Persevering as a Father

What a fitting song for Father’s Day to help us underscore the reality that “the life now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). Although I understand that the primary emphasis for today is at the feet of Father’s Day, I would hope that all of God’s people would find the necessary sustenance to feed your soul while on your journey to the Celestial City.

With that in mind, and by way of introduction – all of us have or have had fathers. Whether we know it or know or whether we like it or not, we have left an indelible impression on our family. Some were good examples and some were bad examples.

As a father of 4 littles ones in the faith and being married for 18 years – there’s not a day that goes by where I reflect on the fact that one day I will give an account for all 4 of my children.

There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t reflect the startling reality that I will have to give an account to Christ for my wife. The issue is not so much fear, because I know that I stand under the banner of the Cross. I know that my life is hidden in Christ – I know I’m saved and forgiven.

Because of Christ, I know that I won’t stand at the Great White Throne judgment, where those who have not repented will pay for their own sins in hell and because they didn’t see fit to have Christ in this world will not have him in the next

The issue as a father, but more significantly comes down to this: Were we faithful stewards to what God has graced us with…?

Dads, listen: “it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” – 1 Corinthians 4:2

With that in mind, please turn with me to the book of 2 Kings 22-23. This morning I want us to highlight for Father’s Day…

Four encouraging lessons from the life of Josiah that motivate perseverance.

Today’s message is primarily about hope and encouragement for how God can work in the lives of children even when fathers fail. That is…

I. God can work in the lives of children, despite the failures of fathers (22:1-2 included in PPT and Bulletin)

Verses 1-2. “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ² He did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left.” (stop there)

It would help to provide you with a bit of biblical biography, but to do that we need to go back through the chronicles of history to…

A. Josiah’s father, King Amon (2 Kgs 21:19-24) (Verses not included in the Bulletin)

Before we read the passage, I believe it would help you to understand the big picture of the book of Chronicles. By and large book of Chronicles is a somewhat of a repeat of the book of Kings. The book of King walks us through 2 big themes: (1) the united Kingdom under King David (i.e. 1 Kings ) and (2) the divided Kingdom under the kings of Judah (i.e 2 Kings).

The books of Chronicles record for us 2 big themes: (1) God’s perspective/the spiritual perspective of the reign of David (i.e. 1 Chronicles ) and (2) God’s perspective/spiritual perspective on the kings that followed David (2 Chronicles)

In Summary: The chief feature that distinguishes Kings from Chronicles: (1) Kings gives a political history of Israel and Judah, written from a prophetic and moral viewpoint; (2) Chronicles gives a religious history of the Davidic dynasty of Judah only, written from a priestly and spiritual perspective.

With that in mind, let’s read what was going on spiritually in the heart of

“¹⁹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem….” Notice how verse 20 reads – “²⁰ He did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. ²¹ For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. ²² So he forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. ²³ The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. ²⁴ Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.”

(stop)

To put it simply, Josiah’s father was an apostate to boot – and the particulars of what he did can be seen in the book of 2 Chronicles 33:22-23 in that Josiah’s father “sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. ²³ Moreover, he did not humble himself before the Lord as his father Manasseh had done, but Amon multiplied guilt.”

So bad was Josiah’s father that the people of his own house conspired against him and murdered him, which gave rise to his Amon’s son…Josiah who took to the throne. Josiah lost his father…when he was 8 years old.

Because it is Father’s Day my emphasis is to direct my attention toward myself and to Fathers – all of us are going to be examples, the question is what kind? You say, David – how do you bring reassurance out of Amon’s bad example?

And I believe the answer is two-fold, in that for the believing father I say that the fact that you have acknowledge Jesus as Lord – you understand that the Lord has blessed you with the grace of salvation. You have been humbled under the atoning cross to which the Lord has granted to a kaleidoscope of spiritual benefits.

You understand that you are a saved man, yet an imperfect man – you understand – listen to me – you understand that with the help of your Savior, he will aid you in spiritually grouting those blind spots so that you will better model for your family a growing and holy behavior that in time will leave rippling affects of wisdom.

Look: we know that as a generation of fathers, we haven’t given full spiritual inventory of our lives, we know that our stewardship before God will reflect itself either in approximate wisdom or foolishness.

This is precisely what Jesus had in mind in his own day that wisdom is justified by her children. In application: wisdom is proven true by what it produces. Let me say it another way - the soundness of what we taught and lived out (particularly as reflected in our behavior as fathers) can be judged by the fruit that wisdom.

