God’s Will/Desire Is to Bring His Kingdom to Earth–Christ to Share His Throne with Us

We have seen that God’s will is His desire. God’s desire springs from His purpose, which is to reproduce Himself, Agape Love, in us. God has a plan that will fulfill His desire for you, me, and the rest of the inhabitants of earth. His desire will come to pass. It will supersede all of man’s self-centered yearnings. His desire is to have His government here on earth, a kingdom so full of wonder that it will erase the memory of mankind’s miserably failed epochs and eras.

The border of Christ’s Kingdom will not be entered illegally. He will bring order, His divine order. To help the interlopers, Christ will send ambassadors to the far-flung territories of the earth. These ambassadors will institute God’s righteous government, helping the people build a life of loving the King by loving and helping each other. After the Tribulation period, He will have rulers, judges, and officers carry out in love His desire for the people of this world. For all the citizens of earth will be taught about our righteous King’s wishes. We will teach them God’s will, desire, and intention.

Our King Yahshua is not a chump. He does not come this time as a Lamb sacrificed for the world’s sins. He comes back as the “Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David,” ruling with a “rod of iron” (Rev. 5:5; 2:27).

There are many openings right now in the King’s royal army who carry neither sword nor shield. He has a promise for those who answer His call to overcome all deceptions and delusions thrown their way. Here is His promise to His elect: “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in my throne…” (Rev. 3:21). It is the Spirit speaking to us. Are we able to hear and comprehend the vastness of His promise that He, in His infinite love, has given us a chance to really know Christ, to be loved by Him like the disciple John was loved by Him. To know Him as a real friend, as well as our Captain.

I just take my cap off now as I write this and bow my head in the presence of One so kind and humble. He is so gracious that He would offer this vessel a chance to be with Him, a chance to repent from diving into rabbit holes, and an opportunity to become like King David, a man after God’s own heart. To have one heart—Christ’s heart. To be one with Him, thus fulfilling His will/desire.

We are not talking about being saved. We are talking unabashedly about being used by Christ to rule the earth! Becoming a governor in His kingdom, a “ruler over ten cities,” is the big bait that I am casting out into the sea of mankind. He did say that He would make us “fishers of men.” So, no more casting the minnows of just-walking-the-aisle-and-accepting-Jesus. No. That will not fulfill Christ’s will/desire, which is this: You and I are to be the “big fish” that His Spirit is angling for. Big fish like King David.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

…With Me from the Beginning

(from journal entry, 12-8-21)

It was early morning, and I was still in bed. I opened my eyes, and the first thought that crystalized out of the foggy dream mind was – “The Beginning.” The “beginning?” Why was I thinking that? Then another thought came that answered the question: “… with Me from the beginning.” With ME. I was with Christ. I knew that it was the Spirit speaking to me through thoughts. I began then to ponder these cryptic words. What did the Spirit mean?

So, I looked the word “beginning” up in the Greek. The “beginning” comes from the word arche, #G746 in Strong’s. It means “the origin, the active cause, used absolutely of the beginning of all things.”

Christ said, “I am the beginning and the end.” Christ is the “active cause.” He is our origin (Revelation 1:8-11,17-18). “In the beginning was the Word.” Christ is the beginning. Therefore, in Christ was the Word. Word = Logos [the purpose and plan of God]. Christ is the “active cause” in the creation of heaven and earth. “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3).

Our Savior, the “Word made flesh,” came to earth to bear witness to the truth, that He is the truth. And we, too, are to bear witness to the truth because we were with Him in the beginning. Christ said, “And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:27). This is not speaking of the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. The Greek word arche is used for the beginning of all things. It is used as such in this verse: “In the beginning was the Word…” (John 1:1).

 We are a part of the record in heaven of the things that will occur on earth. We were with him in the beginning. He knew us before because He created us as a member of His body in heaven before the earth was formed. Then He dipped us into the earth as we slid out of the matrix of our mothers’ wombs, and then we were cast out into the sea of lost mankind.

We, who had once basked in the glorious light of our Father in heaven, were now left to grow up, barely afloat in the treacherous rip tides of sin. Sin was our task master, and we obeyed his desires. The bondage to sin weighed heavily to the point of us drowning, and then we cried out in anguish and disillusionment, and then a hand reached down, a strong hand of love, and He pulled us up out of the quagmire.

