2 KINGS 22: 1-2 "AN UNDERAGED HERO!"

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 22)

22 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. 2 He did what was right in the LORD’s sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn to the right or the left.

BIG IDEA: GOD USES SURRENDERED HEARTS, REGARDLESS OF AGE!

OUR SUMMER SERMON SERIES IS DESIGNED TO INSPIRE THE HERO THAT IS WITHIN EACH OF US...

AM I TALKING TO YOU?

HAVE YOU FELT THE HAND OF GOD UPON YOUR LIFE, YOUNG BROTHER OR SISTER, BUT BECAUSE OF YOUR AGE OR EXPERIENCE, YOU FEEL UNUSABLE?

NOW DON’T GET IT TWISTED: THE AVERAGE YOUNG PERSON DOESN’T WANT THE RESPONSIBILITY ATTACHED WITH HERO STATUS!

IT’S TOO MUCH ACCOUNTABILITY - TOO MANY REQUIREMENTS - TOO MANY EXPECTATIONS...

NAW, I’LL CHILL ON THE HERO-BENCH, AND JUST WAIT UNTIL Y’ALL HEROES TIRE OUT!

AM I TALKING TO YOU?

AWWW BELOVED, IN THE FULLNESS OF SCRIPTURE, WE SEE OUR BIG IDEA AFFIRMED: GOD USES SURRENDERED HEARTS, REGARDLESS OF AGE!

SO, YES, THERE IS AN UNWRITTEN SYSTEM THAT KEEPS YOUNGER FOLK LIMITED IN THEIR INVOLVEMENT, BUT EVEN GREATER, MANY HEROES “TO-BE” ARE SIMPLY UNWILLING TO SURRENDER!

THE TEXT SAYS: JOSIAH WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD WHEN HE BECAME KING, AND HE REIGNED THIRTY-ONE YEARS IN JERUSALEM.

HIS ENTIRE HEROIC LIFE WAS LIVED AS A LEADER AND AS A HERO....

NOW I WISH I COULD TELL YOU THAT JOSIAH CAME FROM GOOD-STOCK. THAT HE WAS TRAINED BY HIS PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS TO FEAR THE LORD - TO STUDY GOD’S WORD - TO TRUST IN THE PROMISES OF GOD…BUT I CAN’T!

JOSIAH WAS BIRTHED FROM A LINEAGE OF UNGODLY KINGS…HIS GRANDDADDY WAS CRAZY, AND HIS DADDY WAS CRAZY!

IN FACT, IT’S BECAUSE OF THEIR UNHERO-NESS THAT JOSIAH WAS THRUST INTO LEADERSHIP AT THE AGE OF EIGHT!

SEE YOUNG HERO-TO-BE! YOU’RE WAITING ON THE RIGHT ASSIGNMENT - THE RIGHT MOMENT - THE RIGHT PLACEMENT…I’M HERE TO CHALLENGE YOU TO STOP GETTING READY, AND START BEING READY! (((LOOK AT YOUR NEIGHBOR AND SAY: BE READY)))!

BEFORE I DIG INTO THIS TEXT, LET ME PAINT THE CONTEXT: THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN DELIVERED BY JOSHUA TO BE A WITNESS TO OTHER NATIONS ABOUT THE FAITHFULNESS OF OUR GOD. INSTEAD, THEY CHOOSE TO IMITATE THE OTHER NATIONS AND TO REJECT THEIR GOD!

THIS REJECTION LEADS TO A SPIRAL OF SIN AND EVENTUAL SEPARATION:

THE PEOPLE ARE DIVIDED AS A NATION.

THE PEOPLE ARE DISCONNECTED FROM THEIR GOD. IT WAS THEIR CHOICE!

2 KINGS SPEAKS TO THE CYCLE OF SIN (SIMILAR TO JUDGES) THAT THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL FOLLOWED...

AND YET, IN THE MIDST OF THE EVIL OF FAKE-LEADERS AND NON-HEROES, KING JOSAIH EMERGES AS ONE OF GOD’S BEST LEADERS...

I’M STILL PAINTING THE CONTEXT:

THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WERE FILLED WITH DISBELIEF!

THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD HAS BEEN DESECRATED! (2 KINGS 21:4 - 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “Jerusalem is where I will put my name.” 5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of the Lord’s temple.

Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Ki 21:4–5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

FELLOWSHIP WITH THE LORD HAS BEEN DESTROYED! PUNISHMENT FROM GOD WAS LOOMING AND CERTAIN!

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE CALLED TO LEAD - TO BE A HERO - IN THE MIDST OF SUCH DIRE CIRCUMSTANCES?

