Total Devotion in a Decadent Culture

Lord, we just come to you this morning confessing our need. We We need you, Lord, and we, we cry out to you this morning and acknowledge that you are God and that we are not. And I pray for all those that are here, this morning that you, would meet with each person according to your choosing and according to their particular need. You are a good and a faithful shepherd.

to, to, to souls, and we pray that you would shepherd each soul here. Some come into this room encouraged and we pray, Lord, that, they would give expression to the joy that is in their hearts to you. and do the right thing with that encouragement. Some are discouraged, some are grieving, some are broken, some are praying prayers that they have prayed for years that are still not seeming to be answered.

some are in this room, Lord, that, do not know you as their, they're saving Lord. And we pray that just through what has been sung and said up to this point of the service that you have touched their hearts already and that you would only continue to do that throughout the rest of the service. Lord, this is all about you and about your kingdom. That's why we gather here today to glorify you, to extol your name.

To fall more in love with you, Jesus. And to serve your kingdom purposes in, in our lives and in the lives of those that you have called us to minister to. Help us to do that this morning and may your full good pleasure be accomplished in our lives today. And we ask these things in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.

Well, having said that, let me, have you turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings. 2 Kings, we're gonna be looking at, chapters, significant portions of chapters 22 and 23. this morning. Last Sunday, we looked at the biblical call to a life of total devotion to God.

And we learned that what's entailed in a life of devotion to God is loving God with all of our being, honoring His word in our lives in all times and places, and putting aside all sin in deference to God's word. We tried to unpack what each of those aspects means all in the effort of delivering a call to ourselves to a life of total devotion to God. Well, some of you might have heard last Sunday's message and thought to yourself, this all sounds great. Inside the comfortable confines of a church service.

But is it even possible to live this way out in the real world in a culture like ours today? Sin is so rampant that Is it even possible? To live a life of total devotion to God anymore. Maybe you've never asked that question in exactly those words, but maybe you felt something of that frustration.

That is expressed in these questions and If you have any of that in you, it might help you to know that King Josiah found himself in 2 Kings 22 living in a culture that was every bit as bad and worse than what we see around us today, and the deck was very much stacked against him. Josiah's grandfather was King Manasseh. Whose 55 year reign over the southern kingdom of Judah ended up so deeply entrenching wickedness in the culture that God swore that he would destroy Judah as a result of Manasseh's sins and the sins of the people of Judah together with him.

Sexual abominations and idolatries were everywhere in Judah, institutionalized by previous kings' behavior and their decrees and allowances.

The temple of God had literally become a place of worship for other gods. And in the temple courtyard. We huts. For prostitutes who serviced the worshippers who would come to the house of the Lord to worship pagan deities.

In 2 Kings 21:9, God Himself says that King Manasseh seduced the people of Judah to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel came into the land. In other words, by the time Manasseh's reign was over, the people of Israel were behaving worse than the Canaanites were. Before God drove them from the land. thereby placing them under the judgment of God.

About 80 years prior to Josiah coming to power, God had wiped out and scattered The northern kingdom of Israel for their sins and rebellion against him. And now, the southern kingdom of Judah is on death row waiting for God's promised sworn judgment to fall upon them. After Manasseh died, his son Ammon reigned for two years, and he also, the Bible says, did wickedly in the sight of the Lord. But then Ammon was assassinated by his own servants, and in his place, his 8-year-old son.

was made king And this eight year old's name was Josiah. Do we have any eight year olds in our service today? They're probably all in children's church. Any eight year olds?

OK. could, could you stand? I want us to see an eight year old. There we go.

Can you hold him up? There we go. That's King Josiah when he became king of the nation of Judah. And regardless of your age, imagine becoming a king at any age as sinful as Judah was at this time, a nation that is ripe for the judgment of God with abominations and idolatries that abound everywhere.

What would you do? If you found yourself in Josiah's boy-sized shoes. Would you just go with the flow of your wicked predecessors who had reigned before you? Would you go with the flow of the culture around you?

Would you be hopeless? Would you view compromise as a political necessity, reigning as king over such a country? Would you even think it possible to live a life of total devotion to God in such a context? Well, Josiah did.

