March 7, 2020 · 3:21 pm

Man Dies, Talks to God, and Comes Back to Life

Man Dies, Talks to God, and Comes Back to Life

Maybe you have seen on youtube where this man dies. His heart stops beating, and he is gone for ten minutes. But he says that the passage into God’s presence is peaceful. God does not show His face; the man only sees His form from the back.

And God asks him, “Do you have any questions?”

The man gets embarrassed because he can’t come up with an interesting question. The only thing that he can think of to ask seems rather trite. “What is the meaning of life?”

“Oh, that’s easy. It is Love.”

And the man says, “I thought that was it.” And then right after that, the man came back to life.

Love. “God is love.” God is this divine, selfless agape love. God is invisible, for He is like the wind. You only know that the wind exists when you see its effects upon things in the five-senses-realm. We feel the wind’s effects on the trees and on our face, yet we cannot see it. Such is the Spirit of God (John 3: 5-8; 4: 24).

We know God is real and exists, for we see His effects on people. We see those addicted to drugs freed from hellish bondage. We see families restored, lives changed overnight. We see hands that stole, steal no more. We see eyes that lusted after women look up to the heavens and give thanks to this great Spirit of love for deliverance.

It is through the love that God showed to us when He “gave His only begotten Son” that we see God. For love sacrifices itself for another. “Greater love has no man than this that he would lay down his life for his friends” (John 15: 13).

And because God is this invisible Spirit of Love, we must approach Him through faith—believing having not yet seen. And through faith we begin to understand His plan to fulfill His purpose, which is this: God is multiplying Himself; He will reproduce Love—Himself—and He will do it in us (Matt. 13: 3-23). That is our calling. “Many are called, but few are chosen” by Him to be a part of this glorious vision of God reproducing Himself (Matt. 20: 16).

A Word about Faith

Again, it is not our puny little faith that we need to muster up. No. The scriptures speak about God’s faith, God’s belief [“faith” and “belief” are translated from the same Greek word]. It is all about His belief and His faith in Himself and His power to accomplish whatever He has spoken. It is His ballgame in His ballpark. The bats, balls and gloves are all His. The rules are His; He wrote them. And, oh, yes. He owns us the players. For we do not belong to ourselves any longer (I Cor. 6: 19-20). It is not about us trying to believe the word of God. We are to “put on Christ.” This means we are to believe like He believes, which is how the Father believes.

The problem that Christians have is that they still believe that they are alive and well. But He said that we are a “new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Cor. 5: 17). He sees us as such. Therefore, we need to believe it; that is walking in faith—His faith. He said that you and I are dead with Christ, that we “are crucified with Christ” (Rom. 6: 6; Gal. 2: 20). That is the Father’s belief. You and I need to believe what God believes. When we do, we are walking in faith and in the light. He said that we no longer live but that it is Christ that lives in us. And the “life [we] now live in the flesh we live by the faith of the Son of God…” (2: 20).   He has faith in Himself and belief in Himself. And He now believes that He lives in us! Believe it. Walk in it. Believing what He believes is walking in faith. It is walking in the Spirit and walking in truth.

Because God is invisible, it takes belief; it takes faith to please our Father, the Spirit of Love. After we believe that He exists, we begin to grow spiritually. We believe in His goodness and that goodness grows in us and heals our body, soul, and spirit. This is virtue—this awareness of God’s goodness now transported into our hearts, now changing us first and then growing to the point where His goodness and righteousness overflows out to others.

But there are bumps in the road to immortality. Trials come to test our mettle. Our knowledge of God’s good is seemingly thwarted by evil at times. We must not be dismayed (I Pet. 4: 12). It is all part of His plan. Our hearts are purified in the forge of God’s plan for our life in Him. The result is the gold of pure love, the divine Love that He is and will use through us to rule with Him in His Kingdom of peace, coming to this planet shortly.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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February 29, 2020 · 6:35 pm

How the Spirit Abides in Us

Christ gives us a staggering promise of power in exchange for just believing Him about Him and the Father. We are to believe Him when He says that the Father abides or dwells in Himself. “He who believes in Me [believes His word that the Father dwells and abides in the Son], the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do…” (John 14: 12). The Father will dwell in us and do the same miracles that the Son of God did—if we believe Christ’s words about the Father/Son relationship.

The Abiding is when the Father, who is the Holy Spirit of Truth, comes into us and walks around in us and performs the works that He has always done.

Moreover, Christ promises that the Spirit of truth “shall be in you.” We see a correlation here. The Father dwells in Christ and does the miraculous works. And then Christ says that He will send the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, and that Holy Spirit is the Father, for the Holy Spirit will dwell in us and do the works just like the Father dwells in the Son (John 14: 17).

This is the abiding, and it is our belief of the Oneness of God that engages all these promises. If we can’t believe that Yahweh dwelt in the Son Yahshua, then Yahweh will not dwell in us like He dwelt in the Son. If we obey His commandment and believe that it was the Father dwelling/abiding in the Son, then He will dwell in us, too. And with the Father in the form of the Holy Spirit inside us, nothing shall be impossible for us to accomplish. He calls this bearing much fruit (John 15: 7-8).

