Now Is the Time to Believe God Is Able to Move Mountains

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

God is able to do the impossible on a regular basis but you must answer the question: Do you believe all things are possible?

Introduction

When hearing the call to use the full power of prayer, undoubtedly, someone will ask:  Can prayer really do the impossible?  My answer to that question is, why not?  We pray to the one who is sovereign – all power is in His hands. I believe that my God is able – He does the impossible on a regular basis.   

Reason to Believe God Is Able

We have reason to believe that God is able to do anything but fail.  For this reason, we should always turn to Him, especially when problems prove to be too great for us.

Mark 9 opens with one of the most beautiful sights shown to us in scripture that I wish to highlight for you.  This chapter of Matthew’s gospel opens with Jesus taking Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain.  

On the mountain, Mark 9:2-3 tells us that Jesus was transfigured before them– He changed His appearance.  The scripture tells us that Jesus’ face shone like the sun, and even His clothes changed and became as white as light.  Jesus had shown these three disciples a glimpse of glory.

The transfiguration of Christ is a glimpse of our future in glory.  One day, the believer will be without spot and wrinkle, wearing a robe of righteousness, having an imperishable crown (Is. 61:10-11; 1 Cor. 9:25). 

The transfiguration is a reminder to us that God is faithful to what He has promised.  To those who are of sincere faith, God has promised that we will not perish but will have everlasting life in His kingdom (John 3:16).  The transfiguration of Christ shows us what is possible through faithfulness, discipline, obedience, and trusting God.

The question we must answer is whether or not we will choose to believe that this – obtaining true glory – is possible.  You would have to believe that it is possible to overcome this world.  You would have to believe that it is possible to overcome sin and your sinful deeds.  You would have to believe that man is capable of living peacefully.

Personally, I believe anything is possible with God.  I believe that anything is possible with God because of what He has done for me and my loved ones throughout my life.  

God brought me through my years of affliction with kidney failure and constant dialysis.  God brought me, my mom, and my siblings through the shocking loss of my dad in 2011.  Yes, I give all credit to the Lord for my still being here today, and for me and mine still being able to stand in today’s world.

The Lord has promised to give us the desires of our hearts if we abide in Him (John 15:8), and He has shown me that He is faithful to His promise.  If you think over your life, I believe that you will see that you also have reason to believe God is able.

A Helpless and Flailing Church

Now, while Jesus was in the mountain with three of His disciples, there was a bit of drama that was taking place at the foot of the mountain.  The drama at the base of the mountain will be the meat of my sermon for this week.

A world cries out for help today

After the transfiguration, Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain (Mark 9:9).  We are told in Mark 9:14-17 that when the four had approached the multitude at the base of the mountain, a man came to Jesus, kneeling before Him.

The man said to Jesus, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not (Mark 9:17-18).”  This is a scene of great concern, not just for this father, but even for today’s world.  

The son possessed by the unclean spirit represents a world that is possessed by unclean spirits and is in need of help.  Unclean spirits have cast this world into fire as war has, and still does, rage on.  Violence, bitterness, and wickedness are plunging this world into further darkness.  Because of man’s pursuit to be like a god, many have suffered in the past, and many still suffer today.

The father who came before Jesus represents all of those in this world who are in desperate need of help.  They have sought help from those whom they thought would be able to help.  When help was not received, they turned and went elsewhere for help.

The disciples represent all of us, believers – the church.  We ought to be able to help those who are crying out for help today.  Yet, are we truly helping those who are desperately seeking the help that we should be able to provide?

Failing to help those in need

There was much disappointment in the other disciples in this moment of not being able to help the father’s son.  In Matthew 10:1, we are told that the disciples had received power from Christ to be able to cast out demons and heal all kinds of sickness and disease.  Yet, the disciples had failed to cure this father’s son, in more ways than one.

Have we, like the disciples, failed those who desperately cry out for help today?  Hasn’t the Lord given us the power to help those who are in need?  Sure, the Lord has blessed us to be able to give out of the charity of our hearts.   

Even more, as Paul shared, we have been given two weapons to be able to go on the offensive on this spiritual battlefield.  God has given us the word of God, which is a powerful weapon.  We know that by the word of God, one is able to be uplifted and saved unto everlasting life.  

God has also given us the weapon of prayer.  Prayer, I believe, is the most powerful weapon we have in our arsenal.  Prayer is our direct line of communication with the one who is sovereign and almighty.  God is Almighty, He is Sovereign, and He is all-powerful.  With His power, the Lord desires to move to our benefit.

Yet, some of us choose to use the word of God to dictate and force laws onto others to live by, moving with conduct unbecoming of a child of God.  Some of us, when we pray, we pray amiss (Jas. 4:3), praying self-serving prayers.

Some of us don’t bother to use the weapons because we have become so disconnected and uncaring about all that is going on in this land and around the world.  Many believers are battling an apathetic spirit today.  This is a spirit where some of us see that today’s problems are too great and there is only so much that we can do.

Some of us have lost hope for the world– it cannot be fixed, is what we will say.  This is a dangerous mindset to have for one who says they believe in God.  You see, you wouldn’t be limiting what you are able to do; you would be limiting what God is able to do.  Don’t you believe that God can do anything but fail?

Lack of Faith Is Rebuked

How do you suppose Jesus would feel about you limiting what He is more than able to do?

We are told that Jesus answered, saying, “O Faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?”  He asked, “How long shall I bear with you?”  Jesus then instructed, “Bring him here to Me.”

This response sounds like one of much disappointment, doesn’t it?  This response was a rebuke from Jesus.  Who was Jesus rebuking, or correcting, with this response?

