We Gotta Know Before We Go and Do His Will

Now is the time that God is pouring forth deeper knowledge into thirsty ears and hungry hearts. We know that we are living in the time of the end. Signs of the end time are everywhere. The most glaring sign happened in 1948 when the fig tree nation of Israel was restored in the land of Palestine ( Fig Tree Is the Sign of Christ’s Return–Rapture Debunked | Immortality Road (wordpress.com). Gaining knowledge of His deeper truths always comes first, and then the doing comes.

We have to know before we go and do His will. We cannot properly do His bidding if we do not have knowledge of it. Simply put, we must know his will before being able to do it. A major theme of God’s will is for His followers to “purge out the old leaven.” Get rid of the old false concepts, doctrines, and teachings about God, and learn his deeper way. This cannot be done without His knowledge and ways.

How is any knowledge transferred from one to another? In grammar school we received knowledge from teachers. In Sunday school we received knowledge from teachers. Is it such a grand mystery that now as we earnestly desire to grow in the Spirit, that we should have teachers that share the “deep things of God”? Teachers led by the Spirit?

“But God has revealed them [His mysteries] unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God” (I Cor. 2: 7, 10).

The Gifts of the Spirit

The first two gifts of the Spirit are “the word of wisdom” and the “word of knowledge (I Cor. 12:8). The Spirit first gives wisdom and knowledge. Then He gives miracles done through us as He did through Paul, Peter and John. But man has it backwards. He accepts Christ and in a month or two sets out to perform full blown miracles of healing before ever receiving wisdom and knowledge.

God’s children receive grace and truth from Him. God will put them in contact with one of His offices who knows the way. The Spirit will supply through him what the seeker wants. Truth will flow out of him as the Spirit leads.  

This is a description of God’s office of teacher. The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are the fivefold ministry of the Spirit. These five offices are God’s gift to His called-out-ones, His body, His church, His ecclesia (Eph. 4:11).

They are called and chosen by the Master to accomplish these specific tasks: “the perfecting [the maturing] of the brothers and sisters; [they are] for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [spiritually mature] man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” They will serve Christ in this capacity “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”(Eph. 4:12-13 KJV & NIV).

This knowledge about God’s purpose and plan, and His five-fold-ministry offices, given to His body for their edification and maturity, is part of the “word of knowledge.” You have to know about His will, His mind, and His thoughts. After receiving knowledge, you will be able to begin to do, and by doing you begin to be what you do.

Church houses are way stations on the road to the heavenly city. That’s okay. Or you may not have found a group of believers along the way and worship God alone as it were [but you are not]. That is okay, too. God is leading and guiding you on your journey back to Him. Only one thing though. Remember this. When  you begin to yearn for the deep things, when you are hungry for the meat of the word and not just the milk, then do not quench the Spirit. For it is the Spirit leading you. Be humble as you go with Him. Trust Him to lead you into the deep pastures where very few of His sheep are grazing. He welcomes us to enter that pasture, but there is a narrow gate at the entrance.

For more on all of this request a book.

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Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Living in the “Now”–Having the Mind of Christ

Now is the only sliver of time we have to actually live the life God wants us to live.  Right now is when we really live in the Spirit.

Yesterday is but a memory of a “now” long past, an aging “now” that was already lived. The “past” is a fruitless tree for the hungry pilgrim today.

And tomorrow is a hoped for “now.” It is a dream of what a future “now” might be. But tomorrow’s promise is empty for most, for it rarely delivers our desire of what we would have the future hold. It usually does not work out as anticipated. So when “tomorrow” finally comes, it becomes “today.” It becomes a “now’ that is disappointing, for it rarely measures up to our imaginations of what it should be.

And so today’s “now” does not satisfy individuals who ponder their pasts and futures. Their “now” becomes blah. And because their present moment is not fulfilling, their minds race yet again to the past and future.

Monitor your mind for thirty minutes, and you will see it jump to thoughts of things and situations that have already occurred or things that might occur in the future.