And his life shows us that it is possible to live a life of total devotion to God, even in the midst of a wicked and a dying culture. Near the end of the description of Josiah's reign, look at what the text says about him. It says 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. In other words, during the most notably wicked and hopeless season in Judah's history, There arose a king who was just as notable.

For his absolute and total devotion to God. So don't for a minute think that it's not possible. That a life of total devotion to God is not possible in our modern. era.

It is possible. In fact, it's what our times demand of us, and it's what God calls us to do. And what I want us to do is to just read this morning through parts of 2 Kings 22 and 23, and I want us to see seven ways that Josiah exhibits a life of total devotion to God in the midst of the decadent culture in which he found himself and perhaps we can be helped and inspired by his example. 7 ways that he exhibits a life of total devotion to God and the culture in which he lives.

The first way that he does so is he walks in all God's ways as a youth. He walks in all God's ways as a youth. Look at the text beginning in verse one of 2 Kings 22. Josiah was 8 years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.

Verse 2, 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. Now, we get a more specific sense of the timeline of this, the timeline of Josiah's spiritual journey in 2 Chronicles, chapter 34 verse 3, where we learn, look at this in verse 3, in the 8th year of his reign, while he was still a youth, in other words, when he was 16 years of age, he, Josiah, began to seek the God. Of his father, David.

So here's what we know, Josiah becomes king when he is 8 years old, and he experiences a conversion and begins to seek after God when he was 16 years old.

Back to our passage today, it is said that he did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, though there were obviously many pressures. From without and from within for him to compromise and veer off course, we're told that he did not turn aside to the right or to the left. That's amazing. 2 Kings chapter 22 verse 3 picks up with Josiah 10 years later after his conversion at the age of 16.

So Josiah, beginning in verse 3 is 26. years old and we find him involved in restoring the Jerusalem temple. And long story short, in his 26th year, he sends a guy named Shafon. To go to Hilkayah, the high priest, to make sure that sufficient funds are available for the workmen who were repairing the temple of the Lord.

Chiffon obeys the king and goes up and does that and talks to Hilkiayah, the high priest, and while they're in conversation with Hilkiayah, Hilkayah tells Chiffon how the restoration of the temple is going, and gives them a report and among the things that he reports to Chiffon. is that he has made a most wonderful discovery. Look at verse 8. Then Hilkiayah, the high priest said to Shafan, the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, and Hilkiayah gave the book to Shafon.

Who read it Evidently, under the reign of Manasseh, it seems that all known copies of the Book of the Law had been destroyed, but here is a copy of the law that survived intact. So this is a most wonderful discovery. Shafon can't believe his good fortune as he hears this good news and receives this book of the law from Hilkiaah. So observe what he does in verse 9.

Shaphon, the scribe came to the king, King Josiah, and verse 10 told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Chiffon read it in the presence of the king. Now we don't know the exact parts of the book of the law that Chiffon read to Josiah. He could have read, our Genesis through Deuteronomy over a period of days to Josiah, or he may have just read from the Book of Deuteronomy or from Deuteronomy 28, which contains the blessings and the cursings upon those who obey or disobey God's holy law.

So we're not sure exactly what he would have read, but we're told that he read it, the book of the law in the presence of the king. And we know how Josiah responds. You learn a lot about a person by how they respond to the word of God. And it's here that we begin to learn volumes about Josiah.

And this leads us to the second way that Josiah exhibits a life of total devotion to God in the decadent culture that he found himself, and that is he responds to God's word with tenderness and with God seeking. Observe how Josiah responds to the, just the reading of God's word. says in verse 11, when the king heard the words of the book of the law. He tore his clothes.

Imagine this morning that I don't even preach a sermon. I just get up and just read from the Bible. And there are people in this room that are so broken up by what is red. That they tear their clothes.

This is not a fancy sermon Josiah has heard, it's just straight Bible reading, and he tears his clothes. Then in verse 12, we learned that Josiah commanded Hilkiah. And some other men with this command, verse 13, go inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us.

Josiah's response seems to indicate that he had never actually seen a copy of the book of the law before.

evidently, he had godly advisors who taught the law to him perhaps from memory. Or scraps of copies. But it seems that Josiah has never experienced someone holding. A copy of the entire book of the law of God and reading it to him.

And it seems that he's never heard portions of the law like Deuteronomy 28 where God promised severe judgments that he would visit upon the people of Judah and of Israel if they rebelled against him. And Josiah responds to this reading of God's word with brokenness. He realizes that the people of Judah have violated God's laws. He realizes that God's wrath rightfully.

