[0:00] It is good to see you, and it's 610, so we're right on time, especially on a Wednesday night with a meal. So I know there are still some back there cleaning up, and they'll make their way in here in just a moment.
[0:13] But it's good to see you, and I'm thankful that we have the opportunity to gather together. We're going to look at the Word together, and then we'll get right into the business with one another. So a lot to cover, and hopefully we'll get it all done.
[0:26] And let's go to the Lord in prayer, and then we'll get right into the Word of God with one another. Father, thank you so much just for allowing us to gather together.
[0:39] We thank you for your faithfulness towards us. We thank you for the opportunity we have of fellowship, of encouragement, being able to share a meal with one another.
[0:50] Father, we thank you for table fellowship. We thank you for the labor that goes into providing that for us. We praise you for the opportunity we have of coming together and being able to look at your Word with one another and pray that you would speak to our hearts and minds.
[1:07] Lord, may we never take the opportunity to see the Word of God with one another for granted, realizing that this is a time that you have planted us, a time that you have called us to live as lights in the community and the world that we exist in.
[1:28] And Lord, the only way that we can do that is through our understanding of the Word of God. So Father, help us to understand it clearer this evening. Help us to see our need for the Savior.
[1:41] We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Take your Bibles, go into the book of 2 Chronicles chapter 34. 2 Chronicles chapter 34. If you know much about the book of 2 Chronicles, you know that we are rapidly nearing the end.
[1:55] That is, there are only 36 chapters within the book. So we do not have much longer to consider the history of the people before we get into the books of prophecy and poetry and song and all those wonderful works.
[2:13] But it is still very rich looking at the historical writings of God's Word. And we are considering the last good king of the people of Judah.
[2:26] Well, I would say until Christ comes and sets upon his throne, and that is Josiah. And last time we were gathered together, we were looking at how to begin to restore faithfulness.
[2:38] And we will overlap a little bit. That is, we'll go back and look at some verses which we have already seen with one another. And just to kind of put you by way of reminder, Josiah really breaks his reign down up into numbers of years.
[2:53] He became king when he was 8 years old, and in the 8th year of his reign when he was 16, he began to seek after the Lord God of his father David. By the time it was the 12th year of his reign, he had been seeking the Lord for 4 years, and he begins to cleanse the land of all the idols and the false altars, and really just doing a deep cleansing, not only just tearing them down, but grinding them down and burning the bones of the priest who had offered false sacrifices on these altars upon the heaps.
[3:22] By the 18th year of his reign, he's restoring the temple of the Lord, and the priest that is working within the confines inside the temple finds a scroll, a book. And that book is given to the scribe of King Josiah, and the scribe comes and tells him, yes, the work's progressing as it should.
[3:39] The craftsmen are doing everything they ought to do. Oh, by the way, Hilkiah found a book. And he tells Shaphan, read the book to me. He reads the book, and that's kind of where we pick it up. And it is from hearing the word of God that something begins to move.
[3:55] And I want you to see this evening, the proper work of the word. The proper work of the word. I believe with all of my being that it is the word of God and the word of God alone that has the ability to change the heart and the individual.
[4:12] I believe, and I think that I stand on good biblical foundation when I declare this, that we are saved not by the convincing arguments of individuals nor the persuasion of those we love, but we are saved wholeheartedly and completely through an understanding of the word of God.
[4:32] Now, maybe I believe that because that's how I came to Christ. You know my story. You know a little bit about me because I've told you that, that it was through reading the book of Romans that I came to understand my need for a Savior.
[4:44] And I cried out that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. Though other people, they quote, unquote, shared the gospel with me, it wasn't until I heard the gospel and read the gospel and someone clarified the gospel that I came to see my great need.
[4:57] And for that reason, I believe the one thing that is needed more than any other is for a work of the word of God. Martin Lloyd-Jones, when writing about the spiritual condition of the people who sat before him in the latter 1940s and early 1950s, now this, again, was in London where it had been ransacked through World War II and even his church building had to be rebuilt because it had been bombed during the bombings of London.
[5:26] And so the people around him had great means and great opportunities for spiritual depression. And writing to them about how to overcome that, he made the declaration that people need to understand that salvation deals with every part of the individual, the individual as a whole, and it is the work of the word of God alone.
