One of the things that stands out to me , though , for Josiah is that he came from corrupt kings . He comes from a line of people who were not , so he probably actually didn't receive good parenting right , and so this is a testament actually to the way that God redeems legacies . So , if you're a kid and you're like man , my parents were not believers . I was not raised up in the ways of the Lord . I grew up on the streets . I grew up doing these things . Josiah's life is a testament to how God can redeem legacies , because , ultimately , your parents don't matter as much as your heavenly father , and when you put your life in the path of what God has for you , he will redeem that legacy and he will turn you into the man or woman that he desires for you to be . Chocolate covered bacon chocolate covered bacon . His name is Marky Spence , and he ate some chocolate covered bacon .
Speaker 2Oh , yes , I did . How was it ? It was not very good . It sounds good because bacon's good with everything .
Speaker 4Mark wasted his money .
Speaker 2Five bucks .
Speaker 1Eddie Roman , one of our producers , told us that one day his church had a bacon party where they had a bacon dinner and all they ate was bacon covered chocolate dates , bacon wrapped steak and I was like how was it he goes , it was too much bacon .
Speaker 2There's a burger place called 50-50 or Slater's 50-50 . Half of it is bacon , the other half is I don't like it . Oh , I do , do you ? Yeah , it's not as good as In-N-Out , but it's good .
Speaker 4So Mark and I were . We were at the Shepherds Conference , yes , and we were staying near the CityWalk . Oscar was there as well , but you weren't with us that night , oscar , you got all mad Like what about me , dude . I was there . I'm the one who booked the hotels , right ? Anyway , Mark and I were walking around . It's pretty cool , the Universal .
Speaker 2CityWalk . I've got to admit , yeah , I haven't been there in years , and years and years .
Speaker 4Yeah , it's kind of like downtown Disney and they put it next to an amusement park . Anyway , we're walking around , we go into this heavenly chocolate shop and everything chocolatey and of all the things Mark Spence could have gotten , he got chocolate-covered bacon , we could have an outreach to Islam . They duped you , Mark . They hooked you in with its novelty .
Speaker 3What Outreach to Islam ?
Speaker 4What Chocolate covered bacon ? Would you like a piece of chocolate ? Can you imagine deceiving ?
Speaker 1them like that Wait , is that the ?
Speaker 4sound you made .
Speaker 3Yeah , yeah , it's crunchy bacon .
Speaker 4What did you get ? I didn't get anything there . I got some ice cream .
Speaker 2Some delicious ice cream , but I kept eating it until I finished the whole thing . You actually finished it After the first bite . I'm like this is not very good .
Speaker 4I heard you say that and you actually finished it .
Speaker 2And I did the second bite and third bite and fourth bite . Yeah , because five bucks .
Speaker 3Did you go back and tell him it wasn't good ?
Speaker 2No , she was Muslim , Seriously no , you know . She said she'd never taste it . She actually looked like she was Muslim . She said she didn't like chocolate .
Speaker 4Yeah , she didn't like chocolate . I know working in a chocolate shop . Because I asked her . I said do you get tired of like ? Do you not eat chocolate ? You know being around it all the time . She's like no , I don't even like she needs prayer yeah , exorcism .
Speaker 2My weak point is actually fudge . Oh really , yeah , fudge at the yard . I don't like fudge , you don't like it either .
Speaker 4Oscar , I love it . I don't like it , not at all . Absolutely love it . No , I can't stand it . It's got to do with intelligence Guys .
Speaker 2Wait a minute . Ray and I love fudge . I feel a place . I'm like the ark . They make uh fudge . They have good fudge . Uncle ed's , ted's , jed's uh fudge . Yeah , always get it . Yeah , bring some home . And oh , it's so good that's sponsored by weight watchers . I'm gonna start a new company called elmer fudge yeah , so if you know of any good fudge companies out there , send me the website .
Speaker 3I'd like to order something there you say send me the fudge please don't send fudge no .
Speaker 4Send mark fudge no mark , we don't like fudge . Um , I've got no resistance anyway . Uh , why why chocolate covered stuff though ? Seriously , oh yeah , like have you guys well would you guys , because there's people like I love around . No but stupid things , I mean bacon . Come on , mark like . You should have known better , dude . I love bacon , I love chocolate sounds like a good .
Speaker 2No , you don't mix those . I would have a chocolate covered winter schnitzel . Chili cheese dog .
Speaker 1I'm willing to try it . I would try it . Oh , you know what I had the other day ? They make a pickle and then they put a hot dog in it and then they fry that like a corn dog . I would try that .
Speaker 4It was so good , I would try it , it was so good . That sounds dumb . And then they covered it in chocolate . That sounds really dumb , I do have to say I think I've said it before green tomatoes . I ate something with green fried tomatoes .
Speaker 2No , it was good , have you tried deep fried cubes of butter Like at the carnival , and stuff .
Speaker 4Mark , why ? Why weird stuff bro ? Why , why not ? Anyway , have you guys ever tried chocolate covered grasshoppers ? I have . I mean , that's like a thing right .
Speaker 1Yeah , it's a real thing .
Speaker 4And crickets . See you would , though Again , they lure you with this stuff . Oh , they must try it , they must have .
