# Mountain moving faith

Key Passage: Matthew 17:20
Date: June 7, 2024

Would you turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter number 17? Matthew chapter number 17.

And while you’re turning there, let me give you a little, just a little background of what’s going on here. Jesus had been up in the Mount.

And he had been praying with Peter, James, and John, and he began to get transfigured into his heavenly body, and he began to glow and shine. And there’s just a special moment. Moses and Elijah show up for a little bit there. They’re coming in off this mountain, and the disciples down here in the bottom, they were there, and a man had brought his son that was possessed with a demon.

They called him a lunatic. And by the way, sometimes we give a lot of names, but the problem is the devil and his demons. And the Bible says this boy was—the dad talking about his son. He said, he don’t know what to do with him. He said, oftentimes it’ll throw him into the water, the demon would take it, trying to drown him. Demons like to destroy whatever body they possess. Remember they did that with the swine when Jesus cast them out. And it’s a lot of times in the fire.

I’m not sure how old this boy was, but I tend to think this boy had scars on his body from the times of being thrown in the fire and just the burning of it. It kind of reminds me a little bit of the cutting and things like that that are going on in our day and time.

He just heard this morning about a man that committed suicide. Satan was always behind those things. He doesn’t come but for to steal, kill, and destroy. He was always about those things. And that’s what was happening to this boy.

The dad was a wise dad, and the dad brought this boy to Jesus’ apostles, his disciples there, and they couldn’t cast him out. And Jesus coming in—him and the inner three, the three of the apostles—they come down off the mount. And the dad said, hey, you know, these other guys couldn’t cast him out.

And Jesus said, “Oh, my goodness, oh, you have little faith and faithless and perverse generation.” And Jesus cast the demon out of the boy. Amazing. And it cast him out.

Then the apostles come and they say, hey, by the way, it’s interesting. We won’t take time to look at some of these things, but they wait until they’re away from everybody. Kind of like you think, they didn’t want to make it openly, “Hey, we couldn’t cast a demon out.” So when they got apart a little bit, they went to Jesus. Hey, Jesus, why couldn’t we do that? Jesus had given them power at points to cast out demons and whatnot. They couldn’t do it. And Jesus here is giving the answer to their question about this. Okay. And so that’s where we’re starting this thing up in Matthew 17.

And we’re going to start in verse number 20 of your Bible this morning. Would you please stand if you’re able to just to show the word of God respect? We’re going to be there at Matthew 17. And we’re going to start in verse number 20. And Jesus said unto them, “Because of your unbelief. For verily I send you, if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed.”

Now, that’s amazing. We may take one of these Sunday mornings and focus on that. You say, “I don’t have much faith.” You don’t have to have much faith. Just faith as a grain of a mustard seed.

By the way, don’t let the devil intimidate you. You’re a little bit of puny faith can’t do anything. There’s a no devil. The Bible, God said, just like a mustard seed. One of the smallest seeds. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain. That’s interesting. “Remove hence to yonder place.” I like that. Did you notice that “yonder”?

It’s from down south right there. Amen. Come on now. That’s Woodbury, Shelbyville talk right there. You shall say to this, “Matt, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove.” And nothing, wow, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

How be it this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting.

Would you look over to chapter 21, Matthew 21? A little different situation here. Jesus had just cursed a fig tree. It had cursed it. They came back and it had dried up. It was withered away. And they were marveled at that—the apostles, the disciples that were with Jesus. This is what Jesus says to Matthew 21, verse number 21, 21, 21.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Verily, I say unto you.” That “verily” is kind of like truly. I’m about to tell you the truth here is what it means, all right? “Verily, I say unto you. If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, ‘Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,’ it shall be done. In all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye shall receive.”

Now for just a bit, we’re going to focus on this: Serving a mountain-moving God. Serving a mountain-moving God. Would you pray with me?

Would you pray this? God would really not just this hour. Okay, I won’t preach for a full hour, all right, but this would probably be an hour before we leave here. But this time, not just this time, but the weeks, God will use this thing to increase our faith that we serve a mountain-moving God. And maybe in your prayer ask, Lord, now, what is the mountain in my life that you would like for me to pray in faith that you’ll remove this year? Would you ask that?

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer. Father, Lord, we do come. Lord, the best I know, months ago, you led, I think, Lord, to focus on this theme of a mountain-moving God. Father, so many times I’ve lacked faith in you. Forgive me for that. I know you’re a mighty God. Sometimes, Father, I don’t exercise my faith in you moving mountains in my life. Father, would you make clear to your people the mountains that you would like to move? Father, even this morning, would you begin this work in our hearts? Lord, you let it go on for weeks, Lord, maybe even the rest of our life that you can move mountains. Father, make this thing real to all of us here this morning. Our young folk, Lord, our seniors, all of us. Father, we’d love to see you move mountains. We know you can. Help us to get to the point where we’re putting our faith in seeing you move them. And Lord, we’ll praise and thank you for what you do. Father, we ask for these things in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. How many of you, if you believe this, would you just say amen? Do you really believe God can move mountains? Amen. I do. I believe that. I—I like faith many, many times, but I believe it. I hope you believe that also.

