Messages on Faith
Faith that Moves Mountains
by Pastor John Khng
Scripture Reading: Matt. 17:14-21
Mat 17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Mat 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
Mat 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Mat 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Mat 17:20 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.
Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
"Faith that Moves Mountain"
Mountain
– “Probably he pointed to a mountain near, to assure them that if they had such faith they might accomplish the most difficult undertakings - things that at first would appear impossible.” – Barnes Notes
- Could be figurative, not referring to a literal mountain but talking about difficulties like a mountain blocking our way.
“It's not talking about literal mountains. It's talking about mountains of difficulty. It's figurative. In fact, when the Jews...by the way, this was a rather common Jewish phrase...when the Jews talked about removing mountains, they used it in reference to the ability to get past difficulties, or to remove difficulties. One writer says, "A great teacher who could really expound and interpret Scripture and who could explain and resolve difficulties was known as an uprooter or a pulverizer of mountains. To tear up, to uproot, to pulverize mountains were all regular phrases for removing difficulties. Jesus never meant this to be taken physically and literally. After all, the ordinary man seldom finds any necessity to remove a mountain. What He meant was, if you have faith enough, all difficulties can be solved and even the hardest task can be accomplished." – Grace to You, Message
Mountain – Could be literal mountain - we cannot limit God’s power
FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAIN
A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized parking lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.
Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had “mountain moving faith.” They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week. At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation’s 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o’clock the pastor said the final “Amen”. “We'll open next Sunday as scheduled,” he assured everyone. “God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too.”
The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called “come in”, a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered. “Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We’re building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly.”
The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with “mountain moving faith” on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week! Would you have shown up for that prayer meeting?
Always ask when reading – Is this a genuine account or a fallacious one
Author Unknown and probably a folk tale.
Faith that Moves Mountain
I. Is a Growing Faith – “mustard seed” – Matt. 17:20
A) Faith can grow from small to big.
1) The mustard-seed was the smallest of all seeds. It has been supposed by some, therefore, that he meant to say, If you have the smallest or feeblest faith that is genuine, you can do all things.
2) The mustard-seed produced the largest of all herbs. It has been supposed by others, therefore, to mean, If you have increasing, expanding, enlarged faith, growing and strengthening from small beginnings, you can perform the most difficult undertaking.
3) There is a principle of vitality in the grain of seed stretching forward to great results, which illustrates the nature of faith. Your faith should be like that. (A growing faith) This is probably the true meaning.
4) Trusting God for small things and more and more for bigger things.
II. Is a Persistent Faith – “prayer and fasting” – Matt. 17:21
A. How can we have increasing faith or persistent faith?
1. By reading or hearing the Bible - Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2. By prayer – Matt. 17:21; Jas. 5:16
B. George Mueller’s perseverance in prayer
More than half a century ago, George Mueller prince of intercessors began to pray for a group of five friends...five friends. After five years, one of them came to Jesus Christ. After ten years two more of them came to Christ. He prayed for twenty five years and the fourth man was saved. And for the fifth he prayed until the time of his death and that fifth friend came to Christ a few months after George Mueller died. For that fifth friend he prayed fifty two years, now this is perseverance.
III. Is a God Centered Faith – “bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the devil” – Matt. 17:17, 18.
A) What is our focus? On God or on the mountain? Look at God first then look at the mountain. Our God is bigger than any mountain.
B) What is our focus? Our want or the Will of God?
A Christian told of this incident - This question was put to me recently:
'I heard a pastor (not my own pastor) define faith in a certain way and it sounded real exciting, only trouble is I think it is a wrong view of faith. He is not a prosperity teacher or anything like that and he is real sincere but I have a problem with what he said. He said,
"Some folks believe that if you say, 'I believe that God can heal me if He plans to,' that is faith, but that is not faith at all. To have faith is to say, 'I believe that God IS GOING to heal me TODAY!'
Well, that sounds real great and when I was less mature in the faith I would have said something like that, but searching through the Scriptures, when folks get sick, or need a prayer answered real fast they seem to pray and plead for God to intervene, they don't seem to tell God how and when He must do it.
God will always answer our prayers but sometimes we are not happy with His answer. He could answer our prayer with a “Yes”, a “No” or a “Wait” – Green, Red or Orange color as in a traffic light – in the highway of life – we must learn to accept yes, no or wait.
C) Faith is submissive to God’s will.
If it is not God’s will for this mountain to be removed it will not be removed. If it is God’s will, it will be removed.
Conclusion:
Faith that Moves Mountain
I. Is a Growing Faith – “mustard seed” – Matt. 17:20
II. Is a Persistent Faith – “prayer and fasting” – Matt. 17:21
III. Is a God Centered Faith – “bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the devil” – Matt. 17:17, 18.
Mountain represent obstacles that hinder us from coming to God, or hinder us from doing God’s will.
Some people say faith comes from miracles.
Some other people say miracles come from faith.
I say miracles come from our faith in God.
It is not our faith in ourselves, it is not our faith in faith,
It is our Faith in God that can Overcome Any Obstacle.
Let’s have Faith that Moves Mountain!
Scripture Reading: Matt. 17:14-21
Mat 17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
Mat 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
Mat 17:16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
Mat 17:19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
Mat 17:20 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.
Mat 17:21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
"Faith that Moves Mountain"
Mountain
– “Probably he pointed to a mountain near, to assure them that if they had such faith they might accomplish the most difficult undertakings - things that at first would appear impossible.” – Barnes Notes
- Could be figurative, not referring to a literal mountain but talking about difficulties like a mountain blocking our way.
