Repentance and the Spiritual Growth Cycle

The early apostles continued steadfastly in the doctrines that their Savior had laid out for them in the three and one half years that He taught them. We will do the same thing if we sincerely desire to walk in that same power that they did. The first teaching was “repentance from dead works” (Heb. 5: 12-14; 6: 1-2).

Our whole walk in God is all about the first of His doctrines, and then by extension all of them. All things have become new because we have turned from our old ways for self, and we have by God’s grace and mercy turned on to the path of Light.

Our new life in Christ is a life of growth. Our old physical life was one of growth to adulthood. Then sadly it is marred by decay and eventual death of the earthly body. The good news is that Christ has overcome death and has brought immortality to light. “Repentance from dead works” is a process in our spiritual life cycle that gets rid of the old thinking that brought forth death; it then takes on His thoughts that brings life.

Our new walk is a continuing development, much like a garden seed that goes through its growth cycle. We, too, are growing. Upon germination, we spring forth as a seedling through simply believing His word on all of this. Christ said that the kingdom growth cycle is like a man sowing seed in a field and the seed came up—first the little blade spearing its way to the sunlight, then it heads out, and then the grain fills out in the head and matures and dries, and then you have seed to be made into bread or replanted for a future harvest. “The seed is the word of God (Luke 8: 11).

Our life in Christ grows into new and stronger stages. Repentance must be accomplished at each level, in order to grow into the next stage. In other words, we must repent from being a seedling in order to eventually grow into a full grown plant with the strength to hold the fruit that the Spirit of Truth is bringing. For a seedling cannot bear–physically nor spiritually–the fruit that’s borne by a mature plant. It is just not strong enough. Besides, He said that He would not put on us more than we could bear.

Consequently, we as the seedling/children of God must repent of whatever is hindering us from growing into a mature Christian. “That we be no more children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine…” We must rather “purge out the old leaven” concepts that we brought into Christ. Errors about Him in our thinking taint the bread of life. Yes, Christ in us is the bread of life that spiritually raises those that are dead in their sins. We have the awesome responsibility to get it right. When we do this, the same spiritual fruit–the same love, joy, and peace that Christ Himself bore—will come, along with its power to touch lives around us.

A Continuing Process

This is not a “one and done” process. As in all of the apostles’ doctrines, many layers are to be unfolded. We enter into Christ by repenting of our sins through the cross experience in our own hearts. We die with Christ by believing that our old sinful nature dies with Him on the cross. And “he that is dead is freed from sin” (Rom. 6: 5-7). In God’s eyes our old life is already dead and gone, for He calls things that are not as though they already were (Rom. 4: 17). That’s an example of “the faith of the Son of God.” When we think like He does about the sin question, then we are free from sin and sinning. We then are ready to walk on by repenting of faults in our life. Sin is defined as “the transgression of the law,” the Ten Commandments (I John 3: 4). We cannot keep them on our own strength. Consequently, we rely on Christ’s Spirit that we receive by faith in His resurrection to keep the law. He is Love, and “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13: 10).

This is a continuing process. However, we are not talking about fighting the dragon of sin in our personal lives every day. There is nothing more pathetic than to see a long-faced pastor stand up and tell his congregation, “I am a sinner saved by grace and I always will be a sinner.” That’s his testimony. Are you serious? I am glad he is speaking for himself. We have all sinned—yes, in the past. But all are not sinning in the present. Has he never read what the Spirit wrote through the apostle John? “And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him sins not: whoever sins hath not seen him, nor known him” (I John 3: 5-6). Wow! That is not harsh; that’s love speaking. Tough love. And it is time we wake up and smell the righteousness that comes by believing His word.

For we have died on the cross with Christ, and our sin nature died with Him. Therefore, sin has no more dominion over us (Rom. 6: 12-14). Settle it. Believe it. Once and for all. Furthermore, once sin has been repented of by believing in Christ’s resurrection in us, we are free to work on our faults. Our faults consist of erroneous thoughts about God and the bad habits they encourage.

I’ll close this my letter to you here. There is much to absorb. May Yahweh bless you with spiritual understanding. If you are comprehending what the Spirit is saying to us all here, then blessed are your eyes for they see. We simply must do what is necessary to grow into “the fullness of God in Christ.” That is the vision that He has for us—to become exactly like Christ. There—I have said it again. Next time we shall explore how to get rid of our faults. Once this happens, the sky is the limit!           Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Be sure to order your free copy of my latest book, The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It explores our rich destiny as the princes and princesses of God. It is free with free shipping. Just send me your mailing address to my email:  wayneman5@hotmail.com   I will get it right out to you. You need this book if you are serious about growing up to be like Peter, John, James, and Paul and the rest of the apostles.]

