Do you know the story about the walls of Jericho falling down? Can you imagine one of the band members taking credit for the amazing incident? That would be silly! God gets all the credit and glory for our success. All of our success comes from him. We don't believe in our own abilities but look to the Lord!
Audio Transcript
We have to give God credit.
How many remember — let's just take a survey — how many know the story of the fall of Jericho? You all know the Old Testament story? Fall of Jericho? Not everybody, okay, so let me tell you.
So God sends his people back into the Promise Land and they're going in and these big walled cities and this Jericho is this massive city right and the gates were so big and the walls were so thick around the whole city that you could race chariots across them so I mean it's imposing.
God's people have just crossed the river, they're coming in, they really never even fought much and God says, "Take the city." And you know their commander is a little preoccupied he's like, "I don't know what to do." And God shows up and tells him the battle plan.
Here's the battle plan — just take the band with you, not Hebrew Seal Team Six, not a full frontal assault. Take the band.
Take the band and march around the city. Do it. And he gets up the next day, okay. We marched around it.
"Do it again."
"Okay, we.."
"Do it again."
"What are you..."
"Do it again." "
"Okay we did again."
"Do it again..." Seven days.
Don't you know the people who are like, "Okay this was cute the first day but it's getting kind of annoying now." It is that psychological warfare? Do they think we're gonna come out if they keep doing this?
Then you get to day seven, "Okay, change of plans. Today, we do it seven times."
Seven times they walk around the city with the band. They get to the end and here's the killer: at the end when they've done it seven times turn around and face the wall and play another tune.. Don't you know the guys in the band were like, "This is ridiculous."
They're hot and sweaty. They marched around seven times today. I'm sure that there were some guys from Jericho going down... "Hey!"
They turn around if you know the story... the ground starts to shake and everything rumbles, and the walls sway. It's absolutely amazing because the walls come tumbling down after they did what God told them. They walked around and they played their music and on the seventh day they did it seven times and they played their horns, and without lifting a sword, without shooting an arrow, the walls came down.
Now I told you this whole story; it's amazing, but I believe within my very heart that there was at least one guy there who went [playing his horn], "Whoa did you all see what I did? I have a killer solo."
You know there was one guy with a clarinet going, "Booya!"
A flutist going, "I brought him down with a high E."
That's silly ain't it? I mean the whole purpose that God used a band was so that everyone would know it wasn't the band. It wasn't the band. Don't be that guy.
Did you see how awesome God was (#blessed) when I preached?
Did you know those people accepted the Lord in my Bible study over the last year (#blessed)?
Follow me on this — don't be the guy who when you blow the horn you think that your massive jazz skills have killed the devil.
Watch the full sermon here.