What is Faith?

In this episode Brother Jonathan discusses what biblical faith is, what biblical faith is not, and some things associated with it.

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What is faith?

Episode 18     

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

I.                   Intro

a.      When you mention something about faith the verse that immediately comes to mind is Hebrews 11:1. It would be very easy to just go over this first but I believe it would be more edifying to go some other things first.

b.      Faith is the undergirding of all of Christianity. We are told that we are saved by grace through faith. Men are said to have wrought all manner of great works BY faith. We are told of the “works” of faith in the scriptures also. Understanding what faith is after a scriptural manner is of the utmost importance.

c.       Distinguish “faith” from “the faith”.

d.      Illustration (You’re standing at the edge of a cliff that guarantees death if you should fall. God is fifty feet out in front of you and tells you, “If you step off the cliff in order to walk to me then I will hold you up.” What is the response of faith?)

II.                What faith is not

a.      It is not blind.

                                                              i.      A person always understands what they are putting their faith in.

                                                            ii.      In our illustration, if God was speaking Swahili, and you don’t understand Swahili, then you couldn’t put your faith in what He said. In fact, you wouldn’t even have comprehension that He even offered you something really. But, it can be said, that if you knew that you didn’t understand what He said but you wanted to know what He said then you could go study Swahili to understand it.

                                                          iii.      Many people just say, “I don’t understand the Bible but I believe it.” No you don’t. If you don’t understand it how do you know that you believe it? The same people cannot accurately tell you about Jesus Christ, the attributes or characteristics of God’s nature and dealing with mankind, or salvation because they don’t understand His Word. If they truly wanted to know then they would study to understand. It is necessary for people to understand what they are putting their faith in, because otherwise they can’t put their faith in it. We’ll see this more clearly in a minute.

b.      It’s not just understanding the truth          

                                                              i.      You can understand the Bible and still not have faith. Lost people can absolutely understand truths from the Bible and still not have faith in those truths. It’s not merely an intellectual assent to a list of truths.

                                                            ii.      This is a very big problem in Christianity today with what is called “easy-believism”. It makes salvation a check list. “Do you see these four truths?” “Yes” the person responds. “Do you believe them?” “Yeah I believe them.” “Repeat after me, (says generic sinner’s prayer which the person repeats), congratulations! You’re a Christian! Jesus said whosoever will call upon him will be saved, you called upon by saying that prayer and you believe those 4 truths so he said he would save you. Now Jesus isn’t a liar is he?” There is almost nothing about that that is Biblical. I know because it was what I was taught, and I’ve witnessed it I don’t know how many times. I’m telling you, it’s close to just plain blasphemy.

                                                          iii.      Just believing a list of statements doesn’t mean you have faith. There are many people who are going to appear at the Judgment who will be completely caught off guard by how wrong their understanding of the gospel was. They didn’t get it from scripture. They got it from a simple preacher who didn’t study his Bible at all.

                                                          iv.      Listen to what Charles Finney said about this:

1.       “Evangelical faith cannot be a phenomenon of the intelligence, for the plain reason that when used in an evangelical sense, it is always regarded as a virtue. But virtue cannot be predicated of intellectual states, because these are involuntary or passive states of mind. Faith is a condition of salvation. It is something which we are commanded to do upon pain of eternal death. But if it be something to be done--a solemn duty, it cannot be a merely passive state, a mere intellectual conviction. The Bible distinguishes between intellectual and saving faith. There is a faith of devils, and there is a faith of saints. James clearly distinguishes between them, and also between an antinomian and a saving faith. "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."--James ii:17--26. The distinction is here clearly marked, as it is elsewhere in the Bible, between intellectual and saving faith.”

                                                            v.      Finney’s reasoning was thus, faith is the sole condition of salvation. It is a command by God. Mankind is commanded to put faith in Jesus Christ alone. If it is something that man must DO then there cannot be anything passive about it. It is active. It makes man DO. Read Hebrews 11 and see how many things it is said that men did by faith. Therefore, it cannot just be a passive, “Oh yeah, I believe in Jesus.” It must be something more. Scripture says that the effects of Biblical faith produce the works described by James, and without those works there is not faith in the person. This is historical, biblical, Christianity.

