Revival: Revival Through the Word of God (Part 4)
Alright, we’re there in 2 Kings 23. But I’d like you to flip back to chapter 22 if you would. And if you remember, we’ve been going through a study on Sunday mornings since we opened back up from the lockdown. We’ve been learning about revival. We’ve been studying about revival. We’ve been looking at the passages on revival in the Bible. And we’ve been looking at the revivals in the Bible as well. The main reason for it is because I didn’t want our church to just come back from this time of lockdown but I wanted us to come back revived, wanting us to come back experiencing revival. And if you remember, we started the series by learning what revival is. We learned there from the Book of Psalms, wilt thou not revive us again? That revival is knowing God and making God known. It is knowing God in a deeper sense and making God known in a broad sense. Then we talked about dying to self for revival. And we learned that something cannot be revived until it first dies. And we learned about the principles of dying to self. Last week we talked about revival through the house of God. And we started here with Josiah because Josiah led one of the greatest rivals in the Bible. One of the great revivals in the Bible was led by King Josiah. And we learned last week that it started in the house of God.
Now today we’re going to actually break down the revival of Josiah and we’re going to learn all about what happened in this revival. And we’re going to see that it happened, not only started with the house of God but it continued with the Word of God. And I want you to notice, and we’re going to be in both second Kings 22 and second kings 23 this morning. But I want you to notice that there is a transformation when you study the life of Josiah and the great revival which he led. You will notice that there is a great transformation in the life of Josiah himself. In fact, when he began his reign, he began his reign as a pretty good quote/unquote Christian. And we understand he’s an Old Testament Saint. That’s not a term that would be used but he was a pretty good follower of, believer of God.
2 Kings 22:1 “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath.”. Now notice verse 2 “2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.”. Now when you read the Bible, specifically the Kings & Chronicles, as you go through the stories of the kings of the nation of Israel, the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, you’ll find that often we are given a statement at the end of their lives that kind of sums up their life for us. And usually it tells you whether this guy was a good king or a bad king. They did evil in the sight of the Lord or they did good in the sight of Lord. With Josiah we are actually told when he began. That statement is given to us at the beginning of his life. And that statement is pretty good. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. I mean I don’t know about you, but if my name was mentioned in the Bible and a description of my life was going to be given, and it said that I did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, I think that’s pretty good. I’d be pretty happy with that. That’s a pretty good start.
But I want you to notice that’s where we begin with Josiah. But when we go through, and we’re going to break down the process of revival that happened in his life, when we end with Josiah, we end not just at good but we really end at great. He started off pretty good and he ended great. Notice there in second Kings 23 and look at verse 25. We find the end of the life of Josiah and I want you to notice what the Bible says, because when he started, it says he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. That’s pretty good but notice this description at the end of his life, it’s pretty great. 2 Kings 23:25, “25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.”. See, at the beginning of the life of Josiah, we’re told he’s a pretty good guy, he did that which was right in the sight of Lord. At the end of the life of Josiah, we’re told this, that he is a great king. 25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” See, with Josiah, we see a king that starts off pretty good and ends up pretty great. And what happened in between there is what we call revival. Now we learned last week that the revival begins at the house of God. And I’m not going to repeat that but I’d like you to notice there, if you go back to 2nd Kings 22:3 that you must assemble yourself with God’s people if you’re going to experience revival. And we talked about that last week.
Notice verse 3 “3 And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying,”. So, he sends them to the house of the Lord, notice they returned to the house of God and they repaired the house of God. Verse 4 “4 Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people: 5 And let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord: and let them give it to the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house,”. And the word breaches are referring to the parts that are breaking. a part of the house. Notice verse 6 “6 Unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house.”.
So, they returned to the house of God and they began to repair the house of God. And we realized that in this story, they literally returned to the house of God like no one had gone to the temple, to the house of God, in many years. And they literally began to physically repair the temple. The house of God had broken up. It had been damaged and they began to actually clean it up and to repair it. And we understand from last week’s sermon that the house of God today is the Church of the Living God, which is the Assembly of believers. It’s not a building. And we can learn from this, spiritually as we return to the house of God then we must also begin to repair the house of God spiritually in our lives. But we see that Josiah literally, physically returned to the house of God. And literally, physically began to repair the temple, the house of God. Began to fix it, began to clean it up. And while they were there, and while they did that, I want you to notice what they found.
