Child Kings: Making Faith Your Own

Turn your Bibles to Proverbs chap 20. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse number 11. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse number 11. We've been doing a series called King Me. And we're going to look today at some child kings. There's three of the kings of the Old Testament that were started being kings at a very young age. And I want to see the lessons that we can learn from their life. Now, we're going to skip two of the kings and that is uh Jerome that he married the wrong person. He was married to a daughter of Ahab and uh she affected him and caused him to leave and not follow the Lord. In first Kingsap 11:3 it says he had 700 wives, princess and 300 concubines and his wives turned away his heart.

And that's what happened to Jerome. And uh and then in 2 Corinthians 6:14 the Bible says, "Be ye not uniquely yolked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness?" And when you allow the wrong kind of influences in your life, whether it's a marriage relationship or being on an equally od and other relationships as well, that's going to turn you often away from the Lord. And then we have Ahaziah who was uh he got bad counsel. And because of that bad counsel, he made some wrong decisions. In Proverbs 1 and verse 5, it says, "A wise man will hear and will increase learning.

A man of understanding shall attain unto wise counselss." And you want to make sure you have the right kind of counsel in your life. But we're not going to spend a lot of time in those two kings life. But we're going to skip over to the next one in 2 Chronicles chapter 24. If you turn there, 2 Chronicles chapter 24. And this was King Joash. And King Joash was 7 years old when he began to reign. Now, I like to use object lessons illustrations. So, I'm going to use one right now. Diane, if you can bring my object lesson up here, and I want to illustrate to you that what this person would have been like, Joash, as a seven-year-old child, he became the king.

Now, this is my granddaughter, Kenna, and she's not quite seven, but she's almost there. Come on up here, Kena. And this is her last Sunday, by the way. You have to pray for us. Uh, she's going back home to New York to be with her daddy and everything. But if you lived in this day, this would be your king or queen. This would be the age that they would be. Now, can you imagine have to bow down to her? Could you imagine having her, you know, she does tell us to do things all the time. I guess she is kind of the the queen of the house with her grandma and grandpa and uh as well. And uh thank you Kenna for coming up and helping me out with that.

You can go back down now. But that's uh Joash was the king and he became king at 7 years old. Verses 1 and two of 2 Chronicles 24. Joash was 27 years old when he began to reign. and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was also Zayiah of Beersa. And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Joadiah the priest. And so he was he was 7 years old when he began to reign. Now, as I said just a moment ago, many of your homes, your your seven year olds, they rule the house. And by the way, that's why you need to come to my child training class at 9:00 [clears throat] on Sundays.

We just started this week because you need to learn how to make sure that uh the kids don't rule the home. The parents need to rule in the home. But the thing about Joash that was interesting. I think a lesson we can learn is Joash had wicked parents and wicked grandparents. And yet the Bible says that he did that was right in the sight of the Lord. Sometimes we want to blame our problems on our heritage and where we came from and what was done to us as children. But he had wicked parents and grandparents. And yet he turned out for the Lord in serving the Lord. And and that's important. Now what he did have was a godly guardian.

And uh look at verse number two again. And Joash did that was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Joadiah the priest. You see he had someone in his life that could guide him to do what was right. If you look down a little further in verses 17 and 18, it says, "Now after the death of Joadiah came the princes of Judah and made obedience to the king, then the king hearkened unto them and they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers and served groves and idols and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for their trespasses." you know, when his mentor, when his guardian, the mentor that guided him as a young child, when he died, Joash kind of turned away from the Lord at that point.

Look at verse number 22. Then Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Joadiah his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, "The Lord look upon it and require it." You know, it's amazing me how sometimes people can forget how people have been a blessing in their lives and turn from them, whether it's a parent or a pastor or a mentor or whoever it might be. And and that's what happened with Joash. And he turned away from the Lord because he did not have that mentor in his life anymore. He did not take ownership of his own relationship with God. You know, secondhand religion is not true religion.

It's not a relationship. And you [clears throat] can't have your religion based upon other people's influence. It needs to be based upon your own decisions to do what's right. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, put a marker in 2 Chronicles and turn over there. 2 Timothy 3, a very familiar passage. I referred to it my child train class this morning, but verses number 14-17. 2 Timothy 3:14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And from that from a child thouast known the holy scriptures, which shall make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All scriptures given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished onto all good works. You see, we need to have that foundation and continue in that foundation. We've raised a generation of Christians that know all the Bible stories, but they don't know the Bible. And as a parent, make sure it's good for your kids to learn about Noah and the ark and Daniel and Lion's Den. It's important for learn the Bible stories, but more important that they learn what you believe and why.

