It is good to be with you all again for another edition of the Weekend Sermon. I hope and pray that everyone who reads the blog is doing well.
This has been a week of transition for me. As most of you who read this blog know, I am starting a new job with a good salary and benefits on Monday. I am very thankful to the Lord for this opportunity. My ultimate goal is to get my debts paid off and get a larger ministry going. This week, I ended the part-time job that the Lord had provided for me while I searched for a really good job. I will miss the friends I made at this job. All in all, it was a nice place to work. I pray that the new place is nice too.
Please pray that the weather won't be bad so that I can get to work in good order on Monday. They are calling for freezing drizzle on Sunday night. Please pray that I can make it alright on my first day.
On a more important note, please be in prayer for the people in France who were the victims of the terrible terrorist attack this week. Pray that all of the perpetrators of this attack will be brought to justice. Also, pray that this vicious terrorism will end in France and around the world.
This week, let us also pray for peace in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan. Pray for those who are sick with Ebola, and for the end of this epidemic.
For the past few weeks, we have been in a study of the kings of Judah and Israel. We have this week and one next week to go in this series. After this, I am leaning towards a series on I Peter or the parables of Jesus. I may devote a few more sermons to the miracles of Jesus before these two series. I am not sure of the will of the Lord on this matter yet.
Today, we will focus our attention on the reigns of Josiah and his son Jehoiakim. These two men could not have been more different from each other. Josiah was only eight years old when he became king of Judah. He would reign over the land for a total of thirty-one years.
Eighteen years into Josiah's reign, the priests in the Temple discovered the book of the law in the Temple and brought it too the king. Many Bible scholars believe that this was the book of Deuteronomy.
When the king heard the words from the book of the law, he rent his clothes in distress and repentance. Josiah knew that he and his people had not done right. 2 Kings 22:13 records it this way, "Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all of Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us."
The king's servants consulted with Huldah the prophetess as to what to do. At the words of Huldah, Josiah began a great series of religious reforms in the kingdom. Josiah ordered the destruction of the altars to Baal and to the other foreign gods. He tore down the sacred groves and the shrines to the Sun. 2 Kings 23:13-14 records the following, " And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians... he brake in pieces the images , and cut down the groves and filled their places with the bones of men."
In addition to this, Josiah held the greatest observance of the Passover since the time of the judges. In my opinion, Josiah was probably the most righteous king to rule over Judah. Josiah's reign would end when he was killed in a battle with the Egyptians.
At this point, Josiah's son Jehoiakim would assume the throne after the brief reign of his brother. Jehoiakim was a vicious and wicked king. He and the great prophet Jeremiah would have several encounters.
Jeremiah 36 records one of these encounters between Jeremiah and Jehoiakim. God instructed Jeremiah to write down on a scroll the words the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah concerning the judgment coming on Judah. Jeremiah did this, and gave it to Jehoiakim as instructed. When Jehoiakim heard the word of the Lord, he did not heed the word as his father Josiah had done. Jehoiakim actually took the scroll that contained the word of the Lord and burned it. This king would persecute the prophet Jeremiah, and he would eventually kill the the prophet Urijah.
Jehoiakim met an untimely death. He was one of the worst kings mentioned in the Bible.
So, what are we to learn from these two men. I believe that the most important lesson we can learn is from the reactions of these two men when they were presented with the word of the Lord. Josiah repented and turned to God. Jehoiakim remained in his sin and despised the word of the Lord.
This is the same reaction that people have to Scripture today. It may not be as dramatic as in the case of Jehoiakim, but it is similar nonetheless.
When the Scripture is preached or read, it will not return unto the Lord void. People will either heed the word of the Lord, or they will reject it. This occurs on a daily basis. All over this world today, there are people who hear the word, repent, turn from sin and receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. On the other hand, people will hear the word of the Lord today, and they will reject it. They will not turn their lives over to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Sadly, Christians also are guilty of sometimes despising the word of the Lord. We often read the teachings and the commands of Jesus, and yet we will not do what Jesus commands. Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord, yet you do not do what I say?"
Jesus has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves, and even to love our enemies. Are we doing this? Jesus has commanded us to lay up treasures in heaven and not treasures on earth. Is that how we are leading our lives?
As the followers of Jesus, we should emulate what Josiah did. We should hear the word, and then act on what we have heard. As it says in James, we must be doers of the word and not hearers only.
I hope that all of you who read this blog will be students of the Bible. Read the word, especially the words of Jesus, and act on what the Bible says. Repent of sin, and then do what is right.
Next week, we will conclude our series on kings. I will post a verse and a review next week. The Weekend Sermon will appear on Saturday, Lord willing. May God bless you. Amen.
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