 

c.       Not a mystical force

                                                              i.      It is not something out there in the universe like plasma that you can scoop up, or call upon, to make God do what you want. This is what the Word of Faith/Positive confession circles teach. It’s wholly contrary to the scriptures, and if these people even spent 30 minutes just reading the Bible for understanding they would see that clearly. Many of them know that’s not what the Bible really says as well—the televangelists I mean.

                                                            ii.      This thinking actually has its origin in the occult and the New Age Movement. It’s simply, in essence, witchcraft. The Church of Satan actually in one place defines magic as the ability to change reality by the power of the mind. “If you think it, it will be so.” You know, you’re speaking blessing or condemnation they say. That’s not Biblical at all. Our words do not move some mystical force out there called “faith” to make God do what we want. To even think so contradicts the very basic teachings given to us by God in His Word.

                                                          iii.      Biblical faith is wholly different than the positive confession/word of faith idea of it. If you just think something, that won’t make it happen—at least not by God’s doing. There are plenty of false spirits gone out into the world to deceive. Again, we’ll see more clearly why this is false when we look at the Biblical understanding of faith.

d.      Not an emotion or experience

                                                              i.      A.W. Tozer said very rightly that the Holy Spirit is not an emotion, or an experience. We can say the same thing about faith. There are lots of happy people in churches who know nothing of Biblical faith. Just because people shout “hallelujah” doesn’t mean that they have faith in Jesus Christ.

                                                            ii.      People will hear the gospel and say that they understand, but they’re waiting to have faith. They’re waiting for some positive feeling or emotional experience to move them, because they think that is faith. They think it’s feeling God’s presence or His moving. That’s not exercising faith. That’s tempting the Lord.

e.      Not earned    

                                                              i.      I’ve heard some preachers say that if you want to be saved then you cry out to God until He does. I’ve heard some say that you have to cry out for hours, days, or weeks until God saves you. Isn’t that odd? Didn’t the Apostles just say, “Repent, and believe on the Lord”?

                                                            ii.      What they are saying, in essence, is: “Even though you’re not saved yet, and by your own admission an unbeliever, pray to God in your unbelief until He gives you faith and saves you.” Well, how is God supposed to hear their prayer when we’re told that “he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him?” (Heb. 11:6) How is it that they are supposed to know that God saved them, by an experience? This is just simply not Biblical, and there are some wonderful ministers of the gospel who teach this. It’s mainly because they’re Calvinists. They teach that God must give the man the faith that the man will then exercise in calling out for salvation. While the scriptures do say that no man can come unto the Son except the Father draws him, John 6:44. They interpret this to mean that whoever God the Father draws, that man will be saved. Irresistible grace they call it. That creates a problem when just 6 chapters later Christ says this, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32. So if this “draw” is irresistible then “all men” will be saved. Christ said that all men would be drawn to Him. It’s even the same Greek word underlying both statements.

                                                          iii.      We know that that’s not true. The Lord says elsewhere that the Spirit of God can be resisted and quenched.  Stephen told the Sanhedrin, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 7:51) But do you see how this line of thinking can create havoc in someone’s understanding of the Christian life? So understand, you don’t “earn” faith by crying out to God for Him to give you it. You can’t even cry out to God biblically without faith.

                                                          iv.      You cannot “earn” faith by doing works. This is what happens when a convicted sinner will become awakened to their true state before God and they will resolve to change their ways. They say they must do better and get back into church. They may even try to reform their ways, but they will fail. Because only faith overcomes the world or the lusts of the flesh. They do all these things in unbelief hoping that something will just “click” in them to produce the results they see in scripture.

