In the School

As I was considering this message, I thought about my high school years, my school years, and uh I think there's a slide that's gonna sh come up here that can kind of show you everything that I thought I knew about in school.

Well, maybe it came up, happened on this show.

So everything that could have happened in school, every problem that could have been faced, everything that happened as a high schooler happened with Zach, Kelly, Slater, and all the rest of the crew.

And so I remember if I if they could handle it, then maybe I could too.

And so, but if you remember when you were in school, when the bell would ring.

Y'all remember that?

Oh, amen.

When the bell would ring, I don't know if you were like me, but you got a sort of anticipation, sort of an excitement, because that meant that that class was over.

Are you with me?

I always had a little bit of a relief, and I can remember in the theme song of this show, it would say, It's all right because I'm saved by the bell.

And so I was looking back though at some statistics in high school over a few generations.

In the 1940s, William Bennett, Secretary of Education, was asked, What was the major problems in the high school in those years?

Ready to hear this list?

It's pretty lame, I'd say, comparatively.

Talking out of turn was number one.

1940s and 50s.

Talking out of turn, making noise, running in the halls was number three on the list, and that and to top it out, number four was occasional dress code violations.

Occasional dress code.

So you can see what's happened in a generation.

With that being said, I want you to watch.

I used to go and it's a passion of mine about the schools and the high schools, because I used to go and share about how we could get in the schools, and I would share this video to people trying to raise money for a youth rally that we did.

So watch this video.

All right, all right, did everyone have a good week?

Yeah, it was it was great.

And noise in class.

And I shared it to share something that I think segues into something exciting.

I know that's hard to watch and think on, but we now have what we'll call the greatest mission field in all of the United States, is our schools.

At any one time, in one place, there are more lost people in the public, private, Christian, and home schools than any place in the rest of America.

We have the greatest mission field that there is.

And I want to submit to you today that we are either going to see the greatest generation rise up, or maybe the last.

Idolatry, abominations were worshiped, and there was a complete and utter disregard for God and his word.

They were the marks of the city of Judah.

And I want to submit to you, when that was the case and when it looked gloomy and dark for no return, the bell got rung.

Signifying the end of an era and the ushering in of something brand new.

And in enters the most unlikely hero that you would ever thought: an eight-year-old named Josiah.

Father, I pray that you bless the reading of your word today.

God, just move me.

And you speak.

God, you know what each and every person needs.

And God, I pray that you speak to hearts, bring ears to your attention.

And God, I pray that you would do a work in our presence in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So I thought I'd take you to the classroom this morning.

So in your notes on your worship guide, welcome to First Period.

This is Seeking the Lord 101.

We will read in 2 Kings.

It says this Josiah was eight years old when he became king.

Imagine.

And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem.

His mother's name was Jedediah, the daughter of Adiah of Boscath, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David.

He did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

And there's a comparative scripture in 2 Chronicles that tells this story, and if you don't see it, you may miss a couple of things.

So if you want to turn there, you can, but in 2 Chronicles 34, in verse 3, it says this In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father, David.

And in the twelfth year began to purge.

And so I want you to see that word seek, because that's our first lesson today class, seeking the Lord 101.

And how do we seek the Lord?

When do we seek the Lord?

We first seek the Lord, letter A, when you're inexperienced.

Imagine being eight years old and thrust into leadership of an entire kingdom.

My son Weston just turned seven and he can't find a sock in his drawer.

Can you imagine?

What does the young king do at eight?

You are in charge of an entire kingdom.

And it says he sought the Lord.

What wisdom.

So he seeks the Lord.

And I gotta tell you, young people, we have to seek the Lord when it's not very popular.

In this time, in this day that Josiah became king, it was not popular.

Let me tell you a little bit about his history.

His granddaddy Manasseh was one of the most wicked men.

He turned at the end of his life, but for many years he was one of the most wicked kings.

And even in the scripture, I wrote this one down in chapter 33, verse 9 of 2 Kings, it said, he seduced, listen to that word, seduced Judah to do more evil than any nation before that God had destroyed.

He seduced the people to great levels of evil.

And then Manasseh's son Ammon became king, and he lasted for two years, from age 22 to 24.

He was king, and it said he picked up where his daddy's evil left off.

Now his daddy changed his heart at the end of his life.

Manasseh did.

But Ammon came in and he turned it back around to idolatry and wickedness and witchcraft and all types of evil.

That's what his two years did.

And God, I guess, saw it as this is it, two years.

Now, Manasseh, 55 years, he was king.

Ammon got two years.

That's the evil.

That's the, and God couldn't take it no more, took him out.

So at this point, at age eight, Daddy dies.

Alright?

And in your to become the new king, and can you imagine?

And it's not only that, that he's that's part of the time, but his father death, his father's death caused a civil war among the people.

There was the king's people, and then there was the the community, and they came against each other in a war, and there was all you have left is Jedediah, his mother.

And I have to think, it doesn't say anything about her, but I have to think and hope that this was a godly woman.

How did Josiah become what he became?

But there was a single mom doing her best with an eight-year-old king.

Society as a whole is corrupt.

Their back is turned to God, everyone is worshiping everything but God.

There's division and leadership, there's a political war, they're desperate and sinful.

Sound familiar?

Enters in eight-year-old Josiah.

