“A MOUNTAIN-MOVING FAITH: THE POWER OF AN UNCHAINED FAITH”
Matthew 21:21-22; Hebrews 11:32 – 12:3
Ships tied to the dock will never cargo and people to distant lands.
Horses left in the stall will never win the Kentucky Derby.
Books unopened will never inspire anyone.
Dishes left in a cupboard will never serve a meal.
Words left unspoken will never be heard.
Songs unsung will never inspire the broken.
Hugs left in our arms will never comfort a hurting.
Smiles locked upside-down will never bring joy to the world.
And a faith that is chained will never move any mountains.
I came to a startling realization this week as I looked at the closing verses of the Heroes of our Faith in Hebrews 11, and as I thought about the words of Jesus that if we say to this or that mountain, “be lifted up and thrown into the sea,” that it will be done.
I came to the realization that 1.) Jesus said that we had to “speak” to the mountain, and 2.) that the heroes of our faith moved their mountains and furthered the gospel and were victorious because they spoke up, and in speaking up they unchained, unleashed, and released the faith that lifted up their mountains and threw them into the sea.
A faith that is chained will never move any mountains, but a faith that is unchained, unleashed, and released, will move mountains.
If we want a mountain-moving faith, and I know that I need it every day, then we need to understand that mountains move when we speak to them. Mountains move when we unleash and release and unchain the words of our faith, because faith that is unchained has divine power to move mountains, change hearts, bring justice, alter lives, and bring people to repentance and rebirth. There is power, wonder-working power, in a faith that is unchained, released, and unleashed.
Jesus said it; I believe it. How about you? Are you ready to move some mountains?
Hebrews 11:32-35
Mountains are moved when God’s people unchain their faith and refuse to be released from the struggle through some quick-fix or compromise.
What do…
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all have in common?
They moved mountains that day because they spoke the two words that move mountains: “NO MORE.”
All the people we’ve talked about in Hebrews 11 and the ones we read about today who “through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight,” - how did they move these incredible mountains and gain the victory?
Because as some point, one day, in a single, defining moment, they all said in one way or another to the mountain that loomed in front of them – “NO MORE.” There came a pivotal moment when they all said to the mountain, “Enough’s enough. You’re done. You’re not going to stand in my way any longer.” And in saying these words, they unchained, unleashed, and released their faith…and in releasing their faith, they released the power of God in them.
Look if you will with me at the second half of Hebrews 11:35. Do you see the words, “Others were tortured, refusing to accept release,…”
This is what happened to the men and women who moved mountains in Hebrews 11. It happened in Rosa Park,
Saying to the mountain, “NO MORE,” is saying that we refuse to be released from the struggle until we’ve gained the victory. You see, in Hebrews 11:35, the saints being talked about were offered release from the struggle…but they didn’t “accept” it. The writer is talking about people who were in prison for proclaiming Christ as Lord and not the Roman emperor, and they were being told that if they confess Creaser as Lord they could go free. But they all said, “NO MORE. Not today. I gave in before to this mountain, but I’m not doing it today. I refuse to be released until I gain the victory. The mountain is NOT going to win today.”
You see, some of you need spell-check like I have on my computer and which is constantly alerting me to words that I have misspelled.
Why do you need spell check?
Because most of us, when faced with mountains, spell “MOUTAIN” = “C-A-N-‘T”
You say to yourselves, “I can’t forgive so-and-so.” “I can’t stop this anger.” “I can’t resist this temptation.” “I can’t be a better person.” “I can’t stop beating myself up with this guilt and this sense of self-worth.” “I can’t let my children go and grow up.” “I can’t stop yelling, biting my fingernails, smoking these cigarettes, eating all this ice cream, going on internet sites the I know grieve the heart of my heavenly Father, and letting go of the past.”
Do you want to move these and the other mountains in your life or don’t you?
Then you have to come to a point when you finally say, “NO MORE. I’m not going to spell ‘mountain,’ ‘c-a-n-‘t,’ anymore. Now you listen here, mountain, I lift you up in the name of Jesus and I cast you into the sea, into the lake of fire. I am done with you. Today I am refusing release. I have given into you for the last time. NO MORE.”