This is an interesting story. There was a lady; they started a gold mine not too far from her house. And of course, they would dig up the ground and then move it over right by her house, basically, and sifting through it for gold. And they were finished with that, but they left that mountain right by her house. And as the wind and things would blow, it would blow dust really in her yard, and it began to affect her allergies and her sinuses and whatnot. And this mountain was just killing her.

Then God reminded her of that promise: God can move mountains. And so she began to pray, “Now, Lord, you said in your word, you can move mountains. And this mountain right beside my house is killing me.” And it’s amazing. Right after she began to pray that, the mine—they had closed down. They weren’t digging. They’d closed down as far as that. But they said, “You know what? We’re going to go back through that mountain that we moved and re-sift that dirt because we think we missed some of the gold.” And they began to dig that mountain up and move it away from our house.

Now, friend, whether in your life God here is speaking of an actual mountain or maybe just a mountain in your path from you being the man or the lady or the dad or the mom or the soul winner or the Christian God wants to be, and there’s a mountain in front of you, you seem like you cannot get over and pass that mountain. It represents a problem, a situation, and circumstance in your life. You just think, “I can never, I just—I’ve tried too many times, I cannot get past this mountain.” God is a God that can move mountains in your life.

Now, here’s the thing. He’ll try to get you so defeated, you’ll never believe that God can move that mountain in your life. But that’s what Jesus is speaking of. “Hey, you apostles, you could not cast that demon out. It was a mountain in your life, but God can move mountains.”

William Jessup was a missionary years gone by in Syria, which is now a part called Lebanon. But he was there for over 50 years. He was trying to reach the Muslims and Muslim men for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was struggling, and he wasn’t really having much of any results, and he was just discouraged over it. He was praying about it. Finally got to the point, he said, “I felt like God was saying the problem is within you. You’re the problem why I’m not blessing and seeing these Muslim men saved.”

So he decided he was going to take a week in just him and the Bible, get away from everybody, everything, and just seek the Lord for the answer to this thing. And very quickly into that week, it dawned on him: He had never really fully given God his place in the work of winning others to Jesus Christ. He had been working his own strength, his own power.

He followed the fall of Jericho. Remember, they marched around there one time every day, seven days, seven times. They shouted, and the wall just fell down flat. And boy, was a great victory. And he realized God did it that way, that way, no one else could take the credit for that besides God.

And God began to work, and boy, I’ve been trying to do this thing in my own power, my own strength, and begin to just do his best. “Lord, I want to give this thing fully to you. You’re a mountain-moving God. I’m going to trust you that you would do the work. You don’t even need me, really. You may choose to use me, but I’m not going to take it on me that I’m going to get the job done. I’m just kind of asking, seeking your blessing. Would you reach these Muslim men?”

God began to give him faith. They have to begin to do that. And then he took a card and he wrote down 11 men that he had been working on trying to get them saved for a while. And God began to give him faith that God could do this. He couldn’t do it, but God could do it. And he wrote down those 11 men, and this is why he prayed after that. He said, “Now, God, I’m asking you to reach those men, you to touch those men, you to save those men. If you so choose to use me a little bit in it, that’s fine. I put myself at your disposal, but it will not be me that reaches those men. I’m beginning to realize that it’ll be you, so if you want to use me, fine, but if you want to just do it on your own, however you want to do it, would you save those 11 men?”

They began to trust God to move the mountain. About a week or so later, one of those men came to him—actually, he didn’t go to him; he came to him so burdened by his sin. And he realized he could never fulfill the righteousness that God demands. He was a burden convicted by God about his sin. And that man got saved. And within three weeks, every one of those 11 men were saved.

Why? Because he believed, when he understood it’s God that’s going to do this, but he understood God can move mountains. He began to pray in faith. God began to do something. Friend, I’m telling you this morning, we serve a mountain-moving God, amen.

I don’t serve a little wooden statue. I don’t serve a piece of stone. I don’t serve someone, a man made up. I serve a living God that can move mountains in my life. God took a backwood, shy, timid boy and made him a preacher. Praise God, he can move a mountain in your life for it.

Not to the royal wretch like you and I as sinners that deserve to burn in hell. We deserve to pay for our sins for all eternity. And he washed us in the blood of the Lamb. He redeemed us. He made us whiter than snow. We’re a child of God, where name is written in the Lamb’s book by God. Hey, friends, he did that. He’s a mountain-moving God.

We’ll be to us if we just kind of go and just doubting God and looking at all our problems and how big they are, and never seeing how mighty our God is. Friend, we serve a God that can move mountains, friend. I hope we believe that. God can do a word. He can move a mountain in your and my life. God—any mountains you cannot tunnel through, God—any rivers you cannot cross, God specializes in things that seem impossible. He’s got a thousand ways to make a way for you.

This is amazing promise. I want you to look back at it, would you please? Look back over there in chapter 17 and look at verse number 20. Look down at the last part of that verse. It is amazing what Jesus, God in flesh, God walking on earth, Emmanuel, God with us. Look what God says right there. The last part of verse number 20 right there. Do you see it? It’s just an amazing statement. It starts with “and nothing.” That last part there: “Nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Wow.

