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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December 15, 2021 · 11:16 am

My Articles Now Appear on “Medium”

Medium is a gigantic internet platform with millions of readers who want content that shines brightly. Come sample our latest article. It is found here: https://medium.com/@kwayneh1947/big-tech-the-21st-century-god-22a45e925988 .

Come see what all the excitement is about. God bless.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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December 8, 2021 · 10:58 am

Yahweh’s Joy Is Our Strength

On those dark and painful days of doubt, we sometimes wonder, “Where will I find the strength to carry on? I know that I am weak, and deep down I know that God is my source. But how does it happen? What is the spiritual mechanism that transfers His strength to us?

In the end, strength to weather the world’s “whips and scorns” does not come from us. We are the weak ones in the equation. We are the ones manufacturing a grim quizzical look toward our troubles. But this faux face of courage ultimately fades as God backs us into a tight corner to face down our personal enemies—Doubt and Unbelief. These culprits prevent us from getting strength. But God’s elect will overcome all doubts and unbelief.

The elect are those whom He has chosen to be the first to tap into and manifest the full strength of the Spirit. They are “a kind of first fruits.” They are the first humans that He will fully show His secrets to during this, the time of the end. They will learn how their old, weak, sinful nature dies on the cross with Christ. It has already died on the cross with Christ. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6: 6). And then we are “buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him” by just believing that God has “raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2: 12: 13). Just believe in the Resurrection? Yes, both Christ’s and now yours, too !

Halleluyah! Faith! Belief! It’s God’s faith in His resurrection plan, not our puny faith. The truth is, there is only one faith—His (Eph. 4:5). It is the “faith of the Son of God.” That’s where we tap into His strength.

The Joy of Yahweh

The “joy of Yahweh is our strength.” At first glance, that sounds good. The joy of God. He has joy; we don’t, as seen in the previous scenario. And then we begin to see that when we are down, weak and without strength, we can look at our Creator’s joy, and we can wait and wait and, alas, somehow it is not becoming our joy. We do not get strengthened by this. We don’t understand about how to tap into His strength.

There’s a deep revelation here. Yes, the “joy of the LORD is our strength,” but it is when we realize and believe that it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me (Gal. 2:20). We will rejoice with great joy when we believe this: We no longer live in our flesh bodies, which now is His body. We are dead and our “life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). It is the Spirit that now lives in our earthly bodies. When we really believe this word of God, great joy will abound and gush through us like rivers of living waters of joy and with it, strength.

This is the revelation simply put: We are dead. We have, however, through belief in his resurrection, a new life living inside us. It is eternal life; it is Christ that lives within us now, even when we don’t feel like it.

We are now members of a spiritual body called “Christ.” We now live in Him, and he lives in us. We must not look at Him after the flesh, but after the Spirit, this spiritual way that the apostles saw Him. When we believe that it is no longer us that live, but Christ that lives in us, then we will see wonderful strength-giving things. When He has joy, we have joy because it is Him exulting in us. When He strengthens, we get strengthened because that’s what the one Spirit does; He shares His strength, along with many other things. We need only to ask the “great cloud of witnesses that have walked with Him. They will tell us.        Kenneth Wayne Hancock (from a Journal entry 12-7-21)

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November 23, 2021 · 9:40 am

He Shall Be Called the Everlasting Father

Christ has many titles and names: A few of them are the Savior, the King of kings, the Lamb of God, the Son of God, and the Everlasting…Father? The Son shall be called the Father? How can that be? Let’s all hold on a minute and let the Spirit explain.

Every December hundreds of millions of Christians all over the world quote from Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit through him is announcing the coming of the Christ child: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…” The “child” here is universally believed to be the Son of God. Most stop there. They see that it is talking about the babe in the manger. But some go on reading: “…and the government shall be upon his shoulder…” Here they see a grown-up Christ becoming the King of the kingdom of God during the Thousand Year Reign of Christ! All but a few will stop there. But the overcomers will read on to the end of the verse. Speaking of Christ: “…And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).

