Persevering as a Father

Thank you worship team for leading us to focus and worship the glory of our God this morning. Happy Fathers Day! Its wonderful to be in the Lord’s house today.

Is that your hearts cry:

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I, but through Christ in me

As a father I just want to shout from the rooftops…Amen

When my race is complete that any good that my wife and children and others see in me would bring praise to Jesus because Christ is working in and through me by the Holy Spirit…we have so much hope!

Often, on Fathers’ Day we like to focus on the Bible’s teaching about fatherhood and specifically the roles and responsibilities of fathers. This is very important, and we will touch on a few of these aspects today.

But today’s message is primarily about hope and encouragement for dads.

God can work in the lives of fathers.

• Even if you did not have a godly example of a father, to have hope that God gives you everything you need to please him as a dad.

• Or maybe you are a father who recognizes your failures and you wonder can God still work in the lives of my children. Must my children be doomed to follow in my steps. To see God can work despite failures of dads. Praise God our heavenly Father grace is more than sufficient to work in children despite the sins of fathers.

• My prayer this morning is that God will encourage you continue to please God. God’s kindness abounds to us as fathers.

The example we are going to look at in God’s word today screams from the pages, look what God can do! God is faithful and he is more than sufficient to give fathers what they need to please God.

We are going to look at the life of King Josiah.

Please turn in your bibles to 2 Kings 22, that’s on page __________ in the front section of the Old Testament in the bible under the chair in front of you.

As you turn there, I want to provide you a little background for where we are in this book of Kings.

Saul was the first king Israel, but he was not a good king he did not obey the word of God. So, God raised up King David, who was a sinner, but trusted God and was a man after God’s own heart. David’s sin results in eventual consequences for his family to his sons, but God promises a chosen king from David’s family who will be the Savior of God’s people, and who will reign and rule forever (that’s our Savior Jesus Christ, who is the promised family descendant of King David). Eventually, one of David ‘s sons, Solomon, becomes King in place of David. This is where the book of 1 Kings begins: The transfer of the kingdom from David to Solomon.

Well, Solomon starts off well when he is young, but his heart turns from God, and he starts loving his many wives and their many false gods more than the True God. So, the consequences of Solomon’s sin result in the Kingdom of Israel being torn apart into two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom also called Israel and the Southern Kingdom called the Kingdom of Judah.

So, the rest of 1 Kings to 2 Kings explain the kings of these two kingdoms, the kingdom of Israel in the North and the Kingdom of Judah in the South, both of which are destroyed by the end of the book.

Each king’s reign is evaluated based on keeping the covenant. Whether or not let listened and obeyed God’s law and did not turn away from everything God commanded his people. Why focus on Josiah? … well there are specific people that are favored in God’s view…they are honored from God’s perspective and of the 20 kings of Southern Judah only Hezekiah only Hezekiah, and Josiah are the honored kings.

So, let’s find out the encouraging lessons we can learn from this honored king and father.

22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

³ In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, ⁴ “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. 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. [Skip verse 7]

⁸ And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹ And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰ Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

¹¹ When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. ¹² And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, ¹³ “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

[So they go and ask the prophetess, Hulda, what they should do and jump to verse 15…]

¹⁵ And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, ¹⁶ Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. 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. [Note: So God is going to judge the southern kingdom of Judah, whose capital is Jerusalem, for their sin and worshipping other gods by destroying the Southern Kingdom like the Northern kingdom].

¹⁸ 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, ¹⁹ because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore, 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 they brought back word to the king. [Note so God gives comfort to Josiah that his repentance, and response to follow God’s word is not in vain and even though God will bring eventual disaster to the whole nation of Judah to punish people for their sins, Josiah will die and go to his grave before this disaster occurs.]

[So now turn to chapter 23 as God continues the story for Josiah].

“Then the king sent, and all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him. ² And the king went up to the house of the Lord, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the priests and the prophets, all the people, both small and great. 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. ³ And the king stood by the pillar 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 this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant. [Note: the similarity between this covenant renewal and Joshua with the nation of Israel before the promised land. Then because of their covenant with God, how does Josiah demonstrate his loyal love for God!]

