A Life That Pleases The Lord

I'm glad to be here today with you, with all of you sharing God's Word.

And as you know, as Jared mentioned last week, it's the first time that I preach at church.

And it's the first time that I preach in a language that is not my first language.

So I'm kind of nervous.

But I'm happy to do it.

And I'm happy to be here.

Also, I'm wearing green.

I'm wearing green. Ashley told me that I had to wear green.

Because it's a special day today.

And so I'm doing it.

I'm sad that Brian is not here because I know he was going to mention something about it.

But please open your Bibles in 2 Kings, in chapter 22.

And today we are going to focus our attention on a king that, despite the idolatry of the nation of Israel, he decided to obey the Lord.

2 Kings 22.

And as you probably see in the title of your Bible, in the title of the chapter, we're going to talk about King Josiah.

And today, by studying Josiah's example, we will learn four characteristics of a heart that pleases the Lord.

And I want you to give you a brief summary of what's going on at this moment in the nation of Israel.

We have been studying Judges with Jared for a couple of months now.

And we know that at this point, there was no king in Israel.

So when the time of Judges finishes, Israel requests a king to Samuel.

And they request to have a king like the other nations.

We know that the first king was Saul.

And after him was David.

And after David was Solomon, the son of David.

These three kings reigned over a simple kingdom.

So Israel was one nation.

But do Solomon sin, which was worshiping the idols of his wives.

And also do a power struggle between two of his sons.

Israel is divided into two kingdoms.

The kingdom of the north, that is Israel.

And the kingdom of the south, that is Judah.

And this is important to say it because Josiah belongs to the line of the kings of Judah.

The kingdom of the south.

And at this moment of history, in the history of Israel, he was the only king in the nation.

Because the kingdom of the north was already conquered by the king of Assyria.

And if you have read the books of kings, if not, you can read it later.

Israel and Judah, the two kingdoms, had different kings and many kings.

Most of the kings turned their hearts to the idols and forgot God.

And only a small number of kings did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

And Josiah was one of them.

His kingdom was blessed because he showed devotion and obedience to God.

And today we are going to learn how he did it.

And remember, we are going to talk about four characteristics of a heart that pleases the Lord.

And we are going to go to the first characteristic.

And it is a righteous heart pleases the Lord.

A righteous heart pleases the Lord.

And we are going to see this in verse 1 and 2 of our chapter.

But to understand this, we are going to see two points in this point.

And we are going to see these two points to how to develop a righteous heart that pleases the Lord.

And the first one is the early instruction produces righteousness.

So let's go to our Bibles.

And let's go to the verse 1.

And let's read it.

And God's word says,

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign.

And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Jedida, the daughter of Adia, a boscat.

I was thinking that I chose a really hard passage because I don't even know how to say this name in Spanish.

And it's even hard to say it in English.

I'll do my best today.

So we see that Josiah is placed on the throne after Ammon, his dad, was killed.

You will find that in the chapter before this one.

And as the bird tells us, he started reigning when he was eight years old.

He was way too young to be on the throne.

I think the closest one in our church to this age is Harper.

Harper is eight years old.

Can you imagine that?

Can you imagine being at that age?

He was a little kid.

But he was the son of the previous king.

So he was the heir to the throne.

The nation needed a king.

So they had to place Josiah on the throne at his young age.

And I want you to think a little bit about how royal children were instructed when they were kids.

The Bible doesn't tell us that in this passage.

But for sure, they were thought in the Jewish traditions.

And for sure, they were thought about the Lord.

Because God was the God of their nation.

And this doesn't mean that they were going to obey.

And we see that in the history of the kings.

We see a lot of kings that didn't obey the Lord.

And in fact, we see that in Ammon, his death.

He didn't obey the Lord.

But considering this, Josiah knew about the obedience of his predecessors.

Around 50 years before, his great-grandfather, Hezekiah, implemented reforms in the nation of Judah.

And a few years back, his grandfather, Manasseh, obeyed the Lord and his kingdom was restored.

