DON’T LOSE YOUR BIBLE
2 Kings 22:3-17
INTRODUCTION
This text is about a young king, named Josiah, who restored the worship of God In Israel.
The father and grandfather of Josiah were kings of Israel. They destroyed the Worship of God in the Temple and replaced it with the worship of
Idol gods. They erected graven images in the Temple. They practice witchcraft and burn their sons in the fire. (2 Kings 21: 1-6)
It is assumed that they destroyed every copy of Moses Law they
could find.
When King Manasseh died. His son took the reign and continued
evil against the Lord. He was assassinated and Josiah was made
king at 8 years old. Perhaps under his mother's guidance, he
was taught to honor the Lord.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE: RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE
2 Kings 22:3-
V:3 In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah sent the secretary, Shaphan son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple of the Lord. He said: 4 "Go up to Hilkiah the high priest and have him get ready the money that has been brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Have them entrust it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. And have these men pay the workers who repair the temple of the Lord — 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons. Also, have them purchase timber and dressed stone to repair the temple. 7 But they need not account for the money entrusted to them, because they are acting faithfully."
A. Many of us are not aware that our temple is in disrepair. The
The Influence of the world provides unneeded frustration and worries.
Somewhere in each of us is a dark secret that keeps us from being
all that we can be for the Lord.
B. Times and circumstances have brought hurts and disappointments that
Need repairing to restore us to our fullest.
Each of us is the works of God in progress.
C. Its when we look in the mirror with a view of the Word of God
That we see your need for restoration.
THE LOST BIBLE; RETURN TO BIBLE STUDY
V:8 Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord ." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple." 10 Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. 12 He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's attendant: 13 "Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."
WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR BIBLE, YOUR TEMPLE FALLS IN DISREPAIR
HOW DO YOU LOSE YOUR BIBLE
In the text, the Bible was lost due to 57 years of rule of kings
who stopped the worship of God in the temple. The kings replace
Godly worship with idol worship.
The Kings replaced the truth with lies and deception.
1. The first thing we learn in the text is no matter how far we
stray away from God, His Word is preserved.
a. Jesus said heaven and earth may pass away, but my Word
is forever.
b. The Word never get lost, we get lost from the Word.
c. If we ever heard God’s Word, it is preserved somewhere
in your brain.
B. Notice that the Bible was lost in the temple.
1. For 57 years, it collected dust, undisturbed in the temple.
2. While idol worship was performed in the temple,
the Bible was quietly hidden.
3. No one thought to go look for the Word.
4. The priests were not operating as priests according to the Word
5. For 57 years, no sacrifices were made to the Lord.
C. The Influence of ungodly leaders can cause you to stray away from God.
1. Is that an excuse not to worship?
2. Your personal worship has nothing to do with the leaders of
the country.
3. Your personal worship is based on your relationship with the Lord.
D. When you lose your Bible you forget who you are.
1. It was the job of the Levite priests to take care of the temple
and offer sacrifices for sin.
2. It was the job of the scribes to record the words of the
prophets of God and to make copies.
3. It is God who gives you purpose and a mission.
THE START OF RESTORATION
A. Restoration begins when there is a new perspective.
1. Sometimes, God has to do something tragic to get us a
new perspective.
2. Josiah became king at 8 years old.
3. Watch this; Josiah's dad was abusive, and his grandfather
was abusive. They both were previous kings.
4. The grandfather died and the father was assassinated.
a. That left the mother in charged to raise her son.
b. Josiah’s daddy didn’t teach him about God.
c. His granddaddy didn’t teach him about God.
d. The priest didn’t teach the king about God.
e. It had to be his mother who taught the young king
about God.
B. King Josiah was 26 years old when he started a campaign to
repair the temple.
1. It is apparent he knew nothing about God's commands.
2. For eighteen years after the abusive kings were dead,
the High priest of Israel failed or neglected to do their job.
