Secrets of the Sabbath, Part Two

In Part One, we saw what man’s conception of the Sabbath is not. Reviewing, the sabbath commandment is not made for a righteous man (I Timothy 1: 8-9). This goes for the other nine commandments called the Law. [Much more on this in my latest book, The 11^th Commandment. Yours free. See end of article for ordering info.]

The sabbath is not a hoop to jump through to prove that we are righteous before God. Trying to keep the sabbath day holy is not the way for us to become righteous in God’s eyes.

Yet, an awakening Christian keeps on trying to keep the sabbath, always looking over their shoulder at the guilty conscience lurking close by, never knowing for sure if they have sinned or not. “Will it be a sin if I don’t go to the sabbath meeting?” many have wondered.

But God sees all; He sees the trepidations, but He is weary and tired of the lack of faith/belief. He sees those struggling in vain to obey the law that only His Spirit can keep.

He cries out to us through Isaiah: “Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.” Yahweh considers the sacrifices of “trying to keep the sabbath” of no profit. All the physical accoutrement that man uses in trying to keep the Law is an abomination in His sight (1:13-15).

As our High Priest, we thank Christ for obtaining for us a better covenant that has purged our “conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb. 9: 9-14). No more recriminations, nor guilt, nor shame. No more guilty consciences, for He has wiped the slate clean. We are new spiritual creatures in Christ.

What the Sabbath Is

And with new clarity, we now see what the sabbath really is in God’s sight.

First, the sabbath, as we know it in this earthly dimension, is a shadow. This is mankind’s conception of the sabbath. It is not the reality. It is a physical metaphor for a spiritual reality. The sabbath day was instituted under the Old Covenant, which is a physical representation to lead us to the spiritual reality.

The sabbath is a shadow. It has never been the real deal.  Shadows are made from a lack of light.  Shadows are in the shape of things or people, but they are not the real thing; they are not a part of reality. Shadows merely imitate reality; they simulate what is real; they intimate that which is true; they suggest obscurely as to what or who made their image possible. But they are not the real thing.

The Spirit of truth tells us that the sabbath is a shadow. After believing our cross and resurrection experience with Christ, the Spirit says to us, “Let no man therefore judge you… in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come…” (Col. 2:11-17). They will judge you concerning the feasts of Yahweh and for using or not using the lunar calendar. And they will judge you for keeping or not keeping the seventh day sabbath (the way they would have you keep it). Pay them no mind. The sabbath is a shadow. [See more about this here: Feasts, New Moons, Sabbaths–Mere Shadows of Christ in Us | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)].

So, What Then is the Real Sabbath?

The real sabbath is Yahweh’s sabbath. “Sabbath” means “rest.” So, the true sabbath is Yahweh’s rest. We first see His rest in Genesis 2:1-3. “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.”

And He has promised us that we can enter into His sabbath rest, too. However, we must not do what the children of Israel did. They could not enter into His sabbath rest because of their unbelief. Christ appeared several times to them, led them, performed many miracles, and yet their hard heart of unbelief prevented them from joining God in His rest (Heb. 4:1-2).

We keep Yahweh’s Sabbath when we believe the gospel good news that Christ’s sacrifice has washed away our sins. Gone. And that only happens when our old self dies with Christ, is buried with Christ, and is resurrected with Christ (Romans 6:1-12). When we believe that, then “there remains therefore a rest [“a keeping of the sabbath,” a sabbatismos in the Greek] for the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

Yahweh entered into His sabbath rest after completing His work. We enter into Yahweh’s “rest” when we “cease from our own works, as God did from His” (v. 10). We “cease from our own works” when we complete the cross, tomb, and resurrection experience IN OUR OWN HEARTS. That was our old sinful selves up there on that cross. Christ took our sin upon himself. And when He died, we died. “And he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6:7).

Many professing Christians believe that Christ died, was buried, and was raised from the dead. But in order to be like Him, we have to do what He did. And that is to “present our bodies a living sacrifice.” We “are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead” (Col. 2:12).