⁴ And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the keepers of the threshold to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. ⁵ And he deposed the priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to make offerings in the high places at the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem; those also who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and the moon and the constellations and all the host of the heavens. ⁶ And he brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord, outside Jerusalem, to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people [Note: that is to defile them, to make them ritually unclean, so no one will touch them or come close to them again]. ⁷ And he broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes who were in the house of the Lord […] ⁸ And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had made offerings, from Geba to Beersheba [Note: from the furthest boundary point North of Geba to the furthest boundary point South Beersheba…the land was polluted with idols and unfaithful people.] [Skip to verse 11…] ¹¹ And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. ¹¹ And he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of the Lord […] ¹² And the altars on the roof of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars that Manasseh [notice that’s Josiah’s grandfather] had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, he pulled down and broke in pieces and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. ¹³ And the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, to the south of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. [ Notice: King Solomon started in wisdom but finished in folly and supported idolatry]. ¹⁴ And he broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with the bones of men.

¹⁵ Moreover, the altar at Bethel, the high place erected by Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, that altar with the high place he pulled down and burned, reducing it to dust. He also burned the Asherah. ¹⁶ And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the mount. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it, according to the word of the Lord that the man of God proclaimed, who had predicted these things [see 1 Kgs 13]. ¹⁷ Then he said, “What is that monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Let him be; let no man move his bones.” So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet who came out of Samaria [Note: to leave as evidence of a testimony of God’s faithfulness and judgment]. ¹⁹ And Josiah removed all the shrines also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which kings of Israel had made, provoking the Lord to anger [Note: Josiah even removes all the houses of the high places in the Northern Kingdom of Samaria and not just in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This seems to emphasize his desire for restoration and purification of the whole kingdom]. He did to them according to all that he had done at Bethel. ²⁰ And he sacrificed all the priests of the high places who were there, on the altars, and burned human bones on them [Note: Josiah punishes the priests by putting them to death and devoting the idols to destruction according to the Law of God (Ex 22:20; Deut. 13:13–18)]. Then he returned to Jerusalem.

²¹ And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” [That’s in Commanded in the covenant: Deut. 16:5–6] ²² For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. ²³ But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.

²⁴ Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. ²⁵ Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.

²⁶ Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. ²⁷ And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

²⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ²⁹ In his days Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates. King Josiah went to meet him, and Pharaoh Neco killed him at Megiddo, as soon as he saw him. ³⁰ And his servants carried him dead in a chariot from Megiddo and brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.

This morning we are considering - Persevering as a Father

Four encouraging lessons from the life of Josiah that motivate perseverance.

God can work in the lives of children, despite the failures of fathers (22:1-2)

I am so thankful for the godly example that I had growing up from my father. Some of my favorite memories was serving with him as a deacon helping pass the offering plate, or counting the people in the service, going to visit the sick, or picking up early Sunday morning one elderly woman who could not drive herself to church.

I remember Dad baptizing me when I became a believer in Jesus Christ. My dad models faithfulness in his marriage, married 38 years.

You may a father like that, and I hope today you will thank the Lord for God’s work in your father’s life and thank your father.

However, for some this may not be the case, maybe your father would not be characterized by godliness and instead you reaped consequences because of your father’s sin and he modeled a lifestyle and encouraged habits that were not honoring to God. We can still have hope that our Heavenly Father can provide us everything we need to change and grow and please him even if earthly fathers fail.

So, if my father was a drunk, I don’t have to be a drunk. Or if my father was lazy, I don’t have to be lazy. Or if my father was unfaithful in his marriage, I don’t have be unfaithful. Meaning the sins of fathers have consequences and are influential and can be stumbling blocks, but because of the kindness and mercy of my heavenly father, my past family history does not define my life today nor my future. I can be a new creation by trusting in Jesus. And the power of my Heavenly Father enables me to grow to become a more Christ-like father.

Josiah’s life encourages us to persevere in living to please God as dads, despite the sins of our fathers. Consider Josiah’s family history and past. Our passage opens telling us…

2 Kgs 22:1-2 - "Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left."

Josiah is honored in God’s eyes as a righteous king who lived by faith and obeyed the Lord. Yet, notice he was only 8yrs old when he became king. Meaning Josiah, takes the throne in dangerous and tumultuous times and from an incredibly broken family background we learn about Josiah’s father…

Josiah’s father, King Amon (2 Kgs 21:19-24) – not included in PPT or Bulletin

“19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem . . .He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.