Speaker 2I won't try like Baluta egg or a thousand-year egg , balut Balut , john the Baptist restaurant you know there was a restaurant that was shut down in Laguna Beach that was serving lion on Sunday mornings to the Christians . Yeah , they said no , this is true , because Christians were fed to the lions and they wanted to reverse it and feed lion to the .
Speaker 4Christians and business was roaring . Wait , this was where Mark In South Orange County . This was true , Ray no need to get catty . Okay , well , I don't believe that it was running .
Speaker 3Claude was the manager . God bless you , Mark you heard it somewhere .
Speaker 4It's not true . It is true there's no restaurant that's served lion . I heard it .
Speaker 3Yeah , I bet .
Speaker 4I heard it just now .
Speaker 1This was like six , seven years ago . Yeah , legally .
Speaker 4In Laguna Beach . Yeah , happened in Laguna Beach . I said South Orange County . Anyway , mark , do your thing , look it up , it's not true ? Yeah , mark's writing the Wikipedia page right now . I know , ray , when's the last time speaking of Universal Studios and the City of Waterloo ? When's the last time you went to an amusement park ?
Speaker 3I went with Sue to Disneyland when , about five years ago , it was an absolute disaster .
Speaker 1Did you really ?
Speaker 4An absolute disaster . You mean , sue actually went with you , we went .
Speaker 3Someone paid for our ticket , just you two . It was too cold . We dressed for summer because it's Southern California and a screaming Santa Ana came up and we just froze .
Speaker 4Did you go on any rides we ?
Speaker 3went on the people walk and Anna came up and we just froze . Did you go on any rides ?
Speaker 4We went on . The people walk . Seriously , you guys , do you want to use my part as an Oscar ?
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 4Well .
Speaker 1Levi just went because he got to record a song .
Speaker 2Oh that's right , we got to go to Disneyland .
Speaker 1Yeah , kelly and I used to have season passes to Disneyland . Do you enjoy them ? I enjoy going to Disneyland for like two , three hours and then leaving .
Speaker 3Yeah , I think that's about it for us . We live 15 minutes north of Disneyland . That's where our ministry is . For those who are wondering Mark , you like amusement parks ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I get rid of all the people and get rid of the rides that spin .
Speaker 4Get rid of the people and the rides .
Speaker 1So no , you don't like music parks .
Speaker 2I actually found the restaurant and it's called the Makatanya Charcoal Grill .
Speaker 1Oh , that's my favorite spot .
Speaker 2They served African lion as a promotional item to .
Speaker 4Okay , but there had to be like a caveat . Like the lion died of diabetes or something it kind of served diet . California restaurants do it for diabetes .
Speaker 3It doesn't sound right . What restaurants just eat it for diabetes .
Speaker 4This doesn't sound right . What , what do you mean ? Diabetes-filled lion One skewer was $70 .
Speaker 3He was going to Cinema .
Speaker 4Bun too much or something . I'm saying like there's no way they'd like actually kill the lion that was hunted or served it .
Speaker 2It has a very strong gamey taste .
Speaker 3$70 for a it's distasteful seriously 2013 .
Speaker 4Yeah , 11 years ago . I love amusement parks and I feel that to me , if I give up amusement parks , I've finally given up my youth .
Speaker 3I'm now officially an old man , you're in a midlife crisis , that's all it is .
Speaker 2But you'll still ride rides , even though you might get sick . I'm with a passion . Listen your wife Rachel .
Speaker 4You gave me Bonai , but now I've not even been using it and I'm fine . I think I overcame it , see , because I pushed through . Yeah , what about those like the teacups ? No , okay , that I won't do spinny rides , but roller coasters I do love roller coasters . Yeah , same here . The crazier the better . There's no roller coaster .
Speaker 1I will not go on the only caveat to that is when they make them incorrectly and your head's just like banging against things .
Speaker 4Okay , no , no , I'm sorry , I take that back . The only roller coaster I will not go on is Ghost Rider , because it kills me .
Speaker 3Because you have to go to a chiropractor .
Speaker 4I did . I had to go to a chiropractor , jacked up my neck .
Speaker 3You did this when you said hold on .
Speaker 4Is that like the ?
Speaker 2ride where you see all the bolts and screws at the bottom .
Speaker 1They're falling off .
Speaker 4They're falling off , it's the whole wooden coaster . How stupid . Who needs a novelty of a wooden coaster ? I want something smooth , you know , like smooth operator , smooth operator . You just had to tee him up , didn't you ? Small world , smooth Small world , that I hate I like that .
Speaker 4It made me feel big . Yeah , all right , friends , here's a comment . This is from Blake Carter 0743 . Amazing guys is the heading . What an amazing podcast has been a constant encouragement for me as I go through this life . Oftentimes when listening , hearing the word calms my weary soul and helps me to look to Christ and the finished work of Christ on the cross . No matter how many times you fall , get up , press into Christ and keep going , and I teared up when I read that earlier this morning .
Speaker 1What podcast ?
Speaker 4is he referring to ? I know , right Got the wrong one . He loves turning it off . But what a joy , Blake .
Speaker 3That's a good ending . The only podcast you love turning off .
