Whole Hearted Response to God's Word

Title: Whole Hearted Response to God’s Word

2 Kings 23:1-4, 21-27

Intro

Encouragements for the church’s faith.

- Love the pastors emphasis and the use of the bible.

- You guys have a very special church here – sharing prayer requests

- Love for me and my family as I visit – I appreciate it.

- Thank you so much for allowing me to come, share God’s word with you and grow.

- For those that know I was supposed to come last week, thank you for your prayers. I was coming back from a vacation with family in which some in our party got covid, we decided to move our preaching back to this week to be safe and it seems Jenny and I have avoided it.

Pray for service

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The Bible is full of stories of God speaking to people, and then people responding in extraordinarily different ways.

- Jonah – tries to flee and disobeys God

- King Saul – constantly trying to sidestep God’s word for his own glory

- Moses – God calls him and he tries to say why he isn’t a good choice

- Abraham, Sarah… Zechariah - doesn’t believe God’s word he will have a son in his old age.

But then we have positive response: people in the bible who are paragons and exemplars for us.

- Marry – told she is going to have a baby even though she is a virgin “Behold, I am a servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word”

- Noah – told to build an ark and does it.

- King Josiah – which we will look at more today.

main question for you today: “When God speaks to you, how do you respond?”

- Often we are told stuff that changes our current trajectory of life. Our comfort. It might challenge our understanding of natural laws, normal life (virgin birth)

- And did you notice also, I said “when” not “if”

o God has spoken to us – through the bible, through the holy spirit working through your Pastor and Christian friends.

- We aren’t very good at responding rightly to God’s word.

o Examples in the bible

o Often think “if I just had a voice from heaven say….” (it doesn’t work)

§ College students

o We willfully don’t want to hear our obligations, our sinful shameful nature.

§ In order to be told “go do this great amazing thing” that automatically comes with “stop” doing what you want to be doing right now!

So what can we do about that? How do we get better at responding well to God’s word? How do we grow in that spiritual maturity?

- No need for shame and guilt. Shame and guilt are horrible motivators that can sometimes produce the “right” action, aren’t good long term motivators. Plus, these are motivators that God uses.

o we need to reject any sort of guilt and shame we might be feeling

- instead, we need inspiration. We need to be able to look at our lives and flex our spiritual imaginations. We need stories that give us life, not chains.

- Inspiration is absorbed, not forced.

o Like listening to fairy tales as a kid, I naturally want to be the brave night, who risks his life, in order to save the village.

o Try to get in that same mindset, lets look at Josiah, and just tell yourself, I want to be like him.

So today, we are going to be reading through a decent portion of 2 Kings 23. Taking a look at Josiah.

- Inspired from one of my classes last semester.

- I loved having the opportunity to really see and understand for the first time a new “hero of our faith”. Someone that we can mimic. Gives us a right example of living. And as we will see.. has a complete and comprehensive response to God’s word.

Naysayer - What about Jesus, isn’t he the only example we need??

- Jesus gives perfect example, but it is really nice to have non-divine human heros to aspire to

- like our fathers, pastors….

- we will also see how Josiah forshadows and points to Jesus and his coming. Gives us an archetype of what sort of King God desires will rule and ultimately save God’s people. Not by the sword, but by turning hearts to God.

Quick outline.

- From 2 Kings 23, I hope to show you a hero of our faith, King Josiah. Specifically, I want you to see 3 ways Josiah responds to God’s word and what are 2 outcomes of that response.

- If you need that one line nugget of this sermon: remember: God’s word deserves a Whole Hearted Response.

Proposition God’s word deserves a Whole Hearted response

Probing Question:

So if God’s word deserves a whole hearted response….

How did Josiah respond to God’s word?

What are the outcomes of his response

Now, Lets start reading 2 Kings 23:

1 Then the king (Josiah) sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gatheredto him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.

