King Josiah

You can play some music or something if you want, Ian.

Good evening. How are you all doing this evening? All right. You want to stand with me and we can open up in a word of prayer?

Dear Heavenly Father, I just pray that you would just meet us here tonight. God, that you would just show your presence to us. God, we know you're not just an idea. You're a person and you love us. Lord, I just pray that you would just show us your face this evening. I pray that, Lord, that these praises would just be a sweet sound to your ears. I pray this in your name. Amen.

To dissolve like snow, the sun forbear to shine. Jesus is, he's been my, washed in his.

This is my, this is my song. Raising my, I trust him.

That's why I trust him. That's why I trust him. I sought the Lord. I sought the Lord. And he heard and he heard.

I trust him.

I trusted my Savior.

Keeps us from you, is seeking you. God, when we seek you, you promised that we will. I just want to claim that this evening, Lord. Lord, that your spirit would be here. And that, God, you would just give us a fire to seek after you. I just pray this in your name.

Good evening. If you would open up your Bibles to the book of 2 Kings chapter 22. 2 Kings chapter 22. There are. There's just, there are certain days that you know are going to alter history. And today is one of those days, in my opinion. And just because I feel like the events of today, well, they just have a, they have a history altering impact to them. Because anytime that somebody that is any sort of a public figure, that whether you agree with them or not, is assassinated.

It, it has a ripple effect. There's an impact that goes along with it. And quite frankly, I can't think of a more appropriate message for me to give tonight than the one that's out of 2 Kings chapters 22 and 23 about Josiah and the revival that took place under King Josiah. And so we start off in chapter 22, verse 1. And it says this. Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Jedidah. Right? Whatever you say that. The daughter of Adiah of Bozkath. He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David. Nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left. We're given this little summary of this King Josiah. Young man. And remember, his father was one of the worst kings that Judah had ever seen.

If we were not given the commentary in 2 Chronicles, Manasseh truly would have been the worst king that Israel had ever seen. Either the northern or southern kingdom because of the sins that he led them into. Sins that were so great that we'll find out tonight that God could no longer withhold judgment upon the nation of Judah. God could not withhold no matter how great the revival is that's going to take place under Josiah.

God still had to judge Judah because of the sins that had taken place with Manasseh. And if we were not given the commentary and say in the book of 2 Chronicles that Manasseh ultimately turned to the Lord. We would feel incredibly hopeless because of the reign of Manasseh. But his young son Josiah becomes the king. At the age of 8 years old. And at the age of 8 years old he becomes one of the younger kings that the nation of Judah had seen.

And we're told that he reigned 31 years. And you know I always think of a king being an older gentleman. But you think about the fact that he would only reign until he was the age of 39. That's a pretty young guy. And that's how long he's going to reign. And we're given a beautiful testimony to who this King Josiah was. That he followed the Lord with all of his heart.

One of the few kings that we're told that followed the Lord with all of his heart like his father David had done. And for an additional addendum to that it says he did not turn from it to the right hand or to the left. In other words he stayed true to the Lord unlike any other king that was before him. As a matter of fact. If we were to go back to 1 Kings chapter 13.

Don't do this. But in the margin of your Bible write 1 Kings 13 2. 1 Kings 13 2. Because there was a prophecy that was given by a man of God at that time. That there would be a young king by the name of Josiah. Who would rule like David. And who would ultimately bring about revival to the nation. And he is the fulfillment of that prophecy given in 1 Kings chapter 13 verse 2.

Well the first thing that we see take place with Josiah. Is we see a revival not only in his own life. But a revival within the kingdom of Judah. It says this. Now in the 18th year of King Josiah. The king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah the son of Meshulam the scribe to the house of the Lord saying. Go up to Hilkiah the priest that he may count the money brought into the house of the Lord.

Which the doorkeepers have gathered from the people. Let them deliver it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord. And let them give it to the workmen who are in the house of the Lord. To repair the damages of the house of the Lord. To the carpenters and the builders and the masons. And for buying timber and hewn stone to repair the house.