[5:48] It affects the mind, it affects the heart, and it affects the will. And salvation must be a reality of the mind, the heart, and the will. And even declaring that, he said, but when you talk to an individual, and I believe, and I think I've shared this with you before, but there are a few pastors throughout all of history in which I could say that I relate to that one.
[6:07] Martin Lloyd-Jones would be one. Just for the side record, he's not Baptist, or was not Baptist, but he is still a fellow brother in Christ. He said, when talking with an individual, the first thing you must do is not try to convince their heart.
[6:26] Not even try to convince their will. But rather, you must aim for the mind and help them to understand Scripture. Because it is only by understanding Scripture can the heart be changed and the will be moved.
[6:42] And if you think back on it, and you really look throughout church history, even modern church history, there are many people who have been moved by the heart to make a decision that did not last.
[6:54] Persuaded in their will. And said, yes, I'll be determined to do that, and it did not last. But it wasn't until their mind was fully convinced of what the Word of God declared that all of a sudden the heart began to change, and their will had a desire to live for the things of Christ.
[7:12] It is the work of the Word. And we will see that, because something astounding happens in Josiah's life in the 18th year of his reign when they found the book.
[7:26] So I want you to see the proper work of the Word of God, starting in verse 19. We've already read 19 through 21, but we're going to read it again. And then we'll go to the end of the chapter, which gets us to verse 33.
[7:37] When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahiakam, the son of Shaphan, Abnon, the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Esaiah the king's servant, saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah concerning the words of the book which has been found.
[7:58] For great is the wrath of the Lord which is poured out on us, because our fathers have not observed the word of the Lord to do according to all that is written in this book. So Hilkiah and those whom the king had told went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalom, the son of Tokath, the son of Hasra, the keeper of the wardrobe.
[8:19] Now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter. And they spoke to her regarding this. She said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing evil on this place and on its inhabitants, even all the curses written in the book which they have read in the presence of the king of Judah, because they have forsaken me and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands.
[8:46] Therefore my wrath will be poured out on this place and it shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, Thus you will say to him, Thus says the Lord God of Israel regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, tore your clothes and wept before me.
[9:12] I truly have heard you, declares the Lord. Behold, I will gather you to your fathers and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, so your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place and on its inhabitants.
[9:25] And they brought back the word to the king. Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests, the Levites, and all the people from the greatest to the least.
[9:39] He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. Then the king stood in his place 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, with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in his book.
[9:59] Moreover, he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand with him. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Josiah removed all the abominations from all the lands belonging to the sons of Israel and made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God.
[10:18] Throughout his lifetime, they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers. 2 Chronicles 34, verses 19-33. I want you to see the proper work of the word.
[10:31] What exactly does the word of God do in the passage before us? And really, what does the word of God do today in the life of the individual? And why is it so important that when we share with someone, we are not trying to persuade an individual to escape the tragedy of hell?
[10:48] We are not trying to appeal to the heart alone. I'm sorry, that was a little loud. We're not trying to persuade them out of fear or trying to move them. Even because we love them all, don't you want to spend eternity with your loved ones?
[11:02] Friend, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but those are not biblical means of salvation. We are to declare the word of God to them and help them to see the word in its truthfulness and its clarity.
[11:19] And that is why it is of utmost importance that we understand the word. Why? Because it is the word that does the work alone. What does the word do? And we see it here. Number one, we see the despair over sin.
[11:33] The word brings despair over sin. When the king heard the words of the law, most Bible scholars believe that what is contained here is the scroll of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible.
[11:48] And surely that when he was reading to him, he did not read the whole Pentateuch, but more than likely read excerpts from the book of Deuteronomy for the book of Deuteronomy, which the book that declares the blessings and the curses.
[11:59] And it is there that he heard the curses from walking in disobedience. But yet we see upon hearing the word for the first time, if you remember, he has now for 10 years been seeking after the Lord God.
[12:13] He has transitioned, if you go back and read in the passage, from seeking after the Lord God of his father David to restoring the temple of the Lord, his God. So now he identifies with this covenant-keeping God.
[12:26] But all of a sudden, 10 years into this exercise, if you will, seeking to know the Lord God, he hears for the first time the word of God. And it is when he hears the word of God, all of a sudden, it tells us that he rips his clothing.