21 For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them.

22 So he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

23 The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house.

24 Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.”

So, Josiah comes to the throne, because his father’s own servants killed his dad after 2 yrs being the king…then the people of Judah killed all the servants of who served in Josiah’s house that were involved in this plot. Notice Josiah’s father was not described as a godly man, but unfaithful to God…Josiah’s childhood is chaotic and tragic. What a powerful contrast though between the circumstances of Josiah’s childhood, compared to God’s conclusion and summary of Josiah’s life…that Josiah did right in the sight of the Lord in contrast to his Father who followed the ways of Josiah’s grandfather…

Josiah’s grandfather, King Manasseh (2 Kgs 21)

2 Kgs 21 – Tells the terrible story of Josiah’s wicked grandfather, King Manasseh whose evil reign lasted over fifty years! God tells us, “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.”

Manasseh built and expanded the false worship of idols throughout the kingdom. He put up fake statues of gods outside the temple, he built altars to sacrifice to false gods in the temple, he sacrificed his children to false gods. God says, “Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.” and had “done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols.” This is Josiah’s grandfather.

And you can find other bad examples even further up the family tree…

Josiah’s forefather, King Solomon (1 Kgs 11:1-8)

God tells us that…

^“For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been […] Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.”

Despite the family history, terrible fatherly figures, and Josiah’s youth. God worked in Josiah’s life and Josiah was faithful to God.

Three important applications from these verses:

First, these verses encourage us that God sees and holds accountable the sins of fathers and the sins of fathers have consequences, but we are judged before God not based on our father’s sins but for our own. So, just because you had difficult childhood or a sinful father, that does not have to be what characterizes your life. Instead, by God’s kindness as you depend on God and put his word into practice daily in your life, you can change, you can grow to become an example of our Heavenly Father to those around you. Just like God Josiah, you can be the total opposite of your earthly father if you did not have a godly father.

Second, examples and who we imitate can clearly have a strong shaping influence on our lives…that s why God gives lots of instruction about community and friendships and warns against walking in the counsel of the wicked and standing in the path of sinners and sitting in the seat of scoffers. Instead, God has placed a lot of godly examples of our Heavenly Father around you in our church family. Are you following them as they follow Christ?

• Point Man Groups

• Faith Groups

• Men’s Ministries

• Counseling

Third, this passage gives hope and encouragement to fathers from another view as well. Like me, you may be convicted of ways you have sinned against your family. We all fail as parents. You know those times you sinned against your children in your anger and did not glorify God as a father by your example.

This verse gives hope that God’s grace abounds to my children more than my sin. Meaning God can continue to work in the lives of my child in ways that I do not deserve for his praise and glory despite me…Praise God, our Heavenly Father’s powerful work in the lives of our children is greater than my sin. Josiah’s family history puts on full display the power of God’s grace to change and work in Josiah’s life even though previous fathers in the family failed. Persevere in pleasing God, Dads!

Next, God uses his Word to strengthen our faith…Lesson number two.

II. Sensitivity to God’s Word is a catalyst for strengthening your faith (22:3-20)

We all experience points in our lives when we are struggling to grow spiritually sometimes it’s apathy and we are spiritually coasting other times we feel stuck in sin and we see a pattern of sin that keeps surfacing. We might say our spiritual life needs some repairing…and when you evaluate your life in those time there is a lack of sensitivity and priority to listening and following God’s Word. Notice the current spiritual state in these verses.

• The temple where the people regularly worship needs repair the center of the Jerusalem and spiritual life…how do we get there?

• They clearly did not care about God’s. We see them find God’s Word (like an archaeological discovery) obviously, its pretty hard to hear God’s word when you have forgotten where you put it.

When I think about those moments in my Christian walk when I am needing some spiritual renovation so to speak, listening to the Word of God was critical to helping me change and grow and motivate me toward pursuing Christ and pleasing him.

Sometimes, it was hearing the Word in the sermon on Sunday. Sometimes it was the Word of God in my personal bible reading time, or the Word of God that was shared by a brother or sister correcting or challenging me. We see drastic changes and spiritual renewal begin to take place in Josiah’s life with the hearing and sensitivity to God’s Word. Look at chapter 22 verse 11.

