SPEAKER_00: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Silverdo Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: It's nice to see all of you here worshiping with us here at Creekside.
SPEAKER_00: If we haven't met yet, my name is Clayton Heath, and I have the uh joy of being a part of our team here at Creekside, and I also have the privilege of sharing with you God's word today.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bibles, I'm gonna invite you to turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Kings chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: If you've got to go to the contents to find 2 Kings, this is a judgment-free zone, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It's I don't know when the last time you were there, but uh it's in the Old Testament, which is the part of the Bible that contains the things that happened before the life of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And hopefully on your way in you got a worship guide from our guest services team.
SPEAKER_00: We give these to you for lots of reasons, but by now you know, here at Creekside, we give them to you because it is no small thing that God is the creator of the universe and he speaks to us.
SPEAKER_00: And when he does, we want to be sure to pay attention and write down the things that he says.
SPEAKER_00: And so, um, this over the last several weeks, what we've been doing as a church is we've been looking at the life of a king named Josiah in the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And uh he was a king over the kingdom of Judah.
SPEAKER_00: And if you don't consider yourself an expert on, you know, uh the history of Israel or Old Testament kings, uh let me catch you up.
SPEAKER_00: King Saul's the first king, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's all good.
SPEAKER_00: Then we get King David, then we get King Solomon, we're vibing, and then things kind of go bad, and everything kind of crumbles apart.
SPEAKER_00: Israel splits into two different kingdoms.
SPEAKER_00: You have the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, which is called Judah, and then there's just like lots of bad kings, but bad dudes making bad decisions, and they are far from the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And then we get Josiah.
SPEAKER_00: And Josiah is different.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible tells us that he's a righteous man.
SPEAKER_00: He becomes king at the age of eight years old.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're like me, you're thinking, how righteous can an eight-year-old be?
SPEAKER_00: But the Bible tells us that when he's 16, he starts to seek after the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And when we pick up the story today, the man is 26 years old.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're in 2 Kings chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what just happened?
SPEAKER_00: In 2 Kings chapter 22, the book of the law has been discovered.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's all these bad kings and all this neglect of following the Lord, the temple, the things of God have been neglected.
SPEAKER_00: And one of Josiah's guys, he finds the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: And he brings it to Josiah, and Josiah rips his clothes in conviction.
SPEAKER_00: They find the book of the law.
SPEAKER_00: And you say, Clayton, I'm no biblical scholar, so what is that?
SPEAKER_00: Well, at the very least, we know that it's at least the book of Deuteronomy, and some scholars will say that it's the complete collection of the Torah or the first five books of the Bible, right?
SPEAKER_00: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
SPEAKER_00: And so, what have they just found?
SPEAKER_00: They found the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah has ripped his clothes, and now we pick it up in chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: And what 2 Kings chapter 23 is going to answer for us, the question it's going to answer is what does repentance look like, or rather, what should repentance look like in our life?
SPEAKER_00: If you've grown up in church at all, or if you've been around church for a little bit, then repentance is one of those words that we kind of throw around.
SPEAKER_00: If we're honest, there's a maybe a like a little word bank of words at church that just kind of get tossed around.
SPEAKER_00: You get repentance, you get discipleship, community, masculinity, all these different things.
SPEAKER_00: And all of us kind of like import our own definition into what that is, and our own experiences dictate a lot of what we think about what that is.
SPEAKER_00: And for frankly, for repentance in that word, there's just like a lot of baggage, or there can be around it, right?
SPEAKER_00: My guess is if you think about that, you think about the guys out on the street corner holding the repent or burn signs, you know, and all the fiery letters.
SPEAKER_00: Repentance is like, you know, just it just melds into this kind of ambiguous thing that we're not quite sure, or rather, we all have different definitions of.
SPEAKER_00: So what is or what should repentance look like?
SPEAKER_00: Well, what I want you to know this morning is this.
SPEAKER_00: My whole sermon in one sentence is this, I want you to write this down on the top of your outline.
SPEAKER_00: It's that joy is rediscovered when we remove what has replaced God.
SPEAKER_00: Joy is rediscovered when we remove what has replaced God.
SPEAKER_00: And so, again, we're looking at King Josiah, and you gotta say, okay, well, why are we studying this random kid king in the Old Testament?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we know, again, what is our vision as a church?
SPEAKER_00: Our pastor has laid out a vision that this year is the year of the joy of the Lord, that you and I can experience joy in our life unaffected by exterior circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: So the question then is, well, how do we experience the joy?
