Warning: Beware of Man’s Traditions About Christ

Immortality Road

You ever notice how the apostles of Christ never warned the early Christians about the dangers of being deceived by the gods of the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Indians, Persians, et al. They weren’t concerned about Sol Invictus, the worship of the Sun god, nor the worship of the Roman Emperor, nor any of the invading mystery cult gods of the East.

They warned Christians about organized churches and synagogues who professed to know God even while they were being infected by the false teachings found in the worship of those very false gods.

Paul makes this clear: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; 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: 13-14).

Much to be gleaned here…

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The Prosperity Doctrine Debunked

[Turn on to any of the televangelists, any time of day or night, and the vast majority will be preaching the prosperity doctrine. Simply put, it goes like this: Support them with your dollars, and God will bless you financially in return.]

As the Spirit of Truth shines more light into the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” it is easy to get sidetracked, wandering down side paths in His glorious garden of knowledge. And then there’s the constant Sirens’ song enticing the pilgrim to believe their false teachings about Christ. By wandering around, we can lose sight of the central purpose of God, which is a compass that leads us north to His throne. And that purpose is, of course, that God is using us to reproduce Himself in. He calls it “the manifestation of the sons of God” (Rom. 8: 19). His purpose should be our meditation.

We must keep God’s truths in context. Knowledge of Him must be tempered with decency and  order (I Cor. 14: 40). We are “to know, and by knowledge to lift up the mind from the dungeon of the body to the enjoying his own divine essence” [1].

Hundreds of denominations are born because someone thought that they had received some insight on “faith” or “grace” or some other idea, and they built an organization around that soundbite, and it became a denomination. And the kicker is that most of the time their “revelation” was unscriptural and just plain wrong. One of the most insidious and onerous of these false doctrines is the prosperity doctrine. Exulting over this teaching is against God’s word, and it needs to be repented of.

The Prosperity Doctrine

Christ’s very first warning when He gave prophecy about the time of the end was this: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” And they will speak about Christ, but they will deceive many (Matt. 24: 4-5). The preachers are slick. They concoct convoluted doctrines of how money will pour into your life. The prosperity teaching is pervasive and is a perversion of the law of harvest. They say that your offering or tithe of money is the seed of faith that must be sowed. They say that this is the way to show your faith in God. They say that giving money to keep their church house doors open and their TV airwaves humming is a seed of faith that God will give back many more dollars as a harvest blessing.

The Problem

There is only one problem with this teaching. It is against Christ’s teachings. Let me explain from the scriptures.

Yes, the law of harvest with the word “seed” and “harvest” is in there, but “money” is not the seed. The seed is a spiritual thing that we sow with God—not a material thing like money. The apostle clears this up. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap…For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6: 7-8). God wants spiritual change, not pocket change.

The “seed” in the passage just quoted is a spiritual offering, not a fleshly one like money. And the harvest is eternal life not financial blessings. Besides, our offering should be our very lives. We are to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (Rom. 12: 1).

God Warns about Preaching for Money

Moreover, the Spirit of Christ in the prophet Micah makes it very clear what God thinks of pastors, preachers, evangelists, bishops, priests, and prophets who get paid for ministering. Yahweh says, “Concerning the prophets that make my people err.” While they lead the flock into error, they are devouring them. Therefore, God will not give them His vision. “The sun will go down over the prophets.” There will be “no answer from God.” He is also talking to the heads of the house of Jacob and the princes of the house of Israel (Ten tribes), you “that abhor judgement, and pervert all equity” (3: 5-9). He is castigating the political leaders as well as the religious.

Here is the warning about preaching for money. Yahweh continues, “Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.” Political  leaders are corrupt, taking bribes. Religious leaders preach and pastor for money. Cut their salaries off and see if they are around in a couple of Sundays. And the televangelists today give prophecy for money. The people in the pews are getting fleeced, and they are not being fed the milk of the word (Micah 3: 11).

This false prosperity doctrine is a snare, couched in Christian terminology. Our center should not be on material blessings. Our Savior told us to not be concerned with the physical and material things. “Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat; neither for the body, what you shall put on…neither be of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after… But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Luke 12: 28-31.

