The Danger of Borrowed Faith - DJ Dickerson - 7/12/26

Well, this evening we are considering

together what our kids have been

learning in their Bible classes. And

just this past week, uh they have been

studying Joash uh the boy who became

king of Judah when he was only seven

years old. And that alone many times

that catches our attention, doesn't it?

Uh a seven-year-old king. And uh most

seven-year-olds are learning how to read

better or or tie their shoes better, sit

still better, remember to brush their

teeth, those types of things. Uh but

Joash was placed on the throne of Judah.

And and I'll tell you that his story, no

matter how many times I I've read and

studied this uh very account, his it's

so exciting at first, isn't it? Uh

rescued as a baby. He was hidden in the

house of God. He was protected from a

wicked queen which was also his

grandmother. Remember um he was crowned

king while still a child. He helped

repair the temple for a while. Really

his life story looks like one of great

promise.

But Joash's life also carries a warning.

He began well

but he didn't finish well. The Bible

says in 2 Chronicles chapter 24 and

2 Chronicles 24 · chapter mention

verse 1 and two there we find Joash was

7 years old when he became king and he

reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His

mother's name was Zia of Beersa. Joash

did what was right in the sight of the

Lord all the days of Jeha the priest.

Now that verse sounds good at first, but

there is a phrase in it that should make

us pause and I'm going to underline it.

all the days of Joha the priest

because well we find that as long as

Joha was there guiding him Joash did

that which was right

but after Joha died Joash turned away

from the Lord

his faith seems to have depended

too much on another's influence and not

enough on his own conviction. So this

evening from the life of Joash, we're

going to spend a little bit of time

considering the the lessons that his

life teaches us,

the danger of borrowed faith.

The danger of borrowed faith.

One of the first things I believe that

that we certainly can take away and I

would encourage you in your Bibles to go

to 2 Chronicles. I just mentioned

chapter 24 and it's a lot of records

that we have here uh that's going that's

going to be mentioned but uh we're also

going to go back a couple chapters to 2

2 Chronicles 22 · chapter mention

Chronicles chapter 22. 2 Chronicles 22.

We're going to find the the record here

uh how Joash reminds us that children

are worth protecting and teaching.

Uh Joash's account begins during a dark

time in Judah. As I mentioned a moment

ago, Joash's grandmother um Athaliah,

she was a wicked woman. Uh she tried to

destroy the royal family so she could

rule. Uh but Joash, still a baby, uh was

rescued. Look at 2 Chronicles 22 and

verse 11. 2 Chronicles 22 and verse 11.

But Jehosh the daughter of the king took

Joash the son of Messiah and stole him

away from among the king's sons who were

being murdered and put him and his nurse

in a bedroom. So Jehoshabi the daughter

of King Joram the wife of Jehoa the

priest for she was the sister of Isaiah

hid him from Athaliah so that she did

not kill him.

So what we find from that verse is that

Jehoshab uh took Joash hid him from

Atali. Now look at it. For six years he

was hidden in the house of God. I want

you to think about that. The

implications that we we that we take

from this is one child was protected,

one child was preserved, one child

mattered. And there is a powerful lesson

I believe in that for us. And again,

when I I said this this morning, I say

it again that these lessons are meant

for me first before they go out to

anyone else. Right?

Because

children certainly matter

to God. Their souls matter. Their

teaching matters. Their future matters.

Sometimes when we think about the work

of the church, we may think about

sermons. uh we might think about, you

know, uh adult Bible classes. We got

gospel meetings, uh evangelism, we have

worship assemblies. That might be some

of the first things that come to our

mind, obviously. And and I'm not

diminishing any of that because all of

those are certainly important,

but let us never underestimate what

happens in a children's Bible class. I

say this and I and I I try to reiterate

it from time to time how much I

appreciate the teachers of our children.

