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Faith |
Sermon:
Mover of Mountains [or Tell it to
the Mountain – Part 2]
This is the follow-up sermon to “Tell
it to the Mountain” which we discussed in
Part 10 of this series.
Most of the first sermon dealt with proving from scripture that Mark
11:22, “Have Faith in God” is talking about having the same faith God
has. In, “Mover of Mountains” we deal more in manifesting this kind of
faith. Here is how I begin that sermon:
My purpose today will be to encourage all of
you to BELIEVE that God can and will move that mountain---that
insurmountable obstacle each time you encounter it.
God, through Christ WILL move that mountain!!!
First, let us do a quick review of the Action Steps I gave you in the
last sermon.
The Actions Steps are all based from the 4 scriptures Jesus utters after
saying, “Have Faith in God.”
Mark 11:23-26
23 For verily I say unto
you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and
be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall
believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall
have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you,
What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them.
25 And when ye stand
praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also
which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
The Actions Steps are:
Say it --- Believe it --- Cast out all doubt --- Forgive
1] Say it—with the strongest
faith, conviction, boldness.
2]
Believe it
3] Cast out all doubt—displace it with the mind of God.
4] Forgive – Be at peace with everyone. Avoid strife.
I then say:
The more you meditate about the Faith of God, the more
you will Believe it. The more you Believe it, the more mountains will
be moved.
Now there are two kinds of mountains we encounter in life.
1) Those we can move by direct action.
2) The insurmountable obstacle
The first is summed up in a Chinese proverb that says, “The person who
removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
We are going to focus today on the second kind of mountain… the
insurmountable obstacle…those things where no normal physical action is
indicated. There is no pebble carrying when the mountain we face is one
solid piece of granite.
So, with a special focus on Meditation, we will go from
Meditation-to-Belief-to-Action and move that mountain. However, this
“Action” is not one of physical effort but rather invoking our Faith—our
belief—and witnessing God, Almighty moving the mountain for us. He, in
essence, creates a pathway straight through the mountain. The mountain
is replaced by a clear path that HE CREATES.
Later in the sermon I quote Psalm 50:23:
Psalms 50:23
Whoso offereth
praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright
will I shew the salvation of God.
…and then say:
The words of
Christ, as well as the person of Christ, may abide in the believer. It
is the teaching of Christ that gives rise to the proper kind of praying.
When the word of Christ dwells richly within, one may safely ask what he
will, and it shall be done. The teaching is similar to that in John
14:13-14. Verse 8. Discipleship is a growing, dynamic thing. The more
fruit we bear, the more truly are we fulfilling the pattern of
disciples, those who learn of Christ in order to be like him. God is
glorified thereby. He is vindicated and rewarded for his investment in
the vineyard.
As we grow in Christ and develop the mind of God, we rightly know what
to ask for. We also learn to know whether the mountain in front of us
is a pebble mountain removed with God’s power by our hands or a granite
mountain that we leave to Him completely to remove.
As the commentary on verse 8 says, Discipleship is a growing, dynamic
thing. The more fruit we bear, the more glory for God. The more we use
this higher level of faith, the more God is glorified…the more we
believe and the more we rid ourselves of any kind of doubt.
~end quote~
Later, I say:
So how are our insurmountable obstacles moved? They are
moved by our absolute invoking of this God level faith we are developing
in our lives and in our hearts. We do it knowing that it is God in us
doing the work—moving the mountain and that He gets all the glory. We
do it by having this highest level of belief and casting out all doubt.
I then give the account of the faithful centurion [Luke 7] who had a
servant who was so sick, he was ready to die. His faith in Jesus to
heal was so great that he says to Jesus, “say in a word, and my servant
shall be healed [Luke 7:7]. Verse 9 says that He marveled at the
centurion’s faith and stated that He had not seen this level of faith in
all Israel. I then say:
Three things strike me by this account:
1) The centurion was up against an insurmountable obstacle. He had a
servant he cared very much about and who was very sick. Clearly, they
had done all that could be done. Still, “he—the servant, was ready to
die.”
2) The centurion invoked Godly faith that contained absolutely no
doubt. He saw the victory before it ever took place.
3) Jesus marveled.
Why was Jesus marveling? The centurion could only have this level of
faith by direct intervention of God. It was Jesus who healed the
servant. All the chief elements of this healing were of God and not
man, so why did Jesus marvel?
Jesus marveled because of the centurion’s choice to allow that level of
glory to pass through his body in the form of doubtless faith. Jesus
marveled because His Father was being glorified in heaven.
This is how mountains are moved. We glorify God by
allowing Him to be the Mover of Mountains through us. |
|
The End Time |
Sermon:
Shock [or “Prepare for the Shock].
I begin this sermon by saying:
All events and all news
stories between now and the Great Tribulation come down to one single
verse found in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:22
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be
saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
God is going to allow events to go to a point where most all
of mankind will know they are about to expire.
I then mention another sermon I gave,
Final Checklist.” In it, I discuss coping with shock, meaning the
shocking end time events we will surely witness and even become involved
in.
I way, “The way you cope
with the coming shock is to know that it is coming, prepare yourself for
it happening and invoke faith. It is Matthew 24:6 where Jesus says to
you, ‘See that you be not troubled.’ ”
Later, I bring up Action Steps and begin by saying:
Action Steps
One can find all kinds of practical information on how to cope with
shock and disaster. What struck me about most of them is that they were
designed by the world for the world.
