 and this is our installment tonight in practical religion is on the subject of Christian zeal, Christian zeal. So I want to talk about zeal this evening and I want to give you an example from the Bible. I want to look at a profile of godly Christian zeal, what that looks like, what that means scripturally and how we're to view it from the Bible. Miriam Webster's dictionary defines zeal as a strong feeling of interest and enthusiasm that makes someone very eager or determined to do something. Defines it as an eagerness and an ardent interest in pursuit of something. So sounds pretty good, right? Zeal, let's pray and then we'll ask God to bless our time together in His word. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for this evening and thank you for this opportunity to study your word together, my opportunity Lord to worship you as the people of God and I pray God that you would help us to understand your word and help us to see this issue of Christian zeal from the scriptures. Lord as you have described it there for us and may we be edified by your word, spurred on to obey your word, convicted by your word, when may our faith be bolstered by your word, may the loss be converted by your word. We love you and we thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright so we're looking at Christian zeal and again a strong feeling of interest and enthusiasm makes someone very eager or determined to do something and when we look at that definition of zeal it sounds pretty good and we can all think of people who are zealous. We think about zeal and how zeal is defined or pictured. We can think of people who are zealous for a particular cause or zealous for a particular thing. Today we see so many people right that are zealous for fitness. You spend any time on social media, you have folks that are zealous for working out, zealous for watching carbs, zealous for what they eat, very zealous about fitness. We see people zealous about politics. What's going on in the world of politics with the election coming up here in another year and a half, I think it is, or year. People are already zealous about politics. This or that politician that is, you know, running our country so to speak. We've got to get so and so into office or get so and so out of office. People are very zealous about politics. You have people that are zealous for abortion and people who are zealous against abortion. You have people that are very zealous for same-sex marriage. People that are very zealous against same-sex marriage. You have people that are extremely zealous for college and professional sports, especially this time of year coming up. We see that very frequently. A lot of zeal, a lot of zeal, right? We can think of zealous people throughout history that fuel our understanding and appreciation of zeal. I think about the zeal of Alexander the Great in his conquest of the world, so to speak. The zeal of Thomas Edison trying over and over and over again, failing so many times to invent the light bulb before finally succeeding. The zeal of William Wilberforce in his fight against slavery in Great Britain. Just good examples of zeal. Ordinarily, our impression of zeal, or the world's impression of zeal, is commendable. The world would commend zeal. Our impression of zealous people is often that they are commendable in terms of the world's perception of what zeal looks like, what zeal is. And we can use other adjectives to describe zeal also of them. They are enthusiastic or committed or ambitious. And all of that is good and well until it comes to Christianity. And then when Christianity, when it comes to Christianity, when it comes to Christian or godly zeal, now all of a sudden zeal morphs into the proverbial four letter word. Christian zeal in the eyes of the world is tantamount to fanaticism. Right? Those Christians, quote unquote, aren't simply zealous. They're zealots. You can see the difference. Those Christians are seen that are zealous, are seen as Bible thumping, a sandwich board toting, proselytizing zealots who need to calm down in the eyes of the world. That's the way they view Christians, genuine Christians. If you notice no soliciting signs anymore today, when you go out witnessing, no soliciting signs on doors are not because the vacuum cleaner salesman is coming through the neighborhood still. That doesn't happen today. The real reason that sign is there is for those zealous Christians who witness and evangelize often. The no soliciting sign is because they don't want you knocking on your door sharing the gospel with them. So what the world then obviously loves in zeal, in virtually everything else that it considers zealous, it hates in the zealous Christian. So why is that? Why is that? Well, Jesus, the supreme example of Christian zeal, zealous for the will of the father, even to his death, said in John chapter seven verse seven that the world hates me because I testify of it, that its works are evil. That's why it hates Christian zeal, because Christians are zealous with the word of God. Because we follow his example, John says again in first John chapter three verse 13, do not marvel my brethren if the world hates you too. So if we follow the example of our Lord and we're zealous with the word of God, the world's going to hate us too and hate our brand, quote unquote, of Christian zeal. The more disturbing problem to me is that many Christians today, many