not bastards. When we have passed the tests, He receives us as his heirs, “that we might be partakers of His Holiness” (Heb. 12:5-10).

God endures our immaturity and our weakness and we, in turn, endure the maturing process. Understanding, accepting, and finally, welcoming these things that we must overcome—this brings spiritual maturity.

The Beginning of Godliness

Adding patience/endurance to our faith is the maturing process. Going through this maturing process brings about a reverence for God. We begin to revere Him for what He is doing and how He is including us in his plan of reproducing himself. Revering Him is adding godliness to patience/endurance.

Many say that “godliness” means “God-like-ness. It sounds good, but the word “godliness” is translated from the Greek word eusebeia (G2150), meaning reverence or respect. This Greek word is derived from eusebes (G2152), which comes from sebo (G4576), a verb meaning “to revere, to worship” (Strong’s).

We now are living by the faith of the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). There’s only one faith—Christ’s (Eph. 4:5). We are now building on His faith as we endeavor to add to it. Belief first, yes. But faith/belief alone is not enough. For “even the devils believe in one God and tremble.” Virtue and then knowledge must be added, then tempered, and then endurance is added as we overcome hardships.

As we begin to comprehend the magnitude of this heaven-directed spiritual life cycle that God has called us to, then love, devotion, awe, and reverence begin to grow in our hearts toward our Father. This is the beginning of us adding godliness/reverence to our faith. We do love Him because He first loved us. And the love of God is “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

This reverence for God comes when we first know about his plan. And then, as we walk in it, we endure the tribulations and chastening on the road to sonship and daughtership. Then we begin to see that we [are] receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.” He is favoring us with this knowledge that “we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” [reverential awe] (Heb. 12:28).

Who Will Add Godliness/Reverence to the Faith?

So, all of this creates questions: Who is going to step up? Who are these people who will do the seven additions that the apostle Peter wrote to us about? They are out there. These articles are a tiny light flashing faintly in the ocean of mankind. I believe that “this little light of mine” is shining. Its rays will reach whomsoever He directs them to. Who are they? How will we know them? We will know them by their fruits. More next time.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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December 17, 2021 · 12:16 pm

Banishing the Ghosts of Egos Past

In a moment of weakness, Christians will say that their “flesh” just took over, and, well, they sinned. This is not the whole spiritual story. It is old leaven teaching that is false and contradicts what the scriptures say. The Word says, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh….” Crucified flesh is dead flesh. Let’s look a bit deeper into “flesh” because it is not our epidermis.

Sarx is the Greek word that is translated “flesh.” Thayer’s says that sarx is “the animal nature of old man Adam. It is the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence and, therefore, prone to sin…” It is the whole lost Adamic man, body and soul, that St. Paul refers to [See Gal. 5:16-19 and Rom. 6 & 8].

After we come to Christ and give our heart to Him, vestiges of the old nature, or rather ghostly memories of the old life come into our new life. It often is through a thought or an imagination or a reaction to certain stimuli that reminds us of what we used to be. These negative thoughts are whispered into our ears by a dark angel. Instead of standing on the word that says we have a new life where “all things have become new,” the spirits of egos past come back to haunt us to see if we really believe His word. They come by our adversary, the devil.

Temperance, then, is that aspect of the divine nature where we overcome these thoughts through cleaving to the truth of His word. The self-control that it brings is a result of the presence of the Spirit in our hearts. Temperance is the addition to the faith that dispels the vestiges of our old life. The truth as to what is taking place makes us free of the confusion.

If we “walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The Spirit and the sarx, which is represented in vestiges of our old life, are opposites. The flesh is rooted in appeasing the old self. The Spirit is rooted in selflessness.

Many people teach that after receiving Christ, these two natures are at war in the Christian. This is not true. Again, many say that this old carnal nature still lives in a Christian. But the Bible says  just the opposite. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lust.” (Gal. 5: 24). Furthermore, Christ said, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit” (Matt. 12:33).