^“When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.” Josiah was sensitive to God's word and demonstrates grief and mourning for the spiritual state of Judah.

Then notice in verse 13… “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for the wrath of the Lord that burns against us is great, because our fathers did not listen to the words of this book, to act in accordance with everything that is written regarding us.” He is concerned about listening and following the word of God that he goes to the prophetess Hulda to confirm God’s Word.

And Hulda says in chapter 22 verse 19…

“since your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become an object of horror and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I have indeed heard you,’ declares the Lord.”

Josiah’s heart was tender to the Word and he humbled himself before God…and upon responding to the Word of God Josiah is motivated toward spiritual growth, renewal, and reform for the nation. As we consider the spiritual climate of Josiah’s time, the Word of God provides the conviction and courage needed. Knowing the Word of God strengthened Josiah’s faith to trust God and persevere in the face of spiritual forces of evil that are opposed to God.

So where is the Word of God in your life and are you sensitive to it? Are you asking the Lord to convict you and show you where you need to grow and change to please him, then when you are convicted and see where you need to grow and change is your heart tender and are you willing to humble yourself and obey the Lord right away because you are considering “the wrath of God” the anger of God that burns against sin…and you fear God more than anything or anyone. When was the last time your sin brought you to mourning.

What resources are you using to hear God’s Word and have it dwell in your heart where you are thinking about it day and night.

Specifically, let’s consider how this applies to listening and responding to Sunday sermons.

• Application: In preparation for each Sunday, look for our sermon preview online and read the passage before Sunday and pray on Saturday night and Sunday morning for God to teach you and help you obey his word. Pray for the preacher to share God’s Word clearly and that the Holy Spirit would use that word to make our church more like Jesus Christ. Then, arrive before the service to make sure you can encourage brothers and sisters in Christ, sit with them, and even pray before the service. As you hear the message write one to two specific applications you can obey God’s word this week based on today. For example, I have included four main points… some of these imply commands I need to obey…some are truths I need to believe…others examples I need to follow or avoid…then consider the specific way that point can be applied.

• Join a bible study to hear more of God’s word. - Email or Call Pastor Greiner to join Faith Group.

• Download the Faith Church app this afternoon and pick 1 past sermon related to an area that I have been struggling with on your drive to and from work this week.

• At our resource center we provide Study Bibles that can help you study and apply the Scriptures to your life daily.

Josiah’s example encourages us to be sensitive to God’s Word because it is a powerful catalyst to strengthen our faith. Fathers, you need God’s Word in your life to persevere in godliness and is your example to your family characterized by sensitivity to God’s Word in your life.

We also see another lesson from Josiah’s life that…

III. Pursuing purity provides great rewards even when some consequences are unavoidable (22:18-20)

Sometimes we may wonder…is it worth it to follow God? Well, God is worthy of worship and obedience just because of who he is. And because our God is so good, he chooses to bless and show kindness to us in all sorts of ways. God promises rewards for those who obey the Lord.

Look at verse 20. For Josiah he is rewarded for his responsiveness to God’s word with the blessing of not experiencing the destruction of Jerusalem and the downfall of Judah in his lifetime and all the covenant curses for the sins of the people before him that are going to be poured out by God on the land. Discipline is unavoidable, its just delayed in Josiah’s case.

We are no longer under the Old Covenant because Jesus has established the New Covenant, so the specific curses and consequences and rewards that God tells the Israelite people and Josiah are not for us today. These consequences and Josiah’s reward already happened. But for the believer in Christ there are all sorts of consequences we might experience and all sorts or rewards. Sometimes the consequence for laziness is we are fired, or for adultery is divorce, or for criminal offenses is punishment by the state. The way of the sinner is hard in ways that the following the Lord is not.

Fathers, make it your goal to pursue purity because it honors God and that is always what is best. When Josiah hears the reward it motivates godly living, not sinful living. Jesus promises some specific rewards for faithfulness to him. He says you will bear much fruit if you abide in him, that you will be blessed if you follow his example and obey his commandments in ways that you won’t be blessed if you do not. There are the rewards of a resurrected body, glorification, a never fading inheritance, and the greatest joy of living in the presence of God in the New Heaven and New Earth forever.

