"THE BIBLE: LOST, FOUND, APPLIED!"

Written and preached by David P. Nolte

2 CHRONICLES 34:12-33

1. THE BIBLE WAS LOST:
1. One is forced to wonder, "How could an item of such national and Spiritual prominence have disappeared from the scene?" But apparently that was the case. Perhaps Josiah had been tutored in enough of it by the priests that he knew the basics of what was right and wrong but the body of Scripture was unknown to him.
2. What might have contributed to the loss of God's Word?
1. Perhaps it was lost through neglect. As the people became more and more idolatrous, the word was more and more ignored.
2. Perhaps it was lost through deliberate disregard. Considered outdated and irrelevant, it was discarded.
3. Perhaps it was lost through malicious intent. Those who despised God's counsel may have treated it as did evil Jehoiakim who cut the scroll of Jeremiah into strips and burned it.
4. Perhaps it was lost because someone hid it to protect it from enemies and in time it was forgotten.
3. At any rate it was lost then - and in many ways and places today God's Word is lost!
1. It is lost in many homes.
1. It is surprising how many people come here to worship who don't even own a Bible. If you are one of them, we have a free Bible to give you after the services.
2. It is also surprising how many homes have a Bible that remains un opened, unread and untaught.
2. It is lost in our schools.
1. That's based on the erroneous idea that the Constitution teaches separation of church and state. Besides, wouldn't it be terrible if some naive student heard the Ten Commandments and was influenced not to commit adultery or theft or murder?
2. Yet all sorts of humanistic, atheistic and immoral philosophies are freely presented and openly espoused.
3. It is lost in our public life.
1. Public immorality, lack of ethics, hedonistic philosophies, self absorption and greed indicate an abandonment and loss of God's counsel.
2. U.S. Circuit Judge Myron Thompson mandated the removal of the 10 Commandments by Chief Justice Roy Moore from an Alabama court house when all the while there is a statue of a Greek goddess outside his own court house!
4. It is lost in many churches today.
1. It is considered to be uninspired and irrelevant.
2. It is doubted and dismissed as the work of unknown redactors.
4. George Bernard Shaw can represent the "Lose the Bible" mind set. On the flyleaf of a Bible he wrote this inscription: "Except as a curiosity, this book is a most undesirable possession. I must get rid of it. I really cannot bear it in my house." For G. B. Shaw, the Bible was a lost book.

For Judah, the Bible was a lost work. But thanks to Hilkiah:

2. THE BIBLE WAS FOUND:
1. I really believe that though the find was serendipitous, it was also providential! God knew the heart of this young king and knew that this was the time to bring about revival through the relocation of this lost treasure.
2. Though the Bible is largely lost, when it is found:
1. There is conviction of sin. We, like Josiah, become aware of our guilt.
2. There is a desire to know and follow God's counsel. Josiah said, "Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for all the remnant of Israel and Judah. Ask Him about the words written in this scroll that has been found. The Lord's anger has been poured out against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the word of the Lord. We have not been doing what this scroll says we must do."
3. There is hope. David said, "I faint with longing for Your salvation; but I have put my hope in Your word." Psalms 119:81 (NLT).
4. There is joy. David also said, "Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart." Psalms 119:111 (NIV).
5. There is peace. Hear David again, "Those who love Thy law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble." Psalms 119:165 (NASB).
6. There is acquaintance with Jesus Christ. He said, "You search the Scriptures because you believe they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me!" John 5:39 (NLT).
7. There is spiritual freedom. Jesus promised, "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 (NLT).
8. There is faith. Romans 10:17 (NLT) says, "Yet faith comes from listening to this message of good news - the Good News about Christ." Romans 10:17 (NLT).
3. God is not playing "Hide and Seek!" He desires to reveal Himself, His will, His plan and His promise through the Word. You, with Josiah, can find God's Word.
   
4. A Scottish woman was urged by her friends to receive Jesus Christ. She refused. One friend gave her tracts but she threw them into the fireplace. One of them fell out and she tossed it in again. It fell out a second time and once more she tried to burn it. Later that day, after the flames died down, she noted that tract was scorched but still had not burned. She said, "Surely the devil is in that paper, for it will not burn!" But she began to read the tract and she came under conviction of sin. Through that charred tract which contained God's Word, she was led to faith in Christ. The Bible lost to her was now found.

So it was with Josiah. The Bible was lost, then found, and then

3. THE BIBLE WAS APPLIED:
1. Josiah paid close attention to what the scroll said. He listened to the message with his mind and his heart. He not only received the word mentally and academically but practically - he put it to work.
2. Notice how the Word was applied:
1. His heart was tender and humble enough to submit obediently to what God said.
2. He and the people renewed the covenant God had made with Moses. They committed themselves to obedience.
3. Josiah uprooted and banished idolatry and paganism and everyone turned to the Lord to worship Him alone.
3. When we rediscover God's Word and apply it to our own lives good things are bound to happen
1. Ethics are changed. Honesty, integrity and trust prevail.
2. Attitudes and values are changed. Our perspective on life is altered to fit God's perspective.
3. Morals and behavior are changed. We live our lives in a manner worthy of those who claim to be Christians.
4. Homes are changed. Marriages are founded on God's principles. Children respect and obey parents; parents gently and wisely discipline children.
4. When the Bible is not applied it is like a group of laborers who try to gather a harvest while they sit in the toolshed. They go to the toolshed every Sunday to study better methods of agriculture. They sharpen the hoes. They grease their tractors. Then they go home. They return Wednesday night to study better methods of agriculture. They sharpen the hoes. They grease their tractors. They go home. Week after week, year after year repeating the process. But not going out to the fields to plant, cultivate and harvest. They never applied what they knew about farming! Theirs was useless knowledge. If we read the Bible, attend worship and study sessions but never put it to work, it remains a lost work. If we never apply what we know about the Bible, it is useless knowledge.

Finding the scroll in the Temple was a serendipity. Let me tell you about another serendipity. In a certain story, Jack Wurm, unemployed, walked a San Francisco beach. He came upon a bottle with a note in it. The note read, "To avoid confusion, I leave my entire estate to the lucky person who finds this bottle and to my attorney, Barry Cohen, to share and share alike." The note had been written 12 years earlier, tossed the bottle into the Thames River in London and was just discovered by Jack Wurm. In the story, he netted about $6,000,000.00. In real life, you can find much more benefit than that. Those $6,00,000.00 were for this world only. The riches of God's Word are for now and eternity. His riches are for this life and for the next! Have you found His Word? Have you applied it to life? You may begin to do that this morning as we sing.

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