“It's not talking about literal mountains. It's talking about mountains of difficulty. It's figurative. In fact, when the Jews...by the way, this was a rather common Jewish phrase...when the Jews talked about removing mountains, they used it in reference to the ability to get past difficulties, or to remove difficulties. One writer says, "A great teacher who could really expound and interpret Scripture and who could explain and resolve difficulties was known as an uprooter or a pulverizer of mountains. To tear up, to uproot, to pulverize mountains were all regular phrases for removing difficulties. Jesus never meant this to be taken physically and literally. After all, the ordinary man seldom finds any necessity to remove a mountain. What He meant was, if you have faith enough, all difficulties can be solved and even the hardest task can be accomplished." – Grace to You, Message
Mountain – Could be literal mountain - we cannot limit God’s power
FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAIN
A small congregation in the foothills of the Great Smokies built a new sanctuary on a piece of land willed to them by a church member. Ten days before the new church was to open, the local building inspector informed the pastor that the parking lot was inadequate for the size of the building. Until the church doubled the size of the parking lot, they would not be able to use the new sanctuary. Unfortunately, the church with its undersized parking lot had used every inch of their land except for the mountain against which it had been built. In order to build more parking spaces, they would have to move the mountain out of the back yard.
Undaunted, the pastor announced the next Sunday morning that he would meet that evening with all members who had “mountain moving faith.” They would hold a prayer session asking God to remove the mountain from the back yard and to somehow provide enough money to have it paved and painted before the scheduled opening dedication service the following week. At the appointed time, 24 of the congregation’s 300 members assembled for prayer. They prayed for nearly three hours. At ten o’clock the pastor said the final “Amen”. “We'll open next Sunday as scheduled,” he assured everyone. “God has never let us down before, and I believe He will be faithful this time too.”
The next morning as he was working in his study there came a loud knock at his door. When he called “come in”, a rough looking construction foreman appeared, removing his hard hat as he entered. “Excuse me, Reverend. I'm from Acme Construction Company over in the next county. We’re building a huge new shopping mall over there and we need some fill dirt. Would you be willing to sell us a chunk of that mountain behind the church? We'll pay you for the dirt we remove and pave all the exposed area free of charge, if we can have it right away. We can't do anything else until we get the dirt in and allow it to settle properly.”
The little church was dedicated the next Sunday as originally planned and there were far more members with “mountain moving faith” on opening Sunday than there had been the previous week! Would you have shown up for that prayer meeting?
Always ask when reading – Is this a genuine account or a fallacious one
Author Unknown and probably a folk tale.
Faith that Moves Mountain
I. Is a Growing Faith – “mustard seed” – Matt. 17:20
A) Faith can grow from small to big.
1) The mustard-seed was the smallest of all seeds. It has been supposed by some, therefore, that he meant to say, If you have the smallest or feeblest faith that is genuine, you can do all things.
2) The mustard-seed produced the largest of all herbs. It has been supposed by others, therefore, to mean, If you have increasing, expanding, enlarged faith, growing and strengthening from small beginnings, you can perform the most difficult undertaking.
3) There is a principle of vitality in the grain of seed stretching forward to great results, which illustrates the nature of faith. Your faith should be like that. (A growing faith) This is probably the true meaning.
4) Trusting God for small things and more and more for bigger things.
II. Is a Persistent Faith – “prayer and fasting” – Matt. 17:21
A. How can we have increasing faith or persistent faith?
1. By reading or hearing the Bible - Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
2. By prayer – Matt. 17:21; Jas. 5:16
B. George Mueller’s perseverance in prayer
More than half a century ago, George Mueller prince of intercessors began to pray for a group of five friends...five friends. After five years, one of them came to Jesus Christ. After ten years two more of them came to Christ. He prayed for twenty five years and the fourth man was saved. And for the fifth he prayed until the time of his death and that fifth friend came to Christ a few months after George Mueller died. For that fifth friend he prayed fifty two years, now this is perseverance.
III. Is a God Centered Faith – “bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the devil” – Matt. 17:17, 18.
A) What is our focus? On God or on the mountain? Look at God first then look at the mountain. Our God is bigger than any mountain.
B) What is our focus? Our want or the Will of God?
A Christian told of this incident - This question was put to me recently:
'I heard a pastor (not my own pastor) define faith in a certain way and it sounded real exciting, only trouble is I think it is a wrong view of faith. He is not a prosperity teacher or anything like that and he is real sincere but I have a problem with what he said. He said,
"Some folks believe that if you say, 'I believe that God can heal me if He plans to,' that is faith, but that is not faith at all. To have faith is to say, 'I believe that God IS GOING to heal me TODAY!'
Well, that sounds real great and when I was less mature in the faith I would have said something like that, but searching through the Scriptures, when folks get sick, or need a prayer answered real fast they seem to pray and plead for God to intervene, they don't seem to tell God how and when He must do it.
God will always answer our prayers but sometimes we are not happy with His answer. He could answer our prayer with a “Yes”, a “No” or a “Wait” – Green, Red or Orange color as in a traffic light – in the highway of life – we must learn to accept yes, no or wait.
C) Faith is submissive to God’s will.
If it is not God’s will for this mountain to be removed it will not be removed. If it is God’s will, it will be removed.
Conclusion:
Faith that Moves Mountain
I. Is a Growing Faith – “mustard seed” – Matt. 17:20
II. Is a Persistent Faith – “prayer and fasting” – Matt. 17:21
III. Is a God Centered Faith – “bring him here to me and Jesus rebuked the devil” – Matt. 17:17, 18.
Mountain represent obstacles that hinder us from coming to God, or hinder us from doing God’s will.
Some people say faith comes from miracles.
Some other people say miracles come from faith.
I say miracles come from our faith in God.
It is not our faith in ourselves, it is not our faith in faith,
It is our Faith in God that can Overcome Any Obstacle.
Let’s have Faith that Moves Mountain!
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