3. The High Priest found the book of the law during the repair
of the temple.
4. The high priest was not moved by the book of the Law
a. This would indicate he had lost sensitivity to
Word of God.
b. This would indicate he had lost his love for the Word.
c. For more than 60 years he had not performed
his duties as High priest.
5. He gave the book to the scribe, who read it to the king.
C. The fact that the book was lost indicated that there was an deliberate
effort to destroy all copies of the Book by evil kings.
1. The original manuscript that had been in the Ark of
the covenant was hidden by men of integrity to keep
it from being destroyed.
2. Watch this, neither the scribe nor the High Priest was
convicted by the Word.
D. It was King Josiah who heard the Word and believed the Word
1. After hearing the Word, the King became convicted
by the Word.
2. After being convicted, the King wanted to know more about
Word of God.
3. We began our communication with God through prayer.
4. Once king Josiah heard the Word He wanted to understand the Word.
EVERYONE HAS A MISSION
Watch this; God sneaked one in on the importance of the influence
of women.
2 Kings 22:14
Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to
speak to the prophetess Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of
Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in
Jerusalem, in the Second District.
No matter who you are, God got a mission for you
1. King Josiah's father was abusive and died.
2. From the age of 8, his mother taught him to love God.
3. When men quit being men, women raise the family
GOD HAS SOMEONE WAITING TO DO YOUR JOB
1. When men quit being men, women become teachers.
2. Why didn’t the High Priest go to God for a Word? That was his
job.
3. When we fail to utilize the position God has given us we
we lose the ability of the position
4. If the High Priest and the Scribe had done their jobs, the King
would not have needed to go to the keeper of the wardrobe for
a message from the Lord.
5. For 57 years, Huldah, the keeper of the wardrobe was in waiting
to give a message from the Lord to the king.
HOW DO YOU LOSE YOUR BIBLE?
When your wants outweigh your needs.
When the desires of the flesh minimize the desire for the Lord.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOSE YOUR BIBLE?
1. You have no enlightenment from the Word.
2. Without the Word, you live in darkness
3. If you lose the Word you lose the effectiveness of prayer
4. Lose the Word and Others are not motivated to study God’s Word.
5. Without the Word, you make decisions without wisdom
6. When you lose the Word you have no hope beyond what you can see
7. Without the Word, you are moved by emotions.
9. Without the WORD You began to worship idols;
self, job, family, or money.
10. Without the WORD you Trust in yourself rather than God.
11. When you lose your Bible, you become insensitive to the those
who are perishing.
12. When you lose your Bible you lose the influence of the Holy
Spirit.
13. When you lose your Bibles you lose the convicting power of
Holy Spirit.
14 When you lose our Bible you become prey to every falsehood
promoted by our society
15. When you lose your Bible, you lose God’s grace
To have a Bible and not read it, is to not lay your
heart to it.
If you haven't laid your heart to your Bible you are
Not ready to digest it.
If you can’t digest it, you can’t develop faith in the WORD.
LITTLE FAITH, LITTLE GRACE
16. When you lose your Bible, you lose your purpose and mission.
LOST BIBLE, LOST FOCUS
You lose your Bible when your focus becomes what you
want rather than what you need.
For example:
What I want is job security,
What I need is the security in the Lord.
What I want is peace in the family
What I need is the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
What I want is to be loved. What I need is to love God.
What I want is a new stuff.
What I need is to be thankful for what God has given me.
LET ME LEAVE YOU WITH THESE TEACHABLE
THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR
MY DEEPEST THOUGHT IS TO KNOW GOD
MY DEEPEST DESIRE IS TO SERVE GOD
MY DEEPEST NEED IS TO HAVE GOD
MY GREATEST ASSET IS THE WISDOM OF GOD
MY GREATEST TREASURE IS THE LOVE OF GOD
IN 2021 DON’T LOSE YOUR BIBLE
Rev. M. Mitchell
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