Okay, now this evening, 2 Kings
22. And I'll be using a portion of
2 Chronicles 34. You have to read both records
to get the full story of what's going on. And from 2 Kings 22
and 2 Chronicles 34, I'm entitling the message, God Sent Revival
and God Sent Reformation. God sent revival and reformation
and he did so with the word of God. The word of God was read,
the word of God was heard, and it had great effect. The Lord
raised up a young king whose name was Josiah. Josiah. The Lord chose him. When did
he choose him? chose him in eternity unto salvation. The Lord chose him, the Lord
blessed him with a tender heart and tender spirit, and the Lord
humbled his heart. As it says in verse 19, because
thy heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the
Lord. The Lord blessed him with a broken
spirit and a contrite heart after he had heard the word of the
Lord. God gave him faith to believe
the word that was written, and the Lord made him willing in
the day of his power. There was kindled in the heart
of Josiah A revival that came from hearing and reading the
word of the Lord. And that brought about in Jerusalem
and the cities round about a great time of reformation. He went
on a campaign to stamp out every idol that every false prophet
had erected and he did so with great success. Now here's my
thought for us. May the Lord be pleased to do
this in our day and in our heart. Could the Lord send revival in
our day? Could the Lord revive our heart
in this day and cause us to hear His word and revive our hearts,
which always leads to reformation and return to the worship of
the Lord in spirit and in truth? Do you reckon God will send a
revival in this day? I tell you what it would take,
it would take the will of God, the purpose of God, but I know
this, there must be a return to the preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's not gonna bless lies, He's
gonna bless His truth. He said, you should know the
truth and the truth will set you free. A return to the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ from the very Word of
God. And that's what we do. We preach
the Word, we preach the Word. I thought of two scriptures about
the Lord sending revival. Habakkuk prayed in his day, this
is Habakkuk 3 verse 2, and here's what he said, O Lord, revive
thy work in the midst of thy years, in the midst of thy years,
make known in wrath, remember mercy. And then David prayed
this in Psalm 80, 85. Will thou not revive us again
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Don't you often find in
your heart a need for reviving and revival from coldness of
heart? I do. David said, will thou not
revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee and show
us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us, grant us thy salvation? Now like in the days of Josiah's
great-grandfather, Hezekiah, and to some extent Manasseh,
the Lord brought about the destruction of idolatry and returned to the
proper way of worship of the true living God. Now it's quite
amazing, I thought about this, Hezekiah went on the same campaign
to stamp out every idol of Baal, remember? Now it's just 40 or
50, 60 years later and here they're right back, right back to their
idols, right back to idolatry. The Lord brought about the destruction
of idolatry in the days of Josiah, and returned to the proper way
of worship of the true living God. And he did so with the word
of God. Read over 2 Chronicles 34 later
on when they instituted the Passover and worshiped God around the
blood sacrifice. Thousands and thousands of rams
and bullets. It's just amazing. It's just
amazing. No wonder some of the old writers
called that time of the law and under the law, the ceremonial
law, a slaughterhouse gospel. That is what they did. They slaughtered
animal after animal, thousands and thousands and thousands of
them. We have seen that all the way through, haven't we? The
blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin, but it pointed
to substitution and satisfaction in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hezekiah
introduced again the true and proper worship of the living
God around the blood sacrifice upon the altar of God's choosing. God's altar in the temple. And we know that altar and that
sacrifice always points to Christ our sacrifice, Christ our Passover,
Christ who is our altar. You remember I told you the altar
sets the sacrifice apart. He said that the altar sets the
sacrifice apart unto God. Now, with that introduction,
let's take a look at verse one, two, and three. in 2nd Kings
22. Josiah was 8 years old when he
began to reign and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem and his
mother's name was Jedidiah, the daughter of Adiah of Buscath
and he did that which is right in the sight of the Lord. That's what amazes, it's an amazing
thing in the sight of the Lord. This is God's testimony, God
looking on his heart, and walking all the way of David his father.
He turned not aside to the right hand, nor to the left hand. And it came to pass in the 18th
year of King Josiah that the king sent unto Shaphan. Now, Josiah, 8 years old. God put him on the throne when
he was 8 years old. Age is no problem with the Lord.
Josiah, like young Samuel. How old was Samuel? When Hannah
took him to the temple and told Eli, he's yours. And God raised
up a great, great prophet in Samuel. Josiah, like Samuel and
David. David was the youngest of Jesse's
sons. Matter of fact, he was so young,
Jesse didn't even bring him to the house when Samuel went down
there to anointed prophet, remember? Josiah, like Samuel, like David,
were young in years when the Lord called them to serve Him
and to do His business. That's quite amazing, is it not?