So there is only one thing to do. Right now we should open our eyes and see the sun’s rays reflect light off of the trembling leafy mirrors of the pear tree. We must inhale the song of the boisterous blue jay clothed in myriad shades of azure. We should listen to the bubbling of a toddler’s joy, reaching down to hold their trusting hand. In a word, we should experience our own “now” with its accompanying sights and sounds and tastes and smells and touch.

It is this “now,” which is free from the fears, frustrations, regrets, and anxieties of our pasts and futures, that is the only environment in which we may hear that “still small voice” of God. He will not try to compete with the cacophony of nonsense our thoughts portray. They will drown His voice out every time. It is only the quiet mind, listening in the “now,” that He will speak to.

For prayer is not just us speaking to God, but it is a conversation. He would like to speak a word to us, too. He wants to speak to us right now, but we can’t hear Him if we are thinking about our pasts and futures.

Radio Noise

Our minds are like a radio, receiving thought-signals constantly. If we are listening to the trivial worldly signals, our lives become a worldly broadcast. If we train our minds to block the thoughts of our pasts and futures, then we quiet our minds to live in this very moment. And it is in this very moment, that God can speak to us.

Other voices speak out of our pasts and futures. When we listen to these interior monologues, we cannot hear clearly God’s transmission to us. We cannot hear the “still small voice,” nor can we hear the “voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD (Yahweh).”

As Christians, we are to “let this mind be in you that was in Christ.” He was not thinking about our pasts and futures.” We are to “arm ourselves with the same mind” as His.

Gaining the knowledge of what was in His mind is half the battle. The other half is arming ourselves with His very thoughts about His plan and purpose, free from worldly imaginations and “old leaven.” This is putting “on the whole armor of God.” And this starts with the purging of our old thoughts and replacing them with Christ’s thoughts, which can only be added in the “now.”    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Christian Growth–Additions to the Faith (Part One)

How does a Christian grow? What steps must be taken to “grow in grace”? What do we need to know and then to do, to spiritually progress to the growth God wants for us?

Somebody will say, Well, obviously you have to pray and read the Bible. But is that all there is to it? That’s a good start, but millions of well-meaning people have been uttering words to God and reading verses daily, and yet, they have not become mighty men and women of valor in God.

Will just praying and reading the Bible and going to church insure real spiritual growth? Millions sit in their weekly pews wanting to grow but remain stagnant and stunted like yellowed spindly  tomato plants, starving for rain and nourishment.

Stages to Our Spiritual Growth

To answer these questions, two major concepts must be understood. First, one must realize that there are stages to our spiritual growth. Christ taught these stages of spiritual growth in parables. In the parable of the sower the good ground (people with good and honest hearts) will bring forth fruit from the seed–some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some one hundred fold. In the parable of the seed cast into the ground, spiritual growth in the kingdom of God brings forth fruit, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” [1].

The apostles taught us about these three stages of spiritual growth. The apostle John wrote unto “children, young men, and fathers,” detailing spiritual characteristics of each level. We must recognize this reality. If we do not understand this, then we will not know how to judge ourselves and examine ourselves [2].

Thirty fold Christians are spiritual children, starting out as babes in Christ. Paul tells us how to recognize a babe in Christ. They are “dull of hearing.” They either have forgotten the “first principles of the doctrine of Christ” or were never taught them. They have need of milk and not strong meat. They are “unskilful  in the word of righteousness.” And they do not have “their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” [3].   They cannot tell the true doctrines of Christ and the false doctrines we are warned about by Christ and all of His apostles.

I am not trying to be callously critical about these. God expects us to grow up into Him. And it takes a frank look at ourselves to see where we need to change. I love the babes in Christ and want them to grow up into Him. I am merely relating what Christ and His apostles said about this growth level. We have to know about this so that we can grow and help others to grow. For it is all about His Spirit growing up in us. I mention this to substantiate this teaching about growth levels. {For much more on this subject read the articles found here:  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/spiritual-life-cycle/ ]

Most neophyte Christians are mostly alive for what they can receive from our Father. They often “ask amiss” to consume their request on their own desires for themselves. Most of the time they are asking for material things–jobs, money, houses, goods–but God already knows our earthly needs. It is the spiritual things that He is most concerned with as in “the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

The Second Thing–Discerning Both Good and Evil

The second thing that we must exercise  in order to grow is the discernment of “both good and evil.” And to discern these, one must have knowledge of what are  the true doctrines and what are the false doctrines about Christ and His plan and eternal purpose.