I gave a poll to our students this past week, just kind of asking and getting some feedback.

I said, What's the hardest thing for you being a Christian in school today?

And this is what they said to me.

One of them said, People don't care about talking about church.

If you bring it up, they just switch the subject.

They said, judging, it feels like people who are supposed to be your friends do not respect you being a Christian.

Said there's a lot of peer pressure from those who are supposed to be closest to you.

And then another one said, finding Christian friends.

I looked up and found some statistics on what are the top most important eight things to teenager.

Here's the list today.

Okay, this is what we're fighting against.

Number one, anybody got a guess?

This is number one to teenager, most important thing.

Okay, number two is on the phone, social media.

Number three is on the phone, video streaming.

Number four on the most important things to teenagers is playing sports.

Number five is celebrities who they follow.

Number six is gaming, video games.

Numbers, listen to this.

This is the one that's funny.

Number seven on the list, all the way to number seven, food.

Like, I don't care about food, shelter, parents, safety, nothing.

I get as long as I got this, then number seven, somewhere along the way, I'll eat.

Okay.

And number eight is brand names.

Okay.

Let me tell you what is scary.

Nowhere on the entirety of the list is seeking God.

If there was ever a time of inexperience, it's right now.

Josiah lived in a time of inexperience.

And what he did right was he sets to seek out God.

I don't know what that looks like in the mind of an eight-year-old or as he moved forward.

And it says he really set out after God when he turned 16 as a teenager.

But it says even before that, that he didn't turn from the right to the left.

He did the right things as an eight-year-old.

It boggles my mind, but I know that it can be done.

And so I want to say to you again, seek the Lord when you're in experience.

Secondly, seek the Lord while you're young.

This was the 14th generation from David, and I would surmise to say that he was the godliest person who came on the scene to that time, youngest, to take the throne.

And I want to tell you something, students, and parents who have students.

1 Timothy 4 12 says to them that while they're young, it says, Don't let any man despise your youth, but be thou an example while you're young.

It says, be an example in your speech, your conduct, your love, your faith, and your purity.

Listen, young people, God is not waiting for you to get a license to do something for him.

He is not waiting for you to be of age to vote to do something for him.

Even if your life started like Josiah's and it's a mess.

You got all this family baggage, or you've got a background that doesn't seem like it would be fitting for someone to live for the Lord, that's where Josiah was.

It was the community he lived in.

It was his father and his grandfather.

But I believe not one person that I've ever come across has ever said, you know what I regret most about being young?

Was living for God.

I've never heard one person, it doesn't say anywhere about Josiah, that he says, you know what?

It was a waste of my time.

David never said, I regret not sowing more oats.

No one in the Bible ever said, I regret.

If there was one wish I had, it would have been not living for Jesus.

I've never heard one godly person say that I shouldn't have lived for Jesus when I was young.

Billy Graham said this to some young people.

He said, Invest your lives, don't just spend them.

Each of us is given an exact same amount of seconds, minutes, and hours as everyone else.

The difference, listen now, parents listen, the difference is what we seek with those minutes.

You cannot count your days, he said, but you can make your days count.

It's what we seek.

Before you're a student or an athlete or anything else, you're 10,000 times a Christian.

What do you seek?

Josiah sought the Lord.

He sought the Lord when he was young and inexperienced.

But letter be, he seeks the Lord with the inner man.

Now I want you to look at 2 Kings 23, verse 25.

2 Kings 23:25

This is sort of when it's summing up his reign, but I want you to hear what it says.

Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and with all his might, according to the law of Moses.

And so it says, He turned to the Lord, he sought the Lord with the inner man, his heart, soul, and strength.

Now these three words are important because you're going to find them all in the Great Commission.

We are told in Matthew 22, Mark 12, Luke 10, to seek the Lord with all our heart, soul, and our strength.

He says it's the greatest command in all the Bible.

If it says that it's the greatest command we could hear, don't you think that's pretty important?

All our soul, all our might.

Imagine when we think about seeking something so fervently.

Anyone here ever lost one of these?

Lost one of these?

Right?

When you people lose these things, you do things that are not normal to your life.

You will go back and retrace every step.

Think through the program of your day, the last place you went, you'll go back to the store that you were at.

You'll be on your knees underneath your bed, like nothing, you don't put nothing under there, but you'll be looking up, you'll find things you didn't know you lost.

You'll be under cushions like you set your phone under a cushion.

You will do all kinds of things because it's important to you.

You seek out in a manner how much something is important to you.

When I was six years old, my parents lost me at a boardwalk.

They would say I got away from them, they didn't lose me, but whatever the case was, I was gone on a boardwalk with thousands of people for a few hours.

And they were looking, my mom tells a story of being so frantic and having, you know, just a rush of emotions.

And when she finally caught up to me a couple hours later, now, mind you, on this boardwork there was rides and games and all this stuff, Ocean City, Maryland, and you had to have tickets to get on the rides.

I don't know how, but I had been riding rides for two hours.

No tickets.

When she caught up to me, there I was on a horse on a carousel.

Hey, mom.

So, but listen, I'm glad for something that she sought me out till she found me.

Thank God they sought me.

Do you seek God like it means something to you?

Like if you lost touch with it, it would really bother you?

Like if you lost a kid for an hour?

Do you seek out God?

