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[Music] welcome to everyone for our call to worship this evening you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 138 Psalm 138 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a psalm of David I will praise you with my whole heart before the gods I will sing praises to you I will worship toward your holy temple and praise your name for your loving-kindness in your truth for you have magnified your word above all your name in the day when I cried out you answered me and made me bold with strength in my soul all the kings of the earth shall praise you O Lord when they hear the words of your mouth yes they shall sing of the ways of the Lord for great is the glory of the Lord though the Lord is on high yet he regards the lowly but the proud he knows from afar though I walk in the midst of trouble you will revive me you will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies and your right hand will save me the Lord will perfect that which concerns me your mercy O Lord endures forever do not forsake the works of your hands amen well please turn in your Trinity Psalter to Psalm 24 Psalm 24 will stand as we sing together [Music] amen we'll let us pray well God Most High we gather in your presence again on this Lord's Day and we confess that you are glorious and wondrous and worthy to be praised you are infinite eternal and unchangeable and you're being wisdom power holiness justice goodness and truth and certainly your creatures o obedience and worship unto you but as the prophet and the apostle asked who would not fear the old king of the nations for indeed it is your do we know that men have rejected and rebelled and turned to idols we among that group and how we praise you and thank you that you sought us out that you were merciful that you were gracious that you were kind that you showed us our own sinfulness and our waywardness and you showed us the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and his sufficiency to save those who draw nigh unto God through em how we praise you for the gospel of our salvation how we praise you for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners how we praise you that you have made him or you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him we give praise and honor and glory to You Father Son and spirit for so great a salvation and we pray tonight that as we approach you as we gather before you that it would be with reference and with great joy that as we sing and as we pray and as we look to Holy Scripture our hearts would indeed rejoice at the goodness and the kindness of our God we ask that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions whenever we draw nigh unto you we recognize our own sinfulness and we confess that sin now trusting in the one who alone gives forgiveness the Word of God says that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and in this we greatly rejoice we pray for any and all who have not tasted and seen that the Lord is good we pray for those who are dead their trespasses and sins that the Holy Spirit would be at work in our midst tonight and that you would indeed awaken those and give grace to those that they may come to the Lord Jesus Christ believing in him for salvation we pray for other churches in our community we thank you that we're not alone in this city and we pray that you would bless and prosper those that meet together that do proclaim the truth of the gospel we ask God that you would use the various churches in this community to reach sinners with the glorious news that Jesus died for sinners and that he rose again we ask that you look with favor upon churches throughout this nation for God certainly we live in a dark time we live in a day and age when men call good evil and evil good we see wickedness all around us and we don't look to politics to change things we look to the glory of God Most High we look to the power the Christian gospel as Paul said I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek but we know that in that gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith so we pray that this word would be proclaimed throughout this nation that it would run swiftly and be glorified that you would awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins and turn them from their useless idols to the true and living God be gracious throughout the earth we know that many of our brothers and sisters suffer under oppressive regimes under godless government under false religion we pray that you would look with favor upon our persecuted brothers and sisters should uphold them that you would strengthen them that they would indeed continually testify that Christ alone is the way to the Father we ask thee bless the work in islamabad we thank her thank you for pastor Daniel and for the Saints there we pray God that you would continue to grant them protection grant them usefulness cause them to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation and enable them to boldly hold forth the word of truth we pray for many Muslims that they would come under the the power of the Christian gospel as preached from that church and that they would come out of darkness into marvelous light confessing Jesus Christ as God Almighty we ask that you would bless our brothers and sisters in China those missionaries that we know and love and support we pray that you would prosper their hand that you would give them the grace to continually minister the Word of God doctrinally and practically and may you use that to extend the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ here on earth we ask that you would bless richly the the Saints of Christ wherever they meet together and may God Almighty continue to be with the people of God we ask thee be merciful to the civil government and our nation god we pray that you would put the fear of the Lord in the hearts of those in high places we know that this was David's call to the judges and the kings surrounding Israel of old we pray that like that admonition the the governors of our day would kiss the son lest he be angry and they perish in his way when his wrath is kindled but a little be merciful and cause them to rule and to govern according to righteousness and justice they do not bow the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would exercise restraint over them we pray that in time Lord God we'd see things like abortion and sodomy and euthanasia these things that are that are vile and wicked sins and crimes as well we pray that these things would be criminalized and it would not be the case that that godlessness is openly openly promoted have mercy upon this nation have mercy upon the nations of the earth that allow such things to continue on again we trust not in politics we trust in the power of God's Holy Word we pray for those in need and our congregation we just commit them to you and to the word of your grace we find great comfort when we read Psalm 138 we great find great comfort as we sing Psalm 24 it's a blessing to know that our God is in the heavens and does whatever he pleases and as pastor Porter