Knowing Him As He Really Is—The Definition of Immortality

[Chapter 11 of the book Yah-Is-Savior: The Road to Immortality]

We are well down the road to immortality now. We have learned that wisdom is being in awe of God.  It is the first step; it is the main thing, for it is the first key that begins to unlock the treasure house of God’s knowledge. Without this awe of Him we won’t get anywhere. Then we took step two, knowing His name. Moses got some wisdom, some awe of God, at the burning bush, and then he had to know His name. It was a crucial step, to know God’s true name Yahweh.

And now we have come to our third step: Knowledge of Who He Really Is. The farther we go down this road that leads to immortality, the more is at stake. We cannot turn back now; our own hopes of transcending a certain death hangs on our steadfastness and perseverance at this time. Immortality, the elixir that our mortal mouths must drink, is the knowledge of who God really is. This knowledge is the key to unlock the secrets of eternal life. We have arrived at nothing less than the information that will catapult us over this valley of the shadow of death. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Yahshua the Messiah, whom you have sent. John 17:3. NIV.

Our hopes for arriving at immortality hinge on how well we really know Him—how well we really know His nature, His essence, His Deity, His Godhead. For us, eternal life depends on whether we really know Him as He really is. We must straighten out misconceptions of who He is and how He is. 

Those of us on this road to immortality must realize that only He can grant us true knowledge of Himself.  It will not come through man’s conception of who and how He is. We must believe upon Him in true knowledge “as the scripture has said,” the way the scriptures really portray Him.

But that, of course, is the problem.We all have our own conception of Him.  We think that we have just “come up with it,” but we have received our personal conception of God through what we have been taught by other human beings that we have come in contact with. It really gets tricky when people have studied out minutely different denominational doctrines, and even though they have “come out” of that organization, they cling tenaciously to its teachings—teachings about who He is. 

     The Savior, 2000 years ago, standing before them in a human flesh body, told them that they were searching the scriptures. They thought that eternal life was contained in those scriptures of truth. But, as the  Master  was , the very writings that they thought would yield immortality for them were the very writings that spoke of Him—the One that they were rejecting!  You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.  These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40, NIV…You study the scriptures diligently, supposing that in having them you have eternal life: yet, although their testimony points to me, you refuse to come to me for that life. NEB.

They were studying the scriptures diligently, thinking that immortality would be derived through them.  What writings were they studying that spoke about the Messiah, the Savior? What scriptures existed then?  They were the books commonly referred to as the Old Testament. Now  Yahshua, the Savior, said that those old books written by the prophets of ancient Israel, those old books spoke about HIM!     

The prophets spoke and wrote about the Savior by His very Spirit within them

Let’s go, then, to the prophets where they speak about the Messiah, specifically using the word “Savior.”  He just said in John 5 that the scriptures do testify of Him, so let us go there and see for ourselves what they are saying. Now Peter tells us that the spirit that was in those prophets was the Spirit of the Savior, Yahshua the Anointed One.  And they spoke and wrote down with the Spirit of Yahshua about this immortality, this salvation from a certain death. This salvation was the theme which the prophets pondered and explored, those who prophesied about the grace of God awaiting you.  They tried to find out what was the time, and what the circumstances, to which the spirit of Christ in them pointed. I Peter 1:10-11, NEB.

The Spirit of Messiah, which was in Isaiah the prophet said this: But now thus saith Yahweh (the LORD) that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel…For I am Yahweh thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Isa. 43:1,3.

Several important points emerge from this passage that are vital for our understanding of His essence, which in turn is vital for our obtaining immortality. First, the Spirit of Christ that was in Isaiah said that He was Yahweh! Thus saith Yahweh…I am Yahweh. When the prophets wrote down the words, “Thus saith Yahweh,” they were saying that Yahweh is speaking through me the following words.  Yahweh is speaking thusly.  Yahweh, the Father, the Creator, the Supreme Being is using me by speaking through me! Oh, to be used that way, the way He used the prophets!

Second, the Spirit of Christ is saying that He created and formed Jacob/ Israel.  John confirms this. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. John 1:3. Paul confirms this as well. For by him were all things created, that are in the heaven, and that are in the earth, visible or invisible…Col. 1:16.

