This is part four of this series. We are using the account of King Josiah to look at ten things we need to return to in order to experience reformation. You can catch up with the series here:
A Return to Personal Reformation
In 2 Kings 22:14-20, the Word of the Lord comes back to Josiah. In the first portion of God’s response, He reveals that He is going to pour out wrath upon the people of Judah for their rebellion against Him. In the second part of it, He speaks directly to Josiah. In doing so, he separates Josiah from the recipients of His wrath.
“But to the king of Judah. (2 Kings 22:18)”
King Josiah will not suffer the same fate that the rest of the kingdom will. Why is that? Verse 19 tells us it is because his heart was tender, he humbled himself when he heard of the judgment, and he mourned for his sin. Josiah became aware of the coming judgment on himself and all of Judah when he heard the book of the law read. His response was one of personal, humble repentance. He mourned for his sin and turned to seek the face of God. It was because of his sins and the sins of his forefathers that judgment was coming to all of Judah. But it was because of this repentance that God declared to him that he would be spared and would go to his grave in peace. Josiah’s repentance did not remove the judgment from Judah, but it removed him from the judgment.
There is a judgment that is coming. There is a final day approaching when the Lord of Lords and King of Kings will descend from heaven with a shout. On that day, He will crush all of the wicked and evildoers in the winepress of His wrath. He will execute perfect, eternal justice upon all the sin in this world. And the Bible clearly tells us that means you and me.
“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)”
Just as the coming wrath in our text is said to be coming to all of Judah, so also the coming wrath of God will fall on all sinful humanity. But thank God for the testimony of Josiah, which gives us hope! Josiah could not stop the judgment from coming on the land, but he could escape it himself. No man can stop the judgment that is coming on the world. But there is a way that has been provided for all who wish to be saved from it.
How is it that the Lord could hold back His wrath from Josiah? It is because hundreds of years later the Son of God would hang on a cross, and that is where Josiah’s part in God’s wrath would be placed. By his repentance in humility, Josiah demonstrated that he was among the remnant for whom Christ would offer atonement. In doing so, he demonstrated faith in God’s promise to save those who call out to Him.
Jesus paid the price for all of His chosen people. He bore their wrath and cancelled their debt. And one by one, He is producing in them the fruit of repentance. When we look around at the massive evil and wickedness in our world today, we are shocked by it all. We say to ourselves, “Surely the judgment is coming soon!” And we are right, the judgment is coming. But we need to remember that until it does, there are yet more Josiah’s out there. There are those for whom Christ died. There are those who have yet to be brought to the fruit of repentance and faith. And they will come. But God has chosen to use us as the means through which He will call them as we warn them of the coming wrath and give them the good news of repentance and salvation. We need to return to a personal reformation.
And what about you? Have you ever felt it? That moment when you realize the weight of your sin. That moment when your eyes are opened to the fact that there is an almighty God who has created heaven and earth, He is infinitely pure and holy, and nothing impure can come near Him. In fact, anything with even one ounce of impurity must be cast eternally away from His good presence into the utter darkness. Have you felt the weight of knowing that you are racked with such impurities? Have you experienced the fear and dread that comes from the realization of your sin in the sight of a holy God? That is what Josiah felt and that is what drove him to repentance. If you feel that, I want you to know that what you feel is real, but the blood of Christ can absorb all of that. Christ’s atonement can free you from the judgment and restore you to the purity that brings you near to God. This freedom can be yours if only you would repent and turn your eyes to Christ.
For those of us who profess Christ, I suggest to you that one of our major problems today is that we, as Christians, don’t take sin or the holiness of God as seriously as we should. The Puritan John Owen put it quite well, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.” Personal reformation does not stop at the moment of conversion. That is when it begins. We come bringing our sins before the Lord time and time again throughout this Christian life. We do not call them mistakes or mishaps. We name them for the filth that they are and allow the Spirit to kill the sin within us. We grow in Christlikeness and learn to hate sin as God hates sin. In doing so, we pursue holiness throughout our lives.
There are many Josiahs in the world who have yet to hear the Word of the Lord that will bring them to repentance. Likewise, we need more Josiahs in the churches who walk in a daily posture of repentance before the Lord.
We must return to personal reformation.