It’s Good To Know When It’s Time To Change
1/04/2009 Kings, 22:1-20 1 Corinthians 11:27-32
Have you ever had the situation in which your mother told you to stop doing something, but you kept on doing it. Then she told you to stop doing it again, but her voice had changed and you didn’t notice the change, and you wish you had of noticed it. It’s good to know when it’s time to change. It’s good to know when your boss means it when he says if you’re late one more time, you’ll be gone. It’s good to know when somebody means it when he or she says, the next time you do such and such, Now you may have been doing it for a long time, but as far as this person is concerned it’s time for you to change. It’s good for you to know the person means business.
Each hurricane season, there is someone who does not believe this storm is going to be big enough for them to have to leave their home regardless of how many times they are asked to evacuate. They will say in a minute, “I have always stayed right here at home even when others left.” Each year someone goes home to be with the Lord because he or she didn’t know when to change by leaving what they thought was a safe spot.
Have you ever been in a situation in your own life, where you didn’t make a change when you should have, and it has cost you dearly? Sometimes people may have even come up to you and suggested that you change, take a different course of action, let that person go, move out the house, go back to school, but for one reason or another, you decided not to make the change. The only problem is, you know now that you have missed out on an opportunity that could really have made a difference in your life. It’s good to know when it’s time to change.
Sometimes you may be in an argument with another person, and you’re convinced you’ve got all the evidence on your side. The only thing is, your evidence is based on your point of view and what you think another person’s motive is in the situation. If you’re wrong about their true motive, your evidence is worthless. It’s good to know when it’s time to change your position in a disagreement with someone else. It’s amazing how if we ask God to truly allow us to see something from the other person’s perspective, we discover we’re not as right as we thought we were.
Not knowing when to change can cause a lot of pain and heartache that could have been avoided. The good news is that Jesus Christ can still help you to make the changes you need, to get back charge of your life.
Sometimes, we need to make a change, and we do not know it. We can be deceived by all the good things that are going on around us and think that it’s going to last forever. But in reality the world around us is changing, circumstances are changing, and we ourselves are changing. Change is an inevitable part of life. We have to make choices everyday, and the choices we make today are going to affect us for a very long time to come.
Let’s look at a guy by the name of Josiah. Josiah’s dad was anything but a good role model. His father had completed rejected the ways of God. Josiah’s father became king at age 22, and did just about everything he could to alienate God by worshiping idols and offering sacrifices to them. His father reigned as king for only two years, because his own government officials decided enough was enough, and they assassinated him in the palace.
The people rose up and put to death all the officials who had assassinated the king and they made Josiah king in his father’s place. At age 8, Josiah became the 2nd youngest king ever over the nation of Judah. You might ask, what difference could an eight year old make in the life of the nation. Let me tell you a little bit of what was going on at the time he became king. First of all the nation was at peace with its neighbors so times were pretty good. The economy seemed to be doing all right. The people were very relaxed in their relationship to God because there was no pressing emergency.
Many of the people had slipped from God altogether. Throughout the country, people were creating their own gods and offering sacrifices to them. Parents were offering their children as sacrifices to the demonic devil Molech. Anybody who wanted to become a priest could become a priest. In the rooms of the temple of God, There was a room set aside for horses that had been dedicated to the sun and the sun and moon were worshipped as though they were gods.
There were altars built to foreign gods in the courtyard of the temple. There were rooms set aside in the temple for male prostitution. All in all it was a spiritual and moral disaster. The people were doing basically anything they wanted to do in the name of religion and thought nothing of it. There is something inside of us that seeks to want to worship, but not do it according to the word of God. So we worship athletes, singers, actors and entertainers.
Josiah inherited all this as an 8 year old king. What a way to start your reign. Your father’s been murdered, people think you’re too young for the job, your nation is a moral disaster and you don’t have a clue as to what you’re getting yourself into. He did not inherit an ideal situation. What should you do, when you don’t know what to do? Well we learn that in the eighth year of Josiah’s reign, that means at age 16, he began to seek the God of his father David.
The word seek, means to worship frequently and to search out. If you’re going to seek the Lord concerning a change in your life, it means you’re going to worship God more often and put yourself wholeheartedly into it, because the word also means to follow. Seeking God involves following in the footsteps of Christ. If you’re not willing to follow God as Jesus did, then it does not make sense to seek after Him.