Even so, I thought about this. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who said at the age of 12 years old in His humanity, a 12-year-old
boy declared, I must be about my father's business. And he
went about his father's business. Now, I thought of this Scripture,
and this is such an interesting chapter, Ecclesiastes 12. Jot that note down and read it
sometime. Ecclesiastes chapter 12, because
it speaks so much of what we're going through and the changes
in this body and in this life. But it starts out in Ecclesiastes
12.1, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. Remember
now. Because here's the reason. While
the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt
say, I have no pleasure in my day. Old age. You talk to A lot
of people in their older years, I think specifically of a dear
friend of mine who was way up in years, faithful preacher of
the gospel, and he has no pleasure in these days. He prays every
day that the Lord would be pleased to take him home. And no pleasure
in these days, but, oh, remember now, remember now, my Creator,
in the days of thy youth. Now, whether we are blessed to
serve the Lord in our youth or in our old age, like Simeon in
the temple, waiting for the consolation of the Lord, it's always a great
privilege to serve Him, is it not? In whatever capacity, no
higher title than to be known as the servant of the Lord. I want you to put that on my
tombstone. The servant, the servant, the servant of the Lord. You
know why that's such a high title? The Lord Jesus Christ, God said,
Behold my servant, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. The Lord kept Josiah, it says
there, he walked in all the way of David his father, he turned
not aside to the right hand nor to the left. The Lord kept Josiah
from turning and declining either to the right hand or to the left
hand. He wasn't led astray. He kept his heart, his mind focused
upon the Lord. He was kept by the power of God.
Isn't that the essence of saving faith? Looking unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not to the right hand, not to
the left hand, but looking, looking. He said, look unto me and be
ye saved. All the ends of the earth, I am God, there is none
else. We must always remember this always springs from the
fountain of the Lord's sovereign purpose. God chose Josiah. He kept him. He gave him faith.
He made him faithful. This always springs from the
fountain of the Lord's purpose, the wellspring of his everlasting
love for he loved his people with everlasting love. And with
loving kindness, He does draw them to Himself. He's hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes,
even so, Father, it seems good. It seems good in His sight. Now, hold your place there, and
then find 2 Chronicles 34, and we'll pick up the story here
in verse 3 of 2 Chronicles 34. And here we see, for in the eighth
year of his reign, okay, he'd be, what, 16 years old, right? 16 years old. While he was yet
young, he began to seek after the God of David, his father. He was a man like David, a man
after God's own heart. And in the 12th year, the 12th
year, when he was 20 years old, He began to purge Judah and Jerusalem
from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images,
and the molten images, and he went on a terror. He crushed
and smashed every idol he could get his hands on. Not only in
Jerusalem, but he went to the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim,
Sinai, and Naphtali, and he took on Maddox, and he just went to
town. I'm sure he had a whole army.
He led a whole army of idle killers, smashed them all to pieces. Now, a couple of thoughts here.
when Josiah was just 16 years old, and while he was yet young,
this phrase caught my mind, he began to seek after the God of
David, his father. That doesn't happen naturally.
That happens only supernaturally by the will and purpose of God.
