Knowing The King
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· 5 viewsThe Gospel does not leave us where we are. The gospel changes our hearts to love what the Lord loves and hate what God hates.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
To sanctify = to make holy
two latin words…
noun sanctification = a doctrine where God’s free grace systematically roots sin out of our lives and makes us more like Christ
Sanctification is not an experience to be received, it is the working out of the life of God in the soul, and it starts from the moment of re-birth.
God’s Ultimate Purpose, 285
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)
King Josiah
Grandson of Manasseh (took reign at 12, ruled 55 years), looked at last week
a king who started off evil, went into captivity and repented came to know the Lord and was restored
you would think a redemption story like that would really effect your kids
maybe it did but not in the way we would think
Son of Amon
Amon was so evil that his reign only lasted two years and then he was assassinated (Amon was 22 when he took over as king, ruled for two years)
Israel has had some evil kings, how bad did it have to be to be killed by your own people after two years
PRAY
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
Amon was 16 when Josiah was born
meaning Josiah lived six years under the rule of his grandfather Manasseh, two years under his father’s rule
first two verses are a summary of the entire reign, not what he was like at 8 years old
2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.
3 In the eighth (16 years old) year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year (20 years old) he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images.
20 is the age of adulthood in the mosaic law, that is when you would have to begin to pay the temple tax
important to remember when reading the NT with the apostles.
one text only has one that pays the temple tax other than Jesus and that is Peter
many believe that the apostles were teenagers (myself included) with John being one of the youngest at maybe 14
4 Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he chopped down the shrines that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5 He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
idols were grounded to powder… because an idol set aside will be an idol picked back up at some point
idols must be destroyed
6 He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.
7 He tore down the altars, and he smashed the Asherah poles and the carved images to powder. He chopped down all the shrines throughout the land of Israel and returned to Jerusalem.
Not only in Judah, but the writer is making sure we know he went into the northern kingdom, that had been taken over by Assyria at this time
they’re not the Assyrian gods, so they do not care that Judah is destroying Israel’s idols
but it does show the fire that Josiah had at the age of 20 to go and destroy all the places in the land that God gave the Israelites, that were abhorrent to the Lord
The Gospel does not leave us where we are. The gospel changes our hearts to love what the Lord loves and hate what God hates. Today we will look at three stages of sanctification found in our passage.
Stage 1 - Knowing of Him
Stage 1 - Knowing of Him
Dinner with an admiral
sometimes we know of people, talk to people, but we do not know them
this is magnified with the Lord
many around us an even here know who God is, but they do not know God
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.
How can everyone that we know be saved when Jesus tells us that the road is narrow, difficult and few find it
knowing of the Lord is not a saving faith
19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder.
I believe that there are many in our nation in this place
especially around us
people are not hostile toward God
people believe in God
people will bow their head when you pray
they will even claim to be christian in their beliefs
their not muslim
Some of us may be in this place and believe we are saved
we believe in God… we come to church…
the demons have better theology, understanding of who God is than we do
They do not know him as an abstract being
there to provide good vibes for them
there help you when you do not have everything under control
there to fulfill your wishes when you say the prayer the right way or if you please him
They have seen his glory and realized his power as they have been cast out of heaven
the thing that most Americans who call themselves christians have with demons is that they believe in God, but they do not bow and submit to him as Lord
Josiah was eight when he took over for his father Amon
v 1-2 are a summary of his reign
He has not started seeking the Lord as of yet
but he must have heard of him,
lived under a repentant Manasseh for the first six years,
heard stories of David and all that God did for him
Stage 2 - Knowing Him
Stage 2 - Knowing Him
Observe, then, that all other knowledge may be useful enough in itself, but if it does not concern Christ, it cannot be called saving knowledge.
Knowing And Believing, Volume 58, Sermon #3331 - 2 Timothy 1:12
Charles Spurgeon
There are many people that can tell you the stories of Jesus
they may be well spoken and entertaining when they do
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David…
Knowing him does not mean we know everything about him
we shy away from conversations because feel we won’t be able to answer every question
you won’t be able to…
I cannot…
But there must be a willingness to go and find out the answer
people are not looking for somebody who knows everything, but who will help them find the one who does
they’ve seen you, they know you are not perfect
Knowing begins with a seeking
at 16 Josiah began to seek the Lord, meaning the Lord began to work in his life
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Backdrop of this verse…
Jesus had fed the 5000… they chased after him because their stomachs were full
now they want another meal… continually
they are not God’s people… they seek signs and not Him
How do I know the father is calling me…
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me, tried me, and saw my works
Josiah at 16 begins to seek the Lord, the God of David
I wonder what stories he might have heard
His father, an evil man, dies early in his life
his grand father had repented of the evilness in his life
At some point, his faith has to become his own
in his seeking and in the stories he found the God of his ancestor David
Have you found the Lord
devoted your life to him
only then can you find the calling for your life
Stage 3 - Knowing Your Calling
Stage 3 - Knowing Your Calling
AI told me stories of all kinds of people with great callings that the hard things they went through to figure out their callings
the bible is full of people who did great things for the Lord
Josiah is no different
4 Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he chopped down the shrines that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.
5 He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
6 He did the same in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, and as far as Naphtali and on their surrounding mountain shrines.
7 He tore down the altars, and he smashed the Asherah poles and the carved images to powder. He chopped down all the shrines throughout the land of Israel and returned to Jerusalem.
This king had been prophesied about…
2 The man of God cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord: “Altar, altar, this is what the Lord says, ‘A son will be born to the house of David, named Josiah, and he will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who are burning incense on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’ ”
recap what is happening
Jeroboam and Rehoboam have split the kingdom
Jeroboam builds two altars with golden calfs and sacrifices to them
I am not saying that the Josiah knew this prophesy
but he did know as king that he was to purify the land that he was ruling over
sometimes we believe that we do not know our calling because it is not something big for the Lord like this
smashing idols and cleansing the land
making a big public stand for the Lord
we must not be hearing correctly because I don’t see some big thing that I am supposed to do
as if raising up godly children isn’t honorable, god glorifying enough
some of us are afraid to find out our calling because it might be something like this
11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ,
each of us our own ministry, our own calling
yes some are called to be leaders, who are training and equipping the saints (the church) for the work of ministry
How do we find it…
8 Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.
You live this out and the calling, the work of the ministry will reveal itself
you will feel the prompting of the spirit to step in
Conclusion
Conclusion
In the 1800s, a man named Horace Greeley famously said, 'Go West, young man!' He was encouraging young people to seek opportunity and growth in the expanding American frontier. Similarly, in our spiritual journey, we are called to 'go deeper' in our relationship with Christ. Instead of looking outward or ahead, true growth often happens when we dig into God’s Word and allow it to shape us, much like the pioneers who dug into the rich soil for a bountiful harvest.
Then we will not only know about the Lord, we will know him intimately and live our lives for him.