That they learn who God truly is and why we believe in God and we why we believe in Jesus Christ. And we need to teach them the word of God, doctrine, and teaching them how to live that in their lives as well. And you need to also experience it for yourself. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1. And look at verses 5-7. 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse number 5. When I called to remembrance the unfeign faith that is in thee, which first dwelt in thy grandmother lowest, thy mother Ununice, I persuade thee also. Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on my hands.

For God had not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Paul referred to Timothy said, "Listen, Timothy, you got a great heritage, but you've got to live it for yourself." You see, it's not just what your mom and dad did or your grandma and grandpa did. You've got to make those decisions. You see, the first generation experiences faith. The second generation inherits faith. The third generation uses faith and the fourth generation rejects faith. And you don't want to be the generation that rejects your faith. You need to take responsibility. Joash had a great guardian that helped him to do right.

But when that guardian was gone, he had not made it his own. And you need to make it your own, young people. You need to make it your decision to live for the Lord. You see, and that starts with salvation. You see in 1 John 5 12 and 13 it says, "He that hath the son hath life. He that hath not the son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of God." You see, you need to have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It's not my parents' relationship, but it's my relationship that I have Jesus Christ, that I have the spirit of God, that I have him living in my heart.

And let me ask you a question. Do you remember when you got saved? Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and look at verses 1-4. 1 Corinthians chapter 15:es 1-4. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you've received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I for I delivered unto you first of all that which also received, how that Christ how Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, that he's buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

You see, there's a lot of young people, a lot of children that their relationship is based upon their parents' relationship, not their personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And if you're here today, religion, relationship, salvation is not inherit inherited. It is received. You need to receive Christ as your savior. In Romans chap 10 and:es 9 and 10, it says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

In Romans 10:13, it says, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And you see, you need to call upon Jesus Christ as your personal savior. It cannot be your parents' religion. It cannot be your pastor's religion. It has to be your relationship with Jesus Christ and that faith that you have in him. And do you have that faith in Christ as your savior? You see, as parents, we we make decisions for our children and uh instead of teaching them how to discover for themselves. Now, don't misunderstand me. Turn over to Second Timothy chapter 1 while I'm talking here. Second Timothy chapter 1.

You need to make certain decisions for your children. It it's not a matter of just uh do what I tell you. Uh it's to show them as well. But there are decisions that we make for our children. For example, my children don't decide whether they're going to go to school or not. That was the decision I made. You know, your children don't decide whether, you know, my kids didn't decide whether they're going to church or not. That's a decision that I made. Uh they whether they're going to eat their vegetables or not. That's decision their mom made. Uh you know, and uh and these are decisions that we make for our children.

And I think that's important to do. But one of the things I'm pointing out in a child training class is this is you can do that up to a certain age. You can tell your kids what to do because you know what? You're bigger than them. But there comes a point where they think they're bigger than you. And at that point, they're not going to do it just because you told them. They need to do it because you showed them. You see, they're not going to go to church just because you told them to go to church when they grow up. It's because you taught them how important church is. You're not going to they're not going to continue their education just because you told them to.

They're going to do it because they want to. And and we need to lead our children into making those right decisions as well. As a young child, you need to tell your children what to do, but you also need to then begin teaching them why do we do that? In 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verses 13 and 14, I'm sorry, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 1 and:es 13 and 14. The Bible says that this witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply they may be sound of faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men that turn from the truth. You see, so many young people today are turning away from the truth. And and the reason they are is because we are not teaching them the truth.

We've taught them a bunch of Bible stories and we've told them you have to go to church and you have to do this and you have to do that, but we've not taught them why. And we've not helped them to develop a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And it's important for us as parents to help our children and to guide them in discovering faith for themselves as well. But to do that, we've got to have our own personal faith also. You've got to have that relationship with Jesus Christ. Turn over to Deuteronomy chap 17, the book of Deuteronomy chap 17 and look at verses 18 and 20. Deuteronomy chapter 17 and verses 18- 20.