I—that’s just, you know, somebody’s saying that trying to encourage you. You’re like, “Okay, well, thank you,” you know, “but I know it’s a big fat lie.” But Jesus is saying that. Is that not amazing for him? Wow.

Look over there in chapter 21, chapter 21, and look in verse number 21, chapter 21, and verse number 21. A little bit in that verse right there, he says, “And if ye shall say unto this mountain.” By the way, that’s interesting. “Shall say to this mountain, ‘Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea.’” I didn’t say “into the sea” over there in chapter 17, 20. This one over here, and I’ll mention why I think it is about that. He says, “shall be cast, be thou cast into the sea.” It shall be done. And it’s not moving into a yard or two away. That’s moving all the way over to the sea. Cast and sea. Pretty amazing.

Then let’s go back over chapter 17. You don’t have to turn there, but chapter 17—well, maybe look back over there, just so you’ll see it’s the wording of God’s Bible. It’s amazing the Bible. By the way, that’s why we don’t want these things that change the word of God. That’s why I just stick to the old King James Bible because every word is important in God’s word.

Back over there in chapter 17, verse number 20, he said, “Because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, you shall say unto…” What’s the next word? “This,” this mountain. You say, “Well, what’s significant about that?” Remember, Jesus came down off the mount. We call it the Mount of Transfiguration. We, those that have studied it out and kind of track where Jesus was at that time and all that, we think that was Mount Tabor.

Now, Mount Tabor, you can look up pictures about it online. It’s just a huge—it’s kind of out in the middle of nowhere, and all of a sudden you just see this gigantic mountain standing there. So when Jesus is saying that, he said, “Look, if you have enough faith, you can say to this mountain”—notice this mountain, Mount Tabor—“he said, ‘That mountain right there, you can say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove.’” Wow.

This power, the magnitude, Jesus is trying to get across to them right there. But I want you to take that and make it personal. Anybody out there, you know, I’m saying what it is, but if you have a mountain, you already have in your mind, God’s put this in my mind, you already think of a mountain right now that God’s putting you, would you raise your hand? You say, “I already got a mountain. I believe this is what God has in my life.” Good, good.

I believe God would like us to apply the truth of the Bible to our lives. I don’t know what it might be for you. It may be a sin you can’t overcome. You can’t overcome. It may be a lost loved one. You’ve tried to witness to them, whatnot, and it just won’t get to say anything. They’re like a rock. They’re a mountain. Nobody can move them. God can’t. It may be emotion, jealousy, or anger. It may be some financial debt in your life. He said, “That’s a mountain. I’ll never get past that mountain.” It may be marital problems. It may be children that are away from the Lord, or grandchildren away from the Lord.

But the mountain that’s in your life. By the way, it’s interesting, chapter 21, 21, I mentioned already, he said, “Be that, cast him to sea.” The Bible talks about the sea and the depths of it. He’s cast your sin there, and you know, you’ll never see your sin again, buried in the depths of the sea. Friend, you put a mountain in the bottom of the sea, and I don’t care who the engineer is, you can’t lift that thing up out. They can’t even get to the bottom of the deepest part of the sea. I think as God’s saying, some problems, whatever it may be, you can say, “Hey, Lord, I want you to move that mountain and put it into the sea,” and you’ll never have to face that. It’s permanently taken care of in your life. Well, there are in 21, 20, I think that’s why you say, “into the sea.” This thing of a mountain-moving God.

Now, number one, it’s amazing. God gives us a blank check. “Nothing shall be impossible unto you.” You can say to this mount, “Remove hence to yonder place,” you can say this mountain, “be removed to the sea,” and it shall be done. A blank check. Anybody out there would like for God to give you a blank check and say, “Here, go fill it out”? Come on. I like that right there. Yeah. I got a building of mine over there, you know. I don’t know what it might be for you, but yeah.

But here’s the thing. We got a blank check. God gives it to us, very clear in scripture right there. But you sign that check. The check’s got to be signed. You sign that check by faith. Notice the emphasis that he puts. Back over there in chapter 17, chapter 17, verse number 20 right there. He says, what’s the first thing he says? He says, why couldn’t we cast the demon out? Why? Jesus said, and he said, and then because of your what? Unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if you have what? Faith. As a grain of a mustard seed. Notice the emphasis on faith.

Chapter 21, verse number 21 right there. Jesus answered and said to them, “Verily I say unto you, if you have faith.” And he even goes on there, we’ll mention in a minute here, “and doubt not.” That’s pretty amazing right there. Wow. Now, the thing that you sign this check with is faith.

I’ll be honest with you. In chapter 17, chapter 17, and that verse number 21 right there, chapter 17, 20, talking about, “Have ye had faith, you can say this amount, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, nothing should be impossible to you.” But then look at verse number 21, verse number 21 right there. He says, “How be it this kind…” This is just a little technicality here, but I don’t even think when he says “this kind,” I personally don’t think he’s talking about this kind of a miracle or this kind of a mountain. I don’t think he’s talking about this kind of faith. You see, because it’s the faith that it takes for God to move the mountain, faith that grows a grain of a mustard seed. I think that’s what it refers to myself. “This kind” is talking about the faith, this kind of faith. Faith is the key that unlocks the door. Faith is the way you sign the check.