Y'all do a a phenomenal job in in

teaching our kids and the time that you

spend in devoting to to impart these

lessons. Uh because just think about the

life lessons all these lessons that

we've been doing on Sunday evening as I

we've been following along and what the

kids are learning in their Bible classes

that when a child learns about Joash,

David, Daniel, Esther, Moses, Jesus, the

apostles, baptism, worship, obedience,

and and faith just to name a few. Those

lessons may stay with them for the rest

of their lives. Think about the work

that you're doing. That's powerful.

powerful

and and one that I think of many times

is is that of uh 2 Timothy chapter 3

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

and:es 14 and 15 where Paul is telling

Timothy, we did this lesson not too long

ago in that of 2 Timothy 3:es 14 and 15.

It says, "But you must continue in the

things which you have learned and been

assured of, knowing from whom you have

learned them, and that from childhood

you have known the holy scriptures which

are able to make you wise for salvation

through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

So when you look at that uh one of the

things we we talked about in that that

lesson is that of let me put it in a box

here and that from childhood

and that from childhood this is what

Paul is telling Timothy he's saying from

childhood you had known the holy

scriptures which were able to make him

wise for salvation through faith in

Christ Jesus.

Friends, what I want to tell you is that

didn't happen by accident, did it? No.

Timothy had a mother and a grandmother

who taught him. Joash had his aunt,

which is the one that long named just

earhish

and Jehoeda who protected him and guided

him.

See, that's not just incidental. That's

not just something that just happened by

happen stance or accident.

Friends, I'm telling you today that our

children still need people like that.

They still need people like that. They

need parents who teach them. They need

Bible uh class teachers who prepare.

They need members who encourage them.

They need a congregation that values

their souls.

Because a child may not understand

everything today,

but don't underestimate what God's word

can do in a young heart.

Don't underestimate it.

Joash was hidden in the temple. And I

thought, well, our children should not

have to hide in order to be saved

spiritually. They ought to be surrounded

by people who love the Lord, who love

the truth, who love their souls. So I

think that's one of the first things I

wanted to bring out was one of the first

lessons I I I was thinking about from

Joash uh is just just that children are

worth protecting, teaching and guiding

toward God.

Second of all,

Joash reminds us of the power of godly

influence.

mentioned a moment ago that Joash became

king when he was seven years old.

And that's really hard for us to wrap

our minds around. Uh because at that

age, I think we'd agree he needed

guidance, right? Uh Jehoa the priest

became really the the major influence in

his life. Uh the Bible says again, Joash

did what was right in the sight of the

Lord all the days of Jeha the priest.

So what that tells me is that the priest

here helped him know what was right. He

he helped him rule wisely. He helped him

understand the importance of the temple

and you know all the other things that

go with that. And and under Jeha's

guidance, Joash I I mean desired to do

what? Repair the very house of the Lord.

And that tells us something very

important, doesn't it?

Influence matters.

A godly influence

can help a young person walk in the

right direction. A godly influence can

help a new Christian grow. A godly

influence can help a Christian that's

struggling stay steady. A godly

influence can help a congregation remain

focused on what matters.

That's why we we hear these verses many

times about, you know, we talk about our

children and and you know, their circle,

their inner circle. You know, who who do

you want your children to to be around,

right? Who do you want them to be

around? And I and I think in our minds

we automatically know the answer to

that. We want them to be be uh friends

with those who are are going to be good

company, those who are going to have

good values, good morals, who you know

those types of things because what's

that verse we we many times think about

1 Corinthians 15 and verse 33.

Do not be deceived. Evil company

corrupts good habits or good morals.

But although we certainly understand

that that evil company can certainly

corrupt uh good morals or good habits,

here's the fact. The opposite of that is

just as true. Just as true. Because when

you have godly company,

that can encourage good morals, right?

Good. Godly friendships can strengthen

faith. Godly examples can help shape

lives.

Now, I'm not saying Jehoida was a was a

perfect person. I'm not saying that. But

I will say that it certainly appears

from what the text shows us that that uh

he was useful in the life of Joash.

He helped Joash do what was right.

And that's to be admired.

Now, we should ask ourselves, what kind

of influence am I? What kind of

influence am I? Am I helping others move

closer to God or farther from him?