The key to firstfruit coping is Almighty God, through Jesus Christ by
the power of the Holy Spirit that is in us.
The action steps must be primarily based in and coming out of the
spiritual. Your foundation of tranquility must be a spiritual
foundation.
And now the verses I gave you in that sermon, “Final
Checklist” for the point, “Prepare for the shock.”
Then, after several verses, I give a list of Action Steps:
1] Stay close to God.
2] Be immersed in the Word of God. Notice I said “be” not
“get”.
3] Study the two lists above.
Note: What
you are doing here is making a study of disaster. Get text, audio and
video on the major disasters of the past. See editorials, news stories
and instructional text that speak to possible future events such as
natural disasters, terrorist acts, EMP, Nuclear or Biological attacks,
martial law and/or invasions. Acclimate yourself to economic breakdown,
food and water shortages and persecution. “What would you do?” “How
would you proceed?”
4] Pray
5] Invoke faith constantly in the protection and providence of God.
6] Eliminate fear, despair, worry or panic reflex.
7] Be a good steward now and in the face of potential disaster.
8] Constantly build and add to your foundation of tranquility. |
|
Trial and Tribulations |
Sermon:
The Package
I begin the sermon this way:
As you read your Bibles, what is one of the
hardest things about being a firstfruit? Well, if you do a bit of, “line
upon line and precept upon precept [Isaiah 28:10, 13], you will find
that virtually every true Christian is going to encounter fiery trials,
infirmities, reproaches, persecutions, necessities, distresses,
tribulations and temptations. Notice:
Fiery trials: intense encounters or struggles; bursts of anger,
grief, or lust
1
Peter 4:12
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try
you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.
Infirmities: physical limitations and illnesses
Reproaches: ridicule and rejection because of your faith or
holiness
Persecutions: harassment and oppression due to religious
convictions
Necessities: wear and care of daily responsibilities
Distresses: disappointments and deep hurts
After reading scriptures confirming the trials and
tribulation we all go through, I say:
I have a procedure for you
for handling every one of these situations. Listen carefully, as I
obtained this procedure from the Word of God.
Three-Step
Procedure for dealing with trials
1] take the event in all its physical, mental, emotional and spiritual
elements, put them into a box and wrap it up in plain brown paper. Tie
up the bundle in string.
2] never attempt to look upon those elements again.
3] place this package at the throne of God.
The purpose of my sermon today is to encourage all of us to wrap up our
trials and tribulations in plain brown paper.
Give the package to God.
I give the benefits of the
brown paper packages:
The Benefits of Brown Paper Packages
1] you take ownership of the trial.
2] you contain the trial in the limited space of the box.
3] the brown paper wrapping puts the trials out of sight and ultimately
the mind.
4] the string secures the box and the paper.
5] you have something tangible to put before God. Giving it to God is
an absolute action step.
6] you can now claim specific promises of God regarding all trials.
7] you have opportunity to add to your spiritual character
by the power of God, the Holy Spirit.
In one part of the sermon I quote two scriptures and make some comments
about dealing with the trials and tribulations of life.
1
Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God
is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye
may be able to bear it.
God is giving us much here:
1] God is faithful. He is always there to guide us and take away the
problem.
2] He promises us that we will not suffer more than we are able.
3] He promises that we will be able to bear it.
4] He promises us a way of escape from the temptation. That is, He
focuses our eyes elsewhere.
In Acts 14 we read that we
must go through much tribulation before we enter the Kingdom and eternal
life. Notice how He does this in Romans 5
Romans 5:3
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that
tribulation worketh patience.
1. God has us focus on the glory of the Godhead and not the tribulation.
2. He works it so that the tribulation becomes a tool to develop
spiritual character in us and once again forcing us to view something
other than the tribulation itself. God provides the plain brown
paper.
Start looking up
I have a concern that when firstfruits enter trial and tribulation they
sometimes put their focus on the problem and not God. If we are focused
on the problem, just when are we going to put that problem into a box
and cover it with string and plain brown paper?
Giving the package to God is pure indication that we are looking on God
much more than the trial. It means that we are not putting total focus
on the details of the trial.
Put your focus on the Will of God [Ephesians
1:11…counsel of his own will]
When you go to God in prayer, especially when the topic is your trials
and tribulations, you are free to ask Him anything you wish. Be as
specific as you wish. Having said this, all things are done according
to God’s will.
Later I read 2 Timothy 1:8 which speaks to our relying on and being a
partaker of the power of God. I then say:
Note: We
never rely on our own strength, thoughts or inclinations in our
tribulations. We look to God and His power. Notice that phrase again
in this commentary, “look for divine strength.” If one is looking for
divine strength, he or she is not putting all their focus on the
problem.
Toward the end of the sermon, I read Job 31:1 where Job states that he
made a covenant with his eyes that he would not look upon temptation. I
then say:
Note: The
principle here is to look upon nothing that would lead to sin or that
would detract us from God or bring us sorrow. Make a covenant with your
eyes and cover the package in plain brown paper.
Trials and tribulations do not bring peace. By wrapping
them up and giving them to God, we are edified and can therefore edify
others.
I end the sermon with these words:
So go now and get in a good supply of plain brown paper and wrap those
packages before you give them to God.
Give those packages to God |