To bear the same spiritual powerful fruit that the early apostles did, we must purge out the old leaven false teachings that we have learned growing up on the planet.  They must be repented of and forsaken for good. For believing false concepts about Christ is the main reason young Christians don’t grow into strong, powerful men and women of God. False doctrines will stunt our growth! But to get rid of them takes courage and a love of God, despite the blow back of the foes of our own household. The clinging to traditions of men will hinder us from growing into Him [4].

One of the most damaging faults committed by young Christians is to believe that every church that they choose to go to has what is needed to help them grow and please God. The truth is that many old leaven false teachings and false concepts are taught in the denominational churches. These would include congregations that are non-denominational and yet still teach the same traditions and doctrines.

How can one know the true from the false? Christ said that you will know them by their fruits. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, He said. If they teach things that you cannot prove in the scriptures of truth, then it is suspect. We are to prove all things. Take everything that is taught to you and ask God to help you prove it out whether it is true or false. For in the end, you and I are responsible for our own walk. We cannot blame the preacher. For the Judge will say to us, Why did you not study it out and trust Me to help you in your search for truth?

For His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If what is taught to you is not helping you grow, ask God to lead you in your search. Ask Him for the Spirit of truth, and He will grant your request. Ask and it shall be given. Once the Spirit of truth abides in you, then He will lead you into all truth.

Hundreds of millions of professing Christians are languishing, caught up on the broad way that leads to destruction. They need proper instruction so that they may grow and not be those who hear the heart-breaking words our Savior told to them who claimed to have taught in His name and done many mighty things “serving” Him: Depart from Me; I never knew you [5].

After Getting Rid of False Doctrines

After we know about the growth levels in the Spirit, and after we begin to throw out the false concepts, what if God has provided for us the teachings to replace them–pure teachings that like strands of golden threads lying on a table, the Spirit of truth now begins to weave them into a golden chain that supports a spiritual locket that is filled with all the mysteries of God? Knowledge of the holy, knowledge fit for the offspring of the King, knowledge that unlocks growth for His future kings and queens?

For the way into the holiest is lighted once the old false teachings are removed. For the false doctrines about Christ spiritually blind us. Remember Paul, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, full of false doctrines, and how when he was enlightened on the road to Damascus, the scales fell away from His eyes? That is what we are talking about here. After the scales fell, then He could see into the pure teachings of Christ.

I believe that He wants to show us these true doctrines and teachings, truth necessary for us to really grow like the early apostles.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1. Mark 4: 14-20, 26-29

2. I John 2: 13

3. Hebrews 5: 11-14

4. https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/warning-beware-of-mans-traditions-about-christ/

What Prevents Christian Growth–The Deceitfulness of Sin

5. Matt. 7: 23

“Today, If You Will Hear His Voice”–The Time Portal to His Presence

An opening in time–a portal to enter into God’s presence, to be near Him, enough to hear His voice.

So, we ask again, What if God, earnestly desiring to commune with us, has provided a way for us to get into a spiritual place where He would speak audibly to us? What if we could get all of our spiritual ducks in a row and thereby position ourselves to enter His time portal so that we could literally have a conversation with the Creator? He did say that all things are possible to him that believes.

What if, among His many promises to us, there is the possibility that we could get very close to Him, that we could hear His voice and even share a meal together, as we see in Rev. 3.  What if He has already created a window of time that opens on a regular basis, a timeframe where, if we can believe it, He will meet us there, after we have met certain criteria that He has set for our holiness?