Speaker 4All right , I'm going to do that today . Ray , that's a new tagline , yeah , so anyhow , thank you , blake . That means a lot to us , but I teared up just the thought that someone feels their weary soul calmed from what we're sharing . So praise the Lord , thanks for that ?
Speaker 4Yeah , all right , for I answer this . This podcast is brought to you by School of Biblical Evangelism man . I love this deep voice . I would get sick just to get a deep voice . You are sick . Yeah , this is School of Biblical Evangelism friends 101 Lessons . It comes in online and book form and guess what ?
Speaker 2It now comes in Spanish , yeah , online .
Speaker 4Yeah , it should be available now in Spanish online . Is it actually up , mark ? It will be by the time this airs . Yeah , all right , so check it out In Spanish . Español El .
Speaker 1Escuela de Bíblica , evangelia . Wow , ooh , you got it .
Speaker 4Oscar speaking in tongues Oscar I bet my pronunciation of fake Spanish is better than your pronunciation of real Spanish .
Speaker 2Let's try it Do something .
Speaker 4Okay , irlandos no querían a peraguinos estandos , pero un piantos les sombrero Irlandos Disneyland . Ow , seriously , I just pulled my nerve muscle .
Speaker 3Oh , that's because you took yourself back on a roller coaster , speaking in fake Spanish .
Speaker 4How old are you ? How do I explain that to a chiropractor ? I ?
Speaker 2pulled a muscle in my neck by speaking in fake Spanish . I was speaking fake Spanish .
Speaker 4When I pulled a muscle , Go ahead .
Speaker 1Oscar , let's see you try , oscar , that's not real Spanish .
Speaker 2It doesn't matter , my accent's better than yours , but you didn't include the School of Biblical .
Speaker 4Evangelism yeah , escuela Herbando Sos Biblia . Evangelico Herbavampos Goal .
Speaker 2What is it that you say when you do your fake Spanish or whatever language ? It is that when you mention a name of a place , it's like perfect .
Speaker 4American English , yeah , like when they go from Le Bardanos , acariandos Peraginos , le Cancantos , iliapantos , universal Studios , revivos Iliapantos .
Speaker 2Acariandos .
Speaker 4It is so true it is so true . It's hilarious . The commercials . Yeah , all right , france , don't forget the Living Waters mug the Evidence Study Bible , all that Robando Tiso's Grieving Waters .
Speaker 3Did you say Greasy Waters ? Greasy Waters , all right , friends , thanks for joining us today .
Speaker 4This is it , all , right , guys . So today we're going to deal with lessons from the life of King Josiah .
Speaker 3Wasn't it Joshua .
Speaker 4Oh man , you guys . Well , last time we dealt with the life of King Josiah , wasn't it Joshua ? Oh man , you guys . Well , last time we dealt with the life of King Solomon , and I cannot think of a king that is more opposite than King Solomon . Well , maybe I could , but King Josiah , let me just say , is a refreshing opposite .
Speaker 3Because he didn't have a thousand wives , because he was eight .
Speaker 1He kept it under a dozen .
Speaker 4He was eight . He was wise , right being young . But Josiah man , I have to say Josiah is my favorite king . Absolutely love him . I love David yes , you know I love Hezekiah Even more than Burger King Little bumbles . But something about Josiah , yeah , he's amazing
. All right . So a little summary . This is from GotQuestions .
Speaker 4Josiah was the king of Judah from approximately 640 to 609 BC . His reign in Jerusalem is discussed in 2 Kings 22 to 23 and 2 Chronicles 34 to 35 . Josiah was the son of King Amon and the grandson of King Manasseh , both of them wicked kings of Judah . Yet Josiah was the son of King Amon and the grandson of King Manasseh , both of them wicked kings of Judah . Yet Josiah was a godly king known as one of the world's youngest kings . He began his reign at age eight after his father was assassinated .
Speaker 4A highlight of Josiah's reign was his rediscovery of the law of the Lord . Yeah , so Josiah was an amazing anomaly , especially in light of what we just read and we'll talk about it his father and grandfather . But 2 Kings 22 , 1-2 introduces him . It says Josiah was eight years old when he became king and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem . His mother's name was Jedidiah , the daughter of Adiah of Bozkath , and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David . He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left . Wow , what a testimony , oh .
Speaker 3Ray , I love that . It's kind of strange . You're eight years old , you just blow out your candles and someone says you're king . What You're king ? No , I'm building a heart out in the back . No , you're king .
Speaker 4Okay , you know , I was thinking about that actually yesterday . I think it was a movie or something I watched , but something made me think about the children of like royalty , right , that from a young age they're brought up in a certain way because of the knowledge that they could become king , right , I mean , it could happen and they have to be ready and prepared . And it just made me think about how much of a disservice so many parents do to their children because they're not thinking about their future . They're giving them just what they want rather than what they need yeah , rather than what they need . And I think that's why we're shocked by someone like King Josiah . But in past generations , mark , we've heard of past generations even back in the 1700s , young kids were learning Greek and Hebrew at eight and nine , yeah , and now what do we hear ?