Only no accounting shall be made with them. For the money delivered into their hands for they deal faithfully. The first part of the revival that took place with King Josiah. Started when he was only 26 years old. A very young man at this point in time still. But he knew enough about God's house. He knew enough about the truth of God. God's spirit had stirred in his heart enough to know.

That it was time for the house of the Lord to be repaired. And so according also to 2 Chronicles. We're told that this revival began to take place even a couple of years before this. Within his own heart. That he knew it was time to restore the house of the Lord. Because it had been destroyed through the work of Manasseh. So many things had been torn down. It had been given over to the worshipers.

The worship of idols. And so he had established a restoration project of the temple. And so in the process of this restoration project. This is sort of like meanwhile in the midst of the restoration. He had sent Hilkiah the priest up to deliver the money to the masons. And all the people that needed to do their work. And that sets the backdrop for the receiving of the law of God.

Notice what it says in verse 8. Then Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe. I have found the book of the law. And the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king. And he brought back word to the king. And he said your servants have emptied the money that was found in the house. And have delivered it into the hand of the workmen.

Who have the oversight of the house of the Lord. Moreover Shaphan the scribe told the king saying. Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. Now there's a couple of interesting things. To take note of about this. I find it interesting that they just happened to find the book of the law. That would indicate something to us about the book of the law at this point in time.

It would indicate to us that it was not a well read book at this point in time. That they had to find it in the midst of the restoration. You can sort of picture how this goes right. You're remodeling a house and you find. Oh look here's an old record book. Here's an old book that no one's seen for so long. Blow all the dust off of it. And then they began to read it.

And they kind of went ooh. The king needs to see this. Now the other interesting thing is. Not only had no one read the book of the law up to this point in time. But according to the law. The king was not only supposed to have his own personal copy. But it was his own personal copy that he was to write out by hand. That's what the king was supposed to possess.

His own personal copy of the law that he actually wrote down by hand. So that he would obey what God's law has to say. Now depending on who you read about this. It will determine what you think this book of the law actually is. If it was actually the entire Pentateuch. Or if it was just the book of Deuteronomy. Many believe that it was just the book of Deuteronomy.

Especially considering how Josiah is going to respond to the reading of the book of the law. Whatever it was. Whatever amount he found. They found the word of God. And they read it. And their first thought was. The king needs to see this. Because if there's really a revival going on. If he really wants to restore the worship of the Lord to the temple. If the temple is really going to be restored the way it's supposed to be.

We're going to have to pay the price. We're going to have to pay attention to what the law has to say. So the book of the law is brought to the king. And did you notice how it was introduced to him? Hey we've made all the payments like we're supposed to. Everything's looking really good. Everything's going like it's supposed to with the restoration. By the way we found this book.

And we think that you should know what it says. And I want you to notice what happens with Josiah. Read once again with me the end of verse 10. So Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it. In the presence of the king. I think that that's important for us to pay attention to. Because he hears the law of the Lord read to him. And this is his response to the hearing of the word of God.

In verse 11 it says. When the king heard the words of the book of the law. He tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest. And Hicam the son of Shaphan. Achbor the son of Micaiah. And Shaphan the scribe. And Josiah the king's servant saying. Go inquire of the Lord for me. And the people and all Judah. Concerning the words of this book that has been found.

For great is the wrath of the Lord. That burns against us. Because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book. To do according to all that is written concerning it. Did you notice the response of Josiah? What was the first thing that he did? He stood up and tore his clothes. Now listen. He rose again. So in Mark chapter 11 verse 10 They are on it again