read psalm 46 this morning may we all be still and know that you are God may we know that you will be exalted among the nations exalted in the earth and may this study our hearts and may this calm us down and may we indeed find great joy in who God Almighty is we ask that you would bless our time together and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well you may turn in your Trinity hymnal - number 453 hymn number 453 will stand as we sing together [Music] you can turn in your Bibles to Amos the prophet chapter 6 Amos the prophet chapter 6 for our scripture reading this evening I'll begin reading in verse 1 woe to you who are at ease in Zion and Trust in mount samaria notable persons in the chief nation to whom the house of israel comes go over to Cal nee and see and from there go to hey math the grade then go down to Gath of the Philistines are you better than these kingdoms or is their territory greater than your territory woe to you who put far-off the day of doom who caused the seed of violence to come near who lie on beds of ivory stretch out on your couches eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments and invent for yourselves musical instruments like David who drank wine from bowls and anoint yourselves with the best ointments but are not grieve for the affliction of Joseph therefore they shall know now go captive as the first of the captives and those who recline at banquets shall be removed the Lord God has sworn by himself the Lord God of hosts says I am the pride of Jacob and hate his palaces therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it then it shall come to pass that if ten men remain in one house they shall die and when a relative of the dead with one who will burn the bodies picks up the bodies to take them out of the house he will say to one inside the house are there any more with you then someone will say none and he will say hold your tongue for we dare not mention the name of the Lord for behold the Lord gives a command he will break the great house into bits and the little house into pieces do horses run on rocks does one plow therewith son yet you have turned justice into Gaul and the fruit of righteousness in the wormwood you who rejoice over load debar who say have we not taken karna aim for ourselves by our own strength but behold I will raise up a nation against you o house of Israel says the Lord of Hosts and they will afflict you from the entrance of a mass to the valley of the Arab ah amen let us pray God in heaven we see the terror of your judgment and your wrath toward sinning Israel and tonight we're gonna see that with reference to Judah we pray God that you would cause us to learn the lessons of your your opposition to sin and may it not be the case that these sorts of things are practiced in our church today we know there is not a direct connection in terms of the same situation certainly there are parallels and I pray that we as the people of God would learn such things give us grace to live the way that you call us to in light of our free justification by faith alone give us grace Lord God to know the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit that he would continually conform us even more to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ grant us grace to walk according to your revealed law not as a means of justification but because we have been justified give us grace to love your law give us grace to seek to obey and to honor and to praise and to worship you and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final him before the preaching you can turn to 531 but [Music] we can turn in your Bibles to second Kings chapter 23 second Kings chapter 23 God willing we'll return to James 5 next Sunday evening tonight we're going to look at the Reformation under Josiah King Josiah of Judah he reigned from 640 to 609 BC and he was one of the few good Kings in Judah and he's compared favorably to David he compared favorably as well to the law of Moses in fact he is something of the 2nd Moses as we move through the Josiah narratives Hezekiah as well was a godly King he is a second David in many respects but tonight I want to look at this Reformation under Josiah so beginning in chapter 23 at verse 1 now the King sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him the King went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Jerusalem the priests and the prophets and all the people both small and great and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord then the King stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep his Commandments and his tests his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book and all the people took a stand for the Covenant and the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the Articles that were made for bail for Astra and for all the hosts of heaven and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the place is all around Jerusalem and those who burned incense to bail to the Sun to the to the constellations and to all the hosts of heaven and he brought out the wooden image from the house of the Lord to the brook Kedron outside Jerusalem burned it at the brook Kedron and ground it to ashes and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord were the women wove hangings for the wooden image and he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from giba to Beersheba also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city which were to the left of the city gate nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren and he defiled TOFA which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the son at the entrance to the house of the Lord by the Chamber of Nathan melech the officer who was in the court and he burned the chariots of the son with fire the altars that 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 pulverized there and threw their dust into the brook Kedron then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem which were on the south of the Mount of corruption which Solomon king of Israel had built for ashteroth the abomination of the sidonians forky mosh the abomination of the Moabites and for milcom the abomination of the people of ammon and he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images and filled their places with the bones of men moreover the altar that was at bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel sin had made both that altar and the high place he broke down and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder and burned the wooden image as Josiah turned he saw the tombs that there on the mountains and he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed who proclaimed these words then he said what grave stone is this that I see so the man of the city told him it is the tomb of the man of God it came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar Bethel and he said let him alone let no one move his bones so they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger and he did to them according to all the deeds he had done in Bethel he executed all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars and burned man's bones on them and he returned to Jerusalem then the king commanded all the people saying keep the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in this book of the Covenant such a Passover surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah but in the 18th year of King Josiah this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists the household gods and idols all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that he'll Kyah the priests found in the house of the Lord now before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart with all his soul and with all his might according to all the law of Moses nor after him did any arise like him nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath with which his anger was aroused against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him and the Lord said I will also remove Judah from my sight as I have removed Israel and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said my name shall be there now the rest of the acts of Josiah and all that he did are they not written in the books book of The Chronicles of the kings of Judah in his days Pharaoh nico king of Egypt went to the aid of the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates and King Josiah went against him and Pharaoh Nicko killed him at Megiddo when he confronted him then his servants moved his body in a chariot from Megiddo brought him to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb and the people of the land took jehovah has the son of Josiah anointed him and made him King in his father's place amen well let us pray and ask God's help as we look to this passage of Scripture our Father we thank you for the written word we thank you for this history of Israel we thank you God for the way that you have informed us of these things so that we may learn that wee-bey may be admonished that we may be encouraged that we may be consoled with the knowledge of who you are as well our God we pray that you would cause us to reflect upon this godly man Josiah caused us to reflect upon the reality that the word received will indeed be put into practice may we learn what James tells us in his book that we are to be doers of the word not merely hearers give us grace in these things and give us the Holy Spirit now to guide to lead to direct and strengthen us and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well to fully appreciate and understand the Reformation under Josiah we need to go back to chapter 22 at least to discover what Josiah discovered if you look at chapter 22 specifically in verses 3 to 20 they discovered the book of the law Josiah gave orders to fix the temple this is similar to what joash had done previously and this shows concern for the house of God we see a desire to restore the house to what it was supposed to be the way Deuteronomy chapter 12 had mandated that there would be a central sanctuary for the worshipers in Israel but it had fallen into disrepair as I read through chapter 23 you could see why it had fallen into disrepair there was great wickedness the land of juda at that particular time so Josiah gives the order to rebuild to refix to do maintenance on the house of the Lord in the midst of this hill kaya finds the law of God he finds the book of the law now we ought to understand that it probably wasn't absent throughout the entirety of the history of Judah for Hezekiah was a godly man there were a few other godly kings ASA was another godly man but probably the reference to this finding of the law means that it had gone away or had been misused or disutility delije wicked evil man and at that particular time there was no law of the Lord that was that was being heeded to by the people of God in Judah by Judah and so this law is discovered it is read to Josiah notice specifically in chapter 22 at the end of verse 10 and Chafin read it before the king now matthew henry makes this observation with reference to the finding of the law he says it is not laid up in the king's cabinet as a piece of antiquity a rarity to be admired but it is read before the key they don't immediately think hey we can sell it on eBay or we can sell it in you know on 24-hour bidding we can fetch a good price for this law of Yahweh that was missing and is now found it's not a piece of antiquity they don't stick it into the cabinet but rather Chafin reads it to Josiah this is the importance of the Word of God we don't have it simply as a curiosity we don't have it simply to sit on our shelves we have it to read we have it to heed we have it so that we may find encouragement in our god matthew henry goes on to say those put the truest honor upon their Bibles that study them and converse with them daily feed on that bread and walk by that light men honor and business must look upon at acquaintance with God's Word to be their best business and honor so the discovery of the book of the law here in chapter 22 leads to the Reformation in chapter 23 now specifically the portion that is read to Josiah is most likely Deuteronomy chapter 28 it's referred to as the book of the law it's also referred to as the book of the Covenant Deuteronomy refers to itself as the book of the law in several places now Deuteronomy 28 speaks specifically of blessings in the land or blessings for the people in the land when they obey and cursings for the people in the land when they disobey and that is precisely how Josiah interpreted what had been read he knew the history of Aimie and his father he knew the history of Manasseh his grandfather he knew these were wretched and ungodly men and he saw the situation that he was facing in the kingdom of Judah this provoked him to fear this provoked him to seek God and that is precisely what we see notice in chapter 22 again verse 13 Josiah says go inquire of the Lord for me for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found for great is the wrath of the Lord that has aroused against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us he understood what was written he understood God's judgment he understood the terror of Yahweh and this again provoked him to fear to anguish and to a humility before God the rending of his garments is indicative of the rending of his heart this is an external sign of what takes place in this godly man internally and he see and now he says to his servants to go seek the prophet hold up and they go to this prophetess called hold up and she says Josiah is absolutely right there is judgment coming the Lord God Most High going to execute the curses of the Covenant visa V Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 it is going to take place the the prophet s holder however promises with reference to Josiah that he would die in peace now we see at the end of chapter 23 he actually dies on the field of battle against Pharaoh Nico in Megiddo so we wonder how in the world could that mean peace well he means the Peace of the Prophet test rather meant peace over Judah in other words it would still be standing when Josiah died these are the final days of Judah they are moving to their destruction