Sermons

This passage deals with the life and tragic death of Josiah, regarded as the most faithful king in the history of Judah. Josiah came to the throne at a young age, repaired the temple, tore down the idols and brought about a remarkable spiritual reform that turned the whole nation back to God. God promised that if he completed this reform he would not see disaster and would die in peace. Yet, despite a warning from the king of Egypt, he went out to war, was struck by an arrow and was killed.

The sermon points out that Josiah's death should be understood within God's mysterious providence rather than as the result of a mistake seen from the viewpoint of retribution. The 'knowing' of God that the Bible speaks of is not mere information but a deep personal relationship and union. God's providence therefore works in ways people cannot understand and goes beyond our expectations and common sense. Josiah's death looks like a tragedy on the surface, but God rescued him from the disaster of the coming judgment and led him into 'shalom', a state of complete rest.

The sermon urges believers, when they face the hardships of life and situations they cannot understand, to trust the God who rules over the situation rather than the results they can see. It stresses that God knows our weakness and our groaning and is the one who takes responsibility for us to the end. Through this sermon the reader is led to think about what the difficulties in their own life mean within God's love and providence, and how to look at their situation from a transcendent point of view.

This passage tells how Josiah, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, read the Book of the Law that had been found by chance while the temple was being repaired, and tore his heart and wept before God. Josiah grew up surrounded by widespread idolatry and spiritual corruption, yet he remembered God's grace and lived humbly before the Word. He shows that true restoration begins with rediscovering the Word that had been lost, and emphasizes that the Word must stand at the center of life, not outward religious routine.

The sermon points to how Josiah responded when he heard the Word: without excuses or rationalizing, he confessed his sin and wept. God's word can make us uncomfortable by exposing our sin and hypocrisy, but that is evidence of a living spirit responding. Josiah did not despair at the word of judgment but sought God's will, and he received God's heart through Huldah, an ordinary prophetess. Even in the midst of judgment on all of Judah, God did not turn away from Josiah's broken spirit and contrite heart.

We must admit that we are not perfect people but sinners, and come to the grace of the cross. What is the secret to becoming that one person who humbles themselves and tears their heart before God's word, and so brings life to their family and church?

This passage tells of Manasseh, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, who over a long reign of 55 years made the nation stable and prosperous, yet whom God judged a ‘very wicked king’. By staying loyal to the great power of Assyria he brought political stability and material abundance, and the people probably regarded him as a fine king. But under his rule idolatry and sin spread, until the people no longer listened to God's word at all.

The world values success, influence, and stability, but God looks only at whether we obey. Today we are living in the last days, when deception is rampant because of advances in technology, fake news, and cult leaders. The world brainwashes people into believing they can live well without God, and leads each person to live by their own standards. In such surroundings, what matters most is that believers are not dazzled by the world's prosperity but keep a faith that obeys God's word.

When Manasseh humbly repented in a hopeless situation, God forgave and restored him. This shows that God's concern is not judgment but salvation. What Jesus looks for in the last days is not success or many accomplishments, but people who have kept the faith to the end. We must not let our hearts be carried off in a confused world, but be faithful to death and become people who obey God.

This passage covers the scene in which Hezekiah, after experiencing the remarkable grace of being healed of a fatal illness and having his life extended by fifteen years, receives envoys from Babylon. While enjoying the great blessing and peace God had given him, he shows the envoys, at their request, all the treasures and wealth in his palace, holding nothing back. On the surface this looks like a gracious welcome, but in reality it was an act that put human calculation ahead of God.

The sermon points out that this was the beginning of Hezekiah's pride. He had shown an attitude of testing God by demanding visible signs and sure proof, and once he had received great grace, he cared more about showing off his wealth and power than about giving thanks. God allowed this situation in order to test what was in his heart, and Hezekiah fell into the temptation of holding on to what can be seen rather than to God's unseen work. As a result, even after hearing the prophecy of judgment, he complacently assumed that there would be peace in his own lifetime, and did not repent.