What Christ Taught–The Kingdom of God

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We have learned that the anointing is “truth and is no lie.” And we know that Christ, the Anointed One, is the truth, for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Christ expressed this with words; He is, after all, “the Word made flesh.” And this fact makes these words come alive: “Thy word is truth.” Consequently, to be anointed by God is to have God’s word of truth in one’s heart and pouring through one’s mouth. If preachers are operating in falsehoods, fabrications, and imaginations about God, then they are not anointed by Yahweh. Period. And they are legion. For the anointing is no lie (I Jn. 2: 27; John 14: 6; John 1: 1, 14; Dan. 9: 25-26 NIV).

Christ Is the Truth and the Word

So what did our Master, the greatest Teacher, teach? What words came out of His mouth when He was speaking? He is the Anointed King, so what truths came forth from Him? They were the Father Yahweh’s words. “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwells in me, He does the works” (John 14: 10).

And what exactly did Yahweh’s words coming out of Christ’s mouth say? In other words, what exactly did Christ teach? And by extension, what should we all be teaching?

• “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” It is right here, right now on this earth (Mt. 4: 17). When He began to preach and teach, these were His first words.
• “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” The very first thing in our search should be His kingdom and righteousness (Mt. 6: 33).
• Christ came “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.” The good news is the kingdom.
• Christ sent out His twelve disciples to preach, and He had them say, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom message was multiplied through His disciples (Mt. 10: 7).
• All of the parables that He spoke convey and conceal at the same time secrets and mysteries of His kingdom—what it is like, where it is, when it is to come, etc. Some of the parables are in Matthew 13: 3-52.
• “…Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…” The Lord’s Prayer is the model prayer that our prayers should emulate. Having His kingdom come to earth is the first thing that we should ask for. His kingdom is the fulfillment of His purpose and plan and will be accomplished in the earth (Luke 11: 2).
• Christ spoke constantly about the kingdom of God during His 3 ½ year ministry.
• The kingdom was so important to Him that He was still teaching it after His death, burial, and resurrection! For forty days He was seen of His apostles. During that time, He was “speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Acts 1: 1-3).
• After the resurrection, the very first question that the disciples asked was this: “Will you at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” They wanted His government to come for their time, in which the fleshly children of the Hebrew patriarchs would receive power to rule the nations. They must have been talking about this, for it to be the first thought and question out of their mouths. This question points to not only a religious government, but also a political one. They said, “to Israel.” And Christ had said, “I am sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.” Meat to chew on (Acts 1: 6; Mt. 15: 24).
• We could go on and on with quotes about Christ’s government coming to this earth. The word “kingdom” appears over 120 times in the four gospels alone. Christ spoke the Father’s words out of His mouth, leaving us an example. Yet, the vast majority of preachers today do not teach His kingdom. The word “kingdom” seldom escapes their lips. But they insist that they have the anointing, the truth, the word of God. They mention Christ, but they do not teach the same words that He taught. Therefore, the Father is not speaking through them, for they speak not His words. So one must ask, Has God anointed them? Short answer: No.

After they had received the Spirit of Truth, the disciples later realized that the kingdom of God is where the Spirit of God is residing. The kingdom is wherever the Truth is. Wherever the King is, the government of God is there. The kingdom of God was foremost in Christ’s mind. It was all about the kingdom. And we are to have the mind of Christ.

Having the Mind of Christ

In order to have the mind of Christ, we must reprogram our thinking. It does not happen overnight. It takes time and study and prayer.

There is a process. God’s little children, upon receiving a new heart, receive “an earnest of His Spirit,” which is a down payment portion of His Spirit. This allows them to see and enter the kingdom of God (John 3: 3-5). This will take them through the thirty fold realm of spiritual growth. This is a beginning part of the kingdom of God. Or better put, the Spirit begins to guide God’s little children.

And as they begin to grow, they are given trials to overcome, which purifies their walk. Then God begins to execute His plan within them. His Spirit grows in them to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself, which is multiplying love. We are told, “Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” It is all part of His plan and is part of the sufferings of Christ (I Pet. 4: 12-13). It can be difficult. To grow, there must be painful purging out of old leaven at times. Those who overcome all things will be the citizens of the kingdom of God upon the King’s return.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

More Meat of the Word–Looking for a City

Every truth elucidated in the word of God can stand alone for a while like a brilliant gemstone freed from its leather pouch. When the truth about “faith,” for instance, rolls out upon the table, we begin to see the sun’s rays refracting magical facets of understanding to our eyes. We pick up the jewel to examine it more closely, holding it to the light.

And although spectacular to our star struck hearts, the truth about “faith” beckons us to reflect a little deeper until we see that each of His jewels of knowledge must in the end be collected, analyzed, sorted out, and believed on. And finally, the Master Jeweler, the Spirit of God, then begins to assemble the gems of truth into the proper order for presentation. He sets them into a golden mount, and they become His masterpiece of beauty that dazzles every eye that sees it.

