Evangelist Cry Ministry
Dr. Levi Howard Wright
"Faith Can Move Mountains"
Matthew 17:20-21
[20] And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief:
for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove
hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing
shall be impossible unto you. [21] Howbeit this kind goeth
not out but by prayer and fasting.
Introduction
In the October 2, 1998, edition of the Baltimore Sun
carried a story about Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain
on the North American continent. Recent research has
apparently proven that a mountain expedition which
claimed in 1906 to have in fact mounted Mt. McKinley,
infact, fabricated their figures.
They never really completely climbed the mountain. The
mountain, in fact, is over 20,000 feet high.
Climbing it was no easy feat. After reading that, I was
struck by the realization which may sound simple, but it
dawned on me that mountains really are hard to
climb.
That’s why mountains have long come to symbolize the
hardships and difficulties of life.
Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell’s sang a song "Ain’t
no mountain high enough to keep me from
getting to you, babe...."
Mountains have long represented.
Problems to be solved .......
Obstacles to be overcome ........
Crosses to be carried ........
Burdens to be borne ...........
Troubles to be triumphed over ..........
Difficulties to be dealt with .......
Mountains are problems.
Death is a mountain
Sickness is a mountain.
Troubles are mountains.
Hardships are mountains.
Family crises are mountains.
Unpaid bills are mountains.
Rebellious children are mountains.
Whoremongering husbands and wifes are mountains.
Lying friends are mountains.
Crack addicted love ons are mountains.
Scott Peck, in his book "The Road Less
Traveled" says life is a problem.
The truth of the matter is life is filled with mountains, but
my Jesus says if you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to
there," and it will obey you.
Let me tell you why. First, faith may not always change
the outer circumstances of life, but it always changes the
inner landscape of life.
Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1, says, "Faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen."
And, frankly, that makes all the difference.
It’s not always what’s on the outside that matters, but
what’s on the inside that really makes the difference.
When I was a little kid, I remember reading a book about
General Hannibal. You probably remember the story of
this African General by the name of Hannibal crossing
over the Alps and the great mountains and within Italy.
And in this little story, I can remember the pictures of the
elephants and the donkeys and the army of the Africian
Hannibal crossing the Alps to Italy. This was indeed a
great feat of military couraget.
In fact, it was one of the greatest acts of military courage in
human history.
I don’t know, whether this story was true or false, but there
was a story that went along with the various pictures in the
book.
And according to the story it said that Hannibal, when he
got to the Alps with his army and was about to cross over
his army began to rebel.
The soldiers saw these gigantic mountains before them.
They saw this incredible barrier in front of them and
they were afraid to move.
They were ready to turn around and go back home.
But according to the story, Hannibal rallied his troops and
his armies by standing before them pointing toward the
Alps and declaring, "Forward march, we see no
Alps! ... We see no mountains!"
And with these words of encouragement the army of
Hannibal went forth over the mountains and into Italy.
Now it may not always be that easy when we are facing
MOUNTAINS, but the truth of the matter is sometimes
you got to go through life and just declare, "Forward
march, I don’t see no Mountains!
Forward march, I don’t see that problem.
Forward march, I don’t see that obstacle.
Forward march, I don’t see that hardship.
Forward march, I don’t see that cancer.
Forward march, I don’t see your cheating.
Forward march, I don’t see your lying.
Yes, Faith can change the inner landscape. And if the
inner landscape has been changed, it don’t matter what’s on
the outer horizon.
In 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul was dealing, I
think with his own sense of death, and in this context he
says and I quote, "We walk by faith, not by sight."
Yes, Faith changes the inner landscape. That’s why St. I
can say, "Faith is our outward sense that makes
our inward vision clear."
I read a poem that said, "Fear knocked at the door.
Faith answered and there was no one there.
" Faith can move mountains because faith can
transform the inner landscapes of life and it don’t matter
what’s on the outer horizon.
Secondly, faith can move mountains because faith
enlarges the possibilities of life. It’s sometimes helpful to
compare how one verse is translated or spoken in one
gospel and how it’s looked at in another. Yes, Jesus
sometimes says the same thing in a different place in a
different way.
In Luke’s version of this same saying, Jesus says it this
way. "The apostle said to the Lord, ’Increase our
faith.’
And the Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of
a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry
tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea," and it
would obey you.’"
The image now is taking up a tree and planting it in a new
location and creating a new kind of tree.
The idea is that faith can create new possibilities that did
not exist in the previous situation before there was faith.
Faith enlarges the possibilities of life.
Faith enlarges the options because faith brings God
directly into the situation.
And if I remember my mathematics correctly, when you
have an equation and you change one variable in the
equation, you change the outcome of the whole equation.
Well, when God is factored into the equation of your life
by faith, then the whole outcome in your life is going to
change.
I remember awhile back taking communion to a dear
member who was in the hospital, a woman who had been
battling cancer, she was a cancer survivor, and she had
been battling with it for a long time.