In one verse, the Spirit shows us a vision of the incarnation of Christ, from His birth to His death. We see His Resurrection and His ascension to the throne. And finally, we are given this nugget of golden knowledge: The Son’s “name shall be called the “Everlasting Father.” That bit of information is revelatory truth hidden in a mystery.  

And it is here that a chosen few will scratch their heads and ponder what they have just read.

How can the Son of God be the Everlasting Father?

Those who dig deep will immediately desire to know other scriptures that back this up. Christ’s own words bring up this idea of oneness. “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30; 17:11). Philip asked to be shown the Father. Christ replied, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). “He that sees me sees him that sent Me” (John 12:45). And we know the Father Yahweh sent the Son. Christ’s most fervent prayer is “that they [His followers] may be one, as we are…That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us (John 17:11, 21-22). Christ is praying for us, that we can become one with Him and the Father that dwells inside of the Son.

To know Christ as the Everlasting Father is to really know Him. And it is the key to the second part of this verse: “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection…” (Phil. 3:10). Knowing Him through the lens of Oneness opens the door into becoming responsible stewards of His resurrection power. In other words, believing in Oneness comes before channeling the power of God.  

We are talking about the power that Christ and His apostles wielded—the power to speak words that transforms a drug addict into a disciple. It is the power to heal people trapped in the prison of cerebral palsy, to regenerate their nervous system with the resurrection power of God. It is the power to raise the dead. He promised us this: “Whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, He will give it to you…Ask and you shall receive” (John 16:24). It is a wide-open promise with no limitations for those in that level of spiritual growth.

Solving the Mystery

So how do we become one with the Father and the Son? How do we obtain the same understanding that Christ had about oneness? It starts with His word about the Father. First, the Father is the invisible Spirit Yahweh. The Spirit through the apostle Paul said that the Son of God “is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:l 5). The Son is the vessel that contains the Father. The Son is now comprised of several beings, not just “the man from Galilee.” Christ is the head, and we Christians are part of His body, His spiritual body. The Son is the body, the church; the fulness of Him that fills all in all…” (Eph. 1:23).

It was the Father that did the miracles through the Son. The Son said as much. “The Father that dwells in Me, He does the works” (Jn 14:19). The “works” are the miracles that the Son performed.

So then, when we see the Son, we are seeing both the Son and the Father, who is an invisible Spirit dwelling in the Son. And through God’s great grace and mercy, He has delivered on His promise to include us in being a part of the corporate body of the Son, the true church (ecclesia). This all happens by believing what He believes about each of us. It is all by faith. It is all about believing the tenets He has given to us about the oneness of the Godhead. When we believe His word on this, then His promises are activated, enabling us to walk through the door into “the power of the resurrection.”

That is how important these words are. For those who reject all of this will fade back to their theory-cluttered lives. And they will be like the archaeologist who stands on a Honduran jungle mound, dismissing it as an ancient dump site. Yet three meters below his feet, the bones of a Mayan prince begin to turn over in a gold laden grave.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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November 7, 2021 · 9:47 am

“What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?”

So went the Sixties love ballad. But now God has a heartbreak of much greater importance for us, one needed for our spiritual growth.

For the closer we get to fulfilling God’s goal for us—to be His fully matured sons and daughters—the more is our need to be broken.

Call it self-protection, but we in our original state harden at heartbreak. We squirm away from suffering. Because the history of mankind is painted with pain, we sequester ourselves, building turrets on our castles of consciousness.

We are careful each day to put on man’s armor to protect us from the myriad souls who would rifle through our defenses with their troubles. If we were not hardened, we feel we would weep and lament for the needs of humanity. As medics in a MASH style hospital in Vietnam, we had to harden our hearts just to make it through another day of death and human destruction.

But now our Example arrives on the scene of our existence. He is Christ our King, the great Healer and Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that therein is. We see Him walking about humbly, a broken man, a man of grief and suffering. He was a man of sorrows—our sorrows. He looked out and observed faithless men, and He suffered, knowing what the world would go through.