The old carnal sinful nature has been put to death in Christ. We may not feel like it at times, but in God’s eyes our old nature is dead with Christ on the cross–whether we feel it or not. There are still some habits and faults, to be sure, that must be dealt with as we add temperance to the seedling of faith now planted in our hearts. These spiritual attributes come with maturity in Christ “till Christ be formed in us.”

The Spirit of God says that our “old man is crucified with Christ.” Just like the subjects of a natural king did in the days of old, we rather have surrendered to the truth expounded to us by the apostles and prophets of God–that God has in these last days “spoken to us by his Son,” the “Prince of peace.” God’s Son, the Christ, is “the heir of all things,” and by him God made the worlds (Heb. 1:2). Christ is the “King of kings.” He is the Logos, “the Word,” the Plan and Purpose of God. If we get in line with the King and His thoughts, then we will be right with God. It is His sovereign word that has spoken: Our old life has died on the cross with Christ. Period. Whether we accept the fact or not. Lost man becomes found when he believes it.

The Modern Ego

The angst of the modern ego erupts from this molten thought: There is Someone else who is over us, in charge of us, more powerful than us, more knowledgeable, wiser. In a word, we humans must come off our high horse and surrender to the King of the universe, known in English as Jesus Christ, but whose Hebrew name more closely resembles the Hebrew name Yahshua.

If you could boil down man’s spiritual problems, you would scrape off the bottom of the pot a spoonful of humility. Humility comes when we realize that there is a Supreme being who is immortal, and we are mere human beings, frail and, oh, so mortal. He knows all things, and it is our privilege to be privy to some of His secrets and mysteries. When He says that our old sinful nature, with all its selfish, egotistical carelessness, is dead, then it is gone. We need to believe Him! He says that our old nature died with Christ. In His eyes and in His mind, we have obtained from Him a new life. He has spoken His word about the matter. It has come to pass. Since He believes that we have a new life, then our new life in Him is the truth. Believing Him transforms us into the answer to all our problems. We start there in what His word says. Our feelings and imaginations must conform with what He says about our spiritual condition. Always remember this: Our feelings and emotions will let us down.

Our spiritual walk must show that we believe Him–that He is all powerful and is everything good in this world, and we are but “a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Without Him we are doomed to wander in our lowly estate, destined to inhabit the dusty chambers where no cry escapes. This should change mankind’s direction.

But what do most humans do? We strut and preen the feathers of our pride which has deluded us into thinking that our mean and insignificant thoughts surge from an intelligent mind. We believe that we are in control, that we are the captains of our own fates…until we first peer directly into Death’s empty eyes and realize that the time of our departure is imminent. This crushes and grinds our thoughts to powder, now mixed with tears, which makes a merciful balm-of-Gilead that anoints our eyes that we may finally see another face, the royal countenance of our King.

And what will we encounter? We will see Him as the sovereign King, first in all things, but humble and merciful to us His people. When our hearts truly look at Him this way as our King, then we will have come home like the prodigal son did, and He will deal with us as family. And He will say to us, “Well done thou good and faithful servant…”    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[From Journal entry dated 12-9-12. This will be used in a chapter in my new book that I am working on now entitled The Additions to the Faith, to be published in 2023]

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October 28, 2021 · 1:14 pm

Adding the Knowledge of Good and Evil to Faith

The Spirit of Truth tells us to add knowledge to virtue in order to be partakers of the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4). But which knowledge? Knowledge of what exactly? There are many knowledges.

Christ commands us to “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.” He also commands us to “Resist not the evil” and “Turn the other cheek,” and “Love your enemies,” and “Bless them that curse you,” and “Pray for them that despitefully use you,” and “Do good to them that hate you” (Matt. 5:38-48). We are not to just observe Christ doing these things. We are to obey them. But we don’t know how to do the impossible. There must be a hidden knowledge about how to do this.

We know that we cannot obey the above commands by using our own strength. It must be His Spirit working in us that brings us to perfection. “Perfection” in the Greek means “maturity.” To grow spiritually to full maturity takes knowledge.