Third, I am Yahweh thy God, the Holy One of Israel…The  Spirit  of the Messiah speaking through Isaiah now says that He is Yahweh, that He is one God and that He is Israel’s Holy One (the whole House of Israel or the 12 tribes of Jacob/Israel).

Fourth, the Spirit of the Messiah, God’s Spirit, Yahweh, breathing and speaking through Isaiah says, I am thy Savior…I, even I, am Yahweh; and beside me there is no saviour. Isa.43: 3, 11. Here Yahweh, which is the Spirit that was in the Messiah, says clearly that He is the Savior and that there is no other savior!  Yahweh, then, was inside the man Yahshua who was called the Savior, for Yahweh says that there is no other savior except Him. We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those who believe. I Tim. 4:10. God was in Christ (the Anointed One) reconciling the world unto Himself. II Cor. 5:19. It was Yahweh in the man who was the Savior. Or, in other words, Yahweh-in-human-form is the Savior.            

Bottom line: the same Spirit that spoke through the prophets, that created Jacob/Israel and everything else, this Great Spirit God dwelt bodily in the man Yahshua the Messiah. His name Yahshua means “Yah-Is-Savior.” It was Yahweh of old, the Yahweh of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel, the Yahweh of Moses, David, and all the prophets— that same Yahweh came down, leaving His spirit-body dimension.  And He came to earth in a flesh and blood human body, walked in our midst doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.  And in due time, He laid down that human body, yielded it up to a sacrificial death, and raised that body in three days to life again, so that we could be restored to His original plan of reproducing Himself. “To tell the old, old story about our Savior and His love…”

[My book is free with free shipping. It weaves understanding of the sacred names and oneness together. Order your copy by sending your name, address, and the name “Yah Is Savior,” to my email address: wayneman5@hotmailcom ]

The Father’s Name Guards the Way for Agape Love

Christ said to dig deep. To find the vein of gold we must study thoroughly. The gold here is putting on Christ in the form of divine love. Christ’s prayer recorded in John 17 comes from the depths of the Father’s heart. It reveals how we will receive the seventh addition—agape love. And it is the Father’s name that takes center stage in our relationship with the Father.

At first, we flinch and say, “Huh? What does the Father’s name have to do with adding agape love in our spiritual walk?

Christ did say, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world…” (v. 6).  I have clearly shown thy name; I have made it apparent; I have made it known to them.  And they have believed that You have sent Me; they have kept My word, and they believe that it is You, Father, who is doing the works.  And they know that I came out of You, and that it is You who has sent Me (vs. 6-8).

Christ goes on to say that it is His followers that He is praying for and not the world because they are the Father’s, who has given them to Christ.  And the time has come, He is saying, for Him to depart out of the earth, leaving His followers. So how will they remain in one mind and one accord with the Savior?  How will God keep them spiritually safe and sound after Christ departs?

Love and the Knowledge of His Name

He said to continue in His love. We continue in it through the knowledge of the Father’s name. “Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given Me…” There is keeping power in the name of Yahweh.  The Greek word for “keep” means “to attend to carefully, to attend, to guard,” and is translated in other places as “to preserve.”  So, He is guarding us from the evil for this purpose: “That they may be one, as we are one” (vs. 9-11). We could then say that we will never be fully one with God without knowing His name.

He is the fountain of love. He wants us to be one with Him. It happens through the knowledge of His name. He goes on to say that while He was walking with them here on earth, He “kept them in thy name,” and none of them is lost except Judas Iscariot.  He “kept” them; He guarded them.  How?  By teaching them and showing them and revealing to them the Father’s name.  For in His name is the whole plan of God (v. 12).

Christ goes on to ask the Father to not give them an escape hatch “out of the world,” but rather guard and keep them from the evil.  “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one” (v. 15, NKJV) {Side note: That speaks against the rapture theory}.

Now some will say that this prayer is only for His twelve disciples, His followers of that era.  But it is for all of us down through the ages. “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (v. 20). That’s us. He was praying for you and me, so we can take these concepts to heart.

Consequently, if Christ is going to “keep” and guard us from the evil by manifesting the Father’s name to us that we all may be one with Him, then how can that happen when very few Christians know that the Father’s name is Yahweh?