Now, there’s many ways that God gives you faith, but let me just mention a couple, briefly, three main ways God gives you faith. Many of you know this already. A little bit of review here. What is Romans 10:17? “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the what?” Word of God, right? Now, so faith comes from—comes from the Bible.

Now, it does say over there, “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” It’s a little more than just the Bible. It’s when God gives you a verse from the Bible. That building or the land over there, and boy, it’s much bigger than us. But God really, honestly, God’s given me a verse that builds my faith that God’s going to—he can let us buy it, it’s paid off the land all of it. God gave me a verse for that. I needed that. It’s Revelation 3:7-8. We’ve focused on it when we purchased and whatnot, and God gives the Church of Philadelphia. He says, “I’ll open the doors. When I open the door, nobody’s going to close it.” And he says three things: “little strength”—I think, well, we’re there, you know, we can do that, we measure up to that one—“little strength.” And “as… kept my word.” We don’t want to change. We’re not trying to change everything and go liberal and worldly and all the rest of that and reach people. No, we want to keep the Bible, want to keep his word. And “it has not denied his name.” We’re going to tell everybody about Jesus. And wherever it goes, we’re doing our best to proclaim the name of Jesus and try to win souls to the Lord Jesus Christ. We do those three things. God says, “Hey, I can open the door and nobody can close it.”

But you get faith when you have a hearing from the Bible. God that guides you in His Word. The Bible is the sword of the what? Of the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit gives you a verse, whether it be finances, whether it be your marriage, whether it be child rearing, and God—you’re reading and studying the Bible, you’re listening to preaching and teaching—you ask, “Lord, give me a verse,” and God gives you a hearing from the Word of God, and that gives you faith. Y’all with me out there?

So I have faith. How do we get faith? We’ve got to have faith to sign the check. How do we get faith? From the Bible. Then number two, God, the Holy Spirit, if you’re a born-again Christian, the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of you. The moment you asked Jesus Christ to be your personal Savior, before that, the Holy Spirit was on the outside, knocking. But when you said, “Hey, Jesus, I want to put my full faith in you to be my Savior,” the Holy Spirit moved inside of you. You are his residence. Your body is his temple. He lives there.

And there’s a Bible verse over in Galatians 5 that gives us this fruit that the Holy Spirit gives. It’s a nine-fold fruit. And actually, we don’t work it up. We have the works of the flesh, but then it talks about the Spirit—no, he says it’s a fruit. The fruit of the Spirit. One of the fruit of the Spirit is faith. You read over in Galatians 5:22, one of the fruits that the Holy Spirit—a part of the fruit the Spirit gives is faith. So I get faith from the Word of God. God gives me a verse from the Bible. And then as I yield and I walk and I allow the Holy Spirit to have control in my life, he gives me faith. It’s a fruit of the Spirit. It’s part of it. All right, y’all with me out there?

By the way, if I’m just living against God, the Holy Spirit, I have quenched him, I have grieved him. That’s a real good reason why I’m not going to have much faith to sign checks that God wants me to sign. All right? All right. Do you with me?

Then let me just mention this. I think there’s a little bit of a small reference here in these passages when he mentions faith as a grain of a mustard seed. Not in these two passages, but other places in the Bible talk about how mustard seed—just so little bit. How many you know how small? Have you ever seen a seed, an okra seed? Anybody ever seen an okra seed? All right, good. We’re trying to see how many country folk we have here, you know?

Well, you got an okra seed where a mustard seed is even smaller, much smaller than that. Then they say even the mustard seed that they have in the Bible lands is smaller than the mustard seed that we have here in Tennessee.

I had a man years ago bring what he said, and I take it it was, it was a mustard seed from the Holy Land. He had it in a little baggy, like a sandwich baggy, and he gave it to me. He said, “Don’t lose that,” you know? And I said, “You know, lose what? I can’t see that thing hardly,” you know. There’s a little bit of bad. It’s just hard to see. And he’s talking about that kind of a faith.

But the Bible also in other passages talks about how it’s a little bitty, but it grows and it becomes a great bush or great tree, even to the point that fowls of the air, birds come and they land in this tree. Having is referencing a little bit as your faith grows, other people can kind of rest in your faith if God uses you to reach your children and other people. But here’s the thing: it’s talking about faith that grows. Part of that, I believe he’s speaking of, once God answers the prayer and another prayer to move that mountain, now you have things past experience to look back on what God’s did for you already. And that gives you more faith to sign the check today because God gave you faith back then and God did a miracle then. So that grows your faith. All right. So…

Three major ways God gives us the faith to sign the check. Help me out. Number one, we said from the word, the Bible. We’ll just—the word is true. We’ll say the Bible. Help me out. What’s the first way? God gives us faith from the Bible. Right. Then number two, we said faith comes from—it’s a fruit of the what? Spirit. Good. Galatians 5:22. And then when we said faith is growing faith, we’ll just say faith from past experiences, okay? Now there are other ways, but we’re just kind of focused on those three things here.