III.             What faith is

a.      It is yours (thy faith, increase our faith, according to YOUR faith, etc.)

b.      A simple example from the scriptures about what faith is can be seen in the example of the centurion:

                                                              i.      “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.” (Matthew 8:5-13)

c.       Christ said that these Centurion exercised “great faith”. When you consider what the Centurion said you see that it was that this man believed that Jesus had not only the ability or power to heal his servant but that He also had such authority as to speak the word and it would be done. In this, is faith.

d.      Let’s consider another example:

                                                              i.      “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.” (Matthew 9:20-22)

                                                            ii.      What do we see again in this passage? We see that the woman with the issue of blood had confidence that Jesus was able to heal her. It’s important to realize that faith is just that: it is a confidence that God, and His Son Jesus Christ, is exactly who He says He is and that He is able to do what He says He can do.

e.      Consider our example of faith in Abraham:

                                                              i.      “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness…He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4:3, 20-22)

f.        This is biblical faith. It is the trusting confidence that what God has promised He is able to do. So consider our illustration. You’re standing at the edge of a cliff that guarantees death if you should fall. God is fifty feet out in front of you and tells you, “If you step off the cliff in order to walk to me then I will hold you up.” What is the response of faith? If you exercise faith then you say, “God has promised and He cannot lie.” And you step out to walk to Him, and He upholds your footsteps.

g.      Almost every promise to Christians can be formatted in that way. God says, “If ye…then I.” He says, “Call unto me  and I will shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not.” “Turn ye at my reproof and I will pour out my spirit upon you.” And of course, “Repent of your sins and trust in my Son Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and I will save you.”

h.      What you have to understand also, is faith is not a once-in-a-moment-of-time decision. It’s not that you trust Christ for one moment and then go your own way. It is an entire committing of your will, life, and soul to God. You put confidence in Him. He says that He is Lord, King, and God: do you believe that it’s true? It will be seen in how you live.

i.        Consider these verses:

                                                              i.      “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38)

                                                            ii.      “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

j.        We’re told that the promise come to those who walk in the steps of faith like faithful Abraham. So then it is living your entire life in the confidence that God is exactly who He says He is in His Word, and that He will do all that He has said that He will do. That includes what He says about salvation or what He says about damnation. God is faithful to every promise He makes.

IV.              Contrasting false views

                                                              i.      So then faith cannot be blind. You cannot put confidence or trust in what you don’t understand. Many people reject the gospel because they don’t understand it, but most never take time to seek to understand it. They do not search out of the scriptures to see what God has said.

                                                            ii.      You see then that positive confession/word of faith teaching is then wrong. They go about claiming everything under the sun but what God has said, and neither do they even meet the conditions of having even the promises of God that He actually gives answered. People try to convince themselves that they believe something and try to “confess it” so that it will happen. “I’m not sick,” they might say—even though they might be bleeding from the ears. That’s not faith. That’s trying to make God do what you want by you affirming it verbally or in your mind. You then become the doer of the work you’re aiming to do, not God. You then make yourself God by in essence trying to boss Him around.

                                                          iii.      It’s not an emotion. It’s actually tempting the Lord. People who seek for an emotion or experience before obeying God’s commandments and putting their trust in Christ are really just saying, “Lord I don’t really believe that you are saying the truth—can you do something to maybe convince me that you’re telling the truth?” This is very blasphemous really because there is a mountain of proof from the scriptures and from the testimonies of men of God who have gone on before us to testify to the faithfulness of God. What’s really being said is, “God change my mind for me because I find it hard to believe you.” This is why Christ said that a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. While there is nothing wrong with desiring a manifestation of the Spirit of God, it is absolutely wrong to desire a sign or wonder in order to make you obey Him. Signs were given to the early Church after a certain manner in order to confirm the gospel and the new covenant in Christ’s blood that the Apostles were preaching because it was new. We have 2ooo years of testimony and have no excuse.

V.                 How do we get faith?

a.      Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

b.      The “hearing” here is not just meaning physically hearing the sound of God’s word being read. It’s meaning the hearing of understanding what is said and receiving it as truth. Faith is when you hear the Word of God, you understand it’s command, you receive it as truth, and you set your heart upon it. You treasure it and you make it the rule of your life. As Christ said about the wise man who built his house upon the rock, you understand the commands and truths of scripture and you build your entire life upon it. As far as you’re concerned there is nothing else. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the claims of scripture are exclusive: there is no other alternative. One road leads to God, and it’s an abandoning of your self, your life, your affections, your desires, your dreams, your everything to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord and you have no hope apart from Him.