Burns against them for their sins against God, and now Josiah wants to inquire of the Lord as to what to do about that. So he immediately sends his men to a prophetess. of God named Hulda, H U L D A, a name I would encourage you to consider for any daughters you might have. Holda.

And these men go to her and speak to her and tell her that Josiah has sent. them to her to inquire of the Lord on his and the people of Judah's behalf. Upon receiving this delegation of men and hearing their explanation for being there, Holda responds in verse 15. The text says she said to them, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, tell the man who sent you to me, thus says the Lord, behold, I bring evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands.

Therefore, my wrath burns against this place, and it shall not be quenched. Turns out, Josiah had good reason to be afraid. His worst fears are realized in what this prophetess is saying, God is wrathful against Judah. For Judah's sins and his wrath will never be quenched, no matter what anyone does.

The doom of Judah It is certain. But there is some good news for Josiah in particular. Look at the message that this prophetess wants the men to carry back to Josiah, verse 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 God of Israel, regarding the words which you have heard. Because 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 should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I truly have heard you.

Declares the Lord. Through the words of this prophetess, we're learning about how Josiah responded to the reading of God's word with a little more detail. We learn here that his heart was tender. Literally the Hebrew word is soft.

He had a soft heart. In response to just the reading of God's word, Josiah also humbled himself before the Lord. Rather than stiffening his neck against the God of heaven. When he heard, read the threats of God's judgment.

upon them for their sins. And as a part of this humbling, he tore his clothes and he wept, and he didn't just weep. God says, he wept before me. He wept in my presence.

In other words, Josiah cried out to God in prayer. He wept a prayer to God, praying for mercy and whatever he prayed for, as he is weeping before God, God here is sending a message through this prophetess to Josiah, saying, I've heard the cry that you have cried before me. On top of that, God says to Josiah verse 20 therefore behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. And your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.

So basically the message is God is saying, I will judge Judah. And nothing has happened that has changed my mind about that. I will judge Judah for her sins, but Josiah, I will not bring this judgment during your lifetime. I will wait until after you have been gathered to your father's in the grave in peace, so that your eyes won't see what I'm about to do to Judah.

This is a bad news and good news. It's a wonderful message of peace to Josiah in particular, and we're told at the end of verse 20 that Shafon and the others heard this message from this prophetess, and it says, so they brought back word to the king and told him what this prophetess had said. Now, how would you respond? If you were Josiah and you heard this message, Josiah now knows with certainty that God is going to judge Judah.

He knows that Judah is doomed, and there's nothing he can do to prevent that. He's also received from God a promise that this judgment won't come in his lifetime. So how does he respond? This brings us to the 3rd way that Josiah demonstrates a life of total devotion to God and His word in the midst of a decadent culture, and that is he reads the word of God to the people of Judah that he leads.

Observe what he does, beginning in chapter 23, verse 1. Then the king sent and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem, and 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 priest and the prophets and all the people, both small and great, and he, Josiah, read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord. Notice that Josiah doesn't just give himself to private Bible reading.

No, he gathers everyone together and reads the Bible to the people of Judah. And notice he doesn't just read some parts. Of God's law. Just the happy fluffy stuff I'll read and I'm just not called to talk about damnation or to read those kinds of passages to the people of Judah.

No, he reads all of the book. Even the parts that directly contradicted the accepted practices of the day. The parts that use words like abominations to describe behaviors that his culture viewed at the time to be perfectly acceptable. He read it all in front of the nation.

Imagine our president. standing before our country and with a broken heart, full of conviction and with tears reading the whole Bible on national television. By the way, men of Cornerstone, read your Bible. And when I say that, I don't just mean read it privately, read it out loud to the people that you are called to lead.

Read the Bible to your wife and wash her with the washing of water with the word. Read the Bible to your children. You don't have to be a fancy, eloquent preacher or teacher. Men, you are never more eloquent.

Then when you just pick up the Bible and read the Bible. To those that you're called to lead. What is it that intimidates you and stops you from doing that? When God is telling you to do that.

Imagine what response Josiah must have anticipated. From people in his culture who had assassinated the previous king, his dad. He must have known that they're not gonna like what I'm reading, but he does it anyway. He calls everyone together and he reads the Bible of his day to them all, the whole book of the law.