Speaker 2Let boys be boys . Johnny's just being Johnny . Recently we had some young kids that came inside the ministry and I wanted to give the parent that book Shepherding a Child's Heart . It's like , man , that things are not always what they can be when you start training them when they're younger . Scripture says let no one despise you in your youth . In other words , don't give them a reason to despise you in your youth . We tend to count our birthdays in terms of years . Right , I'm 51 , almost 52 years old . I'll be 52 next week , but I'm actually 18,992 days old . In eight days I'm gonna be 19,000 days old , right , if we number ourselves .
Speaker 4Ray , how many days old are you ? Oh , too many 64,000 .
Speaker 2But if we figure our lives in terms of days , making sure every moment counts and we do that with our kids while they're very young , as they get older , nothing really changes . I mean , how many times have we heard , as we've homeschooled our kids your kids are so polite , they're able to interact with old people or younger people , not just people their age . And when I went to high school a secular school it was like I only hung out with people my grade , maybe a year younger , maybe a year older , but I didn't interact with parents . And I didn't interact with like two-year-olds or three-year-olds when I went to somebody's house . But as we've homeschooled and poured into our kids , it's like , no , we're all people , we're all in this thing , this trick called life , and we just want to love God and bring people with us . Well , Josiah , eight years old , was able to have a righteous foundation and he lived a righteous life before God , Beautiful beautiful story .
Speaker 3Well , you can tell homeschooled kids often say your kids are homeschooled , aren't ? They Say how did you know ? Well , they didn't set fire to our curtains when they were right in ministry . When I used to do counseling at the Drug Prevention Center many years ago , parents would bring their kids to me and say well , not their kids . They'd talk about their kids and say they're on drugs . What can I do ? And I just had to bite my tongue and say too late . Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child . You've got to unbind it with discipline .
Speaker 4Yeah , and Oscar , you think about that ? It's like kids think parents are the greatest thing in the world when they're young and they give them everything they want . But when they get older and they look back on a ruined life and they remember how their parents didn't discipline and train them , they're not too happy at that point right .
Speaker 1They're in desperate need of it . Yeah , I mean , ultimately , kids are begging you for some sort of discipline . Discipline is good for our hearts . It's good for our souls . It's good for our souls . It's good for us to understand and feel comfortable . You actually feel safe when you know boundaries , and so when kids don't know boundaries , when they don't know that no means no , no-transcript .
Speaker 1One of the things that stands out to me , though , for Josiah is that he came from corrupt kings . He comes from a line of people who were not , so he probably actually didn't receive good parenting right , and so this is a testament actually to the way that God redeems legacies . So , if you're a kid and you're like man , my parents were not believers . I was not raised up in the ways of the Lord . I grew up on the streets . I grew up doing these things . Josiah's life is a testament to how God can redeem legacies , because , ultimately , your parents don't matter as much as your heavenly father , and when you put your life in the path of what God has for you , he will redeem that legacy , and he will turn you into the man or woman that he desires for you to be .
Speaker 2And we're good examples of that right . I mean the three of us , four of us perhaps we did not have a Christian background upbringing and now we look at our kids and , like , all of our kids are walking with God by God's grace , and I believe all of our kids are walking with God , by God's grace . What a beautiful testament of just the change of times . You know , but God right , the future belongs to God . Remember that .
Speaker 4The Lord changing the trend .
Speaker 3Yeah , Speaking of bacon , give a pig everything it wants . Give a pig everything you want , you get a good pig . Give a child everything it wants , you get a bad child . So you've got to have restraint and teach them . Give them boundaries .
Speaker 4Yeah , and that's love and , I think , combining it with tenderness and instruction . I just got a video from a dear friend yesterday whose son sits down with his kids and they're doing this YouTube channel where they're reading scripture together . It's a father and his two sons . I thought , man , this is so good , and it wasn't just the fact that they were reading scripture , but as I was watching the dad interact with his kids , just a sweetness , a tenderness that protects a child's heart from getting hardened and becoming bitter and despising the things of God , because they're seeing their parent not just talk about the things of God but have a character that matches the things of God .
Speaker 2And that's the beautiful thing about having family devotions You're not just . I got to go through the word with my kids , but no , as you sit down , you're able to get inside of your kids' lives . What are you going through ? What do you need prayer for ? What's going on this week ? What's happening ? So family devotions is not always just a devotion to God through his word , but it's just a . We as a family are devoted to God and devoted to each other to be there and to lift up each other .
Speaker 4Yeah , amen . And look , friends , for those of you that maybe didn't bring up your kids in the Lord , or maybe you did know the Lord , but you look back and you say , man , I was an absentee parent or I didn't invest in them spiritually , be disheartened . There's hope in the Lord . First there's repentance , where you can make it right with them and just acknowledge that and then just change the trend and pour into your grandkids , you know , and start to try to build a relationship with your kids in the right way . There's always redemption in the
Lord . Good , all right . So then we see what happens with Josiah . Right , that the house of God had been in disrepair . Obviously we talked about Ammon and Manasseh who had forsaken the Lord , and so the house of God was in disrepair . And then Josiah sends his people there to go and fix the house of God . And it says in 2 Kings , 22 , 8 through 13, . Then Hilkiah , the high priest , said to Shaphan and the scribe I found the book of the law in the house of the Lord . And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it . So Shaphan the scribe went to the king bringing the king word saying your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work , who oversee the house of the Lord . Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king , saying Hilkiah the priest has given me a book and Shaphan read it before the king . Now I love this . Wow .