but for the moment Josiah is a godly King in the midst of an ungodly people but the thing that we ought to appreciate is that when he receives the word he moves accordingly brethren James tells us that we are to be doers of the word Jesus says in Luke's Gospel why do you call me Lord Lord and do not do the things that I say we cannot with the mouth confess faith in Jesus Christ and then live like the devil that is simply in congruous we are not to be that kind of a hypocrite we are to conduct ourselves personally with reference to business with reference to the body politic we find ourselves in with reference to church life and family life we are to seek by the grace of God to be compliant to the Word of God I realize that maybe just a zany notion in the modern Christian world but that's what God demands we are to take the yoke of Christ upon us in his light it is easy to be sure but it is he okay unless we are to pursue those things that are pleasing to God we are to put the Word of God that we receive into our heads and hearts into practice that's what drives Josiah now remember Josiah had heard by the reading of the law and through the prophetic interpretation of the prophetess OLDA that judgment was in fact coming now notice what Josiah new he doesn't play his fiddle while Rome burns like Nero he doesn't check out and go to the golf course he doesn't say it well deuteronomy 28 says God is going to decimate and destroy Judah holder has confirmed that so I'm going to just go use the rest of my time and go on holidays that's not what Josiah does Josiah is moved by the Word of God to Institute thoroughgoing reform in Judah and that reform is threefold first there is covenant covenant renewal ceremony secondly there are religious reforms that are extensive and then thirdly there is an observance of the sacraments you see that's what the word provokes in the hearts of godly men when I say the word Reformation we typically think of John Calvin Martin Luther we think is wing way we think of others like them as hopefully good Protestants that's the way we should think but this is a Reformation as well and the same sorts of things are undertaken here and one of the things that was emphasized at the Protestant Reformation was the reform of worship worship had fallen into disrepute worship had been treated as some sort of superstition by Rome and so the Reformers said no they had received the Word of God and it moved them to act just like it does with Josiah the king of Judah at this particular time so let's look at this Reformation notice covenant renewal verses one two three there is background to this this is something we see in the book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 29 Deuteronomy chapter 31 and then again you see it in the book of Joshua at Shechem after they enter into the land they renew the Covenant and essentially what this means is that the people here the reading of the law they hear the reading of the Covenant and then they swear fealty or fidelity to God Most High it is to renew their obligations under God to fulfill the terms of the covenant that they find themselves under so that Josiah Institute's this is indicative of the fact that he know that these things have not been in play these things have not been going on and so this covenant ratification ceremony is under undertaken or this renewal ceremony and then notice specifically you have all the people of Judah that gathered together to hear the words of the book of the law or the book of the Covenant in verse 2 and then notice then the king stood by a pillar verse 3 and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul and again this is this is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 6 remember that great statement that central confession of Israel's faith the here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul with all your strength with all that you have and that's what Josiah commits to here but thankfully the people do as well the end of verse three and all the people took a stand for the Covenant it's a beautiful thing now it was short-lived because after the death of Josiah we see that the people of Judah went right back into idolatry wickedness and sin but at least in second Kings 23 there was this reprieve of wickedness and the people then swore fidelity to Yahweh now notice secondly the religious reforms in verses 4 to 25 now this is extensive and I think it illustrates for us just how bad it was in Israel at this time do you ever read 1st Corinthians and you say man boy there's a lot of weird stuff going on in 1st Corinthians what's Paul saying it's actually it's reported among you that a man actually has as his father's wife you got that statement 1st Corinthians chapter 6 in terms of fleeing sexual immorality he Mohnish 'as the people of God that you're not supposed to lay with prostitutes 1st Corinthians chapter 7 he enforces the reality the marriage relationship 1st corinthians 8 9 and 10 this whole idea of eating meat sacrificed to idols and not causing offence to other brothers and sisters first Corinthians chapter 11 he deals with the Lord's Supper and at the Lord's Supper people were eating to the point of gluttony and drinking to the point of drunkenness have you ever read through first Corinthians and said man they had some issues there well Judah had issues and I think that this does remind us that the best of men are men at best they'll always be not that we should be satisfied with it not that we shouldn't try and root it out but there will always be less than optimal performance on the part of the people of God there's only one perfect man and that is the Lord Jesus Christ we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone now I point this out simply to highlight the fact that among the covenant people the professing people of God things can at times deteriorate and it's important for Reformation it's important that there are those who receive the law of God it is important that men reformers seek to reform and call the people of God to repentance remember in James chapter 4 does that very thing he not only highlights the sinfulness of his audience but in James 4:7 at 10 he tells them to repent humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God he says that you need to forsake your wickedness you need to return to the Lord brethren this is a good thing that God sends reformers he sends meant to preach the truth so that the people of God will put off the sorts of sins that at times become commonplace now notice there is a two-fold purge going on in the first place he purges Judah verses 4 to 14 and then secondly he purges the North Samaria in verses 15 to 20 now this is very important for those of you who are not at the Wednesday night Bible study and perhaps for those of you who were at the Wednesday night Bible study remember that the Kingdom of Israel split into two after Solomon died his son Rehoboam took the throne a man by the name of Jeroboam son of knee bat rebelled and Israel was split into two kingdoms the north and the south you had is real and you had Judah well by this time Israel had