Look at verse 8 “8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.”. See, when they stopped going to the house of God, alongside with that, they actually lost the Word of God. Josiah becomes the King at a time when the house of God is in disarray and when the word of God has begun to go by the wayside. No one’s preaching the Word of God. No one’s reading the Word of God. No one’s being led by the Word of God. There are still people like Josiah who understand that their God is the God of the heavens. That they are a people that are to be peculiar and he’s doing his best to follow God. And the Bible tells us that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. But I want you understand that he is doing this, he is doing these things without the Word of God because they actually lost the Word of God. And when they went back to the house of God and began to clean it up, to repair it, they actually found the Bible. That’s why verse 8 says “8 And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.”. I want you to notice those last four words there “and he read it”.
They found the Bible and they began to read it, Like I already mentioned to you, Josiah began as a good Christian, he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And the Bible says that he turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all the soul, and with all his might. And so, what was the difference? And I would submit to you this morning, from the Bible that the difference was the Word of God. The difference was the Word of God. See, Josiah was trying to serve God without the Word of God. And here’s the thing, Josiah was trying to serve God because he literally, physically did not have the Bible. They did not know where the Bible was. They found it under the rubble. They found it under the destruction of the house of God. But do you know that today there are many Christians, in fact I would say that the vast majority of people who claim the name of Jesus today, who call themselves Christians, who claim that they put faith in Jesus Christ, and I’m not doubting their salvation, I’m just saying, do you understand that the vast majority of Christians today who say “I’m a Christian. I’m a follower of God”, is attempting to be a follower of God without the Word of God. You say, what do you mean? We have the Bible.
Yeah, but you know here’s the sad truth, most Christians don’t read the Bible. You know, the sad truth is that most churches you go to, you don’t really get to learn a lot of the Bible. You say, how can that be? I don’t know how that can be. I can just tell you this, score after score after score after score of testimony of people telling us, I went to this church for a year, I went to this church for five years, I went to search for 10 years, and I just learned the Bible. And today many Christians are attempting to live out the Christian life, their hearts are in the right place, they want to do that which is right in the sight of Lord, but they’re attempting to do it like Josiah was, of tending to do it without the Bible. And I would submit to you this morning that the difference between the good Christian who’s doing their best to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord, and the great revived Christian who the Bible would say “they turned to the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their might”, the difference between those two is the Word of God. And specifically, and I’m not just saying the Word of God in a spiritual sense, I’m saying specifically the fact that they actually read the Bible.
And here’s the point of the sermon, and if you fall asleep or you have to leave early or whatever I’ll just give it to you up front, the point is this, there is a huge difference, there is a world of difference between a Christian who reads the Bible and a Christian who doesn’t. In fact, there are really only two types of Christians. I’m talking about people that are actually saved, who have put their faith in Christ, called upon him for salvation, there are really two types of Christian in this world. Those who read the Bible and those who don’t. Those who have decided to find the Bible, get the Bible, read the Bible, study the Bible, search the scriptures, there are those types of Christians. And then there are the types of Christians who say “Hey I’m saved. I love God. I’m trying to do the best I can and I’m going to do right in the side of Lord but they’re actually not reading the Bible.”.
And the goal for me for you today is this, the whole purpose of service is for you to leave here motivated to become the type of Christian who actually, literally, physically every day picks up their Bible, opens it up, and reads it. Because there’s a world of difference, there’s a world of difference. And here’s the thing, I’m not picking on you if you’re here today and you say “I don’t read it”. I’m not picking on you. I’m just telling you that you cannot experience revival, you cannot experience a transformation in your life without the Word of God. Revival requires the house of God and revival requires the Word of God. So, let’s talk about what happened in the life of Josiah. What that revival was connected to, his reading of the word of God. What happened in his life? Well number one, and I’m going to give you several points, I’m going to give you four thoughts this morning in regards to Bible reading and the difference between a believer who reads the Bible and one who does not. And I would say and I encourage you to write these down. #1 Bible reading will affect your spiritual life. Bible reading affected the spiritual life of Josiah. I want you to notice, very interesting in verse eight, they found the Word of God, they began to read the Word of God.
Notice verse 10, “10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.”. Now keep in mind, this is the first time that Josiah has had somebody take the Bible and read it to him, take scripture and read it to him, take the Word of God and read it to him. “11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.”. This was a sign of repentance. This was a sign of humility. In the Old Testament, when people would rent their clothes, it is because they were in sorrow. They were in distress. Here you have Josiah hearing the Bible for the first time. He heard the words of the book of the law. There’s the man who we were just told did that which was right in the sight of Lord. But he heard the word of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. “12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,”. Notice what he said in verse 13 “13 Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me,” That means to ask for information. “and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found:”.