What is going on here? Here is what the New Testament says. If the Lord has gone away from your life. Then he may not necessarily go back to you. But if so then. mercy that's why you cannot come to salvation until you first realize that you are in sin that's the purpose of the law and it did its good work in the heart of Josiah and he stood up and he tore his clothes and he said we have got

to seek the Lord we had better find out what God wants for us because did you notice what he says because great is the wrath of the Lord against us that's why most believe that what was read there was Deuteronomy because when you come to the end of the book of Deuteronomy you remember that you read the blessings and the cursings these are the blessings for obeying the law if you do what God says if you follow the law these are the blessings that will be upon the land the the fruit of the land God will preserve them God will give them good health God will give them good crops and all these kinds of things that God will do for them but if you don't if you don't obey what the law has to say the list of judgments is you

difficult to read and I would venture to say that as those were being read aloud to him each one was like another dagger to his heart of him realizing just how far the nation of Israel had fallen just how far his father had taken the nation of Judah down into the depths of sin and that they were still living in this sin as a matter of fact if you want to know a reference for what the nation of Judah was like at this point in time read the book of Jeremiah because Jeremiah was prophesying during this time so if you want a good indication of what it looked like to be a part of the nation of Judah read what Jeremiah has to say because that's the heart of the people that Josiah is addressing at this point in time

but he is exactly what he's supposed to and exactly what we're supposed to do when the law of God brings us to a point where our mouths are closed except for one word Lord have mercy he seeks the Lord says we need to hear what God has to say to us and so it says in verse 14 In verse 14, it says, So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Akbor, Shaphan, and Hosea went to Huldah the prophetess, someone who would have been a part of the college of the prophets at that point in time, the wife of Shalem, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter, and they spoke to her. And she said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord,

Behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read. Why? Verse 17, Because they have forsaken me, and they have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands. Therefore my wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched. And I think that that's something interesting for us to pay attention to there

because, because as she gives this prophecy, as she says, Go say this to the king. God says he's going to bring judgment on this place. And the reason why he's going to bring judgment on this place is because they have forsaken me. Can I just go ahead and say that we could probably say the exact same thing about the United States of America today other than the fact that we see pockets of revival taking place?

Because if I were to go through my phone, I almost brought my phone in here so that I could do this, so that I could just read to you the headlines from today because the assassination, the assassination, the assassination of today was just one of the things that happened in this, in this last week. And just one of the things that happened today, it just occupied all of the news because there was also a mass shooting of some sort in Colorado. Again, if I understood correctly, there was somebody that was shot and killed in Wichita. I mean, there's just all kinds of craziness that's going on throughout the world today.

But the news cycle was, was enveloped with what happened with Charlie Kirk. As well, it should have been. But I would have to say that by and large, we have forsaken God. That as a nation, we have forsaken God. And as a matter of fact, I would say we haven't forsaken God in the last five years. I would say it started a long time ago. And I won't get too political on this right now,

but I can, I can tell you who our Ahab and Jezebel were. And I can tell you who our Manasseh was, but that'll probably get me in trouble. I can tell you who those people were for our nation over the last 20 years. And we have forsaken the Lord. And I'm not a prophet. I'm not someone who claims to be a prophet, but I am someone, who studies the word. I'm someone who's looking at the world right now.

And I'm just not sure God's not going to pour out some wrath on our country. I'm just not sure God shouldn't maybe pour out some wrath on our country. Maybe, maybe that's exactly what needs to take place. But in the meantime, I think God's doing a work in our country. Because once she knows what she said, what she says, what God says to tell Josiah. Verse 17, or excuse me, verse 18.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus you shall say to him. Thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against the inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse. And you have torn your clothes and you have wept before me. I truly have heard you, declares the Lord.

Therefore, behold, I will gather you together, you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place. And so they brought back word to the king. Did you notice the message to Josiah there? Because your heart was tender. Because your heart was tender. When you heard what the law had to say,

you had a tender heart towards the things of the law. Brothers and sisters, we need to know something right now in the world that we live in. We had better learn to allow ourselves to be tenderhearted, to be tenderhearted toward the sin that God hates so much, to be tenderhearted towards the judgment that's coming upon our nation, and to be tenderhearted towards the people that are going to experience that judgment. Because if there's one thing that God always gets angry with, it's hardheartedness.

And some of the things that I said today would make me concerned for some people. Because if you're hardhearted toward either political side because of things that happened today, I would tell you, you need to start checking your heart. Because what happened today doesn't mean that this means war, which I saw somebody actually say. What it means is we need revival.