History Lesson – Exodus to end of Kings

History

- History Lesson of Israel

o Abraham had Isaac had Jacob had 12 sons who ended up raising their family in Egypt.

o They multiplied and became enslaved.

o Moses takes them out of Egypt and gives them the God’s laws recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy when they are in the wilderness

o Joshua leads Israel and conquers some of the promise land

o After Joshua, we have the period of judges. Where God sends “judges” or deliverers/saviors, to rescue Israel from the stubborn idolatry and enslaved to the philisitines.

o 1 and 2 Samuel recount the live of the Prophet Samuel, the rise and fall of King Saul. The rise of David as king. David finally conquers more of the promise land that was left unconquered from Joshua’s lifetime.

o Slide – chart of kings

o 1 Kings starts out with Solomons reign over Israel. Israel’s kingdom expands to the full length of the promise land. Israel amasses great riches under Solomon’s wisdom.

o The second half of 1 Kings and most of 2 Kings then walks through the reign of Israel’s Kings.

o After Solomon the kingdom of Israel is divided into two parts northern “Israel” and southern “Judah”.

- List of kings – divided kingdom

o Who’s evil

o Northern tribes – none of the Kings in the Northern tribe are painted with a positive light in the bible. All were wicked and did what was right in their own eyes – leading to their eventual defeat and capture by the Assyrians in the North.

o Judah – kinda of is off and on with good kings and wicked kings. They survive and remain after the wars against the Assyrians that captured the northern tribes.

o Manasseh was then King of Judah who is described as greatly wicked, turning all of Israel against God. And God promising to whip out Judah.

§ 2 Kings 21:13b-15 “I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt even to this day.”

o After Manasseh, Amon reigns for 2 years, is wicked like his father Manasseh.

o Josiah starts to reign when he is 8 years old. He is the son of Amon, but doesn’t rule wickedly like Amon his father nor Manasseh his grandfather

§ 2 Kings 22:2 says he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

§ 2 Kings 22 - Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law and gave it to king Josiah when he was 26, reigning for 18 years

· “Emptying out the store rooms of the temple” in order to renovate the temple.

o This is now where our passage for today pick up. We will be reading select parts throughout 2 Kings 23 – looking at the religious reforms that Josiah does in response to finding the book of the law (God’s word recorded through Moses directing Israel how to live and worship him).

If you followed all of that, congratulations you are as smart as a masters level seminary student.

- Spark notes – Israel and Judah have been living wickedly. The exile is immanent. And God’s word was just rediscovered at the temple.

Main 1: Josiah Received, Read, and Shared God’s word

Text: 2 Kings 23:1-2

23 Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. 2 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.

- RESTATE

o God’s word is found

o Everyone Gathered

o And they read all God’s word

- Slide – Received, Read, and Shared

Sub point 1: Received – God’s word needed to be present, not lost amongst the storage rooms of the temple.

- 85% of US homes have a bible. But the average bible per home is 4.3.

- Only 39% read it a couple times a year (down from 50 a couple years earlier)

- 10% read it about daily (down from 14 a couple years earlier)

Sub Point 2: Read – the entire book of the covenant.

o There is a lot of speculation of what “the book of the covenant precisely contained” but it was most likely either Genesis through Deuteronomy. Or was rather just Deuteronomy recapping God’s laws and Israel’s promise to keep them.

Sub Point 3: Corporate – God’s word is meant to be interacted with corporately. With others. Shared, expounded on. You already know this, it is one of the reasons you came to church this morning!

o This reading was not just for king Josiah’s private walk, but he had it read among all the elders, men, inhabitants, priests, and prophets.

Illustration:

o Not a fruit cake – received and shared (not consumed)

- God’s word is like a candle. Jenny and I have a large collection of Candles and they are either in two different states. 1. They are all piled up and stored together, collecting dust, not being seen, not being smelt. Or 2. There is often 1 or 2 candles that we have out. We light them when we are in the room, they give a nice warm atmosphere with the flame and spread their smells throughout the room. In Josiah’s day, God’s word was stuffed back into storage of the temple. Not handled and read. And the result – ruler after ruler, Israel constantly turns from God, worships other Gods, hurts and harms each other rather than love. But then here, we see Josiah having the word read to all and the sweet aroma it contains starts to have an effect on all.

- I got this candle from a white elephant gift exchange this year… I could have added it to our big collection and no one could guess the next time I would smell it, but instead, I left it out on my desk and have burned it will studying for my classes this week.

