Sound
Pt. 1 – Sound Doctrine
It doesn't seem possible but a new year is upon us. Some of have sadly waved goodbye to a year that they will fondly remember. Others "waved" in an another manner at a year that was filled with pain, heartache and detours and so now they are hoping this year will be the dream year. So the first of the year is an important time to start things off right. So this morning I want to begin the year by talking to you about a subject that God has been dealing with me about for close to a year now. I honestly think I am going to say some very prophetic things for some of you individually and I know for us corporately. So let's all do our best to listen carefully and prayerfully!
I want us to start this year off by talking about sound!
Sound has power. The account of Creation is about sound! God spoke things into existence. The sound of God's voice caused action and reaction! Sound wasn't just used for communication but from day one we learn that sound was used for creation! Sound sets atmosphere and mood.
With keyboard ... We underestimate the power of sound. Therefore we fail to investigate its importance. So weakness begins to permeate our lives. It is time to let sound reverberate.
Now with organ . . . Only thing that changed was sound.
Sound pulls stuff out of you! Sound can cause you to dance when you don't feel like dancing. Why do you think the world spends millions of dollars to outfit venues with more than a radio shack karaoke mic and amplifier? They understand the power of sound! Our problem is that our world has learned to harness the power of sound more effectively than the children of God. So as we move forward we need to learn some sound doctrine!
Text: Joshua 6:10-17, 20
10 Joshua had given orders to the people, “Don’t shout. In fact, don’t even speak—not so much as a whisper until you hear me say, ‘Shout!’—then shout away!”
11-13 He sent the Chest of God on its way around the city. It circled once, came back to camp, and stayed for the night. Joshua was up early the next morning and the priests took up the Chest of God. The seven priests carrying the seven ram’s horn trumpets marched before the Chest of God, marching and blowing the trumpets, with the armed guard marching before and the rear guard marching after. Marching and blowing of trumpets!
14 On the second day they again circled the city once and returned to camp. They did this six days.
15-17 When the seventh day came, they got up early and marched around the city this same way but seven times—yes, this day they circled the city seven times. On the seventh time around the priests blew the trumpets and Joshua signaled the people, “Shout!—God has given you the city! The city and everything in it is under a holy curse and offered up to God.
20 The priests blew the trumpets. When the people heard the blast of the trumpets, they gave a thunderclap shout. The wall fell at once. The people rushed straight into the city and took it.
This is a familiar story but I want to remind you that it revolves around sound!
a. Sound precedes Victory!
Joshua gave very specific instructions. March in silence. Shout. Then the wall falls down. Notice he didn't say march, wall falls down and then you shout.
Too many of us never see the wall fall because we have lost our sound! We want to see the thing then shout. We want to obtain the miracle then praise. We want to be healed then dance. We want to see the provision then shout! We have lost all concept of the sacrifice of praise. The praise that God calls us too that makes no sense in the natural! The praise that hurts because we haven't see the change yet. The praise that costs!
You have to understand the situation. On day 7 they had no reason to shout. They were no closer to victory than they were on day one, they were still locked out and blocked out. I don't think someone, at the end of the day 6 marching routine, spotted a hairline fracture in the wall and spread the word, so that now on day 7 they are pumped up!
They sounded victorious before they were! If we could ever learn to get our sound to match the miracle before we ever see the miracle our world would change!
Too many of you have a shout that resembles your situation. You have got to learn that your situation will line up to your shout!
Your sound isn't supposed to match your situation your sound is supposed to match the worth/capabilities/promises of your Savior!
I came to give you some sound doctrine . . . sound will precede your victory. Got a big wall? Get a big sound! Got a big devil? Get a big shout! Got a big enemy? Get a big praise!
Anybody have any victories they need to shout for right now?
B. Silence is supposed to be for a season
I want you to know that I have no issues with silence. The wise man said there is a time for silence and time to speak. In fact, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, because it proves men get to heaven before women, declares there will be silence in heaven for the space of 30 minutes. But even in both of those passages silence is a season!