He cleaned us up at the cross. He allowed us to identify our sinful selves with the Lamb, the sin sacrifice, and we died with Him. With the death of our old man, we believe that we are now buried with Him and raised with Him, now to walk in a “newness of life.” We now know and believe that “he that is dead is freed from sin.” We now spiritually step out on the water and walk in the Spirit (Rom. 6:1-11).

And then our earthly past died, and we began to grow as a seedling, tasting its first rays of light. Through study and communication with the Spirit, we grew and grew until He showed us that we had a special calling to fulfill, a special job to do. We are to share the love that saved us, by telling others the story of deliverance through His great love.

As we grow, we become a part of the witness in the earth of the record in heaven. God already knew that we would respond to His voice. He knew us and knew what we were made of. He made us, before the things we can see with our earthly eyes were made. For we were with Him in the beginning. And He has chosen us and given us a destiny way back there at the “Beginning.”

“…God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). Yahweh predestined us, not to just be saved, but to be “conformed to the image of his Son.” At Christ’s return to earth, He will change our weak, earthly body, “that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).

We are talking about being like Christ and His apostles! Nothing less. But before this greatest of honors is bestowed upon us, we must “arm ourselves with the same mind.” We must know and do the apostles’ doctrine and add to our faith seven spiritual attributes of Christ.

We have so much knowledge to receive. Knowing His mind will finally drive out every thought that is contrary to His purpose and plan. The mind is the battlefield where we conquer the enemy’s errant desires for us. Amid the battle, it is easy to forget that we have already won, for “we are more than conquerors through Christ.” In Him lies our power, strength, and will.

O, let us shower Him with thanks for granting us the exit visa at the cross. Repentance from sin comes when we realize that we “are dead and our life is hid with Christ…” We are a part of His body now, unencumbered by that spiritually corrupt old life. We now believe that we are a part of Christ, and the Father’s heart of love dwells within us. All this happens because He mercifully allowed us to be with Him in the beginning.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Believing the Secrets of the Son’s Name

Man wrestles with God over belief. It is all about faith, or a lack of it. Hence, all will not believe the following words about belief. Yet these words are written down and are essential for the future 100-fold fruit bearers, the elect for these latter days. The following knowledge is crucial for those predestined to sit with Christ on His throne when He returns to earth: “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne…” (Rev. 3:20). These following words are better swallowed and digested in small contemplative bites.

“Belief” and “faith” are translated from the same Greek word. Faith is being sure of the things that we hope for based on God’s promises to us. Belief/faith is also being certain of the things that cannot be seen (Heb. 11:1 NIV).

We are told to believe in God. But what does that mean exactly? Belief in God is believing the words of God spoken and written down. Try to believe something—anything–without putting it into words first. Our minds immediately formulate words to cradle our belief. Thoughts come to us in words. Consequently, we believe words. Belief cannot exist without words.

To express our belief that the sun will come up in the morning, we use words describing this ball of fire rising in the east. To believe in the truth, we must believe the words of truth. With this in mind, we read the words of the Spirit written down by the apostle John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1).

In the Beginning Was the Word

There is something to be believed that existed from the very beginning. And that something is God, and He was and is a Spirit, and that invisible Spirit was comprised of words. For Christ said, “The words that I speak they are spirit, and they are life.” God wants us to believe in Him. Of course, he also knows that words are the things that are believed. Therefore, for belief to take place, something must be spoken or written in the form of words.

The spoken word has invisible spiritual qualities. Invisible because, like the wind, you can’t see them in the physical and natural sense. But also, like the wind, you can see and feel their effects on those in their path. Words spoken can destroy the hearer like a hurricane wind, but words can also comfort and cool like a summer breeze.

So, to believe God, we must believe the Word. For the Word was God, and the Word was in the beginning. And this Logos, this Eternal Thought/Word, who is the Father, “was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). This Anointed One (Christ) “has declared Him” (v. 18).

Christ’s life was the life of the Father—eternal life—and was read of all men who saw Him 2,000 years ago. And many millions afterward have believed His witness of just who the Word is. And the Word, the Son of God, spoke many words to us. To believe God, we must believe the words of the Word, who is God. For the Son of God is “the expressed image of the invisible God.” The Son expressed the words of the Word.