Am I somebody that, you know, again,

think about this from am I somebody who

should be in someone's inner circle to

help them? That's the that's the people

that we want in our inner circles. Am I

one of those people? Am I encouraging

faithfulness or carelessness? Am I

helping the young see the beauty of the

living God?

and serving God,

worshiping God.

Am I showing them that worship matters,

scripture matters, obedience matters,

the church matters? Am I showing them

those types of things?

And because this is not just what we'd

say, well, that lesson is just for

parents or that lesson's just for Bible

class teachers. Friends, that's, you

know, yes, parents and yes, Bible class

teachers. Absolutely. Th those all go

hand in hand. But I'll tell you, every

Christian has influence

because I can tell you all the

Christians when I was a kid that had a

major influence on my life.

And because of those people, I am where

I am today. Now again, I had to make my

own choices,

but their encouragement, their their

great godly influence

because when I was a kid, I watched how

people sing.

You know, our kids do that. Our kids

watch that.

A teenager is going to notice how we

talk about the church.

A a new Christian observes how we

respond to correction. A visitor may be

shaped by how warmly we greet them.

We had some this morning that were just

visiting. You know what? They they they

were they were coming from uh they they

they live off in Louisiana

and and he he he was and him and his

wife just bragged and he said how

wonderful

it was, how refreshing it was to be here

with us. Bible class, the the worship

service,

how friendly

that is a compliment that I'm just proud

to hear.

We are so blessed

friends. We don't realize what a

difference we can make.

Every opportunity that we have

that someone struggling may be

strengthened because of our

faithfulness.

Jehoa's influence is is is so paramount

because it helped Joash do right for

many years.

And these things should encourage us

because we may not know how much good

our influence is doing. I I mean a Bible

class teacher uh you know thinking about

teaching kids

uh may wonder you know are the kids

listening you know are they are they

catching anything?

I mean, a parent, as a parent, we we

sometimes wonder ourselves, are the

lessons that we're imparting, are they

sinking in? You know, we have those

questions

and it looks like sometimes they're

spaced out and they're just staring

as a preacher. Yes, I I'll I'll speak on

behalf of other preachers because we've

we've had our preacher studies and

things and around the area and preachers

get together and we have our our

preacher, you know, discussions and

things from our our lonely business, I

guess you would call it sometimes it

feels, but we may wonder, is any of the

sermons helping?

A quiet member may wonder, you know, if

their example even matters.

And I could go on and on, but but I

think we're seeing here that Joash's

account reminds us godly influence

matters greatly.

Greatly.

And that's something that we in turn

should take from that. The power of

godly influence. Absolutely.

Let me move on to the third. Joash

reminds us to care about the house of

God.

I would say one of the bright moments of

of in Joash's life was his desire to

repair the temple. You look Second

Chronicles 24. Look at verse four. Now

look at verse four of 2 Chronicles 24.

Now it happened after this that Joash

set his heart on repairing the house of

the Lord.

You know, I was focusing on that and

preparing this lesson

and one of the things I was thinking

about that beautiful statement and he

set his heart. Love that. He set his

heart on it. And if you look back of

what had happened, you had the temple

that had been neglected, damaged. Joash

saw that what belonged to God had not

been treated with proper care. So, he

wanted it restored.

And you know and I understand today that

uh the church is not the physical temple

in Jerusalem. We understand that under

the New Testament God's people are

described as being the temple. Think

about who the church you know we say

that all the time. The church is not the

building. The church is the people. Uh 1

Corinthians 3 and:e 16 talks about do

you not know that you are the temple of

God and the and that the spirit of God

dwells in you? Uh think about 1 Peter 2

and verse 5 that also speaks about uh

Christians. A as Peter says, "You also

as living stones are being built up a

spiritual house, a holy priesthood to

offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable

to God through Jesus Christ."

There's many other verses that speak to

this obviously,

but the point that I'm I'm I'm wanting

to bring out in this is that when we

think about Joash repairing the temple,

we can make an important spiritual

application here. That we as well should

certainly care about the condition of

God's people.

We should care about the spiritual

strength of the church. And again, we

have to ask those questions.

Are we helping build up the church? Are

we repairing what has been neglected?