Because I want to tell you some comparative scriptures.

Jeremiah 29, 13 says, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart.

Psalms 34, 4 says, I caught the Lord, or I sought the Lord and He answered me.

It was when I sought Him that He answered.

And Psalms 34:10, he said, The lions even grow weak and hungry seeking, but they who seek the Lord will lack no good thing.

Psalms 34:10

Matthew 7, 7 says, If you seek, you'll find.

And so he seeks in this manner.

Like no other king before him, the scripture says, it seeks with all his heart.

So what is heart, soul, and strength?

I want to explain that to you so you really understand, because you hear this a lot, but what does it mean in practical everyday Christianity?

All my heart means all my emotion.

All that I have, I seek the Lord with my happiness.

I seek the Lord with my smiles.

I seek the Lord to give gratitude and praise to him.

That's how I seek him with my heart, all my emotions.

With my soul means I seek him inwardly.

It's all that I am, my character.

I seek to please the Lord with my desire.

Deep in, what do I desire to do?

The things that I dream about.

It's my soul.

The soul is the thing that makes you alive.

In Scripture it says God breathed on man and he became a living soul.

Until that, you were a lump of clay.

But your soul is what makes you alive.

When you seek out the Lord, does it make you alive?

Do you seek the Lord that way with your passions?

And then our strength refers to our energy.

Do we seek the Lord with our energy and our might?

This is our actions.

You seek the Lord with our actions, with what you actually physically do.

Does it show in your week as you look back that you sought the Lord?

So our heart, soul, and strength.

That's how Josiah sought the Lord.

Now it says back in 22, verse 2, that he sought the Lord without wavering.

He didn't turn right, he didn't turn left.

When I thought about this, I thought, one Christmas, Heather, share, I didn't, I had never heard the term trafficking before.

And it's sad that we live in a world that has this evil that's going on, and people make money the way that they do.

But I hadn't heard the term.

And Heather says to me, Well, I'm gonna be the good uncle and father, and all the girls are gonna go out and do their nails.

So I'm like, I'll watch the kids, you know.

Ain't I great?

And I'm gonna watch all the kids, and I'm I'm gonna take them to the mall.

And before I take them to the mall, there's this little uh playground at the mall, you know, cheap entertainment, right?

Inside playground, they can all run, and there's these trees and stuff.

So I'm gonna take them to the mall.

And she says, she leans into me before I take them and she says, now I want you to understand that Houston is one of the highest rates of trafficking in the United States.

I'm like, what does that mean?

And then she goes on to tell me what trafficking is.

I'm like, oh my, I got these five kids.

And so I go on, you know, with my task, and we get to the mall, and I'm telling you, I look like John Denson in the mall.

I'm like, I'm standing and I'm looking at normal moms in sweatpants.

I'm like, yeah, okay.

You look real normal in your sweatpants and bun.

I know what's getting ready to happen here.

I'm there for like six minutes, and the girls, my little niece, she's like, Uncle Rick, I gotta go potty.

And I'm like, I hadn't thought this through.

So I got Cali and I got Sage, and then I got three other of them, and I'm like, what?

I do.

I can't walk into the women's room.

Do I take her to the men's room?

So I take her over to the ladies' room, and I got Callie, who's like eight at the time, and I'm like, you gotta take Sage.

You gotta deal with her.

You're eight, like Josiah, you can do this.

So I'm like, go in there.

So Callie goes in and they come out and everything.

But I gotta I got all the other boys, and they're wanting something that you know.

I'm outside the bathroom, and so we get back to the playground, and again I surveyed the thing, and there's trees, and I there's no way to keep sight of them all.

There's just no way, and I've got myself seated and I'm looking for this range, but there's trees and they're in and they're out, and I'm like, and like five minutes later, the boys gotta go to the bathroom.

I'm like, oh so I gather them all, and you gotta put shoes, you can't keep your shoes on in there, you gotta put them all back on.

Go back to the bathroom.

I take the boys, and I'm like, Callie, you're gonna have to come into the men's room with us.

I'm sorry.

So we, you know, and we get them back, and they get and I'm like, you know, and I'm watching again, and I'm looking at this person, I'm looking at that person, and I'm like, do they look like the type?

They do, they look, they all look like the type.

This is the capital of it, and I'm like, I can't, I can't take this.

And so I'm like five more minutes, and they're like, We're hungry.

And I'm like, oh, sweet God.

And of course, there's ice cream and there's pretzels conveniently located right across the playground.

So I'm like, everybody get your shoes back on this.

And I'm like, I can't believe this, but I'm gonna tell you what, I did not waver, I stayed the course and I got them all home safe.

It was the most stressful couple of hours of my whole life.

But it says Josiah, and I thought about that.

You know, our men who keep security, they check the locks, they're making sure everything's safe and protected.

You don't want somebody in that position who's gonna waver.

You want somebody who's gonna be firm, stay on course, vigilant, their eyes on the right place at the right times without wavering.

It says Josiah did not waver.

No king like him.

At age eight.

Imagine the pressure.

He did not waver.

And students, when you say to me today that it's just not that important, it is.

You are that important.

Because of what's gonna happen.

Well, how else does he seek the Lord?

Letter C is with the help of good instruction.

It says in verse 25b, now this is important, you might miss this phrase, but it said, according to all the law of Moses.