That's what it really means. And if we approach this with a hard heart and start viewing people as the enemy, then the enemy has won. And we need to understand that, because Josiah was, was brokenhearted over God's judgment that was coming on his people. Why? Because he had the heart of a shepherd, and he cared about his people, and he cared about the holiness of God.

And he was broken over the fact that God's holiness had been violated by the actions of the people, and his heart was broken because the people were going to experience the judgment that came about because of that. And he was tenderhearted, and he showed that tenderheart by his outside action. And his outside action was to tear his clothes because he knew what was coming on his nation. And because of that, God withheld judgment.

Judgment until after he dies. And it wasn't just judgment that he wouldn't have to personally witness, but perhaps there would be revival that would continue to take place. Brothers and sisters, we need to know something. Judgment is coming. I hate to be the bearer of bad news. My wife asked me earlier, is it ever gonna stop? And I had to be like, no, I don't think it is.

She wasn't real pleased with that answer. But I don't think it is. This is the world we live in right now, because it's a world that has forsaken God. But to the tenderhearted, he says, I will withhold judgment until he's brought every last one home. And so he tells them, he says, listen, judgment is coming. We can't stop that now. But because of your tenderheart,

and because you wept before me, and because you have torn your clothes, and if you're an underliner or a highlighter, it feels like a good thing to highlight, I truly have heard you. Why did God give them a little bit longer? Why is there gonna be a change? Why is there gonna be a revival that takes place in Judah? Why are some going to repent and not experience the judgment of God?

Why is Josiah not going to experience the judgment of God? Because his heart was tender, his heart was broken, his heart was repentant, and so God truly heard him. Do you want God to hear your prayers? Then it's gotta come from a heart that's truly tender towards the things of God, that's broken over the sin that you see around you, that's broken over the sin that you see in you, and that's broken over the judgment that's coming.

That we can't stop. When your heart is like that, God hears you. And sometimes God withholds judgment and pours out his spirit of revival because God's people prayed. That's what happened here. He says, because of this, you will not have to witness it. It will take place after your time. And so they brought back word to the king. And I want you to notice how Josiah responds.

He says in chapter 23, verse one. And then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great, and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies, and his statutes with all of his heart, and all of his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in the book,

and all of the people entered into the covenant. What did Josiah do? He said, it's time to get real with God, and it's time to make sure everybody knows. This is not time for me just to be happy that I'm not gonna be judged. It's time to see what God wants to do in the nation. And so what does he do? He calls together all of the elders. He calls together all of the men.

He calls together all of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Anybody that's willing to listen. And what does he do with them? He simply reads the word to them. That's what he does. They stand there that day, and he declares God's truth. He declares the word of God. He declares what the law has to say, because he knows what it did in his own life. Therefore, he's gonna take those same words

and see what God wants to do in the lives of the people. And you know what happened? The same reaction that happened in his life happens in the life of the people. And so they make this covenant. We will walk with the Lord. And God's people make a covenant that they will walk with the Lord. Listen, you cannot underestimate what the word of God is able to do.

You cannot underestimate the power of the word of God. Because God's word is always speaking. God's word is always speaking to people. Because that's what God's word does. God's word gets out into the people, and they begin to hear it, and they begin to change because God's word is powerful. As a matter of fact, God's word testifies of itself that it is sharper

than any two-edged sword able to pierce between bone and marrow, even indicating the thoughts and the intents of the heart. You know why? Because God's word is not words just written on a page. God's word is the spoken word of God coming through the power of the Holy Spirit. And so he stands there in front of all of those elders who had seen everything that had taken place.

26 years old. And he reads God's word to them. And they all weep before the Lord. And they make a covenant. And they say, we will walk with the Lord. We will walk in his ways. And Josiah does not allow it to simply be words that are said. He turns it into action. As a matter of fact, I've labeled this next part, the reforms. Notice what it says. Verse four.

Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for the whole host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron. And he carried their ashes to Bethel. What's the first thing he did?