And this either means all of Deuteronomy, or it could mean Genesis through Deuteronomy. And he does more than merely reads God's words to the people. This brings us to the 4th way that he exhibits a life of total devotion to God in the midst of a decadent culture. Number 4, he covenants to keep God's word, leading others to do the same.

Observe what he does in verse 3. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord. He's going on record in front of everybody who is present as the nation is gathered, and he is promising that he himself will walk after the Lord. And in using that expression, what he's saying is, God, wherever you lead me, I will follow.

I won't walk after my earthly father. I won't walk after my earthly grandfather. Who were wicked, I won't walk after the ways of the culture around me. I will walk after you, Lord, and follow you, and I'm promising this to you, and I'm making this promise in front of the whole country.

I love the fact that Josiah, this guy's not a follower unless he's following God. He's a leader. He doesn't wait to see what everyone else will do before he makes this public announcement. He led the way.

Like a real man does. And he publicly promised before God. And before man that he would walk after. The Lord And don't forget He's 26 years old.

As he does this. According to verse 3, he also covenants 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. Josiah is not just resolving to keep God's commandments here, he's resolving publicly to keep God's commandments literally in the Hebrew with all heart and with all soul. And he makes that commitment in front of the whole nation.

To live according to this book. So imagine him with the book in his hand. And he's saying, I'm, I'm gonna live by this book with all heart and with all soul. And lo and behold, look what happens at the end of verse 3, it says, And all the people entered into the covenant.

I'm sure that there were many who are doing this with hearts that are not sincere. They're thinking, well, the king's doing this, we had better do this. But they're not sincerely motivated by a changed heart. But there were no doubt many people being genuinely converted to the worship of the true God here, and they're being led in that conversion by Josiah.

A man who was willing to step up and be an influence. In that direction. Josiah was not a young man who just went with the flow. He established his own flow toward godliness and sought to bring others with him in that.

That's what total devotion to God looks like. The story does not end here. As wonderful as all this is, the situation in Judah is still very dire. They've all just had a wonderful church service.

Everyone's come down the aisle and gotten saved. And promised to be a keeper of the law together with Josiah, but guys, they got a lot of work on their hands right now. There's institutionalized idolatry everywhere that the eye can see, monuments on every corner in honor of pagan deities that have catered to every sinful whim of the people of Judah. Deeply entrenched, idolatrous practices have woven themselves into the carnal flesh of the people of Judah, and in the temple itself where they're all gathered right now, there are idols, pagan idols.

In the very courtyard of this place where they're gathered, there are tents. Where male prostitutes for pagan deities dwell to provide their sexual services for those who come to worship these pagan deities. And what should have been the house of the Lord. And all of this, this deeply entrenched abomination and idolatry would have probably caused a lesser man to say, What could I do against all of this?

But Josiah does not lose heart. This brings us to the 5th way that Josiah exhibits a life of total devotion to God and His word, and this is actually where most of the text gives its attention to. And let's just put this kindly. He puts aside all that is contrary to God's word.

We're getting that expression puts aside from last week's sermon where we're told to put aside sin in deference to God's word by Peter. And by James. that's what a life of total devotion to God looks like and Josiah, we, we see him putting aside sins and idolatries that were plaguing Judah, and that is putting it mildly. Observe what happens in verse 4, and we're just gonna read through this without a lot of explanation.

You can study this on your own or come to Mike Berry's Sunday school class in In several weeks when he gets to this. This chapter says then the king commanded Hilkaah, the high priest, and the priest of the 2nd order, and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord, all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, a pagan deity, and for all the hosts of heaven, and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. So that's how this big gathering ends.

With him commanding all this to be brought out, and he burns and destroys it all and notice that he's not content to burn and destroy.

He knows that if he only did that, there are people who would still view the ashes as sacred. So he had the ashes transported to Bethel, which was outside of the southern kingdom of Judah. And he had them scattered there. No one will ever be able to gather these ashes.

And construct some sacred pagan object out of it. The purge continues in verse 5. He did away with the idolatrous priest whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the hosts of heaven. These, in modern day language, these priests were basically government chaplains who served people of false religions.