Joshua's instructions were clear. There was a time for silence. 6 days of saying nothing. 6 days of shut up! But it was for a season!
In fact, what I would tell you is that the silence was the birth place of shout! If some of us would shut up for few days . . . we might actually have a shout birthed within us! But that is a different lesson.
My concern is that I think that too many of us have become locked in silent seasons permanently. The lesson from Jericho is that if there is no sound there is no victory!
Too many of us have lost our shout! We say things like "Shout unto God with a voice of triumph!" and the response we get is pitiful. If that is the voice of triumph then we haven't experienced much victory! We have lost our shout so we have lost our victory.
I have no problems with holy hushes and appropriate reverence. What I do have a problem with is silence when it becomes deadly! We have to know that silence is for seasons.
Where the mouth goes the horse goes. Sound dictates where we go! Notice no one has ever taken a stage and said come on you guys let's silence our way into victory! No we shout our way into victory. We praise our way! You silence your way into defeat!
You have been silent all week . . . you need to get in here and say something that will change the course of your week!
Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks . . . if nothing is coming out what is in there! You should have overflow and you create overflow as you speak into existence things that are not!
Some of you never have a victorious sound because you are never silent so there is never new sound. However, most of us never win the victory because we remain silent all the time! You can remain locked out of your inheritance and the bounty God has prepared for you if you fail sound off.
I wished I had time to go into James 3 and the power of the tongue. You turn the whole body if you turn the tongue! You have got to get your tongue involved in the process of victory! You can't deal with life challenges without being verbal! There has to be sound! Silence is the absence of sound not a substitute for sound!
As the Children of Israel marched around the city in this season of silence I just imagine the residents stood on the walls and threw insults, ridicule, garbage on them. Go ahead poke bear!
If we could ever learn this lesson . . . then let the enemy continue to hurl down insults, fear, sickness. He thinks he can kill our sound but in essence the longer he rails down on us all he is doing is helping to create a sound.
That is a change in approach. Some of you walk in here beat up and we can't get you to say a word. I challenge you today that if you have been under attack all last year, all last month, all last week then when you walk in here there should be a devil killing, earth shaking, sickness scattering, wall destroying shout built up in you!
If we are going to experience a new level of victory as a body our sound has to change! We have been silent too long. We have assigned our shout to a few worship leaders too long. We have got to exit the silent season with a shout!
I am just a quite person . . . really . . . set next to you during a Thunder Game or your favorite football team. If all you do is like my mom watch, clinch your hands, "oh good!" then you get a pass. However, if you are like . . . what is wrong with you? Are you an idiot? Jumping. Making all the victory motions. Then you get in here and we can't get one peep out of you! You have bought the lie! The enemy knows if he can keep you quiet, marching in silence, when you are supposed to be shouting then he can keep you marching in defeat! He will try to keep you from shouting by being loud to you! Mouse with a microphone!
I am calling you to move out of the silent season Passion. Release the sound that is in us! That might scare our visitors. We will get to that later in this series. But for today let me just say if we could release this sound it might just scare the devil off of some our visitors so that they get a taste of victory that might just want what we got! Should things be done in order? Duh!! But order isn't always synonymous with quiet!
I have been to enough permanently quiet churches. I have had enough of spectator church where people come to watch someone praise for them, shout for them, win for them! I have hung out with enough stoic believers. I am looking for some folks that realize that sound precedes victory! I am looking for some folks who have been trapped in a silent season for too long to rise up and let a shout escape so that you can escape!
How long are you going to suffer in silence? You are waiting on God to touch some things and God is waiting on you to speak to some things. . . mountain be removed! David approached the biggest giant of his life with his mouth filled with a shout! Don't you ever approach giants with silence! Open your mouth and make a sound.
Why are you saying this stuff Pastor? Cause I don't think we have found our sound yet! I don't think we marched into the levels of victory He has for us yet and I think sound is the key that can unlock that for us and for all our volume we aren't very loud!