Now, I want you to hold that idea, and I want you to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

According to the law of Moses, often the book of the law in the Bible that is considered to be the book of the law is the law of Moses, which is Deuteronomy.

You'll look in a lot of places and they'll say that the book of the law that Moses wrote was Deuteronomy.

So turn to chapter 6.

And I want you to see what it says.

Now remember, he says he loved him with his heart, soul, and might.

That's important because here in the book of the law, you might see these words in chapter 6, verse 5.

Look at what it says to a young Josiah.

You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Which is what Jesus also quoted in the Great Commission.

And then it says, You shall, now this is to us, if you're a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, if you're an adult in this room, he says, You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, your frontlets between your eyes, you shall write them on the doorposts, on your house, and on your gates.

He says, First, love the Lord, all your heart, soul, and strength.

Then he says, Listen, listen, parents.

This is how you teach them.

You teach them number one, diligently, constantly, all the time you're teaching them.

You don't take a break from teaching them.

You get 18 years if you're lucky, and you gotta teach them.

He says, Teach them.

He says, Teach them at the table.

Now, first of all, you gotta go to the table to teach them at the table.

Y'all hear me?

Right.

Okay, you gotta get to the table, okay?

Can't teach them from McDonald's the same way.

All right?

Because if they get out of line, you're gonna have to watch how you correct them, right?

At McDonald's, but at home.

Right?

And so you gotta go to the table, and then it says at the couch, wherever you sit, and at their bed before they go to bed.

That's when you teach them, diligently teaching them and teaching them.

And then he says, walking by the way, and what it means walking by the way when you travel, because that's how they traveled.

When you go somewhere in the car, when you're going from place to place, you're teaching them, constantly teaching them.

And then he says, what else about it?

He says, day and night.

I'll be back to that in a minute, but I want you to understand, he says, day and night.

You don't stop.

Then he says, You're teaching them when you're not even teaching them.

How are you doing that?

When you're not even teaching them, you're hanging stuff on the walls so that they walk by and they say, Oh, all scriptures, God breathing, useful, teaching, rebuke, and correct, and training righteousness.

I'm teaching them when I'm not even in the room.

And so it's on the walls, it's on the car, it's on your screensaver, it's everywhere they go.

When Heather and I came here on a missions trip years back, she came and they had a God of order conference for women.

And it was the first day, and I didn't, you know, it was so busy, and she was like, I want to go to this thing, and I'm like, okay, all right.

You if that's what God's telling you, but I'll deal with the, you know, the rest of the kids will get it.

And I'm like, okay.

And but she came away from the thing and she said, if I didn't come here for anything else, I came here for this God of order conference.

And so we came back home.

I didn't know exactly what that meant.

And all of a sudden I see, I'm seeing artwork and things come off the walls.

And if you come to my home right now, if there's anything on any wall, it's a scripture.

There's scripture on the bathroom, there's scripture when you walk in, there's scripture in the dining room, there's scripture in our room, there's scripture.

And she got something in her heart at that conference and said, if I'm gonna show anything to my kids, if I'm gonna waste an ounce of space, not waste, but if I'm gonna use an ounce of space in my house, it's gonna have God's words on it.

And that's what it says.

And so we teach, by the way, King Josiah has sent his men, and we don't have time to go there in scripture, but he sent his men off to find some instruction to a lady named Holda.

Holdah was a prophetess, there was no other godly men.

So a woman says, if there ain't gonna be a godly man, then us women will strap up our boots and do it.

And so Holdah is his prophecy, and she's in Jerusalem in the second quarter.

What's that mean?

Jerusalem in the second quarter was a college.

So he sent off for training from a teacher.

Our students, church, need instruction on how to seek the Lord.

We need mentors, adults.

Every student here, if you're not mentoring, if you're a saved individual and you don't have somebody that you're helping in the Lord, you need to start having somebody.

Listen to me.

If you're 70 in here, you got a 60-year-old that needs you.

If you're 60, there's a 50-year-old that's getting ready to learn what you're going through.

If you're 50, 40-year-olds, 30.

We need people who will mentor and instruct.

We need disciplers.

That's in the Great Commission.

If you're not discipling somebody, spending some intentional time every week, please pray about starting now.

This is how we practically change everyday Christianity in our world.

We got Iwana's right now.

We've been asking, begging.

We need some people to just sit and listen to some kids share some scripture for an hour.

One hour.

It's hard, I understand.

But we need some people who are willing to step up so that the next generation doesn't fall like the 50 before Josiah.

Alright, class.

Gather up your books.

The bell's about to ring.

The takeaway from class today, 101, every day choose to seek the Lord.

Welcome to second period, studying the word 101.

Kings 22, verse 8 is where we're going to be.

This is what it says.

Then Hilkiah the priest said to 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.

So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word, saying, Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and they've delivered it into the hands of those who do the work who oversee the house of the Lord.

Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah has given me a book.

And then Shaphan read it before the king.

So there has to be a studying of the word.

There has to be a studying of the word.

And letter A underneath of that is there has to be daily reading of the Word of God.

Joshua 1.8, we all have heard and know, but it says, This book of the law, interesting.

We heard Deuteronomy, this book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth, but you should meditate day and night.

And so I've been teaching our students about the Bible in the new year.

Just the Bible.

