Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Power Walk Ministries broadcast. Thanks for joining us today. Pastor Cannings takes us to John chapter 3 to bring us this most important teaching on what does it mean to be born again? I hope you'll stay with us through the entire series, and if you've missed any part, please log on to powerwalkministries.org, where you'll be able to access it there.

Today, Pastor Cannings explains once we're saved, scripture tells us we're a new creation. So, how does all that work out for a believer? Here's Pastor Cannings now with today's message, "What is Eternal Life?"

Dr. Paul Cannings: John chapter 3, He says, "Nicodemus, you must be born in the spirit, water and spirit. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Now I want you to go to Luke chapter 17 because many people say the kingdom of God is going to heaven, and they're right. You will not get this kingdom of God, you will not get to be in heaven because he has to be born again to be in heaven first, he has to be saved first.

But I believe Jesus Christ is going beyond that because what Nicodemus is after is this eternal life. And so He's saying the kingdom of God where this eternal life resides, you can't get to it unless you are born of water—we discussed water—and then you are born of the spirit. The kingdom of God, everybody's going to say it's on the third heavens. That's true, but He's not just saying the third heavens because Luke chapter 17:21 says, "The kingdom of God is in your midst."

Look at verse 20. Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed." In other words, when I came, I didn't land in the temple with smoke going all over the place and lights flashing. Kingdom of God, you want to know when it's coming, I am here.

In verse 21, nor will you say, "Look, here it is" or "There it is." For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst. So, what He's saying is, you must experience the spirit of God. Go back to John chapter 3, or you won't be able to see me. He says it right there in verse 3. Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

In other words, you can't see me. I'm right here. You see the signs, you see Jesus Christ, you see all these things, but you can't see me. We talked about that. You are blind while seeing. You see me but you can't see me because you have to be saved. Then you have to live in the spirit. By living in the spirit, the very kingdom you're asking for, you get to see it when it's standing right in front of you. Other than that, you can't see it.

So, that's why a person could come to church and never get the Bible because they don't live in the spirit, they live in the flesh. Jesus Christ could be walking among us, but they could go, "Man, Jesus ain't here. I don't even know why I'm here." Why? Because they can't see it, because they're doing church in the flesh. They can't understand the Bible, they can't experience the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, they can't experience how God is working in the church because even though they are here, they're in the flesh, not in the spirit. So, they can't see it.

The Bible is saying until the spirit of God starts to move in our lives, we're going to keep asking where is Jesus. And that's why He brings up Nicodemus. You've got to get to this spirit. Now, here's the thing about the kingdom of God, another thing about the kingdom of God that you've got to remember. The kingdom of God is an experience of God on earth. It's the third thing about the kingdom of God. It's an experience of God each and every day. That's why He said He is in our midst.

It's an experience of God not some days, every moment of every day. That's why I'm going to do a sermon and a message on living in heavenly places. How do we just live in heavenly places so that even though we're on earth, the Bible views us as being in heavenly places because He views us as being in the presence of God?

That's why Enoch went straight up. Elijah went straight up because they were closer to heaven than they were to earth. That's why Paul would say, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I'm so into Christ, I no longer live, it's Christ that lives in me. I'm so engaged with Christ, I'm more into heaven because I'm already experiencing heaven on earth than I am experiencing earth." That's what He's trying to get to.

And I want you to see that that experience is very conscious, very cognitive. We tend to think of that experience as mystical and mysterious. Experiencing God is a conscious thing every day. It's not a mystical thing. Let's go to Titus chapter 3. It's not a mystical thing. In Titus chapter 3, go to verse 4, and then we'll go to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3.

In verse 4 of chapter 3, he says, "For when the kindness of God our Savior, His love for mankind appeared, He saved us not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." In other words, He didn't save us based on how as a Jew I lived. He saved us, Abraham lived as a righteous man because he lived with a commitment to obey God when he didn't understand everything and obeyed God consistently.

He says, "I didn't save you like that. I saved you as the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured upon us richly through Jesus Christ." Did He say give us a little bit at a time? He poured. So, anytime you go and somebody says to you, "I'm going to put my hands on you so you could experience the Holy Spirit," run. That is not what takes place. What they're doing is they're living in the first part of the book of Acts where that did take place.

But as you continue in the book of Acts, you don't see it. God was trying to make a point about the ministry of the Holy Spirit because if we don't experience that ministry of the Holy Spirit, we're just like the Jews doing religion, not Christ. They're doing religion so much that when Christ showed up, they nailed Him to a cross. And the church still does that when it practices religion.