This is where it is at. This is the apex of the Christian growth cycle. You few who are reading this: This is rarefied knowledge that only a few are privy to. Study it out. Reread it again and again. Clutch it to your heart and cleave to its principles. Christ spent many hours expounding on these things. The apostle John got it down on paper for us.

The precepts and teachings about The Abiding have been ignored for centuries. Blathering voices on TV don’t teach it. Their desires do not reach to the higher realms of heaven. Most of the local pastors all over the world will not comprehend what John wrote about The Abiding. God ordains a spirit of slumber over the masses, and He will open the eyes of a few. He chooses to show mercy to a few, and He will harden whomever He chooses (Rom. 9: 18).

Only the few who are chosen will understand. The Spirit speaks about the few: Mat 7:14 “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life, and few there be that find it.” Mat 9:37 “…The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” Mat 20:16 “…For many be called, but few chosen.”

If this teaching about the abiding makes your head to start reeling, I understand. I am there with you. It is because we have not heard it before. Yet His words are couched in the “simplicity of Christ.” It is difficult to wrap our heads around these truths because of all of the old leaven false teachings that we have been subjected to.

It Is About Understanding the Godhead

To understand the Godhead, we need to see it as an equation. It reads: The Comforter = the Spirit of Truth = Holy Spirit = the Father = who dwells/abides in the Son. Christ promised us that “another Comforter” would be sent to help the disciples. The first Comforter was the Father/Spirit that dwelt in Christ. The Father abode/dwelt in the Son. But the Son was being called back to heaven. And we know that by Christ’s own words, the Father dwelt in the Son. That is what Christ commands us to believe.

This is not a happy little Sunday school song that we sing and then go about our merry way. No. This is the real deal. This is what determines our spiritual Christian destiny. Will we remain “babes in Christ” always looking for a blessing from the Father? Or will we bear much fruit by believing and receiving the Father, in the form of the Spirit, coming down into our vessels and performing the miraculous works and thereby glorifying the Father. We are talking about the great Creator/Spirit named Yahweh coming down and dwelling and abiding in us (John 14: 16-17).

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” [This should be our prayer—that the Spirit would be given to our brothers and sisters. The laborers are few with this access and knowledge. Our prayers should be for them, that the Father would abide in them.]

The Comforter = the Spirit of Truth = the Holy Spirit. Christ said, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit…” (John 14: 26). We know that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the Father Yahweh. And we know that “God is a Spirit.” Christ was speaking to the woman at the well about how we all should worship the Father. “True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth…God is a Spirit.” So we have to worship the Father in a spiritual and truthful manner (John 4: 23-24).

Consequently, the Comforter = the Spirit of Truth = the Holy Spirit = Father = who dwells/abides in the Son and the members of the Son’s body—us!

How He Dwells/Abides in Us

When the Father sends us the Holy Spirit, He is sending Himself to take up residence in us, His temple. For He is an invisible Spirit. Faith and belief of these precious truths activates His Spirit within us. We begin to grow. Faith, like water, resurrects a dead seed, causing us to spring up toward the light of truth.

Obeying His New Commandments shows that we love Him. Christ’s own words, which are the Father’s words, say as much. “If you love me, keep my commands…Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father…Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them…[This is The Abiding.] Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching…” (John 14: 15, 21, 23-24).

He will abide in us by us taking in and obeying His words to us. And there is a beautiful conditional promise to us. “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15: 7). His words are His new commandments; if we obey them and they remain/abide/dwell in our thoughts, then we are in. We are in His will; we are doing His will. And He will show us what to ask for to accomplish His works in this earth. He will give us what we need and ask for to fulfill His plan and purpose. Of course He will. He will not send us out to battle without the proper armor and training.

We only need now to “continue [abide, dwell, remain] in the faith” (Col. 1: 21-23). All of this agape love and belief and the Father dwelling in us, and the abiding—all of this is a whole lot of invisible action going on. Consequently, it takes a lot of faith to believe that the invisible Creator Spirit God would or could take up residence inside our bodies. But this is what God is asking us to do—trust Him and His word and promises and walk in it.

The Key That Opens the Door (“I am the Door,” Christ Said)

The key in doing all of the above is to believe that it is not our puny faith in Him, but His powerful faith in us. It is the Son of God’s faith that will see us through to the end. It is not about us mustering up enough faith to believe the word of God. But rather it is His faith/belief in His own power to fulfill His own plan.

Sometimes we forget that we are dead and our life is hidden “with Christ in God” (Col. 3: 3). The following says it all: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2: 20). These words of the Spirit through His apostle Paul is speaking to us. I died with Christ on the cross. But I am still living. Yet it is not the old me that is walking around, but it is the Spirit of Christ that lives in me. And this new life now that I am living in this earthly body, I live by Christ’s faith, “who loved me, and gave himself for me.” It is Christ’s belief in His resurrection that gives birth to our own resurrection with Him now inside our hearts.

This is how we will “abide in Him.” And He abides in us by His Spirit (I John 3: 24). He abides in us through us believing His word about all of the above.

