Know Where Your Spiritual Growth Is–30-fold, 60-fold, or 100-Fold

All about the Fruit

The Spirit admonishes us: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (II Cor. 13: 5). We test ourselves by answering this question: Do we know and believe that it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells within us by the love that is shed abroad to all? I.e., we are examining how much of Christ’s Spirit is flowing through us.

Someone will ask, “How do we know how much of the Spirit of Christ is in us?” The short answer: If we are in the “knowing” stage of most things, then it is 30-fold growth. To distinguish 30-fold from 60-fold growth, one must look at 30-fold fruit from a childlike perspective. Just like natural children accumulate knowledge of their surroundings and nature and other people, children of God are doing the same in the spiritual realm.

A 30-fold fruit bearing child of God is attaining truth and how it relates to them personally. They are “knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him” (Rom. 6: 6). And they will “know the truth and the truth shall make you free…Whosoever commits sin is a slave to sin…” (John 8: 32-36). That’s the knowledge that the child of God is gaining. A natural child is mostly alive for what he can receive from his father. So, it is with the spiritual. A child of God is interested in receiving from his Father—receiving peace, contentment, joy, and love. And this only comes when our old self is crucified with the Lamb of God.

A Christian, bearing 60-fold fruit, has matured to the point where he or she desires to not just receive the fruit of the Spirit, but rather channel to others of those fruits. It is the developing of interpersonal relationships. One bearing 60-fold fruit is mostly alive for what they can do for the Father.

The 100-fold Christian is like Paul and Peter and John. They have Christ’s Spirit of agape love being manifested to others. They are agape love, insomuch as Christ is manifested through their vessels. They have the mind of Christ, and the will of their Father, foremost in their thinking. And the Father’s thoughts are rarified. Only a few will attain this position with Him. And they are those who are doing the will of the Father. They will be spiritually seated at His round table. They will know His purpose and His plan to accomplish it. They are His cadre who He will use to implement His government. Their thoughts are His thoughts, for their vision is His vision—a vision that subsumes and transcends national, international, worldwide, galactic and universal concerns. Christ is the exiled King, and “of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end” (Isa. 9: 6-7).

Those who grow spiritually into 100-fold fruit bearers will be in His inner circle. And don’t tell me that Christ does not have an inner circle. Think about the twelve disciples. And now there are positions to be filled. They will be leaders and administrators and ambassadors of the King as He establishes righteousness and judgment throughout the earth after the tribulation subsides. You will know that you are on the right track to become one of these princes or princesses of God if you are thinking His thoughts—His kingdom thoughts.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Order my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It discusses these things and will be a help to you and your spiritual growth. It is free with free shipping. Just send to my email with name, mailing address and the title of the book, and I will get it right out to you.   wayneman5@hotmail.com

The Light of Love from Above–Ch. 7 of The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect

7  The Light of Love from Above 

Light is that ephemeral miracle we take for granted. It physically exposes the dark corners of our rooms, and it spiritually makes known the hidden recesses of our hearts and minds. 

Light is that essence of the divine that heals our blindness and ends our vain groping to make meaning of the hopeless darkness of our carnal earthly estate. 

Of course, God is Light, and He is Love which casts out the fear of remaining in the dungeon of despair. God’s Son is the way out of that calamitous corridor of personal corruption. Through Christ’s Spirit we no longer inflict collateral damage on all who cross our path. We now shine the light of love. 

We who are called and chosen by the Redeemer to escape this dungeon of darkness have laid hold of His outstretched hand. He has snatched us up out of that selfish march to death that we were on and has shined the truth of His words into our hearts. His thoughts are like the early morning rays of the sun that sharpens our perception of just what our world can be. Instead of the coarse commonality of our selfish old nature, our Creator has now enlightened our eyes as to His desire to use us in reproducing Himself. Astounding as it may seem, He is now shedding more light onto His plan to “bring many sons (and daughters) unto glory.” And this glory is the unearned privilege to sit with Christ on His throne when He returns to set up on earth the 1,000 year reign of His kingdom. He is, after all, the “King of kings” (Rom. 8: 18-19, 28-31; Rev. 3: 20-21; I Tim. 6: 15). 

In a word, His purpose is to reproduce, like a seed, His Love in us. Since God is Love, when we love others with His Spirit of Love, God is reproducing Himself (I John 4: 8-12). 

God has a plan to make all this happen. He has written it down on how to walk in the light of His love. He has left us instructions as to how people will act when God’s Spirit of love is leading them. 

These instructions are called “the law.” The “testimony” is the witness of one who through God’s Spirit follows the instructions as to what Love looks like walking around in a human being. 

Love–agape love–the love from above–this love is God. And this love, when poured into the heart and mind of man, fulfills all the descriptions of what love is. We look to our example, the Son of God. He is Love incarnate. And the Love that He is, now resides in His children’s hearts. And we are growing in His plan and purpose as He grows in us. 

This love from above follows the instructions of the law as to our actions. In a nutshell, the ten commandment law requires that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Therefore, the Spirit of Love within us fulfills the law (Rom. 13:9-10). God’s Love is the Light that now shines into and through our hearts and minds to others. 

