26. A king becomes a leper. A king becomes a leper. We'll
read several of these verses but we see in the life of Uzziah
the dangers of pride and being lifted up with pride. We will see how he was lifted
up with pride because God blessed him. God blessed this man, this
king, greatly. But he let the blessings of God
go to his head. And he thought that he could
just usurp the authority of the priest and he'll just be the
priest himself. And he meets with a terrible
end. God turns him into a leper. He
has to be put into a house by himself until the rest of his
life, however much longer that was. And he died. And when they
buried him, they buried him out in the field of the kings, but
he was not buried among the tombs of the king. Because as it says
in the last verse, he's a leper. He's a leper. Now let's look
at this. I'm going to read some verses.
I may read them all. I don't know. But then all the
people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made
him king in the room of his father Amaziah, 16 years old. Can you imagine that? 16 years
old. He built Eloth and restored it
to Judah. After that, the king slept with
his fathers. But he's 16 years old was Uzziah
when he began to reign and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. That's a long reign, 52 years. His mother's name also was Jecholiah
of Jerusalem. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord. He's a good king. According to
all that his father Amaziah did but like his father Amaziah He
goes wrong in the end Isn't that just human human nature God lets
us and he hasn't hid the sins of his choice servants in the
in the Word of God in the Old Testament we see we see there
they follow the Lord with and then all of a sudden they they
fall and because salvation is of the Lord, and all of our hope
is of the Lord, and all of our standing and strength is of the
Lord from the time we re born till the time we die. There s
no time that we can go on our own. There s no time that we
can go in the energy of the flesh He did that which was right in
the sight of the Lord, like his father, Amaziah. But you know,
if you look up in the last chapter, chapter 25, you'll see Amaziah
was assassinated. He was assassinated. And it says
that he had after in verse 27, 25 said, Now, after the time
that Amaziah did not or did turn away from following the Lord,
he followed the Lord and then he turned away and then he was
assassinated. And he sought God in the days
of Zechariah. And of course, Isaiah was also
a contemporary who had understanding in the visions of God. And now
listen, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. I sent this chapter. I told someone
the other day, not here. I said, read this chapter. Now
it says especially mark verse 5 and verse 16 and remember those
two verses. As long as he sought the Lord,
God made him to prosper. And he went forth and he warred
against the Philistines and break down the wall of Gath and the
wall of Jabna and the wall of Ashdod and built cities about
Ashdod and among the Philistines. He was a great military leader,
a great military strategist, and God blessed him. I don't
care how good we are at anything, if God doesn't bless it, it's
not going to go anywhere. satan said concerning job you've
blessed the work of his hands paul said one waters he said
i water and another plants but god gives the increase it's god
that gives the increase if he doesn't bless the work of our
hands i don't care how intelligent how talented we are it's going
nowhere nowhere In verse 7, And God helped him against the Philistines,
and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gerbal, and the Mihunims,
and the Ammonites. And the Ammonites gave gifts
to Uzziah, and his name spread abroad, even to the entering
in of Egypt. He was known far and wide, for
he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover Uzziah built towers
in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at
the turning of the wall, and fortified them. Also he built
towers in the desert, and that was to protect his sheep and
cattle, what all he had. And he digged many wells, for
he had much cattle, both in the low country and in the plains
husband husbandmen also and vine dressers in the mountains and
in karma he loved husbandry he loved farming he loved he loved
land he he loved it moreover uzi had a host of fighting men
he had an army that went out to war by bands according to
the number of their account by the hand of jail the scribe And
this jail the scribe in Messiah the ruler under the hand of Hananiah,
one of the king's captains, the whole number of the chief of
the fathers of the mighty men of valor were 2,600 men. He had a great army. He was known
far and wide. He was respected far and wide. He was feared far and wide. And under their hand was an army
of 300,000, 7,500 that made war with mighty power to help the
king against the enemy. And Uzziah prepared for them
throughout all the host shields and spears and helmets and havagons
and bows and slings to cast stones. And he made in Jerusalem engines. He was an inventor. This man
was brilliant. He was brilliant. It was invented
by cunning men to be on the towers and upon the bulwark, to shoot
arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad,
for he was marvelously helped by God. As long as he called upon God and
he followed the Lord, he was marvelously helped. THIS MAN
WAS SOMEBODY IN THAT DAY! HIS POWER, HIS GLORY WAS KNOWN! BUT, BOY, WHEN THAT COMES UP,
BUT, BUT, THAT'S A PROBLEM! HERE'S A PROBLEM! WHOSE EYE MADE
A SERIOUS, SERIOUS ERROR, BUT WHEN HE WAS STRONG, MIGHTY! MARVELOUSLY STRONG AND MIGHTY!