You can find this in chapters 19 through 21.

We're not going to read it today.

But you can read it at home.

So, Josiah had these examples and heard about them as part of the history of the kings of Judah.

This for sure had an impact in his obedience at his young age.

Another thing that we can consider is that during his reign, there were faithful men and prophets like Jeremiah and Sophaniah.

And faithful servants like Hilkiah and Shaphan.

We're going to talk about them later on.

Shaphan, sorry.

These men could have motivated Josiah to obey the Lord.

And one last thing to think about this.

It says, even though the Bible doesn't say it, his mom probably had something to do with his obedience.

We can't say the same about his father, Amon.

Because if you read in the previous chapter, as I mentioned, he didn't obey the Lord and reign for a short amount of time.

But thinking about his mom, we can see in the life of Josiah her faithfulness.

In raising her son in a godly way.

He was eight years old.

He was still a child being raised by his mother.

She could even have looked for godly men that instructed her son in the traditions of the nation.

But even though all of this had a role in shaping his heart,

we can't ignore the fact that it was God who moved his heart to do what was right.

In 1 Kings chapter 8, we're not going to, you don't have to look at it.

1 Kings 8 · chapter mention

I don't want to read it.

We find Solomon speaking to the nation of Israel regarding his obedience to the Lord.

Solomon speaking to the nation of Israel.

In verse 8, he tells them that he may, talking about God,

incline your hearts to him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commitments,

his statutes and his rules, which he commanded to our fathers.

Solomon knew that only God can incline their hearts or could incline their hearts to his obedience.

Paul tells us something, tells the Philippines something similar in chapter 2, verse 13.

And he says this,

God places people around us as an example for our lives.

But at the end of the day, God does the work in our hearts through his word.

Parents, don't give up teaching your children God's word.

Proverbs says to train up a child in the way he should go,

because even when he is old, he will not depart from it.

God does the work in their hearts,

but we can be an instrument to bring our kids into obedience and salvation.

Now, not only does the early instruction produce righteousness,

but also commitment produces righteousness.

And let's look at the verse 2 in our passage.

And it says,

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,

and walked in all the way of David his father.

And he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

He, Josiah, did what was right and walked in the way of David his father.

How do we know that he did what was right?

Chapter 23, the next one, gives us more details about what he did,

and so does the book of 2 Chronicles.

Both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles provides us with a summary

of the reforms against idolatry that Josiah implemented.

He cleansed the house of God.

That was one.

He knocked down the altars, destroyed the idols,

knocked down the high places where sacrifice were made or offered to other gods.

And he burned the bones of the priests that worshipped the false gods.

His reform was radical.

He was committed to obey the Lord.

How long does it take us to remove sin in our life?

Are we radical about it?

Last week in the Men Up conference,

one of the preachers was talking about 1 Timothy chapter 6.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

And he said that passivity affects believers.

And he said that we cannot deal with sin lightly.

And that we must fight against it.

Josiah cleansed Judah from its sin.

If you read the stories of the other kings,

you will see that some of them didn't cleanse Israel the way that Josiah did.

Some of them didn't destroy the altars of the high places.

And this led the nation back to their idolatry.

Because they were not radical.

But Josiah wiped out the idolatry in the nation.

And he commended everyone to obey and serve the Lord.

And in 2 Chronicles chapter 33, verse 33,

says that all his days,

he's talking about Josiah,

they did not turn away from following the Lord.

That's what he did.

Josiah did that with the help of the Lord.

Josiah reigned with righteousness the rest of his life.

In 2 Kings 23, 25,

says that before him,

there was no king like him

who turned to the Lord with all his heart

and with all his soul

and with all his might.

Nor did any like him arise after him.

Josiah's heart was with the Lord.

His commitment was to please him and to obey him.

The fact that he didn't turn aside to the right or to the left,

it's proof of his righteous heart.

He followed the example of David,

who set the pattern for the rulers of God's people.