It shall be when he siteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of the law, and a book out of the that which is before the priests of the Levites, and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law, and his statutes to do them, that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandments to the right hand or to the left, to the end, that he may pr prolong his days in his kingdom. he and his children in the midst of Israel. You see, what Joash didn't do is develop that personal relationship with God.

And the way you develop a personal relationship with God is by getting into God's word. Parents, help your kids learn how to get into the word of God at a young age. Help them by starting out and having devotions with them and reading in the Bible and and telling them about God and and then teach them how to have their own devotions. By the way, that's one of the reasons I I believe it's important for you to come back on Sunday night because we on Sunday night we have Patch the Pirate Club and it's part of Patch the Pirate Club. They get a devotion book where they can do devotions all week long.

And and parents, by the way, if they're in Patch the Pirate Club, don't let them do this thing where they Sunday afternoon they're doing all the devotions so they can get their badge Sunday night. You need to teach them how to have that personal relationship with God. But here's the problem. Some of you don't read your Bible. Some of you don't spend time in prayer. Some of you aren't in church faithfully. And we tell our children, "This is what you're supposed to do, even though I'm not doing it." And and we need to guide our children into a personal relationship of faith. And the only way to do that is by having that same faith in our own lives, to have those same habits in our own life, to have that same relationship with God through Jesus Christ in our own lives.

Go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 24 if you would. 2 Chronicles chapter 24. I want you to look at verses 4-6. One of the good things that Joash did, it says, "It came to pass after that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord. And he gathered together the priests of the Levites and said to them, "Go out into the cities of Judah and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you hasten the matter, how be the Levites hastened it not." And the king called for Jo Jodiah and the chief and said unto him, uh, why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and of Jerusalem, the collection according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord and of the congregation of Israel for the tabernacle to witness.

You see, Joaz got in his heart that he wanted to rebuild the temple, that he wanted to fix the temple up and have been neglected and and he went out to do that. Unfortunately, Jehoadiah uh didn't jump on the bandwagon. You know, sometimes we as parents can discourage our children. Sometimes we as parents, our kids uh you know, I was talking to pastor the other day and and uh I was talking about young people coming out at Wednesday night and we were talking about how can we get them to come and pastor pointed out the fact, you know what, if their parents don't bring them, they can't come. You know, some of the kids have a driver's license, but most of our kids don't.

And and and the kids kids, we he said, I got kids that want to come, but their parents won't bring them. the parents won't come. You see, I got kids that want to come to Patch Spir Club on Sunday night, but their parents don't want to come back to church on Sunday night. See, we discourage our children. Joash here was saying, "I want to do what's right. I want to serve the Lord. I want to do something for God's temple." And Joadiah, he he held him back a little bit. And we as parents, are we holding back our young people? You see, are they discouraged because of our attitude? You see the Bible says in Matthew 19 13- 14 then were there brought unto him little children that he should put his hands on them and pray and disciples rebuked him.

But Jesus said suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven. And I wonder if sometimes we suffer the children because we're holding them back because they look at our lives and say well I don't know what you want because we don't have that testimony. We aren't leading the way and we need to lead the way for our children. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy says, "Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers." He he said, "You need to have spend time in reading, exhortation, and doctrine." You need to get into the word of God so people can see it in your life.

You I remember one year the teens were at camp for the summer. They had a big summer camp and they they got on fire for God. And they came back really excited, on fire. And a couple of teens came to me and said, "Pastor, we're on fire for God, but we we hear we hear adults saying, "Yeah, that that'll go away. Wait till you get back at school. When you get back at home, it won't be so, you know, that's sad. We ought to be leading the way. We ought to be the ones that are on fire for God and leading the way for our children to be on fire for God. And yet, we don't do that. Why? Because of our example.

And and we don't encourage them and we don't help them when they want to do right. And then we wonder why later on in life they say, "I don't want to live it anymore." And and we see this in Joash's life. Now, there is mutual responsibility here. In Ephesians chapter 6:es 1-4, it says, "Children, obey your parents to the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long in the earth. Now, we as parents, that's the first Bible verses we want our kids to memorize. Obey your parents, honor your parents.