And we will really need faith/belief when we arrive at the next step in abiding in Him, and He in us. Who is it that will dwell in Christ and Christ in them? Who will abide in Him, and He in them? Christ gives this direct yet enigmatic answer. “He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells [abides] in me, and I in him” (John 6: 56). Man’s religions have totally butchered the meaning of His statement. “When the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth,” and “He shall teach you all things…” (Jn. 16: 13; 14: 26). I am excited to see what the Spirit has to say about this mysterious subject called Holy Communion, the Eucharist, or the Lord’s Supper. Eating His flesh…drinking His blood. What a mystery that is about to unfold…         Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

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February 24, 2020 · 6:42 pm

“Abide in Me and I in You”–What Does It Mean? How Does It Happen?

One of Christ’s New Commandments is, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15: 4). This is not a polite request. It is a command. It is simply put in plain English, but what does it mean exactly? How does He abide in us, and how do we abide in Him? In order to obey this command, what exactly do we need to do?

First it helps to go to the Greek. “Abide” in the KJV is translated from the Greek word meno 61 times. It is also translated “remain” sixteen times, “dwell” fifteen times, “continue” eleven times, and “tarry” nine times. “Abide, remain, dwell, and continue” gives us a picture of how the word is used.

The Vine and the Branches

The verse “Abide in Me, and I in you” comes in the middle of a metaphor Christ was using to give us a picture of how the abiding of His Spirit takes place. Back in John 15: 1, He likens Himself to a grape vine, “the true vine.” He says that the Father is the husbandman or the vinedresser. Every vine has branches. But He says that if a branch does not bear fruit, the Father purges it or cuts it off and takes it away. He then prunes those branches that are bearing fruit so that they may bear more fruit (v. 2).

We need to pause here a moment. “Purges” the fruitless branch. “Cuts it off? Takes it away? Whoa. This is some serious sentiment here. The Father’s not fooling around. He’s all about bearing more and more fruit by pruning those of us who are supposed to bear fruit.

Then Christ the Great Teacher explains this new commandment. “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me.” He is the Vine and we are the branches of that Vine. He is saying, Dwell in Me, and let Me dwell in you. Remain there free from false concepts. Continue in my plan and purpose. You can do this by believing Me that the Father, who is the Spirit, dwells first of all in Me. Since He is in Me, He can be in you.

Christ commands us to abide in the vine. How does a branch abide in the vine? It is an extension of the trunk of the vine. It is merely a conduit of the same sap (Spirit) that runs through the vine. Branches of the vine are where the fruit is borne. But they will only bear if they surrender to being a channel for the rising sap of the vine (v. 4).

Christ clears it up. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (verses 5-6).

How Do We Abide/Dwell/Remain/Continue in Christ and He in Us?

We abide in Christ when we remain (abide, dwell) in His plan to accomplish His purpose. When it is “no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me.” This will take place after our trek to the cross where we surrender to His way and spiritually die with Christ and resurrect with Christ. It is never preached, but it is the only way to the Father. Do this and then He will abide in us. But that won’t happen if we believe that there are two distinct Gods up there, for the Father is the invisible Spirit abiding in the Son of man, which He earnestly desires to be us, too.

It is by believing that the Father dwells in the Son. That’s what the Son said. “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14: 10). Christ said that the Father Yahweh dwells in Him, and it is the Father/Spirit that is doing the miracles. You want to be a miracle worker like the early apostles? This is our ticket to enter that spiritual world that they walked in.

Then in the next verse comes another crucial New Commandment. “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves” (v. 11). This one is paramount to obey because if we cannot obey and believe that the Father/Spirit abides/dwells in the Son, then He won’t abide in us either. Not fully, so that we can bear “much fruit” like the early apostles and Christ.

But…If we do obey and believe Christ when He says that the Father abides in Himself, then look what happens. “He who believes in Me [believes His word that the Father dwells and abides in the Son], the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do…” (v. 12). The Father will dwell in us and do the same miracles that the Son of God did—if we believe Christ’s words about the Father/Son relationship.

The Abiding is when the Father, who is the Holy Spirit of Truth, comes into us and walks around in us and performs the works that He has always done.

To be continued…

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

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February 16, 2020 · 6:30 pm

Reviewing the Plans for Your Perfection

Our minds are finite, poorly attuned to the Infinite One’s thought. Our Father said as much. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…” (Isa. 55: 8).

Even when a heart yearns for the truth, when new light dawns, often that heart refuses to believe. And even if the new truth is not rejected by us, it can fade in the darkness of trials and temptations. Such is the word about God’s purpose and His plan to fulfill it. We all need a review of what matters the most to our Father, according to His own thoughts.

His purpose for His creation is to reproduce Himself. You have heard it here before, but until it becomes the lyrics to the song our heart sings, we must hear it again. God is in the process of reproducing agape Love—in us. He will use the human being to do this—not an animal or vegetable or carved pillar of stone.

Because He does all things well, He has an exact plan to accomplish His purpose. He is sovereign and knows what He is doing. To fulfill His purpose, He will fill certain human beings with His Spirit, which is unselfish divine love.

