1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,600 Second Kings, Chapter 22, that's in the Old Testament, kind of closer toward the front 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,920 part of your Bible. 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:20,380 When you read through the books of Kings and Chronicles, which are very similar, not too 4 00:00:20,380 --> 00:00:26,720 much difference there, you read about a lot of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 5 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:31,120 And Israel, they never had a good king. 6 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:33,360 Every king that Israel ever had. 7 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:39,800 When God's people split into two different groups, Israel never had a good king. 8 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,080 Judah had a few good kings. 9 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:44,320 Not many, but they had a few good kings. 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,560 One of those good kings they had was Hezekiah. 11 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:48,840 I'd encourage you to read his story. 12 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:53,540 You can flip back a few chapters before where this is and you can read about Hezekiah. 13 00:00:53,540 --> 00:00:55,880 He was a good king that Judah had. 14 00:00:55,880 --> 00:01:01,560 And from the time of Hezekiah to Josiah, who we're going to talk about today, there weren't 15 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,080 any good kings in Judah. 16 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,120 But Josiah was a good king. 17 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,300 And we're going to see why he was a good king in this passage today. 18 00:01:12,300 --> 00:01:14,520 So we'll start in verse 1. 19 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,240 We'll read through verse 11. 20 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,280 And then we will pray. 21 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,080 Second Kings, Chapter 22, verse 1. 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:29,480 Josiah was eight years old when he became king and reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. 23 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:35,440 His mother's name was Judiah, the daughter of Adaiah. 24 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,980 She was from Boschath. 25 00:01:37,980 --> 00:01:42,880 He did what was right in the Lord's sight and walked in all the ways of his ancestor 26 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:43,880 David. 27 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,240 He did not turn to the right or to the left. 28 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:54,280 In the 18th year of King Josiah, the king sent the court secretary, Shafan, son of Azaliah, 29 00:01:54,280 --> 00:02:00,000 son of Meschilam, to the Lord's temple, saying, Go up to Hilkiah, the high priest, so that 30 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:05,160 he may total up the money brought into the Lord's temple, the money the doorkeepers have 31 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,100 collected from the people. 32 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:13,680 It is to be put into the hands of those doing the work, those who oversee the Lord's temple. 33 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:19,860 They in turn are to give it to the workmen in the Lord's temple to repair the damage. 34 00:02:19,860 --> 00:02:25,600 They are to give it to the carpenters, builders, and masons to buy timber and corage stone 35 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:27,820 to repair the temple. 36 00:02:27,820 --> 00:02:33,460 But no accounting is to be required from them for the money they put into their hands since 37 00:02:33,460 --> 00:02:35,800 they work with integrity. 38 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:40,960 Hilkiah, the high priest, told Shafan, the court secretary, I have found the book of 39 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:46,200 the law in the Lord's temple, and he gave the book to Shafan, who read it. 40 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:51,720 Then Shafan, the court secretary, went to the king and reported, Your servants have 41 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:56,360 emptied out the money that was found in the temple and have put it into the hand of those 42 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:00,560 doing the work, those who oversee the Lord's temple. 43 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:05,600 Then Shafan, the court secretary, told the king, Hilkiah, the priest, has given me a 44 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:06,840 book. 45 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,200 And Shafan read it in the presence of the king. 46 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:15,080 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 47 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:16,080 Let's pray. 48 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,480 Father God, we come to you. 49 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:21,160 I pray, God, that you would hide me behind the cross, that you would help me to preach 50 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,680 your word in a way, dear Lord, that's going to bring glory to you, God. 51 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:29,360 I'm incapable of saying a single word that's worth anything, God, if it does not come from 52 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:30,360 you. 53 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,440 So I pray, dear Lord, that your Holy Spirit would speak through me and to each one of 54 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,120 us today, that we would hear from you, God, that we would hear your word, that we would 55 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:43,080 long to grow in your word and read your word, that your word would be an important part 56 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:47,240 of our life, dear Lord, that we would continue to seek your word day in and day out. 57 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,880 So God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would be with us today. 58 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,000 In Jesus' name I pray it. 59 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,000 Amen. 60 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:55,000 Amen. 61 00:03:55,000 --> 00:04:00,080 God's people were in a bad shape by the time we are getting to this passage of Scripture 62 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:01,080 here. 63 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,440 God had been patient with his people for quite some time. 64 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,720 The northern ten tribes of Israel had already fallen. 65 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:13,360 They had been overtaken by the Assyrians some years before because of their disobedience. 66 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:19,960 However, because Judah had some of those good kings, Hezekiah being one of note, God was 67 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:23,560 patient with the people of Judah a little bit longer. 