He walked in a straight path,

looking towards God,

pursuing obedience to him.

We are looking at four characteristics of a heart that pleases the Lord.

We just saw that a righteous heart pleases the Lord

with early instruction and also commitment.

Now let's see how a diligent heart pleases the Lord.

And we're going to read verses 3 through 8.

And it says,

In the eighteen year of King Josiah,

the king sent Shaphan,

the son of Azaliah,

son of Meshulam,

the secretary,

to the house of the Lord,

saying,

Go up to Hilkiah,

the high priest,

that he may count the money

that has been brought

into the house of the Lord,

which the keepers of the threshold

have collected from the people.

And let it be given into the hand of the workmen

who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.

And let them give it to the workmen

that are of the house of the Lord,

repairing the house,

that is,

to the carpenters,

and to the builders,

and to the masons.

And let them use it for vying timber

and queer storm

to repair the house.

But not a accountant shall be asked

for them for the money

that is delivered into their hand,

for they deal honestly.

And Hilkiah,

the high priest,

the high priest,

said to Shaphan,

the secretary,

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.

After Josiah cleansed Judah

from his idolatry,

he starts with the restoration

of the temple,

the house of the Lord.

The house of the Lord

at this time

represented the presence of God

among the nation.

Taking care of the house of the Lord

must have been a priority

for every king in Israel,

but only a few of them

work in its restoration.

We see in the passage

that Josiah sends Shaphan,

the scribe,

to the temple

to collect the money

that the nation had given,

to give it to those

who were in charge

of the restoration.

It is possible

that this money

was collected,

not at this moment,

but when Josiah started reigning.

And this can show us

the diligence of Josiah

and his government.

He was not only

cleansing the nation

from his idolatry,

but also he was working

towards something important,

the adoration of God.

Now, I want you

to think about this.

As I mentioned,

the books of 2 Kings

and 2 Chronicles

have a similar narrative

of the story of Josiah,

but there is a slight difference

between the both of them,

and it doesn't affect the story,

and they don't contradict each other.

And I hope you can follow me

on this.

The reforms,

we're going to put in the middle

when the book of the law

is found.

So, there are reforms

that Josiah made

in 2 Chronicles

and in 2 Kings.

2 Chronicles placed them

before the discovery

of the book of the law

when Josiah had reign

for 12 years by then.

So, we have the book of the law

that is found.

Chronicles places

these reforms

before this.

Well, I will do this

because you can see it better.

So, this is the founder

of the book of the law.

Chronicles places

the reforms

before the book is found.

But 2 Kings

places them

after the book is found.

This doesn't mean

that they are

contradicting each other.

This means that

2 Chronicles

is placing this story

in a chronological order.

Okay, so...

But 2 Kings

is not doing it.

It doesn't...

Again, it doesn't really matter

to affect the Bible.

It's not that the Bible

is contradicting

to itself.

It's just the way

that the writers

wrote these books.

books.

Now,

on 2 Kings,

we see Josiah

at the beginning

of his reign.

And the next

verse that we see

is Josiah

at the eighth year

of his reign.

So, there is part

of the narrative

that the writer

of 2 Kings

didn't add

until chapter 23.

It's there.

Whatever we find

at the beginning

in Chronicles,

whatever we find

at the beginning,

before they found

the book of the law,

it's there

in 2 Kings

until chapter 23.

So, it's not

that it's missing.

It's just...

It's after it.

And, again,

2 Chronicles

is in a chronological order

in the story.

So,

these reforms

that Josiah

was doing

in the nation

of Israel

are before

they found

the law.

So,

what could

this possible

tell us

in a practical way?

Think about this.

Our hearts

need to be cleansed

before we can

worship the Lord.

We can come

to the Lord

praising Him

for who He is,

but still having

idols in our hearts.

We can't

obey the Lord

if our hearts

are not fully

committed

to Him

and holiness.

And that's what

Josiah did

with the nation.

He set the reforms

in the nation

of Judah.

He wiped out

the idols

of the nation.