c.       And as you read through the Word of God and learn more of the truth and come to a better understanding then you appropriate it to your life after the same manner of being fully persuaded of its truthfulness. You read that God said lying lips are an abomination and you say, “Yes Lord, I see that you have said lying lips are an abomination and I will esteem it to be so myself.” You set your heart to love what He loves and hate what He hates.

d.      And because it is that way you are always examining yourself in the light of God’s Word because it is infallible and men, teachers, preachers, books, and ministries are not. Every time someone says, “You’re wrong because the Bible is wrong.” You reject it because you know that the scripture says, “Let God be true but every man a liar.” But if a person comes to you and says, “You’re wrong because that’s not what the Bible teaches.” Then you take it to heart to examine yourself whether you are in the faith.

e.      All of this is done with the confidence that when you meet the conditions of God’s command of “If ye….” Then He is certain to do that next part of “then I….”. “If you repent of your sins and turn away from them and live and walk by trusting confidence in the sacrifice made by my Son Jesus Christ to wash away your sins then I will give you eternal life.” That’s biblical faith. It’s not doing works in order to save yourself, those are the works of the Law. It’s doing works by a trusting confidence that Jesus Christ has already purchased salvation, those are the works of faith. 

VI.              Conclusion

a.      Now, don’t hedge your bets. Some people think that they can straddle the fence between the world and Christianity, or the fence between faith and unbelief. I’m telling you that there is no such thing. One cannot half put their confidence in anything: they either do trust, or do not.

b.      But God is faithful to every promise He has ever made. He is the Lord, and He cannot lie. He promised to save those who believe through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and He has promised to cast into Hell all those who rebel against His Word. Keep that in mind. The Lord is faithful to His promises.

Be a Josiah

In this episode Brother Jonathan talks about the life of King Josiah, and some applications that we are to take away from it.

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We Need a “Josiah” Generation

Episode 17

Remnant Bible Fellowship

 

I.                   Announcements

a.      Go over the reasons for such a gap between episodes.

b.      Announce what’s coming up (Lord willing):          

                                                              i.      A couple of episodes on Biblical Faith: What it is, how it operates, and looking at the examples specifically listed in Hebrews 11.

                                                            ii.      Possible discussion with Warren B. Smith (mention praying for his health and house issues).

1.       Recommend his books Another Jesus Calling, False Christ Coming: Does anybody care?, and Lighthouse Trails Research Journal.

II.                Intro

a.      This is going to be a very informal episode. I usually have about 8 to 20 pages of notes to look at while I’m recording, but I just wanted to talk about something very simple.

b.      I’m kind of glad to be done with the series on Bible Versions. It’s not because it’s not a profitable discussion or an important issue, but I think it can become quite draining spiritually to take your attention off of just reading and studying the Word, praying, and the absolute importance of cleaving to Christ with purpose of heart. It can easily become a tangent and a distraction and unedifying.

c.       Just like language study, Greek or Hebrew, there are things that are meant to be tools for Bible study and serving the Lord. Any time those tools become the central focus in-and-of themselves you will decline spiritually and begin to wither. Even like discernment ministries. It’s needful for every believer to learn to discern between the truth and the errors out there. There is another Jesus being propagated everywhere you look. There is another spirit being received by many professing Christians. But don’t let discernment distract you from cleaving to the Lord Jesus Christ. You are not going to grow in discernment by taking your eyes off the Truth. So study the original languages if you desire, and study the good works from sound discernment ministries so that you can be instructed on the deception going on today, but keep your heart and mind fixed on Jesus Christ and His Word.

d.      Ephesus was a mighty fellowship. They tested false Apostles and proved them to be liars. Even Christ Himself commended their works in Revelation 2. He then went on to tell them to repent because they had left their first love. So don’t allow yourself to become distracted from just loving the Lord and seeking Him. He’ll make sure you learn what you need to. Do these things AND seek the Lord. Don’t do one to the exclusion of the other.

e.      Please turn to 2 Kings 22.

