Sunday Morning Worship Service

would you grab your Bibles just remain standing go with me to the Book of Jeremiah this is Palm Sunday Pastor Anthony had said earlier they cried out hosan hosiana Deliver Us save us to the king of Israel the son of David they cried out to him as he walked in as he rode the donkey into Jerusalem they put Palms Palm leaves from a a date tree down and they begin to C cry out hosana hosana save us Deliver us and that's what he did for us as he went to Calvary we are going to celebrate that today and we are going to celebrate next Sunday the resurrection of Jesus Christ there is no faith there is no Christian faith without the resurrection there is that is our hope if he has not resurrected Paul said we are of men most miserable but I'm thankful is anybody thankful for the resurrection I'm thankful for the blood but I'm I'm also thankful for his resurrection that he is alive amen go with me to Jeremiah chapter number 22 we're praying for pastor mul and sister Jamie they are out of town we're going to pray for them for two things number one they're preaching in Alabama and the other thing we must pray for them is that they're pray they're preaching in Trinity Alabama so they need special touch a special move of the Holy Ghost a great church there uh they're there this weekend Ministry Ing and so we're praying for Revival for them and a safe trip home Jeremiah chapter number 22 we'll jump over to chapter number 36 and then we're going to jump backwards into 2 Chronicles just for a moment but Jeremiah 22 verses 18-9 therefore thus sayeth the Lord concerning jeim the son of Josiah king of Judah they shall not lament for him saying ah my brother or ah sister they shall not lament for him saying a lord or a his glory he shall be buried someone say buried with the burial of an ass drawn and cast forth beyond the Gates of Jerusalem notice that part drawn and cast forth beyond the Gates of Jerusalem Jeremiah 36:30 again speaking about jeim therefore thus sayeth the Lord of jeim king of Judah he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David and his dead body shall be cast out into the day of the Heat and in the night to the frost the writer of 2 Chronicles 36: 36 this gives the the last days of jeam as the Lord had prophesied against him came up Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon bound him in feds to carry him to Babylon this morning I'd like to minister to you from this thought on Palm Sunday a King Without a tomb a King Without a tomb I don't you put your Bibles down I want you to lift up your hand one more time when you just ask the Lord to speak to you or to speak to your neighbor today Father we are so thankful for your spirit that is gathered here with us today where two or three are gathered in your name there you are in the midst of us and we are here in your name a people of your name to here to worship you and to bring you glory we are here people of the book oh God to come and study your word and to hear your word but I pray that your word would go forth today and let it be light in darkness let your word go forth today and let it be fire that illuminates into our lives and refreshes us and empowers us today but I pray also that the word of God would be a hammer that would also bring conviction upon us and help us God to be drawn to you by faith and into repentance in Jesus name we pray and everyone said amen don't you clap your hands again unto the Lord this morning and I wonder if somebody could lift up their voice real loud can you give him a shout of Praise can somebody lift him up come on are you free today can you lift up your voice hallelujah amen you can be seated a King Without a tomb now our sermon this morning doesn't begin with jeho it begins with his father Josiah and now to even just begin to step back even a few more Paces or maybe to fly a little bit higher to understand our context sometimes stories work backwards don't they you can't un some understand some events and some people until you work your way back into the history and so uh to understand this story that we've talked about in Jeremiah and 2 Chronicles we we have to understand what the situation is here and you you have to go back Beyond uh Josiah and even go into David and Solomon David being the second king of of Israel and uh then his son Solomon followed after him and then after Solomon there was rehoboam and rabo and jeroboam had a uh had a had a split and then the kingdom was split the Kingdom of Israel was split into two Kingdom Doms in the northern part of Israel there was the the nation of Israel which found its capital located in Samaria and then there is the southern Kingdom of uh called Judah and its capital located in Jerusalem 10 tribes were gathered in the northern kingdom and two tribes are gathered in the southern the northern kingdoms kings were pretty awful they were leading a large portion of God's people into idolatry and Disobedience and Rebellion they were soon taken into uh captivity and exiled from the land by Assyria and the southern kingdoms of Judah the Kings there that reigned weren't weren't much better they they some followed the examples of the evil kings in the north but a few of them followed in the footsteps of King David and if you read if you've ever gotten to the this point in your yearly Bible reading or if you're just Meandering through the Old Testament when you get uh to Kings and Chronicles and the prophets uh it can be quite confusing