He knew all this, but how would He get man to begin to love and be merciful to each other? He would first exhibit the greatest love in the world: To die for another. Thus, He left us an example “that we should follow His steps.” He would deliver us and command us to “present our bodies a living sacrifice.” In so doing, the seed of agape Love, which is God, would germinate by faith, and that Seed would grow into “trees of righteousness.” We are those trees, my brothers and sisters.

But before all of this happening, the ground of our hearts must be broken up to receive the Seed. The hardened ground of pride will not bear any kind of spiritual fruit.

And so it goes. Most men prattle on. Their grudges grow into granite walls. And there man lies down for the last time, the only thing left is a helpless granite slab, never to be remembered again, lost in a tomb of dust with no hope, except the Resurrection.

Believing this brings a broken humility which God rewards with grace. We all should ask Him for brokenness. God is near to those of a broken heart. That’s where we will find Him.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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November 3, 2021 · 9:55 am

The Abiding—Christ in You and You in Him

The Abiding is the most precious spiritual pose that we could ever be in. The Abiding is a two way street. Yes, He has promised that He would abide/stay/remain/continue in us. He has commanded us to abide in Him. But first we must abide/stay/remain/continue in Him (John 15:4-5).

How does one abide in Him and Him in us? First, we must be free from error about Him. He is the Truth [“I am the way, the truth and the life…”]. We cannot cling to any false conceptions about Christ and expect Christ the Truth to abide in us. This means that we must tune out the distractions of the world. We must turn a deaf ear to the tired erroneous platitudes of the false church and its teachings. We must abide in His thoughts and teachings and continue in His concepts and precepts. In order to abide and continue in Him, we must get rid of false teachings and concepts about Him.

If we do not, then these false concepts, like yeast, will spread all through the lump of dough that is destined to become the bread that feeds the minds of His followers. Tainted bread. Not good. Christ warns us about the old leaven. “Purge out the old leaven,” we are commanded, “that the lump may be holy.” The Spirit of Truth cannot come and abide in us if our thoughts about Him are tainted with the false concepts of man’s wisdom. The Spirit of Truth will not share a body with false doctrines. They do not mix.

It’s a War

Getting rid of the false doctrines is a real battle. It is an all-out war as we struggle face to face with our enemy, the devil. But it is all so deceptive. How are we to know which teachings are true and which are false? The answer, of course, is in the Scriptures of Truth.

But knowing that the truth is found in the Bible is obviously not enough to not be deceived. It takes studying the word of God. But that is not enough. It takes studying for the right reasons. Studying just for knowledge’s sake is not it. We need to examine ourselves according to the written word in order to purge out the old leaven teachings. It is the only way of getting rid of false teachings.

But it takes a heaven-sent strength to look in the mirror and tell yourself that you have been wrong about God and His plan. Ferreting out falsehoods in our belief system is like when you as a kid first began to see that Santa Claus was not real. You had to either renounce the whole idea or play along with the adults who had perpetuated the myth. As a child that lacked strength to swim against the stream of falsehoods, you for a time played their game. But now that you have become a spiritual adult, you have put away the myths of childhood. It is the same scenario with all of the false doctrines.

It is a war, and we need to arm ourselves with the thoughts of the mind of Christ. We must “put on the whole armor of God” if we are to survive this war. Those who continue to “play church” will be left out in the cold as the five foolish virgins were (Matthew 25:1-13). We must study out the old leaven false doctrines and the armor of God that protects us from their deception. [For more on this, order my latest book The Eleventh Commandment. It is free with free shipping Free Copy of The Eleventh Commandment | Immortality Road (wordpress.com) .

What Stunts the Growth of the Overcomers?

And when we get rid of old leaven doctrines and arm our minds with His thoughts, Christ takes note and has promised to abide in us! He has promised in that same holy word that He would come down and inhabit us with His Spirit! He has promised to live in us and walk in us, and use our mouths to speak to those out there struggling. I know that you long for power to do apostolic works like healing the sick and standing for righteous justice for all the world. This must take place first.