Uh we want to memorize that. But then verse four says this, "And you fathers, provoke not your children wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord." You see, we have a responsibility too. We have a responsibility to provoke not our children wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 13:11, it says, "When I was a child, I spake as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child, when I became a man, I put away childless things." You know what the sad truth is? There's a lot of adults in this room act childish. They're not mature.

They're not grown up. They're not mature in their faith. If we want our children to be mature, we've got to be mature. If we want them to grow up, we've got to grow up and we've got to take that responsibility and we got to let them grow up. In 2 Timothy 3:17, it says, "The man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished onto all good works." One of the things that I'm also teaching in child training class is that is there's a transition with your children from zero to 12. You know, a lot of times some parents are they'll they'll let you know their kids get a certain ages all of a sudden they can do whatever they want to do.

And then there's other parents that even when their kids are 12 years old, they're still all but dressing them and feeding them and telling them what to do all the time. What you've got to do is you got to have a a bisct there as they grow up because when they turn teenagers, what happens a lot of young people when they become teenagers, all of a sudden they've get to make decisions for themselves and you haven't taught them how to do that. And so one of our responsibilities to teach our children how to make decisions and to grow them. When they're babies, we dress them. When they're a little older, we tell them what to put on.

But there's a point where they've got to start making those decisions with our guidance. But we've got to let them grow up. And the problem with a lot of us as parents is we're not letting our children grow up in the Lord. We're not guiding them into adulthood and guiding them to making the right decisions. Then look at verse number 22. That thus Joash the king rememberth not the kindness which Jehadiah his father had done to him but his slew his son and when he died he said the Lord look upon it and require it. You know I'm amazed at sometimes how grateful children can be. I read a comic one time.

I think it was Dennis Amen. He was talking to a friend of his says how can my parents be so terrible when I'm so amazing and come here. You know, you young people ought to appreciate your parents. Jehoadiah had invested in Joaz as a child and how did he pay him back? And so often we do that same thing. You ought to appreciate what they've done for you. You ought to appreciate what you've been taught. You appreciate what you gave you. But Joash is an example to us. Here's a young man, seven years old. And the Bible says in verse number two, "And Joah said that was right in the sight of the Lord, but only in the days of Joadiah, once that influence was gone, he went right back into the old ways through the flesh because he hadn't been taught how to have it for himself."

And that's our job for the next generation. But I want you to turn over to 2 Chronicles chapter 33. 2 Chronicles chapter 33. Here's another child king in 2 Chronicles 33 and look at verses 1 and 2. It says Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned 50 and 5 years in Jerusalem. Now, do I have any young people in here that are about 12 or 13 years old? Anybody like that? Raise your hand. Come on, help me out here. Anybody 12 or Yeah, Alex, you act like that all the time. I know that. Okay, got a couple of young people about 12 or 13 year old. This is a junior higher. Now, junior high hires are amazing amazing people.

They they they are sometimes so mature and sometimes so stupid. You know, it it just they're amazing people. But here's Manasseh at 12 years old, he became king. In verse number two, it says, "But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathens, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel." So here is the exact opposite of Joash. He started out doing evil. Now he had good parents. Hezekiah was his dad. And Hezekiah was one of the best kings. 2 Kings 18:5. He trusted the Lord God of Israel. So that after was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.

Hezekiah was a great king, a great dad. But his son didn't turn out. Listen folks, it's not automatic. Your kids aren't going to turn out good just because you do good. You've got to be the right parent. You've got to raise them to do good. I've seen a lot of great parents with terrible children. I've seen a lot of terrible parents with great children. And and we need to understand there's a responsibility we have to teach them. Now, Manasseh was a repbate. He built altars to Balum. He rebuilt the groves. He built altars and put idols in the temple. actually in the house of God. His children and made the made the children pass through the fire.

He promoted witchcraft. Look at chapter 33 verse number N. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to heir and to do worse than the heathen whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. I mean that's how bad a king he was. He made his dad had gotten rid of all that stuff. He brought it all back. And and even worse in 2 Corinthians 13:es 5 and 6, the Bible says, "Examine yourselves whether you be in the fa faith. Prove your own selves. Know ye not that your own selves how that Jesus Christ is in you except you be repbates. But I trust that you shall know that we are not repbates."

A lot of people grew up with the right teaching and turned out wrong. And that was Manasseh. You see, he instead of separating from the world, turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 14-1 17. It says, "Be not unequally yolked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion had light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with bile? Or what p part part hath he that believeth with the infidol? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them.