68 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,640 In the days of Hezekiah, he spoke up and did what was right by the Lord in the same way 69 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:29,880 that Josiah did. 70 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:35,480 And so God was patient with the people of Judah a little bit longer. 71 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,320 But times were not good. 72 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,520 And this would soon be the end of the people of Judah. 73 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:46,440 It would not be long after King Josiah that the nation of Judah would fall and that God's 74 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,760 people would be taken into captivity into Babylon. 75 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:52,640 That's what we see in the book of Daniel. 76 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:54,880 But there's one little glimmer of hope. 77 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,440 There's one little bright spot right here at the end of Judah. 78 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,640 And that is King Josiah. 79 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:02,840 So things were bad. 80 00:05:02,840 --> 00:05:04,460 God's people were worshiping idols. 81 00:05:04,460 --> 00:05:06,040 They were worshiping false gods. 82 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,520 They just they were not doing good. 83 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,040 They had not done good. 84 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,800 You and I, we don't always do very good either. 85 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:17,260 They constantly find themselves worshiping idols, worshiping other gods. 86 00:05:17,260 --> 00:05:23,280 And God, Yahweh, their God, the only God, should have been at the center of everything. 87 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:28,660 They should have been worshiping God and focusing on God and having no other gods before Him. 88 00:05:28,660 --> 00:05:30,560 That's what He commanded them. 89 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:31,920 But they didn't do that. 90 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,800 They would do it for a while and then they wouldn't do it. 91 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,640 And what they needed was good, strong leadership. 92 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:43,140 What they needed were good kings and good priests, but very seldom did they have that. 93 00:05:43,140 --> 00:05:47,640 And so we see kind of the trouble when we read through this passage. 94 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:49,160 The temple was in bad shape. 95 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:50,160 Why? 96 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,080 Because God's people weren't keeping up the temple. 97 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,680 They weren't doing what they should do in the temple. 98 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,200 They weren't taking care of the temple. 99 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,820 They weren't offering sacrifices like they should. 100 00:05:58,820 --> 00:06:01,760 They weren't observing the Passover like they should. 101 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:06,200 All these things that God had commanded them and things that He had instructed them to 102 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:10,340 do, God's people had totally failed. 103 00:06:10,340 --> 00:06:12,120 And then Josiah becomes king. 104 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:13,920 Well, what does he do? 105 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:15,440 He sends word by a secretary. 106 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,160 He says, I want you to go to the temple. 107 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:18,160 I want you to tell Hilki. 108 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:19,600 I want you to tell the priest. 109 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:23,540 I want you to tell the people who oversee the temple that they need to take all the 110 00:06:23,540 --> 00:06:28,320 money that they've gathered up and that they need to hire some workers because the temple 111 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,240 is in bad shape. 112 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:36,080 Now I don't really know how much Josiah knew about God's word and God's commands. 113 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,320 It appears as though maybe not too much. 114 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:44,000 It appears as though that all of God's people or most of them were in pretty bad shape because 115 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,640 he gives this command for them to go and start cleaning up and repairing the temple. 116 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:54,880 And as they begin to clean up the temple and repair things, the priest of the temple finds 117 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:55,880 a book. 118 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:57,280 He finds the book of the law. 119 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:03,080 Now this is most likely what we would refer to as Deuteronomy, either all of it or part 120 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,760 of it that gave a lot of the law and instruction to God's people. 121 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,360 And that tells us that they probably didn't care too much about God's word, that it had 122 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:17,000 somehow got covered up and stuck on a shelf and all of a sudden out of the blue, the priest 123 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:18,000 says, oh, wait a minute. 124 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:19,560 What is this book? 125 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:21,440 They rediscovered the book of the law. 126 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:27,360 Now you would think that God's people, that God loves, that God has called, that God has 127 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:32,120 instructed, that God has sent prophets to, that God has given the law through Moses to 128 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:33,120 his people. 129 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:37,480 You would think that the people would say, okay, if God is our God and he's given us 130 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:41,700 instruction, let us always live by that instruction. 131 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:46,960 But it doesn't appear when we get to this portion of Judah's history that they were 132 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:49,000 living by God's word at all. 133 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:50,000 Why? 134 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:51,000 Because they'd lost it. 135 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,800 They didn't even know it was there. 136 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,520 They started cleaning up and they come across this old book and dusted it off and they said, 137 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,180 wait a minute, look at this scroll right here. 138 00:07:59,180 --> 00:08:00,340 This is God's word. 139 00:08:00,340 --> 00:08:01,560 This is the word of the law. 140 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:02,560 Wait a minute. 