The prophet Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) wrote that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. History has proven his words to be true. Consider the spiritual decay of the southern kingdom of Judah during during the Old Testament reigns of Manasseh and his son Amon. Homosexuals were housed in the Jerusalem Temple, and a wooden image, or asherah, was erected in the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant rested. Children were sacrificed to the fire god Molech.
Rabbinic sources claim that the writings of Moses were all but forgotten during Manasseh's rule. His grandfather, Ahaz, had sealed the Torah and abolished the Temple service. Manasseh cut God's name from the Torah and allegedly murdered the prophet Yeshayahu (Isaiah). Amon burned the Torah.
Little has changed today. Unregenerate man remains deceitful and openly hostile toward the Spirit of God. Tragically, some of the worst offenders sit in churches: Liberal denominations elect gay clergy. Christians celebrate Christmas, a day rooted in paganism, with an asherah, or decorated tree, in their homes. Delegates of the Presbyterian Church USA cut out God's name at their recent general assembly. They substituted names describing His plurality, "Father, Son and Holy Spirit," with 12 new phrases, including "compassionate mother, beloved child and life-giving womb."
How should Christians respond to this wickedness? Perhaps the way King Josiah did. The grandson of Manasseh walked in the ways of David and did not turn aside to the right hand or left (2 Kings 22:1). When a Torah scroll was discovered during repairs to the Temple – hidden under a layer of stones to prevent Manasseh from defiling or destroying it – Josiah was cut to the heart and immediately instituted reform. The Torah had not been seen in Judah for 75 years. Josiah made a covenant before the Lord to follow His commandments and restore true worship. He removed idols and male prostitutes from the Temple. He banished the idolatrous priests. In other words, he cleaned house.
Josiah knew that the sins of his fathers had provoked God's anger and judgment, yet he was comforted by these words from the Lord, spoken through the prophetess Huldah: "Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you (2 Kings 22:19)." God promised the king he would go to his grave in peace and not see the calamity that would befall Jerusalem.
Christians would be wise to follow Josiah's lead. We should shun idolatry, humble ourselves and honor God's Word. The Hebrew word for "humbled" in the 2 Kings passage above is kana', meaning to bend the knee or bring into subjection. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament defines it more clearly: "The emphasis is upon a proud and independent spirit abasing itself. . . . so long as a person, or nation, is arrogant and self-sufficient, God can do nothing for them." The fruit of submission is obedience, and Josiah moved swiftly to eradicate idol worship. Just as the king removed the asherah from the Temple, we can remove the asherah (Christmas tree) and other trappings of this pagan holiday from our heart, the temple in which God now resides (1 Cor. 3:16). Perhaps then Adonai will look upon us as He did Josiah and grant us His peace and protection.
I have removed the link to Paul Washer's sermon on Matthew 7. The Southern Baptist missionary supports Calvinism, a system of false doctrine that is taught in many evangelical denominations. One of the five points of Calvinism is predestination or unconditional election. It teaches that God, in eternity past, chose certain people for salvation, others for damnation. This election is not based on man's response.
Calvinism is a destructive doctrine and I vehemently oppose it. Scripture shows clearly that man is afforded free will to receive or reject God's mercy, manifested through His Son. While the Washer sermon was one of the best I've heard, and did not, as far as I can tell, include references to predestination, I cannot recommend him as a teacher because his core theology opposes the true gospel.