Christ’s desire is that all of us His followers “would be with Me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which You have given Me” (vs. 24).  He desires that we all “may be made perfect in one” (v. 23).  But we have to ask ourselves, How can this happen if a Christian doesn’t know the Father’s name Yahweh, which God uses to guard us from the evil?

And lastly in this prayer in John 17, Christ repeats, “And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it…”  For this specific reason: “That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”  Let’s savor this.  He is saying, I have made known, shown clearly, Your name, Father, and I will continue to make it known, for this reason: That the same love You have loved Me with may be in My followers.  And that My very essence and Spirit of love may be in them!

What His Name Means

Here the very love and presence of God is tied into the knowledge of God’s name.  His name means “The Self-Existent One” and Yahweh is the Savior, which is what the Son of God’s Hebrew name means—Yahshua.

Inside, God’s name contains and reveals the very nature of Himself.  God is Love. Him being the Savior of His creation reveals or unveils His essence, which is Love. For “greater love hath no man than this than to lay down his life for his friends.”  This essence of the greatest love on earth–giving your life to save someone else–is implicit in the name of the Savior.  This is the reason that our hearts are touched and moved when we hear of someone giving up their own lives to save someone else.  It touches us because it is the heart of God and shows us what He has done, whether we realize it or not.

He guards us from the selfishness of the evil one, when we think on His name and how He gave His life for us. For the great invisible Spirit Yahweh poured Himself into a human form so that He could express fully the love that is His essence.  It is through realizing this knowledge of His love contained in His name that we can receive that same love—that God, who is Love, may dwell in our hearts, and that He and His love would thrive and grow in our hearts, so that we could make known who God is by the love exhibited through us to others. And thus fulfill Christ’s prayer.  “I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.”  The addition of His love into us is realized through the remembrance of the meaning of His name. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Why Christ Said, “Love Your Enemies”

We all have enemies.  We all have people who have wronged us, and it is so easy to be bitter against them.  But I never could understand until now why God admonishes us to pray for our enemies. 

    Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44).  That is a tough assignment.  That stretches the abilities of our humanity.  It is too difficult for our earthly passions to do.  We in all our human frailties are being asked by the Master to do the impossible: Love, bless, and pray for those who hurt us.

     Why would He put that on us? It’s in the very next verse: That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.  His spiritual offspring, His sons and daughters, His princes and princesses–they will overcome and do just that.  Because each seed bears its own kind, we, born of His seed, will become just like Him.  For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  He loves the whole world and knows that they “know not what they do.”  We, too, will realize that our calling is to be just like Him, and with His Spirit abiding within, we will overcome.

     Vengeance will be taken, but not by His sons and daughters.  We were created by Him as vessels of mercy.  He will show His mercy through us.  That’s why He emphasized, “Vengeance is mine, saith the LORD (Yahweh); I will repay.”

     Why did He want us to not rail on our enemies?  Because He knew that the moment we do, we will have given into a dark spirit, which entering into our heart and mind, will poison us spiritually.  Bitterness as gall will well up and sully our complete being.  He does not want this for us because we are not built by Him for revenge, hatred, and cursings.  We are not “wired” that way by the Creator.  We self-destruct if we hate others.  We are created to be channels of love, His love.

     So, we are told to “pray for them that persecute you.”  By doing this, the dark, spiritual acid of bitterness is neutralized, and then His love and peace begins to once again flow down and through us to others.               Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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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

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).

Chasing Your First Experience with Christ

Many young Christians get entangled in the trappings of the first flush of Christian love that they experience. Christ’s amazing, selfless love many times overpowers them. They experience tremendous joy and love. And then, a bit later, the rush of that first, fine feeling of the love from above subsides and seemingly leaves them.

Instead of seeking more of His plan and purpose and seeking the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” the babe in Christ stays there in that congregation or circle, glued to a belief that if they stay right there, the Spirit will return and give them that same feeling again, just like what happened before. It is as if they are a prisoner of their own experience with God; it is just the first step.