First thing he did is he removed everything that represented the worship of Baal from the temple. And he didn't just take it out. What did he take it out and do? He took it out and burned it. And he then got rid of the ashes because he didn't want any part of it left that could be used for any sort of worship of a foreign god. This guy's gonna get real. And the action that he's gonna take

is a little bit radical. The action that he takes is a little bit intense. But it's what he knows he has to do because he knows that if he is to eradicate the idolatry in the nation, he has to take it seriously. Why? Because he'd read the law. What did God's law say needed to happen with all of the inhabitants of the land and all of their idolatrous practices?

He said it has to be destroyed. You see, he took what God's word had to say and then he put it into practice in a radical sort of a situation. And so he takes all of those articles for the worship of a foreign god and he absolutely eradicates them, burns them, and then desecrates everything with the ashes. What's the next thing that he does? He did away with the, verse 5,

idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places, in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem. Also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, and to the constellations, and to all the hosts of heaven. What's the second thing he does? He does away with any influence of idolatry that he can.

Anyone who is going to influence them towards idolatry, he gets rid of them. He says, you can't be here anymore. He had to get rid of every influence because he knew that if he left an influence around, people would be brought back into that idolatry again. Are you picking up on a theme here? It had to be dealt with harshly. What's the next thing he does? It says he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord

outside of Jerusalem to the brook of Kidron and he burned it at the brook of Kidron and he ground it to dust and he threw its dust on the graves of the common people. Why did he do that? Why does he go out and burn it and then take the dust and throw it on the graves of the common people? Because when you throw the ashes on the graves, the ashes are considered defiled and can never be used for anything of a worship of a God again.

He knew what they would think and so he did everything he could to eradicate it. If you don't know what an Asherah pole is, it's basically the place where they would take part in incredibly immoral acts because of this pole that they would dance around. So he wanted to do away with all of the immorality that was taking place there. What's the next thing that he did?

He also, verse 7, broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah. Let me read that to you again because it's always a shocking verse to me. He broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord. They had come to a place where the house of God was no longer the house of God.

The house of God was a place of immorality. And we go, oh, have you paid attention to the church today? Because I feel like if Josiah were here today, he might have to go into some churches and clear out some male cult prostitutes. He might have to clear out some places where they were making hangings to Asherah because they said, hey, we know a little more now.

We have a wider table than we used to have. We understand a little bit more about what God's word has to say. That's not really sin. See, that's how that starts. And then pretty soon it becomes a place of immorality instead of a place where God is honored and worshiped. Well, he did away with that. He goes on from there to say that, verse eight, he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah

and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from Geba to Beersheba. And he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on the ones left at the city gate. Nevertheless, the priests of the high places, did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate and leavened bread among their brothers. And he also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man may make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech.

I love it. The first thing he does is he does away with the high places. You know what's kind of cool about that? What was almost no king willing to get rid of, no matter how good they were. They were never willing to get rid of the high places. It was always an area of compromise. And you know what Josiah said? No compromise. Even the high places, they got to go.

And you know what? If you're going to sacrifice your child, that's not going to take place either because he dealt with the place where there were child sacrifices. Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing if all of a sudden in our nation, somebody went through and they said, there will be no more abortions because we will do away with all of the clinics. We will absolutely eradicate it because those won't take place anymore.

Essentially, that's what Josiah did, is he just got rid of all of the abortion clinics in the entire nation. That sounds a little more intense than what we just read there, doesn't it? Can you imagine that? Can you imagine how unpopular he was? Can you imagine the threats on his life because of this? But he had people behind him who had made a covenant to say,

we will walk in the way of the Lord. And when you decide you're going to walk in the way of the Lord, it means you have to destroy anything that keeps that from happening. Well, he goes on from there to say, in verse 11, he did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the son at the entrance of the house of the Lord in the chamber of Nathan-melech, the official which was in the precincts, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire, and the altars which were on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down, and he smashed them there, and he threw the dust into the brook of Kidron,

and the high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth, the abomination of the Sidonians, Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and Milcom, the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. I found this kind of interesting that some of the idolatrous practices went all the way back to the rule and the reign of Solomon, meaning that no matter how good the kings were up to him, and there was a couple of good kings that did some pretty good things, they still didn't truly get to the root of the problem, and Josiah is getting to the root of the problem. It goes on from there to say in verse 14, he broke in pieces, and he cut down the Ashram

and filled their places with human bones. Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, and made even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Ashram. And I love this. He deals with the root of idolatry in the northern kingdom.

