JOSIAH DID RIGHT

II Kings 22:1

Junior Camp Sermon

July 22, 1998

Pot O’Gold Camp

This is a great Bible story because it shows us what a young boy can do if he decides to do it.

VERSE 2 says, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.”

Here is a young boy, a little boy who was only eight years old.

Only eight years old,

Eight years old,

The same age as many of you boys here in this chapel tonight,

The same age as many of you girls here this evening,

“And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord...”

Sounds like a New Testament verse:

I John 3:22, “...and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

The Word of God teaches us that we are to do that things that are pleasing in His sight,

that are pleasing to the Lord.

Josiah, a little boy of eight years of age, he did that which was right, he did that which was pleasing to the Lord.

By wait a minute.....

In Chapter 21 of I Kings, we read something about Josiah’s daddy and granddaddy.

“And he [Amon, Josiah’s father] did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh [Josiah’s grandfather] did.” (V. 20)

“And he [Amon, Josiah’s father] walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them.”

Josiah’s daddy did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,

He served idols,

He worshipped idols,

He didn’t care anything about God.

Josiah’s granddaddy did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,

He served idols,

He worshipped idols,

He didn’t care anything about God and apparently taught his son, Amon, to do the same thing.

But Josiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

An eight year old boy did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

An eight year old boy did that which was pleasing to the Lord.

Why can’t some of you boys do that which is right in the sight of the Lord?

Why can’t you do those things that are pleasing to the Lord?

What about you girls?

Why can’t you do those things that are right in the sight of the Lord?

Why is it that some of you boys and girls won’t mind your mother?

Ephesians 6:1-2, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise.”

Children, obey your parents!

1.      OBEY YOUR PARENTS

That would be a great first step in pleasing the Lord,

That would be a great first step in doing that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

Children, obey your parents!

Obey your parents!

Why do you have such a hard time obeying your parents?

Why do you have such a hard time doing something that pleases the Lord?

Children, obey your parents!

Obey your parents!

What else would be right in the sight of the Lord?

What else would be pleasing to the Lord?

How about learning to be quiet and act right in Sunday School and church?

I Timothy 3:15, “...that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God...”

Boys and girls, you need to learn to behave in church.

2.      LEARN TO BEHAVE IN CHURCH

Sit up straight,

Be quiet,

Listen to the teacher,

Stop playing with those around you,

Be still,

Obey your teacher,

Keep your hands to yourself,

Keep your feet still,

Pay attention,

Listen to the teaching of the Word of God,

Let God use the teaching to speak to you,

Learn to behave in church!

I believe that would be a great way to do those things that are pleasing to the Lord,

It would be a great way to do those things which are right in the sight of the Lord.

Josiah was only eight years old,

He was just a little boy,

Probably no bigger than any of you other eight year boys here,

And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

HEY, obey your parents,

HEY, learn to behave in church.

If Josiah could do right at eight years old,

If Josiah could that which was right in the sight of the Lord,

If Josiah could do that which pleases the Lord,

THEN SO CAN YOU!

Obey your parents,

Learn to behave in church,

3.      LIVE FOR GOD

Boys and girls, learn to live for God.

I Timothy 4:12-13, “Let no man despise thy youth: but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”

Here the Word of God is talking about a young man named Timothy.

“Let no man despise thy youth”

He was a young man

“Be thou an example of the believers”

Young people are to be examples of what Christianity really is,

“in word”

Boys and girls, watch your “words”

Learn to speak properly,

Stay away from those dirty words,

Learn to speak for Christ,

Learn to speak so others can tell you’re a Christian,

Be an example of what a Christian is supposed to be by your “words.”

“in conversation”

Boys and girls, watch your life,

Watch your words,

Watch the way you live,

Watch the way you talk,

Watch the way you walk,

Watch the way you live your life.

Be an example through your life,

Live for God,

Be a witness for God,

Be a Christian for God,

Be an example of the believers in your life.

“in charity”

“charity” is another word for love,

Jesus said that people will know we are His disciples when we love one another.

People who love one another will treat each other right,

People who love one another will respect one another,

People who love one another will do things for others,

People who love one another will not shout and scream at one another,

People who love one another will not hurt another person,

Boys and girls, we are to love one another, and by loving one another we are an example to the unsaved people.

That is why it is so important for us to live for God.

We are not to live for ourselves,

We don’t even belong to ourselves,

We have been bought with a price,

We are not our own,

We belong to God.

That is why we are to obey our parents,

That is why we are to learn to behave in church,

That is why we are to live for God.

We belong to God.

We are to be an example.