So, we're not any different than we were when Nicodemus was talking about this because we could practice religion and hate each other's guts. The Bible says if you hate somebody, you don't know me. In 1 John chapter 2:9-10, you live in darkness, you don't live in light. If you love the Lord with all your heart, your soul, and your mind, you love anybody, including an enemy. And He pointed that out on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

So, He pours the Holy Spirit into us. And look at what else He brings with that. Ephesians chapter 1. In Ephesians chapter 1, He says, "I brought you everything you need, everything you need." In other words, you could work out your salvation in fear and trembling because you have all the muscles to get it done because all the Holy Spirit lives in you. All the Holy Spirit. So, you don't lack any muscles to work out your salvation in fear and trembling.

Look at verse 3 of chapter 1 of Ephesians. Blessed be God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Did He say some spiritual blessings? He said every. He is saying that when the spirit of God came in us, we don't lack nothing. So, the question becomes, how do I experience this person that lives inside of me consciously every day?

Consciously every day. We cannot seek God and find God in the flesh. John chapter 6, verse 44 says God has to draw us to Him. We could never come to Christ by ourselves. So, that's the next thing about the flesh and that's why the spirit of God has to save us when He sees that our heart is sincerely repentant and wanting to follow God.

Now, how do I consciously experience this Holy Spirit? I want you to go back to John chapter 3 because He begins to explain to us how we consciously experience this, and that's why He brings up the whole issue of the wind. The whole issue of the wind. One of the things I like to do in the morning is to go for a walk and just smell the air and feel the wind.

He's saying several things about the wind. Number one, the Holy Spirit is a conscious experience. You feel the wind. You can't say, "Well, I don't know if the Holy Spirit is there. I know He's in my life, but I don't necessarily sense Him. I just know He's in my life." And so we try to do all this dramatization in order for us to feel we have the spirit. And the Bible is saying no, it's a conscious thing. That's why He's saying it's wind.

Nobody gets to tell the wind when it's coming and when it's going. It comes on its own, it leaves on its own, and it independently functions. So, nobody could tell a person when they have the spirit. I kept running this song down, "Holy Spirit, come among us." What you all doing? You all can't command the Holy Spirit to do nothing. Theoretically, theologically, that song is wrong.

"Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Holy Spirit, you are welcome here." The Bible is saying you brought Him there. So, if you have a congregation that is extremely sinful, we've got flesh, we don't have spirit. Lord's Supper is supposed to remove that process by getting us conscious that we need to take it in a holy manner. That's why they did it on a regular basis.

So, understand one of the reasons they did it. So, coming into church, we are the ones bringing the spirit or we are the ones not because we're living in the flesh. He's just a seed, John says in 1 John chapter 3:4-11, in us, but we are fleshly, carnal Christians. So, that's why He's saying this is a conscious experience. The wind is coming, it's going, it's uncontrollable, it's unpredictable. You can't predict it to say it's going to be here at 8:00 Sunday morning or 11:00 Sunday morning. You can't predict it.

And see, it's saying the wind continuously functions on its own will. The wind blows whenever it wishes, which means the Holy Spirit has its own will and we need to trust when He's going to come and when He's going to go. The Holy Spirit, and one of the things you would see later on, He functions independently.

Now, how do I consciously experience the Holy Spirit? We can consciously experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit each and every day. I was doing questions and answers, and I didn't realize I never read from the Bible all the answers I was giving because I'm praying the whole time. And that's a consciousness of the spirit.

Guest (Male): Thank you, Pastor Cannings. We'll continue this series next time, so be sure to join us. The Holy Spirit is a very real and conscious experience, not something mystical or imaginary. Jesus gave us His Holy Spirit to help us through our journey here on earth, and He begins His work in and through us from that time of our salvation.

Now to review this series and previous broadcasts, log on to powerwalkministries.org. That's powerwalkministries.org. Or you can call us at area 281-260-7402. Again, that's 281-260-7402. Another resource that's related to today's topic is Pastor Cannings' book, Give Fear a Knockout Punch. What is it that keeps you from experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? Is it fear? This book will help you change the balance from fear to faith in your life. So, order your copy today at 281-260-7402, or log on to powerwalkministries.org.

And now as we leave you, keep in mind, you have all the power of the Holy Spirit living in you from the point of salvation, and He will help you through whatever struggles you're facing when you submit to Him.