We cease from our own works when it is “no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.” We must let it go and surrender to the cross experience. That is the key. And that is the message to both Non-Christians and Christians. The cross experience is where the old self ends and where Christ’s Spirit begins to reign in our hearts. Ceasing from the actions of self and then entering into the dimension of His rest and peace—this is walking with Christ. This is doing His will. This is holding His hand and walking through this corrupted earth. This is us crying to Him, asking Him to lead and guide us and speak through our vessels the Word of life. This is entering into His Sabbath Rest. This is one of His precious secrets. Embrace it. Never let it go.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[To further study this, I recommend my second book The Unveiling of the Sons of God, pp. 1-20. It is free with free shipping to all seekers of the truth. Ordering info below.]

[Ordering My Free Books in Paperback]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Getting Wisdom through Overcoming Trials of Our Faith

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Ordering My Free Books in Paperback]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Renewing Our Minds Changes Us

To renew our mind—how do we do it? We do it by adding Christ’s divine thoughts to our faith.

Peter tells us to “gird up the loins of your mind” (I Peter 1:13). The first item of the armor of God is to stand, “having your loins girt about with truth” (Eph. 6:14). Every Christian knows that the truth is in Christ. But the young Christian [and the old as well] has thoughts and concepts about Christ that are not Christ’s thoughts.

The apostles were writing to Christians who evidently needed to have their concepts of Christ’s gospel straightened out. Or they would not have been receiving those letters to the churches. It is the same today. The spiritual battleground is in the mind. We are led by our thoughts.

And God has given us the power to chase negative thoughts away and banish false concepts out of our minds. When our thinking has been purged and cleansed, then we will have been transformed, or changed. How is one transformed? “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove [discern, reckon as genuine] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). We will be able to know what God’s perfect will is and how to walk in it. But our minds must be free from false doctrines. That is how the renewal begins.

Definition of Renew

To renew means “to make new again.” You mean, our minds were new once upon a time, and then they got sullied, and now they await a cleansing and a restoration to the purity they once held?

Could this “renewing of our minds” entail us thinking what Christ thought? We are admonished to let Christ’s mind be in us (Phil. 2:5). Think like Christ thinks. Let Christ’s mind be in you. You mean we must allow it to reside in us? We do this by moving out our old thoughts to make room for the new thoughts, which are Christ’s thoughts, thoughts that require faith/belief.

So what did he think about?  He thought of the invisible heavenly things, not the things consumed by the five senses. “Take no thought for your life,” your visible earthly life (Matt. 6:25-31). He was submissive to the father in all things and taught us to do the same. In so doing, he was humble, giving glory and praise to the Father.

We must “let” His mind take over our mind. To do this we must know the plan and purpose of God. Christ always said, “I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:49). He always did those things that pleased the Father.

Knowing the true plan and purpose of God is a big chore, but what is bigger is eliminating the old desires we had for our lives– our plans and schemes, our dreams for our own little futures. And they are little “compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us.”  Our old lives are but “dung” compared to eternally being at His side.

The Cross

Christ always taught His followers to repent from sin. This is the first step in getting rid of the false concepts about Christ. It is the cross that puts to death our old sinful selves, along with its desires, and enables us to “be raised to walk in a newness of life.” This shows us where our old thoughts were leading us and where the thoughts of God now bid us come.

First, we must get to that place of submission. We must leave the old life at the cross and take on Christ’s mission, which is establishing His Kingdom of love and righteousness throughout the earth and sharing his throne with his elect. That takes much study and prayer.

All this is for those human beings who renew their minds with Christ’s thoughts and are changed from selfish sinners into compassionate monarchs, soon ruling with Christ in His Kingdom right here upon earth. “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne…” (Rev. 3:21).

When God First Touched You

Perhaps it was a dream, slumber’s nectar of knowledge, when you first realized that God was real. You knew that experience had to be from Him and not from your then paltry spiritual pantry. For at that time, you were empty and vacant with little sustenance to call upon.

And then He touched your aching heart in His own way, a touch created just for you in your then present state. And you’ve longed for that special moment in time that it might return, when He floods your corners of doubt with the brilliant light of that original epiphany.