Now, here’s an amazing thing about it that God gives us this faith. It’s interesting. I never noticed this until this week. But did you notice in both… Let’s go back over there to 17:20. Go back over there, Matthew 17:20. And look what he says. I want you to kind of notice this. I never noticed it till this week. Matthew 17:20. You there? Amen? Good deal. And Jesus said it because of your unbelief, “For verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say…” Notice that: “You shall say.” Not even to the Lord right here or somebody, “you shall say unto…” Wow. You say it to the mountain.

Look over in chapter 21, chapter 21, and verse number 21. Jesus answered and said to them, “Verily I say unto you, if you have faith, and doubt not, ye shall say…” Not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain. You’re talking, you’re saying unto this mountain. He said, why did he word that? I believe a little bit of speaking of you exercising the faith he gives you. You’re willing to say that unto that mountain. Instead of complaining about that mountain and groaning about that mountain, you’re saying, you’re exercising the faith God gives you. You’re saying unto this mountain—maybe it’s a debt of $5,000—you’re saying unto that mountain, “Be removed and cast into the sea.” And I don’t think it’s necessarily a matter of you saying it directly, but it’s a matter of you exercising the faith God has given you in this situation. See?

Now, it’s amazing how God works. He’s got it all figured out. Amen. You say, “Well, what if a guy, he says, ‘I want that Jeep over there.’ Now, it costs $60,000, and he already is in debt by $20,000.” Y’all with me out there? He already has a car that’s got four tires on it. It runs. It may have a little—okay, a lot of rust on there. It may be two-tone, not because it’s supposed to be two-tone, because the bottom is, you know, Bondo, the top is paint. You know how that—anybody, everybody there, you know? But it runs. It runs good. It’s mechanically sound. It’s never broke down on him. And he’s already $20,000 in debt, but he says, “I want that $60,000 machine over there. And so I’m going to claim that by faith.”

Well, God knew. God knew that us Tennessee people would be there. And he’s got a safeguard. Since God is the one that gives you the faith to sign the check, he gives it to you from his word—remember that? Hearing of the word, by his Spirit, by past experience. There’s a safeguard built into that. All right?

Let’s say maybe someone starts praying, “Lord, I would like to purchase that vehicle over there. And Lord, I need faith. I don’t have the faith to sign the check that God’s going to give me that $60,000 Jeep there.” I don’t know if Jeeps cost that much or not. Are some Jeeps $60,000? Some of them more than that? What would be an accurate number on a brand new Jeep in our day and time? What’s that? Forty-three? Forty-three? All right, 43. If it’s a super-duper fancy one, you know, what would a super-duper fancy Jeep cost? I don’t know, you know. What’s that? One-ten? Oh, man, we’re going there. Whatever it may be, all right.

Now, you know, whatever. But this guy, “Lord, I need faith to claim $50,000 for that Jeep.” By the way, if you have a Jeep and you can afford it, praise the Lord for it, nothing wrong. I’m not trying to knock Jeeps, all right, you know. Just one that came to my mind. I don’t know. And praise the Lord God gave it to you. There’s no problem with all. The rest of us are just coveting. That’s all. It’s not your problem. It’s our problem. I’m joking about that.

But anyway, so you start, “Lord, I need to hear. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” So would you give me a verse? Now, y’all with me out there? And God, instead of giving you a verse of faith, if you will, maybe he reminds you of that verse over there where it says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Man, that’s not building my faith.

Maybe he says over there, he brings that verse to mind where it says, “Thou shalt not covet.” You know, isn’t it amazing how happy we are with what we have with your house until you visit somebody else’s nicer house? Isn’t that amazing? That’s just the way it works for him. And I say, “I pray for the faith to sign the check, and I need a Bible verse.” The Bible verses that the Spirit of God, the sword of the Spirit, begins to point out, doesn’t build my faith. It actually lowers my faith in God moving that. Now, isn’t it amazing how God has safety guards built in?

Not only that, but the Holy Spirit, one of the jobs of the Spirit, the Bible says he will guide us unto all truth. That’s one of the jobs. We have an inside, built-in GPS system.

How many of you ever get tired of that GPS saying, “You’ve made a wrong turn,” you know, “recalculating,” and all that? How many of you have put your GPS on mute? Amen. Better believe it, you know. By the way, you can put the Holy Spirit on mute. You can quench him and grieve him. But as you ask the Holy Spirit, “Holy Spirit, I would like that”—whatever it may be. I’ve got to get off the Jeeps there. Another wrong Jeep. Whatever it may be, you know, you want that, that new house, that name-brand purse. You know, what’s the big—and I’m not saying these are wrong. I’m going on all these things. I hope I’m not getting anybody. I won’t say any name-brand, but what is a—what is a fancy, top-of-the-line purse? What would a nice, big fancy—what would it cost? Some lady, what? What’s what? Four hundred? I got 400 to 2,000. We’re going up to 2,000.

And as you begin to pray, “Lord, the mountain’s there. I don’t have $2,000. They’ve got to move that mountain so I can get that purse that I want,” you know. And the Holy Spirit begins to guide. And he says, “Well, you know, for you at your age and your situation, look, you, you, you, you, you’re living in a little bit of a trailer. You can’t even pay the bills for that. What would people think if you walk outside there and they know you’re behind on your rent for four months and they see you with that purse?” And the Holy Spirit again to give direction. And you wouldn’t have the faith.

