“Lessons from the Kid King”
February 19, 2012
2 Kings 22
In my devotion last week, my Old Testament reading happened to be in the book of 2 Kings. Wednesday I read chapter twenty two. I saw so many spiritual lessons in there that I thought we ought to take note of and I felt like the Holy Spirit was leading me to share some of those things with you this morning. They are pretty random and not nice and orderly; they don’t make an acrostic; they aren’t alphabetical like we preachers like to make our sermons – but THIS is God’s Word. Let me share a few things I noticed.
The first lesson or truth is this: “There is a blessing to coming to the Lord in your youth.” I have seen that over and over in my life. You can take someone like Bob who came to God early and has never had a drink of alcohol or took a drag off a cigarette. He is ninety one years old and not here today. Why isn’t he here? Because he is sick? No. Because he is senile and couldn’t get anything out of the service? No. He is ninety one years old and preaching in Dorris today. Existing for a long time isn’t a blessing – but living is. Being old and having a quality of life is a blessing. As long as you can be productive and be a blessing – long life is wonderful. It’s worth the aches and pains and inconvenience. One of the ways you experience long life is to come to the Lord early. And to live a long time for the Lord is to have an opportunity to store up a lot of eternal fruit.
One of our purposes as a church is to win people to the Lord. Statistics tell us that when we are young we are most receptive to the Gospel. I think, come Judgment Day, maybe we will find out that Julie bore more fruit than I did. She has been teaching the kids and sharing salvation with them for years now. How many she touched – only God knows. Sandy, Julie, Tina, Randy – and all our workers with the kids may be our most effective workers. Only time will tell. Only eternity will reveal it. Maybe my most effective work is dedicating the babies to the Lord and baptizing the children. We need to bring the kids to Jesus. The Bible says,
“Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them.
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:13-14
We need to bring children to Jesus so He can touch them today. Sometimes we adult workers think our work is more important and discount the children’s workers – but Jesus didn’t. Jesus used them as examples of how we all should be. He said, “Do not hinder them…” We must not hinder the children either. We need to bring them to Jesus early in their lives. It will bless them. It will bless Jesus. And it will bless the church in the long run.
One thought I had about Josiah was about who his mentor was. His grandfather, Mannasseh, and his father Amon, were evil men. They were murders and disobedient to God. They forsook everything the Lord taught. Why was Josiah different? I think it was because he went to Sunday School – or something like it. Sometimes when a king was just a child the priest took him under his wing. I think the priest, Hilkiah, did this with Josiah. I think he taught his about God; he mentored him – and when Josiah was just a child, He dedicated himself totally to Him and His service.
Have you done the same as an adult? If not – you should. There are great blessings for those who do – but we will get into that a little later. Folks, bring the children to the Lord.
Do you remember that old pizza commercial – “What’s on your tombstone?” In that commercial a tombstone was a pizza – but it’s a good thought to consider. Secondly, “What will be on your tombstone?” What will people say about you when you are dead and gone? This is what was they said about Josiah:
“He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.”
2 Kings 22:2
“Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.” 2 Kings 23:25
What a wonderful legacy to leave! Could someone say about you “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord?” Could they say “you never turned to the right or the left – but faithfully stayed on the straight and narrow way?” It IS possible. You don’t have to sin. You don’t have to rebel against the Lord. The Bible testifies to that over and over. How big is your God? Is he powerful enough to give you the grace necessary to live a sinless life? I think He is. Perfect? Not in this life – at least in our actions and judgments. But our hearts can be perfect tuned to God all our lives – with the Holy Spirit’s power.
I hope they can say of me, “he served him with all his soul and with all his strength. I hope they can say that of you. Let’s determine we are not going to get off to this extreme on the left or this extreme on the right. We are not going to turn aside. Paul said,
“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2
There are so many things today to distract us and get us off the important things. May we not fall for them. May we resolve to be fixated on Jesus. May God make it so.
Here’s an interesting thing – completely off the subject we have been on. But pretty different. Listen:
“In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the LORD. He said: “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the LORD, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the LORD— the carpenters, the builders and the masons. Also have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are honest in their dealings.” 2 Kings 22:3-7
The lesson here, thirdly, is that God’s Work takes money. It costs to keep the church up and going. That’s one of the reasons, though not the main reason, God’s people were expected to contribute with their tithes and offerings. The main reason is that generosity is a God-like quality. It is more than a fruit of the Spirit; it is the very nature of God. Our God is not stingy or frugal. He is lavish and generous. We need to have that same Spirit. And the measure we use – will be used of us. If we are stingy and selfish with God – can we expect Him to bless us? I don’t think so.