Many readers of this blog have already made stupendous strides of spiritual growth. You have already had several experiences that have proven to you that God is your loving Father. You have grown, but perhaps lately some have hit a plateau where they feel they are just not getting closer to the “mark of the prize of the high calling…” Something is stunting their growth. I submit that it could be the old leaven concepts that need to be repented of [See Chapter 44, p. 166 in The Eleventh Commandment]. 

The Overcomers

Christ’s elect are chosen to be the overcomers who will sit with Christ on His throne (Rev. 3:21). That is the top of the mountain, the fulfillment of the highest calling. They will know firsthand of Christ’s precious love for them.

But to get to Christ’s throne, the elect will have to repent of several faults. Christ says that these Christians in this last Church Age of Laodicea are lukewarm in their works, neither cold nor hot. It is so distasteful to Him that He will spue them out of His mouth (3:15-16).

Those whom He has called during the time of the end, have hit a plateau of growth and have become half-hearted. They are not on fire for Christ like they use to be. They have tapered off. The vision has grown cold.

Christ explains why are they are lukewarm. “Because you say, ‘I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing.’ And you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (3:17). What a rebuke to the future overcomers who may—if they pass the test—enter Christ’s throne room four verses later. What’s their problem? “I am rich,” they say. This is not worldly riches. Christ said that His words are “spirit and they are life.” Lukewarm Christians think that they already know all they need to know about Christ. They are saying they have the truth and the others need to listen to them. They are like the Pharisees. It is religious pride; every denomination thinks that they are the true church.

Christ then gives the answer on how to repent of lukewarmness. “I counsel you to buy of Me  gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich, and white raiment that you may be clothed that the shame of your nakedness does not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that you may see” (3:18).

[Many Christians will stop right here and say to themselves that they don’t know what this is all about. Some are not willing to dig deep for the knowledge. Here is where studying should engage with a white hot desire to seek His wisdom and to know Him and His thoughts. Yes, ask Him to reveal what these terms mean: “gold tried in the fire.” Look at I Pet. 1:17 for a dot to connect to. “White raiment.” Study out “white” and “raiment” and “white raiment.” Look up these terms in the Greek and cross reference them with other Greek words. The English translators sometimes used three or four different English words taken from one Greek word. And “eye salve.” The blind are those who have not added the seven additions to the faith (I Peter 1:5-9). Look up blind and blindness. As you study hard, you will show Him that you mean business—His business.

Brothers and sisters, His government and kingdom is real, and it is coming, and He has planned to share with us His administration. We are auditioning for a job as a helper, an administrator, a prince or princess, an ambassador, a governor—you get the idea. This is real! He will not promote us to be His officers under Him if we do not study all of this out. Any other way borders on lukewarm child’s play.

If we are aspiring to the throne to sit with Him ruling this earth, we better “prove all things.” Do not take my word for any thing that I write. Do not take your preacher’s word for it. Ask Him to inhabit your mind; take His word and eat it, all of it, and do not look back. Make it yours. Prove it out to yourself.

If Christ’s rebuke seems a little too harsh, remember this: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:19). We are here and have been rebuked by Christ for our religious pride. And because some have not studied out their shortcomings, He has issued this rebuke. But the rebuke proves His love for us. Only the ones He has chosen to come to His throne will get this rebuke. The others will not be able to see, for they are blind and need the eye salve. If you have hit rough times and you are feeling His lash, smile and know that He loves you.

He is looking for a few people who will answer the challenge to become just like our Creator, to have the same purpose, plan and power to make it all happen. Who among us will receive with humility His rebuke? Who will study out their faults as per His direction? Who will repent and praise Him for His love?

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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October 30, 2021 · 1:10 pm

Adding Agape Love Produces the Abiding

I am working on my next book. The working title is The Additions to the Faith. Longtime readers have seen several articles here on the Additions.