Application:

- Its never to late to start reading more. Have the bible present in your life. Don’t just stick to your favorite parts but read all of it. Read the challenging bits. Having the aroma of the scriptures impact your life and figure out how to have it be a part of the lives of those around you.

o From what I can tell from your pastor, he loves God’s word and your sermons are filled with scripture references. I love that. So don’t calas your hearts against this if this is something you have been told more than you want; but we need to be reading the bible. We need to meditate on the words. Let the repetition change us.

- There are many other potential applications, let yourself be inspired in how you might receive, read, and share God’s word.

o Memorize and recite (Jenny has been doing this, great reminders for me)

o Ask a friend if they want to read with you - Peter

Main 2: Josiah committed to God’s word and Lead others to do likewise

Text: 2 Kings 23:3

3 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 his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant

- RESTATE

o He didn’t just sit back and say that was cool, lets maybe do that some day

- Slide – Josiah committed to God’s word and Lead others to do likewise.

Sub point 1: Upon Receiving God’s word. Josiah Commits to it. We don’t see the waffling back and forth that we do with so many other characters in the bible.

- Josiah was younger than I am, but he was still able to commit.

Sub Point 2: What did he commit to?

o to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.

Deut. 6:5 and greatest commandment vibes. “5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

- His committement is God’s word

Sub Point 3: Again, we see another emphasis on the community of people around Josiah. The author of this book wants us to see that Josiah’s commitment to God’s word was public and it lead to other’s commitment to God’s word.

- Lets not ignore the emphase’s that this passage is making!

Illustration:

Application:

- When was the last time you made a clear commitment to do something in God’s word?

- Have you made your commitment public and inspire others do commit like you?

Transition

So far we have Seen Josiah 1) Receive, Read, and Share God’s word. And 2) Josiah Committed to God’s word and Lead others to do likewise.

Main 3: Josiah Removed all that Opposed God’s word

Text: 2 Kings 23:4

4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.

- RESTATE – Cleared at all other gods’, their idols

o Brings it outside Jerusalem (unclean) –

- 5-20 - Goes throughout the land and kills all the preists of other gods

21 And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

- RESTATE – Obeyed the Commands

o – follows through on commitment

§ Matthew 21 - Not just the son who says he would do things and doesn’t, nor the son who says he wont and does. Josiah commits and follows through on the words of the Lord.

o This was so great – none like it since judges

o Extravagant and Honor to the Passover

24 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

- RESTATE -

§ King Josiah is following through on his commitment

o Next, - Clear out Temple of Baal, Asherah, and other God’s.

o Put away mediums and necromancers

Slide – Josiah Removed all that opposed God’s Word.

Sub Point 1: Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,”

Sub Point 2: This passage also clearly gives the reason for why Josiah was so brutal and complete in clearing out all other idols and priests…. “That he might establish the words of the Law”

- Why couldn’t Baal and Ashera worship continue alongside worship of God?

o They are fighting for and using the same temple space, the temple of Jerusalem, the heart of the nation of Judah at the time.

o we know that all live flows from the heart – so once the heart is cleared up, the rest of the land must be also

Illustration:

- Gardening – weeds

- Cancer – more in line with the gruesomeness of Josiah’s reform

o Looked up some gross pictures and decided I didn’t know you guys well enough to put those up there.

- Foxes or vineyard

o Song of Solomon 2:15

§ Catch the foxes[e] for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

o Baby foxes were too little to reach the fruit, so they would be in the vineyards and just start chewing the vines and stems killing the entire plant

Application:

- In Josiah’s day, Judah was worship other Gods, turning to mediums and necromancers for help, completing ignoring and acting contradictorally to God’s word, his laws.

o What sermon do we here more… don’t be like ancient Israel how they ignore God’s word…. Or… Don’t be like the pharasees of Jesus’s day who made to much about being sticklers to the law? (pause)

o We are free from the enslavement, guilt, shame, requirments of the Law. But most of us want to take that as if we are free to live for ourselves, no. We are free to live for God.

- What in our life is taking over the space for our worship of God?

o What hinders the establishment of God’s word in your life.

Transtion

- Josiah Received, Read, and Shared God’s Word

- Josiah committed to God’s word and lead others to do likewise

- Josiah Brutally removed all that opposed God’s Word from being established

In what ways do you need to read and receive God’s word? Commit to it and share it with others? Or remove hinderances in your life to God’s word being established?