I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, be separate, sayith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing. See, here's the problem. Manasseh, he brought that stuff into the church, into [clears throat] the temple of God. You know what? A lot of us are doing that same thing with this temple. We've brought in the world through the internet, through TV, through entertainment, and we've allowed the world not only in our in our own lives, but we've allowed the world into our home. You wonder why your kids grow up and are addicted to social media and addicted to the internet and addicted to pornography?

You know where they found it? Right there in your house. A lot of kids, their first their first exposure to pornography was their dad's pornography. Now, you may not have pornography in your home, but you know what? You do have Netflix, HBO, R-rated movies. You got the internet with no controls on it. Folks, we've got to come out from among be separate. And we can't allow the world into the temple of God, which temple we are. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. We need to teach our kids how to live in this world. For a long time as churches, we kind of had this attitude.

Let's just bring the kids into church and we'll take them out of the world. But the problem is they have to live in this world. And if we don't teach them how to live in this world as godly Christians, they're going to fall and they're going to fail. And it's not automatic. Just because you're Christians doesn't mean your kids are going to be Christians. Just because mean just because you're doing what's right doesn't mean they're going to do what's right. You've got to teach it to them. The [clears throat] Bible tells us in 1 John chapter 2 15-1 17, "Love not the world, neither things are in the world.

If any man love the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. You see, folks, I'm not saying you have to get rid of all this stuff. The internet's part of our life today. But teach your kids how to control it and not let it control them. There's going to be social media and even worse than now. It's going to come more and more as AI gets involved and all the rest of it.

Teach your kids how to deal with it. We've got to teach our kids not to they're not going to come out of the world because they have to live in this world, but we got to teach them how to live in this world. We have them at home for 18 years and then we put them out the door and say, "Okay, go figure it out." Instead of teaching them, you got teenagers, teach them, guide them, set an example for them. Hezekiah got rid of all this stuff, but his son brought it back and it came back worse than ever. And that's usually what happens. Now, there's still hope. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 33 again. Joash started good and end up bad.

Manasseh started bad and he end up good. Look in verses 10 through13. And the Lord spake to Manasseh to his people, but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with feathers, and caused and carried him Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before God of his fathers, and prayed unto him, and and and was and he intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem unto the kingdom. Thus then Manasseh knew that the Lord, he was God.

I praise God that he did get right with the Lord. He did change it around. And there's still hope. Never give up hope. Don't stop praying for people. Don't stop reaching out to people. Don't give up. Manassa came back to the Lord in 1 John chapter 5 and verse 16. If any man see his brother sin, a sin which is not un death, he shall ask and he shall give him life. For them that sin not unto death, there is a sin unto death. I do not say that you should pray for it. But here's the thing, folks. I don't know when they've crossed the line. I don't know when there's no hope left or not. Only God does.

So, you know what? I'm going to keep praying and I'm going to keep reaching out and I'm not going to give up because if Manasseh could get right with God, one of He started out as one of the most wicked kings there was. And yet, he became he turned it around and made it better. You see, we've got to realize that we've got to repent. And that's exactly what Manasseh did in 2 Chronicles 33:1 15-16. And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem and cast them out of the city. Repaired the altar of the Lord and sacrificed therein and peace offerings and thank offerings and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.

Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still in the high places yet unto the Lord their God only. He turned things around. He repented and said, "I got to change it." And some of you, you need to go home today and you need to repent and you need to say, "We are going to change our family and we're going to change our direction and we're going to change what we're doing." And that's what Manasse did. And maybe that's what you need to do today as well. [clears throat] You see, often the damage is done. The people still had the high places. They didn't give up everything. I know. But he did change some things.

And you may think it's too late, but it's never too late with God. Then there's one more child king I want to look at, and that's in in 2 Chronicles 34. 2 Chronicles 34. Look at verses 1 and 2. 2 Chronicles 34:es 1 and 2. Says, Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign. He reigned in Jerusalem 1 and 30 years. and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in the ways of David his father and declined neither to the right hand nor to the left. So here was Josiah. He started at 8 years old and he was a good king. He did that which was right. Now Josiah had bad parents. He had kind of a good grandparent.