They will be led by His Spirit to seek Him. First, He will place a desire in them to know the truth about our existence on this planet. They will seek for the meaning of life and will give up their old selfish life in exchange for a ticket to join this spiritual quest. Little by little, their new spiritual Father will answer their questions of Who? and What? and How? and When? and Where? and Why? He will eventually lead them into all truth and help them solve all the mysteries of God.

The Initiation

Their initiation into this new spiritual family will begin at the cross where they will willingly yield up their old sinful selfish life. And from there He may use direct revelation to unveil His plan. But most often He will reach them through His teachers of truth. For they, like the apostles and prophets, are offices of God. They are God’s gifts to His body of believers “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”  (Eph. 4: 12). They not only teach true concepts, but also help those coming up to purge out false concepts about the Father and Son.

This relationship concerning the Father and the Son is the key ingredient of knowledge that we need to fulfill God’s purpose in the earth. He will fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself when He fills you and me with His Spirit of agape Love.

Unlike what many Pentecostal and charismatic voices teach, this filling us up with His Spirit comes slowly and deliberately. First, His presence will only come into a clean temple. He will arrive after a proper foundation of sound teachings is laid. These teachings are called “the apostles’ doctrine.” They are the teachings that the early rain apostles had in their hearts. They were Christ’s teachings; His teachings were His doctrine. And His became theirs. [Send for my latest book The Apostles’ Doctrine. It is free with free shipping. Just send me an email requesting it by name with your mailing address in the USA. If you live overseas, I will send you a pdf. Send to wayneman5@hotmail.com ].

The Spirit Growing

Once we are fed the “milk of the word, which is Christ’s teachings, we begin to grow into inquisitive spiritually healthy children, growing day by day. “Growing” signifies that the Spirit is growing in us, whereby, if we continue through much study and prayer, we will grow up to become strong men and women of God, just like the apostles and prophets.

So, how does the Spirit grow within our hearts? Christ, the Master Teacher, gives us the answer. He has given us several commandments. The first one is the first word He spoke to the crowds. “Repent.” All must go to the cross and let our old self die with Him. And then we are raised up with Him by believing in His resurrection, now within us. Our belief in His resurrection brings our own resurrection in Him. [All of this is explained in The Apostles’ Doctrine.]

After we get this solid in our hearts, Christ gives us several “new commandments” to obey [See https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=new+commandment+commandments ].  Many of these are found in the four gospels. These will trigger the growth of the Spirit in our hearts. Obeying these “new commandments” is like when you feed your garden rich compost. It jump starts the growth of the Spirit within us. And this Spirit is the Father, and is Love, and is the fulfillment of His purpose of us becoming like the early apostles and prophets and Christ Himself. He said that we would do “greater works” than the miracles that He had performed.

Finally, obeying Christ’s commandments insures His growth in us through His abiding presence in us. “For without [Him] we can do nothing.” [https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2019/10/]

{I would like to know what you think. Be sure to comment, subscribe and like.}

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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February 9, 2020 · 6:30 pm

Betrayal and Forgiveness Develops Agape Love

There will be tears and anguish in our Christian walk. As “babes in Christ,” we sought to escape painful situations. We ran from problems, which most of the time created even more problems. Little children want to laugh and play; that includes little children of God.

When we first came into Christ, we did not know that there would be excruciating “fiery trials” on life’s menu. As little children of God we scratch our heads and go, “Huh?” We do not see why there has to be trials and heartbreaks. We do not see that God uses trials in our Christian walk as fire that burns out impurities.

We always are taken aback when the trials come. Attacks and reproaches from strangers will come, but their sting usually serves to bolster our faith. Peter tells us that these trials are not a strange nor rare occurrence. They are rather part of the “sufferings of Christ” (I Pet. 4: 12-14). Because we are members of His spiritual body called “Christ,” when we go through trials, it becomes part of Christ’s sufferings. We are one in this thing with Him.

Reproaches from without our circle of earthly and spiritual families are not the source, however, of our bitterest tears. When we are betrayed by those we trusted and loved the most, then the onslaught of acrid tears will flow. And the heart will churn and pound in utter disbelief. How could they do this? Why would they be so cruel to us, as to aim their words like poisoned arrows that pierce hearts that loves them? But Christ did say that a man’s enemies are they of his own household (Matt. 10: 36).

From Suffering to Forgiving

Swimming in this pool of dismay, we will cry out asking God, “Why? Why did they betray me?” And we will seek Him for solace and comfort. And He will finally lead us to the realization that the way out of the anguish and despair is to forgive them for their trespass against us.

For the truth is this: God has allowed the entire incident outlined above to happen to us. “All things are of God” (II Cor. 5: 18). There are no accidents in the Grand Scheme of His Wisdom. He allows, and some say instigates, these trials to happen to us in hopes that we will enter into the sanctum of forgiveness.