Notice Josiah’s response. They find the word of God and begin to read it and he hears and understands the word of God. And then he says this, I need you to go inquire the Lord for me and for the people and for all true Judah concerning the words of this book regarding what I’ve just read, what I just heard in the Bible, that is found. It says “for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.”. You know the difference between a Christian who reads the Bible and a Christian who doesn’t is? You know what the major overarching theme that we hear from people, who maybe come to this church, they’re saved, they love the Lord, they’ve been trying to serve God with their lives. Maybe they move here or they come here from a different church and they actually begin to learn the Bible. You know what people realize when they begin to read and study and actually get to the Bible? They realize there’s a lot of things we’re doing wrong. There’s a lot of things in the Bible I didn’t know about. Josiah was actually trying to serve God. He was doing that which was right in the sight of the Lord. But when they actually found the Bible and read the Bible he said, great is the wrath of the Lord because we have not hearkened unto the words of this book to do according unto all which is written concerning us.
See the truth is this, keep your place there in 2 Kings. Go to Matthew 7. There are two types of Christians in this world. And please understand this, I’m not saying this in an arrogant way or to make you feel bad. I’m just telling you there are two types of Christians in this world, those who read the Bible and those who don’t read the Bible and go along their merry way trying to do the best they can, thinking they’re serving the Lord, trying to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. And then those who actually find the Bible, begin to read the Bible, begin to study the Bible, begin to have a high priest read it to them, and explain to them, and they have the response that Josiah has which is this, well there’s a lot in there that we’re not doing. There’s a lot in there that God expects from us, there’s a lot in there that I didn’t know God wanted me to have a marriage that way, I didn’t know God wanted me to raise my children that way, I didn’t know God wanted me to do certain things, and act certain ways, because I didn’t read the Bible, because I didn’t know the Bible. There’s a world of difference, there’s a world of difference between the Christian husband who reads his Bible and the Christian husband who does not. There’s a world of difference between the Christian wife who reads her Bible and the Christian wife who does not. There is a world of difference between what you will produce as parents, when you are a father, when you are a mother, who reads the Bible and understands the Bible and follows the instructions that the Bible has for you; as a parent whose heart may be in the right place but there’s a world of difference.
Jesus said it this way in Matthew 7:24. Jesus gave this exact same illustration in a very famous way. He says this, “24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,”. Jesus just got done giving the Word of God. He said “whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,” And here’s the key “and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”. Jesus said, if you were the type of Christian who hears the words of God, and by the way, it’s not enough just to hear what you got to do as I said, we’ve got to do them. It’s not enough to hear the words of God. James said hey, don’t be a forgetful hearers. Don’t be the type of person that looks in the mirror of the word of God and forgets what he heard. And goes on his way. We have to do what the Bible tells us to do. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth that thou may do according to all that is written therein. We’re supposed to do what the Bible tells us. The secret things belong to the Lord our God but those which are revealed belong unto us and to our children that we may do all the words of this law. It’s not enough to hear it. You come to a church like this and have us teach you and instruct you from the Word of God. Hey here’s what you need to do, here’s where you need to go, here’s what God expects from you, here’s how God wants you to live your life, it’s not if they hear it, if you hear it and then don’t go do it. You need to do it.
But Jesus said this, 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;”. You know that life has its storms. My life gets difficult from time to time. Let the storms of life come upon us. You say, what is different between a Christian who gets overwhelmed by the storm and one that survives the storm. Well according to Jesus, the difference is “he that heareth my sayings and doeth them, he is a wise man that built his house upon the rock”. What’s the rock? Jesus Christ. The Word of God. Notice verse 26, “26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,”. There are a different group people that hear these sayings of mine and doeth them not. “shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”. What’s the difference between a Christian who survives a storm and a Christian who has his house fall in the midst of the storm? It’s one thing, the Word of God. Whether they hear it, and whether they apply it, and whether they actually practice it, they actually do. What took Josiah from good to great, from a man who did that which was right in the sight of the Lord to a man who the Bible says “There was no one before him and nobody after him who turned to God with all their heart, with all her soul, with all her might”. What was the difference? It was the Word of God. He started reading the Bible and he realized “Wow, we’re doing it all wrong. We’re not doing it right. There’s lots of things we’re doing wrong. God expects us to fix certain things. Go back to 2nd Kings 23.
What’s the difference between a Christian who reads the Bible and one who doesn’t? Well, number one, the one who reads his Bible, well, it’ll affect the spiritual life because a Christian who reads the Bible realizes I don’t have it all put together. And I’m missing major parts here. Maybe this is why my life is a mess, maybe this is why the house of God is destroyed. Just I would say, maybe this is why the hand of God hasn’t been upon us, maybe this is why the blessing of God hasn’t been upon us. Because we haven’t been reading the Bible.