Now, don't turn because you're familiar with this scripture,
but over in Psalm 27, In Psalm 27, when will a sinner seek the
Lord? In Psalm 27, verse 8, He said,
Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, Have mercy also upon
me and answer me. When thou saidest, seek ye my
face, my heart said unto thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek. When will a sinner seek the Lord? When thou saidest, seek ye my
face, my heart said unto me, oh, thy face, thy face, would
the glory of God shine in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in another Psalm, Psalm
105. Seek the Lord and His strength. Seek His face forevermore. Now His face is His person. It's
His glory. The glory of God shines in the
face of Christ. And then Isaiah 55, 6. Seek ye
the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. In the eighth year of his reign,
while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God who is
God, the God of David, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob. And then it says, in that third
verse. And in the twelfth year he began
to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the groves,
and the carved images, and the molten images, and to break down
the altars of Balaam in his presence, the images that were on high
above them he cut down, and the groves, and the carved images,
and the molten images he break in pieces, made dust of them,
strode upon the graves of them that had sacrificed them, and
he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars." He dug up
the bones and burned them of those false prophets to desecrate
their altars. Now here's what caught my attention
was in verse 3. He began to purge Judah. Purge Judah in the twelfth year
of his reign when he was 20 years old. He began to purge Judah
and Jerusalem and the cities of Manasseh, cities of Ephraim,
Simeon, and Naphtali from the idols in the land. Now, here's
a word that caught my attention. That word purged. Purged. He purged. Now, what does that
word remind you of? When I think of that word, I
think of this one scripture. Hebrews 1 verse 3, when he by
himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. The Lord Jesus Christ as the
king, and Josiah here, all these kings that did that which is
right in the sight of the Lord, they're all pictures and types
of the king of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. The king in that
day purged the land of idolatry, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
King of kings and Lord of lords, has purged our sins from us,
and He did it with His own blood, putting away our sin. And when He purged us, He caused
us to turn to God, remember, from our idols, To serve the
living and true God. That's 1 Thessalonians 1 9. We
turn, he causes us to turn to him and then to turn from our
idols. Now, look back over at 2 Kings
22. 2 Kings 22. And we'll stay right here now
in 2 Kings 22. In the 18th year, look at verse
3 now. In the 18th year of King Josiah,
that the king sent Shapham and Azaliah the scribe to the house
of the Lord saying, go up to Hilkiah the high priest that
he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the
Lord. which the keepers of the door have gathered and delivered
to the hand of the doers of the work that have the oversight
of the house of the Lord, to repair, the last part of verse
5, to repair the breaches of the Lord, unto the carpenters,
the masons, the hewers of stone, and they trusted one another,
there was no reckoning made of the money. They trusted one another. In the 18th year of Josiah's
reign, he was 26 years old, he began the ambitious process of
repairing the house of the Lord. Now, while this process was going
on, repairing the house of the Lord, that's the temple. That's
that magnificent structure that Solomon built, and we've studied
all that. Hilkiah verse 8, now here is
what happened. Hilkiah the high priest said
unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law, the
law of the Lord in the house of the Lord and Hilkiah gave
it to Shaphan. Now don't turn but if you want
to jot this reference in 2nd Chronicles 34.14 it says, and
when they brought out the money that was brought into the house
of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the book of the law of
the Lord given by Moses. So no doubt what this is referring
to, referring to the written Word of God given to Moses. While they were repairing the
house of the Lord. Now they did not know that the
book of God, the Word of God was in the temple. It was actually in the Holy of
Holies. We will see that in just a minute.
Hilkiah the priest made a tremendous discovery. It was the greatest
discovery in that day. better than any gold mine, better
than the discovery of a new world. It was the best discovery they
ever could have discovered in that day. The Word of the Lord. And Hilkiah said to Shaphan the
scribe, I found the book. I found the book given by Moses. Now, as I said earlier, most
think it was the original handwritten copy by Moses of the first five
books in God's Word, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. What a find. What a find! It had been so neglected for
so long. I don't find this going on in
the days of Uzziah, of Jehoshaphat, or of Hezekiah, those good kings.
But here, the Lord and His purpose causes them to find His Word. What a miracle of the Lord's
sovereign power to preserve His Word, the Word of the Lord that
had been so long neglected and so long forgotten. It's a miracle. Now, hold your place here. I
want you to read this one with me. Turn over here to Deuteronomy
31. Deuteronomy 31. And if you have
the Cambridge, I'm using it, page 294. Deuteronomy 31. When Moses made an end of giving
the charge to Joshua, he said in verse 23, Be strong and of
good courage, for thou shalt bring the children of Israel
into the land which I swear unto thee I will be with thee. And
it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words
of this law in a book until they were finished. that Moses commanded
the Levites, which bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord."
Now, we know what we're talking about there, don't we? That's
the ark of the covenant. Take this book of the law and put
it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your
God. Now, it doesn't say put it on
the inside, put it on the side. I don't know how this was done,
some kind of a compartment on the side or something, I don't
know. that it may be therefore a witness against thee. Now look at this, this is so
foretelling and we know that this is by the word and inspiration
of the Lord. For I know thy rebellion and
thy stiff-necked behold, while I'm yet alive with you this day,
you have been rebellious against the Lord. Now this is going back
thousands of years from the days of Josiah. Now watch this. which
you have been rebellious against the Lord, how much more after
my death?" Well, that's amazing, isn't it? And here we see, I
don't know, a thousand years later, maybe two thousand years
later from the days of Moses to Josiah, they find this book. that had been so long neglected. It's a miracle of God's power,
is it not? That he preserved it through
all those years of idolatry. Remember, our Lord said to those
Jews in his day that Moses, that whole book, they found the book.