And after

he did that,

he starts

the restoration

of the temple

and they find

the book

of the law.

So,

he was thinking

about

God's

adoration

by

restoring

the temple.

But he had

to clean Israel

for their sin

before he can

do that.

And that's,

we need to think

about it.

We need

to cleanse

our hearts

before we can

worship Him.

Josiah had

cleansed the nation

from his idolatry

so that the nation

would be fully

committed to

God's adoration.

Now,

I want to show

you that having

a diligent heart

has an impact

in the people

around us.

Let's read

verse 8 again.

And it says,

Josiah's

diligence

had an impact

on

Shaphan.

He obeyed.

He went

to do

what he was

commanded to do

because he knew

the nature

of the

commandment

and he trusted

his king,

his righteous king.

And we see also

that Josiah's

diligence

had an impact

in Hilkiah.

He found

the book

of the law

and he

didn't hide it.

He gave it

to Shaphan

because he knew

it was going

to be delivered

to the king.

I was reading

that it's possible

that several copies

of the law

were destroyed

by the previous

kings.

And it is

possible

that this

book was

one of the

original copies

remaining in

the nation

that someone

faithful to

the Lord

hid in the

house of the

Lord.

So,

his immediate

reaction,

the immediate

reaction of

Hilkiah,

was to give

it to

Shaphan

so he could

give it to

the king.

He knew

that this

discovery

was going

to contribute

to what

Josiah was

doing in

the nation.

He had a

faithful heart

for the

Lord in

the same

way that

his king

had it.

See the

reaction of

Shaphan

when he gets

the book at

the end of

the verse

eight.

What he did?

He read it.

He couldn't

wait to see

what the

Lord had

written in

it.

He did

it.

He read

it at

that

moment.

And this

is an

incredible

scene.

Two men

influenced by

the king,

by his

obedience to

the Lord,

now inquiring

God's will

with urgency.

And

people around

us can be

influenced by

what we do.

Sometimes we

think that

we wouldn't

do that,

but sometimes

we think that

people are

not going to

be influenced

by what you

do, but

they do.

This could

be our

co-workers,

this could

be our

neighbors,

our friends,

our family.

Remember that

we should

show Christ

in our

lives, so

whenever

someone sees

our lives,

they praise

God.

Not us,

but God.

Paul tells

Timothy

the following

in 1 Timothy

4, 12,

but set

the believers

an example

in speech,

in conduct,

in love,

in faith,

in purity.

Don't give

up

obeying the

Lord,

and don't

be ashamed

to show

people that

you are a

Christian,

that you

belong to

God.

We don't

know the

work that

God can

do in

other people

through our

example.

people.

We're

looking at

four

characteristics

of a

heart that

pleases the

Lord.

We saw

that a

righteous

heart

pleases the

Lord,

a diligent

heart

pleases the

Lord,

and now

we'll see

how a

fearful

heart

pleases the

Lord.

chapter.

Let's

read verses

9-11.

And

Shaphan,

the secretary,

came to

the king,

and reported

to the king,

Your servants

have emptied

out the

money that

was found

in the

house,

and have

delivered it

into the

hand of

the workmen

who have

the oversight

of the

house of

the Lord.

Then Shaphan,

the secretary,

told the

king,

Hilkiah,

the priest,

has given

me a

book,

and Shaphan

read it

before the

king.

When the

king heard

the words

of the

book of

the law,

he tore

his clothes.

We don't

really know

what was

written in

the book.

Some say

that it

was only

the Torah,

which is

the first

five books

in the

Bible,

and some

say that

it could

have been

the

renonomy,

but whatever

was in

the book

created an

urgency

in Shaphan

to read

it to

the king

and created

great sorrow

in Josiah.

The

action of

tearing the

clothes was

an expression

of deep

sorrow.

Sometimes

people did

it when

a relative

died,

like Jacob,

when he

did it when

they told

him that

Joseph,

his son,

had died.

Also,

it was a

reaction that

showed

indignation

for something

and sorrow

for something

bad that

happened.