Again, for us to believe God, we must believe His words. There is a vast difference between saying, I believe God, and saying, I believe that there is a God. To believe God, one must believe His words, words that he declares about Himself and us. When He says, “Repent of your sins,” we must not only believe that it is possible with His help, but also mandatory as part of His initiation into His Kingdom. But to say, I believe that there is a God, is to speak hollow, lukewarm words that He will spue out of His mouth. “For even the devils believe in one God and tremble.”

Believing in the Name of the Son of God

[The following paragraphs are some of the secrets of the Almighty. The Spirit of Christ still speaks to us: “I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.” These are some of the “mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” It is given unto the elect to know them. “Whosoever has [been chosen to receive the secrets and mysteries] to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance…” (Matthew 13:10-12).]

We are talking about believing God’s words. He that believes in Christ is not condemned. “But He that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). Believing in Christ’s name is crucial. But how do we believe in His name? We saw above that “belief/faith” believes words. So, believing in His name is believing the message contained in His name.

Believing in His name is believing what His Hebrew name means. For the Son’s name has meaning! It literally means “Yah is the Savior.” Yahweh is the Father; He is a Spirit that dwells inside the Son; He is the Savior (Isa. 43:11; 45:21; Hosea 13:4). And our Savior’s Hebrew name is Yahshua, the same name of the patriarch Joshua–Yahshua. And it literally means “Yah saves or Yah is the Savior.

Christ’s Hebrew name is encased as one of the Father’s secrets. But they can be ours. For “the secrets of YHWH belong to them that are in reverential awe [fear] of Him.” This secret and many more are like tree ripened pears, ready for our hands to grasp them and hold them to our hungry lips. All we need do is to believe His words about His name.                                  

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[I wrote a book on this entitled Yah Is Savior: The Road to Immortality. Order your free copy with free shipping. Just email me. Include your name and mailing address and the title of the book: wayneman5@hotmail.com ]

Additions to the Faith to Make Our Calling and Election Sure–To Be Like Peter, James, John, and Paul

We are admonished by the apostle Peter to “make our calling and election sure.” You mean that we have to do something? I thought it was all God and His grace that helps us to be what He wants us to be. It is, but there remains things we must do in order for the spiritual growth to take place.

We must study and pray and eventually fast that the culprit Unbelief might skulk away out of our spiritual lives. For it is unbelief that hinders our growth. But the Spirit has left us a roadmap, a way of cutting through the haze of phony doctrines about God.

Peter tells us in his second letter the steps we should take. He explains that to grow to full maturity, we must add seven attributes to our faith.

Peter writes to those who “have obtained like precious faith with us” (2 Peter 1: 1). The elect, God’s chosen ones for this high calling, have received the same exact precious faith that the early apostles received.

Now this comes about in our lives “through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Yahshua)” (v. 1). After we were convicted of our sin-guiltiness, and after we stepped out and laid down our old sinful self on the cross and died in revelation with the sacrificial Lamb of God, we, by believing that Christ was raised from the dead, receive a newly resurrected life by faith.

It is His faith that we have received. God believed in His own power to raise up the Lamb of God, and when we believed that, then we obtained that very same belief in the form of a “new heart” and a new spirit. By believing in His resurrection, we also believe that we were raised from the dead, for we were definitely dead in our sins—the walking dead, as it were. But now we are  alive from the dead, and we bear God’s very own faith in our bosom. As Paul said, “Old things are passed away,” and all things “are become new.” It is no longer the old Adamic man, writhing in the guilt of sin, that now lives, but rather the new man Christ, who has now begun His growth within our new hearts.

This is the faith we have obtained with Peter, Paul, James, and John. Faith is the foundation that must be added to, just like a builder adds walls, a roof, windows and doors to the foundation of the new house he is building. And it is this faith—God’s faith now in us, not our faith in Him—that must be added unto.

Adding Seven Spiritual Attributes Insures Three Things

We are to add to our faith “virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity [agape love]” (1: 5-7).

Peter writes that adding these seven spiritual attributes to His faith in us yields three major things in God’s plan for these latter days. First, they insure that we will not “be barren nor unfruitful” (1: 8). God wants us to bear “much fruit” and is glorified when we do (John 15: 8).

Second, the additions to our faith are how we solidify our standing as one of God’s elect; it is how we “make our calling and election sure.” Walking in these seven attributes of God’s nature insures our place in the elect. Or better put, those destined to be part of the elect will build their spiritual house with these attributes (1: 10).

Furthermore, it is through them that “an entrance shall be ministered unto [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior” (1: 11).

