Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins

The Bible: See — Lost and Found If you have ever lost anything, you know how frustrating it can be. If it was valuable, you were concerned, even alarmed. It is not unusual for us to lose an item and not even know we have lost it until we need it. This is just what happened to Israel over 2,500 years ago. It is hard to imagine that you could lose the “book of the law of the Lord,” especially “in the house of the Lord,” 2 Chronicles 34:15. But it happened during the reign of Amon, grandson of Hezekiah and father of Josiah, during whose reign it was found. Josiah became king at the age of 8 years, but it was still another 18 years before the lost book was found. Perhaps the strangest thing about this situation is that the book was lost and then later found right there in the “house of the Lord.” How could that happen? Though not perfect, Josiah was a righteous man. The Bible says he: “…did that which is right in the sight of the Lord....and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left,” 2 Kings 22:2. That was not because of either his father’s or his grandfather’s examples, for both of them, Amon and Manasseh, were wicked. His great-grandfather, Hezekiah, is regarded by many as the greatest of the post-division kings, and he may have influenced Josiah. The prophets Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Habakkuk did their work in the same general era of Josiah’s reign. During the 18th year of his reign, Josiah authorized certain repairs to the Temple, and as this was being done, Shaphan the scribe came to the king and said in 2 Kings 22:10-11: “Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.” He immediately initiated a restoration of God’s Word, and many needed changes were made. As a gospel preacher, I cannot read these words without realizing that God’s book has been and still can be lost to many in our generation. While it may seem incredible that it could happen, no one can deny that it has happened. Today’s Lost Books Someone recently grieved that we have lost the book of Etiquette, yet others suggest a book on proper dress needs to be “found.” The Bible, while not lost in the sense that we do not have a Bible, is, for all practical purposes, lost to many. We can have a Bible but never read or study it, making it essentially lost. Some read their Bible, but have little respect for it, substituting their own preferences in doctrine, worship and life-style. Others have translated the Bible in such a way as to have obscured the thought of the original words inspired by the Holy Spirit. For all the value of such “translations,” the Book of God may as well be lost. How Did It Happen? I can’t tell you how the book was lost, but I can tell you what they did to solve the problem. It may be that this procedure needs to be reinstated in a day characterized by a lack of respect for the authority of scripture. Perhaps if we do what they did, we can bring back a measure of reverence to a book that is “lost” to many today. Make a note of their course of action: Josiah removed all remnants of Baal worship. He “commanded Hilkiah the priest...to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal...and he burned them,” 2 Kings 23:4. One cannot be true to God and not banish every vestige of rebellion. All of the priests who participated in or encouraged the worship of idols were removed, verse 5. Truth must be honored even if some "priests” must be replaced. Houses of the sodomites (male prostitutes) in the land, were burned and destroyed, along with remnants of their idol worship, verse 7. You cannot leave intact the symbols of rebellion without encouraging the practice of rebellion. They removed all of the altars made to worship Ashtoreth, Milcom and Chemosh, their neighbors’ pagan “gods”. Not only did they remove them; they “broke in pieces the images,” verse 14. 2 Kings 23:13-14. Error and sin must be removed or the disease will return. They reinstated the worship God had originally ordained, along with all the associated activities, verse 21f. In other words, they restored the worship and commandments that had originally been given to them. What does this have to do with us? Are we in danger of losing the Bible? Is there a danger that the church Jesus built will die? No, His church will not die, but His message of redemption can be kept from a lost generation, 2 Corinthians 4:1-3. There is also the danger that the Israel of God today can become the Israel of Josiah’s day; rebellious, apathetic, lost in religious error. His church will survive, Daniel 2:44. But will we? Josiah’s solution was very simple. Remove all worship not authorized by God and replace it with a “thus saith the Lord” as authorized by God, in both theory and practice. The same thing will work today. It’s not likely that we will lose the Book as they did. We may lose our love for truth; our determination to live by it; our love for the God who gave it; our willingness to teach it. That is what happened to Israel then, and it could happen today. By the way, do you know where your Bible is? Carl B. Garner

“Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost…Rejoice with me; for I have found the coin which I had lost…Rejoice with me; this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found,” Luke 15:6, 9, 24

We Are Richly Blessed Wicked people never really prosper in those matters that truly count. Their gain is not in realms that endure nor is it in balm for their souls. Whatever they succeed in does not produce calmness and peace because monetary matters cannot produce genuine happiness. In the world of “might makes right,” very few ever achieve the status they dreamed of because the constant striving for supremacy in a “dog-eat-dog” society produces ulcers, headaches and loneliness. The desire for earthly wealth and pompous leadership often foments into despair and suicide on the restless shores of mundane pride. Loving the things of the world (1 John 2:15-17) can cause one to hate fellowmen who stand in the way of their misplaced dreams and vain aspirations. Not all of the earth’s gold and silver can make a sinner whole. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” But, Christians really do prosper, in time and eternity. Let us count some of the ways: We have the best life NOW! Inward peace and joy belongs to us! We have help in the midst of trials. Christ is our perfect example. We can help lost men to be saved. The Bible challenges and confronts us. We have brethren who encourage us. Christ’s church is a haven of rest for us. We possess a vibrant hope. Even in death our future is bright! Infidels may wonder who they are, where they came from and where they are going, but not so with the child of God. We even understand why we are here! Christians exist to give Jehovah the glory due His Holy Name (1 Chronicles 16:29 –see reference below). Whether Christians be rich or poor, black or white, educated or not educated, we prosper with treasures beyond compare in this life and far beyond in heaven above! Johnny Ramsey