Josiah fires all of them. The purge continues in verse 6. He brought out the Asherah, which was a statue of a pagan deity from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron and burned it at the brook Kidron and ground it to dust and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. Thereby making it unclean and ensuring that no one would be hunting around these graves trying to gather the dust.

To refashion it into another idol. And look at verse 7. He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where the women were weaving hangings for the Ashura. Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priest had burned incense from Giba to Beersheba, from the north of Judah all the way down to the south, and he broke down the high places of the gates.

which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city, which were on one's left at the city gate. Nevertheless, the priest of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. In other words, these compromised priests were forever forbidden from approaching the altar of the Lord to offer sacrifices for the people, but he did let them. Eat of the food from the sacrifices among their brothers at home, perhaps offering them a chance at redemption.

Verse 10, he also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinom, that no man might make his son or daughter pass through the fire for Molech. Molech was an especially awful deity worshiped by people in The surrounding cultures of Israel for many centuries, Molech demanded child sacrifice, that children be put in the fire and killed as a sacrifice to him. And Josiah brings this whole despicable practice to an end. Right here in this verse, destroying whatever statue to Molech and defiling it so that no one would ever think to use this place again.

By the way, don't, you're thinking, man. People worshiped a deity that they would actually sacrifice their children to. That's so crazy and it's hard to imagine anyone thinking that way today. Guys, we're no better.

We're no better. Our modern day Molech is the religion of sexual freedom without responsibility. People worship Molech today every time they engage in sex outside of marriage and then sacrifice the child conceived at an abortion clinic. And may God have mercy on us as a nation.

For the over a million children who are sacrificed to Molech every year in this country alone. Josiah brings this practice to an end and the worship of this pagan deity. On top of that, verse 11, he did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entrance of the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan Melech, the official, which was in the precincts, and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. These were the chariots used in their religious sun pride parades in this day.

He destroys them. He doesn't refashion them for other uses, he destroys them because they were viewed as sacred by the people. In addition to that, verse 12, the altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz. which the kings of Judah had made and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.

Isn't it amazing how much stuff he's finding in the house of the Lord that needs to be cleared out and destroyed? And Josiah isn't finished. He even goes after what Solomon had built 300 years or so earlier, verse 13, the high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon, the king of Israel had built for Ashtareth, the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Himosh, the abomination of Moab, and for the deity Milam, the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king.

Josiah destroys and defiles.

He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the ashharem and filled their places with human bones, thereby defiling them. He doesn't just destroy these things, he defiles them with the human bones of the dead, rendering them unclean. No one. We'll be sifting through these human remains for pieces of these once sacred objects.

And then in a hugely audacious move, Josiah actually goes up to Bethel, which was actually not even a part of Judah, it was a part of the northern kingdom. Of Israel that is now being ruled by Assyria. It's just beyond the northern border of Judah and is inside of the former northern kingdom of Israel. Verse 15, furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nebet, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place, he, Josiah, broke down and he demolished its stones, ground them to dust and burned the Asherah.

Clearly, Josiah views himself now as the king of the whole covenant people of God, including the remnant of Jews who were left living in what was the former northern kingdom of Israel. For the sake of time, go to verse 19. Growing in confidence, Josiah heads up further north into what was once the northern kingdom of Israel, and he continues the house cleaning. Look at verse 19.

Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel That in the northern kingdom had made provoking the Lord, and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. All the priests of the high places who were there, he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them, and then he returned to Jerusalem. So he goes up to what was once the capital city. Of the former northern kingdom of Israel.

And cleans house there as well. So if you read all of these verses that we've just read, and you read them carefully, you can pick up the sense. That Josiah is against idolatry. I'm going out on a limb there, but maybe you've picked up that sense as well.

But the thing about Josiah is he's not just against stuff. He's not just against things that are contrary to God's word, he's also passionately for anything that is positively taught in God's word. And this leads to yet another way that he exhibits a life of full devotion to God in the midst of a decadent culture, and that is number 6, he reinstitutes the Passover prescribed in God's word. This was an ordinance that went as far back as the night before the Israelites were rescued from Egypt, and on that occasion, God said, I want you to celebrate the Passover every year from now on as a people.

And he specifically gave them instructions on how to celebrate the Passover. But from the period of the judges on, guys, The national observance of the Passover fell by the wayside. Even under the reign of good judges and good kings over Israel and Judah. So for centuries, the Passover became an ancient relic in the text of scripture.