Another interesting fact is when you deal with honest and faithful people you don’t need to make them give an account. You can trust them. I’m not advocating that in the church necessarily. I think we need a budget so we can see where we are going and where we have been. We need to count the cost. We need to provide a protection for those who handle money. But are you one of those people who can be trusted? What would happen in your job if you didn’t have to give an account of your time or the money you handled? May we live our lives in such a way that, even though we may be required to give an account, that it really is unnecessary. These guys paid the workers and bought lumber and stone to repair the temple and were so trustworthy that the king didn’t think it was necessary that they keep an account. That tells me a couple of things. 1. The king must have been very familiar with them to trust them like this. Probably got to know them when he was growing up in the temple. 2. They had proved themselves before in their dealings. I hope your boss can trust you like that.
A fourth lesson I see in this Scripture is that the enemy of our souls will hide the Word of God from us. The devil doesn’t want us to know God’s Word. I’m sure Josiah’s dad and granddad didn’t want anything to do with the Word of God. It convicted them and made them feel guilty. I suspect that some God-fearing priest or temple worker hide the Scriptures from those who would destroy it. And doesn’t history teach us that – that is the norm for a godless government. They want to take the Bible out of school. In some countries they burned the Bible. The Bible is powerful. Listen to what it testifies about itself.
“… from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21
Do you see how powerful the Word of God is? It is not a human inspired book. God used humans to write it – but He inspired it. It has everything we need to equip us for life and for eternity. It, therefore, is no surprise that the opposition to Truth wants to keep it hidden. Listen:
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
The god of this age, Satan, wants people to be blinded to the Truth. He loves a darkened mind. Sean Sellers was a willing mind. His parents were long haul truckers from Colorado. Sean filled the empty hours with the occult. He began with Dungeons and Dragons. The he began to pore over every book on witchcraft, Satanism, sorcery, wizards and black magic. He talked about the coven he join and how they drank blood and prayed to the devil. In his sophomore year he felt it was time for a sacrifice to Satan.
Sean sneaked his dad’s .44 pistol and with his buddy, Richard, they drove to a convenience store. Richard walks to the back of the store and Sean raises his pistol; the clerk shrinks back. Sean fires the pistol and misses. The clerk runs to the back of the store and is stopped by Richard. Sean fires again and the clerk goes down. Sean fires again and again and again. The police never solve the homicide.
Six months later Sean prays at his bedroom alter to Satan. He pulls out the .44. In the middle of the night he steps down the hall to his parent’s room. It was dark. He can barely make out the forms sleeping on the waterbed. He aims at the first form’s head and fires. His mother raises up- on the other side of the bed – he fires again. Sean Seller’s attorney tried to explain demon possession to the jury, but they sentenced Sean to die by lethal injection for murdering three people.
The devil is real – just as real as God. He loves a darkened mind. And we are born into this work ignorant and darkened. How important it is to fill our hearts and minds with God’s Word. How important it is to train our children in the ways of the Lord.
I want you to notice this next thing in our Scripture.
“Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes.”
2 Kings 22:10-11
The fifth lesson for us is that a great love causes great grief. The shortest verse in the Bible is simply, “Jesus wept.” Preceding that is “See how He loved Him.”
I wonder how long it has been since we have grieved like that over sin. I wonder how long it has been since we have wept over our sin. You can’t love God more unless you hate sin more. Our sin and failure ought to grieve us. It ought to break our heart – because it breaks God’s heart. And if you aren’t moved – then maybe you better draw a little closer to Jesus.
Lastly, I want you to know there is a blessing for those who seek God – and a curse for those who rebel against Him. Listen to how this chapter ends.
“This is what the LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people, according to everything written in the book the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’
Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the LORD, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people—that they would become a curse and be laid waste—and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I also have heard you, declares the LORD. Therefore I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place.’”
2 Kings 22:16—20
The bible says there is a reward for the righteous. You need to understand that God’s way is the best way. He says, “No good thing will I withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11) He says, “I will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4):
I have seen with my own eyes how those who did their own thing and went there own way ended up broken and bitter. I have seen how those who made much and had much in the worlds eyes fritter it away. It just disappeared. Then those who sought the Lord all their lives, ended up being blessed financially and physically. You have two choices – God’s way or your way. One leads to life; one leads to death. One leads to blessings; one leads to curses. I choose the Lord, how about you?
SPIRIT SONG