For forgiveness is the capstone of His divine character. It is the seminal portion of His divine nature that we are to express. God’s purpose is to reproduce Himself. He does this by bringing us to spiritual maturity through loving and forgiving others. For it is only His Spirit that can flawlessly do this. He has promised us His Holy Spirit to abide/remain/stay in us. He is the Forgiver now working through us. So He in His infinite wisdom has provided betrayals, deceits, lies, and back-stabbings to give us opportunities to exercise the power He has given us to forgive.

My Ordeal by Fire

It has been 35 years now since I survived the “fiery trial.” The pastor that I followed for 14 years as a full time missionary inexplicably spread untruths about me amongst the brethren. The person who led me to Christ and helped me into a wonderful deliverance from drugs and riotous living—my teacher and mentor—wounded me deeply. My wife and I left with nothing except five little children, four suitcases, a slandered reputation, and shattered hearts.

I could not understand for many years what happened to us, and especially why. I wandered in a daze for years. Yet when the time came, God put it into my heart to seek Him again concerning it all. And He has shown me what happens through the trials of betrayal.

In a word, it is part of God’s plan to bring us to spiritual maturity. He uses the forge of sufferings to purify our faith in Him. Through this He nurtures our growth until we express His divine nature through our walk in the Spirit. He ignites this growth by giving us something and someone to forgive. Once we get that, then He will work with us and through us to grow into more spiritual maturity.

He has commanded us to forgive each other. When we keep His command, agape love is produced in and through our hearts. Furthermore, He has promised to come and live and abide in us if we will forgive and obey the rest of His commandments. This in turn enables us to grow to be like Peter, James, John, and Paul. That’s what He has laid on our hearts, isn’t it? to be like them?

Consequently, “Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you as though some strange happened unto you…”

“It is only Love, and that is all…” Agape Love, that is.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Be sure to order my free books. Details found here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/donate/ ]

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January 25, 2020 · 5:16 pm

Looking for Our Mother, New Jerusalem

The old hymn goes: “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.”

[The song comes to a screeching stop. And this newsflash cuts through the ether of our minds: Heaven is coming to earth. The capital of the Kingdom of Heaven, the New Jerusalem, the city built by God and not man, is coming to earth, along with its King.]

And this spectacular city will come down out of heaven and land right over the current geographical location called the Holy Land. This is what makes that piece of real estate “holy” in the pure sense of the word. It has been set apart for the landing zone when the heavenly Jerusalem comes down from above.

So we should be singing about this city. We should be singing about how the New Jerusalem will get to us here on earth, not us getting to heaven.

Yes, I know that when we die, our spirits return unto God who gave it to us. Our present earthly vessels will wither and turn to dust as we await His glorious appearing and return to earth. For when He returns, He has promised that His faithful will receive a new incorruptible spiritual body (I Cor. 15: 42-45, 52).

The Unseen City

The Spirit admonishes us to look “at the things which are not seen.” Why? Because the material physical world is temporary. Sensory gratification lasts but a moment. So we should seek for the invisible eternal things (II Cor. 4: 18). We should seek those things that only faith-filled eyes can see.

New Jerusalem fulfills this. It is invisible and eternal and holy and righteous. It is “the city of the great King.” It is the city that Abraham sought. “For he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11: 9-10). God called and chose him out to start a new nation of human beings that would be His spiritual offspring. These faithful few God protects, “for He has prepared for them a city” (11: 16).

And God gave this real estate, this holy piece of ground, to Abraham and to his seed after him. “I will give unto thee…the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God” (Gen. (17: 8). There. Abraham knew that the  Holy Land was special to God, and he knew that God had given it to him and his children. But all he saw were hostile people and barren rocky land.

We talk of the faith of Abraham. Well, this is it. This is where it started. He looked for the New Jerusalem, and he knew that the land God promised to him was the landing zone! This is why wars rage on and on over Jerusalem. This is where the New Jerusalem will set down.

The True Bride of Christ

New Jerusalem is “the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Rev. 21: 9). Let’s stop and meditate on this simple statement. This heavenly city is Christ’s bride, the Lamb’s wife. There is only one Lamb, and that is Christ. I think we all can agree on that. New Jerusalem is His bride or wife.

I know. We were taught that the church is the “bride of Christ.” The above refutes that very plainly. This false doctrine clouds the meaning of this passage about New Jerusalem: “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal. 4: 26).

Now, to be a mother, one must give birth to sons and/or daughters. The heavenly city New Jerusalem is our mother. We are her children. The “Jerusalem which is above” gave birth to us. We are not the “bride.” We are children of the Father and New Jerusalem. This is why Christ said, “Except a man be born again [born from above in the Greek], he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3: 3). We are born out of the matrix of the Father’s Spirit working through New Jerusalem. This is why we should be seeking our spiritual mother New Jerusalem. That is our roots. That is our home. And that heavenly city, prepared for His faithful followers, will be our eternal home after it touches down right over the Holy Land.

Now these passages make more sense: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3: 2). And, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Which “land”? Revelation time: The Holy Land, the land that God has given us, the land that is the “landing zone” for the New Jerusalem coming down from above. Thank you, Father. You are wonderful.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 5, 2020 · 5:31 pm

Agape Love—The Last Addition to the Faith

Life and its meaning boils down to one thing—love. Without love hearts petrify into parched limestone. Without love man’s tears become empty waterless mirages. When man cares not for others, he becomes a deserted island where no fresh water runs into the salty sea.