Christians, professing Christians, quote unquote Christians, also have a problem with Christian zeal. Friend of mine was witnessing in the park a while back with other members of his church, a park out of state. And as they were witnessing in the park, I could see other people that went to that church crossing over the street to avoid them while they're witnessing in the park. A fear of man, of shame to the gospel, whatever you want to call it, just not appreciating genuine Christian zeal for evangelism. A Christians, quote unquote, that will in the park rebuke a brother for open air preaching, preaching the gospel in the park or going door to door. Why is that? Why do quote unquote Christians have a problem with Christian zeal? Well, you could call it a fear of man. That's certainly part of the problem. Certainly true. It's often a fear of what the world thinks. And it's worldly attitudes. It's worldly reasoning about zeal. And it's because they're worldly themselves. They share this world's attitudes and this world's disdain for true Christianity. We need to repent of this sin and be concerned about what God thinks and not about what the world thinks, right? Be concerned about what God thinks and not about what other men think. The Bible says to love the Lord with part of your heart, all of your heart, half your heart, every bit of your heart, all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength, all the time. That is a biblical definition of zeal for the Lord. But in, in addition to this, in addition to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have so many examples of zeal for the Lord by God's grace throughout history, throughout Christian history and reminded of William Tyndale. Now William Tyndale, October 6 1536, as he was crying out to the Lord, Lord open the King of England's eyes just prior to an executioner strangling him and then burning his body. Why was William Tyndale strangled and then burned? So that his fellow Britons could have the Bible translated into English. That's zeal for the Lord. I'm reminded of Thomas Krammer. Krammer. Thomas Krammer burnt at the stake for supporting the English Reformation. After having in an admitted weakness in signing an incantation, Thomas Krammer, as he was burning at the stake, put out his right hand so that his right hand, that hand that signed the recantation could burn first, saying to himself that word, that unworthy hand, that unworthy hand. A zeal for the Lord. A zeal for the Lord. John Knox burned alive for standing zealously on the claim that Jesus Christ is the head of the church and not the pope in Rome. And he was burned at the stake. In scripture we see the zeal of Phineas in Numbers chapter 25. God says in Numbers 25 verse 11, Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the children of Israel because he was zealous with my zeal among them so that I did not consume the children of Israel in my zeal. Now it's interesting there that God expresses his own zealous nature. God is zealous. And God is an example of zeal, a perfect example of zeal. And Phineas, following the example of God's zeal, took care of business in Numbers 25. We see the zeal of Epaphroditus in Colossians chapter 4 verse 13. Paul bears him witness, it says there, that he had a great zeal for the Christians in Coloss and Laodicea and in Heropoulos. Or we see our brothers and sisters in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 36, who the Bible says, suffered mockings and scourgings, yes, and chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. And they wandered in deserts and mountains and dens and caves of the earth. Why? Because they were zealous for the Lord and they were persecuted as a result of their zeal. We also see in Scripture, we see several negative examples of zeal. You know, Saul in the Old Testament, zealous to kill David, right? We see Saul of Tarsus in the New Testament, zealous, he says, even persecuting the church prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus. Then Paul said in Romans chapter 10 verse 2 that the Jews had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. So in addition to seeing good examples of zeal, we also see bad examples of zeal. Zealous people are single-minded. Zealous people are singularly committed. And when that is directed as it should be, we're singularly committed to Christ in His Word. And we know well enough that we can't go to the wisdom of the world for their definition of zeal. We have to go to the Bible. What does the Bible say about zeal? And so the time that we have together tonight, I want to give you an example of a few characteristics of zeal, zeal for the Lord, from an example in the Old Testament in 2 Kings chapter 23. If you look there with me beginning at verse 1, this is the story of the zealous king of Judah, Josiah. Now Josiah was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. By this time in 2 Kings, the people of Judah have fallen into horrendous sin, detestable, abominable sin in the eyes of God. And God's judgment now, by the time we get to chapter 23, God's judgment is falling. The northern kingdom, the ten tribes of the northern kingdom have already fallen. And people are in exile in chapter 17. God judged them. They were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC. The southern kingdom here in chapter 23 will fall soon. The southern kingdom will fall in chapters 24 and 25 in 587 BC, again under the judgment of God. And they're going to be exiled. So now despite God's judgment here in chapter 23, we see glimpses of hope in the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. Josiah here is a good king and he is zealous for the Lord, much like Hezekiah or Joash that preceded him. God said of him in chapter 22, if you look back at chapter 22 and look beginning at verse 1, we see Josiah described this way. Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jedediah, the daughter of Adiah, of Boschath, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Notice he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, walked in all the ways of his father David and did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. So the first mark of zeal that I want you to see from the example of Josiah is that he did what was right in the sight of God. He didn't step to the right hand or to the left hand, he walked in all the ways of his father David, a man after God's own heart, he followed the Lord. So zeal for God from the example of Josiah is careful, it's vigilant, it's watchful, living in obedience to God, a righteous fear of God, okay, cautious and careful obedience to his will. Romans chapter 12 verse 9 would describe it this way. Roman says, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor, giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit serving the Lord. That would describe the Christian today. That's a picture of Christian zeal, which is biblical zeal, which is the zeal that every Christian has, and it certainly would describe Josiah abhorring what is evil, cling to what is good. Second Kings chapter 23, beginning in verse 1, Bible reads here, now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. The king, this is Josiah, went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah and with him, all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 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 had been found in the house of the Lord. Now this is difficult to imagine, but they had actually lost the Bible. They didn't have the word of God, and if you can, I encourage you to go back and look at Second Kings chapter 22 and read about that with Hillchia, the high priest. In the complete lack of zeal for the things of God, the people of God had lost the word of God. Today, often in the complete lack of zeal of the people, quote unquote people of God, there is a famine in the land of the word of God, and the word of God today isn't being preached. We suffer under the same loss, so to speak, at many times in our country today. Asherah, if you can imagine, the false pagan god Asherah was standing in the temple thanks to Manasseh, a very wicked king. Children were being burned in the fire to mollic. Pagan booths were actually set up in the temple at this time where temple prostitution took place. Horses and chariots. The people of God, their horses and chariots were being dedicated to the God of the Son, the Son God. So we know from Second Chronicles that Josiah here, seeing all of this wickedness, started seeking the Lord in the eighth year of his reign because of what his father, David, had done. He followed in his father David's steps, so to speak, and in the eighth year of his reign began seeking the Lord. He began clearing the kingdom of idolatry in the 12th year of his reign, and so when we come to 2nd Kings chapter 23, we're in the 18th year of Josiah's reign, and in chapter 22 they began to repair the temple in order to restore worship. If you look at chapter 22 and drop down to verse 11, there you see Hilkiah the High Priest, and as they're repairing the temple, cleaning out the temple, when Josiah began reforms in Judah, began restoring true worship in Judah, sent Hilkiah the priest to pay the builders who were restoring the temple, and Hilkiah in the temple finds the book of the law, and look at Josiah's response, beginning in chapter 22 verse 11. In 22 verse 11, the Bible says, now it happened when the king heard the words of the book of the law that he tore his clothes. That was a common sign then of repentance, of great grief and mourning over sin. Verse 12, then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikim the son of Shafan, Akbar the son of Micaiah, Shafan the scribe, and Isaiah the servant of the king saying, verse 13, Go inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all of Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that has aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us. One thing that is the Christian, a genuine Christian is marked by is zeal for repentance, a repentant zeal. Repentance until life is marked by Christian zeal. Listen to this from 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10. The Bible says that godly sorrow produces a repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world by contrast produces death. In verse 11 it says, for observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner, what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal and what vindication. Zeal is a mark or characteristic of genuine repentance. So when a person comes to Christ, they turn from their sin, they repent, they mourn over their sin, they hunger and thirst for righteousness, there's a zeal that goes with that, a zeal, zeal, Christian zeal is a mark of genuine repentance. When Josiah in 2 Kings 22 read the book of the law for himself, and he saw the wrath of god