Adding them is how we “partake of His divine nature” (1: 4). It is how we make our calling and election sure, how we never fall, how we will be full of spiritual fruit, how we will receive an entrance into His kingdom, and how we will “partake of His divine nature.” That sums up what spiritual growth is about. That is how important these things are as outlined by Peter in his Second Epistle, Chapter 1.

A Serious Assignment

Adding these attributes is a serious assignment that only the Spirit of truth can teach, for it is He that leads us into all truth. Truth being the key word.

“Truth is fallen in the streets,” says the prophet. And there is a famine in the land, a famine of the word of God. Because of this dearth, adding these seven attributes is a formidable task. Why? Peter in the very next chapter forewarns us of how the devil will hinder our growth in becoming God’s elect. He warns us to beware of false prophets and false teachers who “shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” And many will follow these hypocrites, who will “speak great swelling words of vanity” and will “promise them liberty” while they are “the servants of corruption” (II Peter 2:1-19).

And how does this second chapter tie into the first? These false “Christian” teachers will spew out false teachings that will hinder a young Christian’s spiritual growth. Peter gives his stark warning to us so that we would not be hijacked and taken away by the enemy, thus prohibiting us from making our calling and election sure. Bluntly put, false teachings will thwart the children of God from growing into fully matured Christians, fit to sit on the throne with Christ. Getting rid of these false concepts about God is where the study and prayer come in after true knowledge comes to us.

Isaiah wonders, “Who hath believed our report?” Who will answer the call to go all the way to the throne of God? Only the adventurous. Only the unafraid. Only the rebels who refuse to come under the yoke of the god of this world. Only those who trust in the Spirit of God within themselves, as He helps them separate the good teachings from the bad.

But man’s wisdom cannot teach this truth to the elect. Old Adamic man just cannot teach it to us, nor the well-meaning manna-gatherers of yesteryear, who fed the flock of God with the spiritual bread that they had one hundred, five hundred, or one thousand or more years ago. That cannot sustain the elect of God for these latter days. For these elect must have the “present truth”—food convenient for them.

God is doing a new thing; He is pouring out new light as to His plan and purpose. The Spirit is pouring out His truth today all over the earth. He has seven thousand unbowed to Baal, and they are like river bed conduits of His living water. Those who thirst will drink. The rest will with parched throats persist in scratching moisture out of broken cisterns of the waters of the past, repositories of the damp shadows of truth.

For God is doing a new thing in the earth, a thing that men will not believe though God Himself tells them. For He has already, even though He has blinded all but the remnant, the elect. But they will prepare and do and put on these additions to the “faith once delivered to the saints.”   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Making Our Calling and Election Sure

We are admonished by the apostle Peter to “make our calling and election sure.” You mean that we have to do something? I thought it was all God and His grace that helps us to be what He wants us to be. It is, but there remains things we must do in order for the spiritual growth to take place.

We must study and pray and eventually fast that the culprit Unbelief might skulk away out of our spiritual lives. For it is unbelief that hinders our growth. But the Spirit has left us a roadmap, a way of cutting through the haze of phony doctrines about God.

Peter tells us in his second letter the steps we should take. He explains that to grow to full maturity, we must add seven attributes to our faith.

Peter writes to those who “have obtained like precious faith with us” (2 Peter 1: 1). The elect, God’s chosen ones for this high calling, have received the same exact precious faith that the early apostles received.

Now this comes about in our lives “through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ (Yahshua)” (v. 1). After we were convicted of our sin-guiltiness, and after we stepped out and laid down our old sinful self on the cross and died in revelation with the sacrificial Lamb of God, we, by believing that Christ was raised from the dead, receive a newly resurrected life by faith.

It is His faith that we have received. God believed in His own power to raise up the Lamb of God, and when we believed that, then we obtained that very same belief in the form of a “new heart” and a new spirit. By believing in His resurrection, we also believe that we were raised from the dead, for we were definitely dead in our sins—the walking dead, as it were. But now we are  alive from the dead, and we bear God’s very own faith in our bosom. As Paul said, “Old things are passed away,” and all things “are become new.” It is no longer the old Adamic man, writhing in the guilt of sin, that now lives, but rather the new man Christ, who has now begun His growth within our new hearts.

This is the faith we have obtained with Peter, Paul, James, and John. Faith is the foundation that must be added to, just like a builder adds walls, a roof, windows and doors to the foundation of the new house he is building. And it is this faith—God’s faith now in us, not our faith in Him—that must be added unto.