already been closed down the northern kingdom had already been shot down and that Josiah not only reforms Judah but then goes up into the north shows his thorough going commitment to the law of God Most High in other words reform isn't concerned with just a little bit reform isn't just about a few items on the shopping list reform must be thorough going it must be extensive when a man a woman a boy or girl comes to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ he or she is a new creature all the old has passed away what then entails or what is then entailed of that particular person is that they seek by the grace of God to live according to the Word of God and Josiah sets forth that pattern here of a thorough going purge of wickedness and violinist and sin let's just run through these things notice in verse 4 the removal and burning of pagan vessels and essentially what these were were the utensils that were used to minister to the idols now just imagine the very house of Yahweh had become a place where they also brought in bail and Asherah and were they ministered to these idols in the same temple that Yahweh was in now this is terrible so they taste or he takes these utensils and he gets rid of them notice the removal of idolatrous priests in verse 5 he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem and those who burned incense to bail to the Sun to the moon to the constellations and to all the hosts of heaven so whole idea of Sun Moon constellations probably the influence of Assyria astral deities played large in Assyrian religion and so it looks like Judah co-opted that form of religious expression and innovation but the Lord God has never given us license to add ah another God we are to repudiate we are to get rid of we are to resist and that is what josiah is doing here notice the burning and the pulverizing of the astra image in verse six he brought out the wooden image that's astra from the house of the lord to the brook Kedron outside jerusalem burned it at the brook Kedron and ground it to ashes and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people so what he does here is similar to what Moses does in Exodus 32 and 33 remember when the people are dancing around the golden calf what does Moses do see see well that's okay that's just your form of worship that's okay that's the way you express yourself no he denounces it and he brings judgment the judgment of God to bear upon those people that had perverted their ways and that is what Josiah is doing this is why it's suggested that he's a second Moses because he is reforming the nation with a good dose of God's law now Bale was a male a shrah was a female and the story went that when these two got together it was beneficial to the people of the land Bale was the fertility God so what the worshipers would do would be to have relations one and one with another fornicating one with another so that they could get bail and Astra to imitate them and then provide fertility upon the land so so that's really bad that's really wicked and that really does illustrate for us the demand of God in Deuteronomy 7 the whole mandate with reference to holy war why does God tell Israel to go in and dispossessed the land of the Canaanites utterly completely and comprehensively was it because the Canaanites were you know not God's favorite was it because the Canaanites were not as good as the Israelites no because the Canaanites were wicked and God was using Israel to judge the Canaanites as God will use the Babylonians to judge Israel when they ate the Canaanites but God tells them very specifically in Deuteronomy 7 have political alliances with the people of the land have no social alliance with the people of the land in other words don't enter marry with the pagans and as well have no religious interaction with the people of the land why because God knows our hearts we go to a bail service we're going to be moved with the swinging and the swaying and all of the goings on and we're going to be able to are most likely going to forsake your way that's why God said do not allow them to remain in the land notice fourth the destruction of the cult prostitutes temple apartments in verse seven again if bail and Astra are being appealed to through a particular activity this is why there were temple prostitutes in order to facilitate bail and his consorts so that the people would benefit from the land the defiling of Judah's high places and the removal of priests verse 8 the destruction of TOFA in verse 10 now this was the place in the valley of the son of Hinnom where there was child sacrifice Manasseh the grandfather of Josiah practiced this according to second Kings 21-6 and so Josiah says not only are we not going to practice child sacrifice but we're going to destroy TOFA we're going to destroy every memory of this place because it is ratchet this is the you know this is the ancient equivalent to Planned Parenthood this is the ancient equivalent to persons who sacrifice children for money for convenience or to get their gods to perform on their behalf this was child sacrifice to the god called molap Molech was a statue Molech had arms outstretched Mallick was placed among the fire so that when babies were thrown into the arms of Molech they inevitably bounced off into the fire and there they were consumed that was a worship service if Molech was your god you see why josiah getting a good dose of the law of God cannot allow such to stay there is no possible no conceivable way that somebody comes to Jesus Christ and doesn't change their view on abortion it cannot be the case that someone has faith in Jesus Christ and then makes the statement god bless Planned Parenthood those two things just do not coexist and we need to recognize that it is an assault upon the image of God it is the destruction of the judicially innocent it is vile it is reprehensible and it is something that brings down God's holy judgment now I'm not suggesting you go out and see for a Planned Parenthood I'm not suggesting that you go there and see them on the other side I am not telling you to do that I do not advocate for that but I am suggesting the parallels between Molech worship and what we find in terms of the abortion and we call it an industry industry speaks to textiles and and equipment and tools there's actually an industry in America and in Canada that is devoted to the murder of image bearers brethren how far have we fallen how far have we gone where this is not something that the people of God have any interest whatsoever in seeking Reformation concerning this Molech worship was not confined to the 7th century BC it is operational in the 2880 21st century in the year of our Lord notice the desert or the removal of things verse 11 specifically horses dedicated the Sun worship and the burning of chariots now again it would take too long and take us too far off the field to explain why horses were utilized and that sort of thing but suffice it to say it happened the destruction of royal idolatrous altars again probably for astral deities in verse 12 and then note the elimination of Solomon's folly in verse 13 