Are we strengthening worship, teaching,

fellowship, service, evangelism, and

love? Are we giving attention to where

and what belongs to God?

See, it's easy to notice what's broken

in the building. You know, that's that's

one of the things about buildings.

Uh, you know, we we had some of those

discussions just recently as you're

aware. You know, we had a leaking roof

in the in the annex building. All the

Bible classes are um so we had a leaking

roof. You cracked walls. We can see

that. You got a broken door. Well, you

know, we we understand that a lot that's

not going that doesn't come on that.

Those types of things get our attention,

don't they?

But spiritual neglect

can be more dangerous

and less obvious.

You see what I'm saying?

Like a congregation can neglect Bible

study.

A family can neglect prayer.

Christian can neglect worship. A heart

can neglect repentance. A soul can

neglect obedience. A heart

can neglect.

A church can neglect love, truth,

discipline, evangelism, encouragement.

You see, think about how dangerous it is

to neglect these things.

Yet Joash, he looked at the temple and

knew something need to be repaired. And

and we have to ask the question, what

about us?

We think about our own lives and our own

areas in our lives that need spiritual

repair. Is there something there that we

need to repair?

Our prayer life, has it grown weak?

Bible study, have we become

inconsistent?

Has our worship become something, well,

it's just what we do. It's just a

routine. It's something we check off our

box.

Has our zeal cooled?

Our influence weakened?

Have we allowed cracks to form in our

faith?

These are questions that we need to ask

because yes, Joash set his heart on

repairing the house of the Lord and we

need that same kind of concern for the

spiritual house of God today.

Well, let me bring you to a point that's

tragic

of what Joash reminds us

that borrowed faith will not last.

A lot of things that I spoke of already

are very encouraging things. Um

Joash Joash's beginning was certainly I

believe encouraging, but his ending is

heartbreaking.

2 Chronicles 24. If you turn your

attention to verses 17 and 18, 17 and

18, 2 Chronicles 24,

pay attention to what's being stated

here.

Now, after the death of Jeda, the

leaders of Judah came and bowed down to

the king, and the king listened to them.

Therefore they left the house of the

Lord God of their fathers and served

wooden images and idols and wrath came

upon Judah and Jerusalem because of

their trespass.

That is certainly a tragic statement you

find.

That's tragic

because again even as we started the

lesson off that as long as Jeha was

alive, Joash did what was right.

But when Jehoa was gone,

what did Joash do?

He listened to the wrong voices.

And this shows us the danger of a

borrowed faith.

Borrowed faith is when someone does

right only because someone else is

watching.

Borrowed faith is when someone serves

God only because their parents do.

Borrowed faith is when someone attends

worship only because their spouse wants

them to. Borrowed faith is when someone

obeys outwardly but has never developed

inward conviction. Friends, that's what

borrowed faith means.

And we all need encouragement and we all

need help and we all benefit from godly

influences. But I'm going to tell you

that at some point our faith must become

personal. Remember

Joshua,

one of the strong statements we remember

from Joshua 24:15 when he said, "But as

Joshua 24:15

for me in my house, we will serve the

Lord." You ever notice he didn't simply

say, "As for my parents or as for my

friends or as for my nation."

No, he said, "As for me and my house, we

will serve the Lord."

And that's called a personal devotion.

That's a personal commitment.

Joash's problem was not that he had

Jehoa's help.

That was a blessing. Absolutely. His

problem was that when Jehoa was gone,

his own heart was not firmly anchored in

the Lord.

What a lesson.

Yes, we say that's a lesson for our

children, but friends, it's a lesson for

adults today, too.

And I'll tell you, young people,

you can't go to heaven on your parents'

faith. Doesn't work that way.

Parents,

we can't go to heaven on our children's

faith.

Husbands and wives cannot go to heaven

merely on each other's faith.

Members cannot go to heaven simply

because they sit among the faithful

because each person must choose the

Lord.

Passages that speak to this is that of 2

Corinthians 5 and verse 10. 2

Corinthians 5 and verse 10. For we must

all appear before the judgment seat of

Christ, that each one may receive the

things done in the body according to

what he has done, whether good or bad.

