Power Walk Ministries

Guest (Male): Thanks for tuning in to join us on this broadcast of Power Walk with Pastor Paul Cannings. Today, Pastor Cannings brings us the second volume in our series, The Measure of Love, based on 1 John Chapter 2. In this passage, we see the stark contrast between love and hate.

Pastor Cannings challenges us to move from natural responses of hate towards those who trouble us to learn what it means to really love them. Here he is now with today's message titled, "The Act of Love."

Dr. Paul Cannings: A teacher was talking to some elementary kids. In the midst of talking to those elementary kids, they started to do some of the simple words, cow, and then the kids would make the sound of a cow. Dog, and the kids would make the sound of a dog and they would then spell dog. And the same with cat, the simple things that the teacher was seeking to teach them.

But then the teacher came to one and she said, "Spell love." So they spelled love, but this one little girl ran up to her, hugged her, and kissed her. The whole class started laughing. She said to the little girl, "That is beautiful." The girl said, "Well, that's what we do at our house when we say we love one another."

She said, "Well, what's another way you spell love?" The girl got up and she asked the teacher's permission to clean the board—in those days, it was a little chalkboard. She fixed the teacher's desk and asked the teacher if she could bring her something to drink.

The teacher says, "Well, yeah, that's fine, but how do you spell love?" She goes, "My mom says talking about love is one thing. Displaying love is the best way to spell love." You see, that's a very beautiful way of actually implementing scripture and the way scripture defines how we love one another.

Because we live in a time where there is so much hate. It is sad to see our Christian believers live in that hate and engage in that hate. We've defined what hate is. We tend to think hate has to do with emotions, but we defined what hate was this week.

Hate has several connotations and it could be very secretive in how a person hates. A person that just despises the man on the road to Jericho, he despises the man that was beaten up by robbers. The person was therefore hated because they despised him. So we went through different things that define how the Bible views hate.

When we look at how the Bible defines hate, we have to counteract that by the way the Bible defines love. Why? Because we are born in sin. That's how the Bible defines us. We are shaped in iniquity with foolishness in our hearts. We are born depraved. Romans Chapter 3, verses 9 through 11 says no man seeks God, no not one. He is the one chasing us and we're the ones not accepting Him.

So love, as we see with Jesus Christ, has everything to do with actions. And that's why John, dealing with—as we talked about—the background to this text to contextualize the conversation that is taking place between John their teacher and the members of the church. You've got gnostic philosophers, docetism, cerinthianism, you've got secessionists that are in the church.

You have all these different things that are taking place and John is trying to hold his church together. Obviously, after he left and went to the Isle of Patmos, that's the first church that he writes to, and the issue comes right back to them not loving. They lost their first love.

The love is to love God first, to love me with all your heart, your soul, and your mind. You love your neighbor as yourself, and a neighbor is anybody in your proximity. Anybody in your proximity. That's what He's saying. That's why He can come to this and He's moving forward and He is slowly progressing this thought, because in Chapter 3 He would say things like this in verse 16: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He that laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren."

For whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother has need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word—that's what he just got through saying, "he that says" is where we started this week in 1 John Chapter 2 verse 9. Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. Back to what we've been talking about, he's right back here.

Hereby we know that we're in the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him. And then he goes on to say, if our hearts condemn us, if when the person is in need and they're struggling, the heart condemns us, and it's proving that the love of God is not in us.

Then he says something that's mind-boggling. He says, if our heart condemns us, because if we don't have this in our hearts, whatsoever we ask, we receive because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. He would block our prayers, verses 21 through 24 says, when we don't walk in love. He will block them because we're coming to him asking him to love us when we are not committed to love other people.

So that's why he says in verse 7, beloved of Chapter 4, "Let us love one another." Let us get into the habit of loving rather than getting into the pattern of hating. Because there's no way that a person could decide not to love and not end up hating. That's how the Bible sees it.

Because if I choose to just be in this dormant state where I'm not going to do anything at all in this marriage, I'm just going to hopefully pray over it and God make it work. Or I'm not going to come to this church because folks say stuff, do things, so I'm just going to stay to myself and come in and go out. That way I stay here longer.

Then the Bible is saying, "No, you are in a place of hate." You say, "What do you mean?" You're despising. You are ignoring. You are finding ways to distance yourself. He starts going back into all of the characteristics, the traits of hate.

There's no way a person can say they're not going to love and not start to go in all the characteristics that hate is. We described those for you, we walked through those for you. So he's saying a person has to decide to love. He says this keyword: beloved. A person has to be saved to do this.

He says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God." There are two major things here. A person cannot love that is not saved. That's why there's no point marrying an unsaved person. It doesn't make any sense biblically.

What fellowship does light have with darkness? Darkness cannot comprehend light. So it's going to be a mess of a relationship. The more the person is trying to obey God in their marriage, the more the person thinks they're crazy. That's why he's saying a person that is saved, when they are saved, they walk in light as He's in the light. They have fellowship with one another. 1 John Chapter 1, verses 5 through 7.

