Where's the Word?

Passage: 2 Kings 22:8-20

Main Idea: Revival comes when the people of God go back to reading and living the Word of God.

Message Goal: Encourage the saints to be revived by the Word of God.

Introduction

Revival will come when we wholly get back to reading and living the Bible as it is purely written.

THE PREACHER came to have dinner with one of the families in his congregation. The woman of the house was very pleased to have the minister in her home and wanted to impress him. She wanted the preacher to read something to the family after dinner. She asked one of her daughters, “Darling, please go and get the good book. Go and get the book we love. Go get the book we read every day.”

The girl came back with the Sears catalog. (Excerpt from: "Tony Evans' Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More Than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking" by Tony Evans. Scribd.)

What is your life without the Word of God?

Are you in a drought right now?

Have do you feel when you don’t have a daily dose of the Word of God?

There’s a plant in my office at work. Occasionally, I travel and am out of the office for a couple of days. Or sometimes, I just forget to maintenance my plant according to my normal routine.

Without fail, every time I miss a day of watering my plant its posture reminds me of my shortcoming. It looks like it has been neglected. In fact, it looks like it has missed a month, rather than a day, of not being watered.

If you have not had your daily dose of God’s Word, something is terribly abnormal about walking around as if you are properly nourished. In fact, you should look as sick as you truly are.

You see, my plant has no shame. Its posture and downcast appearance is a message to me. It is my way of getting my attention. Such should be the case with every believer.

Our return to the Word each day should be a way of getting God’s attention—letting him know that we have a need for more!

In fact, the Word of God should be so precious to us that we can’t live without it!

Psalm 119:105 CSB

105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

Psalm 18:30 CSB

30 God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 33:4 CSB

4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy.

Proverbs 30:5 CSB

5 Every word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Psalm 119:11 CSB

11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

Psalm 119:160 CSB

160 The entirety of your word is truth, each of your righteous judgments endures forever.

The Word of God is wonderful! As wonderful as the Word of God is, we should notice when we have not had our daily dose.

However, our text has revealed to us a group of people that have not valued the word of God. And when you don’t value the Word of God, you won’t know when it’s missing in your life.

Reasons We Forget the Word of God in Our Lives:

Peer-pressure (1 Kings 17:7-16)

Generational failure (1 Kings 17:17)

Failure to remember God.

Context of Josiah’s Story

When a generation forgets to pass along the things they learned of God, the following generation has a lesser chance of carrying the necessary conviction of God to do the work that generation is assigned.

Josiah was born to a man named Amon. Amon was born to a king named Manasseh. Manasseh was born to a king named Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a good king, but for some reason Manasseh and Amon were terrible kings. What happened? Something failed in the transmission of the revelation of God and it was reflected in the leadership behavior of Hezekiah’s son and grandson.

Perhaps, the #1 reason for a generation’s failure to have a healthy relationship with the Word of God is the failed inheritance of living in the Word of God, which should be first demonstrated by one’s parents.

When the mothers and fathers fail to have a healthy commitment to the Word of God, the children have no chance. Consequently, we are facing a world of individuals who do not have any passion and value for the Word of God, because they never saw it in their parents.

Yet, somehow, Josiah is different. And notice, the text is trying to show us that what I mentioned before is quite true. One’s parents have the ability to direct and redirect the life of a child.

Recently, I was in a conversation where individuals were stating that preacher’s kids are always the worst in a congregation. Perhaps, they are right. However, I believe this is the case for every kid: A child will only replicate what is most consistent in their parents lives. That is, if one is a certain way for 1.5-3 hours per week during church gatherings, the child will replicate what their parents are the remaining 165 hours out of the week.

Thankfully, Josiah had a mother and a grandfather. 2 Kings 22:1 goes out of its way to mention Jedidah and her father, Adaiah. This detail of Josiah’s matriarchal heritage implies his mother’s influence on his life, which leads us to this astounding point: We must lead our children to the Word, because if we don’t lead them to the Word, we will most definitely lead them to something else.

Sermon Points: Keys To Revival Through the Word of God

Your Body is the temple of the Lord. Repair it daily. (2 Kings 22:5)

The word “repair” means replace or put back together.

Don’t make the book find you, find it. (2 Kings 22:8)

Whether you find the book or it finds you, always have the right response. (2 Kings 22:9-20)

Read it.

Understand it.

Live it.

Conclusion: Be Saved By The Word

Josiah’s Example: Repentance— Anyone who commits themselves to living by God’s Word will be saved.

Notice, disaster comes to everyone else, but Josiah delays the disaster because of his repentance.

When the Word comes, we have to get rid of some things ( 2 Kings23:1-15, 19-20).

When the Word comes, it will reveal what things we must keep (2 Kings 23:16-18).

True worship comes when we are obediently following he Word of God.

Whenever going through your day ask the question— Where’s the word in this?