SPEAKER_00: And what I want you to know this morning is that joy is rediscovered when we remove what has replaced God.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, you don't find joy by adding more to your life, you find it by removing whatever has taken God's place.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're taking notes this morning, the first thing I want you to write down is this it's that joy begins when God's word reclaims its place.
SPEAKER_00: Joy begins when God's word reclaims its place.
SPEAKER_00: What is happening?
SPEAKER_00: Josiah has found the book of the law.
SPEAKER_00: He's found the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: He found it in chapter 22.
SPEAKER_00: He's now become aware of Judah's neglect of the ways of God, of the things that God has called them into, of the ways in which God is asking them to live their life.
SPEAKER_00: He's torn his clothes and conviction and honestly a little bit of guilt over all that.
SPEAKER_00: But now what is going to happen?
SPEAKER_00: Now, look at what happens in chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: It says, Then the king sent, and all the elders, in your Bibles, this is verse 1.
SPEAKER_00: All the elders of Judah and Jerusalem were gathered to him.
SPEAKER_00: And the king went up to the house of the Lord, that's the temple, and with him all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests and the prophets, all of the people, both small and great.
SPEAKER_00: And what do they do?
SPEAKER_00: And he read in their hearing all of the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the house of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah, he's found this thing.
SPEAKER_00: He's been convicted about what happens.
SPEAKER_00: And now, the first thing that he does is he doesn't gather an army.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't say, okay, I'm gonna go deliver a campaign stump speech.
SPEAKER_00: What he does is he gathers the people to hear the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because God's joy is restored, joy is discovered when God's word reclaims its place.
SPEAKER_00: So what do I mean when I say it reclaims its place?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean that everything changes once God's voice becomes louder than anyone else's.
SPEAKER_00: Everything is gonna change for you in your life when God's voice becomes louder than anyone else's.
SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're Christians, we know this.
SPEAKER_00: God has written a book.
SPEAKER_00: God has given us to us in the form of the Bible, his very word, the maker of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: And we can read it and we can live our life on it, because for all of us, whether you have been following the Lord for longer than I've been alive, whether you're here checking the whole Jesus thing out, you and I, each of us, have to make a decision on what it is that we're grounding our life in and on.
SPEAKER_00: What are you, when all the cards are out, are done, whatever the saying is, when it's all over, what are you standing on in your life?
SPEAKER_00: What are you making your decisions on?
SPEAKER_00: What's the framework by which you evaluate your own life?
SPEAKER_00: And we have to make a decision, when something comes our way, where are we going to turn?
SPEAKER_00: To social media, for all of the world to tell us what they think, for our spouse to say what they think, our therapists, because they always can help me solve my problems.
SPEAKER_00: My question is this when a problem arises, who is it that when you think of, man, this is going on, I want to know who what so-and-so thinks.
SPEAKER_00: Who's the so-and-so?
SPEAKER_00: And now you say, okay, well, so I shouldn't talk to anybody.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: To be clear, I am not anti-seeking counsel, right?
SPEAKER_00: The book of Proverbs says that the wise man seeks the counsel of many.
SPEAKER_00: But if we are not returning to the word of God as the grounding and the foundation for our life, no wonder, friends, we feel so shaky when life gets a little messy.
SPEAKER_00: What we have to remember is that revival and spiritual awakening don't begin with better circumstances, they begin with opening the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: But see, for most of us, most Christians in general, who've lost their joy, they've almost always lost God's voice.
SPEAKER_00: Again, right, we can open up the socials.
SPEAKER_00: Every influencer ever is selling you a product that's really gonna solve your problem.
SPEAKER_00: Every political figure is speaking on what you should be upset about and what should derive, take up most of your mental energy.
SPEAKER_00: Fear and anxiety speak nonstop.
SPEAKER_00: Your best friend speaks all the time, your ex-boyfriend has a lot of things to say to you.
SPEAKER_00: All the things.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's talking, but the Bible sits closed.
SPEAKER_00: And we wonder, why are we not experiencing any joy?
SPEAKER_00: Here's the principle.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot ignore God's voice and expect to experience God's joy.
SPEAKER_00: Check out how the writer of Psalms writes this in Psalm chapter 19, verse 8.
SPEAKER_00: He says, the precepts of the Lord are right.
SPEAKER_00: Why are they right?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because they're right.
