Would you turn to 2 Kings chapter
14. Verse 21. And all of the people of Judah
took Azariah. Now, that is the same as Uzziah. Remember in the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. That is the same person being
spoken of, Uzziah. And all the people of Judah took
Uzziah or Azariah, which was 16 years old and made him king
instead of his father, Amaziah. He built Eloth and restored it
to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. Now let's pick
up in chapter 15. In the twenty and seventh year of
Jeroboam, king of Israel, began Azariah, son of Amaziah, king
of Judah, to reign. Sixteen years old was he when
he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem.
and his mother's name was Jekali of Jerusalem. And he did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all
that his father Amaziah had done, save that the high places were
not removed. The people sacrificed and burnt
incense still on the high places, and the Lord smoked the king
so that he was a leper until the day of his death and dwelt
in a several house. And Jotham king's son was over
the house judging the people of the land and the rest of the
acts of Azariah or Uzziah. And all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
And Azariah slept with his fathers and they buried him with his
fathers in the city of David. And Jotham his son reigned in
his stead. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and we're so thankful that we can come into
your presence and be heard through him. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that you would reveal yourself to each one of us and teach us
what it means to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he be exalted. May we be
found in him. May our sins be forgiven for
his sake. Bless us, bless all your people
wherever they meet together. We pray for your mercy upon our
leaders. We ask that you would give them
direction and cause them to do your will as we know you do.
And we give thanks for that. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
Now this is the story of Uzziah. You remember when Isaiah said
in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. This is the story of Uzziah. And among other things, it reminds
us that the Lord brings good out of evil. You know, he's the
only one who can do that, but he brings good out of evil. You know, I always get, um, just
a little bit troubled when I hear people saying, well, we need
to make sure we don't charge the Lord with evil. He controls
evil. He controls evil. And everything
that happens, whatever it is, it's his will being done. And
he brings good out of evil. And let me remind you, the cross
is the most evil thing to ever take place. And it's the most
glorious thing to ever take place. That's the Lord. He brings good.
Now Uzziah is the third king of Judah in a row that began
well and ended bad. People have tried to argue, well,
maybe these kings were believers, maybe they weren't, who knows?
Who knows? I don't know. I mean, Uzziah
was a good king and ended up going bad. But I've heard or
I've read people say he couldn't have been a believer. I've heard
people say or read people say he was. Who knows? I mean, Solomon,
I'm sure people thought he wasn't a believer and he was. But Uzziah
is the third of the third king in a row who started out well
under the influence of somebody else and ended up going bad. Now, what I'd like for us to
do is look at the Chronicles account because we're given details
as to why he became a leper. Turn to 2 Chronicles chapter
26. We read he died a leper, but
the King's account doesn't give us any information as to why
that took place, but the Chronicles account lets us know. Verse one. Then all the people
of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king
in the room of his father Amaziah. He built Eloth and restored it
to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. 16 years old was Uzziah when
he began to reign. And he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem,
His mother's name was Jekaliah of Jerusalem. And he did that
which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all
that his father Amaziah did. And he sought God in the days
of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. And as
long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. Now, Zechariah
is the prophet Zechariah. It's next to the last book of
the Old Testament. As long as he was under his influence, he
did well. He was faithful. As long as he
was under his influence and as long as he sought the Lord, God
made him to prosper. And then it talks about the prosper
of his reign. The saying, make America great again. Well, he made Israel great again.