That's one of the verses we see there.

Romans 14:12 is another one. Romans 14

Romans 14:12

and verse 12. So then each of us shall

give account of himself to God.

Joash began well,

but his faith did not stand when the

influence changed.

And that really should cause us to ask,

what would happen to my faith if certain

people were no longer around?

Would I still worship?

Would I still pray? Would I still study?

Would I still stand for truth? Would I

still serve?

What a sad testament

of what we find

about Joash.

Could we imagine and and and the sad

fact

that if we replace names in that passage

says Joash did what was right in the

sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoa.

I don't want to find

certainly discouraged to find wouldn't

it if you place your name

with somebody else's name at the end

or you think about your children they

did what was right inside Lord all the

days of your life

see that that's that hits to the heart

doesn't

A faith that only lives in the presence

of another person

is not strong enough.

That has that has been seen in my own

lifetime of 44 years.

I have watched those who held on

basically to the hymn of their

grandparents

and once their grandparents

died

they disappeared.

The question is

what happened to them

or parents

when kids go off to college or what?

There's a whole things we see with this.

This is where we start talking about a

faith that needs to be rooted in God.

It's got to be rooted in God.

Well,

Joash reminds us of something else and

that is to listen when God corrects us.

You know, even after Joash, he even

after he turned away, God God did not

remain silent. If you notice there in 2

Chronicles 24 and verse 19 that it has

that word yet. Yet he sent prophets to

them to bring them back to the Lord and

they testified against them but they

would not listen. And you know we have

to look at this and say you know there's

mercy in here. God God is certainly

merciful. Joash had sinned. Judah had

sinned. But God is still sending

messengers to call them back.

And one of those messengers was

Zachchariah, which you know who

Zachariah was? The son of Jehoa.

He stood before the people and said,

the spirit of God came upon Zechariah,

the son of Jehoeda, the priest, who

stood above the people, and said to

them, thus says God, why do you

transgress the commandments of the Lord

so that you cannot prosper? because you

have forsaken the Lord, he also has

forsaken you. Now I I thought about that

had to be difficult to hear. That that's

tough stuff there, but it was certainly

true.

Now the question is, how did Joash

respond?

Verses 21 and 22. Now, so they conspired

against him, and at the command of the

king, they stoned him with stones in the

court of the house of the Lord.

Thus Joash the king did not remember the

kindness which Jehoa his father had done

to him

but killed his son.

And as he died he said the Lord look on

it and repent.

How easy one forgets.

Joash forgot the kindness shown to him.

He rejected correction. He silenced the

messenger.

And I I thought this is probably one of

the saddest parts of this account. It's

it's sad because a man who had once

cared about repairing the temple now

kills a prophet in the court of the

house of the Lord. And we might ask the

question, well, what changed?

His heart changed. Here's the lesson for

us. When God's word corrects us, we must

listen.

Hebrews 4 and:12 speaks of the word of

God as being living and powerful and

sharper than any two-edged sword,

piercing even the division of soul and

spirit of the joints of marorrow and a

discerner of the thoughts and intents of

the heart.

That's what the word is. That's what the

word does.

You know,

a lot of times we like to think about

the word and say, you know, there it

brings comfort. Now it does.

The word brings comfort to us.

But also it corrects us.

Sometimes it exposes what is wrong.

Sometimes it calls us to repent, doesn't

it?

And although we may see it, just like

Joash heard those words,

the question is always upon us is how do

we respond to that? Do we humble

ourselves? Do we examine our hearts? Do

we repent?

Or do we become defensive, angry, and

resistant?

See, Joash didn't want correction.

But refusing correction

does not remove guilt.

Ignoring God's warning does not change

truth.

Proverbs 12 verse1

says, "Whoever loves instruction loves

knowledge, but he who hates correction

is stupid." I always look at that one,

I'm like, "Well, that's pretty pointed.

That's pretty pointed

because that's that's that's what we

call direct language, you know, but is

that not needed?" Yes, that's that's

direct. And a and a wise person accepts

correction and a a foolish person on the

other hand resents it.

