Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for today's Power Walk Ministries broadcast. We've just begun a new series titled Character Builders, taught by Reverend Paul Cannings, founder and president of Power Walk Ministries. How do we operate as believers in the midst of the divisiveness at so many levels being played out in our communities? Encouraging us to prioritize the will of God over our own, Dr. Cannings brings us this message titled It's All About Christ. Let's listen.

Dr. Paul Cannings: There's a lot that is going on around our world, and unfortunately, some of it is justified in what has taken place throughout the centuries. I don't say this because I'm African American or African Caribbean, but I say this because it's the truth. These are the facts. These are what's taken place. I understand that many people feel like I didn't do it, but if we're doing nothing to correct it, what's the difference?

There is a lot of frustration that is taking place. So there's different situations that have happened throughout history, but we are still the church in it. We're still people who God has called to function in it and to do so with a level of integrity that brings him glory. We can come to it and we can let the past control us, or we can come to it and recognize the past but find a process forward that brings God glory and therefore brings results that testify towards the power and the grace and the mercy of God, so that we grow through it rather than become bitter as a result of it.

That's what I'm approaching in this series here. I pray that you would walk with me through this series and not to blame any particular race for any particular thing, but just learning how as believers we should operate. And what he says here in Ephesians chapter 4, we continue today, beginning in verse 26, he literally, if you were listening yesterday, he says be angry. He says that. He says, be ye angry. Present tense, middle imperative.

What does that mean? It literally means to make it a habit to be angry, but in the process of being angry, don't become aggressive because the Spirit of God is working inside of us to bring about good results. He's been talking about the Spirit of God from chapter 1, verse 3 through 4. He talked about the Spirit of God in chapter 3, verse 14 through verse 21. He talked about the Spirit of God in chapter 4, verse 12 through 16.

He's telling us not to go back to the old man in verse 21 through verse 25. So now he's saying to us, no, we still have this spirit working inside of us, so it's passive. And then it's imperative, meaning he's commanding when we feel this emotion, when this emotion is to come inside of us, to go ahead and let it go. But he's telling us to guard it, and he's telling us how to guard it.

That's what we're going to spend our time on today, since we've addressed the whole other issue yesterday on being angry. God got angry, Jesus got angry, so there can't be anything wrong with anger in itself. It's what the anger becomes. A car is a car. It's a great instrument to get to work, whatever, but a person can take it and drive it into a crowd. It's what the driver does that makes the vehicle good or bad.

So he's saying anger is an emotion. It's what we choose to do with it that determines whether or not it becomes good or bad. He wants to tell us how to guard it since it is such a powerful emotion, since we are human and we're still in the flesh, and there's nothing good that resides in the flesh. We need to now focus on how we keep this flesh in check when we have an emotion that is very human.

He says the first thing is to not sin. We discussed that yesterday. Sin is when I willfully, because of the anger, decide to violate the word of God and let the anger rule. He says, no, the anger can't rule. The Bible says when I set my mind on the flesh in Romans chapter 8, verse 5 through 9, then it leads to death. When I set my mind on the spirit, it leads to life.

So when I'm feeling this emotion, he's saying set our minds to the spirit. How do we set our mind to the movement of God in us since we're not going back to the old man? We can now set our mind on the movement of God in us, and he's teaching us how to do that. The first thing he's saying is be angry, just like James would say. You understand anger will come, but we must be slow to speak.

He's telling us this is how we keep this anger in check. He's not saying it's not going to happen, he's saying it's going to happen. But now, how do we keep this anger in check when it does happen? James tells us to keep it in check. This is what we must do. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear. In other words, when the anger comes, he is telling us how to manage it.

We need to at least seek to understand the circumstances that are taking place so that we could develop a clear focus forward based on the word of God. You see the same thing, he says to be slow to speak. You can't hear and talk at the same time. That's what he's saying in Ephesians that becomes clamor. Clamor is two cymbals being hit together loud, like a band on a football field taking those cymbals and slamming them together.

That's what happens when we are quick to speak and not quick to hear. It becomes clamor. When it becomes clamor, the Bible is saying then nobody's listening to nobody, and as a result of that, it sometimes leads to what he's also saying in Ephesians, unwholesome words. People start saying things that are not representative of what the word of God says that they should do, so therefore they're now sinning.

All that does is give Satan a foothold. Sin is knowing what to do and I choose not to do it. So if I choose to still not do what God says and I'm persisting in that, the Bible says Satan jumps up in there. Satan decides that this is what he's going to do, and Satan causes us, like in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, to be influenced by him. And he says right here in Ephesians chapter 5, what it becomes. It becomes wrath.

Now we're throwing things because we're not slow to speak, quick to listen. We are just responding to the anger, violating the word of God. Satan jumps in there. Now there's unwholesome words. Now we have people who become full of wrath. They're throwing things. They are bombing places, burning down places, looting. That's wrath. You've taken the anger and now you've made it an action that is in violation of the word of God.