Our reality, our dreams, and our destinies hinge on love. But this is no ordinary Eros love, which is the fleshly romantic love seared in lust. Neither is it man’s love. No. This is agape love, the love that comes from above, not beneath. This love is the beating heart of God our Creator and Savior. “God is love.” And it is this love that gives, forgives, and has mercy on human beings. We are talking love that is the “divine nature.”

God’s purpose in our existence is not just to show His love to us; rather it is to love others through us. It is all about “Love from above—down and through.” His plan is profoundly simple, and yet impossible to fulfill in mankind’s first estate of sinful selfishness.

We have a very important part to play in His purpose, which is this: God is in the process of reproducing Himself in human beings. Since He is agape love, He is reproducing Love—Himself. The abiding that we refer to is when His Spirit, which is Love, comes into us and abides/remains/stays in us. This abiding grows when we give, forgive and do the other “New Commandments” Christ has given to us. When we channel His love onto another, His nature of love is reproduced magnified, thus fulfilling His purpose.

God has a plan to guide us into a position to receive His Spirit of agape love into the center of our being. Christ, the Son of God is central to this plan. It is only He that shows us the way to receive the Father into our hearts. For He is the way. He is the road, the avenue to get there.

He lined out the secrets and mysteries to His apostles. They have shared the way with us in the letters they wrote to the church in the first century A.D. Peter tells us that we will reach spiritual maturity when we add seven additions to the faith (II Peter 1: 3-11). The last one is agape love.

This agape love is the “Spirit of truth” that will inhabit and actually remain in us, guiding us into all truth. Agape love is based in truth. If there is any falseness, then it is not agape love, for He is truth; His word is truth. If there are any false teachings, then the Spirit of truth cannot abide/remain/stay in us. [It is not coincidental that the very next chapter of II Peter is a stern warning to us all concerning “false prophets” and “false teachers” who will bring in heresies that will prevent us from fulfilling God’s purpose.]

Remember Christ clearing out the temple? We are the temple—the temple of God! All money changers of selfish and worldly thinking and error filled thoughts must be banished from our hearts. Then His Spirit will abide/remain/stay in us and take up residence. And through the presence of His Spirit within, His love will grow, and He will be reproduced within us.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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January 2, 2020 · 5:52 pm

God Chooses Our Destiny in Becoming the Manifestation of the Sons of God

Human beings in the 21st Century really do think that they are in control, that they call the shots, that they are the captain of their own destiny. And no wonder—we have been taught that since childhood.

And it admittedly does seem so. A thought enters our mind, and we act on it, and—voila!—we have made a choice in life. We are in control. We commandeer our own successes or failures. We, we, we…

Today mankind is swimming in a pool of existentialism and humanism. And they will drown in that pool unless their Maker and Savior chooses to throw them a life line and reel them back to shore.

Mankind is so humanistic that they think that they make the choices that govern their existence. Christians the world over are some of the staunchest purveyors of the doctrine of man’s free will, professing their belief on the Bible.

But upon deeper reflection, the scriptures reveal a God who has pre-written the script of life and has already assigned parts for us to enact. He has made His choices, according to the script that was sealed with seven seals. He chose us before we ever grew in our mother’s womb, before we awoke from that watery tomb, before we began to breathe the good air provided to us.

Yahweh said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations” (1: 5). This proves that God provides a personal destiny to man.

Isaiah concurs. “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name…Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified” (Isa. 49: 1-3). God’s servant is no longer in prophecy one lone prophet, like a Jeremiah or Isaiah, but a people, a nation that God calls Israel. And with this expansion of destiny, God reveals His plan for His glorification. It will be in a body of people.

He calls it “the manifestation of the sons of God.” The whole creation is waiting for this. It is that glorious time when death will be defeated for all of us. The doors of immortality will blow open, and we shall enter that dimension where physical suffering and decrepitude will no longer exist (Rom. 8: 18-23).

He Chose Us

The point is that He chose us; He is in control. Christ said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit…” (John 15: 16). Think back to when you were converted to Christianity. Before that day of deliverance, He had already chosen you for that honor—to be His son or daughter. He chose you for His purpose, to fulfill His plan. And this “much fruit” that we are to bear is the glorification He spoke of in Jeremiah above.

It is with this choosing that He exercises His sovereignty. We see a glimpse of it in Proverbs 16: 1. “The preparations [disposings] of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD (Yahweh).” “Preparations” is translated from a root word in Hebrew meaning “to arrange in order, or in a row, to put in order.” Consequently, we see an arrangement of the things of the heart, which God answers—through our mouth. Remember when Christ told His disciples to not worry about what they should say when they are delivered up before powerful world rulers, for “it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you” (Matt. 10: 19-20). We have been ordained by Him to be His mouthpieces.

God is in charge of preparing our hearts. Yes, He has given us a mind that thinks of things to do or say. He puts us into situations, predicaments, and struggles to help us grow spiritually. “The answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.” He prepares us to answer and to respond to the very stimuli that He brings.