This prosperity doctrine is a trap. Giving money to pastors and preachers is a modern day example of the old pagan worship. The people offered their flocks, their grain, and even their children to their pagan idol gods in hopes of a bigger harvest of grain and animal fertility for the next year. We all must take this very seriously and repent from this dead work, which is the first of the apostles’ doctrines.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1. Sir Philip Sydney, The Defense of Poesy, “Poetry, Philosophy, History.”

{If you liked this article, hit the “like” button. Please make a comment. I will answer them all. And be sure to send for my latest book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect; it is totally free. Just send me your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com If you appreciated this article, you will be thrilled with the new book. I wrote it for you. You need this book if you want to grow spiritually and be like Peter, James, John, and Paul.
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The Spirit of Truth Gives the Gift of the Word of Wisdom

We have seen that God’s eternal purpose is to reproduce Himself. He is a Spirit that is the action of Love. We have learned that He has a definite plan to accomplish His purpose. He thought the plan through and spoke it and wrote it all down in a Word. And this Word was God, the Spirit of Love. And this Word was the Logos and it was “made flesh and dwelt among us.”

And God’s plan to reproduce Himself is all contained in His Son, the Word or Logos of God, which acts as a Seed. And the Son/Seed “fell into the ground and died,” like all seeds do in the earth. And the Seed Son was resurrected out of the earth after three days and three nights. And through His act of laying down His life for others, He showed the greatest Love.

Now human beings are enlisted by their Creator to simply believe this report of His Son, and in so doing, their faith energizes that same resurrected spirit of love in their hearts. For they will have laid down their old lives as He did His, thus showing the greatest love, also. They let their old sinful selfish lives die on the cross with Christ, and by believing in His resurrection, they receive a new life powered by His Spirit.

And just like the seeds in the garden grow to bear much fruit, God’s children do grow through proper nourishment to become just like the original Seed/Son. That is His plan for reproducing Himself in a nutshell.

The Problem

Someone will say, It is simple to understand, the way you put it. Why has it been so difficult for the world to see this?

It is because of the enemy, the devil. He has “transformed himself into an angel of light” and has spread many erroneous teachings called “old leaven” by the apostles. These false teachers started their lies about Christ while the original twelve disciples still walked the earth.

They get the people worried about themselves–whether or not they are going to heaven or hell. They scare the people in the pews, “promising them liberty while they themselves are the servants of corruption.” They never speak of God’s purpose and plan to reproduce Himself, for their center is on self.

Moreover, they promise the churchgoers earthly prosperity if they give abundantly to the church organization. “Get all you can get from God,” they say. They think that’s all God has to do is bless them materially. But Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel weren’t in it for themselves. They were all about furthering what God wanted to accomplish. That is the reason  we still read of their exploits two and one half millenia later. They did not think of themselves, for they denied themselves to further God’s cause.

The Promise of His Spirit

Still God’s arms are outstreched, desiring to embrace all those who embrace Him. And we embrace Him when we cease thinking of our own petty little lives and “look to the Rock from whence we are hewn.” We do that by believing in what He believes in and helping Him to accomplish it.

To those who do this, He has promised to come to us. When we believe that the Father was in the Son, then He says that we will do “greater works than what He did.” In fact, the Son of God commanded us, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.” When we keep this new commandment, then He will ask the Father to send us the Comforter, which is the Spirit of truth, which is the Spirit of Christ, which is the Father, for “God is a Spirit” (John 14: 9-20; 4: 24).

The Son of God continues, “When He ,the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16: 13). This is His promise–to not leave us alone out here, but to comfort us with truth as to what is happening on this sin sick planet. The Spirit of truth will teach us “things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13: 35). And these “things” are the mysteries of God’s purpose and plan.

When He comes to us, the Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth by giving us gifts. The very first gift of the Spirit is the “word of wisdom” (I Cor. 12: 8). [For more on “wisdom” go here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/book-yah-is-savior-the-road-to-immortality-chapter-2/ ]

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

The Five Offices of God–For Our Perfection

Unto man has God “put in subjection the world to come.” Man. That’s us, brethren. In the world to come, the next age, the time in the history of this earth after Christ’s return to rule it for a thousand years—God has ordained that some of us human beings will be rulers with Christ in the government that He will establish (Heb. 2: 5).