141 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:07,920 This is the words that our ancestors have passed down through all these years and praise 142 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:08,920 the Lord. 143 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,360 They recognized that it was significant. 144 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:19,440 So Hillkeye sends it back by Shefan, sends it back to Josiah and says, look, Josiah, 145 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:21,600 everything's going pretty good. 146 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:23,220 Everything is going pretty good. 147 00:08:23,220 --> 00:08:27,240 Those guys that you wanted to repair the temple, the repairs are going well. 148 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:32,560 And oh, by the way, when we started repairing the temple, when things started to be cleaned 149 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:37,260 up, we discovered this book of the law. 150 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:41,220 And then he proceeded to read it to Josiah. 151 00:08:41,220 --> 00:08:44,240 And listen to what Josiah does here in verse 11. 152 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:51,680 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 153 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:53,760 Now why in the world would he do that? 154 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:55,600 Why in the world would he tear his clothes? 155 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,440 Well, we see this language from time to time in the Old Testament, even in the New Testament 156 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:06,240 song, that people would tear their clothes or that they would put on sackcloth and ashes. 157 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,080 A lot of times you kind of see these same things together. 158 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:14,600 And all of these things, the action of tearing our clothes or putting on sackcloth and ashes, 159 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,360 all of those actions are representative of something. 160 00:09:18,360 --> 00:09:22,840 And they're representative of repentance. 161 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:31,600 When Josiah heard the words of the law, he knew instantly that God's people were sinning. 162 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,720 He knew instantly that they had not been living by the words of the law. 163 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,200 That leaves me to believe he probably didn't know the words of the law. 164 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:45,880 That as important as God's words were, that God had spoken to Moses, that God had given 165 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:51,500 the Ten Commandments, that God had given the stone tablets and some 600 plus other laws, 166 00:09:51,500 --> 00:09:55,600 that God had given through Moses, that God had given to his people, that his people knew 167 00:09:55,600 --> 00:09:58,880 that his people should have been living by. 168 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:05,440 And yet, throughout the years, as time had gone on, God's people, it appeared, had completely 169 00:10:05,440 --> 00:10:09,320 forgotten the word of God. 170 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,600 Praise the Lord that Josiah rediscovered the word of God. 171 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:19,440 And when the word of God was read to Josiah, Josiah tore his clothes. 172 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:20,440 Why? 173 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:22,200 Because he knew that he had done wrong. 174 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,760 He knew that God's people had done wrong. 175 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:26,480 He knew that they were in a bad shape. 176 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:31,680 He knew that what he had just heard, that God had called them to, they had failed at 177 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:37,960 miserably, and they had sinned miserably, and they were still in their sin. 178 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:43,320 And when he heard the word of God, he tore his clothes because he knew he was guilty. 179 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,160 He knew he was sinful. 180 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:50,720 Continuing on in verse 12, then he commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahicham son of Shefan, 181 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:56,880 Achbar son of Micaiah, Shefan the court secretary, and the king servant, Asiah. 182 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:02,920 Go and inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and all Judah about the instruction 183 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,520 in this book that has been found. 184 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:11,780 For great is the Lord's wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not 185 00:11:11,780 --> 00:11:19,120 obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us. 186 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,920 So Josiah understood that they were in big trouble. 187 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:23,920 Why? 188 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:28,160 Because the commands that God gave to his people, the instructions that God gave to 189 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,640 his people were very clear. 190 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,080 God says, if you will live in obedience to me, if you will follow my commands, and if 191 00:11:35,080 --> 00:11:39,560 you will follow my instructions, I will bless you. 192 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:45,040 So many times God did bless Israel and bless the people of Judah, but that wasn't all 193 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:46,840 of God's command. 194 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:51,400 God also said, if you don't live according to my commands, if you don't live in obedience 195 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,240 to me, then I will curse you. 196 00:11:55,240 --> 00:12:00,220 And Josiah understood when he heard the words of the law that they had not been living by 197 00:12:00,220 --> 00:12:06,280 the command of God, and he knew very well what it said, that God's wrath would be upon 198 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,120 them, that a curse would be upon them. 199 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:13,140 And Josiah said, look, we must figure out what's going on here. 200 00:12:13,140 --> 00:12:17,060 We must get all the people together, and we must try to right this ship. 201 00:12:17,060 --> 00:12:19,640 We must try to refocus on the word of God. 202 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:27,240 We must try to refocus on the commands of God, because we are not living by those commands. 