HIS HEART WAS LIFTED UP TO HIS DESTRUCTION. WELL, GOD HAS TO KEEP US HUMBLE.
WE OUGHT TO THANK GOD FOR OUR TRIALS THAT KEEP US HUMBLE, THAT
KEEP US COMING TO HIM, THAT KEEP US LOOKING TO HIM. I THINK WHEN
LIFE IS OVER we could look back on it I don't know how it's going
to be but we could look back on it we would probably thank
God far more for the trials and the hard acts and the things
that He took away from us as much if not more than anything
else when He disciplined us, chastened us so that we would
not run with the world to keep us from being lifted up with
pride. What was Satan's fall? Pride. Pride. What does it say goes before
a fall? Pride goes before a fall and
a haughty spirit before destruction. when he was strong his heart
was lifted up to his destruction for he transgressed against the
lord his god and went into the temple of the lord to burn incense
upon the altar of incense he decided to take the place
of the priest listen god is a god of order is he not a god of order
you know when god set the man as the head of the house and
the woman to be a subjection to the man. That was not because
the woman is weaker or for any other reason than this. It's
the order that God has set because it represents Christ and the
church. I sent someone a message yesterday
And I said, I want you and your wife to be, I said, I want you
all to sit down and listen to this. I sent it to Madison. I said, I want you to sit down
and I want you to listen to this. She and I was having some discussions. I hope she's not listening to
this. She's strong headed. She's strong
headed. And we were talking about husbands,
wives, and she was like, submit? Really? I said to her, yeah,
really, really. And here King Uzziah, because
he's strong, God blessed him. He'd have been nobody, a nobody
without God. And so would you and I. We wouldn't
have what we have without God. He's given us everything we have.
God's given us everything we have. And then for me to say,
look what I have done, like Nebuchadnezzar did. Boy, you're just calling
on God to do something to you. You're just calling on God to
throw you to the ground. But there's a greater importance
here, there's a greater issue here than what I'm just now saying. I mean, what I'm saying is so.
What HE'S DOING is HE'S SAYING, by usurping the authority of
the priest, HE'S SAYING, I DON'T NEED A MEDIATOR. That's what
HE'S SAYING. I DON'T NEED THE PRIEST. And
that priest represented JESUS CHRIST. The priesthood was set
up by God for one purpose, to represent and teach us of the
priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ, to teach us of our need
of a mediator. We need someone to stand between
us and God, and Uzziah is saying by his conduct, I don?t need
a mediator. It?s like me and God?s got a
good thing going. HE WILL ACCEPT THIS OFFERING OF INCENSE HERE,
HE'LL ACCEPT IT FOR ME, I CAN OFFER IT, I DON'T NEED YOU. BOY,
HE OVERSTEPPED HIS BOUNDS. WE NEED CHRIST. WE NEED CHRIST
TO MEDIATE FOR US. WE NEED CHRIST TO STAND BETWEEN
US AND GOD. WE NEED CHRIST TO INTERCEDE FOR
US, DON'T And Uzziah was saying by this
conduct, I don't need Christ. And he usurped the authority
of the priest that God gave to the priest. And here's something
I noticed reading over this morning in verse 17. And Azariah the
priest went in after him, and with him eighty priests. Eighty
priests went in after him. of the LORD, that were valiant
men, and they were not cowards. And they withstood Uzziah the
king. And they said to him, It appertains
not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD. That s
not your business. Now here s what stood out to
me, the COURAGE of God s man. He withstood the king. This is
the king. and he and 80 priests went in
and said hold hold up hold up you've overstepped you've overstepped
your bounds king this doesn't pertain to you you get out of
here get out of here they told him to get out this is the king
and this shows the authority and the courage of God's man but TO THE PRIEST, THE SONS OF AARON,