I'm not sure about you but that's that's been confusing because some of the kings in the North and the South have similar names and they do similar things and you have all this confusion taking place of uh Kings leading people into idolatry and uh judgment coming and Prophets coming and all the things that are happening and all this confusion in the Kings and the Chronicles and so when we get to this young man by the name of Josiah he reigned for 13 years and what's interesting or even amazing about Josiah and he reigns in Judah he began his Reign at only six years old could you imagine a six-year-old becoming a king and not just any king a king over God's people but let's understand his context a little bit more Josiah was the grandson of manasse who reigned longer than any other king in Israel or Judah manasse was probably the worst King Judah experienced uh he was unlike his father Hezekiah who brought about a great Revival in Judah man asa's son Ammon reigned only two years and in that short time the Bible says he did much evil he sacrificed to idols and he did worse than manasse the only good Ammon did was to have a son by the name of Josiah and then Ammon was killed by his servants thus making six-year-old Josiah the king in Judah now he's just a child 6 years old what can a child do what can we learn from a child can I tell you that you can learn a whole lot from a child you could learn a whole lot from a Child Jesus said suffer the little children to come unto me and he even said we should have faith like that of a child so we can learn something from children my little girl teaches me something new every day especially as much as as she talks I'm going to learn something CU she just talks all the time and I'm learning all kinds of new information you can learn something from children the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 34 and3 speaking of Josiah for in the eighth year of his Reign while he was yet young he began to seek after the god of David his father and in the 12th year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places and the Groves and the carved IM and the molten images so here's a little boy just a young boy and he begins to pray and to seek after God here is a child who has no example before him all he has is his father Ammon who is wicked for two years and God kicks him out and before him who is manasse his grandfather who was perhaps the worst King ever in Judah and little Josiah comes and he begins to serve the Lord no example no model no one to look to but yet here is a little boy who can serve the Lord at the age of 16 he begins to clean out Jerusalem cleans Jerusalem out of its idols and idolatry and false worship he is cleaning it out 16 years old have you thought of a 16-year-old even trying to get them to clean the room and here is Josiah 6 years old serving the lord 16 years old clearing out the land of its idolatry we can learn a few things about Josiah today let's stop and consider a few things first Josiah was raised by ungodly people ungodly people raised him he's the son of Ammon the grandson of manasse and these are the worst of the worst terrible examples for a young boy he doesn't have somebody he can look to to show him how to worship God In Truth all he knows is false worship all he knows is idolatry all he knows is the false uh worship of the culture in Judah and he's a little boy and realize is he has discernment to know there's a better way than this there is a belief now listen one would think that Josiah would just continue in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and there's this belief that you must follow the example of those gone before you on for instance if your father was an alcoholic then you must be an alcoholic or if your mother was a fornicator then you must follow suit but that does not have to be that's right come on you need to wake up you need to realize that you don't have to do what your parents did you can decide today that I'm not going to fall into the mistakes and the behaviors and the actions of th I wish somebody was helping me this Sunday morning I want you to know that you don't have to fall into the same lifestyle as those who've lived it before you you can make up your mind that I'm deciding I'm going to live for the Lord whether I'm six or I'm 60 Josiah you can just be like Ammon we don't expect anything of you we just expect you just to be like your dad we don't expect you to do anything different you're just going to be like manasse your grandfather but Josiah was 6 years old six years old and decided I'm going to seek after the Lord of Israel and when I'm 16 I'm cleaning this place up come on somebody we need to realize we've got some potential sitting Upon Our Youth there is potential for them to do something great come on some some make their families and their cycle of dysfunction a crutch that they lean upon I'm just going to do this because Mommy did it and grandmommy did it I'm just going to live this way because they did it but you can decide today you can make up your mind today Josiah somebody can say you know what I'm not going to fall into that trap I'm not going to fall into that addiction I wish somebody was hearing me this morning I wish somebody would be bold enough brave enough and faithful enough to say as for me and my house we're going to serve the [Music] [Applause] Lord somebody say Amen Josiah also proves that you don't have to be old to live for the Lord I'm G to say