The father had done everything right about his son’s condition.  His son was in need of serious help, and he went to those who he thought would be able to help him.  When they were unable to help, the man went before Jesus.

Matthew 17:14 tells us that the man knelt down to Jesus, like going before the throne of grace, when he made his petition.  His petition, shown in Mark 9:22, shows him asking Jesus to have compassion on him and his son, if there was anything Jesus could do.

Jesus then rebuked him, saying, “If you believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”  Jesus’ response was essentially Him saying, I’m more than able but do you believe I am?  To which the father responded, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

Faith in “Impossible” Circumstances

While the father may have been included in the rebuke of Mark 9:19, I feel that the rebuke was more targeted at the disciples who had been tending to the son. 

Let us keep in mind that a rebuke is a form of correction.  For us to understand how the disciples were faithless in that moment, we must understand what Jesus meant by asking those two questions in His rebuke.  

Remember that God is near

Jesus asked, “How long shall I be with you?”  Physically, Jesus wasn’t with the disciples much longer, as we know He was eventually arrested and crucified.  However, spiritually, we know that Jesus was always with the disciples.

This thought reminds me of when Jesus first sent out the twelve for the first time.  Jesus had given them the power over unclean spirits and told them that they didn’t need anything except a staff and the sandals on their feet (Mark 6:7-9).  They didn’t need anything because they had been empowered, and because Christ was not far from them.

This thought raises a question about this situation:  Why didn’t the disciples go to Jesus while He was on the mountain?  Why didn’t they bring the son to Jesus while He was on the mountain?  Maybe they thought they could handle the problem without having to go up the mountain to Jesus.

Is the Lord far from us?  Sure, we know that God is in His throne room.  Yet, the Lord abides with us.  God has given us the Holy Spirit, and He abides with us.  So, no matter where we go, we know that God is with us.  As Moses told the children of Israel, God does not leave nor forsake us (Deut. 31:8).

Remember that God doesn’t grow weary

Jesus asked, “How long shall I bear with you?”  Maybe the disciples also didn’t want to trouble Jesus, which may have added to their desire to deal with the problem on their own.  Is this why some of us continue to deal with “impossible circumstances” without turning to God?

In Isaiah 40:21, the Lord proclaimed that as the everlasting God, He neither faints nor grows weary.  God does not grow tired of us coming before the throne of grace.  God, in fact, desires that we come before His throne often!  God actually wants to hear from you!  We must not worry about whether or not we are bothering God with our petitions.

Move and go to God

Jesus instructed the disciples to bring the son – the problem – to Him.  Problems that prove to be too great for you, or those around you, ought to be taken to God.  We ought not delay in taking problems too great for us to the Lord.  The only thing our delay will do is cause us to suffer.

Has God called on anyone to take on more than we can bear?  Some of us may feel that way, but as Paul said, God will make a way of escape so that we may be able to bear (1 Cor. 10:13).  So, why do we, believers and non-believers, continue to try to do what is impossible for man to do?

Since the first kings walked the earth, man has set out trying to be the one to “bring peace” to the world.  Every four years, candidates line up talking about how they will bring peace to the world, when they can’t even bring peace to this land.  Now is a time when man should be going to God!

The Great Physician Is Needed

The great physician – Jesus Christ – is needed today because the our world is too sick for man’s medicine and remedies.  I have seen man’s attempts at bringing about peace, and all it has done is torn this world in two!

A change of mindset is needed today when it comes to calling on the great physician!  While we may have our money, wealth, power, and knowledge, man must acknowledge that we need greater help in today’s world.  In other words, man has tried, but now it’s time we turn to God – do as the father did for his son!

When we acknowledge that we need greater help, when we call on the Lord, and when we believe, God will do what man can’t do.  In Mark 9:25-27, Jesus did what the disciples could not do.  Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and the unclean spirit came out of the son.  Jesus then took the son by the hand and lifted him up.

We ought to be crying out to God to cast out the unclean spirits in this land and all over the world.  No, I am not talking about praying for God to destroy, but to uplift!  We ought to be crying out to God to lift us – mankind – by the hand today!  Do you believe God is able to do it and will do it if we pray for it?

When the disciples came to Jesus, wondering why they could not cast out the unclean spirit, in Matthew 17:20, Jesus responded by speaking about their unbelief.  Jesus said, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

Faith is all about our effort!  Faith without works is dead, as James said (Jas. 1:26).  The effort that Jesus seeks from us is the effort of always turning to Him.  Jesus desired for the disciples not to take on a task to great for them on their own.  No, Jesus sought that they would come and consult them about a problem that proved to be too great – that is faith!

Having such faith, Jesus said, that nothing will be impossible for you!  Nothing will be impossible for you because you will have trusted in the one whom nothing is impossible for! 

What is or isn’t possible is a mindset that we must unlearn.  Christ said that nothing is impossible for us.  What isn’t possible is what man uses to control another so that they are always dependent on them.  I choose to live in the freedom of knowing I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil. 4:13).

A Mountain Needs Moving

Let us take away these three things from this passage of scripture.  Don’t give up and lose– bring your problems to God.  Don’t even give up on the world because God is able to heal the world.  Lastly, let us stop trying to solve problems that are too great for us to solve without the Lord.

A mountain needs moving in this world today and we cannot move that mountain without the Lord.  The only way the mountain that all of us face today will move is by all of us collectively calling on the Lord.   To the one who believes this is all a lost cause, I encourage you to stop limiting what God is more than able to do.  Let us simply call on the name of the Lord and trust Him to move.  God will move and God will do the impossible, just as He does on a regular basis.