We've been in the Bible since the beginning of the year, talking about the different things about the Bible.

And I share with them this.

This is a practical point for us, parents.

Bible before breakfast.

Bible before breakfast.

There has to be daily.

He says, meditate when?

Day and night, that you may observe to do all that's within it, and then you'll have success.

So Bible before breakfast, because God wants to be first.

And how do I know that God wants to be first?

You know what God's called?

He's called Alpha.

Alpha.

We have a God that's a jealous God.

And when we hear the word jealous, a lot of times we think that connotates something like bad or wrong.

But there's a good jealousy.

Let me illustrate.

I have a desire to be that lady's number one.

And if I saw that lady spending some of my time with some other man, number one, I'm gonna be jealous.

Number two, he's gonna have a black eye.

That's right.

Jealous, God.

A word that's related to it might be zealous.

We have a right passion for someone, a right passion.

And God is zealous for you.

He's jealous of your time.

God is alpha.

He wants to be first.

Now, listen, God doesn't want or deserve our leftover time.

He doesn't want or deserve your snooze after the snooze button or after you've scrolled for 30 minutes in the morning time.

He doesn't want your after a shower or walk the dog or got the kids ready or have gotten all this heaveled time.

God wants first time.

So our practical point there is Bible before breakfast.

Because Matthew 6.33 says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Well, that's not it.

It doesn't end there.

And I think I've been taught my whole life pretty much have your daily devotions.

But let the second thing about our daily reading is not just Bible before breakfast, but I'm gonna say Bible before bed.

I've heard my whole life daily devotions.

Do your daily devotions.

But it says in this scripture something that I haven't had anybody teach me.

It says, success is day and night.

Day and night that you might go on and think about and reflect about your day and learn something before you go to bed and wake up yearning for the Lord.

He says, day and night.

You see, God is not just Alpha.

Somebody in church here knows the other name for God.

He's Omega, he's first and he is last.

He wants to be your first, your last, your everything.

Will you say that with me?

I'm gonna count to three and say first, last, and everything.

One, two, three.

First, last and everything, come on.

Isn't that what it says?

Just like Barry White, he knew it so well.

He wants to be first, last, and everything.

Studying the word, daily reading.

Well, not only daily reading, but if you look at 2 Kings 22, letter B, there has to be a demonstrative response to reading.

It's not enough just to read, there has to be a response.

And look at what it says.

Now it happened, verse 11, when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he tore his clothes.

He tore his clothes.

Verse 13.

Look at what it says here.

Go inquire the Lord for me for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us because of our fathers that didn't obey this book.

He says, And go and do according to all that is written therein.

And so we see Josiah has a response to the word of God.

It says, listen to me, it says, He rent his clothes.

When he heard the words, he ripped, he tore his clothes.

Now, church, you don't need to tear your clothes today, but sometimes the word ought to rend your heart.

When was the last time the word rend your heart?

You heard the word.

When was the last time you you were in the Bible and tears begin to come down your cheeks because God was speaking to you?

When's the last time that you were singing a word of praise and it rend your heart?

When was the last time you were in the word and it spoke to you a new plan for your life?

It showed you a new path.

It showed you where you were doing something wrong and you had to get it right.

You may not rend your clothes, but sometimes it ought to rend your heart.

I was reading the word in college.

The first time that I can remember something like this happening, I was at Tennessee Temple University, and I was sitting at night and I was reading the Bible, not because my parents said read the Bible, not because I went to a Christian school and you're supposed to read the Bible.

I was reading the Bible because it was for me.

And it was my time with God and began to get in the Word, and I was listening to a CD, the newsboys, and there was this song called Beautiful Sound as I was reading his word.

And the words of the song went like this.

Turn the page, can't turn the light out.

Every word, every line carries to my soul.

Dark letters on the page singing so loud.

Where did I go wrong not to hear your song?

He said, 18 years, I guess I was alright.

I let you do the thinking.

I just bide my time.

And I began to weep as I looked at his words.

I said, God, why was I playing a game?

And I began to weep for the condition of my sin.

I began to weep over how long I had played a game as a teenager.

I began to weep at my own sinful condition.

I said, God, change me.

I don't want to be this anymore.

And his word broke my heart.

Sadly, church, there's many people all around this word that have never been impacted by this word.

There's people that have never responded to the word of God.

They're so close to it.

You've never come away with inspiration from God's word.

I want to ask you today, church, maybe today you'll change that.

Make today a day where the word grips your heart.

It says that he tore his clothes.

Why?

Because his heart was rent.

His heart was torn when he looked at the scripture and saw what it said about his father's generation.

He hadn't even done what it said, but he looked back and he saw 50 years prior that his father's and grandfather's sin was gonna kill his people.

His heart was rent.

You know, scripture, Psalms 119, says, verse 9, how can a young man cleanse his way?

By taking heed to the word of God.

So Josiah saw the word, it rent his heart, and he responded to the word.

I've been telling our students for almost a year, James 122 says, Be ye doers of the word, not just hearers only.

I said, Don't be a don'ter, be a doer.

Do what it says, respond to the word.

And that's where Josiah got it right.

He responded to the word.

Let her see.

Not only do we respond, but there has to be a determination to reach others with God's word.

I want you to look at chapter 23, verses 1 through 3.

What happens after he heard the word?

Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him.