You listen, let's read this history of what he did for Israel verse
six. And he went forth and ward against
the Philistines. and break down the wall of Gath,
and the wall of Jabnah, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities
about Ashted among the Philistines. And God helped him against the
Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gerbiel,
and the Munims, and the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah. He became
so powerful that these other countries were having to pay
tribute again. And they were once again a military
power that people would pay them just to not attack them. And his name spread abroad even
to the entering into Egypt, for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover, Uzziah built towers
in Jerusalem at the corner gates and at the valley gate and at
the turning of the wall and fortified them. He made Jerusalem a military
power. And he built towers in the desert
and digged many wells, for he had much cattle both in the low
country and in the plains. husbandmen also and vine dressers
in the mountains and in Carmel, for he loved husbandry." He loved
farming. Now this is how he made Israel
great. He increased their food and all of a sudden they could
sell food to people because they were so successful in farming. He loved husbandry. Verse 11,
moreover, Uzziah had a host of fighting men that went out to
war by bands, according to the number of their account, by the
hand of Gael, the scribe, and Maazel, the ruler, and 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 2,000. and 600, these are the captains,
and under their hand was an army 300,000 and 7,500 that made war
with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. Now,
there we have his military might. What an army. And Uzziah prepared
for them throughout all the host, shields and spears and helmets
and hammer guns and bows and slings to cast stones. And listen
to this, verse 15, he made in Jerusalem engines. Invented by
cunning men to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, they shoot
arrows and great stones with all. Now this is the first mention
in ancient writing of a catapult. You all know what the catapults
are that throw the stones. This is the first time in ancient
writings we ever read anything of catapults. They invented this.
Now this is how powerful this man was. Verse 15, and his name
spread far abroad. For he was marvelously helped
till he was strong. Now you see how he made Israel
great again. What a man under his leadership,
what benefit there was. Verse 16, but. How many people
can take prosperity? Not many, but. 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. We're talking
about the holy place that only the priests could go in. He thought,
look how the Lord's blessed me. I can do it. Look how I've been
blessed. I can come in. He went into the temple of the
Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. Now this is
talking about the holy place where only the priests, and this
represents the only way I can come into God's presence is Christ.
I can't come on my own. Somehow he thought I can come
on my own. I've been so helped, I'm so blessed,
this is working. Verse 17, and Azariah the priest
went in after him. And with him fourscore priests
of the Lord that were valiant men, and they withstood Uzziah
the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee,
Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests,
the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense, go out of the
sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed. Neither shall it be for thine
honor from the Lord thy God. Then Uzziah was angry. Who are
they to talk to me? Look how the Lord has blessed
me and they presume to correct me." Now he didn't realize what
he'd done. He was bypassing the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what he was doing. He
was saying, I can come into God's presence on my own. And the priest
warns him. He gets angry. Verse 19, then
Uzziah was wroth and had a censer in his hand to burn incense.
And while he was wroth with the priests, The leprosy even arose
up in his forehead before the priests and the house of the
Lord from beside the incense altar. And as arrived the chief
priests and all the priests looked upon him and behold, he was leprous
in his forehead. And they thrust him out from
this. Yea, himself hasted also to go out because the Lord had
smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper. until the day of his death. I couldn't help but thinking
of Naaman. He believed himself to be a great man who happened
to be a leper. And he didn't understand that
he was a leper who happened to be a great man. The same thing with King Uzziah. Now, during this time, there
was a young prophet by the name of Isaiah. Would you turn to
Isaiah chapter one? Now, through this event, we're
given one of the most glorious chapters in the Bible concerning
the gospel. And that's why I say this is
an instance of the Lord bringing good out of evil. Because through
this event, we're given Isaiah chapter six, but look at Isaiah
chapter one, the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Now he was a prophet during
the reigns of four kings. And so when he was a prophet
at this time, he was a very young man. Uzziah is mentioned first. Now turn to chapter six. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne. Now, there was something about
Uzziah's death that hit Isaiah between the eyes. He says, it
was in the year that King Uzziah died that I saw also the Lord. Now, I have no doubt that Isaiah
was impressed with Uzziah. I mean, look at what he had done.
Look at the glory he restored to Israel. And he was impressed
with this man. And he loved this man. The man
did that which was pleasing to the Lord for a time. And he was
all for him. He was impressed. But he watched
when this man dared to approach God without a priest. And God
smote him with leprosy. And all of a sudden he had a
view of God that he had not had before. In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne, ruling and
reigning in complete control, high and lifted up. And his train
filled the temple. Now, if you and I see the Lord,
that's the way we'll see him. High and lifted up, sitting,
ruling and reigning on a throne. Now, somebody that hadn't seen
the Lord like that hadn't seen the Lord, period. That's the
only true side of the Lord there is. Sitting, having finished
his work, on a throne, ruling and reigning high and lifted
up. His train filled the temple.