He didn't allow it just to stop in the southern kingdom. He said, I'm gonna deal with all of it. Everything that has led our nation into a place of desecration, into a place of judgment, I'm gonna get rid of everything that I can because I'm giving the nation as much of a chance as I can to repent. He even went to the northern kingdom and dealt with the root of the problem there because what was the one thing that every king, no matter how good they were, and there weren't any really in Israel, but no matter how close they came, what was the one thing that it said that they always went back to?

But they worshiped at the altars that Jeroboam had set up. See, he knew his history. He knew that if he left any of that, they would go back. So he even dealt with those. It says, Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves, verse 16, that were on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones from the graves, and he burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the Lord,

which the man of God had proclaimed. And he was the one who proclaimed these things. Again, you might write 1 Corinthians, or 1 Corinthians, 1 Kings, chapter 13, verse 30, in the margin of your Bible because that's where it is prophesied that he would do this very thing. And then in verse 17, it says, And when he said, What is this monument that I see? And the men of the city told him,

It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed all of these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel. He said, stone let no one disturb his bones so they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from samaria josiah removed also the houses of the high places which were in the cities of samaria which the kings of israel had made provoking the lord and he did to them just as he had done in bethel and all the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them and he returned to jerusalem boy you talk about wholesale radical transformation and that's exactly what he did you see to us that sounds

radical right who who does that sort of thing who would who would do that somebody who has made a covenant to follow the lord with all of his heart and wants to do away with anything that would keep the nation from doing that it's the same thing that people say to you when they saw you start to change in your life why are you getting rid of all of those things why are you doing that you you say well well i made a covenant to follow the lord so i committed my life to following him and these things are going to keep that from happening so i've got to do away with them in my life that's why if even as a christian you decide to walk in a radically transformed sort of a way

other christians will look at you and think whoa why are you taking this thing so seriously because they don't understand what it really looks like to be fully surrendered to the lord so anybody can say that god's their savior but it takes surrender to say that jesus is your lord and jesus wants to be more than just your savior he wants to be your lord because if he can't have all of you he doesn't want any of you because that's who he is that's why he said to the church of laodicea you make me sick because you're neither hot nor are you cold therefore i'm going to vomit you out of my mouth because jesus wants hearts that are wholly surrendered to him and that's exactly what josiah did but josiah didn't just do negative things and get rid of things

notice what he does in verse 21 verse 21 it says the king commanded all the people saying celebrate the passover to the lord your god as it is written in the book of the covenant surely such a passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged israel nor in all the days of the kings of israel and of the kings of judah but in the 18th year of king josiah this passover was observed to the lord in jerusalem moreover josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of judah and in jerusalem that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in that book the book that hilkiah the priest found

in the house of the lord and before him there was no king like him who turned to the lord with all of his heart and with all of his soul with all of his might according to all that the law of moses did nor did any like him arise after him can you imagine that commentary being said about your life i might say if you were a rezolver and you knew how to serve the lord that you didn't know how tomind the It says, Went up to the king of Assyria, to the river Euphrates, and King Josiah went to meet him. And when Pharaoh Necho saw him, he killed him in Megiddo. His servants drove his body in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb.

And then the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, and anointed him king, made him king in his father's place. He was 23 years old, and he reigned three months. His mother's name was Vat, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libna. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. And Pharaoh imprisoned him at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might reign in Jerusalem.

And he imposed on the land a fine of 100 talents of silver, the talent of gold. We'll discuss Jehoiakim, who comes in this next section, next time. But I'm kind of running out of time right now, and so I want to get to something here. Of course, Josiah was killed in battle because God had judgment that had to be done. And it was time for Josiah to be out of the way.