His loving hand leads and guides our hearts and mouths. “The way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walks to direct his [own] steps” (Jer. 10: 23). God is orchestrating our walk here on earth. We sometimes pray that He will lead and guide us; He is already doing just that. He is behind our thoughts, reactions and movements. He is the “wise master builder who is constructing stone by stone His holy temple, the body of Christ.

How our inner heart and spirit is arranged—its development spiritually, its trials and triumphs, the heart’s pain and joy—all of the things that our hearts go through, is arranged and ordered by the LORD.     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 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

God bless you and your family, and thank you for taking a stroll with me on Immortality Road.]

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December 28, 2019 · 6:56 pm

Answering the Biggie: “What’s the Purpose in Life”

As God’s sons and daughters, we search, and we receive from Him insights as to what He has done, is doing, and shall do.

Man’s most often asked question is “What’s the purpose in life?” To understand what the Father is doing, we must begin with His purpose. What is He up to? He has written the answer in the pulsing vibrancy of nature. We can look at the natural created world and see what is going on in the spiritual invisible world. “For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Rom. 1: 20 NIV).

Nature is not God; it is not to be worshipped. But we can gain understanding about what nature’s Creator is doing by observing nature. The living things in both animal and vegetable kingdoms are reproducing themselves. It is in their drive, their DNA, their instincts to reproduce; it is their purpose. Look outside and you’ll see squirrels in trees with insects crawling and flying by. And their actions are derived from one purpose: to reproduce themselves.

God’s purpose? He is reproducing Himself. And that is where you and I come in. He is using you and me. That is what distinguishes humans from nature. God created us as a medium to be used to reproduce Love, for “God is love.” Agape love. That is our purpose.

It Starts with a Seed

In the natural world, it all starts with a seed. You bury a seed in the earth; it dies, and then it springs to life. It is the same with God and how He is reproducing Himself. The man Christ was the Seed. He was chosen by the invisible Father to be the Seed that through the Son, we humans could be used by God to reproduce Himself. The Seed, the Son of God, had to be sacrificed and buried in the earth, and be resurrected after three days and three nights.

He gave up His life so that those who followed His example might be resurrected with Him. To be used by God to reproduce Himself in us, we, like Christ, must choose to give up our old selfish life by letting it die on the cross in revelation with Christ. Then we are “buried with Him in baptism, and “by faith in the operation of God” who raised Him from the dead, we, too, have been “quickened together with Him” (Col. 2: 12; Rom. 6: 1-12).

We rise with Him and become new creatures that can mature like that little blade of corn in springtime’s field. He gives us of His Spirit, and He leads us into paths of growth all the way to His throneroom.

But God is sovereign and will use both “good things” and “bad things” to achieve our spiritual growth. It is like a gentle rain upon an early crop of corn. A good thing. And then a storm smashes down those tender blades with strong winds and hail. And yet the next morning the sun comes out, and its rays caress the stalks and blades of corn, and the crop raises up and dances with the joy of summer’s warmth. So it is spiritually with us.

Those whom He has called and chosen to reproduce Himself will embrace this message. They will be guided by the Spirit of truth, as He leads us into all truth—the truth as to why we are here and where we are to go and what we are to be.

The Son of God is the Great Teacher and has outlined in John 14-17 how the Father will hasten our growth. Christ has given us a series of New Commandments, that when followed, will pave the way to the door of His difficult to see Kingdom. Obeying them produces agape love growing inside our hearts. This is the Abiding. And His Spirit within will enable us to bear “much fruit.”

We are on the ultimate treasure hunt. “Its price is far above rubies.” Gold and silver cannot touch this treasure. For this treasure is what all of the civilizations that have ever populated this planet have wanted. This treasure is nothing less than Everlasting Life, nothing less than being complete Love Incarnate, with joy radiating out from the pure heart of God within us. It is nothing less than fulfilling what all of us humans have longed for—to be loved and appreciated. And those who answer this “high calling” will be in God’s family, and He will move over and let us sit with Him on His throne.

Sound farfetched? As a competent teacher, I am merely relating now what is in the text concerning sitting on God’s throne. I am not extrapolating. I am getting this knowledge from Christ’s own lips, written down by the apostle John on the isle of Patmos. “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne…” (Rev. 3: 19-21 NIV).

Several articles on the New Commandments, the Abiding, and the Spirit of truth have been published here over the past several months. It is my wish that this overview will increase understanding as to God’s purpose and how He will use us to fulfill it.

{Links to Articles: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=new+commandment+commandments

https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=abiding }

[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

God bless you and your family, and thank you for taking a stroll with me on Immortality Road.]

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December 21, 2019 · 6:09 pm

Agape Love and the New Commandment

Would Christ give us a commandment that is impossible to keep? He tells us this: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13: 34).

We have seen that God’s eternal purpose is to reproduce Himself, to reproduce and multiply Agape Love, for He is Love. And now Christ has commanded us to love each other the same way that He has loved us.