- If you think you are not mature enough to take next steps, Josiah was 8 when he started to rule as king and was in his 20’s when he received God’s word, then went about the brutal cultivation of God’s word being established in his life and the land.

Ok – what then were some of the outcomes of all this that Josiah did.

- God’s word deserves a Whole Hearted Response.

- Josiah gave a whole hearted response to God’s word

Main 4: Outcome 1 – Complete Turning and Transformation to God’s will

Text: 2 Kings 23:25

25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

Sub point 1: - No king like him – the honor of being called out this way in the scriptures to be recalled by believers for the centuries that followed.

- We are supposed to see him as a great example of the faith. We should want to be like him.

- No king arose like him after…. Well there was only a couple more generations of kings after him before Judah was captured by the Babylonians… so not a lot of opportunity. But we saw all the bad kings earlier

Sub Point 2: Again - Deut. 6:5 and greatest commandment vibes. “5 Love the Lord your God with all your

- This is what has come from receiving and committing to God’s word. From removing all that hinders it.

Sub point 3: From receiving, committed, sharing, doing, and establishing God’s word – Josiah’s life was changed. He had a complete turning and transformation to God’s will, following it with his entire life.

- If you find yourself struggling to follow God so completely… consider Josiah and in what ways you haven’t been doing the pre-requisits to such a transformation?

- Complete Turning and Transformation to God’s will

- Sub point 4: Now, most of what I have said assumes that you desire to follow God and be transformed according to his will. If anyone is here and they are still trying to figure out whether this is worth it… God doesn’t require much, but he does require your heart and trust. I say he doesn’t require much because there are no requirements that you can’t meet. You don’t need to jump a certain height. You don’t need to be able to read. You don’t need your life to look any specific sort of “christian way”. God doesn’t require much of you. But he does require your heart, your trust. And in that way, God requires all of you. Turning your life to God, giving it up to him and for him, is the only way it is saved. But let me tell you, it is completely worth it. God says come as you are, but as we have seen with Josiah’s life, encountering God’s word isn’t meant to keep us where we are. It is meant to completely change and transform us for the better. Living lives of love, joy, justice, and mercy.

Transition

Ok, back to Josiah

- What else do we expect?

o He lived happily ever after

o He got really rich

o All Israel was saved

o The nations around acknowledge the glory of God?

Main 5: Outcome 2 – Longing for the Savior King

Text: 2 Kings 23:26-27

26 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. 27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Sub point 1: This narrative is not a “and they lived happily ever after” but rather is a tragedy. This is supposed to stand in sharp contrast with our expectations as we read all the great things that Josiah did.

- Judges “and the people turned back to God”

- Josiah didn’t earn Judah’s salvation with his great reforms.

- His father and grandfathered were king before him and lead wickedly. And the kings after him were wicked in their rulership

Sub Point 2: Consider Israel, promised a king in the line of David who will turn Israel to the Lord and save Israel from all of it’s problems? And Josiah comes along and seems to be doing all that… But no, we must look to someone greater. Someone who came to not just save Israel but the whole world. A King who in turning to the Lord, rightly transforms others to follow the Lord with all their heart. Josiah ended up not being the Messiah they needed, but this just increases our longing for the true Messiah to come and reign with all righteousness.

Slide – Outcome 2 Longing for a Savior King

- Israel is left still longing for it’s Savior King. – the one who will come and deliver them.

- Now we know the Savior Jesus has come

o Lived righteously, rules from heaven

- But we still wait – will we “Josiah’s” in this time of waiting

- Will we turn to God with all our hearts, and let that longing build for the Savior King

o Or turn sour and living our own life…

o I have felt it painfully obvious we don’t live in a land with righteous rulers…

Who has a greater longing for the Savior king – someone like Manasseh who turned Israel away from God, or someone like Josiah – who did everything he could yet realizes that this life isn’t it

- This life isn’t fair, isn’t good, noble….

Conclusion

1) Josiah Received, Read, and Shared God’s Word

2) Josiah committed to God’s word and Lead other to do likewise

3) Josiah Removed all that Opposed God’s word

4) Outcome: Complete turning and transformation to God’s will

5) Outcome: Gives us the stark realization we need and long for our Savior King to come and save us