[12:40] He begins to weep, and he begins to mourn, and he begins to cry out. Why? Because the reality of the word of God is sinking into the heart of man, and it creates a despair over sin.
[12:53] And he says, Go inquire of the Lord for those who are left in Israel and Judah concerning the words of the book which has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord which is poured out on us because our fathers have not observed the word of the Lord.
[13:06] Now, what is true biblical despair? Because if we're honest, we go to great lengths to try to avoid despair, and we don't really want to cause despair in the life of anyone we love.
[13:24] But without what we would call the despair of the soul, there can be no true salvation. Because it is a despair over the reality of the weight of their sin and the certainty of God's judgment for that sin.
[13:40] Let's just be upfront about it. Until we are broken with the realization that we are sinners deserving of God's eternal wrath, and we are in utter despair of that, we will not seek out a Savior to redeem us from it.
[13:59] That's just the reality. We go to great lengths to try to convince those around us you're okay when, my friend, Scripture paints a far different picture to us than that.
[14:12] You say, well, pastor, that doesn't make me feel good. That is the entire point of the Word of God, right? The Word of God comes to bring conviction of sin. And the grandest thing that the Word of God can do is create a despair within our soul to the realization that we have offended a holy God, and the judgment of God is certain because we have revolted and rebelled against Him, and woe is me for the reality that I deserve what is coming.
[14:41] And we do ourselves and our loved ones a great disfavor when we do not declare that reality to them. It is something that does not attract the multitudes, but it really draws the cult.
[15:06] You say, well, pastor, when I am seeking to share Jesus with someone, I want to tell them how He can make His life better. Well, until they know their life is bad, why are they looking for something to make it better?
[15:22] We need to know how bad we are. The gospel doesn't stop with despair, but it does start there. Right? Josiah, for 10 years, has been seeking after the Lord God, and now he hears the Word of God for the first time, and he is broken.
[15:39] I wonder if the first time you read the Word of God, if it made you feel good. And you say, well, that's great. I remember when I first started reading Scripture, I agreed with a lot of it, but then the more I read Scripture, the more I was like, I don't like what it's telling me, but I couldn't get away from it.
[15:55] I kept reading Scripture, and I really didn't like what it was telling me, because everything it was telling me was everything I already knew about myself. By the way, we don't really need anyone to tell us how bad we are. We already know that.
[16:09] But we need the Word of God to declare to us that God is just in His judgment of us. So the very first reality of the Word of God is that it creates despair over sin.
[16:20] And until we have come to this point of soul despair, of being broken, blessed are the broken and those who mourn and the lowly and the contrite of hearts.
[16:39] We don't have enough, by the way. We have, and I use the term loosely, churches today, which sole focus is to try to make everyone who walks in the door feel better.
[16:56] But if we make people feel better in their sin, then all we're doing, there's a word for that, it's called enabling. It's okay for us to understand the depths of our wickedness.
[17:10] And it's okay for us to allow our loved ones to feel the weight of that wickedness, because we know that on the other side of that, the Word of God doesn't stop there. It has the answer to that despair.
[17:22] It has the remedy for that brokenness. It has hope that is connected to the most hopeless of situations. But unless the Word of God brings a broken heart and a broken soul, then we're not really ready for what it offers us that follows.
[17:42] So the Word brings first despair. Immediately following despair, we see that there is a dependence upon others.
[17:54] There is secondly a dependence upon others. Josiah hears the Word, and it was the priest, Hilkiah, who found the Word. It is his scribe, Shaphan, who is reading to him the Word.
[18:06] The Levites are working in the temple. The Word has been hid more than likely. We don't have to say more than likely without a doubt. None of them had read the Word because the Word has been hidden now for a number of years.
[18:18] And they find it for the first time. And the king of the people cannot interpret it on his own. For he says, Go and seek after the Lord God for me.
[18:30] And he sends them to Huldah, the prophetess, one of three prophetesses named in the Old Testament. We don't know anything about Huldah other than what is confined within these few verses.
[18:41] All we know is who she's married to, what they did for a living, and they lived in the second quarter or the second section of Jerusalem. We don't know anything else about her. But we do know that she was there, and she was there in a time, evidently had lived within the confines of Jerusalem and was the keeper of the wardrobe even when the temple doors had been shut and even during the reign of the wicked kings who had went before Josiah.