Speaker 4Now it happened when the king heard the words of the book of the law that he tore his clothes . Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest , ekim , the son of Shaphan , and Achbor , the son of Micaiah . Shaphan the scribe and Esaiah , the servant of the king , saying go , inquire of the Lord . Shaphan the scribe , and Esaiah , the servant of the king , saying Go , inquire of the Lord for me , 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 aroused against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us . Ray , this has to be one of the most beautiful responses I've ever seen in God's Word to God's Word . He heard the Word of the Lord . It had been removed now for decades and they were unaware of it . And now they're confronted with it and the first thing Josiah does is he tears his clothes . He says go figure this out . We've disobeyed God .
Speaker 3It was the first reformation . He reformed Israel . He brought them back to where they should be . And this is exactly what America needs to go back to the law of God , because it's the law of God that caused him to rent his clothes and caused him to realize they were into idolatry . You know I love Paris Reedhead . I never got to meet him . I came close to meeting him , wonderful speaking voice . But this is what he said . It's one of the most radical things and it's the biggest amen I could ever give . This is what he said .
Speaker 3If I had my way , I would declare a moratorium on public preaching of the plan of salvation in America for one to two years . Then I would call on everyone who has the use of the airwaves and the pulpits to preach the holiness of God , the righteousness of God , the law of God , until sinners cry out what must I do to be saved ? Then I would take them off into a corner and whisper the gospel to them . Wow , and this is what he said , and this is the radical part . He said don't use John 3.16 . Such a drastic action is needed because we have a gospel-hardened generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved before they have any understanding why they need to be saved . And I found that quote . I looked for it years ago and noticed they'd taken out don't use John 3.16 . No way they removed it .
Speaker 2No .
Speaker 3Because they obviously can't take out John . But I know exactly what he was saying . We have preached the cure without preaching of the disease . And that's what Paris Reedhead is saying . I would tell them , for one to two years , preach the holiness of God , the righteousness of God and the law of God until sinners cry out . And the righteousness of God and the law of God until sinners cry out . And that's exactly what happened to Josiah he rent his clothes and that's what's missing at pulpits and from pulpits and in the altars .
Speaker 4There's no renting of the clothes because they don't see the exceeding sinfulness of sin . Well , you know , you have to think about some of the condemnations that were proclaimed on Israel . You look at Deuteronomy . I mean they were heavy , the things that Moses said , and if you forsake the Lord and he went on and , on and on .
Speaker 3I can't even read Deuteronomy 28 .
Speaker 4Yeah , right , exactly Deuteronomy 28, . It is so heavy , so intense , and that's why he says here right , I mean , we see that it was evident . Josiah said for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us . He held up the law of God and , as a result , he realized , man , there is a price to be paid for sin . This is serious and yeah , and Mark , we just we are not seeing this today as we ought . People are almost afraid to talk about the holiness of God and the righteousness of God and the wrath of God .
Speaker 2Yeah well , you're not going to catch it in an evangelistic message , that's for sure . We need to return to old gospel preaching right , because it's biblical preaching , where we start off with who God is and the character of God and we talk about the holiness of God . I was just listening to a message by our friend , james Coates from Canada , who was arrested during COVID because he refused to shut down his church , and he preached a message this past Sunday at Tony Woods' church on the holiness of God and he was quoting RC Sproul and he said listen , notice . It says that God is holy , holy , holy . It doesn't say that God is love , love , love . It doesn't say that God is love , love , love . It doesn't say that God is grace , grace , grace , holy , holy , holy is the Lord , god Almighty , and this is a beautiful thing that needs to be included in our evangelistic messages . When you have the dichotomy , you start talking about the greatness of God and the depravity of man and you try to bring those two together . The depravity of man and you try to bring those two together . What needs to happen is there needs to be repentance , right , when God begins to expose the soul of man and you begin to see how majestic God is . There's going to be a clash . Repentance is necessary .
Speaker 2What must I do ? And this is why I talk about when you go through the law in your evangelistic endeavors and you start going through those commandments and the light begins to turn on and they go . Yeah , I don't . Yeah , I don't . I am a sinner , I don't deserve to go to heaven . I'm not quick to give them the gospel . I just continually ask the question so what are you going to do ? What are you going to do when you die ?
Speaker 2Then , when you stand before a holy creator , your God who made you , what are you going to do ? I mean , he's not interested in you lying on beds of nails , going door to door , memorizing scripture , going to church . What are you going to do ? You just admitted to being a liar , a thief , a fornicator , a blasphemer . You're a covetous individual . What are you going to do ? I'll stop doing those things . And they're grasping for the wind . And then you start knocking all of those things down because I want them to really marinate through this , think , through this , until finally you hear those words right , well , what can I do ? There's nothing you can do . That is like a proper use of the law to pave the way for grace , mercy and forgiveness . Let them just simmer , if you would , in the midst of their depravity , as you continually pile upon the holiness of God .