203 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,440 And so Josiah sent word to a prophetess in the area. 204 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:33,060 Huldah is her name. 205 00:12:33,060 --> 00:12:40,120 If you want to skip down a few verses, if you want to skip down to verse 18, he sent 206 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:45,240 people to Huldah, the prophetess, to figure out what was going on, to get some instruction, 207 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,680 to get some guidance here. 208 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:49,740 In verse 18, it says this. 209 00:12:49,740 --> 00:12:50,920 This is Huldah speaking here. 210 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:55,200 Say this to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord. 211 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,680 This is what the Lord God of Israel says. 212 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:02,680 I ask for the words that you heard, what I spoke against. 213 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:07,800 Excuse me, lost my place. 214 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:12,840 Ask for the words that you heard, because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself 215 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:18,960 before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, 216 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:22,640 that they would become a desolation and a curse. 217 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:28,200 And because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard you. 218 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:30,040 This is the Lord's declaration. 219 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:35,480 Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your 220 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:37,000 grave in peace. 221 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:42,240 Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place. 222 00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:46,320 When they reported to the king. 223 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:47,560 What does the prophetess say here? 224 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:52,480 She tells Josiah, she says, look, because your heart was broken, because your heart 225 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:58,800 was humbled, because when you heard the word of God, you responded in a proper way with 226 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:04,580 a heart of repentance, and you tore your clothes because your heart was humbled before God, 227 00:14:04,580 --> 00:14:08,360 God sees that, and God's going to take care of you. 228 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:09,360 Why did she say that? 229 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,680 Because God was about to bring destruction and devastation on his people. 230 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:14,680 Why? 231 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:17,600 Because they were not living by the word of God. 232 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:22,000 Now we see that Josiah, when he heard the word of God, that he humbled himself, that 233 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:27,880 his heart was genuinely changed, that he repented of his sins, but that doesn't appear at all 234 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:30,600 to be the case for the rest of God's people. 235 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:35,280 Now certainly there was a bit of a revival during this time when Josiah was there with 236 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:38,280 the people and they read the word of God to the people. 237 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:43,200 There was some response to the people there, but there really wasn't the real change that 238 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:44,680 needed to occur. 239 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:52,520 There was a momentary change, but not a real genuine change of heart like we see in Josiah. 240 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:54,480 And that's what God really desired. 241 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,560 That's what God really desires in you and I, that our hearts would really be changed 242 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,000 when we hear his word. 243 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,940 But let me ask you this question today. 244 00:15:04,940 --> 00:15:08,440 How many of us have forgotten God's word? 245 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:13,280 How many of us leave God's word tucked away on a shelf somewhere and haven't read it in 246 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:16,480 days or weeks or months or years? 247 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:20,440 And you know what happens when we don't read the word of God? 248 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,440 We don't live by the word of God because we don't know the word of God. 249 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:30,360 And when we don't live by the word of God, we find ourselves in a whole lot of trouble. 250 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,520 Maybe for us today we need to rediscover the word of God. 251 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:37,040 Josiah rediscovered the word of God. 252 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:41,200 God's people rediscovered the word of God. 253 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,400 And maybe for some of us today we need to be in the word of God. 254 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,880 Maybe you've read it before, maybe you haven't read it in a long time, maybe you don't ever 255 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:49,880 read God's word. 256 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:54,040 Well, today is a good day to begin to read the word of God. 257 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:58,440 To let God's word begin to speak to us, if we are going to be God's people and live by 258 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:03,360 God's commands and live for God, then how are we going to do so if we don't know the 259 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,560 word of God and what God commands us to? 260 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:12,400 There is nothing more beautiful that we have in our presence in this life than God's word. 261 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:15,960 On this earth, this is the most beautiful thing that we can put our hands on, that we 262 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:22,020 can possess, that God has given us, and that is His very word. 263 00:16:22,020 --> 00:16:26,440 Too many times we sit it on a shelf somewhere, we sit it in a closet somewhere, we don't 264 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,880 even take it home with us, we leave it on the pew on Sunday, and too many times we don't 265 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,160 read the word of God, and when we hear the word of God, even worse, we don't listen to 266 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,800 the word of God. 267 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:42,060 But if we want to be God's people who are going to live by God's word, we have to know 268 00:16:42,060 --> 00:16:43,920 God's word. 269 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:48,200 So maybe there are some of us today that need to rediscover the word of God in our life. 270 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:53,000 I'll tell you that whenever I read God's word, I feel a lot better than when I'm not reading 271 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,280 God's word. 272 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:57,040 When I don't read God's word, I don't feel good. 273 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,160 When I don't read God's word, I don't act right, but when I do read God's word, it makes 274 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:03,800 me feel good. 275 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,040 Even when I'm reading the stuff that really convicts me. 276 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:09,860 Now sometimes you'll read God's word and there'll be stuff in there and it's like, whoa, that's 277 00:17:09,860 --> 00:17:10,860 heavy stuff. 