And she was going through one of those periods where the
illness came back and we didn’t know how it all was gonna
turn-out.
So I went to the hospital and took her Holy Communion
and we were talking for awhile and about to have
communion when a nurse came in with bags and I guess an
IV for the chemotherapy and I invited the nurse to share
communion with us if she would like, and she said yes.
And so she sat down with us and while we were talking,
she asked me if I would bless the IV bag and the medicine.
And it kind of made me pause because I’ve been asked to
bless many things, bless people, bless homes, even
sometimes I suppose people have asked to bless a car and
refrigerator.
But nobody had ever asked me to bless medicine before. It
just never had occurred to me to bless the medicine.
And so I laid my hands on the IV bag and the medicine and
prayed, "Bless, O Lord, these means made use for
the cure and the healing of your child."
It occurred to me that this made a great deal of sense
because the truth of the matter is I want God’s grace to
move through that IV bag.
We want God’s grace to move through those
medicines.
We want God’s grace to move through the skilled
hands of surgeons, doctors and nurses.
But we also want God’s grace to move through
anointing oils.
We want God’s grace to move through the prayers of
God’s people.
We want God’s grace to move through any means and
mode that is necessary to bring about the end that God
would have for us.
Yes you see, faith is not about constricting the
possibilities.
Faith enlarges the possibilities and creates new
possibilities.
See, a problem is only a problem as long as there is no
solution. If there is even a hint of a possibility of a
solution, you don’t have the same problem.
I declare unto you that if you have God in your life, you’re
gonna have problems, but with God in your life there’s
always another possibility. Because, you see, God is the
author of another possibility.
Before creation, there was nothing, but God created
another possibility and called creation into being.
For Israel and Egypt, there was no hope.
Slaves have no hope, but God created another
possibility and set the Red Sea and parted it into and set
the Children of Israel free.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin unable to
conceive but God created another possibility and Jesus was
conceived and born.
Jesus died on the cross, but God created another
possibility and raised him to new life.
"The providences of God means that there is a
creative and saving possibility in every
situation."
Faith, you see, can move mountains because faith enlarges
the possibilities of life.
Conclusion
My lastly point is, faith can move mountains because by
faith in God we are connected to the Maker, the
Master, and the Mover of Mountains.
Have you ever noticed that the God of the Bible is a
Mountain Moving God? God is frequently revealed on the
mountain top.
Isaac wass saved from sacrifice by the angel of God on
Mt. Moriah "where the Lord will provide."
Moses meets God in the burning bush on the mount called
Sinai.
"The prophet Isaiah envisioned the rule of God with
these words, "They will not hurt or destroy in all
my holy mountain for the earth will be filled
with the glory of God as the waters covered the
sea."
Jesus was transfigured on a mountain.
Calvary is a mountain. YES, The God of the Bible is a
Mountain God.
The Hebrews called God “El Shadi” which means
God of the mountain.
My God can make a mountain.
My God can move a mountain.
My God is a mountain God.
Faith will connect us to the God of the Mountain.
And when that happens, your life and mine becomes part
of a greater whole and ......... mountains are move.
You may remember Alex Haley’s great works "Roots,"
both the book and later the movie.
In the movie version, there was a scene when the slave
Kunte Kinta after having come to this country against
his will, eventually met a woman he married, and
eventually they had a child born in slavery.
The old African Kunte Kinta never submitted
himself to slavery....... he never accepted it.
And when his little daughter Kissie was born, he swear
........that she would know her heritage
....... that she would know her history
....... and that though a slave, she would never be a
slave.
And so, soon after the little baby girl was born,
.......he took her from her mother’s arms
...... and in the midnight sky amidst the auction block
...... .and slave pen,
...... he took her out of the little slave cabin,
..... walked outside,
..... climbed a little mole hill.
There atop a mole hill.... he lifted up the little baby girl to
the sky with nothing but twinkling stars above and he
whispered in her ear, "Behold, the only thing
greater than yourself."
And as that girl grew up, and as the story was told, as long
as she understood that she was part of a greater whole and
....... that there was a God greater than the auction
block,
....... a God greater than the slave pen,
....... a God who is greater than any problem,
....... a God who is greater than any difficulty,
....... a God who is greater than any hardship,
....... as long as she lived with God in her heart, she
could make it, and though she was a slave, she was
still free.
YES, you can be free from all mountains.
Mountains of Doubt........ Mountains of Misunderstandings
Mountain of Confusion........... Mountains of Sickness
Mountains of Pain......... Mountains of Proverty
Mountains of Loneliness....... and Mountains of Shame.
My friends, faith can move mountains. It can change your
inner landscape. It can create new possibilities.
But above all, faith connects us to the God of Mountains.
"Ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley
low enough to keep God from getting to you."
God of Mt. Sinai....... God of Mt. Zion.
Come down and hear the crys and prayers of your people.
Where we hurt, heal us.... Where we are weak, strengthen
us..... Where we are confused, guide us. Lift us up to your
lofty place where we may be still to know that you alone
are God. ....... Amen.