How Love Fulfills the Law 

Life is all about love. The poets and prophets and songwriters got that much right. But it is the higher love, the agape divine love that we should concern ourselves with as His sons and daughters. 

Love fulfills the whole law when we do the greatest love. When we lay down our old earthly lives with its selfish sins and pursuits, and take up our new life in Christ and His Spirit in us—then the Love that is from above comes down into us in the form of a new heart. This agape love fulfills the Ten Commandment Law and all the Mosaic Law of the Old Covenant. 

For Love is God, and God is this agape love. And He does fulfill His own law. No amount of working for this will be effectual. This love does not come by being a regular church goer, tither, or prayer warrior. No amount of good works, charity donations, or pious acts will bring Love down into us. Only self-sacrifice on the cross and our own death, burial, and resurrection with Christ will do it.  

Doing the greatest love, which is laying down our lives for others just like Christ did, is the only sacrifice God will accept. Letting our old lives die on the cross is the only avenue open to us in our original seat in the mire. It is only this that will bring His nature of Love down, supplanting the old sinful nature. Only laying down our lives will fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself. When we do this and continue to walk in His Spirit, Love has been multiplied and reproduced.   

It all starts with Love, and it all ends with Love. God is Love and He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. Love is the beginning and the end of all things. 

How do we, the church of God, fit into all this? We are His body; we are the members of Love’s body, “the fullness of Him that fills all in all” (Eph. 1: 23). God sees us as the vessels that will contain Himself. He created us for this purpose—to house Himself and the mercy and Love that He is. Bold statement: Without us God could not express the fullness of Himself. 

In the end, God will fill us with His Love and mercy. And He will use us to do it. His essence of love will spread throughout every crevice of His universe through the presence of His ambassadors, His princes and princesses, His family and friends. Children of God think that they are objects of His love. The mature know that they are channels of His love. 

[Be sure to order your free copy (with free shipping) of The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. This excerpt is from Ch. 7 and 8. Just send your name, mailing address, and name of book to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com]

The Need for the Additions to the Faith

When the Spirit of Christ says through Peter, “Add to your faith” certain attributes, He is not saying that we must add them in order to be saved. Personal salvation is not the issue, though it is the first important step on our spiritual quest. The additions are the key to our spiritual growth after salvation. They are the key that unlocks the door to our spiritual perfection.

Like Jeremiah, Yahweh has known us by name before our earthly mothers brought us out into the light of day. We add these heavenly attributes of God’s “divine nature” because we are called and chosen by Him to do just that. Our names are written down in the book of life before the worlds were ever spoken into existence by our God and Savior Yahshua, the Son of God.

Consequently, we have no choice in the matter. My readers are a rare group of humans who have seen through the plastic façade of churchianity and have “come out of her.” He has predestined a vanguard who will be the first fruits that will show their brethren the way to the glory land. They have been “called according to His purpose [the reproduction of Himself—Love].”

“For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). He knew us before we were born into mortality. He gave us our destiny to be like the Son before we came here. Because of our pre-destiny, He called us; He “got our attention” that He is real. He showed us the phoniness of human society and culture and began to teach us His way. He saved us out of the quagmire of sin by justifying us. And in His mind, He has already glorified us. For He declares the end from the beginning.

All I can do is shake my head and go, “Wow!” For the Spirit is speaking to me as I write this down. What a precious privilege—to join the ranks of our brethren like David, Jacob, Daniel, Paul, John, and so many more. Their fame lives on because they answered His call upon their lives, just like we are doing. He is working the same way today as He did two, three, and four thousand years ago. He said, “I change not.” There is not one single scripture that says the miracles ceased being performed by His followers 1,900 years ago.

Our Lives Now Are His Doing

It is His ball game now since our surrender to Christ. When we really believe Romans 6:6, we enter into His rest. How do we enter into rest? When we die with Christ on the cross and are raised up from the dead with Him, we have ceased doing our own works for our old self. It is because our old man Adam is dead. And so we begin our Sabbath rest when we cease working for our old selves. This is what brings the love, joy, and peace and the other fruit of the Spirit. This is what casts out fear. There is nothing to be afraid of now. What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam? Once our old ego dies with Christ, what are they going to do? Kill our body? “Death has no more dominion over us.”

So we wait on the Spirit of truth to lead us into all truth. And He shows us that we are to grow spiritually, that we are to finally mature by bringing forth “much fruit.” And then the Spirit through Peter tells us that in order to bear “much fruit,” we need to “add to your faith” seven additions, seven facets of His divine nature. These seven things are crucial in order to come to full maturity/perfection. With them we will be able “to make our calling and election sure.” What calling? God has called us “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” In other words {Oh, words that will get you thrown out of churches} to be like the Son of God!

“Nobody can be like Jesus! That’s blasphemy!”

“Well, if you won’t let me be like Jesus, will you let me be like Peter, John, and Paul? They performed miracles like Christ. They bore much fruit.”