Where am I going with this extended metaphor? When all of God’s truths have been assembled, when all things are finished, then we will see Him as He is “in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great King” (Psm. 48: 1-2). Man says that all roads lead to Rome. God says that all roads lead to New Jerusalem, the capital city of the King.

The Greatest Fault

Natural man’s greatest fault is the delusion that the Kingdom of God and New Jerusalem are  “sweet bye and bye” hopes—that “going to heaven” is our reward for attending church and keeping our noses clean—that New Jerusalem is but a wonderful myth, a dream destination, an image out of a mystic’s mind.

But we can read about it. It has “the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious…clear as crystal.” It has twelve foundations made of precious stones (Rev. 21: 10-27). Someone says, But that’s just a bunch of symbolism in Revelation.

Yet Abraham “looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11: 10). He looked by faith. God appeared to Him several times and told him about New Jerusalem. And Abraham believed God, having never seen the city. “And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God (James 2: 23). God’s friend looked for God’s city. If we want to be God’s friend, we better start looking for the heavenly city. We better study it out thoroughly. We better start walking this faith walk like New Jerusalem really exists.

Faith Is the Only Path to the Invisible God

Abraham looked for the heavenly city because he believed God. He had “faith toward God,” which happens to be the second of the apostles’ doctrines. Faith is being assured of something’s existence before seeing the evidence that it indeed exists. Believing before seeing (Heb. 11: 1).

But this world lies in deception. It is designed to lure every human who is striving and seeking God to rely only on their five senses for their reality. God transcends our five senses, which are like five blind guides falling with their patrons into a ditch. Furthermore, citizens of the five-senses-world rush to rescue us every time we get a little closer to God by exclaiming, “Come to your senses!” How deceived some are, for they do not understand that God is not in the ceremonies that you see, nor canned chants you hear, nor burning incense you can smell, nor wafers you can taste, nor hymnals and trays you can touch. He can only be grasped by faith.

So like our father Abraham, we are to look for this New Jerusalem. It is what we are to seek after, just like the father of our faith and the other prophets did. This grand and glorious city, located on the real estate of the old Jerusalem, will be our home and will be the governmental offices and throne of our King Yahshua.

This is what the story of the Hebrews is all about. And this Kingdom will bring to the earth the peace and love that we all have desired for thousands of years. It is a peace that only the Prince of Peace can bring. Un-regenerated man cannot bring peace to this earth. He has had 6,000+ years to get it done, but he has only left misery in his wake. Christ will get it done; that is the gospel, the good news—Christ the King bringing in His kingdom that will correct the wrongs and bring judgement upon the evil doers, thus paving the way for peace and prosperity.

This is what we are working for. This is the only thing worth working for. For “all is vanity and vexation of spirit.” All else is fruitless and futile in the end. Nothing else will stand. All things besides His Kingdom will crumble and dissolve into the sands of time.

The sad part is that the masses will not cry unto God for His return to earth until they have lost everything. Historically in the Old Testament, the Israelites waited until they were conquered and made destitute by a foreign power before they cried to Yahweh. Then He would send them a man of God to be their champion. We in the West are living on borrowed time, for all of our governments have borrowed trillions of dollars and are in debt to international bankers. It is only a matter of time before we go belly up. Then we will cry unto God for deliverance. Hate to say it, but history is a strict teacher of the truth. We all will reap what we have sown. The sands of time are running out.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

What Do We Do Now to Grow Spiritually? Part Two–Additions to the Faith and the Armor of God

We cannot do things to achieve salvation from God, but we must do certain things in order to grow His Spirit within us after we receive a new heart, after we are “born from above.”

Because our Creator has a purpose of reproducing Himself (Love) in us, He, of course, has a definite plan to fulfill His purpose. He has thought it all through and lined it all out in His written word. And in His scriptures of truth is contained the thoughts of the Son of God, the “Word made flesh.” And these thoughts contain admonishments, and when done by us Christians, we will grow up to be like Him, which fulfills His purpose.

In Part One we explored the apostles’ doctrine as the first thing we need to be learning and doing. We also saw that we are to “purge out the old leaven,” which are the false concepts and teachings about God that we learned coming up.

The Additions to the True Faith

The apostle Peter admonishes us to add to our faith certain spiritual qualities of the King. In order that we may “partake of the divine nature,” we are to add virtue to our faith, and “to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness charity (agape love).” He goes on to say that we will be blind without them. But with them we will “make [our] calling and election sure, and that will ensure our entrance “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 1: 3-11).

These additions are not little romper room words to be pasted on a bulletin board. Rather they are facets of a jewel of great price, and that jewel is His very character. These additions are aspects of God’s divine nature. A shallow perusal will not do. They must be studied and prayed over and sought with a whole heart in reverential awe.

