Okay, now we're looking at 2
Kings chapter 15, as we read earlier, verse 1 down through
verse 7 about Uzziah. But I want to use mainly for
the message and the text 2 Chronicles 26 verse 1 down through verse
23. And I'm entitling the message
from these two chapters, Uzziah's great sin against God. We read that in 2 Kings 15. in
2nd Kings or 2nd Chronicles 26 that Uzziah died a leper. God had smitten him with leprosy. Now what was the great transgression
and the sin of Uzziah that caused God to kill him and that's exactly
what happened. God killed him with leprosy.
Well, here's the scene. He tried to approach God and
worship God apart from a proper and suitable priest. He tried
to usurp the authority of God's priest. He tried to bypass the
priest of God and tried to come to God without a mediator, without
a priest. You can't do that and live He
tried to be his own priest. He tried to intercede for himself. And many people today, especially
religious folks, self-righteous folks, that are full of religious
pride, they make the same fatal mistake to try to approach God
apart from the only suitable mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's just one way to approach
God, and we know what that way is, don't we? It's Christ, Christ
alone. There is just one great high
priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is just one mediator between
God and men, and that is the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, the life, no man, no man. Any part of no you don't
understand? No man come to the Father but
by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. To come any other way
but the way God says to come is deadly and damning to our
soul. He that believeth on the Son
hath life, he that believeth not the wrath of God abides on
him. The thing about this What a blessing
of salvation to come to God by the Lord Jesus Christ. Boy, that's
a great blessing that God has given to us the way of mercy. He ever lives to intercede for
us. He's able to save to the uttermost. He said, all that
the Father giveth to me, they will come to me. And those that
come to me, I will not cast out. The Lord said, by me, if any
man enter in, he said, I'm the door. by me if any man enter
in, he shall be saved." Now Uzziah had a prosperous reign for many
years. In total he reigned 52 years. Now that's a pretty long reign. Some of the kings reigned just
a few years. David reigned 40 years, and some
others reigned 40 years, but Uzziah reigned for 52 years. And many things he did, he did
that which was honoring to the Lord, but like his father, Amaziah,
he did not remove the high places. We're going to see that through
several of those kings. They did not remove the high
places till we get down to a king by the name of Hezekiah. And
finally Hezekiah removed the high places. And it cost him
dearly. Notice what it says down in verse
5 of 2 Chronicles 26. He sought God in the days of
Zechariah who had an understanding in visions, in the visions of
God, or the revelation of God, as long as he sought the Lord,
he sought the Lord through the prophet who had the Word of God,
God made him to prosper. God blessed him. He sought the
Lord to know the will of the Lord through the prophet of God
who had the word of God, Zechariah, that was good and proper to seek
to know the will of the Lord through God's prophet, right?
God hath in these last days, he spoke to the fathers by the
prophets, he hath in these last days spoken unto us through the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is the great prophet of God. You remember
Deuteronomy 18, 18, God said, I'll raise up a prophet from
among the brethren. As long as he sought the Lord,
through the prophet of God, who had the word of God, seeking
the will of God, God made him to prosper. Remember the words
of of the prophet of God to Joash, who was the grandfather of Uzziah,
the word of the prophet of God to Joash said, you cannot forsake
the Lord and prosper. As long as Uzziah sought the
Lord, the Lord made him prosper. Now, when I think of that word
prosper, I think of how the pleasure of the Lord is made to prosper
in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that Isaiah 53. How every believer is made to
prosper in Christ. Now hold your place there and
find Isaiah. Isaiah 52, 11. Isaiah 52, I want
to look down at verse 13 Isaiah 52 13 behold my servant
shall deal prudently He shall be exalted and extolled and be
very high Behold my servant shall deal prudently and the marginal
references my servant shall prosper He talking about the righteous
servant of God the Lord Jesus Isaiah 53 10 Yet it pleased the
Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in his hand." The only prosperity that we know of is through the
blessings we have in Christ. Look at Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55,
11. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the thing whereunto I send it." We will prosper believing
the word of the Lord. Turn to one other reference on
that word prosper, Jeremiah. 23, verse 5, Jeremiah 23, 5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, a king
shall reign and prosper. Now who is that king? Christ
our King. and shall execute judgment and
justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved,
and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness." Now pencil in
this reference Jeremiah 33, 16. But it says over there in Jeremiah
33, 16, "...in those days Judah shall be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely." And this is a name whereby she shall be
called. the Lord our Righteousness. You see that's our name too.