We are to love each other with the Christ-like love, the love from above. But how do we begin to obey this commandment—to love each other like Christ loved us? We need help from God to obey this one. We need His presence within us, for only God, who is agape love, can love with the love from above.

He knows our frailties. He knows that we need His help to keep the new commandment to love each other with Christ-love. So He has promised to send the “Spirit of truth” to those who believe. That is a promise, the most precious promise that we could ever receive from God—His very Spirit coming down from above and dwelling in us!

We have been called to be recipients of the glory of His presence within us. After our conversion to Christ, God has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.” These “things” are His promises—“exceeding great and precious promises.” And it is through these promises contained in the presence of His Spirit within us now, that we can be “be partakers of the divine nature” (II Peter 1: 3-4). He has promised; we have to believe His promises to actualize them.

The Promise

Christ’s promise to us is to give us the Spirit of truth so that we may love each other. In that general promise are several other promises. First, the Spirit of truth will abide with us forever (John 14: 16). “Abide” is the key word here. It is translated from the Greek word meaning “continue, dwell, stay, remain,” and is translated in other places as such. He did say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Second, the Spirit “dwells with you, and shall be in you” (v. 17). Here He promises us that the Spirit will stay with us and reside in us.

Third, He will not abandon us. “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (v. 18 NKJV). His presence in us will comfort us; we will not feel alone, “for Thou art with me.”

Fourth, through His resurrection, we obtain everlasting life. He promised, “Because I live, you shall live also” (v. 19). We will live eternally because of His Spirit residing and staying in us.

Fifth, He tells us, “You shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me and I in you” (v. 20).

Sixth, to all those who keep His new commandments and thereby prove their love for Him: “He that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him” (v. 21). Here Christ is promising us that He will make Himself known to those who keep the  new commandments.

Seventh promise: He will make Himself known to those who love Him and keep His words. “And my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14: 23). Here He promises that the Father, who is the Spirit of truth, will come and take up residence within us. And He will stay and remain within us. This only happens to those of us who keep His sayings, who obey His new commandments. Knowing and doing these new commandments of Christ is of the utmost importance to fulfill our calling and election of being His sons and daughters.

Eighth, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Father—they are all the same Entity—“He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (v. 26). Teachings will come; revelations of truth will come from the very Spirit of God and not from the false imaginations of man.

Ninth, “My peace I give unto you.” His peace insures that our hearts will not be troubled nor afraid (v. 27).

Tenth, we have the promise of answered prayer. But it is prayer in accordance with His teachings on the new commandments. “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15: 9-10).

Qualities of the Spirit of Truth

These promises are staggering, although they are contingent on the presence of the Spirit in us. With these qualities of the Spirit of truth in mind, Christ commands us to “continue ye in my love.” In essence, He is saying, I have loved you with the same love that the Father has loved me. With the Spirit of truth that will abide in you, you can continue or remain or abide in this agape love (John 15: 9).

But how do we stay/remain/continue/abide in this agape love? Christ answers the question in the next breath: “If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love.” Commandments. Plural. Back in John 13: 34, it was a new commandment—singular. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another…”

The secret is this. In order to obey the new commandment of loving others the way that Christ did, we need obey a series of commandments from Christ’s own mouth. Each one sheds light on a facet of agape love. When we obey them, agape love is manifested.

Some of Christ’s “new commandments” are don’t judge, forgive, give, love your enemies, pray for others, do good to your persecutors, turn the other cheek, and others.

He tells us to abide in Him and commands us to forgive others like He forgave us. When we obey this command, His divine nature of agape love is shown and witnessed by others. This is how we continue in His love. His love is agape love, and it is only His love, now shown through us when we forgive each other, that can truly forgive.

When we forgive someone who has hurt us, then a facet of Christ’s love begins to shine through us. This is the abiding of His Spirit inside of our hearts. This is the continuing in His love. He said, “This is my commandment, That you love one another as I have loved you (John 15: 12). This love from above flowed through Him to forgive the world and all in it. Now He has commanded us to love each other as He was moved to love all of us—by first forgiving everything in everyone. Pre-emptive forgiveness. Forgiving people for being human. Forgiving God for dealing us an imperfect hand.

A Word about Human Nature

Everything that humans say or do is driven by the spiritual nature they are of. When we think on this then we see that if someone has the old, sinful nature of selfishness, then they are going to eventually hurt the people that they are with. Under pressure, true colors are manifested. A selfish old heart motivates one to use another. But we now have this knowledge, and we begin to see others with spiritual eyes, after the Spirit, and not just on the outward appearance.

It is only when we take this personally, that we resent these unfortunate ones, those who have not yet been converted from darkness to light. “We who are strong must bear the infirmity of the weak.” We, the sons and daughters of God, must reach out and love them by forgiving them. And in so doing, we will “continue in His love.” This means, Let the love keep flowing down through Christ the Vine and on into us the branches, thereby bearing sweet clusters of loving and peaceful and joyous fruit of the Spirit to be plucked and eaten by passersby.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace, and there is no law against it. Every heart yearns for this fruit. The sons and daughters of the God have the privilege to be the ones to give this fruit to everyone in the world.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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