Then the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men and with all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets, everyone, small and great.

And listen to what he did.

He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, which had been found in the house of the Lord.

Then he stood by a pillar and he made a covenant before God in front of them all, that they would keep his word and his testimonies.

There has to be a determination to reach others with God's word.

He didn't keep it to himself.

Very many young people today are concerned with what will happen if they talk about their Christianity.

I'd surmise to say that a lot of adults in here in the workplace are concerned about what will happen and the rejection they might incur if they talk about their Christianity.

But that psalmist that was in 119, he said this, with my lips I'll recount thy words.

I'll tell thy words.

I want you to see in Romans chapter 10 something.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

Turn over to Romans 10 just for a minute.

This is what it says.

Why do we have to be determined to reach others with his word?

Look at what it says.

Romans 10, starting verse 13.

It says, For whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But it goes on after that.

Whoever calls will be saved.

But verse 14 says, How will they call on him whom they have not believed?

And how will they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how will they hear unless someone preach?

And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

Going down to verse 17.

So faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

How selfish, church, does a person have to be to never reach another with the salvation God's given them?

The great philosopher Tupac said this.

I got love for my brother, but we can't get nowhere unless we share with each other.

Y'all hearing me?

We can't get nowhere.

We've got to share what God's given us.

You see, church, people with problems today are everywhere.

And what I'm telling you is they don't need another human solution.

They need God's wisdom.

Students, halls of your school are filled with souls.

Every soul represents a life in eternity.

Do we believe that heaven and hell and this book are real?

Because if we believe what this says is true, God's given you a gift and a circle and an influence in your life, and you're supposed to take that gift to everyone, and that's your job.

That is our purpose.

Our purpose is this: that we go to heaven and we drag some people with us there.

That's the whole goal.

We glorify God by sharing his truth.

So the practical goal, class, before we go into period three, is this make a goal one time a day to tell one person a day about Jesus in the hall at lunch and pray for opportunities daily.

Families?

Will you pray for an opportunity to weekly impact one family?

Invite one family to your house.

Take away Bible before breakfast, Bible before bed, and talk to people about the Bible.

The bell's ringing.

Third period.

Welcome to Separating from Sinful Society 101.

2 Kings chapter 23, verse 4.

2 Kings 23:4

Says, and the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest.

The door capers to bring out the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the hosts of heaven.

And he burned them from the outside of Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron.

Go over to verse 24.

I think it kind of sums up what happens in the In between from four to twenty-four.

It says, Moreover, Josiah put away those who consulted mediums, which is witchcraft and spiritus, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land.

And so we see that letter A underneath separating from sinful society is this there must be a removal of all idols.

There has to be a removal of all idolatry.

And so Josiah, as he would have read in the book of the law in Deuteronomy 5.9, we don't have time to go back, but Deuteronomy 5.9 says, Have no other gods or carved images.

I am the Lord God, am jealous, and I will visit the iniquity of your father up to four generations.

But will show mercy to those who loved me.

I believe this moved the young king.

For us today in the New Testament, when we see things like this from Paul, 1 Corinthians 10.14, he says, flee from idolatry, run from idolatry.

In 1 Corinthians 5 11, he says, Don't even keep company with someone who is idolatrous.

Stay away from idolatry.

I have to take a moment to read this, go to 2 Corinthians chapter 6, and I want you to see what it says.

2 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

Look at verse 16 and 17.

Separate from sinful society.

I want you to keep that.

He says, And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For you are the temple, you are the temple of the living God.

His spirit's in you.

As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Now listen, therefore, come out from among them and be what?

Separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.

It says, to be separate.

It says, to be separated, different from the world.

We live in the world, but we are not of the world.

We're different.

We should shine in this world.

And so to be different, you have to see where someone's allegiance lies.

What are you giving your heart, soul, and strength to?

If it's anything except Jesus, it's an idol.

Remember your heart, your emotions, your soul, your desires and passions, your strength with all your energy and actions.

If all of that is for anything that isn't Jesus, you've got an idol problem.

If it's your wife, it's an idol.

If it's your husband, it's an idol.

If it's your kids, it's an idol.

There's an idol problem.

Let me ask church a question.

How many of you have a child here who goes to Bible practice four to six times a week?

And it got quiet.

Anybody?

Bible practice?

Scripture memory four to six times a week?

I'm just gonna call it like it is because I've been in student ministry 15 years.

Sports are a big idol.

Huge.

It's a major problem.

It's an issue.

And if we're not honest about it and we believe this book, judgment is coming for their generation, their kids, and their grandkids.

Because what?

We've elevated this thing to be something that's gonna bring them happiness.

And I'm glad, look, my kids play a sport, okay?

And I'm glad and I like having that time with them, but it's not God.

There has to be time in your day where there's other things that are important.

You know, that's why we've been kind of not pushed, but we had this idea for upward soccer where we can make God and sports meet in community so that when they come to this thing and you see kids lined up with scripture before they're kicking a ball.

That's good.

What's really important?

I was thinking about this.

Um I was thinking about the scripture that says not for sale.

Y'all can see my ratty old yard sale box here.

Heather hates this box.

Okay.

Alright.

So, I hate a yard sale, by the way.

I hate having a yard sale.

I don't mind going and picking through at somebody else's.

I hate having and hosting a yard sale.