Therefore,

Commit to covenant loyalty to Christ (23:1-3; 23:21-23)

Josiah leads the nation to hear God’s word and renew their covenant with God.

Covenant is a relationship with promised commitment. Our God is a covenant creating God. Marriage is an example of a covenant created by God.

God makes all kinds of covenants in the Bible. He made a Covenant with the Nation of Israel led by the prophet Moses, called the Mosaic Covenant or the Old Covenant.

Then God established a New Covenant with Jesus Christ that fulfilled the Old Covenant making it no longer binding on believers in Jesus Christ because there is a new and better way of relationship with God in Christ that God had promised. So, God desires a relationship with promised commitment with his people like a marriage relationship.

Have you ever met someone who did not know they were married? No! Why because when you are married you must make vows and commitments and the celebration is huge and the day is filled with so much joy…and you are committing to love this person for the rest of your life until death do you part. It’s an incredibly memorable moment…well we see the people of Israel renewing the Old Covenant with God in chapter 23:1-3. They are committing themselves to be faithful to God as a nation, and Josiah is leading the people to commit to God and be faithful to their original vows.

2 Kgs 23:1-3 - "Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar 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 carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant."

At this time, God wanted his people to be in Covenant (this is the Old Covenant). Since Christ has come, suffered and died on the Cross and rose from the dead, he has made a new covenant. And now God desires all to have a right relationship with God through this New Covenant only through Jesus. Only through can we be in right loving relationship with God, by turning away from our unfaithfulness to God and trusting in Jesus Christ. God wants you to consider whether or not we are in covenant with the Him.

In other words, are you trusting and committed to Jesus Christ?

As you consider the loyal love and commitment that Jesus Christ has shown you by obeying God when you are unfaithful, by suffering for your sins by dying on the cross, and rising from the dead. He pleads with you to be reconciled to God. Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved and then commit to loving him with all your heart.

Everyone who is in covenant with Christ, knows Jesus and loves Jesus. If you do not, today is the day!

To demonstrate their love and loyalty to God they celebrated the special days that God had set aside for the people to remember the Lord’s salvation and deliverance of the people to worship God and give thanks. One of those festivals was the Passover…

2 Kgs 23:21-23 – “Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.”

For centuries the people had ignored and neglected one of the most sacred holidays for the nation! The Passover reminded the people that God passed over the people so that no destructive plague touched them when God struck dead the firstborn of people and animals. God was satisfied by the sacrifice of the lamb that he provided as a substitute for the people. So, when God saw the blood on the doors ways of the house he passed over and the firstborn would live.

Jesus is the Passover lamb, he is the sacrifice that God has provided as a substitute in our place, to satisfy the just anger and punishment of God, so whoever believes in Jesus Christ their sins are covered over because of the blood of Christ shed on your behalf, you are forgiven and saved from God’s wrath.

Fathers if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, we no longer celebrate the Old Testament Passover because Jesus has given us a command to now remember his sacrificial death, his body and blood, through the Lord’s Table. We are commanded to do this in remembrance of him.

Notice Josiah’s sensitivity to the Word of God is shown by specific actions and commitments he made. Covenant renewal, hearing God’s word, and obeying all the commands including the special days.

Dads, here is a simple step of obedience for leading your families. How serious do we take that commandment and desire to express our love and thanksgiving for Christ? Josiah’s example reminds us of the privilege of the Lord’s table and our desire to demonstrate our love for our Savior every church family night, the first Sunday of the month, to take the Lord’s table together.

Dads, are you leading your family to prioritize this?

Does your Savior see your covenant commitment to him?

Smash spiritual stumbling blocks for yourself and others (23:4-20 – not included in ppt and outline)

Josiah’s commitment to God and pursuit of purity is not just personal, he is also concerned for others purity. He personally participates in using his authority in a righteous ways to destroy and remove anything that opposes worship of God and faithfulness to his commands. So fighting for purity involves radical removal of sin from our lives and what can cause others to stumble.

Notice the extent of Josiah’s perseverance to pursue purity.

In v 4, He start first destroying and burning all temple items worshipping false gods.