To rule and reign with Christ in His kingdom/government—that is the high calling. Brethren, are we ready? Have we grown spiritually that we would be strong and pure enough to take on that mantle of responsibility for the King, to be His administrators, His regents, His arms and hands, His heart and mind in the myriad matters of ruling the King’s earth?

To help us fulfill this “high calling” of God, Christ came “that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (2: 9). And Christ will be made complete and perfect by His act of “bringing many sons unto glory” (v. 10). And this glory is us being glorified, which in turn brings final glory to the King and Master. Christ will be fully glorified when He fulfills His final destiny, which is bringing His chosen ones to full spiritual maturity.

He did say, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit” (John 12: 24). We are the “much fruit” that He refers to on the road to His glorification (v. 23).

And because we, Christ’s followers, have come out of the matrix of “flesh and blood, He also Himself took part of the same.” Why? So that He could pave the way for our immortality, made possible by the destruction of the devil. Christ destroys the devil when He destroys sin in our life and gives us a new life by faith (Heb. 2: 14). That’s the foundation to build the temple of God on. Since we are His temple,that is where we start.

And Christ brings us to that full mature spiritual growth by sharing His Spirit with His body of believers. He shares His Spirit with His teachers, and they then impart the necessary knowledge to Christ’s brethren, for “He is not ashamed to call [us] brethren (2: 11).

Why God Gave Us the Five Fold Ministry Offices

In fact, Christ set in His spiritual body of believers five offices: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. And Christ established these offices “for the perfecting of the saints [the brethren, us], for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4: 11-12).

Let’s savor this a moment. God has chosen out from among all the Christians in the world a few to be in these offices. Why? What is their purpose? First, they are necessary “for the perfecting” of the members of Christ’s church, which is His body of believers. The Greek word (G2675) translated “perfecting” here means “to be fit, prepared, to be mended and repaired, and ethically, to be complete and perfect, and to make one what he ought to be” (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=G2675&t=KJV).

The true offices of God will help us by the Spirit within them to become prepared, ready and fit to assume the duties in Christ’s kingdom—royal duties to be assigned to us of our Father. For this is really the “work of the ministry” that Paul refers to here. The “ministry” of Christ is the administration of His government that will fill the whole earth, according to the prophet Daniel in 2: 44 and 7: 18: “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” That’s a long time to be in the presence of the King of kings (that’s us with the little “k”). And we “shall take the kingdom and possess it forever.” We. Us. Ruling with Christ the King.

That’s the gospel, my brothers and sisters. That’s the good news that man needs. Getting rid of the corruption caused by the sinful hearts of the leaders of this present world system and replacing it with righteous rulers who contain the Spirit of Christ in their bosoms. That’s the gospel; that’s the good news. It is the “gospel of kingdom” (Matt. 4: 23; Mark 1: 14-15). But how the gospel has been watered down at best by preaching only a tiny portion of His plan! How it has been poisoned by the preaching of false concepts like the prosperity doctrine! Well did the prophets cry, “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, Saith the LORD.” And, “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray.” But then He promises finally, “I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 23: 1; 50: 6; Ezk 34: 2; Jer 3: 15).

How Long Will They Teach Us?

These Spirit-led apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in our day will continue to teach “till we all come in the unity of the faith” (Eph. 4: 13). They through the Spirit will teach His pure concepts until we Christians are on the same page, until we have His vision. They will teach by His Spirit until the body has the true “knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man” (4: 11).

They will continue to teach the truth until we are fully grown, walking in the Spirit like Peter, James, John, and Paul did after the Resurrection. “Perfect” here means a completed spiritual life cycle growth. They will teach until we all have the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (v. 11).