SPEAKER_00: And what's the byproduct?
SPEAKER_00: They give joy to the heart.
SPEAKER_00: God's word is not stealing joy from us, it's the very thing that gives us joy.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Before Josiah removes the idols, he restored God's voice to its rightful place.
SPEAKER_00: So if you and I want to experience joy, we've got to take a look at our life and evaluate where God's word is in our life.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing.
SPEAKER_00: The next thing I want you to write down is this it said, joy grows when sin is ruthlessly removed.
SPEAKER_00: Here comes the deep water, friends.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Just buckle up for with us, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Joy is grow, joy grows when sin is ruthlessly removed.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah has found the word.
SPEAKER_00: He has gathered the people, great and small, big and small.
SPEAKER_00: And like many of us, when our favorite athlete or celebrity mentions something about God in an interview, we go, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Good for Josiah, good for them.
SPEAKER_00: They're on our team.
SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: And then 2 Kings chapter 23 has more than verse 1 and 3.
SPEAKER_00: It has verses 4 through 20, which get rather crazy.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just read one verse in uh verse number 6.
SPEAKER_00: This describes King Josiah after this point.
SPEAKER_00: It says, and he brought out the Asherah idol from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron and burned it at the brook Kidron and beat it to dust and cast the dust of it upon the graves of the common people.
SPEAKER_00: The man is on a campaign.
SPEAKER_00: He goes from city to city.
SPEAKER_00: You can read it.
SPEAKER_00: Verses 4 through 20.
SPEAKER_00: He goes from city to city in his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: He removes statues and idols and high places.
SPEAKER_00: And he grinds them up and he burns them and he scattered those.
SPEAKER_00: Then he goes to the next one and he tears down the statues and the idols and the high places.
SPEAKER_00: He grinds them up.
SPEAKER_00: He burns them.
SPEAKER_00: He tosses it on the graves.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like again and again and again, remove, destroy, burn, crush, defile, remove, destroy, burn, crush.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, we go, yes, Josiah! I don't know, man, like this feels a little different.
SPEAKER_00: And I just wonder this morning, hearing from God's word, if we need to be reminded of how kind we've been to the sin in our own life.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah hears the word of the Lord, gathers the people of God to hear from God, and then goes on a campaign that some scholars would say lasted months to go to city to city to tear down every single idol.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because sin is stubborn.
SPEAKER_00: Notice how comprehensive Josiah is in his endeavor.
SPEAKER_00: He's complete.
SPEAKER_00: He takes out idols inside the temple, false priests, pagan worship, child sacrifice, sexual immorality tied to worship, household idols, high places, generations of complacency, and he takes it all down.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing is spared.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because partial obedience never produces full joy.
SPEAKER_00: Partial obedience to God will never produce full joy in God.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what we have to understand.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah wasn't trying to make God love Judah, his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't trying to make God love his people.
SPEAKER_00: He was removing everything, keeping Judah from enjoying the God who already loved him.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see the difference?
SPEAKER_00: Josiah is not going on this tirade, this campaign to earn the love of God.
SPEAKER_00: He's doing this to remove the things that keep Judah from enjoying the God who already loved him.
SPEAKER_00: That's repentance.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, repentance is not hearing a sermon and going, man, I guess I'm gonna ask forgiveness for that sin again, and I'll feel bad for a couple minutes, and then maybe we'll sing a song, and by the time I walk out, I'll be okay.
SPEAKER_00: That's not repentance.
SPEAKER_00: Repentance is removing, it's clearing out, it's moving towards the God who died to save you because he loves you.
SPEAKER_00: Sin is not the good thing, and God is keeping us from it.
SPEAKER_00: No, God Almighty is the perfect thing, and sin keeps us from Him.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're trying to do.
SPEAKER_00: Repenting is removing things in our lives so we can enjoy more.
SPEAKER_00: The God who died to save us.
SPEAKER_00: Repentance isn't God taking good things from us, it's move us moving away from the things that are destroying us back to Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: Anything that we need more than Jesus will always steal our joy.
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this question.
SPEAKER_00: What do you think you need more than being here this morning to bring your worship offering to God?
SPEAKER_00: Like, where do some things in your life cram in on church, and maybe we need to do those other things more than the gathering with the corporate believers?
SPEAKER_00: What's the first thing that we reach for in the morning before we spend time in God's Word?
SPEAKER_00: Because you know, we just got so many things going on today, and I've got people to call, and who's gonna take care of the kids?