Peter sums it up by saying, You better take heed to what I am saying to you. I have a “more sure word of prophecy.” I know what  I am talking about because I was there with our Savior on the Mount of Transfiguration, and I beheld His glory. I am speaking to you now as “a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts” (1: 16-19).

God has miraculously preserved Peter’s words to us for all these 2,000 years. The Spirit still speaks through him to us. We need to study this out thoroughly, or we are going to miss something very big in God’s plan.

[For more on the additions to the faith go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/additions-to-our-faith/ ]

The Whole Armor of God

The fourth thing we are admonished to do is put on the armor of God (Eph. 6: 11-18). Since “God is a Spirit,” Paul is talking about spiritual things. He uses earthly military metaphors that a combat soldier of his time might wear to elucidate the spiritual. For we are in a spiritual war “against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” It is spiritual wickedness that we battle, not literal things.

The battlefield is in our minds. So it is the replacing of erroneous thoughts with thoughts about godly truth that will shield our minds from succumbing to the adversary, the devil. We are told to “arm yourselves with the same mind” as Christ (I Pet. 4: 1).

So the whole armor of God is thinking the thoughts that Christ and His apostles thought. Peter also tells us to “girt up the loins of your mind” (I Pet. 1: 13). The first piece of armor is to have “your loins girt abut with truth.” Think on the truth; get rid of the false concepts that we know to be in error.

Then we are to put on the “breastplate of righteousness.” We need to study out the word “righteousness” to take to heart its real scriptural meaning. It has to do with the purging of sin out of our lives.

The we are to have our “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” The gospel of the good news of God’s kingdom coming to this earth along with the King’s return (Mark 1: 14-15). We should study it out and think God’s thoughts about it. We should be prepared to share these thoughts about the “gospel of the kingdom of God.” For His kingdom is the good news.

We are to take the “shield of faith.” Knowing and believing in His faith, which has been “once delivered to the saints,” will protects us from attacks of the wicked one. And then we must take the “helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
God.”

All these are portions of the armor of God. But it would not be the whole armor without “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

Prayer is the last but not the least of the armor. For it is the most difficult to exercise, it would seem. For we all must be taught to pray, as the disciples asked the Savior to teach them to pray.

It was then that He gave them a prayer to model their prayers after. It is called The Lord’s Prayer. And it has been used and abused so often that the deep meaning has been lost. We are not to mouth vain repetitions of this very prayer, but rather pray according to its precepts. It is not a poll parrot incantation to mindlessly repeat; it is a blue print of how to literally touch God in heaven.

But the old leaven about this prayer is so thick that few can get through it to the truth the Savior was trying to teach us.

[For more on what the Lord’s Prayer means go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/the-lords-prayer-is-not-an-incantation-chant-or-ritual/                                        https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/06/12/the-lords-prayer-blueprint-for-building-gods-temple-us/ ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being Alone on Your Christian Walk–“Look to the Rock”

Don’t think it strange that you feel like you are on a lonely road in your walk with God. So walked the prophets and apostles of old. Actually, those on the right path will feel this way, for “few there be to find this way of truth.”

In this pilgrimage we may take solace, for there trod those men and women of God who serve as our examples. On the one hand, many miracles were wrought through their faith: they “subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire.” But then many of them were mocked, scourged, tortured, imprisoned, stoned, and many “wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11: 33-38).

They were “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” desiring “a better country,” which is a heavenly country. They were looking for the heavenly city (11: 13-16).

They are our heroes; they are our examples as to what this walk on earth is all about. So, yes, we will feel very lonely in the midst of a crowd. But we will endure as “good soldiers.”

Many People, Little Fellowship

I was thinking about how there are so few to fellowship with. Don’t get me wrong; there are many everywhere to love. But to fellowship–to get into the depth of the living waters, to dive in and swim together into the deep things of God. To not be limited to just us floating on top of a chlorined pool with our little plastic flotation devices that preachers have passed down to their people through the centuries. The prophets and apostles of old did not kick back and just float during their sojourn. They dug deep, and the kicker is this: they did it all for us their children (Heb. 11: 39-40).

I crave others to rejoice with me concerning His glorious righteous government soon to come to this troubled earth, and concerning the great deliverance from sin that He has wrought in our lives. My God, thank you. My life now in You is completely different because of Your cleansing power.

Yet, I know that even now, though we “walk that lonesome valley,” the day will come when the few will come together and become His cadre of rulers with Him on His throne, as He promised to those who overcome the present Laodicea church age (Rev. 3: 14-21). Until that time we wait; we endure, as they did of old. Many were shepherds, on a hilltop pasture at night with their flocks, looking up at the wash of stars pulsating across the heavens, and wondering, Oh, God, why me? Me? Me sit with You on Your throne some day?