At age 16, Josiah recognized that He needed a change in his own life. The funny thing is that on the outside, he pretty much had all that he could want at age 16. What curfew do you give to the king? What allowance do you give to the king? What girl is not willing to date the king? He could have left things comfortably as they were. But Josiah knew something was missing from his life and he wanted to know why. He just knew it was time for a change.
After four years of seeking the Lord, by the time he was 20, he was ready to step into the role that God had called him to be. You see sometimes, we spend 30 minutes seeking the Lord, and think God is telling us to start moving. Josiah spent four years allowing the Lord to work in his life before he took drastic action for leading the nation. Now I’m not saying that you need four years of seeking God, I’m saying God’s plan for your life may require a little more preparation before you jump up and act on it. A lot of times it is easier to see what changes you want made in someone else or somewhere else, than it is to see the changes God first wants to make in you.
One of the things I admire about my wife, is when things go wrong, she asks Lord what is it that you’re teaching me about me in this situation. One of the strengths of our marriage is we both stay open to the possibility, that we may be the one causing the problem or at least assisting in it, rather than blaming the other one completely
At age 20, Josiah began to make changes in his nation. He wanted to get rid of the false gods, the demonic activity, the corrupt priests, and the slaughter of children. He launched his campaign, and he did it. He destroyed a lot of religious places. It took him about six years to get it done. At age 26, he decided it was time to get make things right close at home. How many of you know this was not going to be an easy decision to make? It’s one thing to make changes that affect those people out in the surrounding communities, but its something altogether different when the changes affect the people you have to deal with on a regular basis.
Now he was going to have to deal with cleansing the temple and getting rid of things that people considered sacred and holy. No doubt there were those who felt the reforms had gone too far already. But Josiah moved ahead anyways because He was committed to doing His best to do God’s will. He evicted the male prostitutes. He burned the chariots dedicated to the sun god. He got rid of the astrologers. He made up his mind that he was going to restore the temple back to what God had originally intended for it to be. A place of worship and place where God’s name would be identified.
At age 26, He wanted the people to make a sacrifice for the Lord. He told the people, “It’s time for a change. Look, we are going to rebuild the Lord’s temple. Those of you who want to contribute, bring in your money and leave it at the temple or give it to the Levites who are going throughout the land.” Well they collected all the money and the work of the temple began.
A funny thing happened though when they were rebuilding and reconstructing the temple. A fellow by the name of Hilkiah, found the Book of the Law. In other words he found God’s word in the temple and was shocked at finding it. Here was this huge temple with everything under the sun going on it, and there was no copy of the word of God. Josian’s father and grandfathers had so departed from God, that they had gotten rid of God’s word from the temple.
So we see now why Josiah had to diligently seek the Lord. They didn’t have any copies of God’s word. The books Hilkiah found may have either been Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy or it may have just been Deuteronomy itself. Either way, this was a big find. The law would tell them exactly where they stood with God.
Hilkiah gave the book of the Law to Shaphan and told him to take it to the king. Shaphan took it to the king, and after reading the law for just a few pages, the king recognized immediately, that it was time for a change.
Here is how we know whether or not we have been seeking the Lord. It we are truly seeking God, when a portion of God’s word confronts our behavior, we subject our behavior to the word of God and bring about a change immediately. We never have to seek God’s direction for a choice about sin. We always get into trouble, when we desire to change God’s word, to make it acceptable to our behavior or actions.
When Josiah, got his hands on a real copy of the word of God, this man was excited. He told Shaphan, start reading and let’s hear what it says. The more Shaphan read, the more uneasy the king became. He realized that they were living under a false sense of security as a nation. Just because everything was looking good, didn’t mean it was good. When He heard the word proclaimed and saw they were living in defiance and disobedience to the will of God, King Josiah immediately tore his robes. The idea of tearing your robes, was an indication that you were in great grief. For instance if you found out someone you loved had been murdered, you would tear open your clothing to show your grief.
Sometimes we may be in comfort and at ease in our lives a Christians because we are not comparing our lives to what the word of God teaches. We can just accept sinful attitudes, sinful actions, and sinful behaviors as just part of us and our ways, that we forget God didn’t call us to do a halfway work on us. We fall prey to the notion that as long as I have Jesus, I’ve got it made. My friends Judas had Jesus, and he ended up betraying Him in the end. If we listened to the word in the way that Josiah listened, we’d recognize that it’s time for a change.
