Find the Book
II Kings 22:8-11
8And 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.
9And 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.
10And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
When the Word is lost by a nation or individual, chaos results. When the Word is rediscovered it produces a great impact for good.
History teaches us that Josiah was 16th of 20 Kings and out of 19 Kings and 1 Queen 12 of them did evil in the sight of God.
Josiah’s Grandfather/ his Father/ his Son/ Grandson and Great Grandson were all evil.
He began to reign at the age of 8 and at 8 you haven’t had much of a childhood and don’t really have a clue as to how to run a nation, however Josiah followed that which was good!!!
II Kings 22:2
“turned not aside to the right hand or to the left”
Because of all the evil in the land the people wandered from God, however we’ll see that because of Josiah they were able to come back.
Josiah called for Shaphan to go and redo the temple, fix it up, clean it up, and make it ready to have church one more time.
Now in the process of cleaning up the church, the Word or should I say the Book was found.
What is Ironic is that the Book was found in the church. And I’ve always wondered what was the high priest doing without the Book in the first place?
Is it possible for the Book to be lost in churches today?
And if so why and how?
3 Major reasons that the Book can be lost!
#1
Lack of Use
Sometimes folks put the Book away since it is God’s Holy Word we don’t want to get it messed up and the pages torn or anything like that.
And with the passing of time it was lost.
We must never loose the Book at for any reason. Our salvation depends upon us having the Book.
The Word must be preached and heard and lived and obeyed…
Romans 10:14&17
14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
If you don’t use it, You’ll loose it!!
There is no future in this life with the Word of God, or what you might say The Book!!
#2
Lack of concern
It’s sad to say but when the Book was put away or when it quit being used exclusively no one became alarmed.
In our world today the spirit of apathy has taken control of so many.
#3
Carelessness
One of the greatest reasons that the Book was lost is because someone was not paying attention; they have become too occupied with everything else.
How many of you have put something away so as not to loose it and then went back to get it and now don’t remember where that someplace was?
Luke 15:8-10
The parable of the lost coin. The coin did not choose to be lost but became lost because of someone’s carelessness.
The Book must be kept and read and lived to work in our lives.
The Book must be read and obeyed.
2 Kings 23
1And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem.
2And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.
And then they had Revival!!
II Kings 23
21And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the LORD your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant.
22Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;
23But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the LORD in Jerusalem.
1st the Book was found
2nd the Book was read
3rd the Book was obeyed
Find it-Read it-Obey it!!!
Then comes REVIVAL !!!
If there is anyone here who feels that they need something more in their life, family, or home, try putting the Book into play.
Are you praying the Word, are you reading the Word, are you living the Word?
Philipians 2:12
12Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Do you want a change in your life?
Are you looking for a renewing?
Do you want a personal revival?
Forest fires do not start with the forest, they start with a match. Revival does not spread to the individual but it spreads from the individual.
God has always chosen His work and His will to be done through dedicated men like Josiah.
If the Word is lost in our day, it must be essential that it be found!
And just finding the Book is not enough, it must be read and obeyed!
TO KNOW IS BLESSED,
TO DO IS DEVINE!!