It’s amazing. That verse over there in 21:21, he says over there, “and doubt not.” When God gives you faith, that to me is the hardest part of having faith: in doubt not. But when God gives you faith, you know, people can come against you and try to knock against you, but you’ve got something inside of you. You just say, “I just believe that’s going to happen.” That doesn’t come from us. That comes from God. He gives you the faith. But when he’s directing and the Holy Spirit’s directing, then it’s not his will, he doesn’t give you the faith to claim that.

And then sometimes he begins to remind you of those past blessings when God has worked and provided, that he’s done miracles for your life. And so often you say, “It wasn’t really even a want. It was something I needed.” And God promised he’d give my needs. However, he believes—sometimes he does give us our wants. I’m not saying he doesn’t. He does. He said, “Hey, let your requests be made known unto God.” But it begins to remind you how he has worked in your past experiences of God working.

I thought about this. I was praying for a good while about our school this year that we’d have 16 to 20 students in. And I prayed and prayed, but I never really got—in fact, the more I prayed about, the less faith I had to claim 16 or 20 people. Can I confess to you? You know what I did? I began to say, “Hey, would you pray about the school situation? Your pastor, what about that? What about that weasel there, you know?” And somewhere along the line, I don’t know where, you know, we have 12 students this year, and God’s just giving me faith, “You know, Paul, that’s what we need this year.” I’m very content with that.

But last thing here, just the last little thing here, I want you to notice this. We’ve got to be done. Go back to 17, chapter 17, and look at 21—17:21. Go back over there, if you would, please. We’ve got to hurry along here. Chapter 17, look in verse number 21. He says, “How be it, how be it this kind goeth not out, but by it, what’s the next word?” Prayer. Prayer.

Look over in chapter 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 22. Oh, I’m sorry, we’re going out of 22. 21:22. “And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in, what’s the next word?” Prayer. Prayer is the key. It’s the path to you getting the faith you need to sign the check that God can move that mountain in your life.

Did you notice what I said earlier? The more I prayed, the less faith I had. Someone said, the more I pray, the clearer it becomes. So often the more you pray, the more faith you get, or the less faith you get. But there’s this matter of me having the faith I need to accomplish God’s will in my life. There’s this matter of prayer.

Paul, when he was praying about the thorn in the flesh, he said he sought the Lord thrice. I don’t think that was three little bitty prayers. I think it was three seasons of prayer. Maybe that was a day or two or a week long, each one of those times. When was the last time you had a season of prayer? I’m talking about when you went to bed at nighttime praying, and then you woke up in the middle of the night, prayed, and you got up in the morning, prayed. It’s just consuming you. You’re praying, “God, would you do something about this mountain in my life?”

We have a God that can move mountains, but if you and I are going to have the faith to move—to sign the check—we must take this thing of prayer seriously. Praying. I talked about praying high, that beside his bed where in his bed, there was divots in the floor from his knees because his knees were on that floor so much praying. When’s the last time husband and wife you got on your knees and said, “Hey, we pray in the bed, we’re going to get beside our bed on our knees and pray, ‘God, you need to do something in our marriage’”?

When’s the last time you said, “Hey, I’m going to spend hours”? Instead of watching that movie two or three hours long or a football game or a basketball game, a couple hours long, I’m going to go out somewhere to a park or woods somewhere, and I’m just going to pray about this thing. There must be prayer. Sometimes we complain about it more than we pray about it. Sometimes we think it over, and I wonder sometimes in my life—the Lord’s convicted me a little bit about this thing here. I’m contemplating things instead of praying about things. The Pharisee, he said thus to himself, but the old publican over there, he was praying to God. Prayer. Are you praying about it? Earnestly, sincerely, are you asking, begging God about that thing?

And as you do that, God says, “Hey, let me point out that verse right there.” Boy, it builds your faith. And you’re getting real serious with God about this saying, “Lord, not my will, but thine. I don’t want me to have it. I don’t want it. I want you to get your will in your way.” And the Holy Spirit begins to move and churn because you’re yielding to the Spirit of God. It begins to take control of your emotions and your mind and your heart. And the Spirit of God begins to give you leadership and guidance and begins to give you faith. Prayer.

We want to bypass this thing of prayer. Take a detour around prayer. You are not going to have the faith that God can give you where you do not doubt and people are going to come against you and problems come against you, but you just got faith. Supernatural faith. It is supernatural faith. It’s from God, and you have faith where you don’t even doubt it. It comes from faith. God gives you the faith as you pray and seek him, sometimes quickly, sometimes longer. The prayer.

Let’s go back over here. We’ve got to finish this thing out. We’re almost done here. Look over here, chapter 17. Chapter 17, go back over there if you would. Oh my goodness, we’re about to mention—we’re about to mention one of these words us Baptists don’t like. Amen. Look at that verse number 21. Matthew 17, verse number 21. He says, “How be it this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and…”

Would you say a little bit louder, please? Yeah. Can I say a word about fasting? Sometimes we—and praise the Lord for someone that can fast for days and days. Praise your Lord for that. But God might lead you just to fast for a meal. God might lead you to say, “Hey, I’m not going to drink anything besides water for three days.” I don’t know how. And I’m not trying to, you know, predict to you or tell you how to do it. But sometimes we just got these big, huge things and we’re like, we’re not there. Start where you’re at.