III.             Context

a.      Read 2 Kings 21:26-22:2.

b.      Josiah was the son of Amon, who was the son of Manasseh. Both Amon and his father Manasseh are said to have done “evil in the sight of the LORD”. Manasseh reigned 55 years over the kingdom of Judah; and Amon reigned 2 years after his father’s death.

c.       Josiah, it is said in 2 Kings 22:1 was only 8 years old when he began to reign over Judah. That means that he was probably born when his father was only about 14 or 15 years old. Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh, is usually listed as one the most wicked king to have ruled over Judah. Though near the end of his life he did humble himself before the Lord and seemingly tried to undo some of the damage that he had done to the kingdom. That’s recorded in 2 Chronicles 33.

d.      So when you consider the fact that the majority of the previous 57 years of Judah were committed to idolatry and wickedness it shows the life of Josiah to be all the more miraculous. Though Manasseh did try to undo as much as he could after his repentance and restoration to the throne of Judah, it obviously did very little because after his death his son Amon picks up right where it had ended with him.

e.      As an interesting note, the Lord Himself told through a prophet what Josiah would do. We read in 1 Kings 13:1-5:

                                                              i.      “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.” (1 Kings 13:1-5)

f.        The time span is determined by some to have been about 340 years from the time of this prophecy and the time of its fulfillment. It’s just another testimony to the fact that the Lord knows the end from the beginning.

IV.              Josiah seeks the Lord in his youth

a.      Before we continue on to v.3 in 2 Kings we need to look at the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles which adds some information. In the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 34:3-7 we read:

                                                              i.      “For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them. And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about. And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.” (2 Chronicles 34:3-7)

b.      So Josiah began to reign when he was 8 years old. When he was 16 years old, after reigning for 8 years, he began to seek the Lord. This is very remarkable, because as far as is recorded he may have had no real example to follow.

c.       After 4 years of seeking the Lord, in the 12^th year of his reign and at the age of 20, he began to bring everything under his authority to the sole worship of the God of Israel. What makes this even more amazing is that, as far as we are aware by what is recorded, he had no personal knowledge of the contents of the book of the Law of Moses. It had not yet been discovered in the temple—as we’ll see in a minute.

d.      Perhaps Josiah was influenced by one of the prophets that ministered during his reign. We know that Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah ministered during the reign of Josiah. It’s unlikely that any of these prophets started him on his way to seeking the Lord though because: (1) it’s not mentioned in scripture and it’s not right to speculate, and (2) when the book of the Law of Moses was found in the temple not one of these prophets was consulted.

e.      It’s also possible that he was influenced by the memory of his great-grandfather Hezekiah. He could have read in the chronicles of the kings of Judah, not our books in the canon of scripture but the actual recordings of the kingdom’s history made by the scribes at the time, and he could have read of all the things that Hezekiah did in turning the kingdom to the Lord. We cannot be certain though.

f.        However he began to seek the Lord, He sought Him. The result of Josiah’s seeking the Lord was that everything under his authority was brought to the sole worship of the one true God.

V.                 The Book of the Law found

a.      So he began to reign when he was 8 years old. When he was 16 he began to seek the Lord, and when he was 20 he began to purge the land of all idolatry and such things. Now, when he was 26 years old, in the 18^th year of his reign, he began to repair the temple of the Lord. (Read 2 Kings 22:3-20)

b.      It’s interesting in reading that Hilkiah the High Priest knew what he had found and he gave it to be given to the King through the King’s scribe Shaphan. Shaphan pretty much tells the King, “Hilkiah gave me a book.” And he reads it to the king.

c.       Josiah’s reaction to hearing the Law of Moses illustrates perfectly for us the truth that is written later by Paul the Apostle, “By the Law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20)

d.      When Josiah is confronted with the whole counsel of God’s Word his is shown all the sins of the kingdom of Judah. This is clearly seen in what he then commanded as recorded in 2 Kings 22:13:

                                                              i.      “Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all 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.” (2 Kings 22:13)

e.      So Josiah knew emphatically that God was angry for the sins of the people and his reaction was to humble himself and enquire of the Lord. There was no arrogance saying, “Who is the Lord that I should serve Him?” There was no ignoring what the scriptures said. There was no looking for a loophole saying, “Well, maybe it doesn’t mean what it says.” There was only a heartfelt submission and humbleness before the authority of God. The Lord even acknowledges this when He is enquired of by the king:

                                                              i.      “But to the king of Judah which sent you to enquire of the LORD, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.” (2 Kings 22:18-20)

f.        The Lord promised to spare King Josiah and the kingdom itself from His wrath during the reign of Josiah.