There’s a second thing. Not only will the Bible reading affect your spiritual life, Bible reading will affect your soul-winning. Notice what happens to Josiah when he begins to read the Bible. All of a sudden, he gets a burden for the lost, all of a sudden, he gets a burden for those who have not heard what he just heard. 2 Kings 23:1 “And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. 2 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great:” Not just the rich but also the poor. Not just the powerful but also the weak. Not just those of status but also those of no status. “and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord.”.
Let me tell you something, when Josiah began to read Bible, not only did he realize that he needed to fix some things in my life, not only did he realize there’s some things I’m not doing right, there’s some things that I’m missing, there’s some things that I need to be doing, I need to do that. But he realized there are some things that others need to hear. He went and gathered people together and said hey, you got to hear this. Oh, you just want the politicians? No, I want the princes and the prophets, I want the small and the great, I want everyone to hear this. What’s the difference? Sometimes people come to church like this “I don’t know, I don’t really care about the laws. I’m just not motivated on evangelism”. I’ll tell you exactly what the problem is. And I’m not mad at you, I’m just telling you what the problem is. You’re not reading your Bible. If you read the Bible, you know what the Bible reveals to you? The heart of God. You know what the heart of God is? Evangelism. You know what the heart of God is? That all the earth may know. You know what the heart of God is? To go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. When Josiah began to read the Bible, he realized, hey, I don’t just need this, there’s a whole world out there that needs this Bible. Reading affected his spiritual life. Bible reading affected his soul winning.
But you notice thirdly, Bible reading affected his separation. Look at 2 Kings 23:4. Notice the separation of the house of God. I’m going to preach an entire sermon on revival and separation in several weeks but I’ll just quickly give you some thoughts on separation here. When we talk about separation, I want you to notice separation is not, separation is not this hypocritical, legalistic “I’m better than you are because I’m better at keeping rules”. That is not separation. That’s not biblical separation. That’s what the Amish do and that might be what a lot of fundamental Baptists do. But that’s not what God calls us to do. Separation is something that happens, that begins in your heart and flows out into your life. Separation is when we realize that the things of the world, that the sinful things, that the things of the flesh, are not pleasing to the Lord. See, we like to emphasize how separated we are from the world, and look at how good of a Christian I am because my haircuts shorter than your haircut or my wife’s skirt is longer than your wife’s skirt. Whatever.
But what Bible separation is, separation yes from the world, but it’s separation from the world unto God. When we separate from the world unto God, you know what we lose? The pride, the arrogance, the comparing themselves among themselves, measuring themselves by themselves. When you separate from the world just so that “Let me show you how good of I am. Let me show you how many times I go soul-winning. How often do you go soul-winning brother? How many times did you read the Bible?”. That’s the flesh. When you separate yourself from the world unto God, humility comes with that. Because the closer you get to God, the more problems you realize you have. The more of God you realize you need. We see separation in the house of God. 2 Kings 23:4 “4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door,”. Notice, he’s commanding the priest and he’s commanding the house of God. Notice, “to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord”.
Okay, the temple of the Lord is the house of God. Josiah just started reading the Bible and he realized whoa, there are some major problems going on here. And one of the first things he does is he gives an order to bring forth out of the temple. Oh Lord. Notice “all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven:”. See, in the house of God, they had actually brought in vessels and instruments to worship false gods. And nobody thought anything of it. Nobody thought it was even wrong. Nobody was reading the Bible. And when Josiah read the Bible, he said no, we got to remove, we got to bring forth out of the temple the Lord, “all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven:”.
And what did he do? Notice. “and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.”. Look at verse 6, “6 And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord,”. They’d actually created a garden in the house of God to worship false gods. He brought out the grove of the house of the Lord “without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.”.
See the difference, you say what’s the difference between a Christian who reads the Bible and Christian who doesn’t? A Christian who reads the Bible, realizes God expects separation from us? A Christian who reads the Bible realizes that we cannot just worship God in any way. A Christian who reads the Bible realizes that we must worship God both in spirit and in truth. “Oh, you guys are these fundamentals, right? Let me tell you something, any church that thinks that they can worship God with a rock and roll band and the world’s music, you say what’s wrong with them? There’s probably a lot of problems wrong with them. But I’ll tell you one of them right now. Nobody’s reading the Bible. Because if you read the Bible, you realize that God does not want you to be conformed to this world. You realize that God says to not love the world, neither the things that are in the world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, it’s not of the Father but it’s of the world. You say what’s the big deal? The big deal is this, when you begin to read the Bible, you realize God wants us to be separated. We can’t just worship God with anything. We can’t just bring anything into the house of God. “Ah worship Baal”. See, they brought in the Groves, they brought in the idols, they brought in the Baal worship.