Bearing Much Fruit

To become a mature Christian, we have to add these seven attributes of His divine nature. If these seven things are pulsating and abounding in us, then they will enable us to bear much fruit   of the Spirit, never to be barren of love, joy, and peace (II Peter 1:8).

Those Christians who do not add them to the faith will be blind to the vision of our true destiny, for they will have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins (v. 9-10). Old sins are like blighted branches that are lopped off at the cross. Belief/faith in His resurrection gets them started in Christ, but they need the additions. If they don’t add them, then blindness overtakes them. They will get stagnant, which stops spiritual growth.

Such is the state of most church houses. Every gathering in them is a cookie cutter copy of the last meeting. Because no new light is being shared, the manna becomes stale and spoils, and most of the clergy and laity languish in the stalls of forgetfulness.

It is sad really. I still want to reach out and touch them like I have endeavored to do, but they say that they are “increased with goods and have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:18). I am learning to not be dismayed nor frustrated. For one who speaks God’s message is honored, but not “in his own country and in his own house.” (Mt. 13: 57). This explains why we can’t get any respect from those in our own home. [Perhaps you have experienced this. Please share in a comment].

The Need to Add to the Faith

Finally, those foreordained and predestined will feel the need to add the seven additions to the faith. God will reveal the need to them. No man with man’s wisdom will do it. “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Rom. 9:16). But those who are called and chosen will soldier on to complete the quest. That quest is “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” The gainsayers will tell them that it can’t be done, that they are crazy for thinking such a thing. But the elect will hear His voice. The others will just hear a rumble off in the distance, shrug their shoulders, and ask for seconds on the apple pie.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Christ’s New Commandments and the New Promised Land

The following is for those who, like Joshua and Caleb, are saying, “The giants are not too big. We can take the land, the land of promise.” In their Old Testament story, God promised to give them their own literal land, land occupied by the Canaanites. In that land, in Jerusalem, they built a temple for Him to dwell in. In our day He has promised to dwell–not in temples made with man’s hands–but in us, the temple that He created for Himself to dwell in. One of Christ’s greatest teachings is how we become His temple in a reality, just like the apostles and prophets.

In this last generation before Christ’s return to earth, after winning a spiritual war, those called and chosen will receive God’s promise for these latter days. What exactly has our Father promised us? He has promised that if we walk in His teachings, we shall spiritually grow up to become—just like Christ when He walked this earth. The Promised Land for our day is the vision God has for us, His sons and daughters.

If we will get rid of the false teachings and walk in His true ways, He will grow in us—Christ the Vine and us the branches. If we stay in Him and He and His teachings remain in us, then we will abide in Him and He in us. And if we abide in Him and He in us, then He has promised that we will bear “much fruit.”

“Much fruit” is 100 fold fruit; it is the fruit that the manifested sons of God will bear at the end of this age. These offspring of the Almighty shine forth in the pages of the New Testament. “Much fruit” is seen in the actions of Christ and His apostles. They are coming. That is His promise to His elect. “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” (John 1: 12). Receiving Him and His power is the first step in bearing “much fruit.” That is a promise.

The Promised Land

In a word—we are the modern day “Promised Land.” Yes, of course, there is an extremely important geographical fulfillment of this. But the spiritual fulfillment is just as important.

Our bodies are made of earth and are divinely supported with breath and water and nutrients. When these earthly bodies expire, they go back to dust. They become part of the land where they are buried. When His Spirit fills us, God fulfills His promise to “dwell in us,” His temple. He has promised us (I Cor. 3: 16; II Cor. 6: 16).

God has chosen by His grace and mercy a few to manifest Himself in. They will be the first fruits, the first humans to bear ultimate spiritual fruit. They will walk in a high growth of the Spirit within them. Christ calls this “much fruit.”

Little children of God who never grow up spiritually will bear “fruit.” He will prune these Christians to purge out impurities so that they can bear “more fruit.” This is 60 fold fruit. In this growth we learn to “abide in Him and He in us” to the point that we bear “much fruit” (John 15: 1-8).

When we abide in Him, and He in us, then we may ask what we will, and He will do it. Why? Because we will have had all the old leaven false doctrines purged out of us. Then He can trust us and will fulfill His promise to fill us with His agape love. It will be “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Through this process of spiritual growth, we become the New Promised Land.

So What Do We Do Now?

Since bearing “much fruit” is God’s promise to us, how do we grow to that point? How is it done? One of Christ’s new commandments to us is this: “Abide in Me, and I in you…He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit” (v. 5). We see here again “much fruit,” the ultimate growth level.

It is here that Christ makes this promise: If we abide, stay, remain, and continue in His teachings, unfettered by false doctrines and claims—if we continue in His teachings, He has promised us that we will bear “much fruit” (vs. 4-7).

Bearing “much fruit” is the only way to glorify our Father. “Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit” (John 15: 8). In the next verse Christ gives us the key. He gives us this command: “As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love” (v. 9). We are to continue loving the way Christ loves.

