The Influence of One Devoted Parent, Part 3

Why would Jeremiah become known as one of the most influential prophets of all time? According to the Bible, his integrity can be traced to an influential contemporary named Josiah. But the question follows, how did Josiah become a godly king? After all, his predecessors were godless, despicable men. Well, today on INSIGHT for Living, Chuck Swindell guises through a labyrinth of biblical clues that lead to an exhilarating outcome. One godly woman, a mother, altered history forever. Our study begins in Second Chronicles, Chapter 34, Beginning Adverse three. Jack titled Today's Message The Influence of One Devoted Parent.

During the eighth year of Josiah's reign, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor, David.

Look at verse three. Then in the 12th year.

He began to purify Juda. He's now 20. He's a very young adult. Began to purify Judah and Jerusalem. In fact, he takes charge. He does a very.

Courageously, he destroys all the pagan shrines, the ash in repose, the carved idols, the caste images, throws out all the prostitutes, gets rid of all the witchcraft, takes care of all the altars of bail, demolishes them the incense. Alder's.

He's only 20.

He has no model that he can remember living when he was alive. Monalisa or Amon. But he's doing this righteous work. Did the same thing in the towns of Manhatta, Ephraim and Simeon, even as far as not to lie and verse eight says in the 18th year of his reign. He's now 26. He's still serious about his walk with the Lord.

Wow.

Unlike a father who lived in rain two years and the grandfather 55 years, he has no living example in his mind. But he accomplishes one good thing after another. So I search and I search through second chronicles. I find no hint, Second Chronicles and Second Kings often cover the same subject. I turn back in my. Bible to second kings. 22 who have began reading the almost the same words. Regarding Josiah, stay with me. We're looking for the answer to Josiah's righteous life, to size eight years old when he became king and he reigned in Jerusalem 31 years.

His mother was GDI to the daughter of Idi Aya from Bozz camp. He did what was pleasing in the Lord's side and followed the example of his ancestor, David. He did not turn away from doing what was right. Stop.

Between the announcement of Josiah's rain beginning at age eight and then his. Following the example of David, his ancestor. There is an insertion and entry found nowhere else in scripture.

His mother was jid ida.

We literally, except for the comment regarding her being the daughter of a DIH.

From Boscastle, we know nothing more.

I want to build my case and hopefully convince you of the power of one devoted life.

I don't believe Joe died, who was caught up in the lifestyle of her husband, Amon.

I believe she walked with God.

GDI to pause her life into her son. If she has hope, she has hope in this boy. All other influences in his life every as we've seen, are evil, wicked to the core. But this woman. Mentioned in the text on purpose, his mother, Jebediah. Steps into his world, of course, and changes the whole direction of what it could have been. Josiah grew up as if the surrounding atmosphere wasn't evil.

Why should Ida? She had such an overwhelming and fluids, I'm convinced, in the life of this boy that. Some would never even guess he was related to Amon. Or Vanessa.

There's another reason now that we're still in. Let's go back a second, Chronicles 34. Let me show you something. It gets. Very exciting. Verse 14, Second Chronicles, 34, 14. So they're in the process of this revival. This renovation, this whole reformation of the kingdom, getting rid of all the wickedness, all the vile stuff that NASA and Amon had brought. Ian and. Josiah's cleaning house. So he's dispatches some to get to the temple. And and they they go into the temple. They begin to clean up the rubble and get rid of that and start reshaping it, rebuilding it. Look at what happens. Verse 14. While they were bringing out the money collected at the Lord's Temple Hill Caia, the there's that name again. Look at this Twitter. Interesting. Our highest returns, the dead of Jeremiah is now the priests read in some Bibles as high priest Hild Kaiya is now involved in the renovation of the temple course, the world of the priest as the temple. The world of the king is the palace. And the world of the prophet is the people now in this case, he'll CIA, the priest found the book of the law of the law. Look at this. During the years of my NASA, he got rid of all of that. He set aside and finally cast aside the scrolls of scripture. They've been buried.

And now in the process of digging through the rubble of the temple, they come across the Book of the Law of the Lord that was written by Moses Flook.

He'll tire.

Said to shape and the court secretary, I felt in the book of the Law of the Lord Temple. Then how Carr gave the scroll to Schafer at Schafer and took the scroll, of course, to the King who's the king? Josiah Josiah's the King. And he reported, your officials are doing everything they were assigned to do. The money was collected at the temple, for the Lord has been turned over to the supervisors and the workmen.