And so God allowed that to take place. But in his time, in his 31 years of reigning, he brought about one of the greatest revivals that the kingdom of Israel had ever seen. So I spent some time today as I was thinking about this. Oddly enough, all of this came about before I came back from a meeting with some FCA kids in Dexter, and I turned on my computer.

And the first thing that I saw was a message from Jack Hibbs about the fact that we needed to pray for Charlie Kirk. And so I had a really hard time focusing after that. So if any of that outline didn't make sense, I blame that. But anyway, so I wrote down all of these notes and everything before all of this took place. But this morning as I was studying this and as I was reading and I was praying and going over this, I was thinking about revival.

And, you know, revival is a word that gets thrown around a lot, and sometimes I think somewhat haphazardly. Sometimes I think that word is an overused word because we don't always know what revival really looks like. We think revival looks like a lot of people. We think revival looks like a lot of excitement. We think revival is pictures on social media. But that's not what revival really is.

Revival is really broken hearts, tear-filled eyes, and completely changed people, transformed people. That's what revival really is. It's where revival is walking away with a limp. Let's put it that way. That's revival. Revival is when God changes you. Revival changes you so drastically that you don't look the same that you did before. And so I was thinking about this and I thought, what about this story do we need to pull out of that shows us what revival really looks like?

Like what is godly, biblically driven, true biblical revival supposed to look like? And so I came up with four things out of this reading of what revival really looks like. Number one, revival is a move of God. Revival is a move of God's spirit. Revival is a move of God's spirit. You ever wonder why all of a sudden Josiah, who had one of the worst dads ever, like how he came to a place of going, I should go rebuild the temple as a 20-some-year-old kid?

Well, the only thing I know of is that God's spirit was at work. Because God wasn't done with the nation of Judah yet. God wanted to use Josiah in a powerful way. And the only way that he could do that is by sending out his Holy Spirit to do a work in Josiah's heart, which would end in a work. And the only way that he could do that is by sending out his Holy Spirit to do a work in the nation of Judah.

And that's the way revival always starts. It starts as a movement of God's spirit. We love to try to work it up. We love to try to make it happen. But all we can really do is when we see it start to take place, get in the flow of the Holy Spirit and just ride the wave. I don't know how else to put it other than that. You just have to get in the flow of the Holy Spirit and see what God's spirit wants to do.

Because revival is not a work of man. You could put a sign on the door and say, revival tonight. I'm always, listen, I'm not trying to be critical of any other church in town or any other church anywhere else. But I always think it's a little bit funny when they schedule their revival. It's like, I'm pretty sure that the Holy Spirit doesn't schedule those things.

It's like, on Tuesday of this week, there's going to be a revival. No, I don't think that's how it works. Not anything I've ever seen in scripture or history has been how that works. Revival is just a movement of the Holy Spirit. You can't schedule it. You can't schedule the Holy Spirit. I've tried. But I can't make it happen. It has to be a work of God. It has to be a work of the Holy Spirit.

And it has to be in his timing, you know? Like, I finally get to go on the... campus of Cowley College, right? And I got 30, 40 kids showing up who are loving to hear God's Word right now. And more that are excited if I can get their coaches to change when their practice times are. I think I could absolutely fill up some rooms where we'd have to find a whole new room.

You know how long I've been praying to be able to get on that campus to do this? 15 years. That's how long I've been praying for this. You know how long some other people have been praying for this? Every bit as long. But now God's Spirit is moving. And so it has to be a move. It has to be a move of God's Spirit. So the first thing about revival is it's a move of the Spirit.

The second thing that I see about revival is that it begins with brokenness over sin. You see, we want a revival that starts with a whole lot of happy feelings. But every revival in Scripture and every revival in history starts with brokenness over sin. That's the reason why one of the things that helped start the First Great Awakening is a sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

Because it came about because of brokenness. Listen, if you want to see revival start to take place, let it happen in you first. You start being broken over the sin in your own life. Ryan, I've been walking with Jesus a long time now. And that's why there's not revival. It's because you think you've been walking with Jesus for a long time and there's no more sin in your life.