When writing a book, hitting a roadblock to the flow is the greatest frustration. But there is no greater joy than to have God connect the dots for you. I was lying awake at 2 a.m. a few weeks back. Couldn’t sleep at all. But my eyes were closed. And then, in a moment of clarity seldom experienced, a missing ingredient, needed to advance the book, flew like an arrow of light into my brain. It concerned the additions and the abiding.

The Premise of the New Book

The Spirit through Peter commands us to “add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness agape love” (II Peter 1:5-7). This is one of Christ’s “new commandments.” [For more on this, be sure to order my current book; it’s free with free shipping. Here’s the link: Free Copy of The Eleventh Commandment | Immortality Road (wordpress.com) ]

As I have reported before, these additions are facets or aspects of God’s “divine nature” (v. 4). When added, these will insure that you will bear “much fruit” as a manifested son or daughter of God, and that you will “make…your election sure.” Also, the additions are the key unlocking the “entrance…into the everlasting kingdom of our Savior” (v. 10-11). They are extremely important and are the thesis of the upcoming book due out late 2022 or early 2023.

I knew that the Abiding that Christ speaks of in many places has a place in the Additions to the Faith. But how to explain it?  

This morning God whispered in my ear the revelation. The last addition is to add agape love. “God is agape love” (I John 4:8). The Abiding is when the Spirit comes into us and abides/remains/stays/continues in us.

When God—the Spirit of Truth—makes His home in us, that is the addition of agape love into our being. For He is agape love.

When we incorporate the Spirit and have Him abide in us, then this abiding is the addition of agape love in our hearts. The abiding of the Spirit within us is the seventh addition to the faith. The seventh addition is fulfilled by the abiding of His Spirit within us.

Visually it looks like this:

The Holy Spirit Abides in us

The Abiding = The 7th addition

The 7th Addition = Agape Love

 Therefore,

The Abiding = Agape Love

Connecting dots…

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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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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October 18, 2021 · 9:54 am

What Is Our End Time Response?

[Note to all of my subscribers and readers: Would you help me get this to more people by hitting the “Like” button? They say that it helps us climb up the search engines. And if you feel led, please make a comment. Thank you so much.]

I often wonder why scant few young adults respond to God’s message of love. Just compare their Saturday nights numbers with their Sunday mornings. Most are not even thinking about nor seeking the hidden, spiritual things. We speak about what we think about. Hence, the masses speak of material, temporal things and not the spiritual, eternal things.

And they especially think on and speak about earthly things when all is going well. On a personal level, it is only when a person hits rock bottom that they find that they have need of a Savior to deliver them from their addictive selfish behavior. I saw it in Viet Nam. Soldiers who a few hours before were sloshing through a dangerous jungle, cursing and looking to kill their enemy, were laying in a humbled clump on our ER table, vacant eyes looking into our eyes, asking, “Am I going to make it? God, please help me.” And we would say, “Yes you will,” knowing that they probably would not.

Thinking on a national, international and global scale, it is only when nations fall crashing down upon the rocks, that a nation will cry out for deliverance. When material dreams are shattered, people and nations will seek the invisible hand of Love. For it is only God, who is Love, that will cure mankind’s sickness.

God says that He will allow the downfall of this current world system. He will shake both persons and nations from their selfish pursuits so that they may glimpse the Invisible One in all His mysterious glory. If they are blessed, they will finally see the light of His ways.

The 6th Seal Reality

The 6th seal speaks of such a catastrophic time coming to the earth. When it is opened, the whole earth will be shaken to its foundations. “And, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth [meteors and asteroids]…And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains and the mighty men…hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand” (Rev. 6:12-17)?

They will know that it is the wrath of God. They will know that it is judgement time. The whole earth will become at this time a giant fox hole. And there are no atheists in a fox hole. Survivors worldwide will be crying to God as they see the whole economic system collapsing like the house of cards that it is. That day will be dark for mankind. But it is just the beginning of woes. The 6th seal is our sign that the Tribulation Period is about to start. How will we respond as we see that we are still on earth and not ushered away conveniently to safety? How will we respond to the “time of the end?”         Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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