We're going to turn to God's Word now, and we turn to the passage that was read from earlier. So we turn back to 2 Chronicles and chapter 34. The second book of Chronicles and chapter 34. And the chapter begins with these words. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign. and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

Now this part of the history of Israel was quite a dark period. As you will see for yourself if you read these chapters around this passage, that Hezekiah had been on the throne for some period of time, a good reign, a good king, Followed by Manasseh, a long but dark period in Israel's history. The vast majority of his life was spent in ungodliness and violence. We know he turned to the Lord in his latter days. Then his son Amon came to the throne and he tried to copy the sins of his father. And after just two years the Lord cut him off.

So in these dark, rather unpromising circumstances, young Josiah comes to the throne. It's interesting, isn't it, that when you look back over Israel's history, very much it was one of revival and decline. Revival and decline. When godly kings came to the throne, the true worship goal was promoted, idolatry was put down, but then when ungodly kings took their place, things went in reverse, didn't they? idolatry soon start to rear its ugly head again. So in these rather hopeless or unpromising circumstances, Josiah comes to the throne.

And there was a special purpose for this, because there's going to be a period of particular blessing. I want to give you a balanced account of this, as you will shortly but there's a particular blessing this period through Josiah's influence and this will carry the nation through the 70 years of exile that were to come. Now sometimes Edward VI, the son of the Protestant son of Henry VIII, is referred to as the British Josiah. There's some striking parallels between those two young men. Both came to the throne at a similar age and exerted a significant influence for good. So we're going to notice Josiah the spiritual reformer.

How refreshing it is to read in verse 2, he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. So often we read the opposite, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And notice the high commendation in the middle of verse 2, and walked in the ways of David his father. Now the scriptures use a phrase like that only carefully and in certain circumstances.

David was a man after God's own heart. He had his faults, as you well know, and he fell and he sinned. But the general drift of David's life was one of obedience to Almighty God. So for young Josiah to be described as a man who walked in the ways of David's father, that really is high commendation. Notice his consistency. and he declined neither to the right hand nor to the left. So all the way through his reign, he followed the Lord, walked in the paths of truth and grace and righteousness in a very consistent manner. Then we notice when he was 15, coming up 16, in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David, his father.

Now on the margin of my Bible, the Thompson Chain reference Bible which says, youthful piety. Perhaps that sounds a little bit Victorian. But we know exactly what it's meant, don't we? And something to be encouraged. Here was a young man, only 15, coming up to 16, but he's taken the things of God seriously. And surely this is an example to us to encourage young people. to read the word of God, to seek the Lord, and to listen carefully to the preaching of the everlasting gospel.

It's very easy when you're in your teens to think, well, there's plenty of time yet. There's always next year or when I'm older. You don't know that. No one knows that. We've heard in recent years of young men being brought to a sudden end, haven't we? We've known about a number who have died in their teens. one or two cases quite suddenly. So here then is an important reminder of the need to seek the Lord while we're young. Remember thy creator in the days of thy youth. So it's something to be encouraged. And there are promises to those that are young. Those that seek me early shall find me, the Lord says, and God is always true to his word. And Josiah proved it for himself, didn't he? He found the Lord as he sought him.

And notice how very quickly he wanted to put reformation in place. He wanted to restore things as to how they should be. In the twelfth year of his reign he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the groves and the carved images and the molten images and they break down the altars of Balaam in his presence. Now notice that in his presence he didn't just issue the command and assume it being done, he went there himself to personally oversee what was being done. So it was done in his presence.

So he ensured These images wouldn't be brought out of hiding at some later point. They were literally destroyed, broken to pieces and even ground to pieces and then thrown into the waters. So they couldn't be a snare to people anymore. Now what do you think of verse 5? What do you understand by those words?

He burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. Well the background to this of course is 1 Kings chapter 13 where we read of the man of God who went to Bethel to remonstrate with Jeroboam I, the ungodly, idolatrous king who led the northern tribes into deep idolatry. And the man of God foretold the day when a good king would be raised up, Josiah by name, and he would exhume the bones of the idolatrous priests and reduce them to ashes upon the altar to show God's solemn displeasure with idolatry. And here it is coming to pass just as the man of God has said 350 years later, he burnt the bones of the priests upon the altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. important reminder to us that God's Word will always stand. It will stand forever. What God has said will come to pass, whether it's in mercy and grace or whether it be in judgment.

And then he turns his attention to the temple itself and money is raised for the restoration of the temple. He's now about 26 years of age and he's anxious to restore true worship. It would appear that the Ark of the Covenant had been removed and idols had been erected in the temple of God. That's how serious it was. And true worship had come to nothing, and the building itself was in a state of serious disrepair. So money was collected for this purpose. He is a young man with vision who wanted to see the temple restored to its original beauty and condition.