Think about

Josiah

with this

reaction.

Josiah

didn't know

anything about

the book,

not even

about the

content of

the book

at this

point,

but when

he heard

it,

he didn't

justify

himself

about not

knowing what

was in

the book.

He

showed

deep

sorrow

for the

judgment

that

was

over

him

and

the

nation.

The

law

was

broken

and

forgotten.

They

were

destined

to

receive

God's

wrath.

But also,

Josiah

didn't

show a

superficial

repentance.

Josiah

was deeply

moved

by what

their

disobedience

to God

entailed.

God

gave

them

the

commandment

to

keep

his

love

and

obey

it.

At this

point,

they had

forgotten

it and

followed

all their

gods.

They

didn't

take care

of the

commandment

to teach

their

kids

in

God's

word

and

this

was

the

result

of

this.

Let's

look at

God's

command

in

Deuteronomy

6

chapter

6

4

through

9

and

let's

go

to

look

in

our

Bibles

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6:4–9

chapter

6

verses

4

through

9

and

it

says

hear

O

Israel

the

Lord

our

God

the

Lord

is

one

you

should

love

Lord

your

God

with

all

your

heart

and

with

all

your

soul

and

with

all

your

might

and

these

words

that I

command

you

today

shall

be

on

your

heart

you

shall

teach

them

diligently

to

your

children

and

shall

talk

to

them

when

you

sit

in

your

house

and

when

you

walk

by

the

way

and

when

you

lie

down

and

when

you

rise

you

shall

blind

them

as

a sign

on

your

hand

and

they

shall

be

as

frontlets

between

your

eyes

you

shall

write

them

on

the

door

spots

of

your

house

and

on

your

gates

this

is

probably

something

of

what

Josiah

heard

when

the

book

was

read

by

Shaphan

they

had

disobeyed

the

Lord

they

didn't

pass

through

every

generation

they

just

decided

not

to

do

it

at

one

point

they

didn't

know

anything

about

this

this

is

terrible

this

is

so

sad

no

and

sometimes

we

don't

realize

that

we

behave

like

this

we

forget

to

read

the

Bible

we

skip

our

devotional

time

with

our

family

just

because

sometimes

we

are

tired

just

because

sometimes

we

just

forget

it

this

might

seem

like

it

won't

create

any

impact

in

our

lives

but

it

will

if

we

don't

study

God's

word

and

we

don't

teach

our

families

or

kids

there

is

a

huge

risk

of

disobedience

a

huge

huge

risk

to

break

God's

commandments

now

what

makes

Josiah

righteous

was

not

this

superficial

act

of

tearing

his

clothes

we

know

that

it

wasn't

it

was

the

attitude

of

his

heart

he

feared

the

Lord

he

feared

his

command

this

sorrow

happened

inside

of

Josiah

think

about

what

David

recognized

about

God

in

one

of

his

psalms

and

I'm

going

to

read

it

the

sacrifices

of

God

are

a

broken

spirit

a

broken

and

country

heart

oh

God

you

will

not

despite

God

doesn't

want

a

superficial

Christianity

everyone

can behave

like a

good

Christian

in

fact

we

live

in

a

time

where

everyone

thinks

that they

are good

Christians

that they

are good

people

but the

Lord wants

more than

that

he wants

a deep

change

in our

hearts

and this

can only

happen

when we

go to

his

word

when

fear

his

when we

fear

his

word

and his

commandments

the real

change

in our

lives

begins

we

are

looking

at

four

characteristics

of

a

heart

that

places

the

Lord

we

saw

that

a

righteous

heart

places

the

Lord

a

diligent

heart

places

the

Lord

a

fearful

heart

places

the

Lord

now

let's

see

our

last

point

a

heart

that

repents

places

the

Lord

and

let's

read

verses

12

through

17

of

today's

chapter

2nd

Kings

22

verses

12

through

17

and