Adding Seven Spiritual Attributes Insures Three Things

We are to add to our faith “virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity [agape love]” (1: 5-7).

Peter writes that adding these seven spiritual attributes to His faith in us yields three major things in God’s plan for these latter days. First, they insure that we will not “be barren nor unfruitful” (1: 8). God wants us to bear “much fruit” and is glorified when we do (John 15: 8).

Second, the additions to our faith are how we solidify our standing as one of God’s elect; it is how we “make our calling and election sure.” Walking in these seven attributes of God’s nature insures our place in the elect. Or better put, those destined to be part of the elect will build their spiritual house with these attributes (1: 10).

Furthermore, it is through them that “an entrance shall be ministered unto [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior” (1: 11).

Adding them is how we “partake of His divine nature” (1: 4). It is how we make our calling and election sure, how we never fall, how we will be full of spiritual fruit, how we will receive an entrance into His kingdom, and how we will “partake of His divine nature.” That sums up what spiritual growth is about. That is how important these things are as outlined by Peter in his Second Epistle, Chapter 1.

A Serious Assignment

Adding these attributes is a serious assignment that only the Spirit of truth can teach, for it is He that leads us into all truth. Truth being the key word.

“Truth is fallen in the streets,” says the prophet. And there is a famine in the land, a famine of the word of God. Because of this dearth, adding these seven attributes is a formidable task. Why? Peter in the very next chapter forewarns us of how the devil will hinder our growth in becoming God’s elect. He warns us to beware of false prophets and false teachers who “shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them.” And many will follow these hypocrites, who will “speak great swelling words of vanity” and will “promise them liberty” while they are “the servants of corruption” (II Peter 2:1-19).

And how does this second chapter tie into the first? These false “Christian” teachers will spew out false teachings that will hinder a young Christian’s spiritual growth. Peter gives his stark warning to us so that we would not be hijacked and taken away by the enemy, thus prohibiting us from making our calling and election sure. Bluntly put, false teachings will thwart the children of God from growing into fully matured Christians, fit to sit on the throne with Christ. Getting rid of these false concepts about God is where the study and prayer come in after true knowledge comes to us.

Isaiah wonders, “Who hath believed our report?” Who will answer the call to go all the way to the throne of God? Only the adventurous. Only the unafraid. Only the rebels who refuse to come under the yoke of the god of this world. Only those who trust in the Spirit of God within themselves, as He helps them separate the good teachings from the bad.

But man’s wisdom cannot teach this truth to the elect. Old Adamic man just cannot teach it to us, nor the well-meaning manna-gatherers of yesteryear, who fed the flock of God with the spiritual bread that they had one hundred, five hundred, or one thousand or more years ago. That cannot sustain the elect of God for these latter days. For these elect must have the “present truth”—food convenient for them.

God is doing a new thing; He is pouring out new light as to His plan and purpose. The Spirit is pouring out His truth today all over the earth. He has seven thousand unbowed to Baal, and they are like river bed conduits of His living water. Those who thirst will drink. The rest will with parched throats persist in scratching moisture out of broken cisterns of the waters of the past, repositories of the damp shadows of truth.

For God is doing a new thing in the earth, a thing that men will not believe though God Himself tells them. For He has already, even though He has blinded all but the remnant, the elect. But they will prepare and do and put on these additions to the “faith once delivered to the saints.”   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add to Virtue Knowledge–The Additions to Your Faith

We have seen that some Christians are called to “go on unto perfection.”  These are the elect, the ones chosen by God to be “a kind of first fruits” of His glory.  They are the trailblazers into that spiritual country of immortality and will serve as princes and princesses in God’s soon coming kingdom that will subdue all of man’s governments and will fill the whole earth.

We have seen that these sons and daughters of God will not be content with “playing church,” but will forge ahead in study and prayer, searching for that hidden wisdom of God.  They are the ones who are searching for “a better [country], that is, an heavenly” one.  They are on a quest to enter into the heavenly New Jerusalem that will come down here to earth and will be the habitation of immortals, who are those who have spiritually matured.