And God says, Yes, I have chosen you as one of the few to find this way of truth (Matt. 7: 14). Yes, few will find the way because it is a narrow path where all who will hike it must count the cost to see if they have what it takes to make it.

And so we ask, Which way? The way to manifested sonship. The way to become just like Peter, James, John, and Paul. The way to become like God-in-human-form–Jesus/Yahshua. We must remember that “with God all things are possible” (Mark 10: 27).

Waiting on the Burning Bush

Take Moses. Banished from Egypt at forty, he endured with patience much suffering, waiting on God and the power He would give to execute His will. The way entails these sufferings, for they purify our faith as gold tried in the fire. Moses endured the sufferings of Christ for another forty years. He felt alone in the calling he was given and he waited. And then it happened at eighty years of age–the burning bush experience.

Moses waited forty years before God commissioned him to be the deliverer of His people. He learned that until God empowers us to run, we run in vain; we build churches in vain; we huff and puff and burn ourselves out “for God” in vain. For unless He builds the house, it is built in vain. For as He says to us, It is “not by might [your might], not by power [your power], but by My Spirit” (Zec 4: 6).

Carved out of the Same Granite

By the same faith as our spiritual ancestors, we as His children are of the same spiritual stuff that our God is–Spirit. And we are to look to the Rock from which we are hewn (Isa. 51: 1-2) believing this. We are to look to Abraham and all the others, that “great cloud of witnesses” that have gone on before us.

We are hewn from that same rock. Is not that chip of granite at the foot of the boulder, freed by the block by the stonemasons–isn’t that chip of the same substance, the very same molecules as the boulder?

We, then, are a piece of His body as much as Abraham and all the rest in Hebrews 11. We are His body with a spirit within us given directly from Yahweh’s heart. We are a piece of eternity, though at present wrapped in fragile flesh. But one day, we will receive our marching orders as Moses did and we will stride forth throughout the ravaged earth, declaring His righteous kingdom to all who will believe.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Thy Kingdom Come”–His Kingdom Is the Gospel

Sometimes we just do not know what we should pray to the Father about. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought,” but the Spirit is there to help us (Rom 8: 26). And He helps us to know through the ideas presented in the “Lord’s Prayer.” Christ’s example prayer presents the thoughts of the Almighty Father. We are to understand its precepts and communicate with God accordingly. We are not to use the “Lord’s Prayer” as an exercise in rote regurgitation–no matter how sincerely it is repeated.

“Thy kingdom come” is the next precept Christ is teaching us from His example prayer. What is the Father’s kingdom? Is it just when we on a personal level are “born again”? Is that the extent of the Father’s governance in the earth? Personal salvation is wonderful and is truly the seed beginning of His kingdom in this earth. But that seed grows.

In fact, “the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed…which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof” (Matt 13: 31-32).

The parables reveal the secrets and mysteries of the Father’s kingdom (Matt 13: 11). And the big secret revealed in the mustard seed parable is that the Father’s kingdom grows into a gigantic spiritual and political entity that is so powerful that the other nations (birds of the air) seek shelter in its branches.

This is the same government originating from heaven that Daniel saw in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. The king had a terrifying dream that showed the fall of all the satanic governments of the world, caused by the coming and full fruition of God’s government, the kingdom of heaven. Daniel told him that “there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets and makes known…what shall be in the latter days” (Dan 2: 28).

The latter days. That’s our time. The world Gentile empires are coming down, brought about by the coming of “the kingdom of heaven” to this earth. We know the dream with the great image of gold, silver, brass, and iron, signifying the four world empires in history. And there came the stone kingdom from heaven that smashed into the feet of the image, and it came crashing down. “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan 2: 44). The Father’s kingdom is not just an invisible feel-good-in-the-Spirit kingdom, but it is literal and political, as well as spiritual. It is a government ruled by a benevolent Monarch. It is coming to earth in the latter days–in our time.

So, “thy kingdom come.” The Father in Christ is coming back to this earth to govern, insuring peace throughout the far flung corners of the globe for a thousand years. And He “shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” This is the good news. This government, this kingdom brought here by our Father through His Son–this true gospel is the good news of our Father’s government literally coming to fill the whole earth with His righteous ways.

Christ in this section of the “Lord’s Prayer” teaches us the importance of the Father’s kingdom.  A kingdom is a literal form of government headed by a monarch.  He is the King.  Thy kingdom come…in earth as it is in heaven.  His kingdom already rules in heaven; shortly it will rule completely on earth.

This is the good news proclaimed in the four gospels in the so-called “New Testament” of the Bible.  Many scriptures back this up.  “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).  Believe what gospel?  The “gospel of the kingdom of God.”  He is saying, God’s government is here.  Because it is at hand, you need to repent from your old selfish life, and believe this good news of God ruling on earth.