Speaker 3Do you ever taste water when you're really thirsty ? You drink water . When you're not thirsty it just about makes me throw up , but if you are really thirsty it's so sweet . And that's what the gospel is like . When you're made to thirst under the law .
Speaker 1One of my favorite songs is called Words in the Water , and I want to read to you two sections of it because I think that it displays so well the need for the law and the grasping of grace . It starts out by saying standing knee deep in cold water , swiftly moving , somehow I knew I lost something , waiting waist deep , I saw a book there in the river waiting for me to find it there . I tried to read it . Neck deep , treading water . The tide pulled me out to sea . Then , with water in my eyes , the words began to rise from their place . They were beautiful and dread . I reached for them and fed on each phrase . They were honey on my lips . Then a better twist in my side . I knew they'd lay me in my grave . Is there no one who could save me ? I cried , sinking deep down through cold water and heavy silence , shadows stirring in the gloom . What things lay sleeping down deep in the darkness . Woke them then to find me in my tune
.
Speaker 1And let me pause right here before I read the last stanza . You can almost . This is what happens when you reflect on the law . You almost need to have this claustrophobic moment where the weight of the wrath of God is laid heavy on your soul . And then it says and when I lost all hope to look , someone took that heavy book from my hands . All its weight they set aside after they had satisfied its demands . I felt white and black reverse in a lifting of a curse from my heart . Then , like one receiving sight , I beheld a brilliant light in the dark . That is the need for the law , is it needs to weigh heavy on us so that we can understand the love and the grace of God ?
Speaker 4Yeah , it's that contrast . It's that contrast , you know , and and I think that man , knowing that the wicked are not readily going to receive words about the wrath of God , are just not willing to endure what might be reprisals for speaking that truth , and so they pull back , they shy away , and what they don't realize is , in doing that , they're incurring God's discipline if they're saved as a preacher , and God's discipline if they're saved as a preacher , and God's wrath if they're not . I mean , ray , we often think about the wrath of God upon pagan unbelievers as an example , but think of the wrath of God upon those that have deceived people under the guise of being a shepherd , of being a pastor and using God's word while twisting it . I mean , we've talked about that . Like that guy , peter Popoff , or what an appropriate name , right , right , this guy was wearing an earpiece and deceiving people that he could prophesy over them .
Speaker 3His wife was at the front of the church talking to people asking them details and he was hearing what they were saying so he could get words of knowledge and have his whole congregation and his television folks go whoa .
Speaker 3Yeah , or people like Robert Tilton , you know , and so many others you see , I've always hesitated to speak against other ministers of God , but those two were just abominable . Oh , absolutely terrible . I remember seeing Tilton pick up a card where someone had donated some money to his ministry and he was asking for $1,000 at a time . He threw it down and says is that all you can give ? Where's your faith ? It was horrible .
Speaker 4Yeah , but you know those are two examples , but so many others . I mean that's going to be a heavy day reckoning . I mean , think of what Jesus said about causing one of his little ones to stumble , you know , yeah , better than a millstone put around the neck and be cast into the depth of the sea .
Speaker 3That depth of the sea , that's the problem . It goes back and we've often said it's a lack of fear of God . I mean , when I speak for the Lord , I'm always careful to use the word hell and not Christless eternity , because I know we speak in the sight of God . That's what Paul said In the sight of God speak we in Christ . So we have a witness to everything we're saying . Of all things I want to be . I want to be a true and faithful witness , as Jesus was called , both true and faithful to the calling .
Speaker 4Amen , yeah , so that's the problem , right , we're not being exposed to the law of God , as Josiah was , by the preachers of our day , and so people aren't coming to that place where they're trembling and then they're ready for grace .
Speaker 1And so Can I say something real quick before we move on , Because I think that we can mistake . We can actually be in a church that speak of the law of God and not have our hearts exposed to the law of God , and here's what I mean by that . When preachers speak about the law of God , if they only speak as though , hey , listen , this is the problem with the world , but not us . Right here , they're speaking to the law of God to those out there . Or if they're preaching where it's like , hey , this is the problem with all the other churches , but you're at the right church , they're speaking to the law of God , but they're speaking against other churches , not yourself . To really hear the law of God , a preacher needs to speak the law of God into the hearts of the congregants , Because if not , we just raise up other Pharisees .
Speaker 1If you're sitting there in the pulpit and you're like , oh man , he's preaching the law of God , I wish my unbelieving neighbor heard this . I wish my you know fallen away daughter heard this . I wish that one guy over there heard this you are not hearing the law of God . The law of God pierces your heart . The second for me . The second I start to think I'm in the pulpit . The second , I start to think oh man , I wish so-and-so was here listening to this right now . I know that's the legalist in me , that's the Pharisee in me , and I sit up straight and I go . No , I need to hear this , me . And I sit up straight and I go . No , I need to hear this . This is for me . And so to sit under the preaching to hear the law of God is to hear how you are in need of grace , not your neighbor , not the other guys on the other side of the aisle , not the other guys in other churches how you are in need of grace .