remember Solomon started off well Solomon when asked what he wanted from God said wisdom I mean Solomon is a great example for each and every one of us what do we pray for when we pray we pray for wisdom we prayed god help me to function in a decent manner with my fellows give me wisdom so that I'm able to impart wisdom as I'm asked and so that I can navigate in this world in a manner that is consistent with who you are and what you call me to do Solomon started well Solomon built the temple Solomon did it in a glorious manner because God is glorious Solomon extended the us extended the boundaries of of Israel he reigned over a United Monarchy there was no split there was no division all the tribes of Israel toed the line under Solomon again it wasn't perfect it wasn't without sin but Solomon was a godly man the thing is is that when Solomon became old he started to marry foreign women now for my older brothers and sisters here I think Solomon stands up on the pages of Scripture as a good warning we tend to think that as we get older it's going to be easy Street on into heaven don't we there's no easy street on the way to heaven you may I just say that you're gonna have to fight for every inch that you go toward that blessed City there's no easy street Solomon was getting old and he multiplied wives foreign wives and those wives let his heart astray those wives led him to their gods now we're going to blame the women that's not what I'm suggesting here however Solomon shouldn't have done this he shouldn't have multiplied wives because God prohibited this again in Deuteronomy chapter 7 the admonition of the command for holy war was very specific it's very clearly articulated it was very clearly defined and every single Israelite in Judea violated that so Solomon was led astray Solomon then or his sin then ultimately led to the judgment that would follow the death of Solomon at the reign of Rehoboam as I mentioned earlier Jeroboam the son of knee becomes and essentially revolts against the south there was that division it was of Yahweh and then we see the great tragedy that occurs in both the north and the south but under Josiah what's he doing he is correcting even that he is reversing even Solomon's folly and dare I say the fact that he purges South and North shows more reversal of what happened after Solomon after Solomon was division now what Josiah does again doesn't unify the tribes politically but it's certainly a religious step in the right direction that he purges both south and north is indicative of the fact that all the tribes of Israel belong to Yahweh and all the tribes of Israel have their idols thrown out all the tribes of Israel should be marching in lockstep one with another to serve the living in the true God Josiah is a thorough religious reformer and then destruction of things used in fertility worship in verse 14 so you see it was quite extensive with reference to Judah now note the purge in the North verses 15 to 20 it's already hinted at in verse 4 as these ashes are taken to Bethel the first order of business is the destruction of jeroboams Bethel Worship Center remember Jeroboam son of niba had set up an altar set up an idol temple to the idol so that the the Israelites wouldn't go down to Jerusalem see this is you know one of the tactics of false religion it's got to control people and the way that you control people is to keep them away from the truth you see do you see why the devil is the father of lies and and a murderer from the beginning lies are one of the most effective ways to keep people down I'm not preaching Liberation Theology by any stretch of the imagination but you need to understand that Jeroboam son of nebat was at least bright enough to realize if the people of the north go down to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh they may just stay there and if that happens jeroboam would lose his hold on them so he iraq's competing worship centers one of which was in bethel and there he places calves and he says your God who led you out of the land of Egypt that maintained a strong hold upon the people Jeroboam the son of me bat was the benchmark for wickedness in Israel I mean when you see a good king compared he's compared to David when you see a bad King compare it most of the times he's compared to Jeroboam the son of Nebat the fellow was a wretch and so Josiah's first order of business is to destroy this worship center beautiful e'en probin says josiah now takes action against this cult which has lived on in the activities of the new settlers in the Land of Israel he does so in a way that recall recalls Moses own action against the first golden calf he burns the high place along with the Astra pole and grinds it to powder notice in verses 16 to 18 you have the fulfillment of the Word of God again it would take us to far afield to get into all of this but in first Kings 13 when Jeroboam the son of knee bat was doing his thing there was a prophet a man of God who came and said there's going to be a king by the name of Josiah you got to realize this was about three hundred years prior to that this man of God prophesied to Jeroboam the son of Nebat that there would be a king by the name of Josiah got a fall as a theme that we find in Scripture a son of David that will come and purge the wickedness of the land and bring the blessing of God Almighty you see Josiah is functioning typically of our Lord Jesus Christ who is Malachi the prophet tells us in New Testament passages tell us one of the functions of Messiah when he comes is to refine it is to purge it is to get rid of the adulterers and the wickedness that populate the land well here specifically we find fulfillment of that word prophesied about 300 years prior you go back and read that and compare with reference to the burning of the bones and and all of that sort of thing but suffice it to say the word is fulfilled and this purge continues throughout the northern cities in verses 19 and 20 a house Paul house says with Judah cleansed Josiah moves north to Bethel which had served as one of the major worship centers in jeroboams maverick gold Josiah does this thereby reclaiming all the promised land for the worship of the Lord again the offer author emphasizes restoration both parts of the divided kingdom are reunited spiritually if not politically both sections of the land returned to fidelity to the Lord and to an emphasis on worship at a central sanctuary you see this is what Josiah does he hears the law of the Lord he understands the ramifications of it and he moves right into business right into action covenant a covenant renewal ceremony and then thoroughgoing religious reform then thirdly the observation of Passover you see that emphasis again at the Protestant Reformation that we find are sort of theological roots not in necessarily but certainly a part of I think our roots go back to Paul and Isaiah and Jesus and that's what was basically brought forth there brought to the fore at the time of the Reformation you see that was their emphasis as well when Rome engaged in the sorts of things that Rome engaged in this is what the Reformers