PURSUING GOD’S PRESENCE!
2 Chronicles 34
Well, it seems — we are living in an age of revival. Right? I mean, it appears the passion level for God’s presence (across our nation and around the world) seems to be at an all time high for this generation. It’s not unlike what has happened in other generations — but for us, it’s new and fresh and wonderful.
And, as a follower of Jesus, I celebrate it.
But as a pastor, I want to champion it. Because, with revival comes:
- An emphasis on Jesus (Acts 2:36). …
- A wave of repentance (2:37-38). …
- A return to prayer (2:42). …
- A hunger for God’s Word (2:42). …
- A burden for the lost (Acts 2:40). …
- An increase in salvations (Acts 2:41, 47). …
- A focus on worship…
- And, an increase in those called into ministry (Acts 4:20).
Well, the concept of REVIVAL isn’t a new idea. It’s not a modern theme.
In fact, one of the greatest revivals ever recorded, took place nearly 700 years before Jesus. It took place in the southern kingdom of Judah during the reign of a King named Josiah. His story is told in several places in the Bible — but we’re going to look at how it’s told by a priest named Ezra, from his book — 2nd Chronicles.
As Ezra tells us, Josiah was the last of the godly kings who ruled over Judah. He was the grandson of King named Manasseh (who was a tough guy — and harsh king)…mostly known for his brutality and godlessness. But, late in his life — before his death he cried out to God in faith.
As he did, he changed his ways…abandoned his pagan ways and honored God. But in time, he died. And in his place, his son — Amon became king. But he was evil. He didn’t learn from the sin and failures of his father — but instead, rejected God and became even more ungodly. In time, he reversed all the good his dad had done. And brought pagan worship back into the nation. This included idols, pagan altars, child sacrifices, Asherah poles (place of sexual perversion and worship of a pagan goddess), and more. Eventually, the nation decayed and suffered greatly.
But eventually Amon was overthrown and killed by his own men. And in his place, they crowned his son, Josiah. At the time, he was just a boy (only 8 years old). But, he became the king! And even though he hadn’t been brought up in faith — he had a heart for God and a desire for His presence.
And it was his pursuit of God’s presence, that ultimately led his nation into a revival! A revival so powerful — that God chose to recorded for ALL TIME in Scripture! And it’s his heart for God’s presence that I want to talk with you about today.
So, if you’ve got your Bible, turn with me to 2 Chronicles chapter 34.
MESSAGE:
As we consider this incredible revival that altered the nation— I want to make observation of four practical lessons or habits that we would do well to embrace.
These come straight out of Josiah’s story — and the first is this. If we want to have our lives marked by God’s presence — and experience a life-altering REVIVAL, then we must:
1. Seek God PROMPTLY!
What I’m really saying is — don’t delay! There’s no time like the present to seek after God. We must not put off the pursuit of His presence…not for anything.
In verse 1, Ezra says,
1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.
2 Chronicles 34:1-2 (NIV)
So, Josiah became a king at the age of eight and he was a good kid. He lived a good life. He must have treated people well…showed respect to others. He must have exhibited character qualities like: honesty, dependability, faithfulness, and determination. But being good is never enough.
And so, in verse 3 it says,
3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David.
2 Chronicles 34:3 (NIV)
So, at 8 years old…he did good. But, 8 years later, at the age of 16, his life changed. And he went from doing GOOD — to seeking the one who IS GOOD.
Now, Ezra doesn’t elaborate on the details — he doesn’t tell us how, or why this change. But, whatever the contributing factors might have been, what is clear is that at age 16, Josiah started following God.
And I bet some of you can relate. Maybe that’s your story. Many times, it’s during our adolescent years, during our teenage days, that we have an encounter with God — that changes our lives.
As the saying goes, “Strike when the iron is hot.” That’s Paul’s point in 2 Corinthians 6:2, when he says,
Look, now is the right time! Look, now is the day of salvation!