VI.              Josiah’s deepened commitment to God

a.      After the Lord’s promise to spare Josiah and the kingdom during his life and reign, Josiah did something even more amazing: he deepened his commitment and devotion to the Lord.

b.      (Read 2 Kings 23:1-24)

c.       Here is a list of what Josiah did in his reign to bring things to the obedience of God (as listed in Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible):

                                                              i.      He destroyed all the altars of Baal (2 Chronicles 34:4)

                                                            ii.      He then ground them into dust and scattered it over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. (34:4)

                                                          iii.      He burned the bones of the heathen priests upon their own altars. (34:5)

                                                          iv.      He carried out these actions in distant Israelite cities as well as in his own kingdom. (34:6)

                                                            v.      He repaired the temple of the Lord. (34:8)

                                                          vi.      He led his people in a massive “repentance service” upon the discovery of the law of Moses. (2 Ki. 23:1-3, 18-21, 29-32)

                                                        vii.      He then had this book read to all his people.

                                                      viii.      He planned for and presided over one of the greatest Passover services of all time. (2 Chronicles 35:1, 18)

                                                          ix.      He killed heathen priests whom previous kings of Judah had appointed. (2 Ki. 23:5)

                                                            x.      He removed the idols from the temple. (23:6)

                                                          xi.      He tore down the houses of the Sodomites. (23:7)

                                                        xii.      He brought back to Jerusalem the priests of God who were living in other cities in Judah. (23:8)

                                                      xiii.      He destroyed the altar of Topheth in the Hinnom Valley so no one could offer human sacrifices upon it. (23:10)

                                                      xiv.      He tore down the statue of horses and chariots which were dedicated to the use of the sun god located near the entrance to the temple. (23:11)

                                                        xv.      He destroyed the altars which Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple. (23:12)

                                                      xvi.      He removed the high places of of Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, which Solomon had built for his many wives. (23:13)

                                                    xvii.      He tore down the altar and high place at Bethel which Jeroboam the son of Nebat had made. (23:15)

                                                  xviii.      He destroyed the high places on the hills of Samaria. (23:19)

                                                      xix.      He purged the land of mediums (workers with familiar spirits), wizards (those who practice sorcery), and soothsayers. (23:24)

VII.           God’s View of Josiah

a.      After going through that list of deeds by Josiah many today would say that he was a “tyrannical, bigoted, narrow-minded, holier-than-thou, sadistic and hateful pig who had no tolerance or love for people”.

b.      It was well said by G.K. Chesterton that “tolerance is for those without convictions.”

c.       How did God view Josiah’s life?

                                                              i.      “And like unto him was there no king before him, that 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; neither after him arose there any like him.” (2 Kings 23:25)

d.      I don’t believe there can be a stronger testimony of a man’s love and commitment to the Lord than that. There are some things to consider though in Josiah’s life. That verse should sound very similar to you if you are familiar with the New Testament scriptures. In case you missed it, let me make the connection for you:

                                                              i.      2 Kings 23:25 says, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that 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; neither after him arose there any like him.”

                                                            ii.      “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” (Mark 12:29-30)

VIII.        Application to our lives

a.      The Lord specifically tells us in Mark 12:29-30 that the first and greatest commandment is almost the exact same thing as His own description of Josiah’s love and devotion to the Lord. So let’s consider some things from the life of Josiah.

b.      He sought the Lord when he seemingly had no example around him to pattern himself after.

                                                              i.      Too many people wait on others to do things before they will commit to the truth of scripture themselves.

c.       Immediately, you see Josiah bringing everything that is under his authority to the obedience of God.