[19:03] And we do know the reality that God always has his person in place, right? God has an individual there. But the king needs someone else. You say, Well, he's got the Word of God. Can't he just hear the Word of God?
[19:15] Well, Paul has a word for that in the book of Romans. Romans chapter 10 says that they will not be saved unless they cry out to the Lord Jesus. And they will not cry out unless they hear. And they will not hear unless someone tell them. And how will they be told?
[19:27] How will someone tell them unless they be sent? Paul says that we come to Christ because other people are involved in this reality.
[19:38] He says, Oh, well, Paul was writing during the day when the full canonization of Scripture wasn't available. Well, friend, they had the Old Testament. They had Genesis to Malachi, and Jesus is just as prominent in Genesis to Malachi Isaiah and Matthew to Revelation.
[19:52] You say, Oh, but they didn't have the gospel. They didn't have all of that. Well, they had the apostles that were there. They had Paul walking around. You say, So it was an oral tradition, right? But it's also the Word of God that declares that it requires an individual to declare to you what you are reading.
[20:06] Why? Because the desperate, wicked heart, while reading the Word of God, may be broken over it, but cannot understand it. For having eyes they cannot see, and ears they cannot hear. You say, Well, what about those people who don't have access to that?
[20:22] I'm glad you asked. I've read many accounts of people in quote-unquote closed countries who had visions and visions of reality, and they would go to, I remember one in particular, he was in a very closed country, and he was told in his dream to go to a bookstore in the corner that was a Muslim bookstore, and he went into the Muslim bookstore, and he told them to buy the green book that was on the shelf, and he went and bought the green book that was on the shelf, and it was a copy of scripture.
[20:50] So he bought the Bible, so he had the Bible, and he took the Bible home, and he said, Oh, praise be to God, he saved. No, it didn't stop there, because the next vision he received was, there's going to come a man, knock at your door, and he will describe to you everything that's in that green book.
[21:03] So he had the book, but he had no understanding of it. The next day, a man's on a motorcycle, a rainstorm comes up, the rain floods the roads, the man on the motorcycle pulls over, knocks on the door, and the stranger invites him in, says, come on into my house, he said, you must be the stranger who's going to tell me about this green book.
[21:18] What he didn't know is the man on the motorcycle was a missionary. So that's astounding, why? Well, no, it was necessary, because Paul says, we depend on someone else to declare to us what is in the book.
[21:32] This is why we have to be careful when we ever say that we come to Jesus Christ. So, Pastor, you came to Christ from reading the book of Romans, and you've told us over and over again, no one was there, it was just you and the Lord in the room, and your wife was asleep, and your kids were asleep, right, but what I don't tell you enough is that prior to that, I also had a preacher who kept declaring the word of God to me over and over and over and over again, and was meeting with me, and was telling it to me over and over and over again, so what I was reading was being reconciled with what he was saying, and all of a sudden, Christ draws the heart, friend, don't ever remove yourself from the equation of the work of the word, because people depend upon us, it creates, the despair creates a dependence upon other people, King Josiah needed someone, and praise be to God, he couldn't go to the priest, for they had never read the word, he couldn't ask the scribe, who was reading it to him, because he read him the word kind of haphazardly, after he reported about the work, the word wasn't even the primary thing, he went there, he couldn't ask the
[22:35] Levites, because the Levites didn't know the word, the school of Ezra hadn't started yet, we'll get to that when we read the next book of scripture, this is why the school of Ezra and the scribes, and all the teaching that goes on during the time of Nehemiah, is such a wonderful season to get into, and we have much to praise God for that, even for the Septuagint, which led to the English translation of the Old Testament, there's a lot there, but anyway, that's not in existence yet, so who are they going to ask?
[22:58] Well, there's a woman living in the second quarter, who's the keeper of the wardrobe, seems pretty insignificant, right? Oh, by the way, she's a prophetess, that is, she knows the word of God. See, God always has his people in place, and the reason he has them in place is because those he is breaking by the reality of his word, those who are walking around in soul despair desperately need them to be there, and so we see a dependence upon others.
[23:28] Third, we see the proper work of the word, not only does it bring despair of the soul over sin, not only does it lead to a dependence upon others, number three, there is a deliverance declared.