It's very clear, isn't it, that Josiah was a young man who was able to inspire others, and people followed his lead. Well, I would suggest to you we need Josiahs today, don't we? Godly people, whatever age they might be, but with the same convictions, the same ability, and the same inspiration, you might say, and desire to honour and glorify the Lord.

But then we move on to notice the rediscovery of the Word of God. This is where it gets particularly interesting, isn't it? Because verse 14, we learn that when they are refurbishing the temple, they discover a copy of the Law of the Lord. And the narrative deliberately slows down from verse 14 and the next few verses. The book is found, someone, Hewakai, for example, tells Shaphan, he hands it to Shaphan, Shaphan goes to the king and tells him about it, then reads it in his presence, so it deliberately elongates the narrative to make us aware that something very significant is happening.

God's Word has been found, which has been so neglected for so long. Possibly the only copy left, God has promised to preserve His Word. But many attempts have been made to destroy God's Word, or sometimes just be neglected. Nevertheless, God has preserved His Word down to the present day. Now, we don't know exactly which part of the Law of God it was, Quite possibly the first five books of Moses, maybe Joshua as well, some of the Psalms that had been written previously.

And so it was in our country at the time of Reformation. The Word of God was rediscovered. People had neglected the scriptures. Medieval superstitions had so blinded people's eyes and the Word of God was locked away in the Latin language and few people were interested even who could read Latin. And so the Reformation was nothing less than a rediscovery of the Word of God. It's important to know that because sometimes at school children may be given the impression the Reformation was nothing more than Henry VIII who wanted a divorce. Well that was just a small thing in one sense. in comparison to what God was doing through his Word, and raising up good men to promote the Word of God. I would suggest to you what is needed today is nothing less than a rediscovery of God's Word. It's so readily available, of course. You can buy a Bible for £5. You can read it online, any time of the day or night. You can get a Bible whenever you wish, as it were.

But it's been lost sight of, hasn't it, by so many people, and deliberately dismissed by others. And if God is going to send a revival in our country, there'll be a rediscovery of the Word of God. We do well to do our best to promote God's Word while we can. We have liberties to do so. It's always encouraging to see Bibles being placed outside places of worship, outside people's homes, and the Word of God displayed in public places, and the Word of God being preached in the streets. and other opportunities to promote the scriptures, it's always encouraging to see those who have that ambition to spread the truth of God in these times.

The word being read in the presence of Josiah had a dramatic impact upon him. He was convicted very deeply of the solemn reality of their departures from the law. Notice verse 19. It came to pass when the king had heard the words of the law that he rent his clothes. Of course, it was true. The Jews were quite demonstrative. They sometimes rent their clothes just to kind of outward sign, but not necessarily meaning they were repentant in their hearts. But Josiah really was.

He's hard to be rent by the threatened judgments of God, and so his rending his clothes was an outward demonstration of what he really felt within. It wasn't what you might call crocodile tears. He really felt it, and he really was anxious as to God's threatened judgments. And so, with a sense of great urgency, he sent his servants to go to Huldah the prophetess asking what should be done, what was the word of the Lord to them.

Now we don't know why they went to Huldah the prophetess, because Jeremiah, of course, was the resident Jerusalem prophet at this time. Possibly Nahum and Zephaniah were there as well. Whatever the reason, God was in it, wasn't he? Because Huldah had a message for young Josiah.

And of course, judgment was coming, but there's going to be a reprieve. because Josiah had rent his heart, his heart had been tender in the sight of the Lord, he'd humbled himself, verse 27, when thou heardest his words against this place and against the inhabitants thereof, and humblest thyself before me, and is rent thy clothes and weep before me, I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord. And so, Judgment wasn't going to come in Josiah's day.

The Lord would withhold his judgment. We sometimes wonder, don't we, to what extent the Lord in our day withholds judgment because of the prayers of his people. We are to pray on, we're to labor on. And yes, we know judgment will come one day. The end of the world will come, but the Lord sometimes in answer to prayer, he does withhold his judgments.

When he sees those who have hearts that are turned to him and tender in his sight. You think of the way in which God spared Lot. He said he would spare the cities if there were ten righteous found in those cities. So the Lord does notice the prayers of his people and hears their pleading before him.

Now Josiah, having been so affected by the word of God, he wanted other people to hear it as well. Verse 30. And the king went up into the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the Levites and all the people, great and small, and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord."

Surely that's how it should be. If we have felt conviction to the word, if we've been blessed through the word of grace and the gospel, we want other people to be blessed as well, don't we? We want them to be acquainted with the same truths that we have come to know. We want them to hear of Christ and salvation.