278 00:17:10,860 --> 00:17:12,440 Whoa, that really convicts me. 279 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:14,640 Whoa, that really brings some fear into my life. 280 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:15,640 Praise the Lord. 281 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,000 Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, the scripture says. 282 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,800 And all the beauty that we see in God's word, not just the stuff that convicts us, but just 283 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:24,980 the encouraging word. 284 00:17:24,980 --> 00:17:31,420 The wonderful stories we see of how God works and the love of God and the love of Jesus 285 00:17:31,420 --> 00:17:32,420 Christ. 286 00:17:32,420 --> 00:17:36,280 These are things that we see in God's word and that is why we should be in God's word 287 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:37,280 day after day. 288 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,200 That's why we come here week after week, hearing some of the same scriptures maybe that we've 289 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:46,000 heard our whole life a hundred times, but yet we come to continue to hear and listen 290 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:47,320 to the word of God. 291 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:48,320 Why? 292 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,680 Hopefully it's because we need God's word in our life and we know that. 293 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,800 And we come to seek God's word because we know that there is nothing else in our life 294 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:02,760 that is going to lead us in the right direction other than the word of God. 295 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:08,640 So maybe today we're guilty, just as the people of Judah were guilty, of not listening to 296 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:13,160 the word of God, of not reading the word of God. 297 00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:15,920 We need to be a church, brothers and sisters in Christ. 298 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:21,080 We need to be a people who read God's word and make an effort to read God's word and 299 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,520 take time to read God's word. 300 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,520 There's never been a time in my life when things were not going good, when my attitude 301 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,520 wasn't right, where I was depressed, where I was worried, where I was angry, where I 302 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:33,720 was whatever I was. 303 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:38,220 There's never been a time that I did not read God's word, that it did not lift me up. 304 00:18:38,220 --> 00:18:39,220 It will. 305 00:18:39,220 --> 00:18:43,480 If we take the time to read the word of God, it will meet us where we are and speak to 306 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,240 us in the way that we need to be spoken to. 307 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:51,240 It's amazing how once we begin to get into the word of God, that God uses that in our 308 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:52,240 life. 309 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:53,240 You begin to read the word of God. 310 00:18:53,240 --> 00:18:56,900 It's amazing how many opportunities and how many situations that something will come up 311 00:18:56,900 --> 00:19:01,260 in conversation that will go along or remind you of something that you've read, but you 312 00:19:01,260 --> 00:19:06,200 cannot be reminded of something that you've read if you have not read it. 313 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,720 And so we need to be in the word of God. 314 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,880 And we might be amazed at how much our life would change if we started with just that 315 00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,320 one simple step of rediscovering the word of God. 316 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:19,140 Maybe some of you need to discover it for the first time. 317 00:19:19,140 --> 00:19:20,400 Maybe you've been to church a lot. 318 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,760 Maybe you've got a Bible, but maybe you've never really read it. 319 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,680 Maybe today you need to discover the word of God. 320 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:32,080 Maybe for some of you, you need to rediscover the word of God. 321 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,080 But the question is, once we read the word of God, how do we respond to it? 322 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:39,160 We see how Josiah responded to it. 323 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:40,160 Praise the Lord. 324 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,740 He responded in a right way. 325 00:19:41,740 --> 00:19:44,360 He responded with a heart of repentance. 326 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,280 He tore his clothes. 327 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:50,160 His heart was humbled before God when he heard the word of God. 328 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,660 How did we respond to the word of God? 329 00:19:52,660 --> 00:19:56,000 When we read it, when we hear it preached, how do we respond? 330 00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:01,200 Sometimes, I'm ashamed to say in my life that it's in one ear and out the other. 331 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,560 Maybe that's the case for you too. 332 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:07,060 Maybe there are days that we read it and days that we hear it, but days that we really don't 333 00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:10,600 just sit and focus on it and really eat it up. 334 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:14,680 Maybe there are other days that we really do sit down with the word of God and read 335 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:15,680 it and grow in. 336 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:16,680 Praise the Lord. 337 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:17,680 That's the way it should be. 338 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:20,400 When we read the word of God, it should have an impact on our life. 339 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:21,400 It should affect us. 340 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:22,920 It should affect our attitude. 