Sermon Title .

Making A Difference Part 2

Sermon Text.. 2 Kings 23:4-25
Invocation Scripture. . James 1:21-25
Main Idea: King Josiah made a difference because he
was willing for God to begin working in
him!
Objective :

Making A Difference Begins with Me

2 Kings 23:1-25

Point I :

The Covenant. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Kings 23:1-3

Point II:

The Cleansing .. . . . . . . . . . 2 Kings 23:4-21

Point II : The Commemoration. . . . 2 Kings 23:22-25

Making A Difference Begins with Me

2 Kings 23:1-25
We began an important message last week about the boy
King Josiah. A young boy who became king at 8 yoa.
Then at the age of 26 during the renovation of the temple
a book of the Law was found. After having te book read
to him, he was appauled and shocked and tore his clothes
and repented. He then claled all the leaders and priests
together and all the people and he, the King, personally
read the Word of God from the book of the Law to them.
He then stood at the Pillar of the tempmle and made a
covenant with God to obey the words of the Law.
We considered last week that King Josiah called the
People together, he Read the Scriptures to them, he led by
Example! He called them, Read to them, Led them in
commitment.
O beloved... The importance and the life giving
power of the Word of God can never be underestimated!
It is the only thing that will make an eternal difference in
the life of people! We considered just how important it is
to hear it, to read it and to commit to it.
We also considered the Covenant that King Josiah
made... and we pondered just before we left how
important it is to not only say something but to actually do
it!! Just as we read in our invocation Scripture this
morning...
Jas 1:22 But prove yourselves doers of the word,
and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
Turn with me then today, to 2 King 23 and lets continue
our series on Josiah.
< < < Read 2 Kings 23:4-21 > > >

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Point II:

The Cleansing .. . . . . . . . . . 2 Kings 23:4-21

Wow... Josiah wasted no time! The logical place for

Josiah to start was Right where he was! He was at the
Temple of God! But what is shocking and tragic is the
extent to which the Temple of God had been inundated
with wickedness, idolatry, perversions!
It is hard to believe, but somehow, the priests of
God, had allowed the Temple of God to become defiled!
The influence of paganism, // the depravity and infiltration
of the thinking and reasoning of false religions seems to
have permeated every facet of the Temple and had pushed
out the worship of the TRUE and living God!!
The thought of these things sends chills up my spine
bring out of the temple of the LORD all the
vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah,
and for all the host of heaven;
Beloved... How in the world could the Temple of God
become so corrupted! So inundated with pagan worship?
Simple.... Little by little by little by little... // The same
way it is happening today!!
In fact, I fear that the most solemn celebrations of
the Christian faith have given over and given in to
paganism. The Birth of Christ has been replaced by Santa
Clause, Elves, reindeer and presents!! Resurrection
Sunday has been replaced with Easter Eggs and bunny
rabbits, both symbols of the worship of the fertility
goddess... //
HELLO?.... HELLO? Anybody hearing
I feel like in my lifetime, I have watched the sense
of Holiness, the sens of Awe and Respect we once had for

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God, for the church and for the Bible disappear!! We

have become so casual with everything that we have lost
sight of the Holy reverence that God is due!
I certainly dont want us to be legalistic, but we
must recognize that we serve a Holy and Righteous God!!
Our Text says in vs6-7
2Ki 23:6-7 He brought out the Asherah from the
house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook
Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and
ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of
the common people. (7) He also broke down the
houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the
house of the LORD, where the women were weaving
hangings for the Asherah.
WHAT... WHAT DID I JUST READ??? The Same
perversion that is taking over America and that Our
President is trying to FORCE on the World had been
brought into the very house of God.
Listen beloved... The Bible is Clear we Serve a
Holly and Righteous God!!! Think about it... How did the
Lord Jesus Christ teach us to pray?....
Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be they
name, they kingdom come, THY will be done on
earth as it is in heaven.
Hallowed - or Holy is Thy NAME!!
Do we believe it?
From the Old Testament to the Psalms to the NT, we see
that God is Holy!!
Lev 11:44 'For I am the LORD your God.
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I