So a person has to be saved. Now, what does saved mean? Because a lot of people say they're saved, but there's no fruit. The Bible says many, many say "Lord, Lord," but few will enter into the kingdom of heaven. So he's saying when you look at all of them, he's talking to the disciples, he says broad is the road that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that leads to life.

You've got eleven people here. There are hundreds of people right there, and they're going to nail me to a cross. So understand he's saying a person who is saved is a person who shows fruits. We've got to go down and define that fruit.

But before we do, what is being saved? The word saved is to be delivered. The nation of Israel came out of Egypt, go through the Red Sea—delivered. So the person is delivered from what? The Bible says when He comes in, in Titus Chapter 3, verses 4 through 8, He pours the Holy Spirit into the person. That's why they're a brand new creation.

So now the Holy Spirit, who is a power, He is the very nature of God, is not intimidated or confined to the struggle that Satan could put on a person's life, so they are delivered. When the person is delivered, they now have to work it out.

They have to decide, since they surrendered their will, to start obeying God, walking with God, surrendering their life to God, renewing the mind. When God convicts them, "Yes God, forgive me for my sin, You're faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness."

This is a person that's walking in the light, you know. He says that in 1 John Chapter 1, if you walk in light as He's in light, you have fellowship with one another. Then he goes on in the very same context and says if you confess your sin, He's faithful and just. Why? The light exposes the sin.

The more I choose to walk in the light, the light goes, "No, that's a lie." There's no little lie or big lie. So he says, "Fix that." "Okay, yes Lord, forgive me for my sins." "You know what? Oh wow, look at what my eyes just did. God forgive me for my sins. Oh my goodness, did I just turn around here and have that kind of thought towards that person because they said something to me that is crazy? Oh God, forgive me for my sins."

The more the person walks in the light, the more God exposes these things that they now become conscious of. That's why he said that person comes to know Him. They now understand the scriptures better because when you walk in the light, it comes to truth. The Holy Spirit now illuminates the word of God. This person comes to an intimate experience of God. They're running into God who is love.

So there's no way when a person comes to an intimate experience of God, they're not going to be motivated because He who's within them both will and do for His good purpose. Philippians Chapter 2, verses 12 through 13. As they work out their salvation, that person comes to become just like Paul would say, "I no longer live."

But this is the Paul that says, "The things I want to do in Romans Chapter 7, verses 14 through 19, are the things I don't do." I'm in this struggle between the flesh and the spirit. Galatians Chapter 5, verses 16 through 19. So the more this person chooses to do this, the more the person goes to this battle and the more they're in this battle, surrendered to do what God is saying, the person ends up being more in the spirit than in the flesh. And when they're more in the spirit than in the flesh, guess what one of the fruits is? Love. Because now they're living in the life of God. For God is love.

When a person come to the point where they can't obey God, there is no way the spirit of God is moving in them with that level of intensity. They're a carnal Christian maybe, or they're not saved. If a person is a carnal Christian, the flesh is strife, abusive language.

All kinds of evil comes out of the flesh. That's why Paul would say, "Present the members of your body before God as instruments to righteousness." The mind has to be renewed. The eyes, the Bible says it could lead to darkness. The Bible is saying that my hands must be applying the principles of God when I go to work.

I work for the kingdom of God. Colossians Chapter 3, verse 26. My feet should lead to peace. I'm not trying to create strife, I'm trying to create peace. They may come out different, but I'm still working towards it. So I'm presenting my bodies as instruments of righteousness and that struggle leads to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, he says that person can come out but one way, and that is to love even their enemy. Stay focused.

Guest (Male): Amen, Pastor Cannings. Let's get into the pattern of loving and not hating others. Please visit us online at powerwalkministries.org for a copy of this message series or any of our other resources. In particular, I'd like to draw your attention to Pastor Cannings' CD series titled, "A Call to Active Duty" and "Don't Despair."

Both of these will provide additional encouragement for you or someone you care about to develop a closer walk with God. Again, that's powerwalkministries.org. Or you can call us at 281-260-7402. That's 281-260-7402. Thank you for your prayers and your financial support.

You know, I had someone walk up to me and say, "Hey, you so blessed me when I listened to the station and feed off the word that God has placed through you." That means so much. I had a person say to me, "Hey, you saved my marriage. I was really going to walk out on my wife. You saved my marriage." Oh man, that moved me to keep pressing on.

I pray, folks, that you would support our ministry and become a part of it and share with us in the resources that we have, because that goes to the support of this ministry. Pray for us, please, sincerely mean that. Pray for us. Share the word with other people and that you will become a partner, a regular partner with us.

All you have to do is go to our website, powerwalkministries.org, and press the donate button. It would explain in there how you could become a Power Walk partner. God bless you.

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 keep in mind all who love are born of God and know God. So does our love for others reflect that we know and love God?