They will understand that to fully partake of the “divine nature,” they will have to go beyond that initial flush of faith we Christians have all experienced.  These will see that the full spiritual maturity  calls for additions to their faith.  Just possessing in one’s heart a strong conviction that God is real and working in one’s life is not the nutrient that will foster the spiritual growth, which leads to the harvest called “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

And make no mistake, brethren, glorification is where the elect are heading.  It is in the mind of God; it is already done in His books.  We need to embrace this truth and make the necessary sacrifices that will bring about this maturity.

We have seen that in order to go on with Him on this path, we must add certain spiritual attributes to our faith.  Peter tells us to “add to your faith virtue,” which is that quality that helps us be proactive and not passive in this walk.  Virtue is that warlike energy that takes the fight to the enemy.  It gets us off the couch and into the fray.  It is the very strength and power of God’s Spirit [For more see these two articles   https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/add-to-your-faith-virtue-gods-strength-and-power-2-peter-1-5/   https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/the-additions-to-your-faith-prerequisites-of-receiving-immortality/ ].

Adding knowledge to virtue

The second addition to the faith is adding knowledge to virtue.  God does not want us running out there cutting and slashing with the “sword of the Spirit” at just any old thing that pops up.  Nor does He want us to be gullible and believe everything we hear about God.  We must have knowledge added to the zeal.

Many “little children” of God, energized with their new found faith, want to get out there and change the world.  So they rush out and tell everyone they meet about their experiences in God.  This universal reaction comes out of a heart that means well.  But like Paul says, “They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10: 2).

There is a “knowledge” then that young Christians need to be in agreement with.  If we strike out on our new found Christian walk without this knowledge that the apostle refers to, then we will wander off onto a path that detours us away from the road to the celestial city.

Some detours

What are some of these detours?  They are imaginations; they are false teachings about the plan and purpose of God.  The apostles and prophets continuously warn us about not believing false teachers and preachers.

One detour takes an unsuspecting young Christian to “Neverland.”  It is the mythical concept that just accepting Christ grants us a ticket to heaven and not to the bad place.  They are promised by their teachers that they will go to heaven and stay in heaven forever with God.  That’s about it.  They are never told that Christ is coming back here to earth–what a stupendous event!  And He is bringing all the dead in Christ with Him.  They have never considered it.  And what about those who are alive when He touches down on the Mount of Olives?  What happens to His followers who are alive?  And what happens to the people who survive the Great Tribulation Period?  What happens to them here on earth?  All this never enters their minds.

Another detour that hinders Christian growth is the false promise of a rapture.  Total escapism.  Not going to happen.  But people rush out in their zeal and believe this because it sounds good and logical.  Yet, they never study it out and prove it one way or another to themselves.  It is tricky.  They have a zeal for God, “but not according to knowledge” [for more on this go here https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/?s=rapture ].

So what is this knowledge Peter’s talking about?

To answer that question, we must be prepared to dig deep into the scriptures of truth.  Knowledge is a noun translated from the Greek word gnosis (#1108) meaning “knowledge.”  We see it in the English words “diagnosis” and “prognosis.”  The verb form of this word (#1107; #1097) means “to make known.”  So the noun means “that which is made known.”

But there is a lot of “knowledges” out there.  Which knowledge is he talking about?

So what has been made known?  What exactly is this knowledge that the apostles were so keen on?  First, God has “made known” to us through Christ’s resurrection the “ways of life,” as in the path we will take to arrive at a state of immortality or everlasting life.  Literally.  Not “crystal blue persuasion,” “floating around heaven all day.”  No.  God has given us the knowledge on how to obtain immortality.  That is how big this concept is.  There is a true way into His kingdom/government as His elect sons and daughters.  We can see this in the book of Acts where Peter is quoting David, “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life” (2: 28).

Christ’s resurrection, where His earthly body did not remain in the grave–this is our hope, that as He promised, we, too, can receive immortality.  But there is so much of this knowledge to learn.  True knowledge of how we will attain immortality does not come willy-nilly.  If our earthly jobs require a modicum of seriousness and sobriety to master and perform, how much more does our training to be His fellow rulers in His kingdom?

After all, Christ promises this to some: “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also over came, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Rev. 3: 21).  You mean some of us will literally sit on the throne with Christ?  Somebody will, and He said, Whosoever will may come.  Kings and queens sit on thrones.  But to be sitting on the one and only throne designed by and for immortals.  That’s getting out there.  Need more faith?  Maybe we need  these additions to the faith, to grow it, to feed it, to enlarge and strengthen it.