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am holy.
Psa 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God And worship at
His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God.
We read in the Book of the Revelation of John which you
are studying in Sunday school... That even the heavenly
beings are proclaiming the Holiness, the almighty power
of the eternal God!!! We read in
Rev 4:8 And the four living creatures, each one of
them having six wings, are full of eyes around and
within; and day and night they do not cease to say,
"HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE
ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO
IS TO COME."
HELLO... HELLO... And so how is it that we want to
come before this God of the Universe? How is it that we
think we would even dare to present ourselves to this
King?
People complain that I come to church in a suit....
Well beloved, My Father and my Mother taught me to
come in the best that I can to the Lord!! My appearance is
a statement of my understanding of who WHO GOD IS
and WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR ME!!! And so my
appearance, my demeanor, even my language and attitude
should reflect my understanding and heart for God!!
I remember one of the great old hymns we used to
sing... entitled, Give of Your Best to the Master
It speaks of the truths we learn from God and the
Bible about bringing our first fruits, the best of what we
have to God as an offering. Israel was not allowed to
bring any sheep or goat or bull that was lame, or blind, or

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blemished in any way!! Only the very best was to be

brought to God!!! We read in Pro 3:9
Honor the LORD from your wealth And from the
first of all your produce;
TRAGICALLLY.... Its not even in the Current Baptist
Hymnal!!! HOW CAN THAT BE???
Because we have bought in to the world and its lies
and its deception and so we have created thousands and
perhaps even millions of cultural Christians who as Paul
and James indicate are not REALLY Christians at all!!
And as Jesus Christ Himself starkley warned
thoseReligious Leaders of Israel, in His day there in
Mat 23:27-28 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs
which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside
they are full of dead men's bones and all
uncleanness. (28) "So you, too, outwardly appear
righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of
hypocrisy and lawlessness.
So let me ask you beloved?....
Then how do we show our reverence, our respect,
our deep gratitude for God and for the Lord Jesus Christ
who has actually given us CLEAN, PURE AND HOLY
GARMENTS to put on to come into the Presence of God?
How do we flesh that out in this world that shows no
respect, no deference, no sense of propriety any more?
How do we honor and respect and Revere God in our
In our Worship...

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In our Praying...
In our Bible Reading?...
In our Witnessing.... For that matter....
In our daily Living?....
Listen my friends... the Lord God of Heaven, is
due our reverence, respect! He is Awesome and
Powerful!!
So how in the world did this happen? How can the
world so infect and infiltrate the Holy Temple of God?...
(Long pause)
How?.. the answer is simple and yet, Oso insidious...
It happens a little at a time. A little here and a year or
two to get accustomed to that, and then a little more
there, and another year for that to become accepted.
We remove respect of parents and of elders... No
more yes sir, no maam, we eliminate courtesy... no more
please, and thank.... We then begin to add wickedness
and depravity, but we do it carefully and make the wicked,
the guilty seem like victims... we Play on the emotions
and feelings of tender hearted...
So we make just one exception, but that turns into
another and another, and with carefully crafted, BUT
FLAWED Logic, we fill the temple of God with every
form of idolatry depravity and wickedness!! And a little
more time until the place that we began is so very far
away from the place that we started!! We dont even know
how far weve gone away!
And what does the Bible say???
Pro 6:9-11 How long will you lie down, O
sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?

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(10) "A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding

of the hands to rest"-- (11) Your poverty will come
in like a vagabond And your need like an armed
man.
Listen friends. Two of Satans greatest tools are
compromise and time! He then relies on our apathy and
the press of public opinion to do the rest of his work!
The thing that is so scary about this all is the
question that it naturally brings to mind for us.
Where are we in relation to our faithfulness to
God, to Christ and to His Church...? What worldly
growth has affected and now infected our lives... things
that we have brought into the church!
What is so unbelievable is that we literally have
churches all over America who are adopting things, and
are promoting things and in some cases are even in hearty
agreement, things that are abominable in the sight of God,
as revealed in His Holy Word!
What were those vss we just read from our Text?..
2Ki 23:6-7 He brought out the Asherah from the
house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook
Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and
ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of
the common people. (7) He also broke down the
houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the
house of the LORD, where the women were weaving
hangings for the Asherah.
We read in Vs 11
2Ki 23:11 He did away with the horses which the