If Joash had listened, his account could

have ended so different. If he had

repented, repented, mercy was available.

But instead, his heart was hardened.

And I submit to you this evening that we

we never become too proud to be

corrected by the word of God.

The last thing I want to share with you

before the lesson is yours from this is

Joash points us to the need for a better

king.

Joash was a king with promise but he

failed.

Think about his life. We we went over

briefly at the very beginning.

He was rescued but later he rebelled.

He repaired the temple

but later forsook the Lord.

He listened to Jehoa but later he

listened to wicked leaders.

He began well but he didn't finish well.

and his failure to this day

reminds us that Judah needed a better

king.

And ultimately that better king is Jesus

Christ the righteous

because Jesus didn't simply begin well

because he did that

but he finished faithfully.

John 17 and verse4 Jesus said I have

glorified said it says I have glorified

you on the earth. I have finished the

work which you have given me to do. It's

what Jesus said. And on the cross, two

chapters later in John chapter 19 and

John 19 · chapter mention

verse 30 recorded for us, Jesus said

those three words, "It is

finished."

Joash was hidden in the temple to

preserve his life.

Jesus came into the world to give his

life. Joash was crowned as a young king.

Jesus is crowned with glory and honor.

Joash failed to remain faithful. Jesus

was faithful in all things. Joash shed

innocent blood

and Jesus shed his own innocent blood to

save the guilt.

Friends, that's the hope of the gospel.

We have all failed in ways Joash failed.

We might have started well and have

drifted.

We have listened at times to wrong

voices.

We have neglected spiritual things.

We have resisted correction.

And maybe our our faith has depended too

much on others and not enough on our own

personal conviction.

But through Christ, we can be forgiven.

Through Christ, we can be restored.

Through Christ, we can finish better

than we began.

So, I bring the lesson to a close.

A lot to consider from the life of

Joash. The kids have been learning about

again as we're taking this time to

reinforce the lessons that they have

learned.

And a reminder for us,

the story of Joash is an account our

children can understand, but it's not

simply what some would say as a

children's story. It's not

because it teaches all of us those very

points we consider briefly. Children are

worth teaching. Godly influence matters.

The house of God deserves our care and

attention. Borrowed faith will not last.

Correction must be received with

humility.

A good beginning is not enough.

So the question is not one that says,

"Well, did I start well?" That's not the

question. The question is, "Am I still

walking with God today?"

Because Joash began with such great

promise, didn't he?

The image that I'm using for the chart

was one that I stared at for a while.

It's kind of a moving picture to me.

He would grow in years.

But oh, how he failed.

See, for me, that's kind of what I want

to remember. Don't you?

And that's many times our lives.

We grow.

Sometimes we're going the wrong

direction.

He did

Paul could say in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have

2 Timothy 4:7

fought the good fight. I have finished

the race. I've kept the faith."

Friends, that's what we want for our

children.

That's what we want for this

congregation here in Leaport.

That is what we want for ourselves.

We don't want to simply begin with

faith. We want to finish with faith.

And we need to understand the serious

implications, the serious lesson, the

danger of a borrowed faith

because time and time again it has

proven true just like in the life of

Joash.

It will not end well.

this evening. If you need to begin your

walk with Christ through faith,

repentance, confession, and baptism is

God's plan of salvation lays out so

plainly and so clearly in his holy and

divine word. Be buried with Christ in

baptism. A rise and walk in newness of

life. You can do that tonight as Romans

Romans 6:3

6:3 and4 tells us. The Lord invites you

to come. If you need to study more about

God's plan of salvation, you don't leave

here without saying, "I need to talk

with you about that because this is the

most important thing right here, your

start." Absolutely. That's a starting

point. You come to that water grave

baptism,

you began that new life. And that walk

is important.

If you have started to drift away, the

Lord calls you back.

If your faith has grown weak and if you

have listened to the wrong voices, if

there are things in your life that need

repair, don't harden your heart

because again the awareness that we have

even reminded ourselves this evening the

danger of borrowed faith

because a good beginning is not enough.

Let's begin with the Lord. Let's walk

with the Lord and let's finish with

Lord.