Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Thanks for tuning in to the Power Walk Ministries broadcast with Pastor Paul Cannings. The impossible is our subject today on this broadcast. How do we function when we're faced with impossible situations in our lives? Taking us to the book of Luke, chapter 17, and Jesus's words to his disciples about faith, Pastor Cannings shares how we too can stay strong and productive in impossible situations. Let's listen as he brings this message titled Impossibility.

Dr. Paul Cannings: Could you imagine being in a time of Christ and he looks at you and he says to you, "Go into all the world"? To us, looking at our times—airplanes, ships, all these different things, maps—for some people having mission support, all these different things taking place, you would see that as, "Okay, let's go into all the world because we are in all the world every day." Television, radio, all these different things are taking us all around the world, so to us it's like going to the world.

But think about it for a minute in their time. In their time, Jesus Christ is telling them, "Go into all the world." Where's the map? Where's the money bag? Peter is so broke a few chapters down he would say, "Silver and gold have I none." No chariots came out of the sky. We have backup chariots so you can keep going as the horses get tired? You could just flip them out and that way you could go into all the world? Nothing.

Could you imagine being told to go into all the world and he's saying Judea? Judea just nailed him to the cross. Samaria? What? We built a road around Samaria. We don't go to Samaria. And then the uttermost parts of the world? We are Jews, we don't interact with Gentiles. You go down to the further part of Acts, you would see him having to convince them to go to Cornelius's house by telling him to go up on the rooftop and asking, "What do you eat?"

To us, going into all the world means we need to be involved in missions or support missions in our church. It's not like that for them. It was an impossible situation he told them to do. But it's because he had grown them to the point to get them to see impossible situations that you don't have them going, "Hey, don't leave right now, we don't know how to do this." You never got that response from them.

They obeyed him. They went and waited for the Holy Spirit to come into the room and empower them to do ministry and they went about doing ministry aggressively. They just did it. What got them there? You can't say they were always there. The time when Jesus Christ is saying he's going to die, they ran because they were struggling with unbelief.

Where Jesus Christ is on the cross, they're seeing that these Sanhedrin folks have conquered him. Wait a minute. This is a man that when they tried to stone him, he disappeared. This is a person who did miracle after miracle, people getting up from the grave after four days. He did the impossible.

Jesus Christ took a two-day journey to get to where they were, knowing that he's going to do this in four days. He took four days to make a two-day journey. They saw how powerful Jesus Christ is—walking on water, doing these great things. But when it became their turn to actually put what they see as something that he could empower them to do, they left him.

So these people had to grow. They had to come to a point in time when he says this to them in Acts chapter 1:8, they never argued. They went forward. What got them there for the things that are impossible to do, the things that go against cultural norms, the things that go against how I can financially achieve a goal?

You have to pay for a ship ride. You have to deal with the fact that the church in Jerusalem is going to end up being a poor church when it started out being a well-to-do church in the sense that they had thousands of people as a part of that church. The other churches had to support the church in Jerusalem because of Paul that scattered everybody.

When you come to these scenarios, you're dealing with men who are faced with an impossible task to do. How do we function when our life is faced with impossibilities? When you're dealing with a marriage that seems impossible? You've met, you've counseled, you've gone to this, you've done this, you've even taken marriage retreats and come back to the same thing.

How do you deal with kids who are telling you they're not going to turn their lives over to God no matter what you say? They seem to have gone to college and gotten off the deep end and they love you, but they're not going to love the God you serve and it seems impossible. How do you deal with life when health issues are there that makes it so hard to serve God?

It takes a lot of work to get up to go about doing the things just of the day, to then turn around and say, "I need to invest time serving God?" I'll just write a check. And God is still saying, "You have a spiritual gift and you're still alive." How do we serve him? Life sometimes places us in these scenarios that many people are in around the world, and that is impossible scenarios.

And God's word is still saying, "Do this." As I challenge the church that I pastor, I understand how difficult this could be. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that when there's disease, when there's problems—he's literally telling us in Matthew that these times are coming, so I don't know why we're acting like this is a surprise. He's telling us it's coming. He's telling us it's going to be hard.

He's telling us it's going to be difficult. No matter what we are faced with, he's telling us these things. When we are faced with all this, he never says, "Don't have church when you're faced with these particular situations when they come." He doesn't say that. So the question becomes, since it's a heavily technological age we're in, how do we do church when everything is saying go home?

Since he's saying in these times people's love for him will grow cold, that is what we're going to spend time on this week. How do we face impossible situations? Because we are facing situations that may never get better. The Bible is saying that these times are here, and they're here to stay. And it's going to get worse. And many people's obedience to God, many people's love for God, many people's worship for God will wane thin.

How do we stay strong when life drives us in impossible situations? Well, let's take a dive into Luke chapter 17 this week to get to this core issue so that we are productive when life is impossible to deal with. What is the mindset that we need to follow? Jesus Christ gives them a scenario here to start this off to get them going that is just totally against what they believe as a culture. He just really messed them up in what he's going to say.