God has provided this time portal, and it swings open every seven days. It is called the Sabbath.  And we are commanded to “keep it holy.” But the true Sabbath is like an island surrounded by the treacherous waters of man’s traditions. Every sect in the earth has their own take as to which day is the Sabbath and how to “keep it holy.”

Keeping It Holy

First, there is nothing we can do that makes the Sabbath holy. We cannot sanctify it through anything that we do or don’t do. We must realize that the Sabbath already is holy. God has already set it apart and hallowed it (Ex. 20: 11).

God created it and sanctified it for man, as Christ said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” The seventh day is not something to be served as if it were this holy thing that needs to be reverently observed–or else. The Sabbath is instead a 24 hour space in time that occurs every seven days in which the Great Spirit Creator makes His presence known with more power and clarity to those who walk with Him in truth.

God has set aside a 24 hour period each week for His people to seek Him. “Seek the LORD while He may be found” takes on more meaning in light of this. “May be found…” God gives permission to find Him during this weekly 24 hour period.

The Pharisees “kept” the Sabbath, but they did not keep it holy, for they injected ruinous teachings, traditions, and concepts about it. The actual Sabbath day of God, on which they assembled and concocted various restrictions as to what can and cannot be done, cannot be sanctified by us and our actions.

It is already made holy by its Creator. And He has set it apart from the other days of the week that we humans, “the apple of His eye,” could have a lifeline to help us get back into His presence. He made it as a space/time connector, a bridge joining us in our bodies to the spiritual dimension that He dwells in. It is His gift to us–a time to peer into spiritual truths, a time for His Spirit to come down and try out His house, which is us–a time for God and us to rest in each other, after we have ceased from working for our self and rest from the sensation of it being us that is still in the picture.

For it is belief in the death of self, our dying with Christ on the cross (Rom. 6: 1-6), and the belief that He now lives within us in a new heart, that enables us to finally “enter into His rest.” “For he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His.” Our own works were the acts of sinning, breaking God’s law. When we die with Christ, be buried with Him, and then through faith in the operation of God that raised Him from the dead, we too cease from our old works done by our old selves. “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts,” (Gal. 5: 24, the “flesh” here being the old sinful carnal nature of man we are born into).

The final crucifixion, the once and for all putting to death of our old sinful nature–that is what we must believe. That is the first step in getting right, in getting our spiritual ducks in a row, that we may enter into His rest, having stopped the insanity of the sin we were bound with.”

For God limits a certain day for special things to happen between Him and His people. That space in time, that portal still is there for some to enter into (Heb. 4: 1-11).  “To day if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” That day is the Sabbath. And if we will soften our hearts with belief in the crucifixion of sin and faith that He has given us a new heart and spirit, then we will enter into His rest, ceasing from our old sins.

For it was the sin of His people that He was grieved with in the wilderness. And they could not enter into His rest because of it. But now, if we do not harden our hearts toward Him and just believe Him that the sin is gone, gone, gone–then we can enter into His rest. For “here remains a rest (a sabbatismos–a keeping of the Sabbath in the Greek) to the people of God” (Heb 4: 9).

So Which Day Is It?

Many traditions of men abound as to when is the Sabbath. Hundreds of millions of Moslems believe that the Sabbath takes place from sundown  Thursday to sundown Friday. The followers of Judaism and several Christian denominations believe that it starts at sundown Friday and ends on sundown Saturday. Then you have billions of Christians who believe that the Sabbath has been changed, replacing it with Sunday as the holy day of God.

Studying the scriptures will give you the answer as to which day is the true Sabbath. Finding this treasure of knowledge is left up to us all. Seek and you shall find; knock and the door shall be opened; ask, and it shall be given, says our Master Christ. We all must prove it out, taking His word and the common sense that He has given us, being prepared to receive the answer, having no pre-conceived imaginations.

To benefit from this communion with God on His Sabbath, we must have erroneous concepts about Him and His plan straightened out and corrected. To be counted as a vessel for Him to pour Himself into, especially on His Sabbath, we must be holy. We must “purge out the old leaven that the lump may be holy.”