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14).  It is this gospel, this true gospel of the kingdom of God that must be proclaimed throughout the whole world before the end of the age will come.  The gospel preached by the vast majority of pastors is “another gospel” about Christ. It is a shallow shadow of the good news. It focuses on “getting saved” and does not mention a peep about the grandeur of His world wide rule. Salvation is precious, but it is just the first step. It is the germination of that mustard seed, but there is so much more after that.

Thy kingdom come. We, then, should pray with this glorious vision that Christ has, when He taught His disciples to pray.  His kingdom is a vision of an earth free from corruption and cruelty–free from addiction and selfishness–free from hunger and desperation–free from greedy leaders who cast the poor in chains of lies and deceit–free from husbands and wives betraying those who love them the most–free from broken-hearted children thrown out like trash by selfish parents–free from the evil that pillages every soul on earth–

This is the gospel of the Kingdom of God.  This is the good news that will fill the earth when Christ comes back and sits down on the throne of our invisible Father.  And His sons and daughters will sit alongside Him in His kingdom right here on earth.  And He will dispatch us His princes and princesses out into the ravished earth to rebuild and restore what the evil ones wasted.

“Thy kingdom come” evokes much about the glorious vision God has for His earth.  We need to pray toward this end.  He told us to not ask for things for ourselves, but rather, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”       Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

Lord’s Prayer–“Which Art in Heaven”–He Is from Above, Not Beneath

Our Father is the God of heaven. That is a profound thought that is easily passed over. In other words, the true God is not born of the imagination of earthly man.  This is what we are to take away from the words in the Lord’s prayer, “Which art in heaven.”  There are “gods many, but for us there is only one God.”  These “gods many” are conjured up by natural unregenerated man–“cunningly devised fables,” false conceptions of Christ.

And the masses are deceived.  “Satan deceives the whole world.”  How can he do that?  “For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” (II Cor. 11:14-15). But every “Christian minister” will tell you that they are a teacher of the truth. Just ask them. But they all cannot be right because they disagree so wildly in their doctrines. So we must ask ourselves: Who then are Satan’s ministers who speak about Christ and yet deceive the whole world with their teachings? Since there is no idle word in God, somebody is fulfilling this word right now!

Wait a minute.  Paul has just said that Satan will come as a messenger of truth and light by having priests, pastors, and preachers bringing forth sermons about Christ and His righteousness!  Satan’s ministers will be preaching about Christ in the last days.  But it will not be the true “gospel of the kingdom of heaven.”  It will be “another gospel” other than the one that the apostle Paul preached.  It will not be from heaven, but it will be from beneath.

It will be a gospel concocted by the vain imaginations of natural thinking men.  It will be based on “what God can do for you,” and not “what God can do through your vessel.”  They will claim to be His servants, but at the end, He will say, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity.  I never knew you.”  You wanted prosperity instead of Me. You wanted your spin on the end time and not My timetable.  You wanted a rapturously easy way out of the hard times ahead and not “to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ.”

This false gospel from beneath will emanate from an “earthly, sensual, and devilish” wisdom and not from heaven above.  This false gospel will spout “in Jesus’ name” but their hearts will be far from the God of Heaven and far from His heart.

This false gospel comes in many colors and flavors.  Most people shop around until they find a church with their kind of “Jesus” in it.  Most depend on the pastor to do their studying for them.  Few dig deep and “prove all things” with the Spirit’s help. This false gospel of Jesus is not from our Father, which is in heaven.  It is not from above, but from beneath. {Note: Church is a way station only on our pilgrimage to the Holy City.  We must eventually leave the way station, grow out of it, etc.}

Our Father and His plan of reproducing Himself in His sons and daughters is from heaven, not from sinful man’s imagination of what they thought God meant.  No, our Father emanates from the finer spiritual dimension we call heaven.  He is far above the selfish, conniving imaginations of un-spiritual man trying to be religious, leaning to his own understanding.

His thoughts are not our thoughts.  “It is a heavenly vision, a heavenly faith, a heavenly destiny, a heavenly plan, a heavenly purpose, a heavenly blueprint, a heavenly way, a heavenly thought of a heavenly Father, who is above all this on earth and is in us whom He has called”   (quoted from The Unveiling of the Sons of God  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/ebook-the-unveiling-of-the-sons-of-god/ ).

We must keep this in mind in our communication to Him because He is “Our Father, which art in heaven.”  He’s from above and not from beneath.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Our Exiled King, the Good News, and His Name

Our King is at present in exile. He has promised us that He will return to this troubled earth to assume the throne of His Father’s Kingdom–the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom soon to come is the gospel. His government that He will establish is the good news [1].