displayed on those pages for all those that would disobey the commands of god written there, he repented. He repented. Not only did he repent, but it says there that he leads the people of God in the reading of it as well, and led them in corporate repentance. Christian zeal is repentant. Why did Josiah do this? God had proclaimed that he was going to judge Israel, and that he was going to judge Judah, the judgment is falling. And so why would Josiah then repent of sin, lead the people in repentance, take a stand for the covenant, why would Josiah go through all this? Because that book, the book of the law they found in the temple, the Bible preaches the grace and forgiveness and mercy of God. You don't have to die in your sin. You don't have to die under the judgment of God. God is gracious and God is merciful. If you will turn from your sin and put your faith in Christ and serve him with Christian zeal, that God forgives sin. He shows mercy to the penitent. He's gracious to the sinner. And Josiah knew it. And he does zeal for God because of God's promise of forgiveness. If you look at Second Kings 23, look at verse three. So continuing our account here, then the king, King Josiah, he stood by a pillar and he made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with half his heart and with half his soul. No, with all his heart, with all his soul to perform, not just to hear about them, but to do them, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book that they found in the temple. And all the people with him took a stand for the covenant. So Josiah here, he takes the solemn stand for the Lord. This is the commitment that we would say today in the New Testament time, commitment to discipleship. It's a commitment to follow the Lord. By covenant, by promise to God, Josiah bound himself to solemnly follow God. Now what does that mean to follow God? It means to perform the words of the covenant that were written in the book. It means to obey him. If you're going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then you obey him with zeal. You follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You walk after him. You keep his statutes and his commandments. You keep and you obey all things that are written in that book were to be people of the book. And that's not to be superficial. That's not to be counterfeit or half-hearted. He is to do it with all his heart and with all his soul. This is what it means to be a Christian. This is what it means to be a zealous Christian, which is every true Christian. In the same sense that there is no such thing biblically as a carnal Christian, there is no such thing as a Christian that lacks Christian zeal. Now we can have moments in our Christian walk, can't we, where we weird, worn down, sometimes in sin, fail to live with the zeal and the fervency and the diligence that the Lord requires of us being bloodbought by Christ, right? But that's for a time. What marks what is characteristic of the Christian life is a holy Christian zeal for the Lord that obeys him, that enters into covenant with God and with all their heart, all their soul, all their mind, all their strength, all the time they follow and obey the Lord. That's what Christians are marked by, characterized by. It's what characterized Josiah here after having read the book of the law and repenting before the Lord. Now notice the zeal here also. He then leads, after having made a covenant with the Lord himself, he then leads the people of God to stand for the Lord. So Christian zeal again is always evangelistic. Christian zeal is evangelistic. So he made his commitment. He had his moment, so to speak. Does that mean he was done? You know, he repented. He made his commitment. He entered into that covenant. That's good, right? That's it. That's all that you have to do. No. Zeal for the Lord then goes to work. I want you to see this. Zeal for the Lord wages war. Look at verse four. So what happened? After Josiah genuinely repented, that genuine repentance produces zeal. How did that show up in the life of the king? Look at verse four. The king then commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priest of the second order and the doorkeepers to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for that wicked, false God, Baal for Asherah and for all the hosts of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he removed the idolatrous priests that were there removed. It means he had them killed. They were slain. He removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in all the places around Jerusalem. And those who burned incense to Baal to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the hosts of heaven. Verse six. And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the Lord to the brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the brook Kidron and ground it to ashes and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. Now those common people were likely here from the context people who also worshiped Baal, who worshiped Asherah at the temple. And so by throwing those ashes on those graves it defiled them according to what the Bible says and made them unworthy. It defiled the graves of people who were involved in idolatrous worship. Verse seven. Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. They made these little woven tents, these little woven tabernacles over all of their false gods. And here even these ritual booths performed ritual acts of prostitution in the house of the Lord. Just an abomination to God. Verse eight. He brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense from Giba to Bershiba. Also he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua, the governor of the city which were to the left of the city gate. Nevertheless verse nine. The priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren. This from verses four to verse nine here is the total eradication of idolatry in Judah. Josiah repented with zeal before the Lord, coveted with the Lord to follow him all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and then went to work on eradicating idolatry in Judah. Did he come up with all this himself? No. He was obeying God's command. God's command in Deuteronomy chapter seven verse 25 says this. God says you shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them nor take it for yourselves lest you be snared by it for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. So again zeal for the Lord is meticulously faithful to scripture. Here Josiah is just carrying out the commands of God just a methodical order being zealous for the commands of God being zealous for the holiness of God being zealous for the true worship of God. Josiah a genuinely repentant king of of Judah here zeal for the Lord. Now think about this in terms of your own life and apply this to yourself. You can be zealous right in the same way that Josiah was by totally eradicating every single instance of idolatry in your own heart. We have idolatrous hearts. Martin Luther said our hearts are like factories of idols producing idols producing idolatry. So wipe out wipe out any remains any vestiges of sin. Don't compromise totally eradicate it. The New Testament puts it this way. The Lord says cut off your hand and pluck out your eye. That's zeal for the Lord. That's zeal against your sin. That is Christian zeal and the Christian is to act toward their sin with that kind of zeal. And we see that in the example of Josiah here in 2 Kings 23. Zeal for the Lord means doing what's necessary. Eradicate that false worship. Eradicate that idolatry. Eradicate sin. Don't let it find a crevice in your heart to hide. Get rid of every single instance of it. Just wipe it out completely. But let's continue with the account of Josiah here in verse 10. What else did he do? It says here that Josiah defiled Tafeth which is in the valley of the Son of Hennom that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Malach. This is amazing. But the children of Israel were so entrenched in idolatry that they burned their children in the fire to the false pagan god Malach. And so here called Tafeth, the valley of the Son of Hennom, called Tafeth because it was a place of abhorrence. It literally means a place to be spit upon. It was a place of abhorrence to God where they used to burn their sons and daughters, make them pass through the fire to Malach. Verse 11. Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the Son at the entrance to the house of the Lord. They did that at the entrance to the house of the Lord. By the chamber of Nathan Malach, the officer who was in the court, and he burned the chariots of the Son with fire. They got these worship practices here in verse 11 and others. They got these worship practices most likely from the Assyrians. From the Assyrians specifically, but more generally, God had warned them about having any interaction with the nations around them. Why? Because the false religion of the nations around them would ensnare the Israelites. He warned them about not succumbing to their false pagan religious rituals. He also warned them against marrying foreign women because it would have the same effect, would lead Israel into false worship, lead Israel into idolatry, and that's exactly what's happened here. They're just lackeys for every pagan nation around them, and they've become idolaters. They failed to expel those nations from the land that God promised them, and now those nations all around them had become snares to them. Now they find themselves under the judgment of God about to be exiled, about to be wiped out by Babylon here soon. Zeal for the Lord, Christian zeal, genuine zeal, puts an end to compromise with the world. Puts an end to compromise with the world. Don't find yourself in bad company. Bad company corrupts good morals. Pay attention to who you take as a friend, and don't let that lost unbelief. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 6 that we're not to be yoked together with unbelievers. Not to come out of the world, it says in 1 Corinthians 5, because we're to evangelize lost people. But be careful who your friends are, be careful who you keep company with. Their practices can become a snare to you. Here, zeal for the Lord puts an end to that compromise, puts an end to that influence. Josiah sees to it. Look down at verse 12. In verse 12 it says, the altars that were on the roof, talking about the roof of the temple, the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the brook Kidron. Now these altars were in the courts, in the very courts of the temple. Reminds as David said in Psalm 69 verse 9 that the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on a meal, because zeal for your house has eaten me up. It's the same passage that the Lord quotes when he has cleared out the temple, the disciples remembering what