Though his life had been extended, Hezekiah ended it leaving evil fruit behind. The sermon stresses that long life in itself is not a blessing; the true blessing is a life lived with God and full of faith. Through Hezekiah's failure we come to see that in the place of blessing we must not grow proud, but must rely on God alone to the end. The sermon challenges us to treat this very moment as the last chance God has given us, and to reflect on what fruit we are leaving behind.

This passage deals with the life-or-death crisis King Hezekiah faced when Jerusalem was besieged by the vast Assyrian army. At first, rather than relying on God, Hezekiah surrendered by human means and paid an enormous tribute, but this only brought greater threats and confusion. His faith, which had sunk into the false logic and fear that Satan uses, turned back to God only after his human efforts had collapsed.

The sermon stresses that when believers suffer, they must not blame God or cling to the world's methods. When Hezekiah prayed, seeking God's glory and sovereignty before his own safety, God answered his prayer by wiping out the enemy army in a single night. This shows that prayer is not a power that solves problems but a channel that connects us, so that God's zeal can flow. God keeps his children not by human effort but by grace, and faithfully fulfills his word to the end.

The sermon asks what believers are holding on to right now. It leads us to consider whether we are still gripping human methods, which are like a cut power line, or whether we are coming to the place of prayer that connects us to God's power.

This passage deals with the historical event of the northern kingdom of Israel's destruction at the hands of Assyria. Though it was a nation God himself had established, the people, through spiritual corruption and idolatry, chose to depend on worldly power in spite of God's warnings. In particular, the political blunders of Hoshea, the last king, and the worship of the golden calves are read not as a simple diplomatic failure but as the result of an unbelief that betrayed God and loved the world.

The sermon stresses that God's deep providence lies behind this destruction. It shows that judgment brought on by human misjudgment and sin does not mean God has given up; rather, God loved them to the end and left open a way of restoration. Even in an age when the Jews' rejection of the Samaritans was intense, Jesus did not turn away from them but brought them the gospel of salvation, and this proves that God never stopped loving all peoples.

How can we believe that God does not abandon us even in times of suffering and judgment? We also need to reflect deeply on whether we are living without a heart that loves and fears God at the center, leaning instead toward formal religious acts or the logic of the world.

Today's passage tells the story of Ahaz, who left God, relied on idols and worldly power, and is recorded as an evil king. He practiced the worship of Molech, sacrificing his children in pursuit of his own prosperity, and in a crisis he asked Assyria for help instead of seeking God. Even though he had already been promised God's protection through the prophet, he avoided crying out to God on the excuse that he would not test God, and bowed to worldly power.

The sermon points out that Ahaz's actions looked like devotion on the outside but in reality came from thoroughgoing self-centeredness and self-love. By instinct, people easily fall into the logic of giving up what is most precious in order to protect themselves, but God asks of us a love that denies self and entrusts itself wholly to him. Ahaz's refusal to ask for a sign was not humility but a disobedience that did not trust God, and it is no different from the attitude of believers today who avoid prayer or do not want to know God's will.

Worldly power is only temporary, and when God's people stand firm, no oppression lasts forever. The sermon asks by what name believers want to be called before God. What are we holding on to, so that we can stand as the people God wants, wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil?

Through the lives of Jotham, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, and Timothy, the disciple of the apostle Paul, this passage sheds light on the value of faithfulness, not of the conspicuous hero but of those who quietly endured their times. In a dark time, when the people were still corrupt and the northern kingdom of Israel was in extreme turmoil, Jotham did what was right before God and held the line of faith, without dramatic reforms or miracles. His life is counted as precious as those of the great figures who opened new eras, and he served as a buffer that held back a collapsing age and passed the thread of faith on to the next generation.

Comparing Jotham's faith with Timothy's life, the sermon conveys how important it is to stay faithful to the end without losing one's direction toward Christ, even if one's life looks plain and ordinary rather than brilliant. The world shines its spotlight only on the winner or the hero, but God uses not only people who change their times but also people who hold them up. Believers' lives do not lose their meaning because they have no visible achievements or go unrecognized where they are; God remembers faith that has quietly endured, and treasures it and uses it as a channel for the next generation.

