Movin' Mountains

Movin’ Mountains

Matthew 17:14-21

Introduction: Every day as a church and as individuals we face situations that put our faith and commitment to Christ to the test. Many times we are faced with seemingly impossible situations. The naysayers come out of the woodwork to preach their messages of doom and gloom. “Impossible! No way! Won’t happen!” they prognosticate. But folks, I am here to tell you this morning that my God specializes in making the impossible possible, in moving mountains as evidenced in our text.

I. The Need for a Cure

A. Matthew 17:14-16 (NASB) – “When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic (Literally – moonstruck) and is very ill (has it bad); for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.’”

B. In our text a desperate father comes to the Lord and his disciples with a major mountain in his family’s life. He has a son who life has been invaded by a demon and is having severe seizures. The demon possessed this young man from early childhood and had thrown him at times both into the fire and into the water to destroy him.

C. Job 14:1 “"Man [who is] born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.”

D. Life is filled with Impossible Situations

1. Impossible situations – situations that are seemingly not capable of being accomplished, intolerable and extremely difficult to deal with.

2. Have you ever cried out, “I can’t take it anymore! It’s just too hard.”?

3. It’s hard to reach out and touch God when you are facing impossible situations.

4. Think about the children of Israel at the Red Sea. God miraculously led Israel out of Egypt with His mighty hand. The children of Israel probably felt within themselves that everything was going to be fine; there will be no more dangers, no more troubles, no more trials; the Egyptians themselves have sent them away, and they are too much afraid of them ever to molest them again. But the Lord led the children of Israel to a spot at the Red Sea, where on either side they were shut in by the craggy mountains with the sea in front of them and Pharaoh and his army overtaking them from behind. They were now faced with the impossible believing that they were going to die there.

5. Psalm 22:11 “Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”

6. Luke 18:27 “…The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

E. Life is filled with Insurmountable Odds

1. Being a Christian in this life, we are often up against insurmountable odds. Sometimes it seems as if inside every large problem is a series of smaller problems struggling to get out ganging up on you to keep you down.

2. Sometimes we feel like Israel must have felt in 2 Kings 18 when King Hezekiah received a threatening letter From Sennacherib, king of Assyria threatening to invade and destroy Judah. The Assyrians had conquered every nation they faced even when they went up against stronger nations. Many Israelites became so despondent over the impending invasion that they committed suicide.

3. Are you facing insurmountable obstacles and losing all hope of victory? Do you feel overwhelmed and powerless in your present circumstances?

4. A wonderful story is seen in 2 Kings 6. An angry Syrian king seeking to destroy Elisha surrounded the city where Elisha lived with a great army. Elisha’s frightened servant said “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15) Elisha responded with calm assurance, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Then Elisha prayed & said, "O Jehovah, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. & Jehovah opened the servant's eyes and he saw & behold the mountain was full of horses & chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:16-17)

5. Psalm 3:6 “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.”

F. Life is filled with Immovable Obstacles

1. God called Israel to conquer Jericho. There was an obstacle to their invasion of the city – its walls. The outer wall of Jericho was six feet wide and twenty feet high; while the inner wall was twelve feet wide by thirty feet high between the walls was a guarded walkway fifteen feet wide. The walls of Jericho seemed immoveable and impenetrable to invasion.

2. Nehemiah 4:10 “Then Judah said, ‘The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall.’”