Remember what our Lord said? Moses, had you believed Moses,
you would have believed me. Moses wrote about me. That book, when Shaphan the scribe
read it, and then he took it to Josiah and read it again,
what did he see? And the book revealed he saw
the beauty and glory of Christ. The Bible does not just, some
people say, well, you know, the Bible, well, it contains the
Word of God. No, the Bible is the Word of
God. It's more than just contains the Word of God, it is the Word
of the Lord. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and it's profitable unto us. What a treasure we hold in
our hand. We have such ready access to
it, don't we? I mean, on our smartphone, I
can be anywhere and pull my phone out and look at any Scripture
that comes to my mind. We have it in our lap, in the
book form, and we have it on our computer. We can bring it
up and dissect it and analyze it and point to a word and it
gives us the definition, all these different things. You can
use a concordance and look up a word and see how it's used
everywhere in the scripture. It's amazing what we have this
day. But let us not forget, it's still God's word. What a treasure we hold in our
hand, the written word of God. I think of this scripture in Hebrews
4, the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword. Remember Jeremiah said, isn't
thy word like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces? David said,
thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. His Word
tells us of His will of salvation. His Word tells us of the way
of salvation. His purpose in salvation given
unto us. We learn all about who God is,
who we are, who the Lord Jesus Christ is, what He accomplished,
and how God saved sinners all through His written Word. He tells us about Himself. This
Word of God has been neglected and forgotten. So many years
there in Judah and Jerusalem, when the Word was pushed aside,
what happened? When the Word was pushed aside
and neglected and deemed unnecessary for instruction in the way of
worship, where did it lead to? Idolatry. Idolatry and will worship. His Word, His Word, He said not
one, tittle or jot of the word will ever fail or shall fall. It lives and abides forever.
He said heaven and earth will pass away. My word will never
pass away. Oh my friend, what a treasure
we have. Of all that God has spoken, not
one promise will fail. Not one word of warning shall
fail. All shall be fulfilled. Promises
lest we despair, warnings lest we presume. Believers, as believers,
will receive His Word as it is in truth the Word of God that
effectively works in our heart. We reverence it as such, don't
we? The very Word of God. It has
God for its author. holy man of old spake as they
were moved, driven by the Word of God. He is the author of all
Scripture. It contains the will of God,
the mind of God, the testimony of God concerning all things
in salvation through Christ. The volume of the book is all
about the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him give all the prophets
witness. You remember Luke 24, our Lord said, the Risen Lord
said to those two men on the road to Emmaus, and beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures a thing concerning Himself. It's all about Christ,
isn't it? You see, the point I'm making
is this, you cannot make too much of the written Word of God
because it tells us of the living Word of God, the Lord Jesus. The Lord in His marvelous power
has given it to us and has preserved it all these many years. You
think how many years it's been since they found that book in
that day? And we're still reading it. The
years that this ministry here has been established at Zebulun,
31 years now, 31 years this ministry was established by the Lord.
The Word of the Lord has been read and preach from in every
service. Not one service has the Word
of God been neglected. And I hope it always will be
true until the Lord ends this world. I was watching one of
those crazy science shows on Earth Day. and they were talking
about global warming and they said it would be such an extent
that billions of years down the road that the sun would be enlarged
and it would just suck all the planets into it and they would
be all burned up. You know, in a way, the Word
of God said the heavens are going to melt with a fervent fire. Little did they know that what
they were speaking was according to the Word of the Lord. I don't
believe in global warming. I believe in global burning.