it again amen Josiah also proves that you don't have to be old to serve God I know just as many old fools as I do foolish young people that's right that's right the worst kind of fool is an old fool one who has never learned from their mistakes he repeats them over and over again at least the young can blame their foolishness on inexperience that's right but young fools become old fools when they don't learn from their mistakes and grow up I wish somebody was hearing me right now Josiah didn't wait until he he had gray hair a 401k a retirement plan come on he didn't wait till I on my deathbed I'm just going to live my life and and I hope I'll repent on my deathbed no when he was six years old when he was just a little boy he decided I don't have to be old I don't have to be decrepit I don't have to have arthritis in my knees I don't have to be baldheaded I can serve the Lord while I'm young come on now was some young person would hear me right now I want you to realize that you can live for the Lord in this day in this hour in 2024 that you can be young and be [Applause] Godly we have too many parents who tell their children just to go ahead and seow their Wild Oats while they're young but I'm going to tell you something Harvest will come yes it will what you SE in your youth will come to harvest when you're old so you might as well be be nice and kind to the old man that you will become one of these days and you might as well say I'm going to seow in righteousness so I can reap in righteousness I'm going to seow in Holiness so I can reap in Holiness I don't have to follow the trends of the world I wish somebody was hearing me come on moms and dads can I preach a little while we shouldn't be trying to live vicariously through our kids just because you couldn't blame ball doesn't mean they're going to be a professional basketball player somebody needs to realize you can be a worshipper even though I wasn't a worshipper you can be a musician even though I wasn't a musician you can be a preacher even though I wasn't a preacher is this microphone on today I wish somebody was hearing me right now I want you to know you don't have to be old to serve the Lord I'm thankful for our elders I'm thankful for those who've set an example before us but we need some young people we need some teenagers who'll say I'm going to serve the Lord whether my friends do or don't and we also need some teenagers who will say I'm going to be faithful even though my mom and dad weren't faithful come on it may not be the right environment but you can make up your mind I'm going to be faithful I'm going to serve the Lord I'm going to look to my I'm going to look to the Lord for my future Hallelujah next thing we can learn from Josiah is that if you're going to serve the Lord you're going to have to tear down generations of evil if you're going to be committed to God and reverse the curse of your family then you're going to have to do the hard work of tearing down evil Josiah wouldn't thrive in a culture filled with idolatry he had to tear it down and create a culture of godliness you can't remain in a toxic environment a toxic environment of Temptation and evil and think you're going to be unharmed and unscathed that's right God will not dwell in a habitation of godliness and ungodliness one will have to go at some point you need to cultivate a lifestyle of Holiness and godliness part of Godly living is really is the realization that you can only Thrive environments suitable for godliness yes you can be light in the darkness when you have no other options but when you do have the option will you tolerate the darkness and will you compromise to the darkness or will you say I'm not going to let this environment intoxicate me I'm going to tear down some idolatry I'm going to tear down some Idols of lust I'm going to tear down some Idols of jealousy I'm going to tear down some Idols of I wish somebody was here I I keep saying that but you keep looking at me like I'm crazy I wish somebody would hear me right now you got to make up your mind I'm not going to flow through life I'm not going going to fall into godliness you're going to have to make up your mind you're going to have to tear down some strongholds that's right you will not accidentally fall into Holiness how' you become holy o no you made up your mind that I'm not going to let this I'm there's some things I'm not letting in my life there are some things I am not going to compromise to either you can eradicate it or you can tolerate it oh and we have oh we have too many who tolerate it that's right they tolerate it because they feel a little something on Sunday morning I shouted when they sang All in His Hands but I walked back into a world full of compromise the next day and I compromised and tolerated it and that's what happens Josiah destroys all these idols and he he he begins to clean out all of of Jerusalem and Judah he's getting rid of the high places and the Groves of false worship and he says give me the priests and the prophets and I want to clean up the temple he's just a he's just a teenager he wants to clean out the temple he wants to clean it of all this idolatrous stuff that had been taken there and so he oversees it he says take up some offerings and we're going to clean it up we're going to restore it and somebody in the midst of the cleaning out of the temple find a scroll this this looks interesting somebody get me a scribe and they get a scribe and the Scribe begins