People pretty much didn't practice it anymore. But observe what happens in verse 21, says 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. Let's celebrate this ordinance that reminds us of God's deliverance of us from Egypt. And his goodness to us.

And he's not just telling them to celebrate the Passover, but to celebrate it as it is written in the book of the covenant. In other words, down to every precious detail. The picture here is of Josiah holding the book of the law in his hand and he's saying celebrate the Passover just at is, as it is written in this book. The writer wants us to know how amazing this is that Josiah would deliver this decree.

Observe what he says in verses 22 and 23. Surely such a Passover. Had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.

There's everything to love about Josiah here. He's reading in God's law. He sees where it talks about the celebration of the Passover. He considers the fact that man, It's been hundreds of years since we've done this as a nation.

This is what the Bible says, but for hundreds of years, we've not been doing this. And so he weighs the explicit teaching of scripture with centuries of non-practice. And what does he side with? He sides with the teaching of God's word.

Completely disregarding centuries of non-practice. And he decrees that the Passover be celebrated by everyone among the people of God in Jerusalem because this is what it says in the book. Are you that way? If you're reading the Bible and it tells you to do something that you've never practiced before, And you look around and man, most people in the culture, they don't agree with this, and they don't, they don't live this way.

What do you do? Who do you side with? Do you side with God's word or do you default to the non-practice of everyone around you? Josiah sided with God's word.

And in the process he showed that he was passionately for anything. Specifically taught in God's word. Interestingly, we think the story is over here, but there's yet one more thing that we're told that Josiah did. This brings us to the final way that he exhibits a life of total devotion to God and His word, and that is he puts aside even more things contrary to God's word.

As he's reading further in his Bible, he reads what it says about mediums and spiritists and other abominations, including sexual abominations. That God's word says should have no place among the people of God. So look at how Josiah acts in verse 24. Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritist and the terraphim, which were household idols, 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.

What God's word called abominations, Josiah refused to tolerate and call good. He rooted out these abominations from the life of the people of God. This is like one of the most deeply uprooting and thorough and expansive revivals in the history. the text of scripture, anything that is recorded here, and the book that started it all.

was the book of the law that Hilkiah had found in the house of the Lord, but it wasn't just a book. It was that book in the hand of a young man. Named Josiah, who kept reading his Bible. And kept doing whatever it says and calling upon others that he led to do the same.

And it's here that we encounter coming full circle, one of the highest compliments ever uttered in Scripture. I don't think we'll find any higher compliment paid to any man in scripture than this compliment that we find in verse 25. Look at what God says about Josiah. 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. In the midst of the wicked and foul smelling landfill that was Judah at this time, there bloomed a young man, seemingly out of nowhere who loved God with all of his being. And was totally devoted. To God And God here points to Josiah and says, This is what total devotion to me looks like.

And yeah, if you keep reading this chapter, you'll see that Josiah dies before this chapter. is done and an evil king will replace him and Judah will be taken into captivity as God has promised. Yet one day Jesus Christ is going to come and establish his reign upon the earth, and the kingdom of Israel is going to thrive in the Land of Promise under the reign of Jesus Christ, and in that day, everyone will know that King Josiah was on the right side of history. In fact, his reign was but a harbinger of things to come when Christ reigns upon the earth.

Just in closing, how, how do we apply this text? Well, we need to be very careful. In how we apply this passage. We obviously don't apply this tax by going coast to coast.

And burning down buildings and monuments. And any pagan temples to any false Deity This is not what the New Testament Church did, nor is it what the church is called to in the New Testament. Please notice that in these two chapters, we do not see Josiah invading any pagan country. And destroying their idols.

What he does is this, he cleans house within the land of promise, among the people of God, and that's where our focus primarily needs to be as well. In fact, here's, here's how we ought to look at Josiah's example. We are the church. We are the living stones that make up the temple of the living God.

We are the people of God who have been saved by God. To show forth the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Are there idolatries and abominations in our lives? Are there strongholds that need to be torn down and destroyed in our lives?

Are there idols in our lives that get our devotion more than God gets our devotion? Are there high places in our lives that we frequent more often than we frequent the throne room of our God? Are there sins in our lives? That we're just tolerating.