it

says

and

the

king

commanded

Hilkiah

the

priest

and

Ahicham

the

son

of

Shaphan

and

Achor

the

son

of

Micaiah

and

Shaphan

the

secretary

and

Asiah

the

king's

servant

saying

go

inquire

of

the

Lord

for

me

and

for

the

people

and

for

all

Judah

concerning

the

words

of

his

book

that

has

been

found

for

great

is

the

wrath

of

the

Lord

that

is

kindled

against

us

because

our

fathers

have

not

obeyed

the

words

of

this

book

to

do

according

to

all

that

is

written

concerning

us

so

Hilkiah

the

priest

and

Ahicham

and

Agor

and

Shaphan

and

Isaiah

went to

Huldah

the

prophetess

the wife

of

Shalom

the son

of

Tikvah

son

of

Harhas

keeper

of the

wardrobe

now

she

lived

in

Jerusalem

in

the

second

quarter

and

they

talked

to

her

and

she

said

to

them

thus

says

the

Lord

the

God

of

Israel

tell

the

man

who

sent

you

to

me

thus

says

the

Lord

behold

I

will

bring

disaster

upon

this

place

and

upon

its

inhabitants

all

the

words

of

the

book

that

the

king

of

Judah

has

read

because

they

have

forsaken

me

and

have

made

offerings

to

other

gods

that

they

might

provoke

me

to

anger

with

all

the

work

of

their

hands

therefore

my

wrath

will

be

kindled

against

this

place

and

it

will

not

be

quenched

after

Josiah

hears

the

law

his

reaction

was

also

to

look

for

an

answer

from

God

he

knew

that

he

was

going

to

obtain

an

answer

by

seeking

the

Lord

and

he

sent

this

man

to

look

for

answers

as

I

mentioned

at

the

beginning

there

were

important

prophets

during

Josiah's

reign

but

they

didn't

go

to

them

it

is

possible

that

they

were

not

in

the

region

or

they

were

just

not

available

but

they

waited

until

they

were

available

and

went

to

hold

that

this

is

the

only

time

this

lady

is

mentioned

in

the

Bible

besides

second

chronicles

and

it

is

possible

that

she

was

known

in

the

kingdom

because

of

her

husband

position

in

the

kingdom

and

they

went

to

her

to

obtain

their

answer

and

we

are

going

to

see

two

parts

of

God's

answer

the

first

one

is

the

judgment

for

the

nation

and

the

second

one

is

the

mercy

for

Josiah

let's

see

first

the

judgment

to

the

nation

and

the

verses

that

we

read

and

as

we

see

in

this

passage

God

was

not

going

to

change

his

mind

regarding

his

judgment

at

this

point

there

was

nothing

Judah

could

have

been

made

to

avoid

it

they

provoke

his

anger

by

praising

other

gods

before

they

only

got

last

year

I

got

my

driver's

license

in

Mexico

we

don't

the

system

works

differently

we

don't

do

a

driver

test

we

don't

they

don't

ask

you

any

questions

you

just

need

to

be

18

and

have

your

ID

with

you

and

you

can

get

your

driver's

license

and

I

had

to

story

so

hard

for

this

test

so

hard

and

when

I

was

at

the

DMV

I

was

so

happy

because

I

passed

the

test

and

I

remember

standing

happy

in

front

of

the

desk

waiting

for

the

lady

to

give

me

my

provisional

license

and

I

was

ready

to

be

done

there

until

she

told

me

okay

let's

go

to

your

car

man

I

was

sweating

I

was

so

nervous

I

couldn't

even

understand

her

her

English

was

so

hard

to

understand

and

I

was

there

the

first

five

minutes

I

did

everything

right

I

drove

at

20

miles

per

hour

I

turned

on

my

blinkers

to

go

to

the

right

I

even

remember

how

to

do

the

three

points

turn

around

I

was

so

proud

of

myself

when

I

did

it

I

fully

stopped

at

every

single

stop

sign

and

finally

when

we

were

on

the

way

back

just

one

more

minute

with