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kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance

of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of
Nathan-melech the official, which was in the
precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun
with fire.
As I have read about churches and even denominational
groups making anti-Biblical and ungodly choices, in favor
of immorality and Sodomy there is one GLARING thing
missing in all of their rhetoric, their explanations.... the
one thing missing is... the Word of God!
The removal of any reverence and respect for God,
leads naturally to no Respect, Reverence of Gods Holy
Word!! This attacks the very foundation and basis for
our Faith and Doctrine, and opens the door for a literal
pandoras box of evil! Gods Word is a rock upon which
we can be firmly anchored! But no!!! we have removed
this Rock and replaced it with sand, the shaky foundation
of the OPINIONS and FEELINGS of man!!
Jesus makes it clear for us in the gospel, that when
we build on sand, the building can not stand and its fall
will be great!!
Mat 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of
Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man
who built his house on the rock. (25) "And the rain fell,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed
against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been
founded on the rock. (26) "Everyone who hears these
words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a
foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) "The
rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its
fall."

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10

This is why it is CRITICAL to know what we

believe and then, Like King Josiah to go through our lives
and eradicate anything and everything that doesnt
conform to Gods Holy Word!!
Listen friends, I am grateful to God that the SBC
has sought to remain true to its conservative Biblical
moorings! We are some of the few left who are standing
in the gap and who are holding high the light of the truth
of Gods Holy Word in this crooked and perverse
generation! Phil 2:15!
THERE IS ONLY ONE SOURCE TO POINT
US BACK TO WHERE WE SHOULD BE! THE
BIBLE! ONLY one source that is reliable and able to
Hold us secure in the storms of life and culture! That is
the Holy BIBLE Gods precious Word!
Listen friends, we must recognize that our bodies
are a temple... a temple of God! Paul makes that
abundantly clear in 1Co 3:16
(16) Do you not know that you are a temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
At the death of Christ, the O.T. Temple became obsolete,
replaced by the very sacrifice of Christ... Look at
< < < Read Matt 27:51 > > >
Mat 27:50-51 And Jesus cried out again with a
loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. (51) And
behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from
top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks
were split.
We see here that the dividing wall between man and God
was removed, that Jesus Christ now stood in the Gap and

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His work was sufficient, it was complete!

If that isnt clear enough turn to Hebrews 10:19-23
< < < Read Hebrews 10:19-23 > > >
Heb 10:19-23 Therefore, brethren, since we have
confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of
Jesus, (20) by a new and living way which He
inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His
flesh, (21) and since we have a great priest over
the house of God, (22) let us draw near with a
sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our
hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and
our bodies washed with pure water. (23) Let us
hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
So what does this all means?...
It means that we are the temple of God now. Not
some building made with hands, but our hearts, our
minds, our souls, have become the dwelling place of the
most High God through the person and presence of the
Holy Spirit of God! Thats what 1 Cor 6:19-20 says...
...do you not know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from
God, and that you are not your own? {20} For you
have been bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body.
HELLO!!! I must then... Clean out the old leaven so that
you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact
unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been
sacrificed. (1Co 5:7)
The clear implication of this is that Making A

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Difference actually does really begin with me!!

If I am the Temple of God, (and I am only that if I
have accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and King of my
Life and have sought His forgiveness for my sin), then the
renovation begins with me, allowing God through the
power and presence of His Holly Spirit to clean me up
so that I can also then work in His world to clean it up!
I must invite the HS of God to enter into my heart
and mind and I must allow the unswerving truth of the
Holy Word of God to shine its searching light into every
corner. The things that reside in the corners and closets, I
can leaven not corner, no closet unchecked! In other
words, everything in my life must stand up to the test of
Gods Word! If there be things for Him, they will be
left and strengthened, but if they be for me and against
Him, they must.. THEY ABSOLUTELY MUST BE
TAKEN OUT OF THE TEMPLE OF GOD, (my life),
AND BURNED!!
O beloved, there is no room in your life for things
that arent of God! They will only weigh you down, trip
you up, pull you into problem, divert your energy, sap
your strength, and reduce you to ruin!
We must eliminate the ungodly influences in our
lives if we are to Make a Real Difference for God in
this World! Much to think about beloved...
What will you do?
Let us pray