the Lord had said, that zeal for the Lord's house has eaten him up, has consumed him. So Christian zeal then is zealous for true worship. Josiah here is restoring the true worship of God, that for the children of Israel at that time took place at the temple. The temple was the center of true worship. Here you're clearing out all of those idolatrous tendencies and all of those dark corners in the temple, so to speak, of your heart. If you're going to restore true worship of God, it's repentant worship. It is humble worship, contrite worship that is eradicating sin and eradicating idolatry. You just have to get it out of your heart. The Lord commands worship in spirit and in truth. Verse 13, then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem. The high places were places of false worship. These places which were on the south side of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built for Ashtaret, the abomination of the Sidonians, for Kemos, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images and filled their places with the bones of men. Josiah was so zealous for the Lord, so desirous to please the Lord. So thorough in his repentance that he seeks to wipe out the idolatrous practice of Israelites that began that practice over 300 years ago under Solomon. He goes back 300 years wiping out false worship. And he fills a place here, it says, with human bones. And again, is that his own idea? No, it's something he finds in the Word of God. In Numbers chapter 19, verse 16, human bones pollute or defile a place. And so in Numbers 19, 16, you have human bones defiling a place here. He defiles false worship by filling their places with the bones of men. But Josiah wasn't only satisfied with his responsibilities in Judah, wasn't only satisfied with his part of the kingdom, so to speak. He went after clearing the 10 northern tribes of Israel in addition to Judah. Look at verse 15. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, Bethel and now the northern kingdom of Israel, the 10 tribes who were already out there exiled under the Assyrians. Josiah goes into Israel now and he says, moreover the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam, the son of Nibet, who made Israel sin had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down. And he burned the high place and crushed it to powder and burned the wooden image. Verse 16, as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs that were there on the mountain. And he sent and took the bones out of the tombs and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. This was in fulfillment of a prophecy that was made under Jeroboam. This was prophesied, this would happen. In verse 17, then he said, what gravestone is this that I see? So the men of the city told him, it is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel. So the man of God who prophesied this, this was his tomb. Verse 18, he said, let him alone. Let no one move his bones. And so they let his bones alone with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. Now Josiah also took away all the shrines of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger. And he did to them according to all the deeds that he had done in Bethel. He executed all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars and he burned men's bones on them and he returned to Jerusalem. So in addition to eradicating all idolatry, he also eradicates all false teachers from the land. Praise God for that. One day all false teaching will come to a complete and total end. That'll be a glorious day. So Josiah here finally restores true worship. Christian zeal. The zeal of the Christian, the zeal that every Christian, every genuine Christian exhibits and characterized by is concerned with, consumed with true worship of God, with true worship, worship in spirit and in truth. Look in verse 21. Then the king commanded all the people saying, keep the Passover to the Lord your God. Now where did he see information with reference to the Passover? In the book of the law. You got into the Bible. God commands the keeping of the Passover. So what does Josiah do? He keeps the Passover. He commanded all the people saying, keep the Passover to the Lord your God as it is written in the book of the covenant. Such a Passover, verse 22, surely had never been held since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. What that is commonly understood to mean is that that keeping of the Passover was extremely strict, that it wasn't according to any custom or any tradition that it snuck in, but that keeping of the Passover under Josiah was unlike any other Passover because it was extremely meticulously faithful to the words of the book of the law that they found in the temple in the house of the Lord. Do you see Josiah's zeal? Zeal for faithfulness to God. Zeal for the Passover. Zeal for God's command. Zeal for true worship. Look at verse 23. But in the 18th year of King Josiah, this Passover was held before the Lord in Jerusalem. Moreover, Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. In order that, he might perform the words of the law. There it is again. Do you see? Christian zeal and obedience to God. All those words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. Now before him, there was no king like him. And again, well let this be said of us, right? That we would serve the Lord with his zeal. That we would serve the Lord faithfully. There