said we need to you know renew I don't know if they had a covenant renewal ceremony of sorts but there was at least implicit in their actions that reality and then it was a thoroughgoing reform of worship and the sacraments transubstantiation no consubstantiation there is the biblical view when Jesus says this is my body he doesn't mean physically he doesn't mean literally he means symbolically represent representatively these are emblems these are symbols these are things to help the preacher to remember in a special way the death of Messiah you're not supposed to have some sort of you know Pope ish approach to it where the priest actually has the ability to lay down the words of transubstantiation and taking these elements from one to another thing brethren this is what matters when people of God are the people of God received the Word of God they want to see worship reformed they don't want to see God Dishonored they don't want to see idols in the house of Yahweh they don't want to see the sorts of things that unfortunately at times we grow content with they don't want pastors repelling in with their mics on in there you know wow factor they don't want puppets and ponies and programs where the Christian pulpit ought to be the people of God who received the Word of God don't want rock bands they want the centrality of simple worship they also want the sacraments they don't want them polluted they don't want them mistaken they don't want them miss rip but represented misrepresented they want to engage in what their Lord has commanded that baptism and the Supper not the five others that the Pope the the Pope is Church adds not the odd twists or you know different views of Baptism and the Lord's Supper that affect the people of God throughout the ages the simple reality that when sinners are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ they identify publicly with the triune God in the waters of baptism it's an initiatory right not on to salvation but because they've been saved and then they take the supper they don't avoid it they don't leave Church early so they can miss it they don't schedule themselves on vacation when it's being had they recognize that the lord of the the Covenant is providing a covenant meal to his people and invites them to come and sup you see that's what the people of God who received the Word of God want they want a vibrant earnest Living covenant relationship with God reflected in a thoroughgoing reform of his worship and in the observation of the sacraments here not baptism and the Lord's Supper but Passover now for those who compare the section to the chronicles you'll see that there was a Passover under Hezekiah but the idea behind this report is to show the extensiveness of it certainly it happened under Hezekiah but not like it did under Josiah again Hezekiah was a godly good King in Judah we're not discounting him the author of Kings is not discounting him but he is saying that what happens under Josiah is remarkable it hasn't happened like this before it is a glorious it is a wondrous it is a beautiful thing now it's unfortunate that it happens right before they go off the cliff it's good it's thorough it's excellent it's wonderful but it's not going to stay the judgment of God notice verse 26 nevertheless that's one of those foreboding nevertheless there are some nevertheless is in Scripture that are quite encouraging this is not one of them nevertheless the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath with which his anger was aroused against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him and the Lord said I will also remove Judah from my sight as I have removed Israel and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said my name shall be there John Gill says notwithstanding the great Reformation wrought among them for though Josiah was a sincere reformer and did what he did heartily as to the Lord according to his will and for his glory yet the people were not sincere in their compliance they turned to the Lord not with their whole heart but fainted Li and he cites Jeremiah 3:10 so then God declares that he is going to bring in judgment e'en Provins says at this juncture in Judean history strangely enough Judah finds herself with yet another righteous King a second Moses to match her second David Hezekiah Josiah is a king long awaited first Kings 13 - he is the best of all Kings but he as a king calm too late so now I don't highlight this to say well then don't bother to reform you know the old dispensational quip why polish the brass on a sinking ship unfortunately that's a mindset and a strategy adopted by many professing Christians but it cannot be the mindset and strategy that we adopt Josiah knew precisely what was going to happen and if ever there was a time somebody could say well it's gonna just die it's gonna just go into the dirt I'm just gonna live in my peaceful days and enjoy no he does what he does because it's right we've lost that as a people not just in the world or in life but as the people of God doing things because it's right it's a good argument Paul says it to children children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right daddy mommy why should I do this because it's right do we have to give them 15,000 reasons and promises of gum and candy and all sorts of trips to wherever because it's right the rightness of an action determines compliance by the act or that's what we are to be about rightness for right sake even if there's not going to be blessing even if there's not going to be a reversal even if there's not going to be the latter-day glory we do what we're supposed to do by a set us covenant worship and sacrament because it's right we see the reception of the Word of God leads to Reformation according to the Word of God this is just what Jesus says in Matthew 28:18 the twenty go therefore make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age so the idea is that you are made a disciple you're taught the Word of God with the expressed purpose of obedience this is what Reformation looks like I think we read these books about the Protestant Reformation we say boy I'd really like that you've got it just obey God when you read your Bible on Tuesday morning and God says don't lust after your neighbour don't lust after your neighbour when God says don't covet don't steal don't lie don't cheat you don't have to be John Calvin just don't like ste steal and cheat you see God calls us to thoroughgoing Reformation in our lives I think the idea being is that the more that people actually do what God says it starts to have an effect upon the family the church it's a beautiful wonderful thing the nature of Josiah has reformed we're concluding now the reform was intensive not one iota of idolatry was left in the land it was not left he dealt with this the reform was extensive the entirety of the land both south and north was purged and the reform was comprehensive it was according to the law of Moses God didn't give the law through Moses for people not to obey God gave the law through Moses so that Israel both North and South would do what God