And Jesus said, “and it will be done.” Unchain your faith, speak to the mountain, and it will move….Jesus said it would.
Will today be your “NO MORE” day?
Hebrews 11:35-40
Mountains are moved when God’s people unchain their faith and proclaim that no mountain will stand in the way of the better resurrection that awaits the faithful.
When I was a kid, my mom use to make us clean our plates before we got our desert. Any of you have similar childhoods? Well, I hated vegetables back then, especially frozen mixed vegetables.
There was no way that you could doctor them up to make them taste any better. Those two tablespoons of vegetables on my dinner plate each night might have well have been my Mt. Everest, and I knew every night that if I wanted something “better” (a.k.a., desert), I had to move that mountain. Thank the good Lord for dairy farmers because I drank gallons of milk washing down vegetables when I was a kid.
You see, I knew that something “better” was on the other side of the vegetable mountain, and that’s why me and my shovel moved that mountain every night. I did not want to miss the “better” land, the promised land, that waited for me on the other side.
Look at Hebrews 11:35 again, and this time pay attention to how this sentence closes out: “Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection.”
The word “resurrect” literally means nothing more than, “to stand up again.”
Now when you consider the people of faith eulogized in Hebrews 11, we would see that everyone of them are a lot like us – life knocks us down. Something will always be coming along to lay us out on the mat, take our legs out from underneath us, blind side us, knock us to the canvass, and put us up against the ropes.
Mountains are moved and faith is unchained, unleashed, and released in people who say to the mountain, “NO MORE, because I know that there is something better on the other side, and you’re not standing in my way of getting it any more.”
Listen, the reason why so many of you are still giving in to the mountain that is this spirit of anger, unforgiveness, some destructive habit, a hurt from the past or a pain in the present, is because you are not yet convinced that there’s something better for you and in you on the other side. One of the biggest battles in moving the mountain of an addiction is being convinced that there’s something better on the other side of the bottle.
Well, listen, there’s a better resurrection on the other side of all your anger, too, and that goes the same for your pride, bitterness, unforgiveness, hostility, gossip, nagging, pouting, complaining, manipulating, and envy. But you won’t move these mountains unless you unchain, unleash, and release your faith. The thing that’s holding you back from firing away at the mountain is that your heart is still filled with doubt…doubt that there’s something better on the other side. Remember what Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and DO NOT DOUBT,….”
Some of you don’t doubt that the mountain can be moved. That’s not why you haven’t spoken to your mountain. Your barrier is that Satan has you doubting that there’s a better resurrection on the other side. Once you believe that, as did the faith heroes of old, your faith will be unchained, unleashed, released, and you mountain will be lifted up and thrown into the sea. Not because I said so. Jesus, “Truly I tell you….”
Hebrews 11:12:1-3
Mountains are moved when God’s people unchain their faith and call in the power of the witnesses.
When the patriots finally said, “NO MORE,” they threw a costume party in the harbor and invited all their friends because a party just isn’t a party if there’s only one, is it? When the Declaration of Independence was signed, there was more than one signature on the document, wasn’t there?
Some of you still haven’t spoken to your mountain because you’re trying to go it alone, when there’s a “cloud of witnesses” on earth and in heaven ready to help you.
Look, Hebrews 12:1-3 is all about telling us that on the spiritual side, as it is on the material side, there are believers cheering us on to move the mountains we face. You can call on them up for help, but don’t you conjure them up like spiritists do…that’s sin and that will defile you with demons. But you can call on the witnesses and seek their divine help to speak to the mountains. Go to the cemetery if you have to. Stand at the final earthly resting place of your loved one and talk to them, ask them for assistance, tell them of your mountain, and let them know you could use their help. And then turn and face that mountain and start speaking to it knowing that you now have heavenly help.
What’s your mountain that needs to be moved? Where are you still spelling “mountain” = “c-a-n-‘t”? Where do you not believe that there’s a better resurrection on the other side of your “vegetable mountain?” Funny, but your mountain maybe the fear of asking others for help…imagine that.
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, no only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.”
Is this the promise of a madman or a Messiah? Speak to the mountain and see.