I just ask God, “How do you want me to fast about this thing?” It may be your fast. All right, Lord, I’m going to fast for my phone. When I get home from work, I’m going to turn it off, or I’m going to put it on “Do Not Disturb,” and I won’t check it until the next morning. And I want to spend the afternoons a little bit with just seeking you over there. I’m going to fast. I don’t know what the fast may be for you. But it’s a biblical thing. And sometimes in order for us to have the faith to move these mountains, you’ve got to fast.

I thought about my mom. She’s out sick this morning. She’s not here. But before I was ever born, years and years ago—because I’m only 25, you know, so—but years and years ago, someone, my grandmother, she wasn’t saved at the time. She just got a tract and she gave it to my mom.

And my mom, she’s at home alone, she read that tract and heard the gospel so clearly in that tract. And they were going through a hard time. She asked the Lord Jesus Christ to be her Savior. She got saved. God changed her life. She had a new desire. She became a new creature. She started going to church. Life began to change. And boy, she had the joy and the peace of God and the happiness of God. And just her life, her language changed, her dress changed, all that. She started the fire in the backyard burner and modest clothing.

And she started talking to my dad about getting saved. My dad didn’t want anything to do with it. In fact, I’ve heard my dad say this many of times: for about a year, year and a half, he put her through the test. I mean, he just was not the husband he ought to be. And yet my mom, she said, “I’m going to pray. God moved this. It was a mountain.” I mean, my dad went to work every day he was supposed to do, but he drank every day. You call that a functioning alcoholic. And Dad didn’t want to. He wouldn’t go to church. He didn’t want to hear of it.

And yet my mom, “Lord, you got to save—you got to save Steve.” In fact, she made a deal. She said, “Lord, this is a mountain: my husband that gets saved. God changed my life, and I want my husband to be saved and serve the Lord together.” And so she said, “Lord, when Dad leaves and goes to work, I won’t eat.” All day long, she had fasted. I mean, from the time he left to go to work, she wouldn’t eat until the time he got home. She began to lose weight. He said, “Man, it’s getting hard.”

And finally my dad said, “You’re getting skinny. Yeah, you’re too skinny. I don’t want that skinny of a wife,” you know. And my mom felt like the Lord said, “Okay, you can eat some.” My friend, it took that prayer and that fasting for God to give my mom the faith.

She had everybody went to a little bit of church, Birchwood Baptist Church, a little bit of church, Plant City, Florida, had a revival. Evangelist that came and preached. He was once an alcoholic himself. God saved his life and changed his life, R.C. College. I remember. I had Mom try to get Dad and go to church, and finally said, “I’ll go to that revival. I’ll hear that man.” Not the first time, but the second time he came. I’ve heard my dad tell it many times, God was working his heart. And he’d say, “You know, when I left the pew to walk down near an invitation time,” he said, “I was crying like a baby.” He’d always say, “I’m crying—I was crying like a baby.” He said, “I think I got saved way before I got to the altar. When I walked just stepped out in faith, I got saved.” God moved that mountain, but somebody had been praying and even fasting when God leaves.

Hey, what’s that mountain in your life? God can move it. You say, “I don’t know if it’s God’s will or not.” All right, you start praying and fasting. God will either increase or lessen that faith. God—God, the Holy Spirit can guide. You say, “Are you fearful about preaching like this?” No way. God gives leadership. And God can remind you the times he’s blessed and worked and provided and protected to build your faith.

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? Our heads bowed, your eyes are closed.

You said, “Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I know, I know clearly the mountain that I’m supposed to be praying about in my life.” God spoke to my heart. I know, and I know God could move it, but I’ve got a mountain. I’ve got a mountain. I’ve got a mountain. It is a huge mountain in my life. I have a mountain that God has given me. I know I need to be praying about that. Thank you this morning. You slip your hand up, preacher, “I’ve got a mountain. I’ve got a mountain in my life.” Anybody? “I’ve got a mountain.” Anybody else?

God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you so very, very much. If you don’t, I would say, “Hey, Lord, what mountain do you want me to pray about moving this year?” He wants to move mountains for you.

Maybe here this morning you said, “Preacher, you know, I think I can get more faith. I think I can move that mountain if I would pray about it.” And God spoke to my heart. “I need to be in prayer over this thing. I need to be praying about this situation, this mountain.” God spoke in my heart. “I need to be praying about it.” If that’s you this morning, you slip your hand up. “Preacher, that’s me. I need to be sincerely praying about that.” God bless you. God bless you. It’s amazing when we walk with him how either he increases or lessens our faith to guide us. God bless you. Thank you so very much. And put your hands down.