When we start getting into that, I start telling Heather, do you understand what my hourly wage should really be?

What I'm worth as a man?

And so we start dragging stuff out.

And then, listen, okay, if we're gonna have a yard sale, I like making money, but Heather prices things ridiculously low.

And so I'm like, if I got the time to be going after this, look, she'll have a DVD, right?

DVD's out, you know, and we paid what, 17, 18 dollars for the movie, and she'll put a dollar on it.

And I'm like, oh, and I'm like, fine, you know, I'm learning at this point, I'm not gonna argue anymore about the cheap prices, okay?

But it'll be a dollar, and somebody'll walk up and say, Will you take 50 cents?

Come on, I'll show you what you're about to take.

50 cents?

They won't they will negotiate anything.

It doesn't matter what it is, so you might as well make it higher price.

If your yard's pet sale people, you know, if it says$10, you ask them for it, will you take five?

You know, like you'd be getting a brand new couch.

It says 10, will you take five?

So in my journeys of life, somehow, somehow, across my desk came this box of hockey stuff.

Now, listen, I don't even like hockey, I don't care about hockey, but I did collect stuff at one time in my life, sports stuff, and and I got hockey pucks in here signed, okay.

There's all kinds of you know, neat things, still boxed, right?

And so this has made it to every yard sale, and I put prices on it, right?

I've looked them up.

These things$10 to$15 when they came out, three dollars.

Nobody take them.

Heather has thrown this box in the trash.

I have fished it back out.

It sat in the back of a van for a year.

It made it to this house.

She tried to throw it away again.

I got it still.

And even when I brought it in today, I was laughing about it, and she said, I hope that stays in your office.

It's junk.

But listen, I understand something.

For me, I'm not given a cheap price.

You can buy it at what it's worth, or you can walk away.

It's not for sale to me.

At that cheap rate.

You know, in scripture, Jezebel wanted a field, and there was a guy named Naboth who took a stand.

He said, It's not for sale.

You can't, I don't care if you're screaming, I don't care how bad you are, I don't care who you were, it's not for sale.

And I think that Josiah, something got a hold of him.

And he read about what had happened with all these idols, and he said, From now on, me and my people, we're not for sale.

It's not gonna happen here.

We are not for sale.

And it kind of sounds like the old war general at the end of his war, Joshua chapter 24, 17, he said, You can serve the Lord in sincerity and truth.

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

Please.

He said, Fear God and leave idols.

And that was his last cry.

Fear God, leave and put away idols.

But as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord.

I think that's what was happening here with Josiah.

Let me show you the words.

We don't have time to go through all of chapter 23, but the words that come out about these idols, these are the words about the altars, idols, incense, and false gods and witchcraft.

Verse 4 through 19.

I'm not making this up.

They're there.

This is what it says.

It says Josiah burned, he removed, tore, defiled, removed, burned, broke down, pulverized, threw, defiled, cut down, broke down, burned, crushed, burned, and executed.

So this now is an 18-year-old Josiah.

And Pastor Danny, I believe this is what happened.

He had an actual spell.

Josiah had an actual spell.

I believe his skin started to change to the color green, his shirt started to burst off of him, and he became the incredible hawk.

And he said, smash! He said, I don't care if they've been doing it this way for 50 years, crash.

He said, I don't care if it's gold and silver line, that idol's done, burn.

And he just started smashing things and crushing things.

And when he was done with his hair a mess, this is what he said.

He said, Now we can have church.

Now we can have church.

He said, burn it all.

Burn up the gold and silver, burn up the trophy, burn up the car keys, burn up the campers, burn up the fishing poles, burn up the guns, burn up the iPhone X, burn it up because we ain't doing it no more.

Burn it and get me the book.

We're about to have church.

Look at verse 4 and 5.

Now, before he even found the book of the law and he read it, listen to what the young king was doing.

In verse 4 and 5, before he ever came across the book, he had the priest and all those that were doorkeepers and all the people refurbishing, rebuilding, and repairing the temple of God.

Now listen to this.

Fifty years of wickedness had gone on, and an eight-year-old knew there had to be high priority for church.

The first thing he starts doing is repairing these temples.

An eight-year-old gets involved in church.

How convicting it is.

We lose that group of people.

They go off into the world, whatever it is, we lose them.

And then when they come back, is this because they grew up a certain way, they say, you know what?

I want my kids to know about God.

I don't know if I want it right now, but I want my kids to know about God.

So they come to Iwana and the kid comes home quoting a verse and they go, ooh.

And the kid comes home and say, Will you come to church, mommy?

Daddy?

How convicted.

And the kid says, I'm going to play upward soccer, and they see their kid hearing a Bible verse, and they see their teenager going and learning an instrument to play worship.

How convicting it is.

Student, please don't think for one second that in the kingdom of God you are small.

It matters what you do.

This student made a high priority of church.

Parents, I'll say this: what you make most important is seen by your children.

What you make high priority, they know.

They see it.

And so scripture says this.

The psalmist said, How lovely are thy tabernacles.

There's something wrong in this day and time when we endure and tolerate church.

My Bible says, Blessed are they that dwell in the house of the Lord.

It says it's better to be a doorkeeper, Darren, than to be a CEO in the world.

Some people today need to renew their affection for church.

I love my church.