When they weren’t reading the Bible, the fundamental Baptist shows up and says “Hey, how about we read the Bible. We got to get rid of some of these things. We need to clean this place up.”. Notice, Josiah says, I began to call out the false prophet. Look at verse five. “5 And he put down the idolatrous priests,”. And by the way, let me just say this, let me just say this, people often talk about Josiah’s revival, the great revival, but when you actually begin to break down what happened in Josiah’s revival, a lot of people aren’t going to want this. I mean Josiah had a great revival. Praise the Lord. Okay, let’s see what actually happened during his revival. Well, I don’t know about all this. Look at verse 5, “5 And he put down the idolatrous priests,”. There were priests who were worshipping idols and teaching others to worship idols. “5 And he put down the idolatrous priests,”.
Look at verse 8 “8 And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense,”. The priests that were burning incense and worshiping other Gods, he brought them out of the city and he defiled their places. Look at verse 16 “16 And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchers that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers,”. He’s talking about false prophets that caused the children of Israel to sin who were already dead and had been buried in a place of honor. And Josiah said get their bones out of here. He spied their sepulchers. He said go find me all the sepulchers, the fancy burying places of all these false prophets that were there in the Mount. “and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchers, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words.”. He said it sounds like Josiah has a bad attitude. No, you know what you just never experienced a Christian who actually reads the Bible, actually knows what the Bible says in verse 20. “20 And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.”.
See, when a Christian actually begins to read the Bible, they have no patience for false prophets. They begin to realize; these are the enemies of the Lord. These preachers are preaching a false gospel. We shouldn’t respect it. We shouldn’t accept it. We shouldn’t just act like, oh it’s fine, it’s no big deal. These are men. They needed to be marked. They needed to be avoided. Go to Romans chapter 16 if you would. My good friend pastor Thompson up in Vancouver, he’s really good at this. I’m not that great. I always missed these opportunities. But he sent me a text and he said my Ravi Zacharias sermon is going mini-viral. It had like 10,000 views or something. He just posted it and I don’t know if you know who Ravi Zacharias is but he’s a false prophet and he recently died. And he preached against him and pastor Thompson does these things. And you know, I think it’s fine, you know what, Billy Graham was a false prophet. And when Billy Graham died, he preached a sermon against Billy Graham. You say, oh I think Billy Graham is good. Look, Billy Graham taught a hardcore repent of your sins gospel. When you teach people, you have to turn away from your sins in order to be saved, you’re not saved. And not only that, Billy Graham and his Crusades would have people walk down the aisle and they would ask them, and look this is documented, “Oh, are you a Catholic?”. And they connect them with a Catholic priest. “Oh, you’re a Mormon”. And they’d have a Mormon there to talk to him. Pastor Thompson preached a sermon against it had like 180,000 views or 200,000 views, something crazy. And when you go on his channel, you look at these videos and you read the comments. You have all these Christians just up in arms “I can’t believe that he would preach this against this guy. Maybe he talks some bad things but this is terrible”. It just makes you think, what your problem is, you don’t read the Bible.
Because if you read the story of Josiah, you’d realize wow, this is someone who the Holy Spirit of God said on their deathbed “Josiah turned with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his might to God”. And we’d say well, that’s good. But what did he do when he was doing that? He was fighting false prophets and burning them. He was finding all the false prophets and making sure that people knew these are not men to be followed. Romans 16:17 “17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”. Mark them and avoid him. You say, well that doesn’t sound very Christian. Because when I went to Christian church and it just was all loving. Yeah, your problem is you haven’t read the Bible. If you read the Bible, you would’ve read Romans 16 where he says mark them and avoid them. “18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ,”.
So, if they don’t serve the Lord Jesus Christ “but their own belly;”. Joel Osteen is not serving the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s serving his own belly. He’s making himself a filthy rich millionaire. Just know this, when a preacher has a jet, he’s not serving Jesus. I mean are you really a follower of Jesus when Jesus said if you’re going to follow me, he says the birds of the air have their nests, and the Foxes their holes but the man of God hath not where to lay his head. He looked at his father, he said, I don’t even know where I’m going to sleep tonight. And then you’ve got these preachers who say “I’m a follower of Jesus. Jesus said I needed a mansion”. These people are not serving the Lord. They are serving their own bellies. “and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”. Why can men like Joel Osteen, why can men like Rick Warren, why can men like TD jakes, why can men like Kenneth Copeland, why do men like that, why are they able to gather such a following? I’ll tell you why, because with good and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple. Because most Christians are not reading the Bible. Because if you read the Bible, you’d realize this is not what God said. This is not what God wants. God does not say these things in the Word of God.
