The problem with us church is that we want the easy way in life. We want the easy jobs, we want to easy route to our jobs, we want to sing the easy songs, some preacher like to preach the easiest sermons and pastor the easiest churches. We find that it is easier to stay home on Wednesday night therefore, we do not attend mid week services. We find it easier to stay home on Saturday morning therefore we do not visit the sick and shut-in; We find it easier to stay home on Sunday morning therefore many church members do not come to worship the Lord and fellowship with other believers, we as a Body of Christ, the church, finds it easier to just have service once or twice a month, on Sunday mornings and then go home and continue business as usual. However, church I stopped by to tell you this afternoon, Jesus never intended His body to become stagnated. For His last words to the disciples was to “Go into the world, I know church it is easier sometime to sit back and do nothing but Jesus did not intend for His church, His body to do nothing because His commands to us was to “ Go into the world and make disciples.” Now church we need to realize Go and make are active verbs, for to “go” means to leave, to travel; to depart; to set out or to move out. And to make means to create; to formulate, to compose. Therefore this lets us know that we the body of Christ, the church of the Living God should depart from these four walls and set out into the world to create disciples teaching them and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
The Lord never intended His visible body to be shut up Monday through Saturday and then only have his members active for an hour on Sunday morning. Suppose you never moved your body but once a week and only for an hour at a time. Keep my mind clear Holy Ghost.
Now I do believe that the reason the church lack what it takes to Go and make disciples is because we are so full of doubt and is afraid of failure. The reason we are full of doubt and is afraid that we will fail is because we lack faith. Glory Hallelujah, keep my mind clear Holy Ghost. For without faith we cannot do the work which God expects us to do.
Now my brothers and my sisters, the reason some of us lack faith is that we do not understand what faith is.
Now Paul gives us the definition of faith in Hebrews the 11th chapter and the first verse, when he tells us that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. In other words, faith is confidence that someone or something is reliable. Our whole life is based on faith. Without it, banks and post offices would not be possible. Paper money and credit cards would never be accepted. For the very word, credit is from the Latin verb, which means to believe.
John tells us in 1st John the fifth chapter and the fourth verse that faith is the victory that overcomes the world, the flesh, and the devil. John tells us “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And the victory that has overcome the world is our faith.”
Church we are born into eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. We are declared righteous before God by faith; we are forgiven by faith, are healed by faith; we understand the mysteries of creation by faith, we learn God’s word by faith; by faith we understand the things to come; we walk by faith and not by sight; we enter into God’s rest by faith; and we are controlled and empowered by the Holy Ghost by faith. Faith is the source of our strength our provision, our courage, our guidance and faith is the only thing that will sustain us in the trials and persecutions predicted for the last days. It is therefore important that we understand what faith is and how we get it and how it grows. Paul tells us in Roman 10: 17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Now the reason some of lack faith is because we do not study and mediate on the Word of God, and we do not attend services on regular basis to hear the Word of God. Glory Hallellujah, and because we do not have faith we cannot do the work which God expects of His church.
Faith allows us to see God. Faith allows us to trust God. Faith will make not want to sit back and do nothing; faith will make us ask for mountains.
Our text tells us about a man who was not did not doubt the power of God and was not afraid of failure. In other words, our text tells us about a man named Caleb who demonstrated faith and was not afraid to ask for a mountain.
Caleb had every right to be tired, to be weary to be satisfied with just sitting back and doing nothing, for after all he was 85 years old, and just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. But Caleb is not content to just sit back and do nothing like some of us are. Therefore he says to Joshua give me this mountain. What about you church are you satisfied with doing nothing are you satisfied with going to church 1-2 Sundays out of the month? Are you satisfied, are you content with your spiritual life? I don’t know about you, my brothers and my sisters, I am not am like Paul I am pressing on toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. In other words, I know the Lord has more for me to do, I am pressing on, are you satisfied with your prayer life? The disciple with Jesus was not satisfied they knew there where more, there for they said “Lord teach us to pray. They knew they need more faith, therefore they said Lord increase our faith. Glory hallelujah
Caleb was not satisfied with where he was. What about you St. Thomas are you satisfied with where you are? Or are you like Caleb, who said give me this mountain. You see church forty-five years earlier he had laild his eyes on this mountain an he never lost sight of it. Too many of us are willing to live in the valley while God wants us to live on the mountain. Too many of us are content with being mediocre when God wants us to live on the Mountain. Caleb wanted the mountain.
Church we all could learn a lesson on faith from Caleb for first of all Caleb was confident- moreover, church the kind of confident Caleb had was a confidence that can only dwell with a person who has faith in God- a person who trusts God with his life and with his future.
You see church forty-five years earlier Caleb was sent out on a mission. He along with eleven other men were sent into the land of Canaan, the promised land to check things out. They were to report back to Moses, and the nation what they found. Upon their return, ten men had a negative report that discouraged the people from going into the land. Caleb and Joshua, however looked upon the positive, remember above all else that God had promised the land. Glory hallelujah. Church Jesus has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. When He commanded us to Go into the world to make disciples, He told us and lo, I am with you always even until the end of the age. So we have no reason to doubt or be afraid. Glory hallelujah keep my mind clear Holy Ghost.
We should be like Caleb who was confident in spite of the opposition. He stood up for what he believed and spoke what He believed. Church if we are going to go anywhere in life we too much be confident about what we are doing and more importantly we must be confident because we know we are doing the will of God.
We must be confident in spite of our age: Look at Caleb, Caleb said behold he Lord has kept me alive; and now I am 85 years old and I am strong today; as I was forty –five years ago. For the Lord is with me in my going in and my coming out! Church of us do not want to come to church because we say can not make it them three steps that they done added to that church porch Glory Hallelujah! Therefore regardless of your age, if God has promise you something ask for your mountain!
Church we must ask for our mountain regardless of your race or gender; you see church, Caleb was not born into a Jewish family he was a Ken-Niz-zite; but ask for your mountain church because God has not respecter person; It God has called you to do a work do not like the fact that you are woman prevent you from doing what the Lord has instructed you to do. For Jesus broke down all race, gender and religious barrier when He spoke to the woman at the well; For she said I am Samaritian and a woman and you are speaking to me. Jesus said if you only knew me. Church as long as we know Jesus and trust Him we can ask for a mountain because we know that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Glory Hallelujah. Church we need to ask for mountains no matter how big and strong the enemy looks and how difficult the task may seem to us for Caleb knew that the people who dwell in that mountain was giants but He also knew that that God would fight His battle. Church we too need to realize that the battle is not our but it’s the Lord; and greater is He that is in us than He that is in the world. Jesus tells us in His words that if we believe in Him and He who sent Him we can heal the sick; cast out demons and tear down strongholds if we only believe and have faith in Jesus He said church I give you the keys to kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bind in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Therefore church ask for your mountain this afternoon.