Speaker 4Amen , yeah , and I think that falls in line with what Jesus talked about . You know , taking the speck out of our own eye , and we're always walking around . You know we've got a log in our eye , we're looking for specks and that's where , man , repentance is so beautiful and I think it's so key for us to recognize that repentance has far-reaching effects and impacts other people . It's not just say , okay , I repented , now I'm right with the Lord .
Speaker 4When you're a parent , when you're a friend , when you're a congregant , when you think about yourself in any sphere of life , when you are not walking in holiness and repentance , you are shortchanging everyone in your circle of influence . Because when you're not walking uprightly , you're not gonna call people out , You're not gonna exhort , and if you do and it's discovered , you were living in sin yourself . Talk about embittered people , disillusioned people . But , man , when you're walking in holiness , you're realizing . I don't remember who the preacher was who said it , but I think he said my people's greatest need is my personal holiness . And when we're walking in repentance and in holiness , there's going to be positive repercussions for others or ramifications .
Speaker 3Could you define what you mean by walking in personal holiness ? Because we tend to have an image of holiness that's unholy in the sense that when I was a kid , I saw a Hindu sitting on a pole 20 feet up , and he'd been up there for 20 years , I think it was , and he was holy because he was separated from all the unclean . So what do you mean by personal holiness ? How would you describe that ? We mean sleeping in a hole in your bed .
Speaker 4Yeah , I mean being a person who loves the Lord , your God , with all your heart , mind , soul and strength , and you love your neighbor as yourself . The reason why I go to that is because Jesus said that is the fulfillment of the law . All the law and the prophets hang upon this , and when you boil everything down in life to its bare minimum in terms of living in holiness , it comes down to those two commandments , because when you're loving God , you don't need to be micromanaged by the law of Moses , because you truly care about the glory of God . So you're not gonna be looking for loopholes and hypocrisy and ways that you can compromise . When you love your neighbor as yourself , you're not gonna be looking at how you can take advantage of them and use them for your own means . You're going to seek their best interest . And when you're living that way truly , by drawing near to the Lord , by being sincere in your worship and your pursuit of Him and your relationship with Him , then everything's going to fall into place and you're going to live righteously in your life .
Speaker 2Yeah , and that's what AW Pink said . He said , holiness consists of that internal change or renovation of our souls whereby our minds , affections and wills are brought into harmony with God .
Speaker 3Yeah , and it's evident to the ungodly , you're not a hypocrite .
Speaker 2Yeah , you're not laughing at things you shouldn't be laughing at . You shouldn't be looking at things . You shouldn't be looking at that . There is that change , and that change is eventually going to be evident to the people around you .
Speaker 4Yeah , and again it goes in private . Look , when you are living in holiness , when you love God and you love people , and you're at home and you're looking on your computer and there's no one around and no one's going to see it or no one , an image pops up in there . What's going to make you look away . You know , a lot of times people look away when others are looking because they're seeing them and oh , I don't want to appear to be this , but when you truly love God , you look away , you turn away , you turn it off , you don't go there , you don't give yourself over to it .
Speaker 2I feel like at times I've gotten whiplash , pulling my neck away from seeing something that I shouldn't see .
Speaker 3Yeah , and it's not just for the Lord , it's for yourself . Yes , yeah .
Speaker 4And for preservation of your heart , so that you can glorify God and effectively love others . You know All right . So , king Josiah , then we'll pick it up . He's exposed to the law of God , he tears his clothes and then this is how he responds Second Kings , 23 , three through eight .
Speaker 4Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow 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 .
Speaker 4And all the people took a stand for the covenant and the king commanded Hilkiah , the high priest , the priest of the second order , and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all their articles that were made for Baal , for Asherah and for all the hosts of heaven , and he burned them outside Jerusalem , in the fields of Kidron , and carried their ashes to Bethel .
Speaker 4Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem , and those who burned incense to Baal , to the sun , to the moon , to the constellations and all the hosts of heaven and he brought out the wooden image from the house of the Lord to the brook Kidron outside Jerusalem , burned it at the brook Kidron and ground it to ashes and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people . Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord , where the women wove hangings from the wooden image , and he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burnt incense , from Geba to Beersheba . Also , he broke down the high places and the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua , the governor of the city , which were to the left of the city gate .
Speaker 3When you read through the history of Israel , you say to yourself about time .
Speaker 4Right , and you guys remember we talked about Solomon and one of his exceptions , remember ? Except that he sacrificed on the high places . And Josiah didn't just say , okay , we won't sacrifice on the high places , he took them down . He finally removed these abominations to the Lord . But , guys Oscar , I'd love you to speak to this the thoroughness , the thoroughness of Josiah's repentance . He didn't just burn these things down , he didn't just break them up , he ground them to powder to show the sincerity of his repentance . Yeah , I mean , he get it out .
Speaker 1Get it out , that's what he had , the desire to get it out In a sermon
. I've told the story of how . I think I've told you guys this story too . Maybe you didn't even sit on this podcast , but I had this . Uh , I had this aunt . Did I say this on the podcast ? Yet I had this aunt who was asleep in Mexico and one day she wakes up and she's got like this thick feeling in her nose and it's just , it's hurting her . She can't figure out what it is you know .
Speaker 3And so after a couple of days it starts to . It starts to smell . She goes to the doctor and she finds out that a cockroach had crawled up into her nose . Please take your children away from the podcast at this moment .