Many Christians believe that salvation is the gospel. But being saved from our sins is really only the first step; in our hearts He establishes a beachhead of His Kingdom and righteousness. Because this is the first thing we feel when we come to Christ, we think that this personal relationship with Him is all there is to the gospel, the good news.

And it is very good news on a personal level, no doubt, but the Kingdom of God is national, international, galactic, and universal. His Kingdom “shall never be destroyed…and it shall stand forever.” And “of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David.” It will last forever throughout all time and space. That is how big His Kingdom is. That is the gospel [2].

And this brings us to a very important point. When contemplating how vast and powerful God is, pray that He would grant you a reverential awe of Him. For this is wisdom [3].

The King of God’s Kingdom is known as Jesus Christ in the English-speaking world and Jesucristo in the Spanish-speaking world. But unto the Hebrews of His homeland He was known as Yahshua. He did say that He came in His Father’s name, which we know is Yahweh.

We are not playing with semantics here. His name has a meaning. It means Yah is Savior or Yah saves. It is the same name as the patriarch Joshua, Moses’ successor. The point: There is a very important message encrypted in His Hebrew name.

Believing in the message contained in His name is of extreme importance to God, and it should be to us.  Believing that the great Spirit Yahweh is the Savior, that the Father in the Son is doing the saving, is a crucial understanding as to what the King is doing now and will do when He returns to earth [4].

In God’s eyes believing in the meaning of His name is equal to receiving Him, and it is to those that he gives power to be His sons and daughters in His very Kingdom [5].

1. Mark 1: 14

2. Dan. 2: 44; Isa. 9: 7

3. https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality/

4. Isa. 43: 3, 11; 45: 15, 21; 49: 26… See  http://www.blbclassic.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=saviour&t=KJV

5. “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: which were born…of God.” John 1: 12

It’s All About the Fruit–Spiritual Fruit, That Is

It really is all about the fruit that we followers of Christ are to bear. This nectar of knowledge concerning fruit-bearing is of utmost importance to Him and should be to us.

In fact, Christ mentions fruit and how to produce it in our lives in an abundant harvest of verses. The understanding centers on the Kingdom of God. And in order to comprehend the mystery of the gospel of the Kingdom, one must understand the parables, chiefest of which is the parable of the sower.

The Sower sows the seed, the word of God about His plan and purpose, the kingdom of God. Some seed falls on careless hearts, some on hard stony hearts of unbelief, and some seed falls among thorns, and these hearts do not bear fruit at all for God. But some seed will fall on a good and honest heart, and that person “understands it, and bears fruit, and brings forth, some an  hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matt. 13: 18-23). That’s a “hundred, sixty, and some thirty times what was sown” (NIV).

“And He said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4: 13). This parable is the key that will unlock the mysteries of all the other parables. Yes, the parables are “dark sayings,” deliberately spoken to prevent those who are not suppose to understand. They are not nice little stories to make it easier for everyone to comprehend God’s mysteries, contrary to the current wave of “political correctness” drowning the land.

For the disciples had asked Christ aside, “Why do you speak to the multitudes in parables?”

“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given.” Has what? Has grace given by God to understand the mysteries of God’s government portrayed in Christ’s teachings, predominantly through the parables.

“But whosoever has not [this grace, this favor], from him shall be taken away even that he has” (Matt. 13: 11-15). This is unintelligible through modern man’s thinking, who does not understand that Christ was teaching primarily to the remnant. “For blindness in part is happened” to the twelve tribes of Jacob/Israel “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,” which will provoke His chosen people to return to Him (Romans 11: 25).

But It’s All About the Fruit Bearing

The big idea from this parable is this. There are three general levels of spiritual fruit production taught by Christ. We see it here in 100, 60, and 30 times what was sown. His apostles taught these levels, also.

John quotes Christ teaching about the different levels. “Every branch in Me [the Vine] that does not bear fruit, My Father takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He purges it that it may bring forth more fruit…He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit” (15: 2-5). There it is in one passage–the 30, 60, and 100 fold spiritual fruit bearing concept–fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. But what is especially important here is the key teaching on how to increase our spiritual fruit production–abiding in Him and He in us. This abiding is where we are heading in our studies.

The three levels are taught in the way of the growth of the seed: “first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4: 28). And speaking of spiritual growth the three levels are seen in “children, young men, and fathers” (I John 2: 13-14).

What’s the Importance of the Different Levels?

It is important because those lukewarm Christians will not literally be close to Him during His kingdom reign right here on earth. And we want to serve the King as any good subject would. And who wants to be “taken away” and not be near Him. Bearing spiritual fruit to our potential is of utmost importance. We must learn all about it from the greatest Teacher the world has ever witnessed walking on this planet.

