FIND THE WORD
Rev. Scott Epperson
6/3/07
(2Ki 22:8) And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.
(2Ki 22:9) And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the LORD.
(2Ki 22:10) And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
(2Ki 22:11) And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
(2Ki 22:12) And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king’s, saying,
(2Ki 22:13) Go ye, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
FIND THE BOOK
(Mat 13:45) Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
(Mat 13:46) Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
(Luk 15:8) Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?
(Luk 15:9) And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
You do not know wealth, you do not understand prosperity, if you have not found Gods Word. It is the truth in the world of falsehood, and life in the midst of death. It reveals what is not seen clearly by the naked eye, and uncovers what men and their carnality has hidden.
People have speculated for years that the world was flat, no one ever thought ask God.
(Isa 40:22) It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,
Many have spent hours, days, months trying to number the stars, what a waste of time, because once again no one asked God.
(Heb 11:12) as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.
George Washington died because doctors thought that his sickness was in his blood and that by removing the bad blood he would soon be well. It was unfortunate that no one asked God.
(Lev 17:11) For the life of the flesh is in the blood:
DON’T FORGET IT
(Pro 23:23) Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
(Psa 119:11) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
GODS WORD LOST BY SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
Where was the word of God found? It was found in the House of God. You see King Manasseh, which was Josiah’s Grandfather ruled in wickedness and did not honor God nor did he consult him for his kingdom, yet the word was found in the House of God.
Just as they did in those days, so we do today in America. We do not necessarily forbid Gods word nor his guidance and protectection, but we only allow it in church, and religion, and National Crisis. We rule by the flesh and its desires and commands, while God is lost in the church. God is soverign and he will not call rebellion his children. He does not want a part of our lives, but all of our lives.
“It is rightly impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. “
George Washington
(Psa 33:12) Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
Just as this is true in Government it is even more true in respect to our hearts. I ask you Who sets on the throne of your heart? Who leads and guides your day to day decisions. The Word( as King Josiah did ) or the Flesh (as King Manasseh ).
PRINCIPAL OF THE HEART
ruled by FLESH(Manasseh )
ruled by the WORD(Josiah)
Election is made each time you make a decision .
(Psa 119:109) My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy law.
HEAR THE WORD
(2Ki 22:11) And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
He knew the truth when he heard the word, and he felt such conviction that he rent his clothes.
Do you ever feel that way when you read the Word of Truth, or do you just read it and hear it how you want, rather than what it says?
There has been times that I read the Word and I cried because of the way it revealed my sin or error, there was a part of me that grieved because I was wrong and yet there was a part that was happy because I knew no matter what, I was free, because that is what the word does, it frees us. You can find someone to tell you anything, and make the word of God say anything, but I want to tell you it is not what the preacher told you that you will be judged, but by what the Word says.
(Heb 4:12) For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(Heb 4:13) Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds
may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Don’t hide from God, don’t be afraid of the light, for it is in the light that we see things for what they are and not what they seem. Every thing is clear in the light, allow yourself to be vulnerable and confess the truth, don’t ignore, or excuse it.
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.
LOST IN THE CHURCH
(Mar 12:24) Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God?
All the time the world was without the word, it was lost in the church.
It makes me wonder if we sometimes in all of our church activities, and doctrines, and differences, if the word is lost, and hidden from the ones that need it desperately. I exhort to you today to find the word, the truth, not mans ideas, and philosophies, but the Word. Let it change you and conform you to its image rather than the local churches ideas.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full
of grace and truth.
(Joh 1:10) He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
(Joh 1:11) He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Though we continually study him, and we continually, debate him, and we continually praise him, I wonder would we know him. If Christ came again in the flesh and dwelt among us, and came to our assemblies, would he be welcome, would he be counted as important and familiar, or would we chase him out of our religion, would we mock him, would we despise him, would we allow him to walk on by and never even recognize him. Find the Word today, know it, keep it, evangelize it, it will save you, it will keep you, and one day it will Judge YOU.
