WATCH OUT MOUNTAIN!
EVERYONE FROM THE DEEPEST PART OF YOUR HEART, THE MOST SOUND PART OF YOUR MIND, AND AS LOUD AS YOU CAN SHOUT, “I BELIEVE!” LADIES, PRETEND YOU ARE MAD AT YOUR HUSBAND BECAUSE HE FORGOT YOUR ANNIVERSARY, OR PRETEND YOUR SON OR DAUGHTER GOT MARRIED WITHOUT PERMISSION, MEN, PRETEND YOUR WOMAN JUST MAXED OUT YOUR CREDIT CARD, AND SHOUT IT OUT LOUD BY SAYING, “I
BELIEVE!” HA HA, PRAISE GOD, THAT WAS JUST SOMETHING TO GET YOU MAKING SOME NOISE IN HERE. IF YOU BELIEVE, SIT DOWN. MANY OF YOU ARE PROBABLY WONDERING WHAT YOUR ARE BELIEVING IN. THAT IS UP TO YOU TO DECIDE. IN MATTHEW 21:21 AND 22 IT STATES: “THEN JESUS
TOLD THEM, ‘I ASSURE YOU, IF YOU HAVE FAITH AND DON’T DOUBT, YOU CAN DO THINGS LIKE THIS AND MUCH MORE. YOU CAN EVEN SAY TO THIS MOUNTAIN, MAY GOD LIFT YOU UP AND THROW YOU INTO THE SEA, AND IT WILL HAPPEN. IF YOU BELIEVE, YOU WILL RECEIVE WHATEVER YOU ASK FOR IN PRAYER.’ ” THE TITLE OF THIS MESSAGE IS “WATCH OUT
MOUNTAIN!” I WANT TO ASK YOU A QUESTION TODAY. IS THERE A MOUNTAIN THAT YOU NEED TO MOVE? THERE’S MOUNTAINS OF SICKNESS, FINANCIAL NEEDS, FAMILY PROBLEMS, PERHAPS THE MOUNTAIN OF LUST. WE CAN CONTINUE BY ADDING THE MOUNTAIN OF ANGER, DEPRESSION, OR SADNESS. SOMETIMES, THERE’S EVEN THE MOUNTAIN OF ALL OF THE ABOVE! ALL IT TAKES TO GET RID OF THESE
MOUNTAINS IS FAITH, CHURCH. THE LORD PROMISED US IN JEREMIAH 33:3THAT IF WE WOULD CALL UNTO HIM, HE WOULD ANSWER AND SHOW US THINGS WE DIDN’T EVEN THINK WOULD HAPPEN. TAMPOCO, HE DIDN’T SAY HE WOULD DO IT RIGHT AWAY OR IN TEN YEARS, BUT HE DID PROMISE HE WOULD DO IT. MY GOD ISN’T A MAN TO LIE, NOR SON OF MAN TO REPENT. A LOT OF THE TIMES, HE DELAYS HIMSELF IN
ATTENDING TO YOUR NEED OR NEEDS BECAUSE HE WANTS US TO WORK ON OUR PATIENCE JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE. SOMETIMES IT’S BECAUSE WE, OURSELVES, KEEP IT FROM HAPPENING BY TRYING TO HELP HIM. COME ON NOW! ALLELUYAH, MANY TIMES THERE IS DOUBT AND IF YOU
DOUBT, HE CAN’T WORK WITH IT. REMEMBER THAT FAITH PLEASES GOD AND REGARDLESS OF HOW DARK IT MAY SEEM, OR HOW IMPOSSIBLE IT MAY APPEAR TO BE, THE LONGER YOU WAIT, THE BETTER THE MIRACLE WILL BE. A LOT OF TIMES THINGS DON’T HAPPEN BECAUSE OUR FAITH IS WITHOUT ACTIONS. IF YOU KNOW YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT IS
DANGEROUSLY LOW, YOU HAVE NO MORE THAN $50.00 TO YOUR NAME, AND THERE’S A NEED IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, YOU KNOW THAT IF YOU GIVE THOSE $50.00 THERE’S GOING TO BE NO MONEY FOR FOOD, BUT YOU STILL TAKE THAT LEAP OF FAITH AND GIVE IT AWAY. OH, LISTEN TO THIS, YOU HAVE YOUR GAS TANK ON EMPTY. YOU ARE RUNNING ON HOLY GHOST FUMES BECAUSE THERE IS NOT EVEN $2.00 IN YOUR POCKET, BUT RIGHT BEFORE 7 O’CLOCK GETS HERE, YOU RECEIVE A CALL FROM GERMAIN BROWN ASKING YOU FOR A RIDE AND YOU DON’T THINK YOU WILL MAKE IT TO HIS HOUSE BECAUSE HE LIVES A WHOLE 2.7 MILES AWAY, BUT YOU STILL GO IN JESUS’ NAME, THAT’S FAITH AND GOD HONORS IT! FAITH MOVES MOUNTAINS. FAITH CAN WORK WONDERS THROUGH JESUS. LISTEN TO THIS: PASTOR CHO, PASTOR OF THE BIGGEST CHURCH IN THE WORLD, WHICH CONSISTS OF MILLIONS OF MEMBERS, PROPHECIZED THAT IN THE SMALL CITY OF PENSACOLA, THE LORD WAS GOING TO SEND A REVIVAL THAT WOULD EXPAND ALL ACROSS THE NATION AND ALL OVER THE WORLD. ALL THE PASTORS BEGAN TO ASK
