Josiah is the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel, the kingdom to the north, has been destroyed by the Assyrians and its people have been taken away into captivity. And Josiah, though he is the son of a man who for much of his reign was a wicked and rebellious king who did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord, Josiah himself was faithful to the Lord. He became king at eight years of age. and undoubtedly he had wise counsellors around him, who taught him the ways of the Lord, so that as he began his reign and was counselled by these wise advisers, he began to walk in the ways of the Lord, though his father had not done so. And he began to bring about reforms in the nation of Judah, in the city of Jerusalem and in the temple of the Lord that was situated there. We observed that in chapter 22 and verses 3 through 7, he began to repair the temple in his 18th year reigning over Judah. but already he has begun to reform the land. The account that we have in chapter 23 through to verse 20 which describes in quite great detail some of the reforms that he brought into the land, those reforms actually began earlier. The writer of Kings has placed his account as a kind of a summary of all of the reforms and he's placed it after the reading of the book of the law which had been discovered in the temple in Jerusalem. He does it in order for those reforms to immediately precede a statement concerning the Lord's resolve to judge Judah, to set that resolve of the Lord into sharp relief against the reforms of Josiah. We need to remember that the historians of the Old Testament weren't so concerned to place everything in exact chronological order. And we know more of the chronology when we look at the parallel passage that we find in 2 Chronicles. And there we discover that Josiah, well before his 18th year reigning, had begun to reform the land and to destroy the high places and the idols. So that helps us then to understand that Josiah's reforms were not the reforms of a moment and indeed they weren't actually reforms that were set in motion by the discovery of the Book of the Law that we considered last time. Certainly that discovery of the Book of the Law had a deep impact upon Josiah. Perhaps up to that point, through his advisors, he understood to some degree what the Lord required, and how the idols that had been brought in by preceding kings of Judah were such an abomination in the sight of the Lord, and that that had motivated him to begin a reformation in the land. but upon reading the book of the law and understanding the clarity with which God had described his abhorrence of any object that would get in the way of the pure worship of his name in the land. and having realized the significance of failing to obey the law and the judgment and curse that would come upon the land, Josiah was plunged into deep sadness and remorse and he approached the Lord in great penitence and the Lord spoke to him through his prophetess. and described with certainty the judgment that was to come upon Judah, but the mercy that Josiah himself would receive from the Lord, that the judgment would not take place during Josiah's lifetime. The 23rd chapter then opens up with this account of the king gathering the elders of Jerusalem and of Judah to him and reading to them this book of the law and in their hearing entering into a covenant with God to walk in the Lord's ways, to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all of his heart and all of his soul to perform the words of the book of the covenant. He enters into a solemn pledge to do that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And he enters into this solemn pledge after having received this word from the prophetess. The judgment was sure to come upon Judah, but that he himself would be spared. He would not live to see the day of judgment fall upon Judah. I wonder how you would have responded under such circumstances, to know that your own heart being desirous of doing what was right in God's eyes, you had received mercy from the Lord, and you wouldn't experience the judgment that would come. Would you think to yourself, well, that's okay then. I've done enough. Well, King Josiah doesn't think that he's done enough. He responds by entering into this solemn covenant with the Lord, to walk in the Lord's ways. And then we have this description of the reform that the king enacts in Judah, bearing in mind that some of these things have already taken place and others of them continue through this period and through this chapter. It is a covenant that he has made to continue to do that work that he has already begun. To not give up. To not say, well I've done enough. I've removed the high places, I've demoted or deposed the priests of the high places, I've destroyed the Asherah, I've taken the altars out of the temple of the Lord, I've removed the cult prostitutes, I've even destroyed the horses and the chariots that were dedicated to the service of the idols. He doesn't say, I've done enough, I can rest now from this work. No, if anything, Josiah steps up. He goes up another gear. His resolve to do what is right in the eyes of the law is strengthened still further. And he makes even more advances in applying the law that was given through Moses to Israel, to Judah in this late period of their history, when he already knows that judgment is to fall upon Judah. He still seeks to do that which is right. And the explanation for Josiah's response to the reading of the law Even though he's already done so much to reform the nation, the explanation is that Josiah is genuine. He's the real deal when it comes to repentance. This is what true repentance looks like. You see, true repentance isn't just about getting from God what you want from God. True repentance isn't just about earning God's favour and having his smile upon you. You see, true repentance, regardless of what the outcome may be, true repentance, regardless of whether or not it will turn the wrath of God away, true repentance is the recognition that God's way is the right way. that God's will must be performed and that's what Josiah does. Josiah's repentance is genuine and it is evidenced in a genuine change, a thorough going change, a change that results in ongoing reform, ongoing obedience to the law, despite the assurance that he has already received mercy and will not experience the judgment. And despite the assurance that Judah itself, because of its rebellion, will