341 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:24,440 It should affect how we live. 342 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:28,560 It should affect how we treat other people. 343 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:33,600 So we want to be those who, when we hear the word of God, that we respond rightly to the 344 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:34,600 word of God. 345 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:36,440 Praise the Lord, Josiah did. 346 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,920 Josiah is a good example for us. 347 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:43,560 Sadly, however, Josiah's son is not a good example. 348 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:48,960 If Josiah is the example of what to do, then his son Jehoiachim is the example of what 349 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:49,960 not to do. 350 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:51,680 You can read about Jehoiachim. 351 00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:56,680 If you want to, flip with me to Jeremiah chapter 36. 352 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:58,800 Jeremiah chapter 36. 353 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:05,480 You can also read about Jehoiachim and Kings as well, but part of the story we want to 354 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,160 focus on this morning comes from Jeremiah. 355 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:14,240 Jeremiah was a prophet during those times. 356 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:21,040 Josiah was a good king, it tells us, who did what was right in the Lord's sight. 357 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:26,840 Sadly, the apple fell far from the tree when it came to Jehoiachim. 358 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:31,160 He did not follow in his father's footsteps, and he did what was evil in the sight of the 359 00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:32,160 Lord. 360 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,840 It's a very common phrase you see as you begin to study the kings. 361 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:40,560 You see quite often that it says of them that they did what was evil in the sight of the 362 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,880 Lord. 363 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,480 Jeremiah chapter 36 verse 3. 364 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:53,640 Now, you remember in the passage we just read in 2 Kings that God had said that he was going 365 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,200 to bring devastation on God's people. 366 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:01,560 He was going to have some mercy on Josiah because of his obedience, because of his humble 367 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:05,440 heart because of his faith, but he said he was going to bring devastation. 368 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:11,720 Well, fast forward a little bit to the days of Jehoiachim, and God is so patient, and 369 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:16,920 God is so good, and God wants his people to turn, and he is long-suffering. 370 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,960 And even in Jeremiah 36 verse 3, listen to what it says here. 371 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,880 Perhaps when the house of Judah hears about all the disaster I am planning to bring on 372 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:30,840 them, each one of them will turn from his evil way. 373 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,400 Then I will forgive their wrongdoing and their sin. 374 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,160 Okay, so God is speaking to Jeremiah. 375 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:37,600 What is he speaking to Jeremiah? 376 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:40,400 He's saying, I'm about to bring judgment on you. 377 00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:42,720 I'm about to bring destruction on you. 378 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:44,880 You are about to experience my wrath. 379 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,440 That's kind of loosely summing up the book of Jeremiah. 380 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:52,300 This is the message that Jeremiah is bringing to God's people, and what does God say? 381 00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:59,240 He says perhaps, perhaps if God's people hear this message about what's about to occur, 382 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:04,840 maybe they will fear me, maybe they will humble themselves before me, maybe they will repent 383 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:10,360 of their sins, maybe they will tear their clothes like Josiah did, maybe, just maybe, 384 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:18,560 if I send one more prophet with one more word, maybe my people will listen to my word. 385 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,920 That's what God says in Jeremiah chapter 36 verse 3. 386 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:29,720 So through Jeremiah, God sends word to King Jehoiakam, son of Josiah. 387 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,880 Now remember what Josiah did. 388 00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:34,560 When God's word was read to him, what did he do? 389 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:39,560 He tore his clothes, he humbled himself, he repented, he knew that he was doing evil and 390 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:43,960 the Lord sighted him and that God's people were. 391 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:48,640 Listen to what Jehoiakam does when he hears these words of Jeremiah. 392 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:58,080 Go on down to verses 23 and 24, Jeremiah 36, 23 and 24. 393 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:02,720 There's somebody here that's reading these words of God to Jehoiakam, that's what we 394 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,800 see in verse 23. 395 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:11,680 As soon as Jehudi would read three or four columns, Jehoiakam would cut the scroll with 396 00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:17,960 the scribe's knife and throw the columns into the blazing fire until the entire scroll was 397 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,740 consumed by the fire in the brazier. 398 00:24:21,740 --> 00:24:28,720 As they heard all these words, the king and all his servants did not become terrified 399 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:33,680 or fear or excuse me, or tear their garments. 