GOD FOR THEIR CHURCH TO BE THE ONE. THE LORD HONORED
EVERYONE, BUT THERE WAS PASTOR JOHN KILPATRICK, THE SENIOR PASTOR OF BROWNSVILLE ASSEMBLY OF GOD CHURCH IN PENSACOLA, FLORIDA. PASTOR JOHN WOULD GO INTO HIS CHURCH’S SANCTUARY AND PRAY, “GOD, SEND THE PEOPLE. LET US SEE THE WONDERS AND MIRACLES HAPPENING HERE! SEND REVIVAL, LORD!” FOR YEARS THAT WAS HIS PRAYER UNTIL ONE NIGHT, READY TO GIVE UP, HE RECEIVED A
REVELATION FROM GOD: “INSTEAD OF ASKING ME, USE YOUR FAITH AND CONFESS YOUR VICTORY BY THANKING ME!” THAT SATURDAY NIGHT JOHN KILPATRICK CHANGED HIS PRAYER. HE PRAYED, “LORD, THANK YOU FOR THE PEOPLE! THANK YOU FOR THE SIGNS AND WONDERS. THANK YOU, LORD, FOR REVIVAL!” THEN, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? NOTHING... PASTOR JOHN DIDN’T GIVE UP, THOUGH. HE WAS ABIDING BY
FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT. HE DECIDED TO CANCEL SUNDAY NIGHT’S EVANGELICAL SERVICES AND CONVERTED THEM INTO PRAYER MEETINGS. PEOPLE LEFT HIS CHURCH. PEOPLE CRITICIZED AND QUIT. FRANKLY, I PROBABLY WOULD HAVE, TOO. HE SAW THE NUMBER OF HIS CONGREGATION DROP, BUT HE DIDN’T CARE. HE DIDN’T DWELL BY SIGHT, BUT BY FAITH! REMEMBER THAT, CHURCH. HE KEPT ON GOING. SEE, HE WASN’T JUST BELIEVING, BUT HE TOOK ACTION AND SHOWED THE FRUIT OF HIS FAITH. THE MAIN SANCTUARY OF HIS CHURCH FITS ABOUT 3,500 PEOPLE. AS THE MONTHS WENT BY, HE BEGAN TO SEE HOW THE CROWDS BEGAN TO GET LARGER IN SIZE. HE SAW HOW THE PEOPLE WOULD RENDER THEMSELVES TO THE LORD. HE SAW HOW THE MAIN FLOOR OF
THE SANCTUARY WAS BEGINNING TO FILL UP. HE BEGAN TO SEE HOW THE BALCONIES BEGAN TO FILL UP, AGAIN. TWO YEARS LATER, ALTHOUGH HE HAD SEEN THE EFFECT OF HIS FAITH IN HIS CHURCH, HE WAS HIT BY DISCOURAGEMENT. REVIVAL STILL HADN’T BROKEN OUT THERE. ON FATHER’S DAY OF 1995, A MISSIONARY EVANGELIST, STEVE HILL, WAS TO PREACH THAT DAY AND AFTER TWO YEARS OF LONGING
FOR THE HOLY GHOST’S TOUCH OF REVIVAL, REVIVAL BROKE OUT STRONG AND IN IT’S FULL POWER. HAVING FAITH IS AWESOME, BUT UNTIL YOU CONFESS IT IS WHEN YOU’LL SEE IT COME. WHATEVER YOU CONFESS, THAT’S WHAT WILL BE. AT THIS TIME I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE MUSICIANS TO PLEASE STEP UP HERE. NOW, LISTEN, I WANT TO HEAR SOME HOLY GHOST UP BEAT MUSIC. WE’RE GOING TO MAKE A LINE HERE IN THE CENTER ISLE OF THE SANCTUARY AND WE’RE GOING TO CONFESS OUR FAITH. WE’RE GOING TO THANK GOD AND SHOUT IT IN THE DEVIL’S FACE. WE’RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING SYMBOLIC NOW. YOU ARE GOING TO CONFESS YOUR VICTORY AS YOU STOMP, AND HIT, AND
SLAP, AND DEFEAT THIS MOUNTAIN IN JESUS’ NAME. DO YOU BELIEVE? AS WE ORDER THAT MOUNTAIN TO MOVE, WE AREN’T ONLY GOING TO ORDER IT TO MOVE, BUT WE ARE GOING TO CALL FORTH THE MIRACLE TO BE DONE. COME ON, LINE UP HERE... OH, WATCH OUT MOUNTAIN!