[23:43] The word of God declares the deliverance of the individual walking in despair. Now, when those whom the king sent went to Hoda, Hoda had a two-pronged message, and she delivers this two-pronged message to the same person but refers to him in different ways.
[24:03] It was Warren Wearsby who pointed out when she first declares it, she says, tell the man who sent you to me. So, we know who the man is, the man is Josiah.
[24:15] But she refers to Josiah first as the man who sent you to me, and then she says, tell the king who sent you to me. So, to the man, the man who was an inhabitant of Judah, the man who was among the people of Israel as a whole, the man who was walking among the crowds, to the man, to the people of the land, the word of God which was declaring the judgments was absolutely going to come.
[24:42] For the common man on the street, there was no deliverance, for their sin had led to the reality that God's judgment was looming, and it was certain, and it was just.
[24:54] It says that they had provoked the Lord unto anger with their sins. That's the first declaration of the word of God, and we can't miss that. To the common person, to the common individual, there is coming a day of judgment, a day of reconciliation, and that day is very fastly approaching.
[25:14] And for those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, there is going to be a day where the judgment falls upon the land for the man who sends them to him.
[25:26] But to the king, the same man but in a different position, now to the king, declared to him, because he is no longer just among the mass of society, to the one who heard the word, deliverance is declared.
[25:42] Why? Because he had humbled his heart, he had torn his clothes, he had weeped over the sins of the people, he was broken, he was despairing, and God says he won't see judgment, that he will die in peace and be buried with his fathers until the judgment comes, or before the judgment comes.
[26:05] to him, deliverance is declared. Why? Because he had been broken over the word. See, despair is not a bad thing. I have shared with you before, I love the Old Testament prophetic word that says that God strikes us in order to heal us, striking yet healing.
[26:23] Paul said it another way, he said, I called you to be remorseful and to despair, but it was remorse that led to godliness, that it would lead you to a repentance and holiness.
[26:41] When the word brings despair, not when judgmental individuals or even the wagging finger of the church, but when the word of God brings despair, God does not bring conviction to the heart unless he intends to release the heart from that conviction.
[26:58] it would be a very unjust God if he just wanted to make people feel bad about themselves in order to allow them to walk around in that despair.
[27:12] But he is a loving God, he is a holy God, he is a righteous God, and he enables us to see ourselves as we truly are and therefore brings the despair and disregard for our souls and breaks our hearts so that he can declare to us a deliverance from that hopeless situation.
[27:39] That is one of the most gracious things that we'll ever find in scripture, is that yes, the word of God does strike us, it cuts to the quick, to the very depths of our being, it penetrates us and searches us out like nothing else can.
[27:58] It knows us better than we know ourselves and points out faults that we didn't even know exist, but in his mercy and in his grace, God only reveals that which he's going to deal with. And he has an answer for that.
[28:14] And it is a wonderful reality that God is not in the business of just causing people to feel bad about themselves, but rather he is leading them to a place where they come to the end of themselves so that when we're at the end of ourselves, we find one, namely our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who can deliver us from the certain judgment in which we stand justly condemned.
[28:39] He brings us to the place of reality that we are delivered, we are set free, and there is a deliverance declared.
[28:52] Aren't you so thankful that there came a day in your life where you understood your sin more than any other day? And don't you rejoice even more so that when you understood your sin, God revealed that to you so he could show you the remedy for that sin.
[29:07] That he could look at you and say, see that wicked thing in your life which you do not know how to overcome? I'll take that from you. I'll cast it into the sea of forgetfulness. I'll declare that you're righteous.
[29:21] I'll impute the righteousness of Christ upon your life so that when I look at you I don't see that sin but I see Jesus Christ and all of his perfection and all of his holiness. Don't ever forget that reality that the reason he highlights your sin is so that he can magnify the Savior.
[29:42] It's not judgmental to reveal our sins, rather it's a glorious reality that each and every one of us need. because only then do we see how wonderful a Savior we have.
[29:53] If we're not all that bad then what do we need him for? But since we are all that bad, oh how desperately we need him and how sufficient do we find him even in the moment.
[30:10] You say, well pastor I haven't done that much. I haven't done many things. As reading this past week, sometimes we categorize our sins but what we fail to realize is that every sin falls in one category.
