Why Didn’t My Mountain Move pt. 3
Commanding Mountains
Intro: Part 3 of a series of messages on:
WHY DIDN’T MY MOUNTAIN MOVE?
This series was birthed on a question a woman asked her pastor, when her sick child died... "Why didn’t my mountain move? I prayed, I believed, I spoke to the mountain, but my child died." The pastor she asked, replied:
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE TO BE CLIMBED.
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE TO BE CONQUERED.
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE TO BE COMMANDED.
SOME MOUNTAINS IN LIFE ARE CORDONED OFF. (My addition to his reply)
Text: Mt 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, 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.
Regardless of how so called faith preachers have twisted this verse as a means to short circuit the sovereignty of God, (you can have what you say) the fact remains that Jesus did teach we could command some mountains into the sea. This verse is not a blank check to fulfill all our carnal wishes, but an insight into the way God sometimes wants things to be done. I am not an advocate of name it claim it, and yet:
SOMETIMES CHRISTIANS ACT LIKE LAWYERS TRYING TO EXPLAIN WHY GOD DIDN’T MEAN WHAT HE PLAINLY SAID!
The seven sons of Sceva found out that power is not in words but relationship:
Ac 19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
Ac 19:16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
Some Mt.’s in life you will command into the sea. (Today’s topic). Some Mt.’s in life you will have to go in and with hand to hand combat conquer it. (A future message). Some Mt.’s in life you won’t be able to command into the sea, or conquer in a fight, but you have to climb them, and hike up them, in order to receive benefit from them. (Pt 2 already filed on Sermon Central). Finally there are some Mt.’s you can’t command, conquer, or climb, they are cordoned off. God has placed in front of them an access denied sign. If it’s an opportunity you can’t climb it. If it is an obstacle you can’t conquer it. If it is a hardship you can’t command it out of you life. Knowing what kind of Mt.. you are facing is paramount to how you must respond to it.
Commanding Mountains, today’s topic
We may not be able to command every mountain into the sea, but we can command some of them, and for some of them that is the only means God wants us to use.
In truth, there are some mountains that He forbids us do anything but speak to them, and that is a lot harder than many people imagine.
As I said earlier: Sometimes Christians act like lawyers trying to explain why God didn’t mean what He plainly said.
I’m not going to do that today.
I believe you can command some mountains to fall into the sea and they will.
Story: John Robb of World Vision’s Mission Advanced Research Center writes, "The adults of Ethiopia’s Awash River area, two hours north of Addis Ababa were suffering through famines. In their suffering the people looked to a giant tree for help. They worshiped the towering giant tree, believing a spirit had given it divine powers. Adults would kiss its great trunk as they passed by. They spoke of the tree in hushed, reverential tones and the children said, "This tree saved us... One morning as the World Vision staff prayed together, one of Jesus’ promises struck them from Matthew 21:21,22. "If you have faith, you can say to this tree, Be taken up and removed and it will obey you." Soon the whole community knew that the Christians were praying about the tree. Six months later, the tree began to dry up. Its leafy foliage disappeared, and finally it collapsed like a stricken giant into the river. The people were astonished, "Your God has done this!" they said. Within a few weeks, about a hundred villagers received Jesus Christ because they had seen His power displayed in the spectacular answer to Christians’ prayer." (Perspectives, p. 145, John D. Robb) (Note the actual verse they probably were thinking of was Luke 17:6, not Matthew 21:21-22)
I have seen fevers leave, dead cars start, troubles end, money come in, sick bodies made well. By doing nothing other than commanding it to do so in the name of Jesus. Many people feel weird about commanding things, they would rather, "pray" about them. If you are one of those people, you need to pay especial attention to this message, because unless you do things God’s way, you won’t get God’s results. As I have said repeatedly in this series different mountains require a different strategy to deal with them. For me personally, a mountain that needs commanding is the hardest I have to deal with. I am not alone.
Nu 20:7 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Nu 20:8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. Nu 20:9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. Nu 20:10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? Nu 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts [also]. Nu 20:12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
The children of Israel, as was their habit, were in a complaining mode again. God instructs Moses to speak to a rock (Christ) and it would give forth its water. Moses doesn’t speak to the rock but smites it twice instead, and for that he is told he and Aaron would not be allowed to lead the Jews into the promised land. For Moses that must have been a heart rending loss. Barnes notes has an interesting comment on this passage:
"The command {#Nu 20:8} was ``Speak ye unto the rock.’’ The act of smiting, and especially with two strokes, indicates violent irritation on the part of Moses; as does also his unseemly mode of addressing the people: ``Hear now, ye rebels.’’ The form too of the question, ``must we, etc.,’’ directs the people not, as ought to have been the case, to God as their deliverer, but to Moses and Aaron personally. In fact the faithful servant of God, worn out by the reiterated perversities of the people, breaks down; and in the actual discharge of his duty as God’s representative before Israel, acts unworthily of the great function entrusted to him. Thus, Moses did not ``sanctify God in the eyes of the children of Israel.’’ Aaron might have checked the intemperate words and acts of Moses, and did not. Hence, God punishes both by withdrawing them from their work for Him, and handing over its accomplishment to another."