I am not putting anyone down here. I speak from personal experience. A babe in Christ is like the thrill seeker going after that first high. But that first experience with God is when He calls us. The second will not be like the first. They don’t realize that spiritually young children of God are mostly alive to what they can receive of the Father. It is not about us feeling good. It is about His Spirit growing in us and manifesting His love through us. The rest of the journey is about how God works out His growth within us

In the above scenario, we see a picture of a child of God, a “babe in Christ.” They are held in the “play pen” of the music and activities of the church house or the study group. The pastors and teachers do not feed them with “the sincere milk of the word that they may grow thereby.” They learn about Christ having existed and some of the things that He did. They are not taught about how His Spirit grows and lives in us. They are not taught the “cross experience” (Romans 6) whereby we are crucified with Christ, which allows our old sinful nature to perish through belief in Christ’s death and resurrection. This is the seed beginning of His growth in us. And without this knowledge, “babes in Christ” will wither on the vine. Their pastors and teachers will be held accountable.

God wants us all to grow, and we cannot grow like He wants us to grow spiritually if we persist in trying to recapture those first few experiences that God called us with. Paul said that we must leave them in order to grow to full potential. “But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 13-14). The “high calling” is not being a child of God; it is becoming a manifested son and daughter of the living God.  God wants us all to grow up spiritually and become like the early apostles and prophets.

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]

Yahweh’s Joy Is Our Strength

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

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

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

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

The Joy of Yahweh

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

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

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

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

Knowing God Is Knowing His Word–Because He Is the Word

Because God is the Word, we cannot know Him if we do not know His words about Him being the Word. We find these words in the written word of God. The “word” found in John 1 is “Logos” in the Greek. It means “the plan,” basically. Everything in God’s far reaching excellent Plan is encapsulated in the word “word.”

God makes a big thing out of his word. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God.” His word is our life. Many scriptures come to mind about the word. “In the beginning was the word.” Since Christ is the beginning [“I am the beginning and the end”].  In Him was the word/logos or the plan. Since Christ is the beginning, then in Him was the word/logos/plan. Christ is the “Word made flesh” that dwelt among us.

And He was this word/logos/plan. And the Word was God. And this word, this explanation of God’s purpose and plan was at first passed on from generation to generation orally. Then his prophets wrote it down, and the word became the scriptures of truth. And the scriptures were passed down by faithful men, preserved for us today in the Bible.

This procurement by man of God’s word was done through men and women being the word. In other words, their lives became the word as their actions and interactions with God became the word, made flesh in a way.

Moreover, God’s chosen people’s history, the history of the Adamites, became our Bible. Comprehending their story, capped by the New Testament story of Yahshua the Christ the Anointed One and his apostles, is the journey we have set out on.

Thy Word Is Truth

His word is the truth about what is happening in heaven and earth. Therefore, it becomes the standard that we must go to, to settle all controversies. There will be times when we have doubts as to the veracity of certain doctrinal assumptions. He said that we are to prove all things to see if they be good or bad.

A grave mistake happens here on our walk into more growth in Him. It is believing that every thought that pops into our head is of God. We must know that God has allowed Satan to communicate with the inhabitants of the earth. He will speak to us in the thoughts of our mind. God does the same thing. The mistake is not discerning properly which voice is which.

Grave errors occur to young Christians for one reason. Christ said it. “You do err. You neither know the scriptures nor the power of God.” Knowing the written word of God  gives more God-thoughts to combat the negative thoughts.

There is much to prove out one way or the other whether thoughts come from God or of the devil. People will come up with suppositions, dreams, and imaginations. They become false doctrines that are clung to. But they must be in one accord with the standard, the word of God. If it does not agree with the written word, then we must throw it out.

His word is a big thing because He is a big thing, for He is the Word. The Word is spirit, and you must “worship God in spirit and in truth…” Without the truth, there is no real worship. So, word = spirit = God = truth. We must know the scriptures of truth in order to know God. For He is the Word of truth.

Down the Rabbit Hole to Know Christ–Being an Overcomer in Laodicea

How far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go to know your God and Savior? I mean to really know Him. Not just know about Him, but to know Him. Knowing Him is knowing what He knows. It is knowing Him that is from the beginning. It is not like knowing your best friend. Friends can betray you. He cannot. I am talking about you knowing Him so well that He invites you to sit beside Him on His throne, a viceroy and confidant of the King.

How can this grandiose vision ever be? Only those who overcome all things will know Him this intimately. And those overcomers that Christ speaks of will do what it takes. They will squeeze down that rabbit hole and go deeper in order to find what is necessary “to know Him and the power of His resurrection.” The ones that He has chosen are His elect; that is what “elect” means.