[30:24] It is the category of unbelief. Our unbelief is just displayed in different actions but it doesn't matter if that action is the most heinous crime that we can think of or if it's the most innocent little white lie, it's really unbelief.
[30:41] And we realize that when God reveals our unbelief to us, he is there ready to redeem us and to restore us and to renew us. Then each and every one of us cry out, oh how wonderful a savior he is.
[30:57] For we have been delivered not from the bad things we did but we've been delivered from the unbelief that penetrated our hearts that led us to do the things that we knew not how to stop. What a savior.
[31:09] Which leads us to the fourth and final thing that the word does. is it calls us to be a dedicated model. We become dedicated and model that for those around us.
[31:22] When Josiah hears the word of God declared back to him that God has delivered him from the imminent judgment that is coming upon them. And by the way my friend in Christ that is what has been declared to us.
[31:33] In Christ we have been delivered from the imminent judgment that is coming upon the world. The world will be judged. That day is coming. It is a fixed reality in the timetable of God.
[31:44] I do not know the time nor the hour nor the day and nor do I even speculate that I will ever know that time nor hour nor day. But I do know that there is a time that is set in the time frame of God's historical reckoning.
[31:57] But when that time comes I will not be there. I know that with all of my heart with all of my soul and all of my being. Not because I don't deserve to be there because the Savior who has called me to himself will call me to himself physically and he will ensure that I will not be there for I have already been judged for my sins.
[32:14] He bore that upon the cross of Calvary. And he has paid it in full and I have been delivered from the judgment to come. And since the word declares to me that I have been delivered from the judgment to come then I must stand as a dedicated individual to encourage those around me.
[32:31] So then it says Josiah hears the word and he gathers all the people of Judah and all the people of Jerusalem and everybody to the extent of Israel. He brings them out the small and the great the leaders and the elders each and every one and it says and he stands on the platform before them and he reads the word.
[32:46] The wording there seems to imply he reads all of the word. But he takes his time and he reads the word for he wants the people to hear the word. He wants them to know why he's doing what he's doing. He declares the word to them and then once he closes the word he enters into a covenant.
[33:02] He renews the covenant with the Lord God Almighty. That is an Old Testament picture of what we would call repentance in the New Testament. He says Lord we have failed to keep our covenant with you so we repent of that and he leads the people through that.
[33:17] He calls each and every one of them to do it in such a fashion and a manner. He calls them to walk faithfully with the Lord. He continues to remove every hindrance of idolatrous worship from among the people of the Lord.
[33:29] And then we have this phrase at the end just in case we miss it. Because it is the dedicated living that is modeled before the people that changes the society.
[33:40] It is not the hearts of the multitude but it is rather the heart of that individual for it tells us that he leads the people to follow the Lord God and throughout his lifetime they did not turn from following the Lord God of their fathers.
[33:55] From throughout his lifetime. As long as the model was before them. As long as he remained faithful the people around him remained faithful. The judgment still comes but it is after his lifetime.
[34:07] Why? For the faithful model is taken away and the people go after the other gods rather quickly. He said well those people he didn't have any lasting influence on those people.
[34:22] He didn't change anyone. Well I have got news for you. We influence people but and it is a hard pill to swallow. And I will try to say this as compassionately and nicely as I can.
[34:37] We are not going to change anyone either. Because the only thing that changed us was the word of God and the work of Christ within our hearts. So if we are trying to change people we are not changing anyone.
[34:53] But we can be a model who lives out the reality of the word of God before the people so that maybe the word of God would do the work of God in the heart of someone and change them. It's not our life that's going to change anyone.
[35:06] We don't live in such a fashion being dedicated to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so that we can change society. No we live as an overflow of what has already been done for us because when society ends we are delivered from the judgment to come.
[35:22] we say well what about changing the world. Changing the world that's that's God's work.
[35:35] Ours is just to be faithful to him in the world in which he's put us and to live it out for his glory and honor. This is the proper work of the word. It causes a despair over sin.
[35:46] It leads us to be dependent upon others. It then declares to us a deliverance from the judgment to come and it calls us to be dedicated models of what it looks like to follow after such a Savior.
[35:59] We find it recorded for us in 2 Chronicles 34 verses 19 through 33. Thank you brothers. Thank you. Thank you.