The thought that Moses did not sanctify God, implies that Moses was attempting to take the credit for the action to be performed, and not God. That is what makes commanding mountains so hard. Not that we want to take credit, but that we want to do something. Most unemployed people should do everything they can to find a job, but every now and then God wants someone to just "speak" to their mountain and the door will open for them, in God’s time. For me, I struggle with that kind of an action. I want to do something about my situation. God often brings people to places where they are helpless so that He alone can get the glory and be sanctified in their eyes.
Most sick people should take every opportunity available to them to get better, but there is a small group that God wants to take the credit alone and He expects them to do nothing more than speak to the mountain. Take for example the case of one of Israel’s kings: Asa
2Ch 16:12 And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease [was] exceeding [great]: yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians. 2Ch 16:13 And Asa slept with his fathers, and died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.
By implication if Asa had sought the Lord, relied upon the Lord, leaned upon the Lord, and the Lord alone, he would have lived. Some troubled souls take this thought to extreme levels and have denied their children life saving medication. Certainly we aren’t advocating that, but the passage before is a very unusual case. Who dies from diseased feet? He didn’t die from diseased feet, but because he wasn’t seeking the Lord. He was attempting to exclusively take matters into his own hands. Sometimes God doesn’t want things in our hands. For most of us the thought of doing nothing about important life situations, other than commanding the mountain to fall into the sea, is a very difficult thing. We would rather strike the rock, ask the doctor, go on job interviews, work a second job, withhold tithes to pay the electric bill. Sometimes the most difficult thing in the Christian life is to "stand still, and see the salvation of God." That standing still stuff is for me the most difficult mountain to move. Commanding mountains is nothing more that complete reliance on God and His word to see something accomplished. It is the abandonment of self effort. It is reliance on prayer alone. It is living by faith, and faith alone.
Spurgeon says that scripture can either be a stimulant or a narcotic. It can move you to action, or some use it as an excuse for laziness. They don’t go job hunting because "God will provide." God can only be counted on to provide in those cases where He has directed you to speak to the mountain. Some people claim spirituality, when in fact it is nothing more than laziness or fear.
Others never allow God to show Himself as the great provider, because they always take things into their own hands.
Wisdom is the proper application of knowledge. Is your mountain to be climbed, conquered, commanded or cordoned off. May God give you the grace to know and act appropriately.
Before I close, I want to point out one more thing about Moses. He was denied the opportunity to lead his people into the promised land, because he failed to speak to the rock when he was supposed to. His lifelong dream was taken from him. Most commentators do their best to explain Moses’ actions, as if to build a case for justifying them. That Moses is a man of great faith is without question, he dared to stand before the most powerful man in the world (Pharaoh) and openly defy him, with nothing more to support him than the presence of God. Yet when told by God to simply speak to a water shortage mountain, his faith crumbled. Every other time he was able to use the all powerful "staff." God took the staff away and Moses stumbled, and his destiny was forever changed. Failing to speak to a rock can change your destiny. In Mark the 9th chapter a person is mentioned, that most people never think much about. That person is Moses. He appears with Elijah and Jesus, in glory, on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses was allowed of God into the promised land! And what an entrance he had. God chastises us, but He also forgives.
Some of you while hearing this message have come to realize that your mountain requires that you speak to it. Your self efforts have failed. Though it may be hard to stand still and see the salvation of God, it is better than spinning your wheels and never getting any traction. Wait I say on the Lord. They that wait upon the Lord...
Others of you may have realized that like Moses you got in the flesh and tried to solve things on your own. Or like Abraham you have given birth to an Ishmael because you couldn’t/wouldn’t wait on the Lord. All is not lost, God can, like He did for Moses, still bring you to the promised land. You need to repent of the sin of self sufficiency. Chastisement is not unto death, but unto life.
Close: Prayer for those who are struggling with a mountain in their life, and especially those who are struggling with a mountain they feel they are to do nothing but speak to it, and wait on the Lord.