But that opens up another can of worms.  What is the old leaven, and how do we purge it out?    Kenneth Wayne Hancock      {If you haven’t visited my website Immortality Road, please do. There you will find over 300 articles and books exploring the “unsearchable riches of Christ,” all written for you, the elect sons and daughters of God, the future rulers with Christ in His soon coming kingdom
https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com }

Peace and the Mind of God

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Parable of the Leaven Hidden by the Woman

Things in this world are not what they seem.  Our perception, or lack thereof, causes us to see only what we have been told was there.  So we only see what we expect to see.  The rest of what really is available to see lays dormant to the eye.  It waits for someone to perceive what was there all along.

Take reading the Bible, for instance.  Every person who reads it, reads it through a matrix of past teachings and doctrines that they sat under, making it difficult to see it with fresh eyes.  Every denomination has pet doctrines that serve as a prism for their followers to see through.

It is the “leaven that the woman took and hid in three measures of meal” (Mt 13:33).  “Leaven” in scripture is hypocrisy.  “Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).  The key word here is “to hide.”  Leaven is hid during the kingdom of heaven years after the resurrection and ascension.  It is hid in the food that the followers of the Savior are to eat for their spiritual sustenance.  Leaven is hid through false teachings about God.

False Doctrines Multiply

And “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Gal 5:9).  A little false doctrine multiplies like a bit of yeast in a lump of bread.  It soon spreads throughout the whole lump of dough.    That is what the false religious system, symbolized as the “woman,” has done.  Their false teachings cloud the truth so that the truth cannot be seen.  They hide the truth with smoke and mirrors and spread confusion and a false sense of security.  The Savior in the next verse after His warning about the leaven of hypocrisy says, “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.”  False teachings about God hide the truth from the eyes of casual onlookers.

You mean things really are covered up where the average person can’t see them?  Yes, according to the Messiah.    We are doctrinally to partake of the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” Paul says.  That would then make leaven insincerity and falsehoods.  Bread is a symbol for sustenance.  “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”  So leavened bread, spiritually speaking, is not the true word of God, but another doctrine.

Many say, “Doctrine is not the important.  Just loving Jesus and each other is the important thing.”  This is some of the old leaven we are to purge out.  The apostle John was strong on the importance of sound doctrine.  “Whosoever transgresses and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, has not God.  He that abides in the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.”  Doctrine is translated from a Greek word that simply means “instruction.”  We, then, are to abide, or to continue in the teachings and instruction of Christ, the Messiah.  If we do not continue in them, then we “have not God,” according to the apostle John.

That is how important the doctrine of God is.  But this takes us full circle to this dilemma: What is the teaching/instruction/doctrine of the Savior?  If we have been eating of a tainted, leavened bread that seems to be truth, but is actually hiding the truth as seen above, then how will we be able to see the truth?

It is here that many will balk.  They will think in their hearts that the old wine is better; the new wine we can’t trust because it is new. “I already know the truth.  I’m set.  Many will go on their way and not delve any deeper into this area.

But wait!  Don’t throw this aside! I want to prove to you that there are things hidden right in your own Bibles that you have read a hundred times or more and never saw.  How can I say this with conviction?  Because I just experienced a profound revelation of truth in the Bible—a truth that was always there in black and white—literally there, but I had never seen it.

I was reading Paul’s writings in I Corinthians 10:4-9—what he said about the children of Israel in the wilderness.  “And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”  A footnote loomed out at me on the word “followed.”  It said, “that went with them.”  In other words, “They drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them…”  The children of Israel drank in the words of Christ, for He went along with them on their journey in the wilderness.

This intrigued me, so I turned to Exodus 17 to read about this.  We have all heard of the story of the miracle of Moses smiting the rock and water coming out to quench the thirst of the people.  In that passage, the children of Israel chided Moses for bringing them out “to cause us to die of thirst.”  Moses then cried to YHWH and YHWH responded by saying,  “And Yahweh said unto Moses, Go on before the people and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink.  And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel” (Ex 17:5-6).  Okay.  Moses smites the rock and water comes out of it. A great miracle, indeed, but we have all read this passage many times.  What’s new?