Knowledge from the Garden

The first mention of “knowledge” is in Genesis, which contains the seeds of all knowledge. It speaks of a knowledge of good and evil. Knowing the source of both good and evil helps us grow to the maturity that God has for us.

Yahweh said, “I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil” (Isa. 45:8). Since He has created both good and evil for His purposes and pleasure, then we must believe that He is the originator and instigator of both good and evil in our lives. He has prescribed a certain amount of “good” for our lives and a certain amount of “bad” for us to deal with. Remember Christ saying, “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof”? We like the “good,” but loathe the “evil.”

It is like growing a seed in a garden. Rain is good, and a certain amount of rain is needed. But the ground needs a certain amount of manure to build the soil, to nourish the seed. Good rain is not enough. The seed needs a proper portion of composted manure to bring the seed to full, healthy maturity. To mature, we need the “evil” as well as the “good.”

Believing this knowledge is paramount in understanding how the Gardener works. We must believe that God is sovereign and in total control of both the good and the evil that comes our way. Then we will be able to “love our enemies.” How? By knowing that certain troubles are appointed unto us to develop His divine nature in our hearts. We can begin to “resist not the evil.” How? By knowing that God sanctions a daily amount of evil for us to overcome, thereby growing stronger. To be like Him, we need someone to forgive. It is difficult to do with a whole heart. But that is what He requires for His children. And we are to “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice because you are partaking of Christ’s sufferings” (I Pet. 4:12). When we believe that all power is of God, then that person persecuting us has received power from God. “All things are of God.”

Christ realized that all of the suffering inflicted upon Him by the haters was ordained by the Father. So when He says, “Resist not the evil,” He is telling us that the evil is from the Father. When we understand that the Father doles out doses of evil for us to overcome, then we will know Him on a more intimate level. In fact, knowing this enables us to ask, “Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do.”

“The ability to perceive God in all things is required before He can transfer any power to you. You must come to understand that every good and every evil thing is the result of His will” (G. Russell, SonPlacing, p. 109). Evil is used and comes from God’s wisdom and is “used to accomplish His pleasure.”

Virtue is moral strength. And we are to add “knowledge” to that—the knowledge that God uses both good and evil to accomplish His will. Just ask Pharaoh. God says to him: “I raised you up…that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore, God has mercy (good) on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens (evil) whom He wants to harden” (Rom. 9:17-18). God showered “good” on the children of Israel coming out of Egypt. He also hardened Pharaoh’s heart crashing down disaster upon him and his kingdom (evil). Why? God did this “to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—even us.”

What mercy He has bestowed upon us! He brought evil destruction upon Egypt so that His story would be told throughout the ages, so that we would know about His love and devotion for us, the objects of His mercy!

Kenneth Wayne Hancock [Be sure to subscribe, like, and order my books which are free with free shipping found here: Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

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October 24, 2021 · 10:25 am

Predestination Versus “Free Moral Agency”

Many are clamoring to know the secrets of the universe. They want to know the deep mysteries of life. Questions arise in the hearts of seekers and non-seekers alike: “What’s it all about? Why am I here? Is it just to live, die, and go to heaven? Is that all there is?

The answers to these questions are written down in a book found in hundreds of millions of homes around the world. But few crack the Holy Book. When they do open it, they try to understand it, but they get discouraged when comprehension does not come. It is as if God is saying: You do not realize that I “have poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and have closed your eyes…And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed” (Isa. 29:10-11). [There is your sealed book, the same one found in Revelation 5 and 6. Only Christ can loose the seals.]

The writings in the Bible are the words of the Spirit of God. Their purpose is to teach us the answers to the questions above. They explain God’s plan to accomplish His purpose to reproduce Himself in certain human beings.

God Is Sovereign

First, we must understand that there is a Creator/Supreme Being, and He is sovereign. He has created everything as it has pleased Him. We exist according to His pleasure. “You have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created” (Rev. 4:11). This earth and its inhabitants are not here by accident. We exist to please Him, whether we know Him or not.

