A Proper Response

If You have your bibles this morning please open up to 2 Chronicles 34:8-13This is our second week in the study of Josiah. Last week, I preached a sermon titled A king after God’s heart. And we looked at King Josiahs early days, and seen that a believer after God’s heart pursues God in all of their ways. And looking at the text we learned that believers must walk the narrow path, not turning from the right nor the left, and believers must destroy idols. And the example of Josiahs life showed us how to do both of those things.

And The king is about to discover the word of God, and his response is truly incredible. But Its important to understand what is going on in his world during this time. Now we are progressing a few years down the line and we are at in place in history where Josiah is going to rebuild the temple that the previous kings had pretty much destroyed. We are in the year 622 bc and the now king is 26 years old.. And Josiah being a man who was seeking the Lord sought to restore the temple. Read text… 8-13

Now most scholars believe there was much corruption going on during that time. So Josiah made sure that the money was delivered properly into the right hands listen to other account of this In 2 Kings 22:5-7 “5 And let it be given 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 at the house of the Lord, repairing the house 6 (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. 7 But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.””

This made sure that no abuse was going on during that time. And as the temple was being built we see something incredible take place.... Read 14-20

Main Idea: Properly responding to the Word of God brings eternal life.

Lets unpack the text and that idea and see how this occurs in Josiahs context.

Properly responding to the the Word of God requires a response.

A report is given to the King about all that had happened. How the work at the temple is going, but most importantly the secretary began to read a book that was given to him by the high priest, and when the King heard the news from the book of the Law he tore his clothes.

And the point of that was to show his Lament, and grief of the sins of the people of God. It had instant impact on him. He was so moved by the words of scripture.

Because his desire was to follow the Lord to be an example for the people. The response that he made proved that he was a man changed by God. because he acted upon what the word said.

See his desire was to be like it says in Deut 17:14-20 “14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. “19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

As we learned last week Josiah was a man who did not turn to the right hand or the left, a king the people needed.

now what most scholars believe is that the passage that was read to Josiah was duet chapters 28-30 and in these chapters we see a few things. First we see blessings for those who are obedient, and cursings for those who are disobedience. Surly the king was moved by this very text, because of the people of God sinning against The Lord. They could have had the blessings of God but instead they Chose to be disobedient

And as bad as that news was for him about the people of God. being disobedient chapter 30 provides a way back to God. Listen to Deut 30:1-3 “1 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.”

Keep listening to God’s word.. jump down to verse Deut 30:15-20 “15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, “20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.””

Could you imagine hearing that text being Josiah being a man after God’s heart, it would crush you, because you know your people haven’t been following God. it greatly troubled him to see the brokenness of his people. But it would also give him hope knowing God is merciful for those who turn back to him.

Let me ask you this When is the last time you have truly been crushed by the word of God. This man hearing the word of God was so moved, yet so many of us are bothered little by the words of scripture, and our own sin.

But listen to this Josiah was so moved in fact that he sent out to inquire more about the word of God, and just what this meant.

Let’s keep on reading 2 Chronicles and see how this inquiry was met. 2 Chronicles 34:22-25 “22 So Hilkiah and those whom the king had sent went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter) and spoke to her to that effect. 23 And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, 24 Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book that was read before the king of Judah. 25 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.”

Not properly responding to the Word of God brings judgement.

The prophetess gives a rather grim report. Something the king i am sure didn’t want to hear. Judgment and disaster were coming to the people of Isreal. Not because of Josiah but because of the sinful behavior of the people of Israel.

These people had wondering away from the Lord over and over again, and the fact that God was so patient with them is incredible, but his patience was ending. Judgement was coming. He was going to bring disaster on this place, and its people.

2 Kings 22:17 “17 Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.”

A scary scene indeed. This was all because the people of God responded to him in the wrong way, and it was going to result in a terrible ending For them.

Lets keep reading in 2 Chronicles though 2 Chronicles 34:26-33 “26 But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, 27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. 28 Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place and its inhabitants.’ ” And they brought back word to the king. 29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. “30 And the king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites, all the people both great and small. 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. 31 And the king stood in his place 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 the covenant that were written in this book. 32 Then he made all who were present in Jerusalem and in Benjamin join in it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. 33 And Josiah took away all the abominations from all the territory that belonged to the people of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not turn away from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.”

Properly responding to the Word of God brings peace.

Josiah had heard the response of the prophetess, and his response was the right one, and as a result he would be spared from this earthly judgment, because he in fact responded in the right way to the word of God. Remember he tore his clothes, he wept, he was distressed from all the law the people had broken. And the Lord noticed it. And the Lord promised him peace As a result.

And he did not waste that peace either. He took the people of God, the elders, the priests, the levites, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the house of the Lord to read the law of God, and not only read it, but he made a covenant before the Lord to walk in the ways of God, with all this heart and soul, and do all the things that God asked him to do.

And all those things that did not honor the Lord he got rid of.

And what I love about this text is it says all his days the people of Israel served the Lord, and did not turn away from him.

What a progression we have seen today. The word of the Lord was found, a proper response was made, judgement came to those who do not follow God, but peace comes from responding to the word, but the main point was Properly responding to the Word of God brings eternal life.

How do we respond to the word today? So much for us to digest this morning. Because we can relate to Josiah, we live in an evil time, with evil leaders, evil ideas, but we still have a good God who is in the business of saving people.

The time has come church, visitors where we need to be like Josiah and be broken for the word of God that we have not followed. See so many us so often look at the word of God and are not moved like Josiah, and im not trying to create an emotional experience for you, I am wanting you to truly look at the word and be broken over it. To be motivated to respond.

How do you respond when you open up the pages of scripture.

think about our own time. Imagine being in a time like Josiah where the word of God was absent and hearing these words. How do you respond to a text like 1 Corinthians 15:1-6“1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”“5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.”

What is being read should break you like it broke Josiah, see he was on the other side of the cross, before Jesus came and wiped away the sins all those who would ever believe in him. Christ died for sinners, and the realization of that truth should break you.

Why is that? because you are a sinner, every single person is a sinner. And in this world, we have desensitized that idea. But the reality is that sin separates us from God.

The meaning of words have seemed to lose value, this wasn’t the case for Josiah though remember he was broken over the fact that Israel sinned against God. But to often we are not broken over our own sin.

If you are an unbeliever, meaning you have not repented of your sin, and trusted in Christ alone for salvation, you have possibly been relying on some sort works to save you, but because you have sinned against God there is no hope outside of Christ. But the words of Paul provides you a reason for why Christ died.

You have sinned against God. But if you turn today and trust in him, know this you can have peace with God. Repent ( turn away and believe ).

God did not leave himself without the evidence its all there for you. Properly respond to the Word of God so you can have eternal life.

If you are a believer I want you think about a few things this morning.

How do you respond to the word of God when its read? Either when you hear preachEd or taught , or in your own quite time.

( this question is the reason why I love Josiah so much )

He responds to the word of God. And not in some sort of weak way, but a way that shows real change. See if you are a believer in Christ the word should change your heart each and every time you hear it causing you to actually be motivated to change.

Every single Christians goal should be to become more like Christ. And that is going to require each and every person to respond to the word of God.

Be like Josiah tearing your clothes because of your unrighteousness, but all while looking to Jesus knowing he has forgiven you, and in turn live for him.

todays text demands some sort of response. I pray you make the one the Lord leads you to make.

If you have some sort of decision this morning, about salvation,baptism, church membership or just need prayer.

Ask yourself are you under the judgement for not trusting God and his word? For not believing only He can save you.

Let us be a church that responds to his word.

Let us pray…