Even in the dark currents of the last days, what we must do is not blame the times and despair, but stand honestly before God wherever each of us is placed. The sermon asks how believers, even if they never become brilliant heroes, should quietly finish the race of faith and carry out the mission of handing the faith down to the next generation.

This passage covers the successful early years of the reign of Uzziah, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, when he sought and relied on God and led the nation to strength and prosperity, and how later, as he grew powerful, his heart became proud, he sinned against God, and he rushed toward ruin. Under the influence of his mother and his spiritual mentor Zechariah, he did what was right before God and received marvelous help, but his attitude degenerated into exalting himself, and he did not acknowledge his abilities and position as grace from God.

Through the incident in which Uzziah, as king, tried to burn incense himself, a task only priests could perform, and was struck with the curse of leprosy, the sermon points out that pride was the root reason he could no longer enjoy grace. It warns that treating the grace God has given in answer to prayer as a right we are owed, or being so absorbed in worldly success and comfort that we forget God, leads in the end to spiritual ruin. It also stresses that having many visible worldly possessions does not make a successful life, and that we can enjoy grace to the end only when we keep a humble heart that is thankful for it.

The sermon asks whether believers are now enjoying with thankfulness the grace they have received from God and using it as an instrument for God's kingdom, or treating it as a blessing they deserve and simply consuming it.

Through the contrasting fates of Amaziah, king of the southern kingdom of Judah, and Jeroboam II of the northern kingdom of Israel, today's passage shows how God's work differs from human religious common sense. Amaziah, who did what was right in God's eyes, was carried away by small successes, grew proud, and in the end met a miserable death, while Jeroboam, judged an evil king, was used through God's compassion as an instrument to make the nation prosper. This shows that the logic of retribution, in which good people are always blessed and evil people always punished, does not always apply.

We easily tend to think that our good deeds or circumstances are evidence of God's approval or blessing. But visible success is not necessarily the result of God's approval, and having troubles does not mean we have been abandoned by God. This passage emphasizes that God leads history within a sovereignty far greater and vaster than human wickedness or goodness, and that God's complete grace and will matter more than our righteousness or effort.

Rather than focusing on the situation or circumstances we are in, it is important to look at what God has willed. How can we confess that our prosperity or suffering is not our own merit but God's grace, and take the attitude of standing humbly before God?

This passage deals with an episode between the prophet Elisha, as he neared death, and Joash, king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Following Elisha's instructions, Joash is told to shoot an arrow toward the east and to strike the ground, but he strikes only three times and stops. Because of this, Joash does not fully destroy Aram but wins only three victories, and Elisha shows sorrow and anger at his half-hearted attitude.

The sermon points out that Joash's actions mirror the way we treat Christ's salvation on the cross. Though we already hold the answer of salvation in our hands, we often cling to our own standard of ‘this is enough’ and offer God a hesitant obedience. It emphasizes that God gives grace in proportion to how much we have prepared and to our faith, and that to win a complete victory, we must throw away the standard of ‘that will do’ before God.

The work of God's love and grace goes on beyond human limits and the boundary of life itself. Despite our own shortcomings and weakness, we must have a faith that relies on God to the end and obeys the Word. If God did not spare his own Son but delivered him up for us all, how should we believe in and follow his endless love?

Noting how hard it is to finish well as the year draws to a close, this passage deals with the life of King Joash, who became king at a young age and repaired the temple. While he was under the protection of the godly high priest Jehoiada, he did what was right before God and accomplished the great work of repairing the temple. But after that protection was gone, he fell back into a compromising faith without removing the high places, the breeding ground of idolatry, and in the end met a miserable death.

The sermon points out that Joash's failure to remove the high places was not a simple failure but a half-hearted obedience that leaned on someone else's faith. Even behind the outwardly beautiful achievement of repairing the temple, he had not removed the idols in his heart, so his faith collapsed as soon as the protection from outside was cut off. It warns that this is no different from believers today who compromise God's commands for their own standards or convenience and live holding on to something like the high places.

True faith must have the staying power to stand alone and hold on to God even when the protection of those who went before us, or our circumstances, are gone. As the new year approaches, the sermon calls us to look back at whose spiritual protection we are sheltering under, and to check whether our faith is ready to stand on its own.