He has a plan, and it pleases Him to use us to fulfill it. His plan to reproduce Himself (Love) in us will come to pass, whether we, mere specks of dust, believe it or not.

It pleased Him, the Scriptures of Truth say, to use certain humans in our dispensation to complete His purpose. It is like a movie director casting actors and extras for a film. He has a vision of what he is looking for in an actor. In fact, he has an actor in mind. Another actor may audition for the role, and may be accomplished, but the director has already chosen an actor since the conception of the film project. He makes his choice according to his pleasure. We get it; he is the director.

Chosen Ones

Likewise, God has known those whom He has chosen, before they were ever conceived in their mother’s womb. He has “foreordained them to be conformed to the image of His Son.” They are “predestinated” for this glory. He knew of us before we were born (Jer. 1:5). He knew we would respond to His pulling us out of the quagmire of sin and degradation. He foreknew us and gave us a destiny before time on earth began. And that destiny is to be just like His Son—same glorious likeness. Christ is the firstborn, and those whom He has chosen will be like Him (Rom. 8:29-30).

And so, He calls those whom He has predestinated. Then He justifies them, making them righteous in His sight. Those whom He has justified He then glorifies. Through believing this, we realize that God is for us! And with God for us, “who can be against us (v. 30-31)?

It is to us that He shall reveal the great mysteries of God. His chosen ones He calls His “elect.” He will crown them, and they will take a seat upon His throne at the establishment of His soon coming kingdom/government (Rev. 3:20). These are His elect, the first fruits, the remnant. Their destiny is to be His cadre of rulers who will have overcome all things—“after they have suffered a while.”

They Have No Choice

God is sovereign. His word is law. He says that He has chosen certain people to fulfill His purpose. Their destiny to be like Christ is sealed. It is pre-determined. They do not have a choice. It may seem to them that they have a choice when they are first called. But they do not. God’s will is stronger than the waves and currents in the sea of man. His desires for His elect are irrefutable. His goals for us are pre-destined to be ours. He is omnipotent.

If we are chosen for the 100 fold fruit bearing role, He will call us, making Himself real to us. If we become lazy and stay too long at the fair, He will create material and physical challenges that will make us industrious for His things.

Free Moral Agents?

But many followers of Christ have declared themselves to be “free moral agents.” Free? The Scriptures only speak of “being made free from sin” (Rom. 6:18). Christ said, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). But in Christ we are free from sin and sinning because “we are buried with him by baptism into death.” We then believe that Christ was raised from the dead and rose the third day. Through this belief, our sin nature dies on the cross with our sin sacrifice Christ, thus freeing us from sin. Then through His grace, we become “the slaves of righteousness.” We willingly lay down the old life and take on us the form of a servant [“slave” in the Greek and most English translations].

But, I agree that it seems like we humans are “free moral agents.” We have been told that we are “the captains of our fate,” that we choose our own destinies, that we call the shots. They have trained us to be good little existentialists, thrashing out our own destinies. They tell us that everything hinges on you. They say that your destiny remains to be seen, that it is still to be determined—by you.

There is one major problem with this existentialist philosophy. A Supreme Being does not enter the picture. Humans are left to flounder around trying to be their own god that can solve life’s bitter trials. But that is not what the Good Book declares. Not at all. Just the opposite, in fact.

“Free moral agency” has you being your own god, your own savior. But the written word of God declares Him to be omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing), and omnipresent. Most of us Christians will agree that He has these qualities. If these qualities faithfully describe Him, then is it a big stretch to believe that He can and does choose whomsoever He wills, to bring them into His great house, making them vessels of honor?

Since He is all knowing of future things, His foreknowledge of our destinies secures them in His book of life. If we are predestined to be His elect, the ones that He has chosen to reveal His Son in—then He will put it in our hearts to seek Him out.

If you are still reading this and wanting more, then you have come to a clear pure stream, where God does not want your money, but rather your heart. It is a spiritual place far from material things and away from phony philosophies, theories and fears. It’s a place cradled in the bosom of Omnipotence and sheltered in His unfathomable omniscient Love.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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