The word “continue” is translated from the Greek word meno. It is also translated “abide, remain, and dwell” [1]. So, abiding, remaining, dwelling, and continuing in His love will lead us to bearing “much fruit.” But how do we abide and continue in His love? Christ answers us in verse 10: “If ye keep my commandments, you shall abide in My love…” Keeping Christ’s commandments. Someone is thinking, “I thought it was just the Ten Commandments we are to be concerned with.” Keeping them is just our duty. He wants us to bear much fruit, which is going beyond the call of duty.

Christ’s New Commandments

Christ magnified the law and gave many new commandments for those answering the “high calling.” We have seen already a couple of Christ’s new commandments: “Abide in Me” and “Continue in My love” (John 15: 4, 9).

In fact, His promise to us is wrapped in the understanding and keeping of His New Commandments. Christ promises: “He that has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves Me, and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.” One of the disciples asked him how He will make Himself known unto us and not unto the world. He answered, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words [commandments], and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14: 21-23). This is the abiding. This is where Yahweh, our Father and Creator, will truly live in us, and He will abide and remain in us. This is the promise; this is the spiritual “promised land.” So, what are Christ’s “New Commandments”?     [To be continued…]

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[1] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3306&t=KJV

Distinguishing 30, 60, and 100 Fold Spiritual Fruit Bearing

The Spirit admonishes us: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (II Cor. 13: 5). We test ourselves by answering this question: Do we know and believe that it is the Spirit of Christ that dwells within us by the love that is shed abroad to all? I.e., we are examining how much of Christ’s Spirit is flowing through us.

Someone will ask, “How do we know how much of the Spirit of Christ is in us?” The short answer: If we are in the “knowing” stage of most things, then it is 30 fold growth. To distinguish 30 fold from 60 fold growth, one must look at 30 fold fruit from a childlike perspective. Just like natural children accumulate knowledge of their surroundings and nature and other people, children of God are doing the same in the spiritual realm.

A 30 fold fruit bearing child of God is attaining truth and how it relates to them personally. They are “knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him” (Rom. 6: 6). And they will “know the truth and the truth shall make you free…Whosoever commits sin is a slave to sin…” (John 8: 32-36). That’s the knowledge that the child of God is gaining. A natural child is mostly alive for what he can receive from his father. So it is with the spiritual. A child of God is interested in receiving from his Father—receiving peace, contentment, joy, and love. And this only comes when our old self is crucified with the Lamb of God.

A Christian, bearing 60 fold fruit, has matured to the point where he or she desires to not just receive the fruit of the Spirit, but rather channel to others of those fruits. It is the developing of interpersonal relationships. One bearing 60 fold fruit is mostly alive for what they can do for the Father.

The 100 fold Christian is like Paul and Peter and John. They have Christ’s Spirit of agape love being manifested to others. They are agape love, insomuch as Christ is manifested through their  vessels. They have the mind of Christ, and the will of their Father, foremost in their thinking. And the Father’s thoughts are rarified. Only a few will attain this position with Him. And they are those who are doing the will of the Father. They will be spiritually seated at His round table. They will know His purpose and His plan to accomplish it. They are His cadre who He will use to implement His government. Their thoughts are His thoughts, for their vision is His vision—a vision that subsumes and transcends national, international, worldwide, galactic and universal concerns. Christ is the exiled King, and “of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end” (Isa. 9: 6-7).

Those who grow spiritually into 100 fold fruit bearers will be in His inner circle. And don’t tell me that Christ does not have an inner circle. Think about the twelve disciples. And now there are  positions to be filled. They will be leaders and administrators and ambassadors of the King as He establishes righteousness and judgment throughout the earth after the tribulation subsides. You will know that you are on the right track to become one of these princes or princesses of God if you are thinking His thoughts—His kingdom thoughts.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Order my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It discusses these things and will be a help to you and your spiritual growth. It is free with free shipping. Just send to my email your mailing address and I will get it right out to you. Helping you is my offering to God.  wayneman5@hotmail.com ]

Belief–The Key to Growing into the Manifestation of the Sons of God

Life is all about love and belief. It is all about believing the love that God showed to us when He had His Son give up His life to ransom us from the darkness of sin.

The “Life” we speak of is not the selfish little mortal life we first knew here on earth. No, we speak now about the life that  is in the Son of God. We speak of life without end, eternal life, life everlasting. Eternal life is the only true life, for life is not really life if it can die.

In order to exchange our first natural, mortal life for the eternal life that God is and wants for us, He merely requires us to just believe Him and have faith in His word concerning all this.

Our belief in His death [the death of our old life], His burial [the burial of our old life], and His resurrection [our being “raised to walk in a newness of life“] is the key. God has ordained belief to be the spark of spiritual energy that surges into our hearts, igniting the fire of life, causing us to begin to grow spiritually.

Like sunshine in spring upon the moist earth energizes the seed to awaken to its potential, even so we now spring to life in the garden of the King. In believing Him, we become His plants, flourishing in watered terraces, bearing the fruits of love, compassion, and justice for all to enjoy. For we are those trees He speaks of, trees planted by the river of life. Oh, how we should thank Him! And the sincerest form of thanks is belief.