Now watch. Chavonne also told the King Hill Caia, the priest has given me a scroll. So shave and read it to the king.

This is the first time in the life of Josiah he has ever heard a reading from the scroll of Scripture.

You and I have Bibles of all shapes and sizes and different sized print and different covers and different study techniques. In those days, this is rare. There is no scroll available. His mother, GDI Didon, must have said, son. I remember when the scrolls were read and loved, but during the years of your grandfather, all of that was what, someday? Someday it will return. Maybe in your lifetime. Now, watch, watch. And he read the scroll to Josiah the King. Verse 19. You can understand this queen. The king heard what was written in the law. He tore his clothes. In despair. He gave his orders to Hill Kyra Eykamp, son of JF Shafe, and a course on the Makhaya Schaffer and the court secretary and SEIU. The king's personal adviser go to the temple. Speak to the Lord for me, see? That's what Priest did. Kings didn't do that. Priest did that.

So he said, go and represent me for all the remnant of Israel and Judah inquire about the words written in the scroll that has been found for the Lord's great anger has been poured out on us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord. We have not been doing everything this scroll says we must do.

He'll Kyne, the other man, went to the new court of Jerusalem to consult with the Prophet Holda and it goes on to describe this. This is the word of the Lord. I love the way one man writes this of this.

Imagine the impact of that reading. Here is Josiah disgusted with the evil of his father and grandfather and determined to do something about it, but not doing quite how.

He had no blueprint.

No direction. The only things he had inherited from his father and grandfather were 57 years of evil.

Now, he had this powerful document about the love of God and the worship of him.

Clear definitions of what are right and wrong and explicit directions on how to make moral decisions and conduct intelligent worship in Josiah's ears. The reading was a thunderclap of conscience, not a marvelous way to put it.

I would add it was a magnificent reminder of those formative years when his mother would whisper to him, Someday, son, you may live to see the recovery of the scrolls of scripture. And here they are. Here they are. Josiah is listening to them read and he realizes now I have a blueprint for the Reformation.

In fact, he follows that blueprint into Chapter 36. And he reestablishes the Passover for the Jews, which they've not observed throughout the years of man NASA and Albon now under Josiah. He says we're going to observe it. And if you read that 30 fifth chapter, you will see how it all unfolds beautifully and the people participate in it. It's a marvelous scene. Now, 13 years after all of this, when he's about thirty nine years of age, the Egyptians are making plans to move in and they want to cross over through Jude Judah, the land of Judea. And and Josiah wants nothing to do with it. So he stands up against the Egyptian monarch and he resists them. And there's a war that breaks out. And of all things, he is shot with the arrows from the Egyptian army. He's wounded mortally and placed into a chariot, had taken back to Jerusalem where he dies. We read of that. Toward the end of chapter 35, where verse 24, they lifted Josiah out of his chariot, placed him in another chariot, brought him back to Jerusalem where he died. Now watch closely. Something else I'd never seen before. Until this study. Look at this. He was buried there in the Royal Cemetery. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.

The prophet Jeremiah.

Composed funeral songs for Josiah. Did you know that? I never knew that Jeremiah wrote.

Songs.

But he moves from the role of verbal prophet to singing prophet. And he writes songs for Josiah and. And please continue reading. And to this day, choirs still sing these songs. These sad songs about his death. These songs of sorrow have become a tradition. Hang on. And they are recorded here for your In the Book of Limits. Now, that's the kind of thing that excites a preacher. If you'd been in my study, you'd heard me. Whoa, oh, this is a great mom. I'm sure that some would have come to pick me up and take me away if you would have been around. But look at that ties Roy here, the Book of Lamentations, what the songs of Jeremiah written about whom Josiah, his boyhood friend, whom he encouraged through his kingship and though he only reigned for 31 years. Jeremiah is alive when it started and he's alive when he's buried. And he remembers this dear man. And he writes the songs in honor of him. Since Josiah died so young, age 39. I cannot help but wonder if his mother attended his funeral. Probably so. I don't read of her death. Not that we could or would read of it, but seems significant enough that something would have been said. I'd rather believe she was there. And I rather believe she wept when she heard Jeremiahs songs sung in honor of her son. In fact, she was especially moved. Verse 26. The rest of the events of Josiah's reign. Your Bible reads and his deeds of devotion. I love the way that reads, his deeds of devotion carried out according to what was written in the law of the Lord.

You see, when he found the scroll, he aligned his life to the Lord, to to the law of the Lord from beginning to end.

All recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah.

I say as I wrap this up to you, who have so patiently listen to me as I've done cartwheels up here, overstuff that makes you go what? Tell me again what's so exciting. Well, maybe you've gotten a little excited with me. I think you have.

Now, let me tell you something that I hope you never forget. And I speak to parents and grandparents, I speak to mentors. I speak to coaches. I speak to quar directors. Let's to teachers.

Anyone who influences a young life.

And you don't know at the time how significant your influence is. It is it is significant. I'm a living testimony to its significance. So let me say two things to all of us.

One.

Any amount of time you spend encouraging. And instructing your children or grandchildren.

Is worth every minute. Of your time.

Let me say, secondly, any investment of your life in their walk with Christ?

Is a lifelong investment. You have no idea when they grow up.

How often they will quote you?

I can still remember lines from my grandfather.

Actual words, he spoke. Was just a little kid running around his big old front porch there in El Campo, Texas. I'm sure he must have wondered, you know, I even am I even listening? I remember sitting in his little bedroom study. Ed. He had a real high bid on a white grandparents were older, they get the higher their bid gets in and his bid was high enough for a letter. So I really want to climb up that ladder and take a nap on his bed. I finally worked up the cars that granddaddy cannot get on your bed. And he thought about it for about ten minutes, as I recall. Then he said. Well, Charles. You may, but behave yourself. How can you misbehave laying on the bed of your grandfather while he's in the room watching you? So I will. And so I got up there not late like this.

I remember like it was yesterday.

It wasn't a bad. It was the presence of my grandfather. Who had time for me? God will honor your time. God will reward your investment. Keep spending time. Keep investing your life.

Keep putting your arms around. Keep reminding them. How important it is that they follow God's word. Keep living the life.

Keep bragging on him, affirming them. Loving on. Believing Adam. You have no idea the difference it will make.

There's an old missionary's song we used to sing years ago, we don't sing it anymore. Has the stanza in it, I've always loved give of thy sons to bear the message glorious give of my wealth to speed them on their way. Pour out the soul for them in prayer, victorious.

And all your spend. Jesus will repay. He will reward. He will remember. And Bestival. That little life right now. Someday grown like Josiah. We'll bring honor to your savior. And you'll have the double blessing of walking with him and walking and watching your own progeny walk with you.

Well, with me, will you?

Thank you for your patience listening.

To this message.

I care so much that we invest our lives in those who come behind this. Me all who come behind this.

Find his faithful.

You may have never met the savior. And this is just a great moment for you to realize that.

And right now. Give your heart to him. He will become your mentor. He will be your guide. Milhaud.

Thank you, Father, for the joy. There he is in discovering truths tucked away in your word. Thank you for godly mothers.

Four great. Father's.

Thank you for grandparents who take time. Thank you for mentors who have vision.

For the younger.

Who understand them and their needs and speak words of encouragement.

Thank you that we are recipients of those who have gone before us and we're grateful for each life that cared enough to take time. To invest in those, you're the one who gets the credit father, raise up others. Even during this pandemic, remind us that being together is a blessing from your hand. Made possible in your plan?

In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray every once in a man.

This concludes message number two in Chuck Swindells, brand new eight part study called Jeremiahs Journal of. And in the coming days, you'll appreciate the manner in which Chuck addresses the violent rioting in our streets today and how he makes the connection with the ransacking of Jerusalem centuries ago. So stay with us for this entire series to discover the wise and timeless counsel we find in God's word. To learn more about this ministry. Be sure to visit us online at Incyte World dot org. In addition to this daily program, I'll draw your attention to another source of encouragement from Insight for Living Ministries. Thousands of people all around the world subscribe to receive Chuks daily devotions during challenging days. It's a wonderful way to keep your heart and mind immersed in God's word. The daily devotional is sent via e-mail, and it's free to sign up today. Simply go to Insight dot org. It seems all we hear these days is bad news, but I can assure you there's a lot of good news arriving at Insight for Living. One friend recently left a message that said, Chuck, you are one of the first pastors that nourished my broken soul. Many, many years ago, I still get your devotional through email and another who said, I want you to know that you've had a significant impact and influence on my life. I've been reading your books since I was 17. And now I'm 46. These two comments represent a microcosm of the listening audience that study, in God's word, with us every single day.

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The preceding message, the influence of one devoted parent and the sound recording were copyrighted in 2020 by Charles R. Swindell Inc. All rights reserved. Worldwide duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.