Maybe here this morning you said, “Preacher, you know, I feel like the Lord’s speaking to me. I need to fast some.” I don’t know what that looks like for you. It may be in an odd way that I would never, never think of, but I need to fast some form, some fashion, as God leads me. I believe I need to fast over this mountain and the faith to move this mountain. And God spoke to my heart, “I need to be fasting in some form or fashion.” That’s you this morning. You slip your hand up. “Preacher, that’s me. That’s me.” God bless you. God bless you. Oh, it’s biblical, my friend. Oh, God says, “How be it this kind cometh forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.” God bless you. God bless you, many, many hands, many hands.

Now, let me just for a moment mention salvation. God has given you the faith you need to put in Jesus Christ. He’s given that to every man, the measure of faith the Bible calls it. But if you’ve never taken your faith as far as you getting into heaven and placed it on Jesus Christ. If that’s you this morning, you said, “Preacher, I need to place my faith in Jesus.” Maybe you’ve been placing it in how good you are or your friends or science or what someone else says. But you say, “I need to take my faith as far as getting into heaven. I need to place that faith on Jesus Christ. I need to get saved.” If that’s you this morning, would you just lift your hand up? “Preacher, I need to take the faith that God has given me. I need to place it on Jesus and Jesus alone to pay for my sins and give me a home in heaven.” Anybody else? “Preacher, I need to place my faith in Jesus Christ.” Anybody else? He’s the way, he’s the truth, he’s the only way. None of the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, just the name of Jesus.

If you’re right there and you say, “I want to put my faith”—and he’s given me to place it on Jesus right there, you said, would you call on him? “Dear Jesus, I’m not going to place my faith in myself. I’m a sinner. I’m not going to place it in a man or a church or my baptism or anything like that as far as me getting into heaven. Jesus, I take all my faith and I place it on you. Would you pay for all of my sins? Would you come into my heart and be my personal Savior?”

Just a moment. We’re going to stand. We’re going to have word of prayer. As soon as I say amen to prayer, our instruments will play. As soon as they start playing, maybe you want to come and pray about God moving that mountain. “God, give me faith in this thing. Help me not to doubt. Holy Spirit, guide me in this thing.” Maybe he’s all right, “Lord, I’m going to fast about this situation.”

If you just asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior, there’ll be a man standing down front. There’ll be a man standing in the back. They’ll be facing the auditorium. Would you go shake their hands ahead? Just put my faith in Jesus to be my Savior. Would you let them know? We’d love to be a help, give you some literature and whatnot about that situation. Would you please stand right there where you said? Would you please stand?

We’re going to have word of prayer. If the Lord’s tugging at your heart, you’d be obedient. Don’t let anything stop you from doing it. God told you to do, you do that. Thank you, Father, for your clear instructions. Lord, thank you that you can move mountains. Lord, I ask this year, would you move many mountains in response to these people’s faith? We’ll thank you, Lord, for what you do. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

God’s tugging, would you come? You’ll be obedient to the Lord. Have the Lord guide you. Would you come? “Lord, I need faith in this situation. It’s been hampering me for years.” He’ll give you the faith. “I need to fast.” Let him know that. Let him know that. We have a mountain-moving God. Let’s act, let us pray, let us fast like we really do have that he can guide. That’s right. Spend some time right now with him. The Lord—watch this thing. It might not be right obvious for you. It may be down the road a little bit when you face that mountain. But it may be a mountain of your neighbor getting saved. And God is just waiting for someone to take that mountain on, believing God that he can move that mountain. Would you pray? Would you believe God? Would you trust God?

Tell you one quick story, and we’re done. One quick story. When we moved, we moved from Indiana down here to start the church. We didn’t have a meeting place. We looked everywhere for a meeting place. If it was a nice storefront, it was expensive. We didn’t have the money for it. We just couldn’t find anywhere. Weeks looking, talking, asking schools and Seventh-day Adventist buildings. We tried every angle. Union halls. We tried to get in everywhere. Just nothing was working out.

Went out one morning to pray. And when I was out praying, God reminded me in that verse, “How be it this kind cometh forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.” I had not fasted about it, not a bit. And I went home, told my wife—if I remember right, she had breakfast ready. I had a wonderful life. She says she’s cursed. I like breakfast. Amen. She prepares it for me just about every morning. And she said, “Well, I tell you what. You know, God spoke to you about that.” Actually, what I said was, “Babe, the Lord spoke to my heart, so you need to fast about this thing.” No, I didn’t say that. I said, “I’m not going to eat. The Lord spoke to my heart about it.” We haven’t fasted a bit in the world, and she said, “I’ll fast with you.” Honestly, it was probably an hour or two, not like it’s a great sacrifice on my part. And I rode by—never noticed it before—the biddy daycare, and I went there and asked, and the lady said, “Sure, you can meet here, no problem at all.” And maybe after an hour or two of fasting.

And that’s our church had our first building. We met in that little bitty daycare for about 10 months. And, hey, God moves mountains, but let’s just put it into practice. Amen. He can move mountains in your life. Glad you’re here this morning. Looking forward to tonight, 6 o’clock. Be back in your place. We’re getting choir going back again tonight. So excited about that choir. And I missed them this morning. Y’all did a great, great job. And looking forward to that tonight. Amen.

Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Mountain moving faith - - Sunday AM 01072024