Belief of God Is Elemental

We humans are created beings. Our origin, therefore, comes not from our own volition, but from the mind of a Superior Being who wanted us to be, to have life. Consequently, our sole responsibility is to believe the One who says that He is the Word. We are to believe His words. Belief is elemental and seminal in this walk on earth.

Belief, rendered “faith” in many verses, is profound, yet simple. In fact, the profound things of God, the mysteries, riddles, parables, precepts, and the puzzling enigmas that have perplexed prophets and wise men, and beggars and kings–they remain profoundly simple.

Remember the simplicity of the innocence of a little child that Christ spoke about? Unencumbered by the adult mind, the child believes simply. But man’s wisdom blunts the human mind like the granite rock dulls the sword that dares to strike it. The rock and the sword are not for each other. They are out of place, out of time. Such is the mind of old man Adam when endeavoring to comprehend the things of God.

Such are the mysteries of the mind of God. But childlike belief opens them up to our understanding. It is like when a child of three years plucks the petals of his first daisy or smells his first red rose. He does not need the botanist to analyze their parts. He needs no chart or graph depicting how to cultivate them. As the flower’s fragrance enters the child’s nostrils, he understands, yea, believes in the beauty and simplicity of the rose. He inhales its grace and its love. Of such belief, is the kingdom of heaven.

In like manner, let us savor the truth about how the Spirit grows within us to the point of God reproducing Himself. But it will take a childlike belief of God’s word, free from all doubt.

The “Greater Works”

As Christians we have wondered how it would be to have the same power to do good as the apostles of the early church. Through the Spirit, they raised the dead and healed the sick and did many astounding miracles. Whole denominations today have as their main purpose a return to the power of those early days.

Did Christ ever speak about this kind of growth? Did He ever promise us that we could grow to this point in Him? to do what He and His disciples did?

Yes, He did. He said, “He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do…” (John 14: 12). There it is. “Belief” is right there. The person that believes on Him shall do not only the works of Christ, but “greater works” than what He did. It’s there in irrefutable black and white.

But wait. There’s a problem here. Hundreds of millions of believers of Christ are out there. Why aren’t we all raising the dead and healing the sick and doing these “greater works” that He promised? We believe that He not only existed as an historical figure, but that He also is the Son of God and that He arose from the dead. Why don’t we have the power of the early apostles?

To find out what the words “he that believes on Me” mean, we must back up to John 14: 1. Christ tells his disciples, You believe in God; believe in Me, also. In our Father’s house are many abodes, many dwelling places. I am going now to prepare a place for you to dwell. I’ll return and you will be with Me. You know where I am going. And you know the way (1-4).

Thomas then asks Him the famous question. We do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way to the Father (v. 5). Christ replies, “I am the way.” I am the way; I am the traveled road, that will get you to the Father. “I am the truth.” I won’t steer you wrong with bad directions on your road to the Father. I am full of grace and truth for all seekers of the divine. “I am the life.” Life dwells in Me. That is the truth. That is the way to the Father. In fact, “no man comes to the Father but by Me” (v. 6).

How to Believe on Christ

In John 14, Christ is, no less, telling us how to believe on Him so that we can do the “greater works”!

He is saying, You can’t get to the Father without Me. Besides, If you really knew Me, you would know My Father also. And from now on, after this teaching that I am giving you, you know the Father and you have seen Him (v. 7).

Christ is saying, Right now you are seeing the Father, who is an invisible Spirit, dwelling in the abode of His Son. Then Philip says to Him, If You will just show us the Father, we’ll be satisfied and contented (v. 8).

I am persuaded that Christ just shook his head and said, I have been with you for a long time and you don’t know Me? If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The Father dwells inside of Me, and He speaks the words through Me and does the works (vs. 9-10).

Christ in v. 11 is pleading with us, imploring us, commanding us: “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.” Christ is “in the Father” because He is doing His will perfectly. The Son is a vessel, then, that is in the Father, in the Spirit. And the Father, in turn, is also in the Son as that same one invisible Spirit. Christ is saying, The miracles that I have been performing, only the Father can do, so believe what I am saying to you about the Father being now present with you in Me.

The above is the prologue to Christ’s promise to us that we will do greater miracles than what He and His disciples did (John 14: 12). This is an astounding promise that is predicated on our understanding of the following: “He that believes on Me, the works I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall He do.”

“Believes on Me…” With the promise of growing up to become like–I am going to say it–like Christ, what do these three words mean? What kind of belief in Christ are we talking about here? We must believe that Christ is in the Father, and the Father is in Him. The invisible Spirit of Love, the Creator Himself, “dwelt bodily” in Christ. They are not sitting on two thrones; they are not a Twinity. Christ sits right now with the Father still inside of His vessel. The Father is invisible. The scriptures tell us this (Col. 1: 15; I Tim. 1: 17).

The question is this. Can we smell this rose as a little child? Can we simply believe, not my words, but Christ’s very own words: “The Father is in Me.” If we can believe on Christ this way, in child like faith, then our growth in Him is limitless.The great Yahweh, walking around in human form, left us with this commandment: Believe Me that I am in My Son. If we keep this commandment, nothing shall be impossible for us.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abiding in Christ = Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit = “Walking as Children of Light”

The apostle Paul says that we are light, and we are to “walk as children of light” (Eph 5:8).  Then, in the very next breath he says, “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness…”  This thus signifying that “light” is equal to bearing the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal 5:22-23).