Yes, you want that back. You have been waiting. But it has been years now since that first contact. And you get to wondering: “I’ve been waiting for Him to contact me again.”

Perhaps the ball is in our court, and it is time for us to return His serve. We are to “come before His presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to Him with psalms.”

Maybe it is time for us to make contact and show Him our gratitude for Him reaching out to us in dreams, visions, revelations, and epiphanies.

What was your experience when God first touched you, when you knew He was real? Please share it in the comments. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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]

Small House Churches—Not Big Church Houses

We need two or three or four disciples meeting in homes, learning how to follow Christ all the way to manifested sonship. That will do the job. God always works that way–in small gatherings in homes, not in huge state of the art auditoriums.

It is a mistake to expect thousands, hundreds, or even scores of people to respond to these truths. Why? Because as Christ said, “Few there be to find this way of truth” And, because “many are called, but few are chosen.” In other words, few will be elected for the 100 fold walk. And “where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the midst.” It will be small groups in hundreds of places throughout the earth who will eventually communicate with each other, as they get on the same page with Christ.

Are you saying that there won’t be other Christians in the big churches. There will be others, but they will have not aspired to be like the apostles and prophets of old. It is because their leaders have told them that they cannot be like the Savior. Consequently, their spiritual growth will be stunted.

Why a Small Group?  

Why? We are admonished by what happened to the tribes of Jacob/Israel. It was always a small group that really knew God and His will for their time. Look at the patriarchs, Moses, Elijah and all the prophets. They were not pastors of large congregations. They even sometimes walked alone with God. We must not think it strange to be in that condition.

After fleeing Egypt at forty, Moses tended flocks with Jethro, his father-in-law. He waited forty years on Yahweh’s visitation and direction. He like other prophets chosen by God walked on practically alone.

Elijah was so alone that he thought he was the only prophet in all of Israel. But God told him, “I have 7,000 tiny groups scattered around this world who will do My will in surrendering to Me that I may reproduce Myself in them.

Look at Gideon’s 300. 10,000 showed up to fight, but God chose out 300. He did not want them to get the big head thinking that it was their great big army that had won the day. And the 300 did it God’s way, not the way of the world, not like the megachurches. They have their audience and followers. But so do I, saith Yahweh.

The way of the prophets of Yahweh is a lonely path. It’s going to be small groups to start out. That is His way as seen throughout the scriptures. But they will go out and find others to love and help and hopefully bring into the deeper calling.

We are talking about the fulfilling of God’s purpose of reproducing Himself. Very few, if any, of the denominations believe that human beings can be used to do this. They do not believe that Christ can be formed in us.

But this message of being His son or daughter is a fire. And who can stand close to the fire? For it will burn out all the impurities and assumptions about God and will light the path for the completion of God’s plan.

The first fruit elect company of which we speak will be small in each field of grain.  Those ordained by Him to bear 100 fold fruit will have their little flocks to love and care for and nurture for God’s sake. They will be meeting in house churches after turning their backs on big church houses. They will be teaching little flocks. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Free Copy of New Book “The Eleventh Commandment”

I am offering a free copy with free shipping of my latest book. Just send your name, mailing address, and the name of the book to my Email: wayneman5@hotmail.com

It usually takes a week or so to get it to you.

Those living outside the U.S. will receive a pdf. Let me know what you think of the book.

All the best. kwh

God Is Doing a New Thing, and It Starts with a New Heart after Repentance

If doubtful thoughts are arising in your mind, like, “I don’t know if I can believe the teachings on this website because I have not heard it before.” If that is happening to you, don’t jump ship. Stay in the ship. Take some time to sail away from the bustling crowd and the yap, yap, yapping of the different birds of religion who flap their Raven wings, fluttering, garbling His word into imaginations that sour the mind. Stop. Rest in Him.

Take in the new things that you are hearing here. You feel that they are right. You would not even be reading this far if you did not believe that. So, just take it easy. The concept of new things is all the way through the scriptures. God said, “I will do a new thing in the earth.” But you will not want the new wine because you will say that the old wine is better. No, it is not. God is doing a new thing with new concepts. Oh, it is in the written word. But these new concepts are sometimes directly opposed to the organized churches. If it is not happening, then someone is stuck in the mud of old churchianity. Very few plants can grow in mud. So, He says to us, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.”