And we prosper, we prosper in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and in Christ
we stand complete. There is no spiritual prosperity
outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son, whatever
else you have, you don't have any prosperity or any spiritual
life. Now in verse 6 back in our text,
I won't go back and read these verses, but in verse 6 down to
verse 15 as we read, we have the many prosperous things that
Uzziah was given of the Lord in those years. Take a look at
verse 7. God helped him against the Philistines. God helped him against his enemies. And then it says down in the
last part of verse 8, and he strengthened He was strengthened
exceedingly. God gave him wisdom. God gave
him strength. God made him to prosper. And
as long as he sought the Lord, the Lord made him to prosper.
In verse 9 and 10, we read that he served the people by building
towers to protect Jerusalem from the invading armies. He built
towers in the desert to protect the livestock. He dug many wells. He planted many vineyards. He
was a farmer. He loved the ground. And God
gave him a fruitful, fruitful land. And verse 11, down through
verse 15, we read that Uzziah marshaled a great army of over
307,000 men, well armed and trained to protect the kingdom. Verse 13, 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 them to add
all the host of shields and spears and helmets and haberjohns or
shields, bows and slings to cast stones. Verse 15, he made in
Jerusalem engines These machines invented by cunning men, where
did they get that wisdom? God gave them that wisdom to
be on the towers upon the bulwarks to shoot arrows. They had machines
that shot arrows. They had machines that would
cast great stones and his name spread far and wide for he was
marvelously helped. God helped him in many ways till
he was lifted up with pride. He invented these great machines,
and as I said earlier, they're called catapults. Some think
that these were used by Uzziah and his army first, not the Roman
army, not the Greek army. It was a Jewish invention. God
gave somebody wisdom. The fame of Uzziah spread abroad. And the Lord mightily helped
him, marvelously helped him, made him to prosper. And that
went on pretty good until his heart was lifted up with pride. Look at verse 16, and here's
this big word, but. However. But when he was strong,
his heart was lifted up to destruction. He was full of himself and full
of pride, ignoring the law of God, ignoring the order of God. For he transgressed against the
Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense
upon the altar of incense." Now just reading that, and thinking,
well, it seems harmless. It seemed like he was doing a
religious exercise to go into the temple of the Lord. Well,
surely that's right. And to go into the holy place
and take incense and perfume that room before the veil. And
you think, well, that's an innocent thing. No, it was a deadly thing. It was a sinful thing. His heart
was lifted up with pride. You remember last week, pride
goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall,
Proverbs 16, 18. Notice what Uzziah did. Repeating myself, he went into
the temple to burn, temple of God to burn incense upon the
altar of incense. But he was a king. Kings were
not allowed to do that. The king even had to have a priest.
He wasn't a priest. Uzziah had no business attempting
to burn incense unto the Lord. He went into the holy place before
the veil to do so. And God was angry with him. Look at verse 17. And Azariah,
Azariah the priest, the high priest, went in after him. He
saw the king going in, and he ran in after him to try to stop
him, to try to warn him. And with him, 80 other common
priests, four score, of the Lord, that were valiant men, and they
withstood the king. Now this man's the king. He has
all authority and all power, but not above God. And they said
to him, it's not right. It appertaineth not unto thee,
use I to burn incense unto the Lord, but only to the priest,
only to the sons of Aaron, only to the tribe of Levi that were
consecrated, set apart to burn incense. Now these incense, burning
in that altar, Vincent, before the veil or picture of the prayers
of Christ for us to go out of the sanctuary. For thou hast
trespassed, neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord
thy God. But instead of being humbled
and broken, Uzziah was angry. Azariah, the high priest, and
80 others went in to stop him, to intervene, and persuade him,
don't do this. Don't do this. There was a standoff.