Let’s bring it closer to home base: Look at the (approximate) behavior of the children and that will give you a small window into the wisdom of the parents. That’s what Jesus said to his generation…

As Pastor Voddie Baucham would say, “If you can’t say Amen – say ouch!”

Now, that is not always the case, such as the case with Josiah – praise the Lord that he is gracious to answer our prayers and to providentially intervene, such as with the case of Josiah.

Because after the death of his father, the Lord had already surrounded him with godly father-like examples, such as Shapnan and Hilkiah – one was a scribe while the other was a high priest. These men were in Josiah’s life, such that by the age of 16, he not only cultivated a love for God, by the age of 20, he tore down all that his father and his father and predecessors did to provoke the Lord to anger.

Fathers – all of us are going to be examples – the question is what kind? Wisdom is justified by her children. Fathers – persevere. The role you serve as a Father will leave in its wake either wisdom or foolishness.

Now, let’s go back a bit more to Josiah’s grandfather because what you see in the life of Josiah’s father had to come from somewhere, right?

B. Josiah’s grandfather, King Manasseh (2 Kgs 21) – verses not included in ppt or Bulletin

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. ² He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.” (stop)

Father’s do you see the pattern? If you were to read the book of 2 Chronicles 33:9 – we read about God’s perspective “Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.” Wow…

Do you know what happened to Josiah’s grandfather as a result of leading God’s people away from him? God sent the wicked nation of Assyria to Judah. They captured Manasseh, punctured two large bronze hooks to his chest, and pulled him away into Assyria.

Fathers, - all of us are going to be examples – the question is what kind? Will we model a lifestyle of sin or wisdom? Will we be hooked and dragged away by sin or will we daily model a surrendering of our will to the yoke of Christ who said that “my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you will find rest for your soul? (Matthew 11:25-30)

C. Josiah’s forefather, King Solomon (1 Kgs 11:1-8) – verses not included in PPT or Bulletin

Verse 1. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women…” (stop) Now, keep in mind, the Lord had already warned him twice not to be led away from the Lord…and what happened.

Verse 4. “…⁴ For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”

Verse 11. “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.”

Here’s the Implication. Sin has consequences. Fathers – “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

And the family that God has given to us to steward will be to some degree or another be affected by its consequences…

II. Sensitivity to God’s Word is a catalyst for strengthening your faith (22:3-20) - verses not included in PPT or Bulletin

In this section, we read that King Josiah’s scribe Hilkiah had found “the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” Apparently, it had been missing for some time – which tells you what? That Josiah’s father didn’t even read God’s Word. He couldn’t care less! He couldn’t care less about the sewer that flowed out of his heart.

Father, all of us are going to be examples – the question is…what kind?

But when Josiah read it, we read God’s Word, he became convicted and tore his clothes and cleaned house! I mean, this man became zealous and cleaned house. He then went on to purify the house of God!

But the point to the end of the spear is that…

III. Pursuing purity provides great rewards even when some consequences are unavoidable (22:18-20 included in PPT and Bulletin)

2 Kgs 22:18-20 "But to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the Lord thus shall you 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 the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you,” declares the Lord. “Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king."

Fathers, this is my prayer – that our hearts would remain tenderized to God’s Word. And if there are pockets of stubbornness to God’s Word, may the Lord clearly reveal those areas and tenderize those areas to pursue holy affections.

A. Commit to covenant loyalty to Christ (23:1-3; 23:21-23 - included in PPT and Bulletin)

2 Kgs 23:1-3 - "Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant."

2 Kgs 23:21-23 - "Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant."

Like in Josiah’s day in which apostasy seemed to be the popular drink of the day in a number of churches and it seemed very few took a stand – all but a man named Athanasius.

He was a Christian theologian who spent virtually his entire life defending the notion that Jesus is God against many who were saying that he was not.

Fathers, take a stand in this evil age - My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus Christ, my righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

He has redeemed us from the market place of sin. Christ has bathed us in his righteousness alone and faultless to stand before the throne.

B. Smash spiritual stumbling blocks for yourself and others (23:4-20 – not included in ppt and outline)

(explain more if necessary)

IV. Josiah provides proof to continue to put your hope in Jesus (23:24-25 – Include in ppt and bulletin).

2 Kgs 23:24-25 - "Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him."