AWWWW, HEROES KNOW WHAT’S RIGHT!

AND GODLY HEROES DO WHAT’S RIGHT BASED UPON GOD’S WORD!

1 CHRONICLES 34 - COSIGNS JOSIAH’S HEART FOR GOD BY AFFIRMING HIS PURSUIT OF GOD IN BOTH WORD AND WORSHIP. HE DESIRED TO PLEASE GOD WITH HIS REIGN AND HIS LIFE...

THAT MEANT (FIRST) TAKING CARE OF GOD’S HOUSE! - JOSIAH REPAIRS THE TEMPLE

3 In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary Shaphan son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the Lord’s temple, saying, 4 “Go up to the high priest Hilkiah so that he may total up the silver brought into the Lord’s temple—the silver the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 It is to be given to those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple. They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the Lord’s temple to repair the damage. 6 They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the temple. 7 But no accounting is to be required from them for the silver given to them since they work with integrity.”

Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Ki 22:3–7). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

YOU SEE, THE SELF-CENTERED “SOCIAL MEDIA” PUNDITS DECRY DAILY THAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT YOU. AND WHILE YOU MAY NOT FULLY AGREE, NUGGETS OF THEIR FOOLISHNESS ARE STILL SCATTERED THROUGHOUT YOUR PSYCHE! YOUNG MAN / YOUNG WOMAN - SEEK GOD FIRST - PRIORITIZE HIM FIRST, THEN YOU’LL DISCOVER PURPOSE AND FULFILLMENT!

JOSIAH’S FIRST ASSIGNMENT IS TO TAKE CARE OF THE LORD’S TEMPLE…THE LORD’S HOUSE...

AND IN SO DOING, JOSIAH EXPERIENCES ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

HIS TEAM DISCOVERS GOD’S WORD WHICH HAD BEEN LOST IN GOD’S HOUSE! - THE BOOK OF THE LAW FOUND

8 The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

9 Then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have emptied out the silver that was found in the temple and have given it to those doing the work—those who oversee the Lord’s temple.” 10 Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah has given me a book,” and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Ki 22:8–11). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

BELOVED, THIS IS THE MOST CHERISHED DISCOVERY… AND JOSIAH RESPONDS ACCORDINGLY. AS HE HEARS THE WORD OF GOD, HE REALIZES HOW FAR HIS PEOPLE HAD FALLEN - HE HEARS HOW DETACHED AND DISTANT THEY HAD FALLEN FROM THEIR LIFE-GIVER KING!!!

THIS IS HOW THE WORD OF GOD WILL AFFECT US: CONVICTION - REMEMBRANCE - DELIVERANCE!!!

YOU CAN’T HEAR GOD’S WORD, AND IT NOT TOUCH YOUR HEARTS....

YOU CAN’T HEAR GOD’S WORD, AND IT NOT CHALLENGE YOU TO DO BETTER...

THIS IS WHY THE ENEMY KEEPS YOU FROM GOD’S WORD!!! HAVEN’T YOU NOTICED HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU GO THROUGH JUST TO GET HIS WORD?

BY YOURSELF OR IN THE CONTEXT OF CHURCH: THE ENEMY FIGHTS US GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD....

AWWWWW.....

THEY’VE GOT THE WORD IN HAND, BUT JOSIAH NEEDS A RHEMA WORD (A REVELATORY WORD) FROM ABOVE!

SO HE SENDS FOR THE PROPHETESS:

Christian Standard Bible (Chapter 22)

HULDAH’S PROPHECY OF JUDGMENT14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her.15 She said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’ 18 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, 19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the LORD’s declaration. 20 ‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.’ ”Then they reported to the king.

JOSIAH RECEIVES A PROPHESY THAT GOD’S WRATH WILL BE FULFILLED WITH HIS PEOPLE!

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU KNOW YOU CAN’T WIN? YOU FIGHT!!!

THAT’S WHAT HEROES DO...

JOSIAH HAD INHERITED SIN AND DISOBEDIENCE!!!

NOTHING HE COULD DO (AT THIS POINT) COULD CHANGE GOD’S MIND ABOUT THE SIN OF HIS PEOPLE...

THIS IS WHERE WE DISCOVER WHAT HEROES ARE MADE OF:

JOSIAH:

WORSHIPS (WITH THE READING OF THE WORD)

REFORMS (CLEANS UP THE MESS)

FULFILLS HIS CALLING AS KING

THE PEOPLE OF IS

JOSIAH HAD VISION

JOSIAH HAD DISCIPLINE

JOSIAH HAD COURAGE/FAITH