See, Josiah was experiencing revival because he began to read the Bible. And as a result, he stood against, he brought separation into the house of God. As a result, he stood against false prophets. As a result, he honored good men. See, remember they’re going through the cemetery looking at all the prophets and saying that’s a bad one. Billy Graham pull him up. Ravi Zacharias, get his bones out of there. That’s what he’s literally doing. Then they get to a certain sepulcher, he said what title is it I see. And the men told him, it is a sepulcher the man of God. Now I don’t have time to develop this, but this man actually lived hundreds of years before Josiah. And this man of God actually prophesied about Josiah’s revival. It’s really interesting, you can study that out on your own. 2 Kings 23:17-18 “17 Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulcher of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel. 18 And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So, they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria.”.
Go to 1 Thessalonians 5. You know that someone who reads their Bible will not only stand against false prophets, but you know that he will also honor the men of God. I mean Josiah wasn’t just going around just pulling out people’s bones just because he’s a jerk. He says these men do not deserve to be honored. These are the false prophets of Baal. These men have brought in destruction to the house of God. He said pull them up. But when they found a true man of God that actually preached the Word of God, he honored him. You know the Bible teaches that you ought to honor the men of God. Look the men of God are not perfect. Men of God make mistakes. Pastors, preachers, evangelists, they make mistakes. They’re not perfect. The Bible teaches that we ought to honor them. 1 Thessalonians 5:12 “12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; 13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.”. You know the Bible teaches that you are supposed to esteem those, you’re supposed to esteem those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord. Your overseer or your pastor or your Shepherd, you’re supposed to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake and be at peace among yourselves.
And look, I’m not preaching this because we have a problem at Verity, honestly, we don’t have a problem. You people are so nice to my wife and I and you’re a blessing to us. But let me tell you something, this is something we need to be taught today. Please understand this, the punks that run their mouths on Facebook attacking good men of God are not reading their Bibles. They’re not spiritually mature. I’m not talking about a false prophet. Look, a false prophet is fair game. They’re preaching a hardcore repent of your sins doctrine, they’re preaching a hardcore turn from your sins doctrine, that’s a false prophet. But a good man of God, you constantly are having these people who have not read the Bible, they’ve watched a lot of YouTube videos, they haven’t read about when they want to attack good men of God. As soon as you see that, just realize one thing, there’s a person that’s not read the Bible. The Bible says rebuke not an elder but intreat him as father. The Bible says against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses. The Bible says that before somebody tries to text you. “Let me tell you about pastor so and so.”. Don’t even read the text. You shouldn’t acknowledge it. You should say, bring two witnesses and then we’ll talk. You say, I didn’t know that. Because you don’t read the Bible. You say, why does that happen? Because the men of God have a target on their back, that’s why. Because when you actually preach the Word of God and you actually preach what the Bible says, people are going to hate you for it.
I mean, I don’t usually bring up all this drama but let me just say what’s happening right now with Pastor Anderson. People are attacking them and saying like “Ah, he’s not King James only.”. It’s ridiculous. I’ve known Pastor Anderson for 18 years. I knew pastor Anderson before he was Pastor Anderson. I mean, I knew Pastor Anderson before either one of us were pastors. I knew Pastor Anderson well before I was even married. We met when we were 16 years old. What I’ve known about Pastor Anderson the entire 18 years that we’ve been friends, he’s King James only. He believes in the inspiration of, preservation of the King James Bible. One of the first conversations we had as 16-year-old kids, one of the first conversations we had was about the King James Bible, was about translating the Word of God into a different language. And he was talking about the inspiration, preservation of scripture.
And today you have people who say, “Oh no, they’re just taking a stronger stance.”. No, you know what they have is envy and strife. They just think if they can just bring him down a notch, then maybe it’ll increase their influence. Why don’t you just increase your influence by being godly? Why don’t you just increase your influence by reading the Bible and actually preaching sermons that people want to hear instead of attacking good men of God? Why would you want to attack people and think that that’s going to make you look good? Just because you bring someone down, if you try to do that, that doesn’t make you better. And today you have people attacking good men of God. But let me tell you something, that is not of God. Anyone who’s, and I’m not talking about a false prophet, I’m talking about someone who loves the Lord. And maybe you just don’t see things the way they see it or whatever. That person is a person who is not reading their Bible. Because the Bible says you esteem them very highly.