What he says here in Luke chapter 17 in verse 3, he says, "Take heed to yourselves. If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him." We could have used the word offend, but he said trespass, meaning the person purposely sinned against you. They knew what to do, they chose not to do it, didn't care to do it, and went against you. So this is an offense that is purposeful and willful against you.

He says rebuke him, and if he repent, forgive him. In other words, confront him. Matthew chapter 18:15-18 says you have to confront them. Confront them, but he tells us the attitude in which we confront them in Galatians chapter 6. But what he says here totally messes up what they believe in their culture. Here is what he says: "And if he trespass against thee seven times." What? He just messed them up.

The law is a conditional law in this time. Deuteronomy chapter 28 says if you obey me, you're blessed; if you disobey me, you're cursed. Forgiveness is not a big deal in their culture. They would say you forgive a person three times. That's what they would normally have as an allowance. Since God holds them to doing what he says, forgiveness is there—you go down to the temple, you take an animal, you do these different things, and you are forgiven of your sins.

Even finding God's grace and mercy took a lot of effort. So it is not something a person does casually and walks off. People do that all the time: "God forgive me," and keep going. That's not the way it was. It was, "I am sincere in my commitment to find your forgiveness and your mercy and your grace and I'm sincerely doing it." That's why I'm putting in the effort.

To forgive the person—which it needs to be today—we sometimes are not sincere. But they were sincere. They had to be with all the work that went into it. So they felt that when they did three times, it was seriously wonderful and gracious and kind for the person to experience three times that they will forgive them after rebuking them.

Jesus Christ pushes them further because Peter even thought when he was responding to this whole issue of forgiveness and knowing it's three times in his culture, in Matthew chapter 18, to say seven times. Peter said, "Seven times." Christ says, "No, let's do seventy times seven." The disciples say, "What? Are you serious? You want this person to keep sinning against me and as long as they keep coming to me and saying they're sorry and they ask for forgiveness, you are telling me to keep forgiving them?"

Rebuke them, but you keep forgiving them? Are you serious right now? They're literally looking at Jesus Christ and saying that is impossible. I don't have the ability, I don't have the capacity, I don't have the mental fortitude. Forgiveness is to remove a debt owed. A person can't remove the debt because it's an incident that has already taken place. It's already done.

When it's purposeful, they may not want to do anything about it until they've thought about it for a while. So the Bible is saying it's a debt owed that only the person that the debt is owed to could remove the debt. Therefore, it's on the person who is offended to forgive because the debt is owed. The Bible is saying it's on you to do this.

And I'm saying keep doing it as long as the person sincerely comes back to you and asks for forgiveness. Because they sincerely do that, you have to keep removing the debt owed. For them, that is impossible to do. I can't do it. And the apostles said unto him, "Increase our faith." I like that response. I can't do that, so increase my faith to do it because that is exactly what Christ is willing to do.

Watch what he's saying in this passage. The apostles asked that—the ones that are going into all the world. The world's got to deal with Cornelius. The ones that have to go and deal with a demon-possessed girl that is fortune telling and the person now wants to buy this power. They've got to deal with all this crazy stuff. They've got to deal with Paul's case; he is beaten and shipwrecked and all these things. Increase our faith.

I don't know what you're facing today. It may just be the fear of going back to church. It could be the fear of going back to work. It could be the fear of dealing with the consequences of what you've done. And you think it's impossible to be able to go and deal with those things emotionally after the person has damaged and damaged you by what they have done. Christ says he can increase your faith.

Let's stay focused as we grow through this week to deal with what is impossible to do. Our own ability, our own mental capacity is impossible. Let's find out how that faith could be increased. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): The disciples said, "Increase our faith." We too can ask God to increase our faith. Now, if you have questions about faith in God and what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus, then please call us at 281-260-7402. That's 281-260-7402. To get a copy of this message series or for other resources, visit us online at powerwalkministries.org.

Dr. Paul Cannings: A few years ago, some friends of mine, pastor friends, came to me and challenged me to start Power Walk. And by faith, we stepped out. Yes folks, God has grown it, he's developed it because of the sacrifices we are willing to make. But in the midst of it, we recognize it costs and it would be good for us to develop partners who would share in this ministry so that it reaches the potential God has for it.

We'd love for you to look at our website, www.powerwalkministries.org. See all the things that we are seeking to do for the glory of God. Become our partner and be a part of what God is doing. I know God will bless you for your sacrifice.

Guest (Male): That's powerwalkministries.org. And when you're there, look for Pastor Cannings's daily devotional, Power Up with Jesus, to help you grow in your faith. Also, will you prayerfully consider becoming a Power Walk partner to help us fulfill our mission to share the gospel and equip believers?

To make a one-time donation or ongoing contribution, log on to powerwalkministries.org. If you'd prefer our mailing address, it is P.O. Box 920517, Houston, Texas 772092. And as we close, remember, you too can face the impossible situations by seeking God's strength and wisdom daily and developing the mindset of Christ.