Joy is Experienced Rediscovering God's Truth | Rediscovering Joy - 2 Kings 22:8-13 | Matty Finlay

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Silverdale exists to lead people into an authentic relationship with Christ so they will worship God, grow in their faith, and serve the Lord in our community and world.

Silverdale's Lead Pastor is Tony Walliser.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Well hey listen as you take your seats go ahead and pull out your Bibles and turn to 2 Kings 22 for me 2 Kings 22 listen wherever you are joining us this morning whether you're at one of our venues campuses or joining us online or sitting right here in the room at Albanio Oaks campus. We are so grateful and thankful that you've chosen to worship with us this weekend. If you and I have not had a chance to meet yet, my name is Matt. I have the privilege of serving as a part of the team here on Albani Oaks campus, and this morning I have the joy of opening God's word with you. So 2 Kings 22, as you're turning there. Last week we kicked off a series called Rediscovering Joy, where we began to look at the life of a young king named Josiah. And Josiah would lead the nation of Judah through one of the greatest spiritual revivals that we read about in our Bibles, in spite of the incredible amount of evil that surrounded him. We talked about how, like Josiah, our past does not have to be the predictor of our future. And then if we want to see revival in our own lives, if we want to see revival take place around us, then that begins with us seeking and beginning a personal relationship with God through his son Jesus. And across all of our campuses last week, we had several people that began a relationship with Jesus for the very first time. So can we celebrate that this morning? Listen, that's a big deal. Anytime anybody goes from death to life, anytime somebody says, I recognize, I acknowledge that there is a God and I am not him, and I'm surrendering my life to follow him, is a big deal. And we got to see that last week, so we celebrate that. But here's what I know. Even while we celebrate what God did last week, even while we celebrate lives that have been changed, there are many of us that still find ourselves in a place where we may say something like this. I've begun a relationship with Jesus, but I'm still not experiencing the joy-filled life that I read about in God's Word. Like I have a relationship with Jesus, I've surrendered my life to Jesus, I've been following Jesus for decades of my life, whatever it may be. But we still feel as though what we read in scripture about this joy-filled, abundant life that God says we should have, that we would say, that's not my life. And if you remember our brief history lesson from last week, you'll remember that the nation of Israel, and eventually Israel and Judah, hadn't always been distant from God, like when Josiah took over as king. Ever since their escape from captivity in Egypt, the Israelites had had moments and seasons where they would faithfully follow God, where they knew God loved them, and they would love him back. And last week we saw that when Solomon was anointed king, he led Israel through the strict season until he eventually aged and drifted away from God. Then in the midst of the coming and going of all of the different kings, you had King Hezekiah, who led the nation into revival, restored temple worship. Then we get Manasseh, who leads Judah back into rebellion, and eventually repents and tries to restore worship, and then we get to King Josiah who leads Judah into a spiritual revival. There's this whole lot of back and forth and up and down in following God. There's what we can call spiritual drift. And we can define spiritual drift like this. I'd love for you to jot it down at the top of your outline for me this morning. There's this spiritual drift is the subtle movement away from God when we lack intentional connection to him. Spiritual drift is the subtle movement away from God when we lack intentional connection to him. And for many of us, spiritual drift is what would define our relationship with Jesus right now. Sure, in Josiah's time, there were kings before him that did more than drift away. Right? There were kings that just outright rejected who God was, wanted nothing to do with him, and turned aside from that, led the nation away from that. And maybe there are some of you in here this morning, maybe our campuses are joining us online, and that's how you define your life. You're still here, but you've outright rejected God. But I think there are many of us who maybe we haven't rejected God, but our drift is much more subtle. Maybe it's much less obvious, but it can be equally as dangerous. Many of us find our place, ourselves in a place where we are spiritually drifting. So how do we get there? For many of us, maybe all of us, it all begins in the same place. So if you're taking notes, shut this down for me. It's number one that neglecting God's word leads to spiritual drift. Neglecting God's word leads to spiritual drift. When God's people neglect God's word, it will always begin this subtle drift away from God. Somebody who was once on fire for the Lord, somebody who was once being used by God, can find themselves having drifted away from God because they began to neglect the truth of his word. And in 2 Kings 22, we're told that after Josiah had begun to seek God, he orders that the temple be rebuilt. And as the temple is being rebuilt, the word of God is found in the rubble of the temple. Look at this in 2 Kings 22, verses 8 through 10. It says this. And Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan the secretary, I've found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king to Josiah and reported to the king, Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord. Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. It's believed that what was found in the rubble of the temple was either tossed aside by King Manasseh during his reign or hidden by the priests in an effort to preserve it. Either way, it's believed that the book of the law, the word of God, had been neglected for 60 years. Which means that the culture, the people, had neglected God's word for decades of their lives. Children after children after children had been born and had never heard the word of God. They had never had it read to them. It was a culture that had neglected truth and instead consumed whatever was there to offer them. God's word had been lost. The culture within Judah had moved away from anything that would remotely resemble what God wanted for them, who God desired them to be, and seemingly for decades, until Josiah was made aware that the buck had been found, nobody cared. We live in a culture not too dissimilar. We live in a culture that continues to make dramatic shifts away from who God has called us to be, from the relationship God has designed for us. We live in a culture that continues to pass laws. Social norms are being rewritten. Things that were once held as absolute truths are being questioned, and we are in a culture that continues to move away from God. Even many of us who profess to be Christ's followers, many of us would claim to believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God to his people. But many of us in that same group neglect the reading of God's word on a daily basis. And it leads us to drift spiritually. Consequently, we live in a culture that moves further and further and further away from God. And we often have Christians who aren't exactly sure what they should believe or even how they should respond in certain situations. An agnostic professor at the University of North Carolina by the name of Bart Ehrman was teaching an undergraduate class where he discussed something really interesting. Listen to what he had to say. He says this I'm teaching a large undergraduate class this semester on the New Testament, and of course, most of my students are from the South. Most of them have been raised in good Christian families. And I found over the years that they have a far greater commitment to the Bible than knowledge about it. So this last semester, I did something I don't normally do. I started off my class of 300 students by saying the first day, how many of you in here would agree with the proposition that the Bible is the inspired word of God? Vom. The entire room raises its hand. Okay, that's great, he says. Now, how many of you have read the Da Vinci Code? Vom. The entire room raises its hand. Now, how many of you have read the entire Bible? Scattered hands go up. He says, now I'm not telling you that I think God wrote the Bible. You're telling me that you think God wrote the Bible. I can see why you'd want to read a book by Dan Brown, but if God wrote a book, wouldn't you want to see what he had to say? So this is one of the mysteries of the universe. That many of us are more committed to the tradition of the Bible than we are in knowing it and living our lives according to it. Many of us are more committed to the tradition of the Bible, the truths we say we believe it contains. Many of us will fight for the Bible. Many of us are more committed to the tradition of Scripture than we are with living our lives according to it. Research would suggest that the average American in this room spends two and a half to three hours a day on social media alone. Our phones are typically the first thing we reach for in the morning and the last thing we reach for at night. While our Bibles sit on a dresser, in a drawer, or in a backpack and go unopened for days, weeks, and sometimes months at a time. And we wonder why. Our society, our churches, our hope look at the way that they do. Spiritual drift has happened because God's word has been neglected. There's often a lack of joy in our lives because God's word has been neglected. We cannot follow the voice of God if we don't ever open the word of God. Now listen, when we open God's word, God speaks. And when we begin to hear the voice of God, when we are obedient to follow the voice of God, it will draw out a response from us. So again, if you're taking notes, jot this down for me. God's word convicts us. God's word convicts us. When we hear the word of God, when we open God's word and listen to it, God will begin to challenge and change us. The word we use for that in our Christian circles, if you're new to church, is conviction. That God's word will convict us. God, through his word, will convict us. Now listen to me. Our culture wants to avoid conviction because we often confuse it with condemnation. But conviction and condemnation are not the same thing. Biblically, they are very different. What we see through scripture is that conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives who reveals truth about sin, about our sin and our need for God. Jesus says this about the Holy Spirit in John 16, 8. Let me read it to you. It says, And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Conviction has a purpose. Conviction is to awaken, to correct, to restore, to ultimately bring about repentance and life. Conviction is an act of God's grace in our lives that exposes the things that are harming us spiritually. Condemnation is different. Condemnation says you're a failure. Condemnation says you messed up, you screwed up. Condemnation says there is no hope. You've blown it, you're not good enough, you were never good enough, you were never gonna be good enough. Condemnation says you are guilty and there is no way back. However, what the scriptures teach us is that when we are in Christ, there is no condemnation. Look at this in Romans 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When we hear God's word, it doesn't condemn us, it convicts us. Look how we see this in Josiah. 2 Kings 22, verses 11 through 13 say this. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Hikim the son of Shaphan, and Akbor the son of Mekiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Isaiah the king's servant, saying, Go inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us. So as we return to the word of God, as God begins to convict us, there are four things that we'll learn and see in this passage. Here's the first that our hearts are pierced. Shut that down for me. Our hearts are pierced. Verse 11 tells us after Josiah heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. Think about what would ever cause somebody to tear their clothes. Josiah was moved by grief, mourning, deep distress. Josiah's heart is pierced and he is undone by conviction. Listen, conviction is not just simply I made a mistake. Conviction is a recognition that I am out of alignment with God, that I am living my life out of alignment with my maker and my creator, and this is not what you intended for me. His heart is pierced because he recognizes that Judah has violated its covenant with God. Its judgment is deserved, and he is guilty before God. When God begins to convict us, we will grieve over our sin. We will be saddened that we've been living our lives out of alignment with God. We don't just say whoops and move on and forget about it. We don't just say, Oh well, hope I don't do that again tomorrow. Did it again. That's not conviction. When God convicts us, it will linger. We will think about it longer. We will grieve the sin in our lives, and then we'll see this. Shut this down. That our sin is owned. Our hearts are pierced, and then we own our sin. At the end of verse 14, Josiah makes this statement. He owns the sin. He owns where they're at. He doesn't make excuses. He doesn't minimize it. He doesn't try to defend it. He owns it and that there is judgment coming because of it. Conviction in our lives look like us saying, God is right and I have sinned. Conviction doesn't come with an excuse. Well, I did this because he did. I wouldn't have acted that way if they hadn't have. I stepped out of my marriage because she didn't or he didn't. If they would have, then I wouldn't have. Biblical conviction doesn't come with an excuse. We don't get to reason our way into our sin. Biblical conviction says, I have sinned and I am guilty. I did it. So after our hearts are pierced, we've owned our sin. The next thing we'll see is this that we turn towards God. We turn toward God. Look at the start of verse 13. 2 Kings 22, 13 says this. Josiah says, Go inquire of the Lord for me. Josiah's heart is pierced, he owns his sin, and then he makes an intentional move back towards God. Listen, condemnation will tell you to run and hide. Condemnation will tell you when your sin comes to light, you've got to run from it and hide from it and run from others. Remember Genesis chapter 3 in the Garden of Eden? Adam and Eve have sinned, right? They're in this perfect relationship with God. They're in perfect fellowship and communion with God. They sin, then what the scripture tells us is that they hear God in the garden, and their response is to do what? To hide. Condemnation will tell us to run and hide. But conviction, biblical conviction, will have us leaning into God even when we feel like running away. I see this in my life with my boys, right? We are constantly correcting and realigning their behaviors. And oftentimes that correction ends with, now you gotta go apologize, right? Go apologize for dropping your brother on his head, go apologize for throwing a ball at your mom, like whatever it may be, fill in the blank. But it generally ends with us making them go apologize. And they do it every time. But you know when I know that it's sunk in for them, and as parents, you'll you'll understand this. When 20, 30, an hour a minute, an hour later, they circle back around, quietly walk into the room or whatever I'm at, mom's at the end, and they get as close as they can. Here's what I don't want you to miss this morning. Judah's destruction had not happened yet. Josiah says, Great is the wrath that is coming. Great is the wrath that we are bringing upon ourselves, but they had not experienced the wrath of God yet. The consequences for the sin had not been fully realized. The people were functioning normally, at least by their standards, they were functioning normally, but conviction allowed Josiah to see a spiritual reality before the consequences fully arrived. This is one of the most incredible things about our God that conviction warns before destruction. That God will convict us before judgment is poured out on us. God will often convict us before we have to live in the consequence of that sin. That's exactly what he's doing with Judah. With Josiah, there's conviction before the destruction. Conviction is an act of grace. God simply could have judged Judah immediately, but he didn't. His word exposed the truth first. Conviction can be painful. Sometimes it's hard to recognize the depth of our sin. But conviction is incredibly merciful because it gives an opportunity for repentance. When God convicts us about the way we've lashed out at our spouse or our kids, conviction gives us an opportunity to go and seek forgiveness. When we've overlooked somebody who's hurting or in need because we were too busy or whatever it may be, conviction will allow us to circle back and offer support, to listen, to care, to meet a need. When we have neglected God and his word and walking with God, conviction allows us to circle back to repentance. Many of us know the story of King David. King David's men are at war, he stays at home, he's on his rooftop, he catches this lady named Bathsheba out the corner of his eye, and he's gotta have her. So he gets her to his house and has an affair with Bathsheba. She gets pregnant in the process. When he realizes she's pregnant, he calls Uriah, her husband, this faithful, loyal soldier, back home. His intention is to get them in the same room for them to sleep with each other, and then he can just say the baby's Uriah's. Well, Uriah's a man of integrity. Uriah won't do that while his men are at war. So David sends him back to the war and tells the commanders, put him on the front line and withdraw from him. So he sends them to the front line, the men withdraw, and Uriah is killed, David has committed murder. Well, David's sin gets exposed, and he gets confronted by a guy named Nathan. And in Psalm 51 is David's response to that confrontation. I want to read it to you this morning. Listen to this. Psalm 51, verses 1 through 13 say this Have mercy on me, O God. According to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me. Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken rejoice, hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with the willing spirit, and then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. In that Psalm, we see that David's heart has been pierced. His sin is owned. He turns back towards God and repentance begins. Psalm 51 is this beautiful picture of what conviction and repentance can look like. So as we seek the joy of God in our lives, as we return to his word, we do so with an understanding that conviction will happen in our lives. And can I encourage you this morning? Conviction is not something to run from. Conviction is not something we have to hide from. It will hurt, it may be painful. But conviction is an act of God's grace and mercy in our lives. Conviction is his kindness on display to draw you back to himself. So what happens after conviction? Number three, jut this down for me. Conviction leads to obedience. Conviction leads to obedience. Listen to me. Hearing the word of God is not the same as obeying it. We can hear the word, we can understand the word, we can know what is being asked of us by God's word, but none of that makes any difference in the world if we do not obey what we hear. Look how Josiah does this in 2 Kings 23, verse 3. He says this And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul. To perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book, and all the people joined in the covenant. Josiah responded to God's word with obedience. He responds to God with devotion and surrender. But notice it's much more than a promise to love God. It's much more than a promise to put God high and lift it up. It's a covenant to obey. Look at it again. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul. And then highlight this in your Bibles to perform the words of this covenant that were written in the book. I think many of us are not experiencing the joy that God calls us to in his word because of a lack of obedience to it. And if we can use this Josiah's words, there often isn't a commitment in our lives to perform the words of the covenant written in the book. We sit in church, we hear sermons regularly, we hear about the Bible regularly. Many of us go to small groups, we talk about those sermons, but we are spiritually unchanged. Our lives don't look any different because we don't obey what we hear. The Apostle James would say it this way in the New Testament. James 1, verse 22, he says, Be doers of the word, not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James would suggest that hearing the truth without being obedient to it leads to self-deception. Notice this, he doesn't say that God is deceived. Doesn't say that you've got God fooled. It's that if you hear the word and you don't obey it, you are deceiving yourself. So one of the questions that we have to ask ourselves this morning, and I'd love for you to write this down, it's this. What truth of scripture do I know, but still need to obey? That's the question that all of us this morning have got to answer. We've got to ask ourselves, we've got to answer it. What truth of scripture do I know, but still need to obey? What do I know in my head, but haven't obeyed with my hands? What do I understand in my heart, my heart, but I'm not living out with my hands? What do I know, but still need to obey? Because I think that's gonna be the difference between an abundant, joy-filled life and being a sad, miserable Christian. Here's the last thing that I want you to judge that rediscovering joy begins with humility. The word being discovered in Judah by Josiah was in part, right, to reveal the nation's sinfulness, to re-establish the covenant with God, which would include the sacrificial system to atone for sin. That covenant with God would be restored, joy would be restored as the relationship with God was restored. But that requires humility. It required humility of the king, and it would require humility of the people of Judah. For you and me this morning, returning to the word, allowing the word through conviction to mold us and shape us, being obedient to God's word requires humility. It requires us saying, Maybe I haven't been listening. It requires us saying, I recognize that there is a God and I'm not him or her. To be obedient to God's word requires humility. Maybe to look at a spouse or a friend or whoever and say, hey, I'm sorry, will you forgive me? I shouldn't have treated you that way. I shouldn't say those things. I shouldn't do that. Responding in obedience to God's word may mean going to look at your boss or colleague and saying, hey, I need you to know that I've been doing this. Responding to God's word with humility may mean looking at someone and saying, I need to tell you something that I've never told anybody before. What truth of scripture do you know but still need to obey? I think the answer to that question could be the difference between you living your life of joy that God promised you in Scripture or not. And pray for us. Father, thank you so much for the truth of your word this morning. God, we are grateful for the story of King Josiah. God, we are grateful for the way that he responded to your word, the way that he led people to respond to your word. God, we want to be a people, a church who responds in obedience to the truth of your word. So would you lead us to do that this morning? God, thank you for your conviction, for the grace and mercy that we receive because of your conviction. Have your way here in this room. It's in Jesus' name that we pray and that we said.