Verse two, above it, that throne stood the seraphims. And one
had six wings with twain. He covered his face with twain.
He covered his feet. And with twain, he did fly. And
one cried to another saying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Now these heavenly beings called
Seraphims. Six wings. Two wings, they covered
their face. God is too holy for us to look
on. With two, they covered their feet. We're ashamed of ourselves. We're
ashamed of our walk. And somebody says, well, how
could a Seraphim be ashamed of himself? Because he knows what
he would be if God didn't permit it. I think of the, he charges
his angels with folly. Well, the angels, he's not talking
about the fallen angels, he's talking about the ones who didn't
fall. But the thing of it is, even angels, if God didn't keep
them from falling, they will fall, fall, fall. And even these
seraphims knew that the only reason they stood was because
of the will of God and that they would be mutable and they would
mutate and they would fall if he didn't keep them. And with
Twain they did fly, always ready to do the bidding of the Lord. Now I've heard people say, some people say these
represent gospel preachers. I'm sorry, I don't think so.
I don't think so. These, no. These are creatures created
by God And they're permitted to be near the throne. But what
is their cry? Holy, holy, holy. Other, other, other. Holy is the father. Holy is the
son. Holy is the spirit of God. Holy, holy, holy. That's their message. Verse four. The whole earth is full of his
glory and the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried and the house was filled with smoke. Now, I think of the
moving of the very foundations by the power of his voice and
the house filled with smoke. You know, when we talk about
the gospel, in some sense, it's very clear, very simple, and
in some sense, filled with smoke, who can see clearly as we ought
to see. I mean, it just, but here's,
here's Isaiah verse five. This is in the year the King
Uzziah died. When I saw the Lord high and lifted up and I saw
this, heard what the seraphims had to say, then said I, woe
is who? Me. Now, nine times in the first
five chapters of the book of Isaiah, Isaiah says, woe unto
them. And he's accurate. Woe unto them. Five times in chapter five, he
says, woe unto them that whatever he's speaking of, that do these
things that are wrong and sinful. Woe unto them. And he was right. Woe unto them. But when he sees
the Lord, his tune is changed. Woe unto me. All the difference in the world.
Woe unto me. You see, when I see the wrongdoing
of others, I say, woe unto them. This is wrong. This can't be
justified. They're wrong in this. When I
see the Lord, woe is me. Woe is me. I'm not thinking about somebody
else. I'm thinking about myself. Oh, may the Lord make me to be
this way. Woe is me. Look what he says. Verse five,
for I am undone. I'm cut off. I'm cut off. I mean, there's no hope for me. I'm undone. Because I'm a man of unclean
lips. Everything that comes out of my mouth is unclean. If I
said it, it's unclean. You know, a lot of people don't
understand that, but every believer does. If I said it, that makes
it unclean because it came from this unclean heart. I'm a man
of unclean lips. All my woes are you. They're
all unclean. I could see clearly the problems
with those people and I see everything I say is unclean. I'm a man of
unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. And here's how come for mine
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now, how different
is that language? Woe is me. I am undone. Oh, I wish the Lord would keep
me right there. Woe unto you. Woe unto them. Woe is me. Now, this is what Isaiah saw
when he saw the Lord smite Uzziah with leprosy. Uzziah presumed
to come into God's presence without the priest, trying to offer incense
on his own, and God turned him into a leper. And the priest
drove him out. Yea, he himself hasted to go
out. Isaiah says, when I saw that,
that's what took place. Verse six, then, and not until
then, not until then, then flew one of the seraphims unto me,
having a live coal in his hand, which he'd taken with the tongs
from off the altar. Now that's talking about the
altar of sacrifice. the altar that the sacrifice
was burnt upon, slain and burnt, picturing the substitutionary
work of Christ on the cross, the live coal from the altar. I think it's interesting, you
talk about Nadab and Abihu, they were priests, and they were going
to offer up incense, but they didn't use fire from off the
altar. They thought, well, any old fire
will do. We're sincere. We're offering the right incense. We don't have to go to the fire
of the altar to burn this incense. We're okay. And what does scripture
say happened to them? Fire came down from God and consumed
them. You see, there is no approach
of God apart from the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
none. There's none. Now, this seraphim came with
fire from off the altar, the sacrifice of Christ, and he laid
it upon my mouth, my unclean lips, and said, Lo, this has
touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is
purged." Now, there's the gospel. That's the gospel. What did Isaiah
do to get this to happen to him? Nothing. He saw his sinfulness. He saw his utter inability. He
saw that he'd been, as far as he's concerned, he was cut off.