We become the children of light when we have His Spirit abiding in us, bearing the fruit of the Spirit.  Light is what makes something known; therefore, God will be manifest in us when others see and experience His love, joy, and peace coming through us.  We are the light of God when we have the fruit of the Spirit because others will see God in us.

We bear this spiritual produce when we abide in the Savior Christ.  We are commanded by the Savior to “abide in me,” and let Me abide in you.  Let my Spirit live and flow through you.  Then you will bear much fruit (John 15: 4-5).   Much love from above, joy, and peace will flow down from Him by His Spirit within us and out to others.

How Does His Spirit Abide in Us?

Yes, we are told by the Savior to let the Spirit of God come and flow through us.  But how does this happen?  Is there something that we, His children, need to do to effect this?  How will His abiding presence come into us so that we can bear this fruit of His Spirit?

The Savior Jesus (Yahshua) makes a conditional promise to us concerning this.  “If a man love me, he will keep my words…” (John 14:23).  Good things will come to the man who loves the Son of God.  Loving Him will mean he will obey his words and what He tells us to do.  “If you love Me, keep my commandments”.  If we do this, then He will give us the Spirit!  And the Father “shall give your another Comforter; that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth…for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14: 15-17).   This is the Spirit of God coming down into us!

He just said, those that love Him will keep His commandments.  “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loves Me” (John 14:21).   The person that loves the Son of God understands just what He requires of him, just what He wants him to do.  This person that loves the Son of God will comprehend that doing this prerequisite must happen before we can receive the  in-dwelling Spirit of truth.

What exactly are these commandments that Christ wants us to keep?

Most initially think that these commandments are the ten commandments. But Christ talks about “new” commandments (John 13: 34). The first new thing that He commands us to do is, “Believe Me.”  That is a command, which is a commandment. Real simple.  Not complicated.  Even a child can comprehend this.  He is saying, Believe Me when I tell you about my relationship with the Father.  “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.”  That is a command.  Those of us who take this to heart and do it will receive His Spirit in a reality and bear much fruit of the Spirit.

He did not request mythic gargantuan tasks to prove that we love Him.  He merely gives us a simple command: “Believe me that I am in the Father and believe me that the Father is in Me” (John 14:11).  We are to believe that He was in the Father’s will, heart and mind, soul and body.  And we are to believe that the great Spirit Father, Yahweh Himself, was walking around doing the great miraculous works through Christ!

That’s it in a nutshell.  That is what the book says.  This is worshiping God in spirit and in truth.  This is the truth:  The Father dwelt bodily in the man Christ Jesus (Yahshua) of Nazareth.   “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2: 9)… “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father…I and my Father are one…God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself…”

There is so much riding on this.  If we get this one, then the gates of heaven will open, and we shall be the recipients of His very Being in our bodies!  He goes on, “He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works  shall he do!” (John 14: 12).  Because the Father will be abiding in us, too!  HalleluYah!  This is how we get the Father to come down and live in us: we must first believe that the Father was dwelling fully in the Son of God.

We get this right and great joy, great peace, and great love will come down through us and on out unto the world.  Believing that the Father walked around in the Son of God and did the works is the first step in us receiving the Father and having Him walk around in our bodies here on the the earth.  It will be He loving others through us.  He will be touching others with peace and joy.

Christ goes on and confirms it again: “If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (Jn 14:23).  This is how the Spirit will come down and abide in us.

“He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit…”  Much love, joy, peace and all the rest, coming down and through us to the love-starved world.  This is how we glorify the Father–that we bear much fruit of the Spirit (John 15: 8).   These fruit-bearers will be His disciples.

Once the belief has begun–belief that the Father is in Christ fully–then “whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  We now have confidence to ask for more of His presence, more of His Spirit, so that it can be channeled out to others who need to know that God is real.

In this way the light of God’s Spirit will shine so that all men can be drawn to God.  “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me.”  We are then to “let your light so shine that others may see your good works and glorify your Father (which is walking inside of you, doing the works).

Why is this so difficult for us to comprehend?  It is because of the old leaven, the old teachings about the Father and Christ taught by the false prophets and teachers throughout the centuries.  They have made it mysterious and difficult to understand God through subtilty, lest our “minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor 11: 3).

Here it is. The God of the Old Testament, the God Yahweh that the patriarchs and prophets served–that Great Invisible Spirit/Creator/Father came down here to earth and took up His abode in the person that English speakers call Jesus Christ. And though all powerful, Yahweh-in-human-form through humility showed us how to treat each other in love. And through His physical walk on earth, He was reconciling the world unto Himself, being a Savior to all. When we obey what He commanded us to do–“Believe Me that the Father is in Me”–then we will bear the same fruit of the Spirit that He did. God will be glorified, for He will have been multiplied in and through us!