SPEAKER_00: You know this.
SPEAKER_00: Sin always promises freedom and delivers slavery.
SPEAKER_00: One preacher said it like this sin always presents the bait but hides the hook.
SPEAKER_00: And if we're honest, let's just take a moment, right?
SPEAKER_00: If we're honest, there's a little bit of disconnect for us at this point.
SPEAKER_00: Because our sin, our view of sin rather, is a little bit marginalized.
SPEAKER_00: It's a little bit minimized based on our experience.
SPEAKER_00: It becomes this thing that we're just working on to become a little bit better, and ah man, we're close, but we still got this thing, and it's just, you know, no big deal.
SPEAKER_00: And so we say things like, well, you know, I I shouldn't, you know, I shouldn't drink as much, Clayton, or I, you know, I'm trying to, I shouldn't cuss as much, or, you know, I shouldn't gamble as much, or I shouldn't care this much about what people think, which is what?
SPEAKER_00: A ridiculous way of saying that this is my problem, but I'm not actually doing very much about it.
SPEAKER_00: And when we frame it that way, this is the problem, right?
SPEAKER_00: When it's just this thing that I'm I shouldn't do this thing as much, what we're doing is we're framing it as a good thing that's being taken from us, and we're losing something that we actually like because Jesus is out to rob us of our joy.
SPEAKER_00: But can I just tell you, friends, the good news today is that God is not keeping anything from you.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't expose sin because he wants us to have a duller life, a less joy-filled life, a less fun life.
SPEAKER_00: He exposes sin because he wants us to experience more life.
SPEAKER_00: You know this.
SPEAKER_00: What does he say in John chapter 10, verse 10?
SPEAKER_00: Look at it.
SPEAKER_00: He says, I have come for what reason?
SPEAKER_00: That you may have life and have it to the full.
SPEAKER_00: Have it to the half measure, have it to the quarter, because you know, I'm God and I'm just not gonna let you do that thing that you really want to do.
SPEAKER_00: No, no.
SPEAKER_00: God has come so that we might have life to the full.
SPEAKER_00: So can we just be honest for a minute?
SPEAKER_00: Losing money and being making financial, bad financial decisions because you bet the spread on the game this weekend is not life to the full.
SPEAKER_00: Pornography addictions that move you to objectify every woman in your life is not life to the full.
SPEAKER_00: Needing a few drinks each night just to loosen up and get a good night's sleep is not life to the full.
SPEAKER_00: Addiction, selfishness that burns up relationships, pride that won't let you accept fault for your problem in the real relationship, anger that creates unsafe environments.
SPEAKER_00: Those are not life to the full.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus exposes sin because he wants more for you, not because he wants less.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, do this for me.
SPEAKER_00: Turn to the person you're sitting next to and say, Jesus wants more for you, not less.
SPEAKER_00: But what's the problem?
SPEAKER_00: The problem is we're Christians.
SPEAKER_00: And we live in community with one another.
SPEAKER_00: And if I can be honest, I think that one of the most dangerous things that gets in our way of repentance is being in community with other believers.
SPEAKER_00: You're the community guy.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I thought you were all in on this.
SPEAKER_00: Why are you saying that now community is not helpful for this?
SPEAKER_00: Let me just see if I can put it like this.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been around Christians for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you've been with your small group for a number of different years.
SPEAKER_00: And what can begin to happen in Christian circles is that we get in community and we're with other believers and it's going great, right?
SPEAKER_00: We're doing small group.
SPEAKER_00: I'm doing the thing that Pastor Tony's asking me to do.
SPEAKER_00: And three years ago, in small group, that guy, he he confessed this sin.
SPEAKER_00: That was three years ago, and now last week in small group, he's saying that he's still struggling with the very same sin.
SPEAKER_00: And what that does, unintentionally but subconsciously, is what that does is that you see that and you go, hmm, well, I guess repentance or or following Jesus, maybe it's just thing that we're saying instead of this thing that we're doing.
SPEAKER_00: And then what begins to happen is you think about your own sin differently.
SPEAKER_00: And then we meet a guy like Josiah in your life.
SPEAKER_00: And you meet a guy or a girl or friend, woman, man, whoever, and they are diligent about rooting out sin in their life.
SPEAKER_00: They hate sin.
SPEAKER_00: They want it removed from them.
SPEAKER_00: They go after it, they kill it, they want to root it, uproot it, and then all of a sudden it's like, whoa, brother, let's just let's bump the brakes, all right?