What else is God “making known” to us?  “That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory.”  Some human beings that He calls “the vessels of mercy” He has already prepared to receive “glory.”

Nothing more glorious than everlasting life.  The “glory that He has for us is immortality.  He is making known this knowledge of these true spiritual riches that some will be glorified with Him at the end of this age!  That is what He is making known right now (Rom. 9: 23).

He is making known the mystery of His will.  “That God would make known what is the riches of the gloryof this mystery…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory…even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations but now is made manifest to his saints (Col. 1: 27, 26).

This “glory” spoken of here is spelled out in Romans 8: 18-31.  It speaks of the adoption, where we mortals shall be redeemed by God through resurrection and receive a new spiritual body that cannot die like this earthly body that is physically corruptible.  God gave us a destiny unto this glorious state beforehand, that we would “be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (v. 29).  And if we are, indeed, one whom He has predestinated, then He has called us, justified us, and He has also glorified us (v. 30).  This “glorification” is all about receiving an immortal spiritual body.  [Read more in I Cor. 15  and here: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/the-high-calling-of-god/ ].

There is so much more that He has “made known” to His children.  We are told to add this knowledge of His plan and purpose to the virtue/zeal and on to the faith.  Adding knowledge then is all about first learning His true plan and promises and incorporating them into our thinking.  This takes true teachings, much study, and much communication with our Savior.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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We Are All “Damaged Goods”–On Becoming a Fountain of Mercy

Very rarely will we ever come to know someone so intimately that they would reveal their innermost darkest secrets with us.  When it does happen, they tell us about how they were hurt as a child in some way.

Digging a little deeper into the human psyche, we will come to the conclusion that all of us are damaged goods.  Everyone has been either molested, abused–either sexually, mentally, emotionally, or physically–lied to, or used in some nefarious way where our trust in mankind and his institutions have left us cold and bitter.

So knowing that we are all damaged goods, we can now look at everyone differently–not as an adversary, but as someone needing love and understanding.  They are not just someone else to use, but as another human being who needs consolation, compassion, healing, and redemption.  For only love from above can buy back the lost and wasted years of fear and doubt and dismay in this vexing world.  Only agape love can lay down its life for its friends.  Only Christ’s love in us can heal the pains and hurts of an injured heart–injured by another lost and injured soul.

But we, with God’s help, can end the vicious cycle of hurt.  We can become a part of the solution and not the problem anymore–the problem of being the victim.  We can join up with Him and be a part of Christ’s cadre, His body of people with new hearts, forgiving and loving and understanding hearts that can conquer all pain and suffering and stand with Christ as one of His elect in the new kingdom of love that He is bringing to this earth.

But the catch is that it starts with us to whom He has revealed His plan and purpose to–you and me.  Right here.  Right now.  A rebirth of mercy one toward another.  Mercy from on high trickling down through us–mercy that is born from the knowledge that every single one of us walking around today–right there in our town, in our neighborhood, in our city, and, yes, even on our facebook list of friends–everyone is damaged goods–injured spiritually in some way, vulnerable, though few would admit it.  And we all have the same need, which is God’s love–a love from above that will only distil like dew upon this earth through the mercy and compassion we show toward each other.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Letter to the Future Sons and Daughters of God–You Are Not Alone

Yes, we do have a calling–a calling that sets us apart.  It is a calling from God that makes us at times feel lonely, whether we are sitting in a megachurch with its tens of thousands or in our room longing for someone to fellowship with.

But wherever we reside, the more light that He gives us, the darker it gets around us.  We try to share a revelation that we know is from God, and it is either rejected or attempts are made by our Christian brethren to redirect our thinking because they are so sure that it can’t be right because that revelation just does not fit the standard operating procedures of our denomination/fellowship/church.

And so it is a lonely walk, this walk with the invisible Father–this walk to sonship “until Christ be formed in you” (Gal. 4: 19).  But, of course, we are never alone, as long as we look after the Spirit (John 8: 29).

This road to immortal kingship that we have been called to walk is not easy.  Christ warned us to “count the cost,” to see if we are made of the right stuff for this difficult journey (Luke 14: 28).  It is not easy.  And few of the masses of humanity will find it.  The Master taught us to “enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7: 13-14).