commanded them again zany and our modern context with reference to Christian where God wants me to obey you mean I can't just carry on like a fool I can't just continue to be lazy I can't just continue to be apathetic I can't just continue to sin and do all that no you can't you need to be a doer of the word this is what James tells us this is what Josiah does as well as we move through this purge I think you'll appreciate not positively but the depravity of Judah and I think that from that we ought to appreciate the power of sin I mentioned this morning in our confession study been one of those days confession morning hospital and evening just getting ready down here but this morning I mentioned that one of the ways to help or to hopefully keep us from being judgmental people you know the passage in Matthew 7 judge not lest you be judged he doesn't mean don't judge with reference to church discipline don't judge with reference to being called to testify at a criminal court don't judge with reference to who might be a dog or Pig and you're not supposed to throw your your pearls before he he doesn't mean that he means a nitpicky fault-finding censorious attitude I said one of the ways that hopefully we can avoid that is by understanding remaining corruption understanding our own remaining corruption no words we got issues before we formed a committee to go fix everybody else we ought to recognize that we got problems that's the point in Matthew 7 why do you go after the speck in your brother's eye when you got a plank hanging out of your honor why would you think to do that how dare you you you've got the plank and you're going after the speck you form this one-man committee to go and eradicate the specs from all the Brethren's lives and you've got a plank hanging out of your eye Jesus says hypocrite but I also encouraged us to remember other people's remaining sin not so that we can beat them up but so that we can pity them so that we can pray for them we know our problems don't we we don't like it when somebody says I want you to be perfect I can't be I'm a rat unter well so are they how about before we clobber people we stop and reflect a moment that Galatians 5:17 it's true of them as well I'm not suggesting we don't help them with their specs we don't help to extract planks that may be hanging out of their eyes we certainly do that but let's do it in the spirit of gentleness as we are commanded in Galatians chapter 6 we're not the spiritual militia we are not they head unders we are not you know with our bandoleros and our guns blazing brother fix yourself we're dealing with sinners how about some pity some compassion I mean is it Matthew 7:12 applicable here treat others the way you want them to treat you you want them to have compassion on you and to pity you and to realize that your but does you might want to start practicing that toward others again I'm not suggesting no church discipline no testimony at a civil court no echnology who the dogs and pigs are so that we don't throw our pearls before that but in terms of our interpersonal relationships if we're gonna be out there finding specks in people's eyes we need to understand a few things about that whole dynamic it's really wrong to do it when you got a plank hanging out of yours so all that to say bad stuff going on in Judah bad stuff going on in Corinthians and I think it illustrates or underscores for us the power of sin never ever underestimate it as I said it's probably never gonna get easier as you march to heaven sin is never gonna get less powerful that's dare to be Joseph how could I do this great wickedness and sin against God and then finally the motivation behind Josiah's reform I've eluded to this he knew what was coming he knew the destruction was impending he knew both on the reading of the word Deuteronomy 28 and the interpretation of that word by hold out the Prophet tests he had heard the Covenant curses he had heard the prophetic confirmation of the inevitability the King knew Judah was going to be destroyed so why does he do what he does because it's right Ian probin says since Josiah is a pious King hold us Oracle about the future does not deflect Josiah from the path of reform Reformation and the light of the law book is still the right thing to do and Josiah is one who above all others does what is right Ralph Davis says wrath is consuming and coming in certain but Josiah already knew this holders prophecy had made that clear yet he pressed on in fidelity to the Covenant in commitment sacrament and worship but why would it make any eventual difference would at last would it save the nation would it cool God's wrath no to all these but Josiah's is a faithfulness that does not confuse obedient obedience with pragmatism and so pushes on now I would suggest if ever you ever email me for a quote email me for this one his is a faithfulness that does not confuse obedience with pragmatism pragmatism is that we do what we do because it works we do what we do because it produces results we do what we do because we're gonna get something as a result of it not Josiah Josiah is a faithfulness that does not confuse obedience with pragmatism and so pushes on not because it will change anything but simply because God demands it and I love this line obedience without incentives is likely genuine obedience without incentives is likely genuine when your kid just does what you tell them without the promise of pie without the promise of the park without the promise of money that obedience is likely genuine and that's the kind of obedience the people of God ought to produce he says Mary and the anointing in Bethany in mark 14 8 remember that scene woman anoints the feet of Jesus or the head of Jesus the disciples are just perplexed why why didn't she take the money spent on that oil and give it to the poor what does Jesus say and you're right I hadn't thought of that never dawned on me that the poor were there and they stood in need no he says leave her alone she did what she could that's what Josiah did what he could he wasn't gonna stay the wrath of God he wasn't gonna stop the wrath of God he couldn't deflect the inevitability of judgment but he did what he could let us be like that woman who pours the oil upon the head of the Savior and like Josiah and do what we can to advance the cause of Christ and truth in this world well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you for the fact that you have given it to us you've not left us as orphans in the world you've provided the Holy Spirit and you've provided this wonderful truth this God revealed word we pray that you would help us to take it to heart help us as individuals and families and as a church to seek Reformation and to honor you in the way that we conduct ourselves always realizing we won't go to heaven because of the way we conduct ourselves that solely and alone because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on our behalf go with us give us grace and this coming week helped us to honor you and to praise you and to be faithful witnesses to you and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you