He says in verse 31, they're malicious. Now he says people are saying, okay, now I'm angry, I'm not going to cook. So let's see what you're going to do now because I know what the budget says, you can't buy nothing. Now they're malicious. Now they purposely put stuff in the food they know the person doesn't like. Malicious. Slam doors. They're now finding malicious ways of trying to get the person.

That is trying to just infuriate the situation just because I don't like what these people are doing, marching on the streets or doing things on YouTube or putting things on Facebook or saying things. So what I'm going to do is go out here and I'm going to create something that is so opposed to them, put it out there, be anonymous, and get them even more mad because I am so sick of all this stuff that they're talking about. Malicious.

The Bible says that's when Satan gets in there and he seeks to corrupt the situation and makes it worse, because that's what Satan does. He causes people to be killed and beaten, all kinds of things to come out of it. That's what Satan does. He says we cannot as believers let that kind of testimony be attached to us. We should be people who are going in the opposite direction.

How does that work? Don't forget now. He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. What is he talking about? The Holy Spirit. In Ephesians chapter 3, he explains the kind of Holy Spirit we have and what he does for us. He says in verse 16, unto the edifying of itself in love. What is coming out of this? Love. What is love? It doesn't hold a record of wrongs. What is love? It is selfless.

What is love? It is not arrogant, it is not boastful. Love conquers a multitude of sins. The Bible is saying what is love? The very nature of God is love. And a person who can love even when they're angry shows that the power of God is working in them and they don't walk in darkness. They walk in the light. They walk with a commitment to the word of God.

So he says what comes out of this is love when the Spirit of God is operating. In verse 17, he says, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that henceforth walk not as the Gentiles, as the sinners do, in the vanity of their mind, in their own way of thinking. In chapter 4, he says when we think the way the world thinks, our heart gets hard. We become malicious in the way we function.

And he tells us what that looks like in verse 17, chapter 4 on. We become hard, callous, bitter. We don't want nothing to do with God after a while. Stop telling me about the Bible, these folks did this to me. And we don't want to hear nothing of what the Bible has to say. We turn it off. The Bible says because we're now into our own futility and way of thinking.

We're not turning the Spirit on that drives us to love. In verse 17 he says of chapter 3, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord. Henceforth walk not as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind, having an understanding darkened. So how does this Spirit work then? He says in verse 16 of chapter 3, he says that he may be granted according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened.

Strengthened with the might by his Spirit in the inner man. That Christ may dwell in our hearts. What does our heart deal with? Emotions. Who's now dwelling and having a foothold rather than Satan having a foothold in anger? Christ gets a foothold. That he may be rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, length, height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasseth knowledge, that we may be filled up with the fullness of God.

He says what comes out of this is that Christ becomes more dominant in our lives. Love comes out of us. We begin to get a better understanding since the Spirit of God is to illuminate the word of God, to guide us into truth. We get a better understanding of what the word of God is saying, and now we can apply it against the emotions that we feel. And out of that, the Bible says, comes what chapter 4 is talking about in verse 32: But be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.

What comes out of this is a product that brings God glory. What happened to Christ? Hate, hate, hate. Beating, spitting, people mocking him. He submitted to his Father's will. He submitted to his Father's will. On the cross, two thieves talking bad about him on the cross. So you've got the thieves doing it, folks down below doing it, the soldiers doing it, and Jesus Christ looks at the thief when he changes his mind and says, I'll remember you in paradise.

He looks down below and says, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. I don't know what and if those words held off the judgment of God on those people or not, but Christ must have seen something, known something that caused him to say God forgive them, for they don't have your word in their heart. Forgive them for they know not what they're doing.

Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross had every reason when he has done everything right. He didn't do nothing wrong, not one day, not one moment of a day. And he blessed people with healing them. Blessed people with taking care of them. Blessed people with raising them from the dead. Every day doing powerful acts when there was no hospitals, when there was nobody around.

He constantly did what he was doing every day. But yet he's on a cross being accused of all the evil he never did. But it was about his Father's business that mattered most. And that's why he's saying stay in the Spirit. Be angry, but don't forget what the Spirit of God is doing in our lives, for our lives, for the glory of God, that will bring about the vindication.

When Christ rose from the dead, the vindication, when he sits at the right hand of the Father and all power is given to him and all his enemies are at his footstool. When those times come, we can stand knowing God is the one who fought our battle and therefore God is the one who provides us victory that deepens our faith, that keeps us focused and experience the power of God rather than the power of our anger. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Even in the midst of the chaos around the events leading to the crucifixion of Christ, Jesus never lost his perspective and stayed committed to doing the will of the Father. So let's do the same. As always, we'd like to remind you that today's lesson and many other biblical resources are available on our website at powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org.

And you can also call us at 281-260-7402. Again, that's 281-260-7402. We'd love to hear from you. And if you live in the Houston area or you're planning a visit, please join Reverend Cannings at Living Word Fellowship Church this Sunday. For church location and service times, visit lwfellowshipchurch.org. And now remember, may we allow the power of God in our hearts to heal and transform the power of the anger in our lives.