And so you're never broken. And because you're not broken, you're not seeking the Lord. And because you're not broken and you're not seeking the Lord, we don't see things happen. Because you're too comfortable. You think everything's good. I'm just going to coast now. Stop coasting. And start being broken. But don't just be broken over the sin you see in your own life.

Be broken over the sin that you see in the world around you. Have you wept over the fact that that Ukrainian girl was killed on a train and nobody helped her? People stood around and did freaking nothing to help her? Have you wept over that? Have you cried over what you see happening in our world right now? Because that's where it starts. It starts with bent knees, broken hearts.

And tear-filled eyes over what you see happening around you. Or are you just pissed off because you don't like the way everybody acts? Oh, I'm just so tired of seeing how this generation acts. Well, then you're going to be in the way of revival. That's all that there is to it. But until you're broken over what you see around you, we'll never see a change of what's going on around you.

It always begins with brokenness over sin. Number three, it is fueled and sustained by God's Word. Did you notice how it started? Shaphan the scribe read the law to Hilkiah. And Hilkiah went, oh, crap. Right? And so he takes the book to Josiah. He goes, hey, can I just read this? I think you're going to like it. And he reads it to Josiah. And what does Josiah do?

Oh, crap. Right? Tears his clothes. I mean, he's stressed out because he knows what's going on. That's how it was fueled. How did it continue? He called together all of the people. What did he read to them? God's Word. And they all went. We better make a covenant. We better change. And it fueled every bit of what they did. And it sustained every bit of what they did.

You know how revivals are fueled and sustained? By God's Word. Why? Because it's God's Word that he promises will not return void. It's God's Word that promises to be sharper than any two-edged sword. It's God's Word that brings about change in the lives of people. Read Psalm 107. Then he sent his Word and he healed them. Look, if you want to see revival, it's not going to happen through a worship night.

I love worship nights. I think they're one of the greatest things we can do to get God's people together. But I heard somebody say one time, I think this newest revival is going to take place through worship. No, it's not. It's going to take place with God's Word. Like every revival in all of history has ever happened. No revival has happened because of a good musician.

Every revival has happened because of God's Word. That's how it takes place. Which is why any church that teaches God's Word, it takes place because of God's Word. Right now, they're not worried about how many people are coming. Because that's what God's Word does, is it produces disciples. And so, number three, it is fueled and sustained by God's Word. But number four, it always results in total transformation.

It always results in total transformation. You see, when real revival takes place, hearts are truly transformed. And people come to Jesus and they say, You've got to take all my garbage. You've got to take it all away from me. And they start giving up all of the things that had kept them from knowing Jesus. And they start giving up all of the things that were bringing destruction into their lives

and into their marriages and into their families. Because it always results in total transformation. And any revival that does not result in a total transformation, listen, is a counterfeit revival. Because God's goal is not just to add people to a church. God's goal is to make holy citizens of heaven. And the change that He makes on the inside will automatically result in a change that takes place on the outside.

Because it results in a total transformation of the lives of people. Brothers and sisters, right now, if there's any kind of war, it's a spiritual war. If there's any kind of battle, it's a spiritual battle. And it has to be fought on spiritual terms. The weapons. Of our warfare are not carnal. The weapons of our warfare are spiritual. And they are powerful for the pulling down of strongholds.

But we have to fight on a spiritual plane. With the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. With God's word empowered by God's spirit. Fueled by the brokenness of the sin that we see around us. And the sin that still exists in us. Amen. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I know. Each and every person here is here because they want to see you move. They want to see you do work.

And so, Lord, I pray that you would do work in our hearts and in our lives. Father, I pray that we would be those who would go home tonight. And would have those bent knees. Those broken hearts. And those tear-filled eyes over the things that we see in us. And the things that we see in the world around us. Lord, may we be people who are not content to just complain about the world.

But may we be people who are not content until we pray. To see the change. So, Father, move in our hearts. Move in our community. In our state. In our nation. And in our world, Lord. May we get in the flow of what your Holy Spirit is doing. So that we can continue to see your word go out with power. Father, we just pray these things now in Jesus' name. Amen.

Be blessed.