was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all of his heart, with all of his soul, and with all of his might according to all the law of Moses. Nor after him did any arise like him. The zeal of Josiah the king. Now look real quickly with me at the zeal of Almighty God. Despite all this repentance, despite Josiah's zeal for the Lord, despite all this reform and a return to true worship, God does what he says he will do. He has a zeal, God does for his name. A zeal for his word, a zeal for his holiness. So look at verse 26. Nevertheless, nevertheless, meaning in light of all of that that Josiah has done, nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath with which his anger was aroused against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. And the Lord said, I will also remove Judah from my sight as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem, which I have chosen, and the house of which I said my name shall be there. The Lord is zealous for his name, the Lord is zealous for his word, and the Lord will do what the Lord says he will do. Here under Josiah, a little bit of reprieve, a little bit of reprieve. There was true worship restored and that judgment was delayed. It wouldn't be until 587 before the southern kingdom would be conquered by the Babylonians. In all of that though, in all of that, God says there will be a judgment. There's a judgment against sin. There'll be a judgment against all that offends God, a judgment against sinful people who rebel against God. That is the truth of God's word. God is zealous for his holiness. He is zealous against sin. He is zealous for his own name. But in all of that, he is zealous for his worship, zealous for his praise, zealous for his attributes of grace and mercy and forgiveness and love. And our God is a gracious God. Zealous to see his people redeemed from their sin, that not one of them would perish, but that all should come to repentance. The zeal of God for his love, for his divine attributes, such zeal that he sent his only begotten son into the world to die for sinners, to be the Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world. God is zealous for his name, zealous for grace, zealous for his people. We praise God that we can be beneficiaries of that grace, of that mercy, of that zeal. In all of this, looking at the zeal of Josiah, looking at the Lord's zeal, looking at the examples of zeal that we find in Scripture, looking at the example of genuine true Christian zeal throughout the centuries, Christianity, genuine Christianity, true Christianity, is not this easygoing, licentious, carefree thing that is painted in most churches today. It's just not. Christianity in no way resembles anything to do with a let go and let God kind of attitude toward the Christian life. A lagging diligence. Romans calls us to be zealous, not lacking in diligence, fervent in serving the Lord. Genuine saving faith is marked by zeal for the Lord. In Revelation chapter three, we don't have time to turn there, just listen with me as I read. Revelation chapter three beginning in verse 14, the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things to this church at Laodicea, these things says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works that you're neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot, so then because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. In other words, their lack in work, their lack in fruit, the fruits of faith demonstrated that they were far from Christ, far from the source of Christian zeal, which is the Lord himself. And he says, because they were far from the source, he says, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Verse 17, because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing. And you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold, refined in the fire, that you may be rich, white garments representing the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eyes, so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. What does the Lord say? Therefore be zealous and repent. The Lord commands zeal from the Christian. A zeal for the Lord, a zeal for his word, a zeal for his holiness, a zeal for his worship, a zeal for your personal holiness, a zeal for your testimony, a zeal for your evangelism, a zeal for your personal piety. Let's take the command of the Lord and let's repent of lagging diligence and be zealous before God. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your time, this time in your word. Thank you, Lord, for how your word so clearly lays out for us, just these glorious examples of genuine zeal for you. And I pray, God, that we would not lack diligence, that we would not lack fervency or faithfulness, or that we would not lack in this Christian characteristic of zeal for you, zeal for your word, zeal for your service, God. We want to be zealous for you. Serve you as Josiah did with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength until you take us home. Thank you, Lord. And we realize we can't do that in our own strength, in our own power. God, I pray that you'd strengthen us by your spirit to live that way for your glory, for your namesake, and as a testimony to this lost and dying world of the power in the gospel to transform a life and to or produce in us by your spirit, a zeal for our God, a zeal for our Lord. We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.