Say it with me, CCW.

I love my church.

In 23 verse 21, we see what else he does.

He first re-established the church, and then he re-establishes the observance of Passover.

For over 50 years they hadn't observed.

And now he reinstates worship, how it should be.

And they're worshiping the Lord.

And I want to tell you, let her see for time what happens because of it.

Verse 25.

Go to chapter 23, verse 25.

Now before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses, nor after him did any arise like him.

And so what we see, if you don't listen to the wording of Scripture, what happens?

Josiah became the king at eight.

For thirty-one years, God's wrath didn't touch the kingdom of Judah.

For thirty-one years a generation saw the prosperity of God's hand being upon it.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.

For 31 years a generation.

And why did this happen?

Let her see where revival sweeps through the generation.

This is why we know this scripture.

But this is exactly what Josiah did as an eight-year-old.

The scripture is 2 Chronicles 7:14.

2 Chronicles 7:14

He said, If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and heal their land.

Gypsy Smith, an old evangelist, was asked, Gypsy, what is the secret to revival?

And this is what he said.

Gypsy said, Sir, I want you to go home.

I want you to go down.

He said, Do you have a basement?

I want you to go down to your basement.

He said, I want you to grab a piece of chalk.

He said, I want you to draw a great big circle in your basement.

He said, Sir, now listen to me, this is what I want you to do.

He said, I want you to take some steps until you get into the center of that circle.

He said, when you get into the center of that circle, he said, I want you to get down on your knees.

He said, I want you to begin praying fervently to the Father in heaven.

Begin praying to him.

And he said, beg and plead for everyone in that circle to be revived by the hand of the Lord.

He said, Sir, if everyone in that circle gets revived by the hand of the Lord, you'll catch fire.

And when you catch fire, they'll come and watch you burn.

He said, You'll be revived, sir.

It's our responsibility.

In 1859, there is a story of the Welsh Revival.

I have two closing illustrations, I'm done.

In Wales.

And the headline of the story in Wales from that revival, the Welsh Revival of 1859, was this that 10 to 14 year olds, hear me, young people, 10 to 14-year-olds got serious about God.

And it caused an influx of the Word of God to go all throughout the city.

A hundred thousand people came to Christ because 10 to 14-year-olds.

Humphrey Jones and David Morgan were at a youth rally in New York City, and God got a hold of their heart.

They went back to their town and it changed the entire town.

People began praying in churches and chapels and courtyards and schoolyards and playgrounds and began to pray together.

It started to change their daddies and their mommies and began praying on mountaintops and in their lunch breaks and in the shifts at work and they began to pray and they saw a decline in all criminal activity in Wales.

The churches were vibrant, bustling, every seat was full, like a rock concert with no tickets left.

The youth just kept praying and praying.

And listen to me, church, historically, what happens for revival is that a place is on the brink of wickedness, looking like it's about to collapse and fall off the face of the earth.

And God in that darkness shows his mighty hand to those who are truly seeking his heart with all their heart.

And I just have to believe, and I'll preach this till I'm gone.

This is the way I'm gonna preach, this is the way I'll lead, is that we will see another revival.

We will see another touching and outpouring of God.

I want to see it for my kids and their grandkids.

I want to see it.

I want to see God's presence in a place in a town for a time.

Acts 3.19 says it this way that they will repent and be converted, that their sins will be blotted out.

Now listen, so that a time of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord.

That's what I want to see.

Do you?

Amen.

In 1799, this is it.

The armies of Napoleon appeared out on the heights above the town of Feldkirch in Austria.

They were poised there to come in and attack it, but it was Easter Day.

And after a lot of discussion with the pastor at the church, he rose and said, My brothers, it's Easter Day.

Now we've been getting by long and too far on our own strength, and that's failed us.

He said, I gotta be honest, our eyes have been fixed on everything, but our God.

He said, Let us turn this day back to God.

And he said, Go out and ring the church bells and go to church as usual, and we will put the matter in God's hands.

Well, a crazy thing happened.

They agreed to do it.

Then from the church towers, the bells rang, the joyous sound of the bells in honor of their king.

The streets filled with worshipers worshiping on the way to church, uninhibited.

They knew this was going to be their last time to worship, so they worshiped like it didn't matter.

The French heard the sudden ringing of the joy bells, and it surprised and alarmed them.

Napoleon's army was frantic and concluded that the Austrian army must have arrived to relieve the town of Feldkirk.

So at once, Napoleon and all of the enemy fled.

And before the bells had ceased ringing, not a Frenchman was to be seen.

That day in 1799, Feldkirk was saved by the bell.

I submit to you today, church, that in 2020 we've been getting along too long on our own.

With our eyes fixed on everything but our God, every place.

But can we turn today and ring those bells, signifying the end of an era and a time to usher in a new generation?

Want you to bow your heads this morning and close your eyes.

Maybe you're here this morning as you heard the message the Holy Spirit's convicted your heart.

And you've thought to yourself, this I've never sought the Lord.

I've heard about it, I've been around it.

I want to tell you today, friend, you can know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior.

He can be your one and only God.

But you gotta commit your heart and life to Him.

And if you're real honest and checking your life, does it line up with the Word of God saying that you have believed and are saved?

You know you're saved without a shadow of a doubt.

If you don't, your life can drastically change.