Josiah was fearful of two things. He was fearful that His behavior and His people’s behavior had offended God. Do you even think about your behavior as being offensive to God? Do you know God hates gossip in and outside of the church? How do you feel when someone offends you and pretends like it never happened? God gets the feeling a lot from some of us. We should be striving in our love for God, to be afraid of offending God .
So often we settle for a cheap religion that simply says, in our prayers, “God forgive me for any sins I might have committed, without allowing the Lord sufficient time to show us which specific sins we have committed and need to repent of immediately. Let our prayers be specific enough to say, God show me where I was wrong in my attitudes and actions and need to make a change. Josiah wanted God to be specific in showing Him their sins.
The other thing Josiah was fearful of was the punishment that God would send their way for their deliberate disobedience. We speak so much of the love of God, that we forget the justice of God. Josiah was afraid that God’s judgment was going to be poured out, just as God promised He would do for their disobedience.
We like to think as long as we ask for forgiveness, there will not be a penalty. This goes into stark contrast to the Bible’s teaching of reaping what we sow. If we sow bad attitudes, they come back to us. If we sow love it comes back. If we sow disrespect, it comes back to us. If we sow respect, it comes back to us. What we plant in the ground, comes back to us. It may be later than we think it terms of its growth, but it does grow.
In our New Testament reading, we found that before we take communion we are to examine ourselves so that we do not drink judgment on ourselves. In communion, we are remembering that Jesus said, “this I my body, and this is my blood.” Do not take lightly the sacrifice that Jesus has given on our behalf. If we do take it lightly, then look what happens to us in 1 Cor. 11:27-30
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. [28] A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. [29] For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. [30] That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
This verse ought to be enough to cause us to fear the Lord in the same way that Josiah did. Is there a true fear of God’s judgment in your life? Do you choose to sin bodly in God’s presence? Never take the mercy of God, for God’s acceptance and approval for disobedient behavior. God does not settle accounts at the end of each day. God loves us too much to not give us adequate warnings to change our behavior.
King Josiah wanted the best prophet available to explain God’s word to him. He told his cabinet officials, “ Go inquire of the Lord for me, because we are in a lot of trouble for all the wrong our fathers have done with their disobedience to the word of God. God’s anger is poured out on us over this matter. I want you to notice that the men in the king’s cabinet and the priest, knew that if you wanted to get a word from the Lord, you were to go to a woman by the name of Huldah, the wife of Shallum. People still debate over whether or not God uses women in ministry, when we find God has always used whomever He chooses to you.
Huldah told the King, “God says look I am going to bring such disaster on this place that it will be incredible. The people got rid of me as their God, and they lived in defiance of my word. But what I told them would happen is going to happen. But because you humbled yourself and tore your robe and wept in my presence, I will not do it in your lifetime.”
I want us to recognize we have the ability to hold off disaster for others, by choosing to live right before God. This is one of the reasons its good to know when to change. The only thing that kept the enemies from afar from pouring into Jerusalem was the righteousness of King Josiah. You need to be faithful to God because you do not know how many other people you are holding up and making it possible for them to be saved.
Josiah did not simply sit back and rest when God told him, “You’re straight and do not need to worry. I’ve given you a hook up to take care of you.” No Josiah said, “listen everybody its time for a change. We can’t go back and undo the wrong that was done in 2008, but we can make a difference in 2009.
Josiah had everybody come together and he read from the word of God to all of them. He said, “ I now pledge to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul and to obey the words of the covenant written in his book.” After he did it, he asked the people to do the same.
They then got rid of every idol and detestable thing in their nation in order to serve their God. They got rid of all the mediums, the fortune tellers and household gods they were holding on to. As long as Josiah lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord. Thank God that even when things had been going well, Josiah recognized that it was time for a change. Otherwise they would not have gotten to this point of true genuine repentance.
In 2008, have you genuinely repented of some of your actions and attitudes that you were bringing into this year. Have you made up your mind not to compromise any longer? Josiah had religious stuff all around his life, but it wasn’t until the word of God confronted his life head on, that He truly entered into a deep relationship with God.
He realized then that there were some things he had still been holding on to that He needed to let go. He saw that the time had come for Him to make a change. He was the last good king to rule in the land of Judah before it was destroyed. The Scripture had this to say about him, 2 Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
2009 should be the year in which we make up our minds to be like Josiah, wanting to give God our very best. God has called us to make a difference in the lives of others. This year will be a very difficult year for many people, because they are going into the year without a job, or knowing that their job will soon be gone. Everyone of us that has a job or a check coming in to day need to be thankful, grateful and willing to show our appreciation to the Lord.