This revelation is huge. Reread it. Restudy it. Don’t delete it if it does not quicken  right away. It is precious and is the key for more of His Spirit coming down and through us, thus enabling us to grow into the manifested sons and daughters of the King.       Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Christ Is the Seed of Love–Greater Love Has No Man Than This

Christ is the Seed. He is the Seed of Love that is planted in our hearts. This happens when we believe that He laid down His earthly life for us.

“Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends,” Christ said. That is the very definition of love in its fullest magnitude. So when we believe this about what Christ did for us all, then  that same seed of love is generated in our hearts.

This regeneration of love in our hearts truly begins when we believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. When we believe that He was resurrected, then we, too, can be “raised to walk in a newness of life.” This is the seed of love being germinated in our hearts. And this new life that springs out of our new heart and spirit reflects His love for others in our life. For these other human beings are the very ones He laid down His life for.

Loving others with the generation of Love from within us by His Spirit is the “work of God.” Many have proclaimed their desire to do God’s work in the earth. Well, this is it: “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent” (John 6: 29). Christ’s own words. For in believing in the resurrection of Christ and all that it entails, it puts God’s very Spirit of renewal and germination and growth into our hearts. And “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5: 5).

That same Spirit of Love, courses through us now by believing in Christ’s resurrection, which comes out of His  great love for us in giving His life.

Faith/belief of all this germinates the Seed/Truth in us and starts the growing spiritual life cycle of love in us. This love channels through us to others. But it is all generated by believing in His resurrection from the dead. When we believe this, then a rebirth of the seed of love springs out of our hearts just like seeds in our garden burst through the sun warmed soil in the spring. And so Life begins again as we remember His words: I am the way, the truth, and the life.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Peace and the Mind of God

Peace is the one commodity that is in short supply in this world.  For some, peace means no more war.  For others it means no more stress.

But one thing is certain; the whole world is crying out for peace.  The destroyer is ravaging the land.  Mothers are crying in Allepo because their government has just bombed their apartment building.   Lives in the third world are collapsing around the globe through war and economic woes, flattening any chance for peace.

Even in Western Europe and North America, peace eludes the people, who, awash in material possessions, do not realize the age old adage that wealth alone can’t bring happiness, that “money can’t buy me love,” that true peace only comes as a spiritual by-product, from a life directed by one’s Creator.

Peace.  What does the Creator say about it?  Peace is a component of the “fruit of the Spirit.”  When the Spirit of God resides in us, we will have peace.

But this peace still remains elusive.  What does the Word say about what exactly brings peace—complete and utter peace?  “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isa. 26: 3).  First, God keeps the peace there in us.  It is His doing.  Second, He does this as our minds steadfastly think on Him.

Some will say that this is impossible.  How can we think about God all the time?  But let’s think about this for a minute.  Even though our minds are occupied by a host of thoughts in any given day, the Savior tells us to not think on the earthly things that the masses are pre-occupied with—what to eat, wear, and all the other things like pleasure, jobs, etc.  Our earthly life should not be the center of our thinking.  It won’t bring peace.

So, what thoughts are we to think and to train our minds to think on?  “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [earthly things like food, clothing, entertainment] will be added unto you” (Matt. 6: 33).

Christ just taught in verse 31-32 to “take no thought” about the earthly things.  This tells us that “thinking” turns into “seeking.”  So how do we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness”?  We think about them.  We meditate on his rule and government that will soon fill this whole earth, and we contemplate on the state of being right with Him.

This is how we seek His kingdom—by thinking about it as much as we can every day.

But there is a caveat in all this.  Our thoughts must be based on sound knowledge.  If we are meditating on concepts that are in error, do we believe this is acceptable with God?  Our thoughts about God must be rid of false teachings, doctrine, and concepts about Him and His plan.  He commands us in many places to “purge out the old leaven,” and He many times warns us to not follow false teachers and false prophets (II Peter 2: 1-22; Jude 4-8).

But this is the hard part of the Christian walk—this ridding ourselves of false doctrines and concepts.  Difficult, but extremely necessary, if we are to be assured in our hearts and have confidence with God.

How do we know what is false and what is true?  Yesterday’s light won’t illuminate the path of the elect in these latter days, so you can’t depend on the light that your parents and grand-parents had, or the light your preacher has, who got it from teachers and preachers who haven’t received anything new in 50 years.  Depending on them won’t cut it.

How do we get rid of the false doctrines about Him and His plan?  By sincerely praying and asking God to reveal it to us, with a humble and repentant heart.  And He will do it.  He’ll show us.  But we need to break up the fallow ground of our heart knowing full well that when He answers, it will not be what we expected.  The elect will find the truth of His plan, if they are willing to lay it all, all prior knowledge under the knife of the husbandman.  For “every branch in Me that bears not fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, the Father purges it that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15: 2).  What is it that the Father will purge or prune out of our minds?  He will “purge out the old leaven” of malice, wickedness, hypocrisy, insincerity, and falsehoods (I Cor. 5: 8; Luke 12: 1; Mark 8: 15).