SPEAKER_00: You know, we're all getting into heaven, there's no VIP section, so I think we're good.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm happy for you.
SPEAKER_00: Sounds like you're doing a good time, but I like that show.
SPEAKER_00: I like this music, I like this habit, I like whatever we're doing, and you know Grace, you know, grace.
SPEAKER_00: So we're good.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, we are missing it.
SPEAKER_00: We believe a lie that we don't actually have to change.
SPEAKER_00: Now, do we change in order for God to love us?
SPEAKER_00: Of course not.
SPEAKER_00: Do we change to get into heaven?
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely no.
SPEAKER_00: And when Christ washes us with his blood, when we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, it's not even us changing because Philippians says it is God at work in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: That means that we are moving along the streets of sanctification, friend.
SPEAKER_00: If you and I confess that Jesus is our Lord, if you and I can look at each other and talk about how God has changed our life, he brought us from the pit of sin and put us in the kingdom of the sin son whom he loves, then that should mean that I should be able to look at my life and see growth away from sin and into or towards Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But we're content with our life, you know?
SPEAKER_00: You got a good life.
SPEAKER_00: You got Jesus, and I mean it.
SPEAKER_00: You got Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Like you, you, you've confessed your sin.
SPEAKER_00: You called on the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: You show up to church.
SPEAKER_00: You do small groups, you tithe, you do it.
SPEAKER_00: But we're content with experiencing half joy because the sin stays stagnant in our life.
SPEAKER_00: And we miss out on what God has for us.
SPEAKER_00: So let me see if I can illustrate it like this.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's a lot of different ways we can talk about sin and all these different things, right?
SPEAKER_00: But let's just say that like I come to you and I'm like, hey, um, you know, my wife Sophie and I, uh, we're married, and it's good, you know?
SPEAKER_00: Married, it's good.
SPEAKER_00: We we like each other, you know, most of them.
SPEAKER_00: And um, but we're doing farming, and it just feels a little different dissident.
SPEAKER_00: And um, I'm just wondering if you could help me.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, yeah, yeah, okay, Clayton, sure.
SPEAKER_00: Can I come over?
SPEAKER_00: And maybe I'll just like watch, you know, I'll just be at your home and I'll see how things go.
SPEAKER_00: I'll see how you talk to each other, what you do, how your schedules align.
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, I come over.
SPEAKER_00: And what happens is you come over to my house, and when you walk in, there is stuff everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, there this looks like a hoarder's hoarding house.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: There, there's there's toys and everything on the couches, the kitchen table and the kitchen chairs.
SPEAKER_00: You can't sit in because there's everything.
SPEAKER_00: The bed, there's laundry all over it.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it doesn't look like we've touched it in weeks.
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's no surface where we can sit together because it's all covered up.
SPEAKER_00: Everything is covered up.
SPEAKER_00: There's stuff everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: And you come to me and you're like, I mean, this is just like a bad week.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know it's crazy summer and all that.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, no, I mean, no, it's just like we've just been kind of busy.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00: You know how I've gets, uh, we've just been busy, and this is how it is.
SPEAKER_00: But here's what I'm doing.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to say to you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm saying, hey, um, you know, so our marriage is good, but I'm looking to connect.
SPEAKER_00: I think that our problem is we need two chairs that we can put in our sitting room, that that is actually gonna be the space where we're gonna be able to connect, and this is the thing that we're gonna need, and that's gonna solve our problem.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what would you rightfully think?
SPEAKER_00: Brother, it's gonna take all of about 20 minutes for something to fill up those chairs, and then you're moving on and you're in the same spot, right?
SPEAKER_00: What's the problem?
SPEAKER_00: The answer isn't bumming another piece of furniture, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's removing what's currently filling the house.
SPEAKER_00: If I created the space to connect with my wife, I'd actually be able to connect with her.
SPEAKER_00: But I submit to you this morning that our hearts work in a similar fashion.
SPEAKER_00: We go to church and we do small groups, and maybe you even have a devotional or your Bible that's this on the ninth stand, but your life is cluttered with sin.
SPEAKER_00: But it's not that bad of sin clayton.
SPEAKER_00: It's just toys on the couch, it's just laundry on the bed, it's just, you know, stuff.
SPEAKER_00: We're missing it, friends.
SPEAKER_00: We're missing it.