Manasseh end up being good although he started out bad. But you know what? He made the right decisions. He did that was right before the Lord. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter 33 and look at verses 22 and 23. Amen his father did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord as did Manasseh his father. For Ammon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh's father had made, and served them, and humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh's father had humbled himself. But Aean trespass more and more. You can get right with God, but realize sometimes it may be too late. You've already influenced.

You've already done the wrong things. You already set it on the wrong path. Don't wait too long to get right with God. Manasse didn't do it until later and his son followed his first ways. I'm sure that broke his heart. I'm sure that burden was with him because he did not repent soon enough. And God's given you an opportunity to repent. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will hear and heal their forgive their sin will heal their land." And God wants to get things right.

He wants you to do that as well. So Josiah had bad parents, good somewhat good grandparent, but he had to make his own decisions. In Acts chapter 16:es 1 and 2. Acts chapter 16 verse 1 and2 it says then came to Derby and Lististra. And behold a certain disciple was there named Timoththeus the son of a certain woman which was uh a Jewish and believed but his father was a Greek which was well reported by brethren that were in Lististra and Aonium. Timothy had a great testimony. He became a man of God that God used greatly. Even two of the books were written to him. And yet he was the son of a single mom.

His dad wasn't around. Whether his dad had died or his dad wasn't saved or they were divorced, we don't know that. But his dad wasn't around, but his mom was able to raise him. Listen, folks. I don't care what your circumstances are. God can still use you to do what's right. And Josiah didn't have good parents, but he made the right choices. He had a good testimony. At 8 years old, the Bible says that he was, it says again back in 2 Chronicles 34, it says he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in way as David his father. In Proverbs 20:1, the Bible says, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether we're be pure, whether be right."

Young people, look at me. You can make the right choices even now. He started out right at 16y old. Look at verse number three. For in the eighth year of his reign, that means he was 16. While yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father in the 12th year. So it says the 16 years old begin to seek. Jeremiah 29:13 says, "And you shall seek me and find me when you shall search me with all your heart." And then at 20 years old, it tells us in the 12th year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places in the groves, he took action. Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel purposed his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank.

Therefore, he requested of the prince of unics that he might not defile himself." Even as a young person, you can make a decision to do what's right. He was 20 years old and he said I'm going to live the right kind of life. At 26 years old in verse number eight says now in the 18th year of his reign when he purged the land and the house he sent Shapa the son of Aziah and and Messiah the governor of the city and Joiah the son of Joaz to repair the house of the Lord. You can make the right decisions whatever age you are. In 2 Kings 23:25 it says there was and like unto him Josiah was there no king before him that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul with all his might according to all the law of Moses neither after him rose like him.

Here was a guy young man at 8 years old. He said I'm going to live for God. And God says there was no other king like him. Young people, you can make a decision to do right. You can make a lifetime decision to serve God. What he did is he humbled himself. Second Kings 22:19, "Because thine heart was tender, and thou was humbled thyself before the Lord. When thou heardest that I spake against his place, against the habits thereof, that this should become a desolation, a curse, and has rent the clothes and wept before me, I also heard, thee sayeth the Lord." Josiah humbled himself before God. James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

Let me challenge you parents, and the best thing your children can see you do is humble yourself. To get down on your knees before God and ask forgiveness. To come and tell your s children, "I was wrong." To apologize to them. To be willing to humble yourself. Young people, humble yourself before God and before others and God will bless you. And then you made a covenant with God. And 2 Chronicles chapter 34 and:es 31 and 32. The Bible says, "And the king stood in the place and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments, his testimonies, his statutes with all his heart, with all his soul to perform the words of the covenants which are written in the book."

And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the absent Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Romans 12:1 and2 says this, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto him, which is your readable service. and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will of God. There needs to be a time in your life when you trust Christ as your savior. He needs to be your savior, not your mom's, your dad's, your church.

He needs to be your savior. You need to trust in him. But I believe there also needs to be a time in your life where he becomes your lord. where you give your life to him, you make a covenant. God, here's my life. I'm going to live it for you. Parents, our young people need to see moms and dads that have given their life to God, that have committed their lives to God and live it not just at church, but at home as well. And young people, you need to be like this King Josiah. Make a decision at your age. decide I'm going to do what's right and be that one that God says there's none like him. There's none like her.