to look at and goes do you know what this is that you found what have we found we found the law of Moses it's covered with dust dirt been forgotten and neglected you know truth truth never changes but it can be forgotten that's right truth never changes but can it sure can be neglected they said here's what we going to do with this take it to Josiah see what he wants to do so they take the law that was found a copy of it and he sits down and the priests and the Scribe begin to unroll it and they begin to read it as they begin to read the law of God Josiah just a teenager his heart is rent with conviction he can't stay in his condition he has tried to do what is right that he knows what to do remember he's doing all of this without the word God will accept some things out of ignorance but when the coming of the law comes you are held to a standard that he has required ignorance is no longer that's why it's dangerous to come to church and hear preaching this is dangerous what we're doing because somebody wrote in Acts that God winked at ignorance at one time yes he did but when you hear the law you are no longer ignorant you are required so when you come in and think you're just coming for a nice little little pep talk or a nice little Ted Talk you're not you're coming into a dangerous situation because all of a sudden now what has been taught to you is required of you you can no longer G you can no longer plead ignorance God says I accepted your repentance I accepted your worship but there is a better way and I'll show you you and now it's required and Josiah said what do I do and all of a sudden the Lord spoke through a prophetess my God have mercy he spoke through a propheus and he said clean it up repent but judgment's coming but as for you Josiah it's not going to comeing your day because I seen your heart I seen your conscience I seen your response to my word I want you to know God wants to see how we respond to his word will we respond in faith or will we Harden our hearts Josiah says we got to get together we got to get it together around here and he does he gets everything together he continues the clean out he continues the restoration and the reforms but can I tell you you will never legislate Holiness that's right you will never legisl godliness we can create rules and people love rules but rules will never make you holy that's right because as soon as Josiah died the people went right back to living like they did before that's right because even though he had an experience they didn't they confessed it but they didn't live it my God have mercy but here's the issue they're still required by it because once the word Goes Forth they are required to respond to it there's no way out and so as he dies the people backslide they they sink back into the M of their of their Disobedience and Josiah has a son by the name of jeho hoim was his second son his first son would become king and uh he wasn't king for very long he was only King for three months Babylon and Egypt are two superpowers growing in might and economy and Military and Egypt places a levy upon Judah and and then all of a sudden jeam Reigns in Judah he's the son of Josiah and he reigns in Judah just like his father did but he doesn't have the same heart Josiah didn't have an example to live for God jeim did can I just tell you there are some parents you've lived it before them you were faithful before them and yet they didn't do it like you did it that's right that's right sometimes listen to me now sometimes it's not the example it's their heart all we can do is train them in the way that they should go and jeam did not follow in the footsteps of his father Josiah he reviled the prophets he reviled the priests he even had Uriah the prophet killed after hearing him preach a message to him he even shut the Prophet Jeremiah into prison when he disagreed with his prophetic messages he he epitomized the depravity of power forsaking God's commands and he he he he just can disobeyed and disregarded the cries of The Afflicted his heart was hardened his deeds were vile and he squandered his stewardship as God's man and he led Judah into ruin they went right back to how they lived before Josiah and can I say this in passing Godly leadership matters yes it does yes it does as goes the leader so follow the people that's right and his his backslid and heart and Disobedience leads them back to their Disobedience and he brings back all the the false worship and the idolatry and God says through a prophet judgment is coming Jeremiah the prophet is shut up he's hiding from him and God says write everything down on a scroll and send it to jeam so Jeremiah the prophet writes down his messages they give it to a scribe and a priest and they're worried what do we do with what we have received take it to jeam doesn't this sound familiar to you Josiah when they found the word repented jeam when he hears the word he is sitting in his Royal Room next to a fire and as they begin to read the words of God he takes a pin knife and begins to cut the scroll he cuts the scroll and throws it into the fire cuts the scroll and throws it into the fire cuts the throw the scroll and throws it into the fire Till There is nothing left he thinks he's rid him self of God's word there have been many who have tried to cut this book apart Miracles that's not for us today baptism oh that's works we don't need that Holy Ghost speaking with other tongues that was for the first century but not