When the “Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.” Make no mistake about it. If you are not being led into more truth, one of two things is happening in your life. Either you already have all truth or the Holy Spirit is not working with you at this stage of your life.

We must believe that He has teachers. He has apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They are humble and not exalted. They are not egoistic narcissists clamoring for money. They are part of the mighty hand of God, and they are very, very rare in the earth. Please listen to me. Very rare. You will not find them on every church corner. God is inviting us to turn the droning music of our existence off. Meditate upon His word. If you do not get it, go back and reread it. Study it. He’s the one that is giving us this new truth. It will make more sense if you know His purpose is. For all truth after the knowledge of His purpose explains how He will fulfill His purpose.

The problem with many modern Christians is that they think that they must be the star of the show. They think that they’ve already arrived.  But they don’t realize that God has a plan. They don’t understand that there is much knowledge that must be received from his offices. We are told in the scriptures to “humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that in due time he may exalt us.” Growing to full maturity is part of this humbling process.

Quiz Time

If you would like to know where you’re at in spiritual growth, answer this question: Can you explain in detail how one repents from sin. Repentance is the first of the apostles’ doctrines. Life or death stuff. Remember? “Except you repent you shall all likewise perish.” That’s our Savior talking. If you want to be like Peter, James, John and Paul, then you must have this knowledge in your heart. It must be a river of living water. But first comes the knowledge of the cross. There, I gave you a hint. The offices of God will know this answer. So will the prophets and the evangelists and the pastors and the teachers. That’s your test. And it is any preacher’s test. Go ahead. Ask them if they can explain repentance to you.  

Try to answer the question with a closed book. Write down what you know  about repentance. Then go back to Romans 6 and check your work. And then study it until it’s in your heart. Then share it with others. That is how the word is made flesh and dwells among us. You then will become the word. This is the basic teaching of how to repent, which was the very first word that Christ spoke when he went out to preach in the villages: “Repent and believe the gospel.” When you get this–and there is only one place to get it–you will be sharing with me the wonderful deliverance He has done in your life! [See pp. 83-124 in my book The Apostles’ Doctrine. Also, pp. 138-150 in Yah Is Savior; also, pp. 10-19 of The Unveiling of the Sons of God. It is all there; I wrote it down for you.]

And so God tells his fivefold ministry offices: I am going to use you to perfect the Saints, to teach them maturity, to show them the way to become like Me. They will not come to full maturity without you, My teachers. My little children will not accomplish perfection without My fivefold ministry offices (Eph. 4:11-15).

There are many preachers and teachers who do not have the message. If you see somebody walking around, crowing, yearning to be a great man of God, he doesn’t have it. Take money out of the equation and the landscape clears up fast. Christ would not even be recognized if he were to walk into a church service today. He would have “no form nor comeliness that they would desire Him.” He wouldn’t be recognized. His teachings would not be believed. Most are not going to listen to him. In fact, that is what happened to the prophet Ezequiel. Yahweh appeared to him magnificently, and told him, “I want you to go to my people. But they are stiff necked, and they will not hear you. They will not listen to you because they will not listen to Me.” All part of the plan. But first we need to know His doctrines–backwards and forward–if we want to get a place on the front row so we can see His face up close.

 Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Believing the Meaning of Christ’s Name Yields Power

Believing in Christ’s name is believing the meaning of His name.

Every Christian will tell you that God’s name is important. When asked if they believe in Christ’s name, they will say, “Yes. Of course.” Believing in His name to them means believing the gospel story: Christ died for us on the cross, was buried, and was resurrected to give us eternal life, which is true. But they equate this with “believing in His name.”

But as we drill down, we see deeper layers of knowledge about His name. First, the Son of God was given a Hebrew name—Yahshua. Most who hear this will reject it because they have always been taught that the Savior’s name is “Jesus.” Granted, in the English speaking world, that is the name that we English speakers have given Him down through the centuries. But our Savior was not born in an English speaking world; it was an Aramaic speaking world closely akin to Hebrew, which was the language spoken by the Savior.  