You see, only the sons of Aaron had God set apart for this office
of the priest, to represent the people to God, not the king.
You cannot honor God. Look what it says in the last
part of verse 18. Neither shall it be for thine
honor from the Lord thy God. You're not going to honor God
by doing this. You're going to dishonor Him. Only the sons of
Aaron had God set apart for this office to represent the people
to God, not the king. And they said, you cannot honor
God and disobey the word and the will of the Lord. Now, if
you want to turn with me, you can, but Numbers 18, can you
find Numbers right over here, Numbers? Numbers 18. If you have the Cambridge I have,
it's page 215, Numbers 18. Now, verse six, Numbers 18, verse
six. And I beheld, I have taken your
brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel, to you
they are given as a gift for the Lord to do service at the
tabernacle of the congregation. Therefore thou and thy sons with
thee shall keep your priest office for everything of the altar and
within the veil, and you shall serve. I have given your priest's
office unto you as a service of a gift, and the stranger that
cometh nigh shall be put to death." In Numbers 16 verse 40, to be
a memorial to the children of Israel that no stranger which
is not of the seed of Aaron come near to the offer incense before
the Lord that you be not as Korah and his company as the Lord said
to him by the hand of Moses." That is Korah tried to usurp
the authority of Aaron too and God killed him. This was set
aside only for the sons of Aaron and the priest of God. Now, why
is all that so particular? Because it all pictures the Lord
Jesus Christ, doesn't it? He is our High Priest. We're
going to see that in a minute. Verse 19, Uzziah, back in our
text. Uzziah was wroth and had a censer
in his hand. And while he was wroth with the
priests, now who was he really angry at? His anger, he was trespassing
against the Lord. This was God's order. The leprosy
even rose up in his forehead before the priest in the house
of the Lord. And Azariah, the chief priest, and all the priests
looked upon him. Behold, he was leprous in his
forehead, and they thrust him out from thence. Yea, he himself
hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him, and
he died a leper." He was a leper until the day of his death. The Lord, in the most severe
way, chastise him as a leper, and he remained that until he
died." Now look at verse 22. Now the rest of the Acts of Uzziah,
first and last, did Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amos, write? Now this makes a lot of sense
when you read, turn to Isaiah 6 now. When you read Isaiah 6, Verse 1, Isaiah 6, verse 1, in
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. Isaiah knew something of the
holy character of God, His inflexible justice, that even the king could
even go in and act as a priest before God. In the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. sitting upon a throne high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the
seraphims, each one had six wings, with two he covered his face,
with two he covered his feet, and with two he did fly. The
message of God's servants cried one to another, Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of glory, and the
post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and
the house was filled with smoke. Verse 5, then said I, woe is
me. I'm in trouble. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips. He's saying here, I deserve exactly
what Uzziah deserved. Because I'm a man of unclean
lips, I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for
mine eyes have seen the king the Lord of glory, the Lord of
hosts. He saw God in His holy character that must punish every
sin against God, either in you or in the substitute, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, what's the gospel lesson
for us today? What does all that have to do
with us today? Well, it's relative to us, isn't
it? Our great God has not changed. I am the Lord, he says, I do
not change. He was holy and just in that
day, and he's holy and just in this day. His order has not changed. His priesthood has not changed. God is holy. Immutably holy. Eternally holy. And He's not
going to change His holy character to sneak us in the back door
of glory. He has to save us in such a way
that honors His own holy character. I know this, God has not changed
and men have not changed. You read Isaiah 40, all flesh
is grass. Man in his best state is altogether
vanity. There's none righteous, no not
one. God has not changed, men have not changed, and the way
of salvation, it hasn't changed either. There's no other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. The
Lord Jesus Christ we know is the only way of salvation. He is our great high priest who
intercedes for us. The Old Testament priest appointed
by God and set apart by God to represent the people of Israel
They were pictures and types of the Lord Jesus Christ who
represents us unto our God. They entered the Holy of Holies
on this earth on the Day of Atonement to put blood upon the mercy seat.