indeed be judged, and nothing that Josiah does from now on will change any of that, he understands that the will of the Lord must be performed. His service must be fulfilled. His laws must be obeyed. There was no king quite like Josiah. Faithful to the Lord. That is what we're told right at the end. Before him there was no king like him. There were kings who did what was good and right. There was Hezekiah. He's described as a king actually who there was none like him before him. And in fact The language here is so similar to that of Hezekiah, but Hezekiah and Josiah stand in different positions. For to Hezekiah, reform had the possibility of bringing about mercy and forgiveness for Judah. Whereas for Josiah, the reform will make no difference. And yet, He did what was right. He 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. There was no one quite like Josiah for loyalty to the Lord in the face of the reality that nothing would change. The Word of God had been spoken. And we need to learn from Josiah. We are to do what is right in the sight of the Lord, simply because it is right. We are to do what is right, because it is right. Not in order to get something out of it. not in order to curry God's favour, but simply because it is right. Whether there is gain, whether there is loss, to do what is right, is right. And this was the King's resolve, that he would do what was right. And by the mercy of God, He fulfilled his resolve. And there was no king like him before him or after him for his faithful devotion to the Lord. Now, one of the things that we do know that happened after the reading of the law and after the covenant that Josiah made before the Lord was the restoration of the Passover in the land. It seems astounding to us, doesn't it, the statement that the writer tells us that no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. The Passover. that central feast of the people of Israel that marked their deliverance out of slavery in Egypt had been completely neglected for generations. And Josiah restores that feast so that once again it was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem. but then we come to verses 26 and 27 and the writer wants us to see these verses in light of Josiah's reforms, that's why he's pieced the life of Josiah together in this thematic way rather than the strictly chronological way. So he moves directly from the reforms, he moves directly from the reinstitution of the Passover that's been neglected for generations and generations, he moves on from even more reforms to say still The Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel. and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, my name shall be there." We see the resolve of the Lord to judge Judah. The change that Josiah brought to the nation hasn't turned the heart of God from his determination to bring judgment upon the land. He led the reform, and perhaps, as one commentator suggests, it is very much Josiah who is leading the reform. As you read through the catalogue of his achievements in bringing reform to the land, it seems that he is there, present everywhere throughout the land as these reforms take place, ensuring that what happened, happened. And we see over and over and over again the repetition of this word, defiled. That Josiah was complete and thorough in his reform. What that word means is that when Josiah went around and he tore down the high places and he removed the idols, that wasn't enough. Oh, people will come, the next generation will come, they'll come and they will rebuild the high place and they will reinstall the idols. But what does Josiah do? He defiles those high places. He burns human bones upon the altars. In one way or another, he so, in the minds of idolatrous worshippers, corrupts the environment that it is no place where they can worship God again. their gods, their idols. And so Josiah moves around the land from one place to another, he even goes outside of his own immediate territory, he goes to Bethel. That was historically in the land of Israel. It was one of the places where Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had set up a calf, a golden calf to be worshipped, another was right in the north of the territory of Israel in a place called Dan. And Josiah goes to Bethel and he tears down the altar that is there and he defiles that altar too. Josiah has brought about a great reform in the land, he's brought about a great change in the land, but it is a change that has been birthed out of his own heart, that God has taken hold of him, and God has given him a heart that loves him. and the desires to serve him at whatever cost, he will do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. But is that true of people in general? Well, perhaps the ease with which Josiah's own sons are able to corrupt the land again, suggests that the people, the people of the land, were only doing the things because Josiah made them. They only went along with him because, well, he was the king, so you had to do what the king said. But as soon as Josiah's sons come to the throne, neither of whom does what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but instead did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. The hearts of the people go in a different direction. Where in Josiah there was genuine repentance and genuine change, among the people there was not. His own sons were unchanged by Josiah's example. They were unchanged by his zeal for the Lord. They were unchanged by all of the reforms that took place in the land during their lifetimes. And instead, they walked in the ways of their fathers, their ancestors. The change in Josiah, as genuine as it was, only brought a surface change. to the nation as a whole. And the Lord, the Lord was resolute in his decision to judge Judah. Her sin is unwavering. And God's Word always prevails. He had said through the prophetess, Judah will be judged. And between the word of the prophetess and the Lord's resolve still to judge Judah. We have a situation that recalls ancient prophecy, that when Josiah came to Bethel to bring about reform and the destruction of the altar there, he spies a monument and he asks the people who live in that area, what is that? And they tell him, it's the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and predicted these things that you have done against the altar at Bethel. If we turn back 300 years, or a few pages in your Bible, to 1 Kings chapter 13, we're told, behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings, and the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, O altar, altar, thus says the Lord, behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name. and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you." Three hundred years later, those words are fulfilled, for the word of the Lord always comes to pass. And just a few months earlier, the word of the Lord had come through the prophetess that while Josiah, because of his penitence, would receive mercy from the Lord and would not see the disaster that would come upon Judah and Jerusalem, that disaster would certainly come. The Lord was resolute And notice what we're told, the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath by which his anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. Manasseh had provoked him. to the point of passing judgment that was yet to fall but the decision had been made. There was a point, there was a line and Manasseh had crossed the line. He had sealed the fate of Judah under the judgment of God. The people of Israel the people of Judah, they repeatedly rebelled against the Lord. Over and over again, they refused to bow before the Lord and to walk in the Lord's ways. Over and over and over again, they determined that they would worship idols rather than the Lord. and ultimately the Lord gives them over to their desires. And you know that, that was to be true hundreds of years later, hundreds of years after the events of Josiah's life. Paul records for us in the book of Romans concerning the people of this world who refuse the light of nature that speaks to them of a holy and majestic and powerful God, and determined to suppress the truth of him while pursuing their own desires. And Paul says, therefore God gave them up. He says it not once, not twice, But three times, Romans chapter 1 verse 24, therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. Verse 26, for this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Verse 28, and since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. God gave them up. They crossed the line, and God gave them up. They had opportunity, and they suppressed the truth, and they denied God, and God gave them up. And so it was in Judah, God gave them up. He handed them over to judgment. He said, you don't want me. You don't want my love. You don't want my forgiveness. You don't want my goodness. You don't want my protection. You don't want my honour. You won't get it. You will receive my wrath, for you deserve it. You will receive my righteous judgment, for you have earned it. God gave them up. And God has so loved this world that through the generations he has been patient with this world. God so loved this world that he sent his own son to be a savior of sinners. Josiah restored the Passover that celebration of the Lord's deliverance from slavery in Egypt. But God, in the fullness of time, sent the true Passover lamb into the world. He sent the true Son of David, who would bring relief, release from oppression, freedom to serve God. In the fullness of time, God sent his son into the world to bear the sins of his people so that they might be freed from judgment and have peace with God, the freedom to walk in obedience to God, unshackled from the chains of sin and rebellion against God. And through the generations, this message of God's love for this world has been proclaimed. And through the years, it has been heard from this pulpit. And some of you still resist. Some of you still refuse to come to him, to acknowledge him as God. and to give your allegiance to him, to do before him what is right, because it is right. And there's a line, a line, that if you cross that line, God will say, I've given you up. You don't want me? I've given you up. You want to fulfill your own ambitions, your own dreams, your own lusts, your own pleasures? I've given you up. And this is the reality you must consider. I'm not trying to fear monger you into the kingdom of God. You can put on a show of repentance, but will it be truly genuine? Will you do what is right simply because you know it is right in God's sight? Or will it simply be an attempt to appease God, to win God's favour? I'm not trying to fear monger you into the kingdom of God, it will never work. But I must tell you the reality that you must consider. You must weigh these things up. If you continue to refuse God's overture of peace, His invitation to come to Him, yea, a command to come to Him, then He may refuse you. There comes a point in time when no matter what you may do, it will be too late. It was too late for Judah in Josiah's day. The line had been crossed during the reign of Manasseh. It was too late at one point for Esau. The book of Hebrews tells us that he cried tears of repentance but it was too late. You must consider that possibility. that you can go on knowing what is right, that you can go on having heard the invitation of the gospel, you can go on having repeatedly said no to the command of God to come to him through Jesus Christ, and at some point you will cross the line. But if you submit to him, If you resolve to do His will with the help of His Spirit, you will know His mercy as Josiah knew His mercy. and you will know his presence and his help day by day throughout your life. Even if all those around you are walking a different way and doing a different thing, you will know the power and the presence of God to uphold you through it all until at last you enter into his presence where there will be great joy. And my appeal to you this evening is to come to Jesus, come to him today, when it is still a day of grace, still a day of salvation, come to him, that the Lord's resolve to bring judgment may not fall upon you. Let's pray. Dear Lord, have mercy on us all. We're so grateful, so thankful to you that you are a God of compassion and that you are a God who so loved this world that you sent your son to be a redeemer, a saviour, a reconciler, to bring peace between us. We thank you that there are many, perhaps most of us here this evening, who have experienced that mercy in all of its fullness, that you have changed our hearts and transformed our lives. But we appeal to you, dear Lord, have mercy upon those who have not yet come to Jesus. Cause them to consider their situation and the reality of the judgment that awaits them if they refuse to come. Have mercy upon their souls and save. We ask in Jesus' name and for His glory. Amen.