We are to live for God.

“in spirit”

The word “spirit” means our attitude.

HEY, how is your attitude?

How do you act when your mother tells you to take out the trash?

How do you act when your mother tells you to clean up your room?

Do you pout?

Do you swell up?

Then your “spirit” is wrong,

Your attitude is wrong.

Get your “spirit” right with God.

“in faith”

You are little young to fully understand “faith”

You are just a little young right now to completely understand this matter of faith, but you need to start learning about faith.

You can learn about faith in your Sunday School class,

You can learn about faith in your church when the preacher preaches,

You can learn about faith when you read your Bibles,

You need to learn about faith.

“in purity”

Boys and girls, listen me, it’s time someone told you about purity.

Keep your life clean,

Keep your life pure,

Stay away from those filthy cigarettes,

Stay away from that dirty snuff and chewing tobacco,

Stay away from that nasty beer and alcohol,

Stay away from those dirty pictures,

Stay away from those nasty movies,

Stay away from any kind of drugs,

KEEP YOUR LIVES PURE,

Be an example of a Christian by keeping your life pure.

Girls, make up your mind now that you are going to keep your life pure,

that you are going to get married as a pure young lady,

that you are going to get married with purity,

AND THE SAME THING GOES FOR YOU BOYS!

Keep your lives pure,

Be an example of a good Christian,

Be an example of purity,

Live for God,

Keep your life pure.

“Till I come, give attendance to reading”

“give attendance to reading”

Read,

Read what?

THE WORD OF GOD.

“give attendance to reading”

Boys and girls,

learn to read,

learn to read the Word of God,

learn to study the Bible.

Just a few pages over in your Bible you will find the Scripture, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Tim. 2:15)

“give attendance to reading”

It’s time boys and girls learned the Bible,

Learn what the Bible says,

Learn what the Bible teaches,

Learn to win souls to Christ,

Learn the Scriptures in order to be able to win souls to Christ,

Learn the Scriptures so one day you can be a better Sunday School teacher.

“Give attendance ... to exhortation”

This is a good one.

Learn to be an encourager.

Learn to be a person who encourages.

Bro. Monty Hinson is an encourager.

He always has a smile,

He always has a good word,

He always has something good to say.

Learn to be an encourager.

Learn to do those things that are right in the sight of the Lord.

Learn to do those things that are pleasing to the Lord.

Learn to be an encourager.

“give attendance ... to doctrine”

It’s time boys and girls learned doctrine.

But how are you going to learn doctrine?

THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD!

Learn the doctrine of God,

Learn the doctrine of the Holy Spirit,

Learn the doctrine of the Scriptures,

Learn the doctrine of Jesus Christ,

Learn the doctrine of speaking in tongues,

Learn the doctrine of eternal security,

Learn the doctrine of heaven and hell,

HEY, learn doctrine.

And we take it a step further in Titus 2:1, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.”

Our churches are dying today because boys and girls who do not know doctrine grow up to be adults who do not know doctrine.

Timothy, a young man, was told to “give attendance ... to doctrine.”

Boys and girls, learn doctrine.

Pay attention to your words,

Pay attention to your conversation,

Pay attention to your love,

To your spirit,

To your faith,

To your purity,

Give attendance to reading,

Give attendance to exhortation,

Give attendance to doctrine.

LEARN TO LIVE FOR GOD!

1.      Obey your parents

2.      Learn to behave in church

3.      Live for God

Each of these three things is right in the sight of the Lord,

Each of these three things is pleasing to the Lord,

And each of these three things should be a part of our lives.

Let me close with a few more observations.

Josiah did not have a daddy who cared about God, in fact, we read just the opposite. 

Josiah’s daddy did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

We even read about Josiah’s granddaddy who did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.

But Josiah did right.

Eight years old.

And if we read the rest of the story of Josiah, we would find that he didn’t have a Bible.

HEY, if Josiah,

with a daddy who didn’t care about God,

with a granddaddy who didn’t care about God,

If Josiah,

with a daddy who did evil,

with a grandaddy who did evil,

if Josiah could do right,

SO CAN YOU!

If Josiah could live right with an evil daddy,

with an evil grandaddy,

without a Bible,

If he could live right,

THEN YOU AND I HAVE NO EXCUSE.

Boys and girls,

You can learn from this eight year old boy, Josiah.

This is a tremendous Bible story.

Samuel had good parents,

Samson had good parents,

David had good parents,

Josiah had evil parents.

But he lived for God.

He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.

Why don’t you decide to night to be like Josiah?

Why don’t you decide to be another Josiah and live for the Lord?