Speaker 1Listen , I want you to imagine yourself being the person the doctor just told you that . What are you going to say to that person ? What do you say to the doctor Get it out , get it out of me . I want this thing out of me . This is our , this needs to be our response to sin . We need to see it in light of how God sees it .
Speaker 1Because here's the thing we often take sin and we reframe it as not that bad . We often look at sin through our eyes . You know , years ago , when social media started popping up , people would take pictures and they'd be all granulated . It would be , the lighting would be off , the angle wouldn't be just right . But over the years , 10 , 15 years , everybody knows something a little bit more about taking good pictures . Everybody knows that the lighting has to be over here , that the angle should probably be right here . We all have become semi-professional photographers . We've all done a better job of framing ourselves , and that is what we do with sin is that we frame it as not that bad . But when we see it how God sees it , when we see it how Josiah saw it , we're gonna grind it to a pulp . We're gonna say get it out , get out of my life , get out of my home , get it out of this kingdom . I want nothing to do with sin . We need to see sin in the light of the way God sees sin .
Speaker 3Cockroaches will never be the same .
Speaker 4He's gonna say sniff . Now , it made me think of your poor dentist , Ray , where you put that fake cockroach on your tongue .
Speaker 1Wait what happened .
Speaker 4Yeah , ray , you didn't know about that no .
Speaker 3I went to a dentist and I had this plastic cockroach , and so when she was out because I knew she was going to say open up I put a plastic cockroach on my tongue and then filmed her with my iPad and she got a real fright .
Speaker 4I put it online Only Ray Comfort , only Ray Comfort , mark . We've heard the quote often from our own pastor where he says you know that your repentance needs to be as notorious as your sin .
Speaker 2Yeah , and MacArthur said something similar , that our repentance needs to be as loud as our sin was previously . That really is it right ? I mean that changing of mind . People camp out on what is repentance ? It's the changing of mind , yeah , but listen , it leads to a change of action . If you really have a change of mind , simultaneously , the action is going to . It has to change .
Speaker 2So when I talk to people out on the street and they say , yeah , I've repented , yet they're living with their girlfriend , we say living , right , I'm sleeping with my girlfriend . We tone down the language . Right , but they are fornicating with their girlfriend or their boyfriend . I said well , when you repented , what did you repent of ? Right , Because no fornicator will inherit the kingdom of God . Right , give me just a quick second to deal .
Speaker 2We were talking about Josiah . He's young , eight years old . We're saying start off well , let no one despise you in your youth . But what about the listener who's saying okay , well , listen , I'm 50 , 60 , 70 , whatever , I'm older in years here and I did not start off well , what word of encouragement do we have for that person ? First and foremost , I would just simply say listen , nobody gets a medal at the Olympics , real quick , speaking of which , we are going to be in Paris at the Olympics and we are handing out millions of gospel tracts , and if you would like to have a gospel tract , you can get them for free at livingwaterscom . You just pay for the shipping and we have like 14 . Forward slash Paris . So , livingwaterscom , forward slash Paris . Get all the details you want for the Olympics .
Speaker 4Now , back away from that commercial listen up , check the date too , because this may have passed .
Speaker 2But yeah , if nobody gets a medal at an Olympics for starting well . It's how you finish Always . So you may not have started well , but how are you going to finish ? And we know that God is not done with you because you're still alive . God wants you to walk in that work which he's prepared beforehand . Finish well . You must finish well . There's no other option , and there's many people throughout scripture as examples who were not used until later in life .
Speaker 4Yeah , and look as an example . I mean Josiah's grandfather , manasseh . He was a wicked , evil man , but he did repent . He did repent and that's good . His father Amon didn't , and he was a wicked man . But learn , yeah , you can repent , you can get right with the Lord , you can turn from your sin . And look , I love the way Josiah's life was summed up 2 Kings 23 , 25 . Now , before him , there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart , with all his soul , with all his might , according to all the law of Moses . Nor after him did any arise .
Speaker 2We want to reread that again , go to the Bible and highlight and underline that and claim it .
Speaker 4Yeah , 2 Kings 23 , 25 . And let's not be like those dead fish floating downstream . Let's determine that , no matter what we are going to yield and surrender to the Lord and I love what Mark always says you know , you know God's not done with you because you're still breathing . And so , yeah , remember that , friends . All right , that is the end of the King of Life . Josiah , king of Life .
Speaker 2What in the world , king of .
Speaker 4Life . End of the Life of King Josiah . Friends , don't forget the School of Biblical Evangelism 101 Lessons online and in book form . Living Waters Mug , the Evidence Study Bible alllivingwaterscom . We love you , friends . We want to hear from you , encourage us , inspire us , tell us good things . Ray , why are you sitting there like a frozen mannequin , I'm thinking , if you're going to remember , I am .
Speaker 4I am Just wondering the same thing I am yes , and all that other good stuff Podcastlivingwaterscom . Friends , please follow the podcast , then you're reminded every time we put up a new one . Tell your friends about it and send us comments and all that other good stuff . Thank you for joining us , friends .
Speaker 1We'll see you here next time on the Living .
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