And names in the Hebrew tradition have meanings that point to the person’s destiny. God changed Jacob’s name to match his new destiny. His new name would be “Israel,” which means “prince or power with God.” When Christ was born, the angel of the Lord gave Him a name whose meaning would herald the destiny that He would fulfill. “Thou shalt call His name _______, for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

Christ’s Hebrew name has a meaning. And it has to do with saving His people from their sins.  Find the word in Hebrew that means “save or Savior,” and you will know His name. As per the angel’s direction, they named Son of God Yahshua. It means “Yah is the Savior, or Yah saves.” It means that the Father–Yah, or Yahweh, dwells inside the Son and does the saving. At least that is what the Spirit in Isaiah said:. “I, even I, am the LORD [Yahweh]; and beside Me there is no saviour (43:11; 45:21). Christ told His disciples that it was the Father Yahweh inside of Him that was doing the miracles (John 14:10-12). The name Yahshua witnesses this.

May I make a crude analogy to illustrate this crucial point? Going from the sublime to the ridiculous, we hear of a new professional wrestler named “Monster Mann.” He is a German hulk. We wonder if he can live up to his name. We go see him in action one night. He destroys his opponent.  We go away believing that his name accurately describes him. He is a monster in the ring, so we believe in his name. We believe in the meaning of his name—Monster Mann. Christ’s name means “Yahweh [His Father] is the Savior.” And the Father dwelt inside the Son.

The patriarch Joshua had the same name and was a type of Christ as the Savior of His people. Joshua’s destiny was to take them into the Promised Land. So, “Savior” is the meaning of His name. Now, to believe in His name is to believe in the meaning of His name: That the Father Yahweh dwelt in the Son and is the Savior.

To believe in or on His name is important in our spiritual growth. It is rare knowledge—the “word of knowledge,” one of the “gifts of the Spirit.” This is our ticket into being God’s elect, His chosen and called, His sons and daughters. Getting this is the proof that we are in His family.

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” Receiving Christ = Believing the meaning of His name. God gives power to become His sons and daughters to those who do this. He gives this power to us in a systematic way. He likens it to a garden. One plants the seed, the word of God, and another waters and nurtures the new plant. But it is the Spirit of God that gives the increase (I Cor. 3:6-7).

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

The Symbiotic Relationship of God and Mankind

Life is a growing and a maturing. Just look out your window at the living things. They are growing into maturity that they might reproduce themselves. We not only are growing physically, but also mentally and spiritually. And we are created in His image and likeness. So why is the thought that God grows so unbelievable?

Yahweh, translated “the LORD,” grew into His perfect maturity when He manifested Himself in the Son. Some will take offense, so let me explain. “God is Love,” agape love. The universal law of love states: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15: 13). In order to fulfill this law, the Father would have to lay down His life for others. But the Father is an immortal Spirit and cannot die.  He could not fulfill this law and thereby express the greatest love while in His first spiritual estate.

So in His brilliant plan, He would pour out His Spirit into a specially prepared mortal man who would then submit to the death of the cross to save down fallen mankind, who were before prepared for this purpose. In a word, the sacrifice of Christ, the Son of God, would fulfill the greatest love explained in the above quote.

“God was manifest in the flesh” (I Tim. 3: 16). “God was in Christ…” (II Cor. 5: 19). Christ said that it was the Father in him that was doing all the miracles. And Christ has given us this new commandment: “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” (Jn 14: 11).

Symbiosis

The Father Yahweh is Love. He completed the first leg of His own everlasting life cycle, by demonstrating the greatest and most perfect/mature love in the history of the Creator and the Created. The Immortal One had to create a mortal being—the human being—in order to be able to show that He is the greatest Love through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. It was through Christ “laying down His life” for others that proved God is the greatest Love.

So death is an instrumental part of the Creator’s plan. For the Creator Yahweh cannot be the Creator without the Created. And in like manner, neither can Yahweh fully become the Savior without someone who needs saving. And that someone that needs to be saved cannot exist without sin entering into his heart. The evilness of sin must be a reality in fallen man in order for God to have someone to save and thereby show His great love and mercy to us. And make no mistake; Yahweh, and only Yahweh is the savior.