2 Corinthians 6:2 (CEB)
There may be no better testimony than that of a child who trusts in the Lord. I wonder how much pain and sorrow we miss out on when we trust in Jesus as children?
Listen, that’s why we have ministries designed for children — NOT JUST TO KEEP THEM BUSY while we are gathered to worship…but TO LEAD THEM TO JESUS!
We believe everyone has the right to a presentation of the gospel at their level of understanding. So we have CHILDREN’S PASTORS that seek to do that. And, we have YOUTH PASTORS that seek to do that!
As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 12:1,
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth…
Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NIV)
If you haven’t done that yet — do it today! Surrender your life to Jesus today! If you give your heart to Christ now — and your live the rest of your days for Him, I promise, you’ll never regret it!
And if you’ve already trusted in Jesus — then SEEK HIM like Josiah did. Don’t be satisfied with your past encounters. LONG FOR HIM MORE. SEEK HIM MORE. And don’t delay Because…
We’ll never long for REVIVAL —
until we first long for GOD’S PRESENCE.
So, let’s commit to seeking God promptly! Secondly…
2. honor God FULLY.
Well, at age 8, He did good. At age 16, he began to seek God’s presence. But, the Bible tells us when he was 20 years old, Josiah got busy HONORING GOD! And the way he did it was to purge Judah from all of its idols.
He became like a warrior against false God’s and pagan worship. He wasn’t just satisfied with looking good…he wanted to make sure everything under his care honored God.
And so, in verse 3 it says,
3 …In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.
2 Chronicles 34:3 (NIV)
Like Josiah, let’s decide now to honor God (completely). Let’s honor Him by eliminating everything in our lives that doesn’t point to Jesus. Let’s give careful attention to the things we say — the places we go — the people we hang with — the thoughts we have…and the way we live.
Like Josiah, let’s clean out the junk — it’s SPRING TIME, let’s do some SPRING CLEANING OF OUR LIVES! Let’s empty our lives of everything that seeks to put us first — and return God to the throne of our lives.
For most of us — idolatry doesn’t look like it did in Josiah’s day. For us, idolatry comes in other forms. Things like the pursuit of stuff, or image, or wealth, or perfection, or sexuality, or popularity, or really — anything that we tend to love more than we love God!
Like Josiah, let’s seek to HONOR GOD FULLY. Not just when it’s convenient or on Sundays. Let’s put God first ALWAYS!
As the story continues, we learn that the worship of Josiah eventually moved into the Temple. Becasue, it wasn’t enough to just eliminate the junk in His kingdom — He also had to make WORSHIP a priority in life.
So, Josiah ordered his servants to repair the TEMPLE. To empty it of anything that didn’t belong…and to REFRESH the practice of HONORING GOD TOGETHER!
In verse 8, we’re told,
8 In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan…to repair the temple of the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 34:8 (NIV)
This reminds us of the importance of CORPORATE WORSHIP in our lives. We must not abandon the habit of coming together to honor God. Josiah knew that if the nation was to experience REVIVAL — it would begin by making worship a priority in His life, and in the lives of His leaders…and in the lives of His people.
Listen, if you want to see REVIVAL sweep our nation — it won’t come by us abandoning our practice of worship. We must become even more relentless to GATHER AND WORSHIP GOD TOGETHER!
Make the commitment today to protecting your time to worship together. Do whatever it takes to put the priorities of your life in order. GOD FIRST ALWAYS! That was Josiah’s practice — and because of that…He and His nation experienced a REVIVAL that shook their generation!
If we want to have our lives marked by God’s presence — and experience a life-altering REVIVAL, then we must SEEK GOD PROMPTLY, HONOR GOD FULLY…and lastly:
3. VALUE SCRIPTURE HIGHLY!
This may have been the most powerful point in this story. For Josiah (and His nation), God’s Word changed their lives. It altered their world. It reshaped who they were (their identity), what they did, how they thought, what their lives would look like.