In v 5,he removes all priests in Jerusalem who worshipped other gods and led the people astray.

In v 6, Asherah poles (a symbol of worship) were removed and burned

In v7, the houses of the cult prostitutes were removed and gates going to the high places of worship were destroyed

In v10, He destroyed Tophet, a location they sacrificed children.

He desecrated items making them unclean and forbidden by scattering the bones of dead people who participated in false worship and burned them on the alters (v. 16) and then put those ashes on graves…One characteristic of Godly sorrow that leads to genuine repentance is righteous anger like God toward sin. You hate it…Here is righteous anger!

In v 19, he goes and even removes all the houses of the high places in the Northern Kingdom of Samaria and not just in the Southern Kingdom of Judah. This emphasizes his desire for restoration and purification of the land before the days of Solomon.

In v 20 The pagan priests who led the nation to worship false gods were executed according to the Old Covenant commands of God and this was to fulfill the word of the prophet that God had promised earlier to King Jeroboam. Josiah’s is part of God’s plan to wake up his people from spiritual destruction.

What the people were wanting so badly in their hearts more than God was material prosperity and success! They clammored after this more than anything. Josiah called out the deceit.

• It’s sinful to sacrifice your child and disobey God even if everyone out there says its okay because you will get three more as a result.

• Worship Baal and crops will multiple and you will have more animals.

Our idols may look different but we clamor for similar things.

• Neglect God’s commands and you will get a better job and make more money.

• Approve of sexual immorality in our culture and you will be love and accepted.

• Follow this political party and your hopes and dreams for future will be secure.

Josiah models for us the radical removal and repentance for sin.

Dads, consider what smashings you may need to do in your life this week first, then in your family.

• What entertainment needs to be destroyed from your life. I realize it can be costly to do that, often when you remove idols in your life and others you may get push back, persevere if you believe that it will help your family better pursue Christ. It might be costly in a different way if you don’t.

• What poor commitments of time need to be removed in your schedule that are not spiritually fruitful.

• Are there “false priests” you are seeking out…Friends or family actively seeking to cause you to stumble and turn away from the Lord. You might need to lose a friend to live for Jesus.

• We all have sinful habits we are more prone to turn to, what proactive steps can you take that make it easier for you to turn to Christ and not turn to that thing you enjoy.

• Dads I hope we are modeling and leading first by our own example.

• Moms/children … I are you prepared and willing to follow godly leadership joyfully when Dad is seeking to help you follow Christ.

• Many times, we say we want leadership, but that test comes when a father seeking to please the Lord tries to destroy one your idols … then you will know based on how you respond. And the temptation in that moment is to justify and immediately point out something you know he enjoys and say you should remove his thing.

Pursuing purity involves proactively putting on what please God and putting off what we know keeps us from pleasing God.

The final lesson from Josiah is …

IV. Josiah provides proof to continue to put your hope in Jesus (23:24-25)

Dad, what legacy do you want to leave? What do you want said about you at your funeral and etched on your gravestone that could be said? Look at verse 25…after removing all the abominations…Josiah’s legacy was one of trust and faithfulness to God.

2 Kgs 23:24-25 - "Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him."

Even though God still brought discipline and the children and nation after Josiah did not follow the Lord as Josiah had done. God was pleased with Josiah and Josiah sought to obey the most important commandment that Jesus mentioned…loving the Lord with all his heart, soul, and might.

Josiah is the greatest of the kings mentioned, yet he is powerless to purify and renew the hearts of the nation. As great as Josiah was, he did not fulfill the Old Covenant. His death at the end, reminds us we are waiting for the perfect King, Jesus the Messiah, the one who would reign forever, keep God’s covenant, and change the heart of the people to turn to God and follow his commands. Josiah was the greatest king of the southern kingdom, but even his love and trust was not in himself, but in the Lord.

As Josiah trusted and lived for the Lord, God’s grace was sufficient to help him live a godly life despite his upbringing and the culture around him.

Dad’s let’s listens to these lessons from Josiah, your life can be characterized by Christlikeness despite fatherly failure, be sensitive to God’s Word to strengthen your faith, and proactively pursue holiness and you trust in the future hope and return of our Saviour and King Jesus Christ, who reigns forever.