                                                              i.      This includes your house, your children, your job, your hobbies, your spare time, and the very thoughts and affections of your heart. Everything is to be brought to the obedience of Christ. We are specifically told this:

1.       “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

                                                            ii.      Yes, that is literal. Every thought and intent of your heart is to be brought unto the obedience of Christ. And because God commanded it it is certain to be possible through an abiding faith in Christ. Only a divided heart will fail at this. Remember “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not” (1 John 3:6). Continue to walk by faith in entire devotion to Christ and He is able to keep you from falling. If you sin, confess it, repent of it, and renew again your commitment to Christ and ask Him to teach you to abide more fully in Him.

d.      Josiah cleansed the land of false priests.

                                                              i.      Christians are under no obligation to listen to false teachers or to put up with them. Christ told us how to identify them in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 7), Paul told us to “mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them” (Romans 16:17), John said not to bless them because you would make yourself a partaker of their evil deeds, Jude said to earnestly contend for the faith against false teachers, and Jesus Christ commended the church at Ephesus for testing those which said they were apostles and proving them to be liars. Understand this, you are under no obligation to just believe someone when they say they are a Christian. You are commanded to judge their fruits and their doctrine.

e.      Josiah destroyed every false altar and high place and every idol.

                                                              i.      These are like the things of the world that are not of God that people run to for comfort. People take comfort in their physical beauty or strength, that’s idolatry and self-confidence. People take comfort in self-help books and psychology to explain away and give excuse to sin, but God said He would keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him. We are told to take every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ. Most people watch movies, TV shows, look at things on the internet , read books, or play video games that blaspheme the name of Christ. You spend your time in those things which God hates and wonder why you are struggling or feel dead spiritually. Put away those things that God hates and fix your affections on Christ. The Spirit of the Lord said by Jeremiah, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” In the book of Proverbs we read in 1:23, “Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.” And Jesus Christ Himself stated, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21) Stop making excuses, stop finding comfort and distraction in the things of this world, and find all your joy and satisfaction in doing those things that God has commanded. Unless you do that you have no reason to complain about a single thing in your life, or about why you don’t “feel” the Lord. Feelings have nothing to do with serving the Lord. You serve Him or you don’t. Joy will come when your heart is fixed to do His will and you are doing it. It is a voluntary, willful commitment of your soul to Christ—and nothing less.

f.        Josiah repaired and cleansed the Temple of the Lord.

                                                              i.      In the OT the physical temple was a shadow of things to come. But as Christians under the New Covenant we are told, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) You, if you are a Christian, are the Temple of God: cleanse it in the name of the Lord. Every last vestige of self-confidence or self-esteem…get rid of it. Christians don’t have self-esteem we have God-esteem. We have no confidence in the flesh or our own works we only have all confidence in God, and Jesus Christ is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. We have nothing without Him. We are nothing apart from Him. We can’t even pray to God the Father but through His High Priestly intercession for us. He is our everything. Now, as it says in the book of Acts, purify your hearts by faith. With the same zeal the Christ had on earth to cleanse the physical temple of the Lord with a scourge of cords you ought to be cleansing the temple of the Lord that you have. Do you think that Christ will have less desire for you to be cleansed than a physical building? Think about it.

IX.              Conclusion

a.      There a few people in churches today who are disillusioned. They see in the scriptures one standard and in their churches and experience they see another. Well, let God be true but every other man a liar. God is always correct. Go by His standard and seek it.

b.      We’re told by Christ that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. You’re wanting positive feeling or emotions or experiences: and you’re not going to get them by seeking positive feelings, emotion, experiences, or by imitating other people’s experiences. These things will only come when you’re heart is fixed by faith, which is confidence and trust, in Jesus Christ. Make Him the treasure of your heart, and pleasing Him the highest aim and desire of your life.

c.       Don’t wait for others to lead the way. Don’t wait for a church or ministry to tell you what to do. God has made all provision for you to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil Himself. It is the simplicity of Christ. Without faith it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6).

                                                              i.      “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:2-5)

d.      Walk in the reality that Jesus is Lord. All power in Heaven and in earth is given to Him. Walk by faith in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, pray by faith in that fact, and you will see that overcoming is the only result possible. God has promised and He cannot lie.