God asks us in His word, to support the work of the ministry by giving him just a dime out of each dollar that we make. That’s $1 for every 10 or $10 for every hundred. We have to ask the question just how important is the ministry God has called us to do. We also have to ask ourselves, when is enough going to be enough before we start to give in the way we should. If we say I can’t afford to tithe, what we’re really saying is I can’t afford to live at the level I’m trying to live on. Just remember this, God can always open a door for you to have to live on less, and God can open the door to bless you to have more than what you need.
We are asking everyone to indicate what their level of giving will be in 2009 by filling out your pledge sheet. We need for those of you who can and are willing to increase your giving to help make up for those who have lost their jobs and been downsized. Last year our tithes and offerings increased by less than 1%. We can do better than that for our God and for our church. We invite you to be a part of this new thing God wants to do for us in 2009.
There are still some marriages we can save. Still some youth we can put on the right path. Still some lonely people we can encourage. Still some people addicted who are crying to be set free. Still people who need Jesus who want to be saved. Still some family members who can be changed. Still some hungry people we can feed, some sick people we can heal, some people in prison that we can comfort. There is still some differences we can make. Will you please help us to make it happen.
Have you turned to the Lord with all of your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength today. If not, it is good to know when to change. You’ll get the most out of your change if you do it today. Let’s start with a sacrifice to the Lord in our giving.
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick
“It’s Good To Know When It’s Time For A Change” 1/04/08
2 King 22:1-20 1 Corin 11:27-32
A. Knowing When It’s Time
1. Listen To Your Mother
2. Hurricaines
3. Jesus Has Possibilities
4. Needing It & Not Knowing
5. Deception With Present
6. Circumstances Changing
B. Good King Josiah
1. Dad Blew It, Defiant, 2yr
2. Assassinated At 22
3. Revenge—People—King 8
4. 2nd Youngest King
5. Nation-Peace, Prosperous, Relaxed
C. Too Much Religion All Around
1. Worship Of idols, Demonic Molech
2. Anybody Priest, Horses & Sun
3. Altars Temple Courts, Male Prostitute
4. Spiritual Disaster
5. We Want To Worship—But
D. Josiah Seeks The Lord
1. Tough Start But Hey
2. At 16—Began To Seek The Lord
3. Seek –Worship, Frequently, Walk
4. At 16 –Curfew, Dates, Allowance
5. But Needed To Make A Change
6. 4 Years Of Seeking The Lord
7. Don’t Move To Quick
8. What God Must Do In You.
E. Josiah Makes The Changes
1. At 20 He Launches Clean Up
2. False Gods, Demonic, Corrupt Priest
3. 26 He Brings Campaign Home
4. Not As Easy To Bring It Home
5. It’s All Got To Go—Astrologers
6. Sun Gods, Prostitutes, Horses
7. Restore Temple To Its Place
8. At 26 New Life Temple Campaign
F. The Discovery Of The Law
1. Hilkiah Found In Renovations
2. Word Banned From The Temple
3. One Book Or 5
4. Shaphan Takes The Word To King
5. Shaphan Reads To The King
6. Confrontation Of The Word
7. True Measure Of Our Intent
G. The King’s Reaction
1. The Word Reveals False Security
2. Josiah Tears His Robes
3. The Sense Of Ease Among
Believers
4. Not Allowing The Word
Confrontation
5. God Does Not Want ½ Job
6. Just Having Jesus—Judas
H. Josiah Fearful Behavior
1. Fearful Of Offending God
2. Offending But Ignoring
3. The Idea Of Cheap Religion
4. Getting Specific With God
5. Fearful Of Punishment
6. Judgment Was To Come
7. Forgiveness & Penalty
8. Don’t Take Lightly Jesus Works
1 Cor. 11:27-30 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. [28] A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. [29] For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. [30] That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
9. Choosing To Sin Boldly
I. The King Wants An Expert Advice
1. They All Go To Huldah Wife Of Shallum
2. Judgment Is Coming But Not Now
3. You Are Protecting Someone Else
4. Josiah Gets More Serious
5. Renews The Covenant—Makes A Pledge
6. All Leftovers Removed
7. Followed To His Death
8. Will You Make Up Your Mind
2 Kings 23:25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did--with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.