400 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,960 Now that's quite a difference from the response that Josiah had. 401 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:41,880 Josiah heard the word of God and humbled himself before God. 402 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,800 But when Jehoiakam received the scroll that Jeremiah had sent with the word of God, as 403 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:52,360 the guy began to read off the words of Jeremiah to Jehoiakam, Jehoiakam should have said, 404 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,760 God have mercy on us. 405 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:56,560 God forgive us for our evil. 406 00:24:56,560 --> 00:24:59,080 But that's not what he did. 407 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:03,080 As the words were read off to him, he took his knife and every time a few columns were 408 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,640 read, he would take that scroll and he would cut the word of God off and he would throw 409 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:09,000 it into the fire to be burned up. 410 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,400 And the next section would be read and he would cut the word of God off and he would 411 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:14,520 throw it into the fire to be burned up. 412 00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:15,720 And he continued to do this. 413 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:21,680 He would cut it off and throw it into the fire until all of God's word was completely 414 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,480 burned up. 415 00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,960 What does it say of Jehoiakam and the people? 416 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,760 It says that they did not fear God. 417 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,240 They did not tear their garments. 418 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:36,280 They had no regard for the word of God. 419 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:38,080 What about you and I today? 420 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:41,980 Are you going to leave this place being a Josiah or are you going to leave this place 421 00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:43,680 being a Jehoiakam? 422 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:45,120 You say I don't even know how to say that name. 423 00:25:45,120 --> 00:25:47,160 Well, you don't need to know to say the name. 424 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:52,200 You just need to know how to live a better life than Jehoiakam did. 425 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:58,120 When Jehoiakam heard the word of God, he refused to listen to it. 426 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,280 What about us? 427 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,720 Any of you ever been cutting any scriptures out of your Bible? 428 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:05,160 Surely some of you probably do that, huh? 429 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:06,160 Right? 430 00:26:06,160 --> 00:26:09,880 You go through and you just cut out what you don't want and you throw it in the fire. 431 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:11,920 You say I'd never do that. 432 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:12,920 I'd never do that. 433 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,560 I'd never cut the word of God out of my Bible. 434 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:17,600 I'd never do it. 435 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:25,720 But the truth of the matter is maybe we might as well, no more than we listen to them sometime, 436 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:30,160 maybe we might as well cut them out because essentially we're doing the same thing that 437 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:31,160 Jehoiakam did. 438 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,160 No, we might not get a sharp pair of scissors. 439 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:37,320 We might not be cutting the paper, but every time we read the word of God and we hear the 440 00:26:37,320 --> 00:26:42,000 word of God and we completely ignore it and disregard it, we might as well be throwing 441 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:47,240 it into the fire because we've got the same heart as Jehoiakam. 442 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:49,720 We do not want to be those people today. 443 00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:54,200 We do not want to be those people who hear the word of God and the commands of God and 444 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:59,760 the instructions of God and the warnings of God and the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ 445 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:04,900 said Jesus dies for our sins because we are sinners doomed for hell. 446 00:27:04,900 --> 00:27:11,560 We don't want to reject that truth and that word of God because there is no hope for us 447 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:17,400 and our sinfulness once we reject the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 448 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:22,680 And so what we need to do is make an effort to begin to seek God's word, to begin to rediscover 449 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:29,120 God's word, to begin to let God's word be written on the tablet of our heart, that we 450 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:33,560 remember God's word, that we know God's word, that we live by God's word, that we don't 451 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,040 ignore it, that we don't put it in a corner. 452 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,920 It's time for us to open our Bibles if you don't already. 453 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,440 It's time for us to read God's word. 454 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,760 It's time for us to humble ourselves. 455 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:48,240 It's time for us to have a repentant heart. 456 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,920 It's time for us to tear our clothes so to speak. 457 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,900 Now if tearing our clothes was all that was required, we'd all just rip our shirts up 458 00:27:55,900 --> 00:28:00,800 today and we'd be good, but that's not really going to do us any good. 459 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,240 Tearing our clothes off and putting sackcloth and ashes on, that's not really going to do 460 00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:08,400 us any good because what God really wants is our heart to be changed. 461 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:13,200 And certainly those things are signs of repentance in the Bible time and again. 462 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,880 But listen to what God's word says in the book of Joel. 463 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:24,000 In Joel chapter 2 verse 13, God says this, he says, tear your hearts, not just your clothes, 464 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:31,160 and return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, 465 00:28:31,160 --> 00:28:35,680 rich in faithful love, and he relents from sinning disaster. 466 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:41,480 Boy, isn't that a beautiful, beautiful call to us today? 467 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:46,400 That if we recognize today that we are living in sin in our life that we would repent? 