This is really the key that sustained the REVIVAL among the people of Judah. More than an emotional experience — it was the interaction with God’s Word.
Oswald Chambers once wrote, “If the average believer truly understood what would happen if he used the Bible more often, he would use it more often.”
Why? Because all the other books in the world were given for our information – this Bible was given for our transformation.
So if you see a Bible that is falling apart, it usually belongs to someone who is not.”i
For Judah, it had been 57 years since they had been led by a godly leader. King Hezekiah (Josiah’s great grand-father) was really the last good King Judah had known. And since that time — they failed to practice their faith and honor God. But all that changed when they found God’s Word. One day, as Josiah’s men were putting the temple in order, they found God’s Word.
2 Chronicles 34:15, says,
15 Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.” He gave it to Shaphan…18 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.19 When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes.
2 Chronicles 34:15, 18-19 (NIV)
The rediscovery of the Word set the nation up to be blessed and to experience the presence of God in a powerful way. Their lives were put back together — through the power of God’s Word.
As your pastor — one of my greatest desires for you is that you become PEOPLE OF THE WORD! Because the Word creates life. Genesis tells us that it was THE WORD that put stars in the sky, and create life. And it still does that today.
The Word of God still brings life where there is death. That’s why we believe in preaching the Word
Understand, one of the key marks of a genuine revival…
will be the valuing of God’s Word.
So refuse to take it for granted. Don’t neglect. Instead, read it. Cherish it. Value it. Esteem it, highly!
When King Josiah at the age of 26 heard the words of “the Book” — the scriptures tell us, he tore his clothes.
In that culture tearing your clothes was a sign of humility and grieving. So, the King humbled Himself — and changed the way he thought, ruled, worship, and lived.
In verse 29, it says,
29 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 31 The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord—to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.
32 Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.
2 Chronicles 34:29-32 (NIV)
What a moment that must have been.
—The Word was found.
—The Word was read.
—Then the King and the nation made a promise to chose to live according to the Word.
Listen, that’s REVIVAL!
The reading of God’s Word changed everything in Josiah’s generation. And, I just wonder, what would happen if we began to VALUE GOD’S WORD THAT WAY? Would the power of the Word of God bring BLESSING upon us the way it did them?
YOU BET IT WOULD! Absolutely! Because the Word of God is powerful! As the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:12,
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16,
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
This is a reminder of why we, as a church, have such a high value of reading God’s Word together.
John Bunyan that famous English preacher once said it well:
“This Book will keep you from sin — or sin will keep you from this Book.”
If you will meditate on God’s Word and commit it to memory, God will use it to keep you from sin. Even if you don’t retain it and think you’re wasting your time in reading God’s Word, you’re not.
The late, D. L. Moody once said,
“The only way to keep a broken vessel full is by keeping the faucet turned on.”
And, when we keep the faucet of God’s Word running into our hearts and minds, we will be sure to flush out the garbage and keep us living our lives for Christ.
Because there’s nothing like the WORD OF GOD!
APPLICATION:
And just to be clear — the WRITTEN WORD of God will always lead us to the LIVING WORD of God — in the person of Jesus!
As John said in His gospel — the Word of God (and His gospel specifically), was written that WE MIGHT BELIEVE…and that by BELIEVING, we might have LIFE in JESUS’ NAME!
So, value the Word — and allow it to always lead you deeper in faith with Jesus!
Will you do that? Will you cherish it, read it, and live it out? And let Christ — THE LIVING WORD, dwell in you richly!
CONCLUSION:
Well, as we close today—I want to again challenge you to pursue God’s presence. May your heart be open to the work of the Holy Spirit, and to the possibilities of REVIVAL.
Let’s SEEK GOD NOW!
Let’s HONOR GOD with everything within us.…not allowing our hearts to be distracted by anything else.
And, let’s VALUE THE WORD OF GOD above all!