I'm bringing you a message this
morning from the Old Testament, from the book of 2 Kings, chapters
22 and 23. 2 Kings, chapters 22 and 23,
if you want to follow along. If not, listen carefully. This
is a true story. The story of a former king in
Israel named Josiah, a young king, and he represents, like
all major personalities and people in the Scripture, he represents
the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Kings 22, verse 2, it says,
He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked
in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right
hand or to the left. He did that which was right.
He believed God. He worshipped God. He followed
God. He was a man after God's own heart who sought the glory
of God, the will of God, the worship of God. He turned not
aside to the right or the left. He was uninfluenced by either
side, but rather a seeker of the truth. Now a man like this
would certainly not be elected to any office today in our nation
or world, would he? Well, this young king was in
the midst of a world and a nation that was in a mess. Religion
and the politics and the world around here was So far removed
from God's Word, from true worship, according to God's Word, the
whole land was full of idolatry and different, as you might say,
different faiths, many ways of worship, when God had set forth
one faith, one truth, one way to worship Him. And yet there
were so many different so-called priests and prophets, and most
of them, if not all of them, were false. Well, at this time
they were in the process of doing some building, building around
the temple. They were very active with their
building committees and finance committees. This is true, true
story. Sounds like today, doesn't it?
They were very active with their building and their building committees
and their finance committees. They were supposed to be doing
God's work. They were doing all this in the
name of God, It was not according to God's Word. They were ignorant
of God's truth. They were doing things in violation
of God's Word. And someone came to the king
in verse 8, Hilkiah the high priest, and said, I found the
book of the law in the house of the Lord. They had been cleaning
out old rooms that were dusty and locked up, and they found
the book, God's Word. The five books of Moses, Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. The book. This was God's Word.
The book. The Word of Life. The book. The
only revealed will of God, way of God, worship of God, salvation
of God. The book. The absolute truth,
the whole truth, nothing but the truth. The book. Without
it, all is false. Everything is a lie. Apart from
the book, it is man's thoughts, man's opinions, man's way, Ways
that seem right to men that end in death and destruction." They
said, we found the book. Bible means the book. And so they said, wonder what
it says. What does this book say? The priests hadn't been
reading it. They hadn't even seen it before.
The scribes were supposed to be making copies of it. Well,
they hadn't seen it either. They were all too busy doing
their work for the Lord. They didn't even know the Lord,
and they weren't doing anything by the book. People, listen to
me. There's one work of the Lord,
one thing that the people of God, the preacher of God, the
ministers of God, the elders, the leaders are to be about,
and that's the preaching and teaching of God's Word. Paul
told young Timothy, Timothy, preach the Word instant or constant,
consistent, in season, out of season. Whether anybody is doing
it or not, you do it, Timothy. Preach the Word. This is the
one thing the church is to be about, the preaching, the hearing,
the studying of God's Word. Not social programs, not building
programs, not entertainment, but preaching the Word. Well,
verse 9, the scribes reported to the king about the finances,
about the work on the building. That's what they reported. In
verse 9, Hilkiah the priest delivered the book to the king. He gave
the book into the hands of the king. I'm reminded of the time
when the Lord Jesus Christ came back to his hometown of Nazareth
and they delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah and
said, read to us. Well, he did. And he said, this
day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. The book is about
him. He is even called the word of
God. It says the king, in verse 11,
heard the words of the book, and he rent his clothing. Josiah ripped his clothes in
a show of great anguish, shame, fear, and trepidation. Verse
12 and 13, he says, go inquire of the Lord for me and for the
people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that is
found. How 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 unto all that is written concerning
it. Josiah says we've got to start
seeking the Lord. You've got all this religion
and all this stuff going on against what is written in God's Word.