God shall burn this place up and make a new heaven and a new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. But we make much of the word
of the Lord. Now a couple more thoughts here
and I'll let you go. Shaphan read the book as it says
down there in the last part of verse 8. Hilkiah the priest gave
the book to Shaphan and he read it. He read the book. I mean,
the book is no good if we just carry it, set on the desk. Got to get in the book. Got to
get in the Word and read it, read it. And then he took it
to the king. Verse 10, And Shaphan the scribe
showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me
a book. And Shaphan read it before the
king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the word of
the book, and he rent his clothes. What an effect, what an impression
of the Word, the Word had upon his heart. And it does, it has
that effect on the hearts of God's people. Josiah rent his
clothes, signifying the renting of his heart before God, for
his sin against the Lord. Notice what he said, and the
king commanded Hilkiah, and Hycum, and Shaphan, and Achbor, and
all these men, Go ye and inquire, of the Lord for me, and for the
people, and for all, due to concerning the words of this book, that
I found for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against
us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words
of this book, to do according to all which is written concerning
us." The only way we know that we're guilty of sin against God
is by His Word. by his word. I thought of that
scripture over in Romans 7. Paul said, I had not known sin,
but by the word. And when the commandment came,
sin revived, and I died. It killed me. Now, they sent,
verse 14, Hilkiah the priest and Hiakim and Echbor, Shaphan,
these men went to inquire of the Lord for Josiah, and they
went to Huldah. Now, I think this is most interesting,
and I'm not sure, I know I don't, the only thing I can say about
this, it was the Lord's purpose, because in that day was the prophet
Jeremiah, in that day was the prophet Zephaniah, these great
prophets, but the Lord chose this woman, chose this woman. I mean, how many people have
heard the ministry of Huldah? An unknown woman and yet mightily
used of God. The point being, the Lord will
use whom He will to proclaim His message. He used a jackass
one time, didn't He? I'm not comparing Hulda to a
jackass, don't get me wrong, but the point I'm making is the
Lord will use whom He will. The Lord will use whom He will.
See, we have this treasure in an earthen vessel that the excellency,
the power may be of God and not of us. The Lord has used in the
past other women, Moses' sister, Miriam, Deborah, she was a judge
in Israel, the mother of Samuel, Hannah. I think of Elizabeth,
the mother of John, John the Baptist. How about Mary? You
see, the Lord uses whom he will for his own purpose. Now, Huldah's
message to Josiah was one of wrath and judgment, but of also
one of mercy. Look at verse 17. Because you
have forsaken me, She speaks with authority, thus saith the
Lord God of Israel. You tell that man that sent you
to me, thus saith the Lord, I'll bring evil upon this place. Verse
16, Bonnie habits thereof and all, even all the words of the
book, which the king of Judah has read because they forsaken
me have burned incense to the God that they might provoke me
to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore, my wrath
shall be kindled against this place and shall not be quenched. Judgment, judgment, judgment.
Lord in wrath, remember mercy. Now here's mercy. Look at verse
18. But to the King of Judah, but
to the King of Judah, speaking of Josiah. Now that word, there's
a key word, isn't it? But God. Do you remember Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 4? But God who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ Jesus. But God, but God, but to the
King of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, that
shall you say to him, there is sovereign mercy, is it not? Thus
saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the word which thou
hast heard, because thy heart was tender, his heart was right
in the sight of the Lord. Thou hast humbled thyself before
the Lord when thou heardest what I spake against his place, against
the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation
and a curse, and has rent thy clothes and wept before me. I
also have heard thee, saith the Lord." Boy, that's encouraging,
isn't it? The Lord hears our prayers. Behold,
therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt
be gathered into thy grave in peace. And thy eyes shall not
see all the evil which I shall bring upon this place. And they
brought the king word again. God said to Josiah, I'm going
to spare you of all this grief and all this evil and the destruction
I'm going to bring upon this city. The Lord will bring judgment
upon Judah and Jerusalem and will bring evil upon this place,
but not upon Josiah. God dealt with him in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Judge his sin in Christ. The
Lord says to Josiah, he would not see or experience the wrath
and judgment of God to come. That's all been settled in Christ. The Lord was pleased to remove
him when he was just 40 years old. He died. You can read over
in the next chapter. He was killed in battle. The
Lord killed him. and took him away from the evil
to come. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints." Now stay with me. I want you to see this right
here. Isaiah 57. And here's the Scripture. Here's
the Scripture. And the Lord is dealing with
Josiah in a way of mercy by removing him when he's just 40 years old. Isaiah 57. Verse 1, The righteous
perisheth, and no man lays it to heart. And merciful men are
taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away
from the evil to come. The Lord calls out one early.
He's delivering him from the evil to come. He shall enter
into peace. They shall rest in their beds,
each one walking in his uprightness." The Lord does deliver His people. Now, may the Lord be pleased
to cause us to hear His Word. that we may be brokenhearted
and humbled in his sight, and may the Lord be pleased to give
us peace and grace in Christ to die like Josiah in the Lord. And God give us grace now and
his glory forever for Christ's sake. And the Lord said, I heard
a voice from heaven saying, write unto me, blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord. from henceforth yea, sayeth the
Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works. Their works don't precede them,
their works follow them.