Go back to where Yahweh is speaking, “Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb…” I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb! Yahweh stated here that he was about to stand on the very rock that Moses was to smite.  Picture it!  God Almighty, in His glorified human form, the one He spoke through in the Garden of Eden to Adam and Eve, the one who appeared to the patriarchs and prophets—Yahweh said that He will stand on that rock that Moses would smite for water, and He would stand there in the sight of Moses and the elders of Israel.  And Paul, getting the revelation of this wrote that the children of Israel saw and heard Christ; they drank for that spiritual Rock that went with them through the wilderness, and that Rock was Christ.  The Anointed One was there in the wilderness.  He is the arms, the legs, the body of the invisible God, Yahweh.  Yahshua is the “expressed image of the invisible God.”  When Yahweh said, “I will stand on the rock,” He would use His glorified form, Immanuel.   Invisible Yahweh poured fully into His glorified form standing there on that rock that Moses struck!  What a sight!  What a glorious moment in the history of this world.  The children of Israel had no excuse for acting the way they did, for He went with them and stood before them, His feet above where the water was gushing out!

I never saw that before.  I have never heard this or read this before.  This revelation was a complete utter gift that God gave to me for no merit of my own.  I share this so that, yes, others may see the glorious appearing of the Savior in Moses’ day.  But more importantly, I share this so that we all can see that there is more to all of this truth than what we first thought.  It is the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”  We all have not even scratched the surface.  His works are so grand and glorious that John said that “if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25).

Consequently, we must remain open to new revelation.  We must open our minds and hearts and pray that God would lift the fog of old leaven teachings that conceal and hide the truth of what God is doing and will do in the earth shortly.

THERE IS MORE! The old teachings of the old denominations won’t get the job done in this day.  God is doing something new in the earth.  He is calling forth a group of men and women who will remain open to new revelations.  He said, “Behold, I make all things new.”  That’s a “new covenant…a new heart…new wine…new bottles…new testament…new cloth…new commandment…new doctrine…new creature…all things are become new…a new man…new creature…a new and living way…new heavens…a new earth…a new name…a new song…and a new Jerusalem.”

If there is nothing new in our spiritual life, then we are missing out on God’s work in the earth.  And He will do all of this as He restores all things that He spoke through His prophets since the world began.  What a God!  KWH

Purge Out the Old Leaven–To Become the Sons and Daughters of God

We have become the princes and princesses of God the King by our new spiritual birth.  We are in training to assume royal duties with Him upon His return to earth.

What should we be doing to get ready for this great responsibility?  We are admonished to “purge out the old leaven that the lump may be holy” (I Corinthians 5:7).

Leaven?  What does that mean?  Look.  Christ is the “bread of life.”  We have received His Spirit, and it is “no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.”  Therefore, we as His body are the “bread of life,” too, because of His presence within us.  But we come into this new life with some old concepts about God and the affairs of this world system that must be gotten rid of.  We have carried over in our thinking old doctrines, beliefs, traditions, and concepts.

Unleavened bread is “sincerity and truth” (I Cor. 5:8).  So, “leaven” must be insincerity and falsehoods.  Christ Himself told us to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).  Yes, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”  The Pharisees were the religious leaders, and Herod was the political leader back in that day.  They are symbols of religious and political leaders today.  “There is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  So, Christ is telling us to beware of them in our day, too.

To “purge out” the old leaven, we must be brutally honest with ourselves and “examine ourselves.”  We must be open to new truth; if we are not open, then we must believe that we have all truth already.  And if we think that way, then it will be very difficult for the Spirit to “guide us into all truth.”

No one except Him can help us get ready to rule with Him.  It is our responsibility to study and search out true concepts and get rid of false concepts about Him and His plan and purpose.  Like the “Reverend Mr. Black” said in song, “You gotta walk that lonesome valley; you gotta walk it by yourself.  Nobody else can walk it for you.  You gotta walk it by yourself.”

We must rid our minds of false religious and political concepts and take on the “mind of Christ” in order to “make our calling and election sure” as His princes and princesses.