THAT ARE CONSECRATED TO BURN INCENSE. God set us apart. God set us apart. Don t change
the order of God. Not in the temple, not in worship,
not in the home. Don t change that. Don t change
it. GO OUT OF THE SANCTUARY, FOR
THOU HAST TRESPASSED, NEITHER SHALL IT BE FOR THINE HONOR FROM
GOD. God s not going to honor you. God s not going to honor you
for doing this. And Uzziah was angry, wroth, and he had a censure. He wasn t going to do it. He
s going to do it. They challenged him. They challenged him. he was angry and as a king he
felt he felt he was really offended because he was his authority
was challenged and while he was wroth and angry with the priest
no doubt standing there probably yelling at him The leprosy even
rose up in his forehead before the priest in the house of the
Lord from beside the incense of the altar. And Azariah the
chief priest and all the priests looked up on him, and behold,
he was leprous in his forehead. They thrust him out from thence,
yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten
him. Because He was attempting to take the place
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator. And Uzziah the king was a leper
to the day of his death, and he dwelt in a several house,
being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord.
And Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people
of the land. And the rest of the acts of Uzziah,
first and last, did Isaiah the prophet." Isaiah really admired this man. I mean,
he highly admired him. He wrote of his whole life. FIRST
AND LAST DID ISAIAH THE PROPHET, THE SON OF AMOS WRITE. SO ISAIAH
SLEPT WITH HIS FATHERS, AND THEY BURIED HIM WITH HIS FATHERS IN
THE FIELD OF THE BURIAL WHICH BELONGED TO THE KINGS. FOR THEY
SAID, HE'S A LEPER. HE WENT IN A KING, AND HE WAS
A GOOD KING. FIFTY-TWO YEARS, HE WAS A GOOD
KING FOR MOST OF THAT TIME. And you know, and I know that
he's a man and you know what he sinned and he sinned just
like we do. You know, he sinned for those
52 years. He sinned just like we do. He
did things he shouldn't have done, said things he shouldn't
have said. But when he, when he went in
to usurp the authority of the priest, God turned him into a
leper and destroyed him. And the last thing written of
him, the last thing written of him is what? He's a leper. He's a leper. Now turn over to
Isaiah chapter 6. Let me close this out. Isaiah learned something from
this because Isaiah admired this man. I believe he highly admired
this king. And when this happened to him,
God gave Isaiah a greater vision of what happened to Uzziah and
what he did when Isaiah saw the Lord. You know, we have a greater
understanding of why God sends men to hell when we understand
who God is. If you don't understand who God
is, hell just seems like it's too brutal. It seems like it's
inhumane. Doesn't it? Now, I know you've
had to think at times, sit down and think of the eternal punishment
of hell. Someone being punished for their
sins and it never ends. It never ends. If you never understand
who God is, that will always be perplexing to you. But when
you understand who God is, when you understand something of God
s absolute holiness, and that s when you begin to understand
of our absolute sinfulness. YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LEARN ANYTHING
ABOUT SIN UNTIL YOU LEARN ABOUT GOD, UNTIL YOU LEARN ABOUT HIM. Isaiah 6 In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw the LORD, God turned His
eyes from King Uzziah, and He let Isaiah see Him who
is holy. in the year that king Uzziah
died I saw also also the Lord sitting upon a throne he saw
the judge he saw the judge that's what he saw he saw the sovereign
ruling judge of heaven and earth God is the judge and his judgments
are right what he did to what he did to Uzziah was right I saw also the Lord sitting upon
the throne high and lifted up, and His train, His skirt, His
glory filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims,
each one had six wings. With twain He covered His face."