for the 21st century and God sees all of this and says you're still required of it you may not like it you may not want to do it you may not agree with it but it's truth no matter what you can cut it you can erase it you can burn it but God's word will last forever the flower Fades come on and the word is going to stand forever he hardens his heart and says Nah not going to do any of that he refused to hear and obey the word of God his father's repentance listen to me now his father's repentance was not his repentance his father's Faith was not his faith the only thing that he got from Josiah was Josiah's sin sin is hereditary that's right Faith isn't I've said it before but God does not have grandchildren God does not just because your grandmother repented just because your grandfather got the Holy Ghost does not mean you've got it God doesn't have grandchildren you must be born again of the water and of the spirit you must you must repent you must be baptized you you who [Music] you but I go to the big church on Pleasant Ridge doesn't matter you must be born again of the water and of the spirit it's not a matter if you going to Grandma's church and Grandpa's church you must have your own experience for yourself and here's what God says here's what God says to him God promised that he would never get a proper burial he is going to have a terrible death none will lament for him none will cry after him like they did for Josiah he shall be buried with a barrial of an ass drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem then he says he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David and his dead bodies shall be cast out into the day of the Heat and in the night to the frost we read later on that when Babylon overthrows Egypt they're coming next for Judah and Nebuchadnezzar takes jeho binds him in feeds like a slave and they pull him out of Jerusalem and lead him out of the capital history is fuzzy on what happened because scripture doesn't record it some say that jeam was killed on his way to Babylon and they left his dead body in the Sands others believe that they brought him all the way into Babylon and there he would die and they would cast him out and let him die a death like an ordinary slave God's word was true he would not be buried with Josiah Josiah who had been buried in the seers and the tombs of the kings of Judah where David and Solomon would lay they would celebrate his life but not jeam none would would lament none would cry because he would not be buried in the Tomb of the Kings he was a King Without a tomb God will not be mocked that's right God will not be mocked and God just as his word is forever settled his memory is forever settled so when we come into the New Testament and we read Matthew's genealogy there is one name actually there's a few names but there is one name in particular that is left out of the genealogy of Jesus Christ after Josiah je hoak's name is left out because the word said in the law if you add anything to this book or you remove anything from this book it said in the last the last chapter of our final book of the New Testament if you add anything unto this book I will add unto you the curses and the plagues that's written in this book but if you remove anything out of this book I will remove your name from The Book of Life and so thus we have it here is a man who cut and threw away God's word here's a man who disagreed and and rebelled against God's word and God said if you want to remove my word from you let me tell you what I will do I will remove your name can I tell you if you refuse one portion of this book your name will not be written I'm sorry to preach so heavy today but you better understand this is dangerous business preaching it's dangerous business hearing the word of God because once you hear it you're required of it and if you say that's not for me that was for them I don't have to do that that's for somebody else I'll do it my way what you're doing you're you're playing the part of jeam and God says if you continue down that path I will remove your name from The Book of Life you know what I would do today I'd run to that bap isal tank I'd run to this altar I'd say lord it's my day I want it I believe it it's mine stand to your feet thank you Jesus led him out of Jerusalem like a slave to watch him die a brutal death and in the genealogy of Jesus Christ his name is removed But Here Comes the son of David Jesus Christ today we celebrate Palm Sunday as Jesus was about to enter the Gates of Jerusalem I need a donkey jeam you're going to die the death and be buried like a donkey and Jesus is at the Gates of Jerusalem get me a cult he sits upon the Colt of an ass and they begin to wave Palm leaves hosiana son of David king of Israel hosana glory in the highest Here Comes their King riding on a donkey into the Gates of Jerusalem they love him they accept him they want him but in just a few days the one that they recently accepted they now reject they called him Hosanna a few days before but in a few days they will call him a heretic a blasphemer and they begin to do what they reject his word they reject who he is here is the word of God made flesh and they say crucify him he speaks against us he speaks against our religion our customs our rules crucify him and they lead the son of David outside of Bak outside of Jerusalem just like jeam bound like a common prisoner to die a death of a common man they cried Hosanna when they wor when he worked