[Note: I know that this information is very new to some of you. There is a strong tendency of the human mind and heart to prefer the old and reject the new; it is common and age-old. His plan is not how we would have done it. God said as much: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways” (Isa. 55: 8). We must prove all things, whether we think they are true or not. These things I have read in 15 different English translations and one Spanish translation, and have consulted the Greek, as well. And they all say the same thing about the Parable of the Sower]

If all this resonates and you understand then I will close with this quote at the end of Christ’s teaching on the matter: “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.        Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

Christ Has a Dream, a Cause, a Vision (It’s the Kingdom, Stupid!)

What cause would be worthwhile enough for you and me to give up our current goals and aspirations to take up that cause?

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream–a vision of a world of racial equality and justice, and he went all in to help make it come true. What dream, what vision would put you and me all in?

For what cause would we be willing to wager our entire existence on, to see it  come to pass?

Christianity was founded by a personage that laid it all on the line, that put it all out there for His Father’s cause. And that cause was to bear witness to the truth that He was the King of the Kingdom of God (John 18: 37). And now He asks us His followers to do the same thing: to go all in for the cause of truth, to lay down our lives as He did.

But instead of a physical bodily sacrifice, we are to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice.” The death we experience is the death of our old selfish lives, and in their stead He resurrects in us a “newness of life” where “old things are passed away and all things are become new.”

How does that happen? Because we now have a new cause, a new vision, a new dream for our lives here on earth. In Christ we no longer languish under the  load of our petty little dreams of self-respect.  For in Christ the old, weak, selfish, small-hearted goals are replaced with His thoughts, His goals, His dream, and His vision.

But herein lies the problem. What exactly are God’s true cause, dream, and vision? There are over 2,000 denominations, each with their own interpretation of Christ’s vision for us and this world.

The Solution to the Problem

Which ones are false and which one is true? The answer is found in Christ’s very own words. He placed a premium on the words. “For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt. 12: 37 NKJV).

He also said, “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (12: 34). What a person is all about will come out of their mouth. So to know Christ’s vision and to understand His cause, we must study the words that He spoke concerning His goals. And we then must make them ours. That is what He said to do.

So what words came out of His mouth? From the beginning of His ministry, He “began to preach and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent of your old selfish sinful ways. For it is time to change and get a new cause, a worthwhile cause, a new vision, and a new dream for your life, for I the King am come to you. My kingdom is very near you right now. The new cause and vision is standing before you right now. Therefore, repent and turn from wickedness and receive a new vision for life on earth free from sin and injustice–beginning in you! Your old selfish life is not worth it. It ends in the dusty tomb of death, just another existence, forgotten forever in a generation or two. Get this new vision of walking with Me in My “kingdom wherein dwells righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Mt. 4: 17, 23).

“And Jesus (Yahshua) went about all Galilee, teaching…and preaching the gospel…” Which gospel? The Catholic gospel? The Baptist gospel? The charismatic gospel? No. It was the “gospel of the kingdom.” He proclaimed the good news of His government coming to earth with Him as its Sovereign (Mark 1: 14).

His kingdom is a literal and spiritual government, instituted by God. It is literal! It will literally be established on this earth in the near future upon Christ’s return. Now He is the King in exile, waiting for His followers to mature “till Christ be formed in us.”

We all need to shout this to ourselves and to the whole world: “It’s the kingdom, stupid!” Christ spoke of it incessantly, scores of times. When he spoke about being “born again,” it was so that we could enter the kingdom of God. Preachers talk a lot about “born again,” but rarely do they speak of His kingdom, which is the gospel, the good news.

It is all about the Kingdom of God. All of the parables, the secrets kept from the foundation of the world, concern His kingdom. They answer the who, what, when, why, and how about it.

When will we all awake out of the slumber? When will we stir ourselves up and start running the race set before us? It is when we “purge out the old leaven.” The old leaven is the erroneous teachings about Christ that block and cloud over His true expression of  that which He spoke of–His kingdom. He is returning for His kingdom. His kingdom is His cause, His dream, His vision.

His government is so important to Him that He said this: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” and everything else will be supplied. Go all in for His cause and vision, and He will have our backs when it comes to the earthly life’s necessities. We don’t have to strive for them. He’ll give us what we need to bring His cause to fruition. He has our back when we have His!

When we make His dream ours and work for it, when we make His cause ours and strive for it, when we make His vision ours and seek first for it–then He will know that He has our hearts and we then will become men and women “after God’s own heart.”

For we must remember this: Somebody will sit down with Christ on His throne, on the throne of this very kingdom that He spoke continually about. Somebody “redeemed from among men.” Somebody delivered from the slime pits of sin and cleaned and groomed and prepared in spiritual maturity to rule with Him for a thousand years right here  on earth. Is that someone you and I?