You know what’s interesting about Pastor Anderson is that, in my opinion, between his preaching, between the documentaries, the New World Order Bible version documentaries and all the videos that he’s made, there’s probably not a man alive who has brought more people into the King James only camp than Pastor Anderson. Who’s taught more people about the King James Bible and brought people. But then you got these bozos out there who you know with their little 900 subscribers, they think if they can just criticize him, somehow it is going to increase their influence. This is not of the Lord. It is not of God to attack the man of God. The Bible says that you esteem them very highly. And look, the Bible says rebuke not an elder but intreat him as a father. The Bible says, against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses. So, before you start sending your little text messages or a little Facebook message, realize that we’re supposed to honor the man of God.
Here you have Josiah, who is just reading the Bible and he’s just bashing all the prophets. Repentance guy out. Prosperity gospel guy out. False preacher guy out. And then there’s a man of God, and he says I’ll esteem him highly in love. Who does that? Someone who reads the Bible. The guy who doesn’t attack anyone, who says “Oh let’s just sing Kumbaya. Let’s just all hold hands. Everything’s good.”. That guy’s not reading his Bible. But you know, the guy who’s like “I’m more tough than you. I’m more spiritual than you.”. And starts attacking good men of God, that guy’s not reading his Bible either. The guy who is reading his Bible realizes that we mark them and avoid them which cause divisions contrary to the doctrine which he has learned. And everyone else, we esteem them highly in love for their works sake. Because they’ve done so much for the cause of Christ, because they’ve invested so much in the cause of Christ, we esteem them for it, we honor them for it.
Notice Josiah is separating against false religion. 2 Kings 23:11 “11 And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun,” They had they had given an offering to the sun, like they’re worshiping the Sun. They gave horses to the sun. Josiah said, take those away “at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 And the altars that were on the top of 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, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 13 And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.”. He has a bad attitude? No, he’s actually filled with the spirit. He’s reading the Bible.
Notice, not only did Josiah have separation ecclesiastically regarding the house of God, he had separation personally regarding his personal life. Look at verse 14 “14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. 15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove.”. Verse 19 “19 And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.”. Look at verse 24 “24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.”.
You say, oh I like the idea of revival I’d. like to experience revival. Okay, realize revival comes with a lot of separation. Revival comes with a lot of preaching against false prophets. Revival comes with a lot of getting the world’s garbage out of the house of God. Revival comes with reading the Bible. And when you read the Bible, you know what happens, it will cause you to grow spiritually. You’re going to realize, whoa there’s lots here that I’m missing. Josiah thought, we need to get to work. Then he started soul-winning, let’s gather everyone together, everyone needs to hear this. Then he started separating, cleaning up the house of God. Before they were just repairing the house of God. Now he’s physically, spiritually cleaning it up. Get those idols out of here. Get that grove out of here. Get that Baal worship out of the house, no place in the house God. Then he stood against the false prophets of God and he began to call them out. Then he began to disrespect them. “I don’t think you guys should preach against false prophets”. Look, we’re preaching against false prophets. He’s getting their bones out and burning them, stamping them to the ground. They’re piling them and God said, there was not a king who loved him more, who gave himself more to God than Josiah. That’s revival.
Let me give you a fourth one. We’ll finish up here. Reading will not only will affect you spiritually, not only will affect your soul winning, not only will affect your separation, you know that Bible reading will affect your position on social issues. You say what social issues? Look at 2 Kings 23:7 “7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.”. A sodomite is the homosexual. Listen to me very carefully, any Christian any church who takes a positive position on the LGBTQ, XYZ movement, any Christian who takes a positive position on homosexuality, if they’re even saved, (and I’m not saying that that makes them not saved) but if they’re saved, mark it down, they don’t read the Bible. You don’t have to get that far into the Bible to realize what .God thinks about homosexuality. You just got to get to Genesis 19 to realize he’s destroyed 2 entire cities because of the filthiness of sodomy. If you read your Bible, you read Genesis 19, you read judges 19, you read Romans 1, you read every revival with Josiah with the other revivals, how they all stood against sodomy and homosexuality. You’d already have read Leviticus 20:13. “13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”. That’s the Bible.
So, any Christian that wants to wave their little rainbow flag and say God loves everyone, they don’t read the Bible. They don’t know what the Bible says. Reading the Bible will get you right on the social issues. He breaks down the house of the sodomites. Notice, not only that, look at verse 10. “10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.”. You know, what he put a stop to child infant sacrifice. I mean he defiled Topheth. It was where they went to pass their children through the fire, to sacrifice their children to Molech. And the fire, you know what, you know what Josiah did, he shut down Planned Parenthood. You know what Josiah did? He took a stand against abortion which is sacrificing your children on the altar of pleasure, on the altar of money, on the altar of I just don’t want this kid. Josiah, look when you read your Bible, yeah, I know Christians that think abortion is okay. Then they don’t read their Bible. Because if you read the Bible, you’d realize that the Bible says this in Jeremiah 1:5 “5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”. You’re like, God had a plan for Jeremiah in the womb. He’d already ordained him to be a prophet. And you know what, it’s not just Jeremiah. For every child, every baby from the womb.