Am I one of the chosen ones, someone will ask. If you are, there will be an unquenchable thirst for the water from heaven. You will “dig deep and lay the foundation on a rock” (Luke 6:47-49). You will seek the truth, and you will find it, and you will study it out with a passion.

Only they will get a dinner invitation to dine with the Creator Himself. To know Him as He really is, to sit at His feet after dinner and ask Him a question that you have always wanted to know about life in His universe. That is possible for you and me. But we must overcome some things before that takes place. [It is a good sign if you are still reading.]

The overcomers. But overcome what? You have to go down a little deeper for this to crystalize. Going deeper is to sell all. To sell out. To count everything that you could gain in this world as “dung” that “you may win Christ.” The apostle Paul knew that his life prior to the happening on the road to Damascus amounted to nothing. Our old lives are a mere chasing the wind, a blink of vanity with an expiration date that looms larger the older we grow. All of our earthly works are but dust and rubble.

But we are destined for much greater things in Him. We are talking about a chance of being anointed. Who got anointed back in the biblical days? Kings. And the spiritual anointing oil that is used is the truth, the truth of who the Father/Son is.

Christ Tests Us

I am still talking about overcoming. Before Christ anoints us, He tests us to see if we are up for the task of ruling this earth. He mentions this overcoming in Rev. 3:21. “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.” There it is. If you want to go all the way with Him, you have got to study out what to overcome. Don’t pass over what the Spirit is sharing with us now. This knowledge is rare; we won’t get it by passively listening to some words about Christ in a church house somewhere. If we want to “reign with Him,” we have got to get serious about His words. Stay with Him, and He will show us what to overcome.

Overcome what exactly? We must go back seven verses for the answer. This message is to those in Laodicea, which means “laity deceived.” This is our church age. Wholesale deception pervades the airwaves here in the 21^st Century.

Christ is speaking to us Christians today. “I know your works” (v. 15). Your works. You are doing your works, not My works, which are done by My Spirit of truth. What you are doing in your worship of Me is lukewarm; it is neither cold nor hot. Why? Because it is your works, full of man’s wisdom. Your works are based in man’s interpretations and imaginations about how they think that I want to be worshipped. To worship Me, it must be in Spirit and in truth. No falsehoods present.  

He says that self-proclaimed followers of Christ are lukewarm, and He will spue them out of His mouth” (v. 16). If they do not take to heart this message of His, then they will be rejected by Him for higher service and the closer walk with Him that He desires for them. They won’t make it to the throne.

And why will He spue them out? “Because you say, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (v. 17). He is talking about the spiritual here, not the material. We see the spiritual in the “lukewarm” statement. They are neither hot nor cold. He was not talking about the weather.

So in that same flow, Christ exposes the things that modern church goers do. They think that they are rich. They say that they already have the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit and that they already are born again and filled with the Spirit. They still sin, mind you, but they don’t want anything “new,” or “different.” Therefore, they say that they “have need of nothing.” They think that they already have all they need. They are unteachable. Most all denominations believe that they have the truth–nobody else. Question: Do we honestly think that we are baptized and filled with the Spirit of truth when we have so many erroneous errors guiding our worship. [I know that this is a sharp sword for some, but hang in there. He chastens those He loves.]

Christ exposes this prideful state of the church in our day. He says, “You don’t know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (v. 17). Christ speaks this with mercy, for He outlines next just how to repent of this lukewarmness and pride. He counsels us to buy of Him gold tried in the fire, white raiment, and eyesalve that we may see. Doing these three things is how we overcome.

Christ says this: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (v. 19). When we buy something, it costs us something. We are to buy gold, white raiment, and eyesalve. To buy these three spiritual things, we must sell our old Christian traditions, our old conceptions of the Godhead, and the doctrines of men. These old leaven concepts are what we must overcome.

He is at the door of our hearts; He is knocking. He wants us to know Him. If we open the door, He will come in and have dinner with us (v. 20).

And here’s the next step. “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne (v. 21). This is His promise to the overcomers. What would prohibit someone of pursuing this promise? Unbelief.

[Below  are some links to articles that further elucidates these points]

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Gold Tried in the Fire–Overcomers and the Time of the End

Humility, Sufferings, and the True Worship of God

With Him in the Beginning–Out of His Treasure Things New and Old

The Next Great Move of God