Christ NOT Buried on Good Friday and Raised Up on Easter Sunday

Yes, it is a shocking statement, but before you tar and feather me, let me explain.

Christ could not have been buried on Good Friday afternoon and resurrected early Easter Sunday morning because that would be only a day and a half in the tomb–36-40 hours maximum.

“So what?” some may ask.  “So what if it’s just a day and a half; it was part of three days.  The important thing is that we believe that Christ arose.”

Yes, His resurrection is extremely important.  But  Christ Himself said that we should “dig deep and build our house on the Rock”–Him.  We cannot remain superficial on this.

No Other Sign Given–Three days and Three Nights in the Tomb

Christ gave only one sign to unbelieving mankind–one sign that would point out who the true Savior is.  His own words: “There shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39-40).

But how long is a day and night?  Christ Himself said that there are “12 hours in the day” (John 11:9).   That would mean that there are 12 hours in the night.  This gives us the prophetical yardstick.  Three 12 hours days is 36 hours; three 12 hours nights equals 36 hours.  36 and 36 is 72 hours total time in the tomb, in the “heart of the earth.”

But What Difference Does It Make?

I’ll answer that question with another question.  If “Organized Christianity” can’t even get the one and only sign of the true Messiah right, then how can we trust them to teach us the deeper truths of God?

Hundreds of millions of professing Christians all over the world, many very sincere, will go to their respective church buildings and worship this Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Yet hardly any of them will realize that their pastors, priests, and bishops have taught them error and un-truths concerning their Savior Jesus Christ.  How many other falsehoods are they teaching them?

If the Catholic and Protestant Denominations can’t even get the sign of the Savior right, how many other concepts that they teach about Christ and His gospel can be trusted?  If they have this sign wrong, how many other doctrines and traditions are wrong as well?

What Is the Fruit of This Error?

I believe that they are teaching a different concept of the Savior and another gospel.  Christ said, “You will know them by their fruits.”  What is the fruit of all the studies done in all the seminaries with all their doctorates in Theology and Divinity and Philosophy?  They have Christ in the tomb 36 hours! Please.

I share this, not to be disrespectful of anyone and their worship.  All pilgrims to the Heavenly Jerusalem are at “way stations” at present.  But I’m sharing this to alert those “who have an ear to hear” to dig deep!  “Prove all things.”  Know that if this only sign of  the true Savior is off, then something is dreadfully wrong with the whole spiritual building!

I share this, not to be argumentative, but out of concern–a concern that honest seekers of God must be told the truth about this one true sign of who He is.

Yet, Organized Churchianity keeps slugging on, teaching tired old erroneous doctrines  like this one–earnestly sharing half-truths, not realizing that “a little leaven (hypocrisy and falsehoods) leaveneth the whole lump.”

Therefore, we are admonished to “purge out the old leaven that the lump may be holy.”  We, the  spiritual body of Christ, His church, are supposed to be that lump of dough that turns into the bread of life after we suffer the fiery trials of this oven-like existence here on earth.  But we have to get rid of false doctrines and false concepts before we can be that holy bread of life that is to be broken and share with those hungering after righteousness.  “Take, eat, this is my body.”  We, His body, must be holy, and getting this right is a good place to start.

A detailed biblical account of how Christ was crucified Wednesday afternoon and resurrected Saturday afternoon is found here:

http://www.giveshare.org/library/hwa/easter.html

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{I would like to know your thoughts about this subject.  Leave a comment.  If this has been enlightening, please forward it to others it can help.  Bookmark this site and come visit again.  God bless}

Purge Out the Old Leaven = Getting Rid of False Concepts

     We have become the princes and princesses of God the King by our new spiritual birth.  We are in training to assume royal duties with Him upon His return to earth.

      What should we be doing to get ready for this great responsibility?  We are admonished to “purge out the old leaven that the lump may be holy” (I Corinthians 5:7).  