The Wide Gate That Leads to Destruction

Some will read that passage in Matthew 7 and stop after verse 14.  But the real revelation comes in the next verse.  Christ shows us who is opening up the wide gate that is swallowing up Christians by the hundreds of millions.  In the very next breath after saying few will find this way of truth, He warns, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (v. 15).  Go to where the many are entering through the wide gate–where the massive numbers of professing Christians are, and you’ll find that they are being led by false prophets and teachers, who come with a peaceful message about Christ that seems harmless enough.  However, they will eat you up like a wolf with the end product of their teachings leading the masses to destruction.

Few are going to find this way of truth.  So few, in fact, that the prophets of old thought at times that they were the only ones following “the true way.”  Elijah, who was hunted down like an animal in the wild, cried in desperation, “Yahweh, they have killed your prophets and have digged down your altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.”  To which God replied, “I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal” (Rom. 11: 3-4).

There are just a few of us, but we are not alone.  Millions will be saved and will walk as babes and children of God in His soon coming kingdom.  But there will be but a few thousand who will “walk with Him in white”–who will “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes” (Rev. 14).  Even though we are few and scattered to the four corners of the earth, the encouraging part in these latter days before He returns is that we have the internet.  He did say that “knowledge shall increase.”  We can communicate with brethren from around the world instantaneously.

Many of us have already experienced some things and have come out of churchianity.  I rejoice with you and encourage you to continue your walk.  Prove all things out–old things that you were taught back in the day about God, and also prove out new things that are introduced to you or that you get on your own.  Prove out through prayer and study both things you believe to be the truth and also things you don’t believe to be the truth.

Remember: If some are not receiving any new truth, then one of two things is happening.  Either they have all truth already and “have need of nothing”– or the Spirit is not guiding them into all truth.  I doubt that the former is true.  So that leaves some in the terrible position of God not fulfilling John 16: 13 in their  lives:  “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth.”

Christ is our guide on this quest for the Ultimate Truth, and with Him we are not alone.  KWH

“God’s Elect”–His Body, His Chosen, His Church

     God’s church is His elect, His “chosen ones.”  To those drenched in humanism, that will sound elitist and unacceptable, for humans do the choosing in this world.

     But the Scriptures of truth say otherwise.  They speak of an “election”–one not in which we choose or elect, but one in which God chooses those whom He wants to reside in.  And this truth goes against the grain of unsurrendered modernism.

          The words “elect” and “chosen” are translated from the same Greek word eklektos (Strong’s # G1588); its root word means “to pick out, to choose.” 

     These “chosen ones” are called “God’s elect.”  And these play a big role during these last days.  But who are they exactly?

Saints, Faithful Brethren, Elect of God

     The apostle Paul shows us a clear picture of them in the book of Colossians.  He writes “to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ” (1:2).  They are also fruitful Christians (v. 6).  They have “love in the Spirit” (v. 8).  Paul confirms their “redemption through His blood” and includes them as being members of Christ’s “body, the church” (v. 18). 

     Paul, as their minister, is so close to them as Christian brethren, that he shares an astounding revelation from God.  He declares to them “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints…which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (1: 25-27). 

     Paul continues to share precious truths to the Colossians in ch. 2.  He has called them saints, the body of Christ, and the church.  And in lieu of all this, he admonishes them: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering” (3: 12). 

      Being Christ’s body and church, and having His Spirit makes you His elect, Paul is telling them.   And because He dwells in you, you are the “elect of God.”  Or, because you are the “elect of God,” He dwells in you.  Here we see the Colossians called saints, the body of Christ, the church, and the God’s elect–or His chosen. 

“I Have Chosen You”

     Speaking to His disciples, Christ says, “Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit…” (John 15: 16).  The word “chosen” here is from the same word translated “elect.”  You are my elect, He is saying, my chosen ones that will bear the spiritual fruit, bearing witness that my Spirit is in you.

     Later in that sequence, Christ prays for those disciples, and “for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they may be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee” (John 17:20-21).  Oneness–the Spirit of God in His chosen ones as the Father is in Christ. 

     That’s us, brothers and sisters.  We have believed on Christ through the words written down by His very disciples whom He prayed for.  We are His body, His church, His elect, His chosen.  

     So when we see “the elect” spoken of in the scriptures, know that it is His church, His body of believers.  And we see “the elect” on earth during the Tribulation Period (See “No Pre-Tribulation Rapture” at  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/08/05/no-pre-tribulation-rapture-gods-elect-on-earth-during-tribulation/ ).           Kenneth Wayne Hancock