LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY 6 AUGUST 2023
2 CHRONICLES 34 VERSES 14 – 21
The incident we want to
look at is the book of the law found whilst the repair of the house of the Lord
was under way. It happened in the reign
of Josiah a young man. When he came to
the throne he was only 8 years of age.
He was taken and placed on the throne of Judah and Jerusalem. There were different stages in his life you
can see that in the early verses of this chapter. In verse 1 he was 8 years of age when he
began to reign and he reigned for 31 years.
Verse 2 “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.” It is a good thing to do that today because
one day we must stand and give a final account of the life lived in the
body. Verse 3 “in the eighth year of his
reign … he began to seek after God.”
Only 8 when he came to the throne and at 16 he set his sights on God. Have we set our sights on God to seek after
him with our heart? “There is none
righteous, there is none that seeketh after God.” There has to be a day when we seek after
God. God so loved you that he gave his
own son, his son was given as a ransom for the world, for your sin and
mine. Verse 3 “in the twelfth year of
his reign he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the
groves and the carved images and the molten images.” He began to make inroads, to bring the nation
back to God. Commanded the people to come to God’s house to prayer. In verse 14 we see that whilst carrying out
the repairs to the house of God they found the word of God. The house of God had been run down for 50/60
years. It was neglected. This man sets out to repair and build it
again. He wanted the people to get back
into the worship of God. This godly young man realises he has the word of God
in his hand. Let us look at the significance
of this find and the lessons we can learn from it.
This book that was found
was the book of the law. It had been
ignored. It set out the demands of
God. That is how important this book
was. This is a book setting out the just
demands of a loving God who wants you and I to live for him. Manasseh was Josiah’s grandfather. He was a wicked man when he came to the
throne. He undid everything his father
had done. He brought the nation into
false worship. The nation began to crumble
and fail as a result. When he ignored
this book that is what happened. If we
adhere to this book today we will continue to have great fellowship in our
lives. If it is read and studied and
adhered to our home and family lives would be different. We dare not ignore it or neglect it. Manasseh was an evil king. The book was ignored and set aside. They did not want God, they wanted to do
their own thing. When he departed his
son Amon came to the throne and he was another wicked king. He only lived for some 2 years after coming
to the throne. Josiah then came to the
throne and he had a different mindset. He
wanted to bring the nation back to God.
He set about reforming the people.
Paul wrote in Romans 1 verse 18 “for the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth
in unrighteousness.” There are those
behind the sacred desk holding the word of God down because it will have a
great effect on peoples lives. Jesus taught
of the man who had the privilege of hearing the word of God. Jesus taught parables that touched lives. Parables are earthly stories with heavenly
meanings. One man was taught from the
word of God but he turned his back on it.
He lived his life as he wanted to, walking and not practising what he
heard. Jesus called him foolish. A man who ignored the warnings in the word of
God. He was like a man who went out to build
his house, instead of getting a good foundation, he built it on the sand. It all looked ok while it was good and calm,
only when storms came, when the rains fell and the winds blew the house came
down. He is like the man who hears my
word but goes out to practise what he wants.
If it is not built on the word of God, it doesn’t matter how religious you
are, if you do the best you can, you need to be born again of the Spirit of
God. The rich man Nicodemus came to
Jesus at night. Jesus looked into his
heart and said “you are well off, except a man be born again he cannot enter
into the kingdom of heaven.” He was lost
in sin, his religion did him no good. Do we ignore the word of God today? Maybe you are saying “this is not me, I do
the best I can, I am as good as the next person.” The bible says “there is none righteous,
there is none that seeketh after God.” “All
have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Peter said “there is no other name given
amongst men whereby we must be saved.”
Being saved is not a word used only in this church but it is written in
God’s word. If you are not saved today
you cannot be saved any other way. Is
the bible ignored, set aside? Is it read
or studied?
A book that was important. This book was given by the prophet Moses on
top of the mountain. God spoke with him
and gave him the dictates of God. As
Hilkiah found it he realised it was very important. No other book stands in the same significance
today. As he unrolled the scroll he
realised it was from God. It was very
precious. He began to read the
pages. Paul to the church in Rome was
asked “what is the point of being a Jew, of being circumcised?” “For unto you was presented first of all the
oracles of God (the word of God).” It is
an important book. Hilkiah realised that
this book was so important that others needed to hear it. He called in Shaphan and asked him to read
it. He wanted to share it with
others. This book is not an ornament but
something to be preached from. Hilkiah
wanted the king to know about this book and he asked Shaphan to take it into
the palace. It is to be preached to
everyone – from the richest to the poorest, from the person of great importance
to the pauper. In 2 Timothy 4 verse 2
Paul encouraged Timothy to “preach the word, be in season and out.” Paul warned that there would be a day when the
people will turn away from this book and turn to fables. Are we not living in days when people don’t
want to hear the word of God but would rather listen to the dictates of the
world? When you open up this word of God
you will see what God desires. This book
shows what God expects of you and I.
Verse 21 “Go inquire of the Lord for me and for them that are left in
Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book that is found for great is
the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not
kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.” David in his first psalm talked about a man
who loved the word of God – “he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.” He was not going to be moved easily. Jesus was walking in the wilderness, a barren
lonely place when the devil came to him.
In a time of weariness and hunger the devil approached him and said “turn
these stones into bread.” In other words
why not have a good feast, satisfy your stomach. Jesus replied “man shall not live by bread
alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The importance of it.
The instructions it
gives us – how to reach heaven and home.
This book tells us of 2 places.
Paul to Timothy spoke of the last days – 2 Timothy 3 verse 14 “But continue
thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of
whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which
is in Christ Jesus.” It is an instruction
book of how to get into a relationship with Jesus, God’s son. How will we ever see heaven’s glory and God
for himself? The bible tells us we are
sinful and separated from God but he doesn’t stop there – if we are willing to
repent of our sin and take of the atoning work of Christ on Calvary then we can
know salvation for ourselves today.
This book had an impact
– verse 19. The king rent his
clothes. It was a sign of repentance and
sorrow that brought about conviction. When
the word was read he realised the people were not living according to this
book. He knew he was not fit to sit in
the presence of God. We are told in the
scriptures that in the last days men will have a form of godliness. There will be a religiosity, or Christianity
but no reality. Remember Lydia in Acts
16. She was sitting in the meeting
listening to Paul as he opened up the word of God. God reached down and opened up her
heart. She received the word of God that
day. It saved her soul, made her fit for
heaven and home. Or think of the Bereans
who listened to the word of God. Such was the impact that they went home and
searched the scriptures for themselves to see if what had been said was
true. It is important today to hear what
God has said to us. Time is running out
in this world – where will you spend eternity?
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