A spiritually young and immature Christian has got a lot of old leaven in there that must be purged by the Father.  He will do it, too, but we must submit to this procedure.  That is the difficult part.

But afterwards, “it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12: 11).  Peace that the Master gives.  Peace for us in our spirits, peace as one of the fruits of the Spirit.  Peace that comes upon thinking on His wonderful plan and purpose according to truth, after the old leaven is gone.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

More on Adding Temperance to Knowledge

In previous posts we have seen that in order to secure “an entrance…into the everlasting kingdom of our…Savior,” we must add certain spiritual attributes to the faith that God has endowed us with [1].  In so doing, we “give diligence” in making “our calling and election sure” [2].

We are told by the apostle Peter to add “temperance” to the knowledge of God and His plan for our perfection.

Since our very spiritual growth in Christ is in the balance here, a bit deeper examination of this word “temperance” is fruitful.  It is translated from the Greek word egkrateia (#G1466).  Thayer’s Lexicon states that it is “the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites.”

It is derived from a Greek adjective egkrates (#G1468), meaning “strong, robust; having power over; mastering, controling, curbing, restraining.”  So “temperance” is from Greek words meaning “to have control over.”

So How Does the Holy Spirit Help Us Get Control Over Bodily Appetites?

Knowing the truth will make us free, Christ said–of whatever ails us [3].  “Ye shall know the truth…”  Know.  There’s that “knowledge” spoken by Peter again, as in “add to you faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge…”  What knowledge?  The knowledge of truth, which is the mind of Christ, simply put.  Yes, the mind of Christ–His thoughts, plans, and purposes.  He did say, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” [4].  So, first knowing Christ’s thoughts, plans, purposes and His word, and then doing them–this will make us free of and give us control over sensual appetites.

There is another “knowing,” and this one is huge.  “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin” (Romans 6: 6).  Our old sinful self, in God’s eyes, was crucified with Christ on the cross.  And our old sin-soaked heart, which was enslaved to sin, is now free from all fleshly pulls.  This knowledge, straight out of the plan and purpose and mind of our Savior, is the truth that makes us free from unrighteous haunts.  Period.

Now.  The ball is in our court.  We are forced by Him to either believe this truth, which is His word and plan written down in plain English, and thereby be freed from the slavery of sin and sinning, or we continue on in unbelief.  That is the choice.  Chosing to believe this truth opens up the way to add these spiritual qualities like temperance, that He has admonished us to add to our faith, thus enabling us to “go on unto perfection.”

Temperance, then, is an integral part of the character of one who is an elder of the body of Christ, one who is mature [5].  This is a description of a temperate man, one who has his earthly body under control, leading him to be able to “hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught.”  After adding temperance, the man of God will have the power to not soon be shaken through any temptations of the devil.  He will be able to walk in the power of the word of God.

The elect of God will begin to realize that gaining control over the earthly body is a necessary pre-requisite in fully becoming the manifested sons and daughters of God.  And because temperance is one of the fruits of the Spirit, the stronger the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the more temperance we will exhibit (Gal. 5: 22-23).  More Spirit in us, more self-control.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts.”  This last sentence is the very next verse, v. 24.  Isn’t it astounding that the word goes right back to being crucified with Christ?  In another translation we read, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires” (NIV).

Here it is in plain black and white:  There is a direct correlation of having the “fruit of the Spirit” operating in our lives and being crucified with Christ.  In fact, the crucifixion with Christ of our old nature is the very key in receiving His Spirit, which in turn yields the fruit of the Spirit in our lives–one of which is temperance or self-control.  It is much easier to control one’s self after knowing and then believing that it is dead.

Earlier in his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (2: 20).  And there it is.  Our bodies live on now, but it is not our old selves anymore living in them.  But rather it is Christ’s Spirit that lives now in us.  And this life that we live is because of His faith in His own plan, now believed on by us, that by believing that He is raised from the dead, we too are now risen “to walk in a newness of life.”

It is this Rock that we are building up each other as the temple of God in the earth.  This is the solid Rock foundation that we must build upon.  Because the weather coming soon to this earth is going to shake and crumble all houses not built on the right understanding of His word, plan, purpose, and thoughts.  If it is built on a faulty foundation, then the house will come crashing down.  Tribulation is coming upon the earth, and it will touch us all.  Only He is our safety net–not some imagination of a rapture that someone dreamed up in the 19th century.

The Great Tribulation is coming.  We must prepare by first “knowing the truth.”  For Satan is going to deceive many in these latter days.  “Let no man deceive you,” Christ warned.  For the “falling away” or apostacy is already in full odious bloom.  The churches have been duped and lied to by false teachers and false prophets.  Many pastors are ignorant of this deception and yet, they continue to pollute the flock and inoculate them with poisonous doctrines and concepts.  But “the wise will understand” (Dan 12; 10).

[1]  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/the-additions-to-your-faith-prerequisites-of-receiving-immortality/

https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/add-to-your-faith-virtue-gods-strength-and-power-2-peter-1-5/

[2]  II Peter 1: 10

[3]  John 8: 32

[4]  John 14: 6

[5]  Titus 1: 7-9