Maybe those sins have been a part of our lives for so many years that we just think this is the way it is. Maybe these sins have been in our family history. Over the past few generations, and we think we could never rise up against them and remove them from our lives. Josiah's example shows us that we can.

Are we radically against sin in our lives? And sin in our midst as a church. Last week, we learned that we should not tolerate sin in our lives because sin is malignant, and it will infect and corrupt our whole life. And guys, the same is true in the church.

If sin is tolerated in my life, or in our midst as a church, then it can grow like leaven and end up corrupting the entire church body. How much are you willing to repent? And be engaged in uprooting sin from your life and coming alongside of your brothers and sisters and helping them to do the same, so that we can be a holy church. Totally devoted to God.

In fact, what we see on display here with King Josiah is, we can call it total devotion with attitude. An attitude of humility. An attitude of tenderness towards God's word. Oh, he was so soft when it came to his interactions with God's word.

Brokenness Over our sin A willingness to weep over sin, a fear of God, along with a steely militancy. Against sin In our lives. And in our midst as a church. That's total devotion.

With attitude. I love how Josiah doesn't just lock the doors of the idolatrous temples. He grinds. Those high places to powder and then defiles the place such that no one would ever think of coming back and making it a place of worship again.

Are you willing to get equally radical against sin? In your life, such that when you repent, you don't just kinda lock the door of that sin and then just keep the key in your pocket for a later relapse. But you take the pains to set up through accountability or maybe removing something from your life altogether such that you cannot go back and get to that sin anymore. Or do you just lock the door of sins, keep the key handy?

In case you want to come back at a later moment. How against sin are you really? Or have you developed a really high tolerance for sin in your life? On top of that, there are positive practices that are prescribed in God's word.

If you take the time to read it. Are there practices that are told, taught in God's word that you just haven't been practicing? In your personal life and maybe in your home. Perhaps years of non-practice makes you think it's impossible to really even rise up and do these things, but will you rise up and be totally devoted to God and read your Bible and when God's word says to do something, you rise up and you do it.

Will you turn to God with all of your heart. And all of your soul and seek to influence others to do the same. And I know there may be some in this room who are thinking, I'm just a kid, I'm just 8 years old, I'm just 16 years old, I'm just 26 years old. My time for making a difference hasn't really come yet.

Don't think for a second that you're too young to make a difference. For the Lord. If Josiah's example teaches us anything, it teaches that there's no telling what God can do. In the life of a young person who is totally devoted to him.

You're never too young to be totally devoted to God and to make a difference for him, and you're never too old to repent. And be totally devoted to God. And that's why Jesus came. Jesus was fully devoted to obeying the Father's will and God's law with all of his heart, soul, and mind, and you can be grateful for that because it was following The teaching of the law, the sacrificial system of the law that led Jesus to the cross so that he would be your Passover lamb and die on the cross in order to provide the forgiveness of sins for us, for all the ways that we fall short, and he died and he was raised so that he could save us to the uttermost and have us join him in being totally devoted to his father.

And doing His father's will together with him. A task that will be fully accomplished when Jesus comes again and establishes. His righteous reign upon the earth. The truth is Jesus is the ultimate.

Josiah Who came to Earth. And died so that his devotion to God would become our devotion. As well And I want us to pray as a church that God will help us. To be wholly devoted.

To our God. Let's pray together. Lord, I know there are so many in this church body who are Devoted to you to such a degree that it is an inspiration to me and a help and a conviction to me. And it's brought me further in my walk with you than I know I would otherwise be.

And I know that There are some in our church, Lord, that are not devoted to you at all. Or not totally But we've heard your call last Sunday. We see it exemplified today. I'm just asking, Lord, that you would do a miracle in our hearts that we would see the beauty.

Of Christ, the beauty of you, our sovereign Lord. That we would become so ravished in our hearts by your goodness, by your beauty, that we would feel the invitation into this life of full devotion. And be passionately for you and anything that you're for, and be equally passionately against anything that you are against. Help us to be totally devoted with an attitude of humility and brokenness and weeping and tenderness and softness towards you.

And a militancy against sin. Save us from. Our lethargy Save us from sin. Save us from compromise and save us into A life of total devotion to you.

We thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to give our offerings to you. Receive these funds that we give in this offering, do much with all that is given. For the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ who has saved us into this life. In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said,