But don’t just take my word for it. We must prove all things through study and prayer to see if the things expounded here take root and grow in our hearts—to see if this vision of a royal heritage quickens like a seed in warm rich soil which loses its lonely first state and dies, only to be reborn as a green lively plant nourished by the living waters, alive now to reproduce itself, as the Creator has reproduced Himself in us.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

The Prosperity Doctrine–A “Damnable Heresy”

The true men of God never taught the “prosperity doctrine.”  They never taught that if you give money to the preacher, that God would give you more money back, more than in your wildest dreams.

The true apostles and prophets of God taught self-denial.  They taught that we should seek the spiritual things of God, and then God would take care of our material needs (Matt. 6: 33).

A “Damnable Heresy”

The apostle Peter warns us of these false teachers and prophets–how they will “bring in damnable heresies” that lead the hearers into denying Christ.  For if a person is in the “Get-all-you-can-get-from-God” mode, then their hearts will be unable to take in the Spirit of Christ (II Pet. 2: 1).

These false preachers are teaching this heresy.  They come in sheep’s clothing.  They speak about Christ, but Christ’s Spirit does not speak through them!  “And many shall follow their pernicious ways” (v. 2).  “Pernicious ways” is from the Greek word apoleia, meaning “perdition, destruction, and ruin.”  The “prosperity doctrine” is destroying people’s souls.

Give Us Your Money and You’ll Be Blessed

They promise their millions of followers prosperity.  They say, “Give money to our ministry and God will bless you with a hundred-fold more more than what you gave. Send us your tithes and offerings, and God will solve your financial problems.”  When in reality, they use the money to live lavishly as they feed off the baser human instinct to covet after earthly riches.  “And through covetousness (sin) shall they make merchandise of you” (v. 3).

Instead of caring for their flocks’ souls, these evil shepherds look for devious ways of extracting more money from them.

They “cannot cease from sin,” and they teach that very doctrine–that no one can ever truly be delivered from sin and sinning (II Pet. 2: 14).  Yet Christ tells us, as He told the prostitute, “Go and sin no more.”   Impossible command?  I don’t believe so, for He also said, “With God all things are possible.”

It’s All About the Love of Money

Peter says that they have followed  in the false prophet Balaam’s way, “who loved the wages of unrighteousness” (2: 15).   They get paid money for teaching this error!

What did this false prophet Balaam do?  He loved money and accepted it from Balak, the king of Moab, in payment for “putting a curse on the children of Israel.”  Balak presented to Balaam “the rewards of divination”–money, fame, honor from men–if he would curse the children of Israel.  But he could not curse whom God had blessed (Numbers 22: 7).

Balaam is the quintessential false prophet, a corrupt and weak lover of money.  Modern day prosperity preachers are hirelings who teach God’s people things that will “curse” them and lead them to destruction and perdition!

We Are Admonished to Flee from Them

The apostle Paul, likewise,  warns Timothy that they are “perverse…supposing that gain is godliness; from such withdraw thyself” (I Tim. 6: 5).

Likewise, the message to us: Get away from any preacher who speaks about money all the time, who promises that God will shower down finances to those who give money to their ministry.  Flee from them!

For true gain is “godliness with contentment” (v. 6).  Godliness is being like God–a spiritual existence with Him where material things no longer have a hold on us, where seeking wealth and riches and dwelling on material goods are not distractions any more.  “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out” (v. 7).  All we really need is “food and raiment” and the Spirit of God in our hearts.  He’ll add anything else we need.

And then the stern warning: “But they that will be rich (they that even want to be rich) fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (v. 8-9).

For make no mistake.  These false teachers, which include many televangelists–they love money.  It is their lifeblood, for without it, they are washed up.  They are off the air, and their lavish lifestyles go to rags over night.

“For the love of money is the root of all evil” (I Tim. 6: 10).  This very famous passage of scripture is used in this warning to us about these false teachers and preachers.  Those who covet after money and what it will buy them “have erred from the faith.”

There it is in the mouth of two witnesses–Peter and Paul.  They knew about this damnable heresy of going after the money, for they had the “prosperity doctrine” back in the day.  And they warn us, who have eyes to see, to flee from this doctrine and those who teach it.  And run into the arms of the true Shepherd.  For He is all we really need.                        KWH

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