miracles but they cried crucify him when he said to repent and they led him to a cross at Calvary where he would die a gentile death on a gentile cross left out in the sun but there was a man by the name of Joseph of artha who said I will not let him suffer the heat of the day or suffer the frost at night I've got a tomb foxes have holes birds have nests but the son of man has no place to lay his head and he has no tomb where his body will lie he's a King Without a tomb but Joseph of artheus says let me have his body and I'll lay him in my tomb and they put him in a tomb and he laid there dead lifeless for three days but on the third day the Resurrection Day there was something that jeam never experienced and there was something that Josiah never experience and there was something that David never experienced and it was the resurrection and now the king without a tomb now has a tomb without a king and he comes out as hosana he comes out as the savior he comes out as the King of Kings and the Lord of lords to bring us salvation would you lift up your hands right now who is the Josiah in this room come on open open your mouth right now who is the Josiah in this room who's not had any good examples of godliness and commitment Who is the Josiah in the room who everyone just writes off and thinks oh you're too young and you you've got you got the you're set behind the eightball you're never going to make it you're you're always going to fail it's you're just doomed to this is there any Josiah's in this room will say you know what I don't have to do that I'm not following the examples of those who've gone before me but I'm making up my mind today that I'm going to serve him whether I'm six or I'm 60 I'm I'm I decided today's the first day today the day I'm going to serve him but where are the jeams in this room where are the jeams in this room who say you know what I'm tired of running from his word I'm tired of running from his law I've got to accept every jot every tit of his law I've got to accept him as he is I've got to accept him and his his commands and I will run to him I wonder if somebody would lift up their voice right now I want you to realize that hosana saved me Deliver Me is here come on I want you to know the king is here I wonder if somebody would come out of their seat out of their Pew maybe you're a Josiah maybe you're a jeho come it doesn't matter there's hope for you today there is resurrection power for you today come on would you come today come on would you come today when somebody come out and begin to say hosana save us hosana Deliver Us oh God you're The King and I love you and I accept you I accept your miracles but I also accept your law I accept your wonders and I also accept your commands come on is there anybody who'll cry out to him today's day one today's day one it's a new day you can make up your mind you can be committed to him it doesn't matter your age it doesn't matter where you are in life there is hope for you there is healing for you there is salvation for you goodness and mercy the power of the I'm soad that my fre yes was on what done goodness and mercy and the power was the cross for me that there is restoration there is the Mery God where my still lay now I stand redeemed by the mercy of God was the cross me for me that my S car no made free by the mercy of God was the great for me where my [Applause] S now I stand redeemed by the Mery of God now I'm alive to tell the story how I've over it's his goodness and mercy and power of the blood I'm so glad that my fre [Music] wasn't and would you lift up your hands come on would you lift up your hands would you lift up your head now father we want to be committed to you we want to be devoted to you oh God lord there may be some things I have to tear down come on there might be generational curses and things that I deal with my family's dealt with but God I pray you'd help me to tear down strongholds any High imagination that would try to exalt itself above you father we we we we claim it today and tear it down God we tear down the strongholds of greed and jealousy come on we tear down the strongholds of Addiction come on we tear down the strongholds of adultery and lust and fornication God we tear down oh God all the all the strongholds of false religion but God I pray that you would help us to walk in Victory and godliness today God that you would raise up some Josiah God who will bring about reformation who will bring about Revival in their home and in their family and in their Community God I pray that you would help us today to walk in godliness and Holiness oh God to walk in newness of life in jesus' name if you believe that why don't you clap your hand One More [Music] Time come on I wonder if You' pray with somebody can you pray with somebody the Holy Ghost is ministering right now I don't want to I don't want to move too quick come on I want maybe it's your family that's around you and pray with them but the Holy Ghost is ministering today come on there's something happening I don't want to rush through this I don't want to rush through God doing something come on say Lord touch us today God restore us today heal us today make us new today come on there's a great spirit of healing and and Power in this room maybe there's somebody who needs to make a commitment to his word a commitment to his word and to say I want his word in my life I want to be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path oh in Jesus name