468 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,600 God says, I don't care if you tear your clothes. 469 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:50,440 He says, I want you to tear your heart. 470 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,780 I want your heart to be changed. 471 00:28:52,780 --> 00:28:54,720 I want your sins to be forgiven. 472 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:56,800 What does it say? 473 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:04,240 For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich and faithful love. 474 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:05,420 Praise the Lord. 475 00:29:05,420 --> 00:29:09,880 This is the God whom we come to serve today, a God who gives us his word, who gives us 476 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:15,560 instruction so that we can follow his commands, so that we will not be those who live by sin, 477 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:19,800 who are overtaken by sin, who feel hopeless by the things of the world. 478 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:24,760 But even today if we come and we are just as rotten as Israel and just as rotten as 479 00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:30,080 Judah and just as rotten as Jehoiakim, that today that we would be those who would hear 480 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:35,640 God's word and read God's word and we would repent of our sinfulness and know that God 481 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,640 is gracious even to those of us today, a bunch of sinners that are sitting in these pews. 482 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:44,980 What a beautiful call that is to us today. 483 00:29:44,980 --> 00:29:48,600 That we would examine our lives, that we would examine our actions, that we would tear our 484 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:55,240 hearts, that we would repent of our sinfulness, that we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ 485 00:29:55,240 --> 00:30:00,760 and live for him, and that we would seek to live by the word of God. 486 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,640 But we can only live by the word of God if we know the word of God. 487 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:11,360 So let us be those today who are like Josiah, those today who hear the word of God and whose 488 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:16,120 hearts are stirred and whose lives are changed as we humble ourselves before the Lord. 489 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:17,120 Let's pray. 490 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:18,920 Father God, we come to you today. 491 00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:20,080 I thank you for your good word. 492 00:30:20,080 --> 00:30:24,880 I pray, God, that you would help us to do a better job maybe of reading your word. 493 00:30:24,880 --> 00:30:27,600 Maybe we don't do too good a job of it. 494 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:32,120 Maybe we need to dust our Bibles off a little bit, dear Lord. 495 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,400 I pray, God, that you would help us to be those who would seek your word, that we would 496 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,140 not just open it and read it just to say that we've done it, dear Lord, that's not really 497 00:30:40,140 --> 00:30:45,320 going to do us any good, but that we would really sit down, that we'd really begin to 498 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,560 focus on you, dear Lord. 499 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,500 With our heart, we'd begin to call out to you. 500 00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:55,560 With our heart, dear Lord, we'd begin to read your word and live by it, God. 501 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,160 So I pray that you would just help us to do that, dear Lord. 502 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:00,160 Convict us in that way. 503 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:01,600 Encourage us in that way. 504 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,640 God, let us be in your word and receive the blessings from your word, dear Lord. 505 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:06,640 It is a blessing. 506 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,960 So I pray, God, that we would all be those who would read it and live by it. 507 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:14,520 The tough that's hard, the stuff that's tough to read, dear Lord, and the stuff that's encouraging 508 00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:17,560 to us, we've got to read it all, dear Lord, because it's your word. 509 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:22,280 It's going to help shape us into the men and the women that you want us to be. 510 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:27,320 God forgive us on the days that we are like Jehoiakim, dear Lord, because if we are honest, 511 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:32,320 perhaps there are days in our life that we know your word, we know what it says, we know 512 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:35,920 what's wrong, and we just disregard it. 513 00:31:35,920 --> 00:31:38,400 And God, that's a bad place to be. 514 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:41,480 So I pray, God, that you would help us not to do that. 515 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:43,700 Forgive us for when we fail, dear Lord. 516 00:31:43,700 --> 00:31:47,880 But let your Holy Spirit recall your word to our heart that we would remember it at 517 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:49,880 the times that we need to remember it. 518 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:54,840 God, I pray that you'd be with anyone in this room today that may not know Jesus Christ 519 00:31:54,840 --> 00:31:57,080 as their Lord and Savior. 520 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,960 Maybe today for the first time they have heard the word of God, and it has really touched 521 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,840 their heart, God, and they realize that they need to repent of their sins and put their 522 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,000 faith and trust in Jesus. 523 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,520 I pray today that if there are some who have made that decision, that they would repent 524 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,340 in this moment even now, dear Lord, that they're praying to you, that they're giving their 525 00:32:15,340 --> 00:32:19,800 heart to you, dear Lord, that they're ripping it open, dear Lord, exposing all that sin 526 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,880 and giving it to Jesus Christ who died on the cross for them. 527 00:32:22,880 --> 00:32:27,200 God, I pray that you would help those of us in here today, maybe we're yours and maybe 528 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,800 we just failed at reading your word and living by it. 529 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,680 Help us to be faithful to do better as we continue on. 530 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,720 And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 531 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:43,720 Amen.