We've got to get back to doing things by the Book, according
to God's Word. We need to call on God. We need
to consult our God. We need to worship our God. So
the king announced a meeting. In chapter 23, verse 1, says
the king sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and
Jerusalem. Oh, and how the Lord Jesus Christ
came to gather his people. He went up onto a mountain one
time, Scripture says, and called unto Him whom He would. And they
came. And He sat down and taught them there. And He spoke and
opened His mouth and said, Blessed, blessed are the poor. Blessed
are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst. After righteousness
they will be filled. Blessed are the peacemakers. Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the Word personified. And He spoke. He gathered all
His people and is still gathering His people unto Himself to preach
the Word, to preach the truth, to declare Himself. Verse 2 says,
"...the King went into the house of the Lord, and all the men
of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with Him, the priests
and the prophets, small and great. And He read in their ears all
the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the
house of the Lord." The King Himself read the book of the
law, the covenant. The King Himself declared the
living and true God to the people. The King Himself declared from
God's Word the true and only way to worship God. And this
King represents Jesus Christ. For no one knoweth the Father
save the Son, and Him to whom the Son will reveal Him, nor
the Son but the Father, and He to whom the Father will reveal
Him. Christ came to declare the living and true God, the will
of God, the way of God, the Word of God, the worship of God, the
salvation of God, the righteousness of God, the wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption of God, and it is all found in
Him. He came to reveal to His people
the only way to worship God and come before God, the only way
to be accepted by God. Christ said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man No man cometh unto God
but by me, he said. No one can approach a holy God
except through Christ, the sacrifice for sin. Christ said, by my righteousness
imputed will you be righteous. By my death, my death paying
for your sins, will your sins be put away. Not by your own
works, not by your own good intentions, but by my righteousness, by my
death, By my substitutionary word. By my intercession. It's
not your prayers, Christ said, but my prayers. By me. If any man come unto the Father,
by me, He said. The Father will receive. Josiah.
This true and just man of God. The next thing he proceeded to
do was he proceeded to destroy everything in and around the
temple that was not according to the true worship as set forth
in God's Word. In verse 4 of chapter 23, it
says, The king commanded Hilkiah, the high priest and the priests,
the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple all the vessels
made for bale, and the grove, and all the hosts of heaven.
He burned everything in the field, carried all the ashes out, and
threw it away. All the vessels, all the religious
paraphernalia, everything. was taken out of the temple and
burned. Because God is worshipped in
spirit and in truth without these props. The only thing needed
in God's house is the Word of God and a preacher of it. That's what Christ did. Do you
remember when Christ came to Jerusalem the first time and
the second time? He planted a whip and went into
His temple. And it says that He said, You
have made my house a den of thieves, merchandise, made merchandise
of men's souls, and planted a whip and cast out all that is bought
and sold, and all the money changers, and turned over the tables and
said, My house shall be called a house of prayer." The only
thing to be done in God's house is worship. Reading of God's
Word, the preaching of God's Word, the singing of spiritual
songs and hymns and prayer unto God. That's it. That's all according
to the book. In verse 5 it says that King
put down the idolatrous priests, cast them out. Those that were
in it for money. Those that were just in it as
hirelings, as a job. Verse 7 says He broke down the
house of the sodomites. Sodomites. That's homosexuals. And those that were by the house
of the Lord were women who wove hangings for the grove. They
had women making quilts for the Lord. He threw them out too.
So Josiah tore down everything and cast out everything and burned
up everything. All the pictures, statues, idols,
trappings, props of religion. Because one thing is to be done
in God's house, worship. God is spirit. Worship in spirit
and truth. And down in verse 21, he concluded
this whole thing by saying, there's one thing we're to do here. Verse
21, the king commanded all the people and said, keep the Passover
as it is written in the book of his covenants. What's the
Passover? What is the Passover? Well, we're
still to do one thing in the house of God. Preach the gospel
of Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ is the Passover. The Passover Lamb. One thing
I read in this book, people, those who are listening to me
today, one thing I read throughout this book, there's one thing
God has commanded us to do, one way to worship God, one way to
be accepted by God, one way to be justified by God. Keep the Passover, that is, lay
hold of Christ and Him crucified. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Worship God in spirit. Rejoice
in Christ Jesus and get rid of all this flesh. Get rid of this
flesh. The gospel is a person. The way
to God is a person. The truth of God is a person.
Life of God is to be in Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Oh, may God turn this generation
back to His Word, back to the Bible, back to the Book, back
to the truth, back to Christ. Our Lord made a lot of enemies,
like Josiah, and yet he brought his people back to God, back
to the Book, back to the Word, back to himself. May God enable
you to hear this message, and may He open your heart and understanding
to His Word is my prayer. Till next Sunday. Amen.