So, I read this Bible, we got to shut down Planned Parenthood. He’s honoring his Bible. We got to shut down this gay pride parade in June. He’s reading his Bible. And not only did it affect him spiritually, not only did it affect the separation, not only did it affect his soul winning, it affected him on social issues. He understood that there were some things that we as Christians, there are some things that we as Christians cannot be a part of, cannot condone. See, Josiah, go back to 2nd Kings 23 if you would. He just became a radical Christian. 2 Kings 23:25. How does Josiah end his life? Like this, “25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.” Well, when you read that way, it sounds nice. Okay, but you know what that’s referring to? Defiling the false prophets. Shutting down Planned Parenthood. Standing against homosexuality. Living a separated life. “according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.”.
Here’s the thing, please understand this, I want you, my goal for you is for you to become a Christian who reads their Bible every day. But just be warned, you start reading your Bible every day and you actually begin to do what the Bible says. People are going to look at you and say “Oh you’re just mean, you’re just zealous. What are you in a cult? What’s wrong with you? You go to church again? What are you some Jehovah’s Witness knocking on doors or something?”. You know what they’re saying, they’re saying that you have given your heart to God and you have turned to God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And that’s rare. It’s rare to see a Christian who’s actually revived because revival comes through the house of God, and revival comes through the Word of God. Let me just really quickly, I got to finish up. And what we’ve done, let me give you just three practical steps for how to read your Bible every day. You say, I don’t read my Bible every day. I don’t have a routine of reading the Bible every day. I don’t even know where to start.
Let me give you three steps. Number one, choose the place in your house where you say this is my place. This is where I will read the Bible in my house. With my wife and I, it’s our dining room table. That’s our place. We sit there. She has her Bible. I have my Bible. We don’t read together. We are physically together. She’s reading her Bible. I’m reading my Bible. That’s our place. Choose a place.
Number two, use a plan. Get on a Bible reading plan now. You say, I’ve never read the Bible. Okay, well let me just help you. If you’re never read the Bible, we’re going to start you slow. Okay, start with the Proverb of the day. In the book of Proverbs, there are 31 chapters there. It’s an easy read. Very interesting read. There are 31 chapters. Most months have 30 or 31 days. Just pick the proper date. Today’s June 7th. Read Proverbs 7 today and tomorrow on the 8th, read Proverbs 8. I mean if you’ve never even read the Bible, you’re just starting new, start there. After I’ve done that a couple months, then go to the book of John, Matthew, Mark, Luke. Read the book of John. Start 1 chapter, 2 chapters a day. You say, well I’m already there. I got that routine down then what should I do? Then I think you should start trying to read the Bible once a year. Look, you can read the Bible once a year. If you just read the Bible about 15 minutes a day, you read about four chapters a day, you can read the Bible once a year. You read for about 15 to 20 minutes a day, four chapters a day, you can read the Bible once a year for 10 years, you’ll read the Bible cover-to-cover 10 times. You’ll read the Bible more than most preachers in America. Which makes a lot of sense when you see how their churches are set up. Because they don’t read the Bible. Choose a place, pick a place in your house. Your dining room table maybe. It’s your office desk. Maybe you know whatever, choose a place, get a plan. Hey look, if you’re brand-new, Proverb of the day. If you’re a little further along, then the book of John. You say, I’m kind of further along with that, then you need to just be reading the Bible every day. You’re going to be four chapters a day. You can do it.
Number three, make an appointment. Pick a time where you say this is when I read the Bible. Now look, for most people, I think the best is it should be first thing in the morning. Maybe you have a weird schedule where you can’t do that. That’s fine, you do what’s best for you. But look, for us it’s first in the morning. My wife and I wake up, we head downstairs to our dining room table, the kids are still asleep, she makes two cups of coffee, we sit there, we read the Bible. We’re not special or some spiritual Giants. It’s just choose a place, get a plan, make an appointment with God. Grab a cup of coffee, read the Bible. It transforms your life. Because there’s a world of difference, there’s a world of difference between the Christian who reads his Bible and the Christian who doesn’t. And here’s all I’m telling you, here’s what I’m telling you, you might be the Josiah who begins to read his Bible and says wow, this is why I’m failing with my kids. I didn’t know this. This is why my marriage has so many problems. I didn’t know this is what my finances are. I didn’t know this is where my relationship is toxic. I didn’t know this. You might start reading the Bible, realize wow, there’s a lot but I did not know. So read your Bible every day.
Let’s pray.