And then the Lord sent this seraphim. Isaiah didn't ask for it. He
didn't even suspect mercy at this time. He was so afraid.
And the Lord sent this seraphim and touched him with that live
coal. And the only way our sin is gonna
be purged is if we're touched by what the Lord did, the precious
blood of Christ. And I love the language, thine
iniquity is taken away and thy sin is purged. Now, the only
hope that any sinner has is for the Lord to take away his iniquity. You can't take it away, you can't
make it not to be, only the Lord can do that. and to purge your
sins, or my sins. Listen to these scriptures. 1
John 3, 5, he was manifested to take away our sins, to remove
them from us. Hebrews 1, 3 says he by himself
purged our sins. That's the gospel Isaiah heard.
You know, I love to call the writings of Isaiah the gospel
of Isaiah. Because that's what it is. There isn't anybody who
preaches the gospel more clearly than Isaiah. Read Isaiah 53.
But this is when he saw the Lord, when he saw Uzziah smitten with
leprosy. And here's an example, once again,
of how God brings good out of evil. I mean, where was Uzziah? Was he a believer? I don't know. I don't know. And I don't need
to know. You don't need to know either.
But I do know this, when he did try to bypass Christ, God turned
him into a leper. And Isaiah saw this, and that
is when he saw the Lord. Verse eight. And I heard the voice of the
Lord. This is after his Iniquity is
taken away and sin is purged. I heard the voice of the Lord
saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Now, I love
that. Whom shall I send? You're not
going to presume in this thing. The only way you'll go is if
he sends you. Whom shall I send? And then Who volunteers? Who will go for us? Whom shall
I send? And you know, this is glorious. The kingdom of God, the army
of God, it's draft only. Whom shall I send? And it's a
volunteer army. Who will go for us? Who wants
to go? And that's the way the kingdom of God works. It's a
draft only. You can't presume to do anything. But yet it's a volunteer only. And look at Isaiah's response. Here am I. Send me. And that's every believer. That's
the response of every believer to the gospel. Here am I. Send
me. And then in the next, I'm not
going to do much more than read these verses, but I think you'll
find this interesting that these next verses are the verses from
the Old Testament that are quoted in the New Testament more than
any other passage of scripture. Let's read it. And he said, go
and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not. See
ye indeed, but perceive not. Well, what a message to go bring
somebody. Make the heart of this people
fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert and be healed. Then said I, Lord,
how long? And he answered, until the cities
be wasted without inhabitants, and the houses without man in
the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord have removed men
far away, and there'll be a great forsaking in the midst of the
land. But, I'm so thankful for the buts of scripture. But, yet
it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten as
a teal tree and as an oak whose substance is in them. When they
cast their leaves, you see a tree without leaves, what's it look
like? Dead. Dead. But there's life there. and they're
coming back, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.
Now, I love thinking about the believer. In this sense, every
believer has a holy seed. It's called the new birth. It's
called the new nature. It's that which cannot be destroyed.
It's that which Satan cannot touch. And you might look at
that person with the holy seed, and he might not have any leaves
that you see, How many times have you, I've looked at trees,
every winter I'll look at trees and think, I wonder if they're
dead, I wonder if they'll come back to life. Because they look
dead, but the holy seed can't die. And they will come back. And that is the blessing we have,
Isaiah chapter six, that is the blessing we have from Uzziah
being smitten as a leper.