Don't forget that Christ was in Josiah's heart by faith. That's true of all Old Testament saints. You say, how do you know that? Well, Romans 8 tells us, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. They were Christians in a certain sense, not by name, but in essence and reality, they were looking ahead to the coming Saviour, Jesus Christ, who had come in the fullness of time.

And so he was a man then who looked ahead by faith to God who would send his Son into this world. Now you can read for yourself, at your leisure, The parallel passage in 2 Kings chapter 23, and you'll see the further reforms that Josiah put into place.

He destroyed the houses of the Sodomites that had been erected near the temple. Well that's a word for today surely, because we have people in our national church who are practicing the most perverse kinds of immoral things, and yet supposed leaders of the national church. And they were turned out from these places.

The worship Molech was forbidden. Now, Molech was one of the heathen gods and was presented in a sitting position, a great statue, bronze statue, we believe, and in its lap was fire. And to please the god Molech, they would cast their firstborn sons into the fire. Little babes were thrown into the lap of this hideous god. And he said that they would beat drums very loudly to disguise the screams of the mothers. It was a hideous practice, a wicked practice. But today's generation is no better in one sense. Babies are sacrificed on the altar of convenience, you might say. I think you know what I mean. Well, so it was in these days. And also, occult practices were also put away. And here we learn the Passover was reinstated in chapter 35 and verse 18.

And there was no Passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet. Neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a Passover as Josiah kept. And the priests and the Levites and all Judah and Israel that were present and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Well, quite a remarkable occasion, a period in Judah's history in that time of Josiah. And so he put them under obligation to serve the Lord. So in one sense you might look at this passage and think, what a most remarkable period of revival and reformation and blessing.

In one sense it was. but sadly a lot of what was happening here was only surface deep. Let me just read to you Jeremiah 3 verse 10. And yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but faintedly, saith the Lord. Many had just followed the leader. And when Josiah sadly was taken away at the early age of 39, they very quickly slipped back to their old ways and practices and disobeyed the voice of the Lord and judgment fell upon them.

Well, it's a reminder to us surely that we need to be sincere in the things of God. It's not enough just to say the right things. It's not enough just to attend the preaching of the gospel. It's not enough just to appear to be like a Christian externally. to have all the right morals and say all the right things. Our hearts need to be right in the sight of the Lord.

And that was the problem with many here in Jerusalem at this time. I mentioned earlier regarding British Josiah, Henry VIII's son, Edward VI, and the parallel there is between Josiah here and Henry VIII's son. Now, you may have heard this said before, the coronation of Edward VI that everything was set ready to go. And there were three swords representing the three kingdoms, the kingdom of England, of Ireland, and of France.

And Edward VI, we're told, he wouldn't allow the procession to proceed because he said there was a sword missing. He said the fourth sword that was missing is the Bible. That book, he said, is the sword of the Spirit. and to be preferred before these swords. Without that sword we are nothing and we can do nothing, we have no power.

From that we are what we are this day. He that rules without it is not to be called God's minister or king. Under that we ought to live, to fight, to govern the people and to perform all our affairs. From that alone we obtain all power, grace and virtue and salvation and whatsoever we have of divine strength. Can you see why I say we need a Josiah today? Many Josiahs perhaps in our day.

Someone with God's anointing to bring this nation back to the ways of truth and grace. Well let us in the meantime at least do our part in prayerfully promoting God's word. and seeking to make others acquainted with divine things. May God help us in all these things. Let us pray together. Almighty and ever-gracious God, we humble ourselves before thee in the light of this passage of Holy Scripture.

We stand in admiration of the wonders of grace in raising up such a man as this so early in life, who was filled with conviction who was the recipient of grace and demonstrates that grace in his life, in his influence upon others. Lord, we are thankful for the rediscovery of the Word of God and for its preservation, for the fulfilment of those promises regarding the preserving of the Word down through the centuries. We thank the Lord for blessings that have been known in this land, mighty outpourings of the Holy Spirit, godly leaders raised up, O that such days may come again.

Come, empower thy people, anoint and strengthen thy people, O Lord, we pray, to go forth with the Word with courage and conviction. Lord bless, we pray, friends here in their various endeavours to spread the light and to sow the good seed of the Word of life. Lord, do help us, we pray, in our own situations, our own circumstances, to be faithful and true. So, Lord, do hear us, do receive us graciously, and may there be blessing upon the worldwide activity of the TBS. Bless all who translate, give them wisdom, and strength and perseverance and consistency help them, O Lord, in all they seek to do, and bless their labours as the word is published and distributed far and wide. So, Lord, to forgive anything that's been amiss, we pray in this meeting and receive us graciously as we ask these things for Jesus' sake. Amen.