SPEAKER_00: Sin is sin because it keeps us from the very one who offers us the thing that we need.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus doesn't need you to add something to your life to be the Christian that you should be.
SPEAKER_00: He needs you to remove the thing that's keeping you from him.
SPEAKER_00: What do you think is the greatest threat to your joy?
SPEAKER_00: The greatest threat for you experiencing joy.
SPEAKER_00: Is it losing your spouse?
SPEAKER_00: Losing a kid, not making the team, financial instability, a health diagnosis that you can't cure, not getting married, are any of those things the greatest threat to your joy?
SPEAKER_00: Of course not.
SPEAKER_00: You know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because I can introduce you to people in our church who face all those things and retain the joy of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest threat to your joy isn't suffering, it's whatever sits where Jesus belongs.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest threat to your joy, friend, is not your suffering or life circumstance, but whatever sits where Jesus belongs.
SPEAKER_00: Our joy is found when sin is ruthlessly removed.
SPEAKER_00: So, what thing in your life do you need to be like Josiah with?
SPEAKER_00: What thing can you make your friends go, like, man, I don't know, that seems a little crazy.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I follow God too, but why are you doing all of that extra work?
SPEAKER_00: Last time I checked, I don't think any of us have to go dig up old bones and burn it, so we got it kind of light compared to our brother Josiah, but don't be lulled to sleep and keep sin around.
SPEAKER_00: The last thing this morning is this is that joy is found in returning to God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: Joy is found in returning to God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: Second Kings chapter 23 is crazy.
SPEAKER_00: He goes on this tirade, he finds the word of the law, gathers the people, goes and tears up everything, and then what's equally as crazy is what happens after he comes back from his campaign.
SPEAKER_00: You might think, okay, well, what does Josiah do next?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the Bible tells us that what he does is he brings back Passover.
SPEAKER_00: You might think he might go back to Jerusalem and, again, give another campaign speech.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're so fired up they go conquer some pagan land, but it is not accidental that he goes back and he institutes the Passover feast for the first time in over 400 years.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know why?
SPEAKER_00: Because repentance creates space for worship.
SPEAKER_00: Repentance creates space for worship.
SPEAKER_00: It is not the finished line, friends, it is the doorway.
SPEAKER_00: Remember, what's happened?
SPEAKER_00: God's word is found, God's word was read, it reclaims its place, repentance happens, and now worship.
SPEAKER_00: This is the formula for joy of the believer.
SPEAKER_00: And you go, okay, Clayton, well, that's the Passover, and then um, you know, it's the Old Testament, and so that's a little different, but that was uh maybe, you know, that's old covenant, and that's not true for me and you here in the new covenant now.
SPEAKER_00: Well, a similar thing actually happens in Acts chapter 19.
SPEAKER_00: If you know your Bibles, the Apostle Paul is in Ephesus, and he's preaching, and people are giving their life to Jesus, and he leaves, but then the Christians there in Ephesus, they do not root out all of the sin there that was already existing.
SPEAKER_00: And they have a crazy encounter.
SPEAKER_00: You can go read it in Acts chapter 19, but they have this crazy encounter, and then through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, look what happens.
SPEAKER_00: Acts chapter 19, verses 19 through 20.
SPEAKER_00: It says this, and then when a number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly.
SPEAKER_00: And when they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to 50,000 dragmas.
SPEAKER_00: That's$6.4 million in current money, if you guys are keeping score.
SPEAKER_00: But notice this what happens after they do this?
SPEAKER_00: In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
SPEAKER_00: The word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
SPEAKER_00: Is it possible, friend, that the word of the Lord has not grown widely and spread in power in your own life because you have not been ruthless in removing sin.
SPEAKER_00: You still have your scrolls, you've got your pet sin.
SPEAKER_00: But the Bible tells us that when it's removed, the Lord rejoices and worship happens.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we have to understand.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah goes on this tirade.
SPEAKER_00: He comes back and he institutes the Passover.
SPEAKER_00: Worship happens.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah was a good king.
SPEAKER_00: But if you know your story, Josiah, we're in chapter 23.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah doesn't even make it to chapter 24.
SPEAKER_00: He dies at the end of this chapter.
SPEAKER_00: Judah's conquered, and God's wrath is poured out.
SPEAKER_00: See, we see Josiah and we say, Oh, that's a good king, but we need a better king.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we find in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah removes the idols of a nation.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus removes the idols from our heart.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah cleansed the temple.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the one who makes us the temple.