     Leaven?  What does that mean?  Look.  Christ is the “bread of life.”  We have received His Spirit and it is “no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me.”  Therefore, we as His body are the “bread of life,” too, because of His presence within us.  But we come into this new life with some old concepts about God and the affairs of this world system that must be gotten rid of.  We have carried over in our thinking old doctrines, beliefs, traditions, and concepts.

     Unleavened bread is “sincerity and truth” (I Cor. 5:8).  So, “leaven” must be insincerity and falsehoods.  Christ Himself told us to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).  Yes, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod.”  The Pharisees were the religious leaders, and Herod was the political leader back in that day.  They are symbols of religious and political leaders today.  “There is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  So, Christ is telling us to beware of them in our day, too.

     To “purge out” the old leaven, we must be brutally honest with ourselves and “examine ourselves.”  We must be open to new truth; if we are not open, then we must believe that we have all truth already.  And if we think that way, then it will be very difficult for the Spirit to “guide us into all truth.”

     No one except Him can help us get ready to rule with Him.  It is our responsibility to study and search out true concepts and get rid of false concepts about Him and His plan and purpose.  Like the “Reverend Mr. Black” said in song, “You gotta walk that lonesome valley; you gotta walk it by yourself.  Nobody else can walk it for you.  You gotta walk it by yourself.” 

     We must rid our minds of false religious and political concepts and take on the “mind of Christ” in order to “make our calling and election sure” as His princes and princesses.

    

The Lord’s Supper: Empty Ritual or Metaphor for Christ’s Spiritual Body?

     Denominations have come up with a lot of hocus-pocus, mumbo jumbo, and smoke and mirrors in trying to “do the right thing” when it comes to the Lord’s Supper and Holy Communion.  The bread and wine/grape juice are consumed by church goers who cannot comprehend what is really going on in the ritual.  I say this not disparagingly of the flock or the pastors who care for them.  The problem stems from early church teachers who looked at this “after the flesh” and not “after the Spirit.”

     Christ instituted this breaking of bread and having a bit of wine or grape juice amongst His followers as a way to remember Him and what He did for us.  But the key to understanding this is to know that the “bread” and the “wine” are metaphors.  Metaphors compare one thing to something else without using “like” or “as.”

     When Christ takes the bread and says, “Take, eat; this is my body” (Matt. 26:26), He is saying that the bread they are sharing is like His body.  But not His physical fleshy body that would soon go to cross.  He’s talking about His spiritual body–us, the church!  All the members of His spiritual body, the true church, is likened to unleavened bread.  And His spiritual body, is “the fulness of Him that fills all in all” (Ephesians 1-23).

     There is no leaven in His true body of believers; it is humble and not puffed up.  It is the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”  Beware, Christ warned, “of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy” (Luke 12:1).  His bread, His spiritual body, will not have any hypocrites or false doctrines in it because they will have the Spirit of God abiding within.  And just like the unleavened bread comes out of one lump or piece, we, being many, are one spiritual body.  “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of the one bread” (I Cor. 10:17).  

     But as long as a person is looking after the flesh through a carnal mind and not looking at this memorial “after the Spirit,” confusion reigns.

     And Christ took a cup of wine and gave thanks and gave it to them and said, “Drink all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  The wine is not His blood; it is like His shed blood.  He is saying, All of you in my spiritual body have been washed in my blood.  Your sins have been totally forgiven.  You are clean now and able to walk in “a  newness of life,”  where “all things are become new.”   You are changed and are now walking in accordance with My Spirit which dwells in you now.  And I am setting up this memorial supper that when you get together and break bread and have a bit of wine or grape juice, remember these things.  Remember that you all are my temple and body.  Remember that my blood cleansed all of you equally, so you are equal.  Remember Me.

     And then He looks to the future: “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”  He’s saying, when I come back, we’ll all sit down and drink a cup and toast to the destruction of the evil world system and rejoice together that the My Government is now with men, right here on earth.  

     And the “bread” is us, His spiritual body, the sons and daughters of God.  And the “wine” represents His blood that cleansed us all and put us on His kingdom road.                          Kenneth Wayne Hancock