Why would He cover His face? Even a seraphim that has no sin
still could not look upon God. Think about that. The seraphim
which has no sin still had to cover his face because he couldn't
look upon God. And with twain he covered his
feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and
they said, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY! Now, if a false religion was writing
this, they would write LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. That's the first
thing they'd write, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. But when Isaiah writes this,
and he sees God in His glory, the first thing he sees and the
first thing he hears HE SEES HIM SITTING UPON A THRONE HIGH
AND LIFTED UP, NONE COMPARED TO HIM. AND THEY CRY HOLY, HOLY,
HOLY IS THE LORD OF HOSTS, LORD OF ARMIES, THE WHOLE EARTH IS
FULL OF HIS GLORY. THE WHOLE EARTH FULL OF HIS GLORY. And the POST OF THE DOOR MOVED
AT THE VOICE OF HIM THAT CRIED, AND THE HOUSE WAS FILLED WITH
SMOKE. And then said, for the first time, some say this is
when his ministry really began, for the first time, if you ll
read the first five chapters of Isaiah, It is woe them, woe
them, woe you, woe you, woe you. And then come to chapter six,
he sees the Lord and he says, woe me. Woe me. I think the best preacher,
those that make the best preachers, I know the ones that God calls,
but they're sinners. I don't want to hear an angel
preach the gospel. I want to hear a sinner preach the gospel. he kept well let's say Uzziah
because of God's great blessings was lifted up with pride and
he's given Isaiah a real glimpse here of his glory and this is
going to go a long ways in keeping Isaiah from being lifted up with
pride. God gave Paul a thorn in the
flesh because of the abundance of revelations that God gave
him to keep him from being lifted up with pride. I tell you with
pride, pride will grow on concrete. It's there and it's constantly
trying to push through and God has to keep it down and He does
so by giving us a glimpse of Himself. Sending us trials to
keep us down then said I woe is me For I am undone Cut off
that's why he said I'm cut off Because I am a man of unclean
lips God's teaching this man something this is his prophet
It had been good of whose I would have learned this Before he went
into that temple And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips. I'm a sinner, and I'm preaching
to sinners. And I know that. I'm a sinful
man. Was it Peter that said, Lord,
depart from me? I'm a sinful man. I'm a sinful man preaching to
a sinful people. Now Isaiah is ready. HE'S READY
TO GO OUT AND PREACH. HE HAS SEEN HIMSELF AND THE PEOPLE
HE'S PREACHING TO. I DWELL IN THE MIDST OF A PEOPLE
OF UNCLEAN LIPS, FOR MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE KING, THE LORD
OF HOSTS. I HAVE BEHELD GOD, AND THIS IS
WHAT I HAVE COME AWAY WITH. GOD IS HOLY. I AM SINFUL. I DWELL AMONG A PEOPLE THAT ARE
SINFUL. And I need a mediator. You need one? I sure do. I need a mediator. Then flew one of the seraphims
unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth
and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquity is
taken away, and thy sin is purged. They also I heard the voice of
the Lord saying who shall I send and who will go for us then said
I hear my send me now he's ready to go now he's ready to preach
we're gonna I'm gonna touch on this with in the next message
with Moses man can preach when he learns
he can't preach when he totally relies upon God NOT ONLY TO GIVE
HIM THE MESSAGE, BUT TO MAKE THE MESSAGE TO GO OUT IN POWER
AND BE RECEIVED IN THE HEART OF HIS PEOPLE. I DON'T GIVE POWER
TO THE MESSAGE AT ALL. THERE IS NO GOING AROUND THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. THIS STORY, WHAT WE TAKE AWAY
FROM THIS STORY HERE, IS OUR NEED OF A MEDIATOR, OUR NEED
OF A HIGH PRIEST, AND WE HAVE THAT IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HIS BLOOD IS THE BLOOD OF ATONEMENT,
HIS SACRIFICE IS OUR SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS, HIS INTERCESSION
FOR US, HIS PRAYERS IS FOR US, WE NEED HIM, I NEED HIM TO PRAY
FOR ME, INTERCEDE FOR ME, STAND BEFORE GOD FOR ME, There's never
a time, there's never a time that I do not need Jesus Christ. Never a time.