SPEAKER_00: Josiah calls the people of God back to covenant with God by serving Passover.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus institutes a new covenant by the shedding of his own blood.
SPEAKER_00: When you remove and repent of sin in your life, you're able to offer the Lord the worship he rightly deserves.
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this: what has quietly taken the Lord's place in your life?
SPEAKER_00: What sin have you negotiated with to keep around?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's just laundry on the bed.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe God is asking you to do anything more for him.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to sign up for another Bible study.
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to sign up for another service opportunity.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe he's just asking you to remove the thing that's keeping you from enjoying him.
SPEAKER_00: Joy is restored when we remove what has replaced God.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're so thankful for who you are and for what you've done for us.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful that you are God and that we are not.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful for your grace and for your mercy that you pour out on us.
SPEAKER_00: God, that you give us even in your word the opportunity to look and see that the story of Israel, the story of Judah is our story, that we run far from you.
SPEAKER_00: But God, that you offer us grace and mercy.
SPEAKER_00: This morning, Lord, we don't want to just be marked with conviction.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Holy Spirit, bring it, please.
SPEAKER_00: But God, what we want to be marked with is repentance.
SPEAKER_00: That when we walk out of here, we get in our car, we do the thing that's keeping, we remove the thing that's keeping us from you, keeping you from us.
SPEAKER_00: God, we love you, we need your spirit's power to enable us to do it.
SPEAKER_00: Your word says that it is you in us, both to will and to work of your good pleasure.
SPEAKER_00: God, we love you, we trust you, it's in your holy and precious name that we pray.
SPEAKER_00: And all God's people said, So now what we get to do is we get to take the Lord's Supper.
SPEAKER_00: And again, this is an opportunity for us to practice what Josiah practiced.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't take Passover, we have a better Passover, we have the new covenant.
SPEAKER_00: That's what we are taking.
SPEAKER_00: We remember when we take these elements.
SPEAKER_00: This symbol of Christ's body, this symbol of Christ's blood shed for us, is what reminds us of the story of God in our own life.
SPEAKER_00: Now I find it funny that one of the things that Josiah founds, if they find Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy, God tells Moses, do not forget that it was the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: What we get to remember this morning, maybe, just maybe, that the Lord is saying to you is, do not forget that it was the Lord your God who saved you where he found you, who brought you from your pit of sin, who restored to you in right relationship with the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And when we repent of sin, when we confess sin, we repent of sin, it creates space for worship of Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: But the Apostle Paul says in Corinthians not to take it lightly.
SPEAKER_00: So what I'd like you to do at your um as you're on your own is just to take a few moments of reflection to pray, to ask God to speak to you, to confess what you need to confess, and then after that, I'll lead us in the taking of the elements corporately.
SPEAKER_00: So if you would take your time of reflection now, go ahead and take your own and the night that Jesus was betrayed, he gathered with his disciples in the upper room.
SPEAKER_00: And he took the bread that was on the table and he broke it, and he said, This is my body which is broken so that he may be made whole.
SPEAKER_00: Take and eat in reference of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful for who you are and for what you've done for us.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful that your body was broken so that we could be made whole.
SPEAKER_00: God that God tries we might to fill ourselves and fill the empty void.
SPEAKER_00: God, you have provided the way to make us whole and restore us back to you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we give you praise, honor, and glory.
SPEAKER_00: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Next he took the fruit of the vine and he said, This is my blood, which is the new covenant, which is shed for the remission of sins.
SPEAKER_00: Take and drink in remembrance of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we're thankful for the shedding of your blood.
SPEAKER_00: God, that your word says that it washes us whiter than snow.
SPEAKER_00: God, that there is no stain too stubborn for your blood.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, again, as we move into a time of worship, God, would you we want to do this?
SPEAKER_00: We want to repent, we want to confess to create space for the worship that belongs to you.
SPEAKER_00: So, Holy Spirit, fill us, empower us, lead us.
SPEAKER_00: And God, view our worship offering to you as pleasing.
SPEAKER_00: It's in your holy, holy, holy.
SPEAKER_00: In precious name we pray, and all God's people said.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So, what we're gonna do now is sing a song of response.
SPEAKER_00: So, if you want to pray, you can pray down here.
SPEAKER_00: You can pray with a member of our encouragement team.
SPEAKER_00: But what is if you've just repented, what does the worship look like now that you've created space for?
SPEAKER_00: Would you stand with us as we respond?