That is what His Spirit spoke through the prophets Isaiah and Hosea. “I, even I, am Yahweh; and beside me there is no savior…” (Isa. 43: 11; 45: 21; Hos. 13: 4). Christ’s words confirm this. “The word which you hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me…The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works…” The Father does the miracle of salvation (John 14: 10, 24).

How important is believing this true knowledge about the Father and the Son? Christ answers: “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do…” He has just promised us that if we believe on Him according to the above, then the Father in us will perform the same miracles that He did through Christ and His apostles and prophets. Furthermore, He states that “whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14: 12-13). Asking in His name. His Hebrew name. {I am going to put this in capital letters because it is so important} CHRIST’S HEBREW NAME MEANS “YAHWEH IS THE SAVIOR!” Christ came in His Father’s name Yah. “Yahshua” is the same name as the patriarch Joshua. {I wrote a whole book about this entitled Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality. Free copies are still available with free shipping. Details here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/donate/}.

The symbiotic relationship of God and mankind is thus: God needs man to fulfill His own destiny as the glorious wise and loving Creator and Savior. And man certainly needs God to escape a certain trip to dark oblivion. We need Him more than He needs us, but nevertheless, He does need us to fulfill His plan and purpose of reproducing Himself, agape Love.

The Plan in Making Adam Weak

Our omniscient Creator moved on this by creating Adam and Eve weak—on purpose. It was not an experiment in the Garden of Eden that accidently ran amuck. No. He who knows the number of hairs on our heads, and He who sewed together our sinews, and spun and wove the exquisite optic nerves into our brains—no, He did not make a mistake. It was all planned. And “it was very good” (Gen. 1: 31).

In Adam God did not build a robot-like tower of strength. He could have, but that kind of creation would not serve His purpose of revealing Himself as the Savior. In His infinite wisdom and fore thought, He chose us long before He ever created the worlds. And He chose us to be with Him, with His purpose in mind.

And through this grace, He secured our destiny, before ordaining our steps here on earth. For this reason: We are to be earmarked to be used by Him for His purposes. When we surrender completely to Him, then He will have our backs. Many try to manipulate the Creator, trying to get Him to do their bidding. But that never works out well. Just look at the unanswered prayers that we all have flung heavenward. Just look how the plans of well-intentioned men “have come to naught.”

But He has His hand on us, long before our entrance as infants into this world. He has “predestinated us” for this purpose: that we could be placed as His spiritual offspring through Christ, who is the saving Son and who is the Creator/Father. That is not a misprint. Everyone will quote the following passage as a distinct prophecy of the coming Son of God. But somehow this part of the quote just doesn’t click. I know that you have read it.  “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…and His name shall be called…The everlasting Father…” (Isa. 9: 6).

Once we understand and believe why we were created in the first place, then we will realize that this present life upon this planet is all about God—Agape Love—reproducing Himself. And it can only happen through God saving a human being who sits humbled in the chains of sin.

We were made for God. God created us humans as His future dwelling place. In His eyes it is already a done deal. God sees us already sitting next to Him on His throne. After all, He created us to be overcomers. He has faith in His plan, purpose, and His word that explains all this. And, oh, yes. He has faith in us, His creation. The faith that the Bible keeps referring to is God’s faith and belief in His own genius and power to make it all happen. When we believe what and how He believes, then we are walking in faith. It is not our feeble little belief system. It is the faith of the Son of God, the Creator.

The few overcomers, the elect, the remnant, will answer the call. Because He fashioned us to do this. For in the end, we will see that it is all Him. He is the One, so merciful, so kind, so loving, that He would choose us to sit with Him on His throne. This is how He said it, “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne…” (Rev. 3:21).

Many are called to this honor, but only a few are chosen. It is like seed being sown in a field. Some will come up and some won’t. May we all who read these words come up and rise up to be what He wants us to be.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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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/]

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Kenneth Wayne Hancock