But as we read over in Hebrews 9, turn to the book of Hebrews,
we're going to spend a little time there in the book of Hebrews. They entered into the holy of
holies made with hands, but the Lord Jesus Christ, as our great
high priest, He entered into heaven itself. Hebrews 9, 24.
For Christ did not enter into the holy places made with hands,
which are figures of the true. Hebrews 9, 24. but in heaven
itself now to appear in the presence of God for us." Now those priests
entering into the Holy of Holies is a picture of Christ. They
went into the Holy of Holies under the veil What did they
bring with them? The blood, the blood of a substitute,
the blood of a sacrifice. And they put that blood on the
mercy seat. That blood is a picture of Christ, our great high priest,
who did not bring the blood of bulls and goats, but with his
own blood. That mercy seat, that blood put upon that mercy seat
that covered the law that was in that covenant, all that is
a picture of Christ. He is our mercy seat. He is our
propitiation. The sacrifices that were offered
under the law were only typical of the sacrifice of Christ for
us. They offered the blood of bulls and goats. 11 in Hebrews
9 but Christ being come a high priest of good things to come
by greater and more perfect Tabernacle not made with hand what that
is to say not of this building Neither by the blood of goats
and calves but by his own blood He entered once into the holy
place the holy place not on earth now in heaven Having obtained
eternal redemption for us, God bought us with His own blood. They offered many sacrifices,
the priests under the law, but their sacrifices never put away
sin. The Lord Jesus Christ offered
one sacrifice for sin that forever put away our sin. Now find Hebrews
chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. The first was the first covenant
of law that was revealed. The second is that eternal covenant
of grace. Hebrews 10.10. By the witch will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once, once, one time. And that one time is for all
his people, every priest standing daily ministering and offering,
oftentimes, the same sacrifices which can never take away sin.
But this man, after he offered one sacrifice for sin forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool, Hebrews 10, 14, for
but one offering He perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Wherefore the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us, for that
after that He said before, this is the covenant that I'll make
with them after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws into
their hearts and in their minds will I read them and their sin
and their iniquity. God says, I will remember that
no more. Now, how come? because the Lord
Jesus Christ took our sin to himself and took them away. It says in Hebrews 9, 26, remember? He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Those priests in that Aaronic priesthood they
held their office only while they lived a short time. The
Lord Jesus Christ is our eternal great high priest after the order
of not Aaron but Melchizedek. He is our ever living priest. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
affectionately Bring a sinner unto God Almighty. As a matter of fact, the scripture
said the Lord Jesus Christ suffered once for our sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might do what? Bring us unto God. That's the only way we can come.
Through Christ our Great High Priest. Our Lord Jesus Christ
can present us in himself, faultless before the presence of God's
glory, with exceeding joy." We've heard that before, haven't we? The Lord Jesus Christ, under
the law there was a prophet, there was a priest, and there
was a king. No man ever held all three of those offices. David
was a king, but he wasn't a priest. Samuel was a prophet, but he
wasn't a king. The Lord Jesus Christ is both
prophet, priest, and king. Now, listen to this. He's a prophet
to reveal the way. Christ is that way. He is a priest
to represent us in that way. And then he is a king to reign
over that way. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. He is prophet, priest, and king. Now, would you dare come to God
any other way but through the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, it's
suicide. That would be a suicide mission.
It would be certain death and destruction. Now, we see the
seriousness of the sin of Uzziah. He attempted to usurp the office
of the priest. Really? of Christ. In other words,
he was denying the person and office work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, rejecting the intercessory, mediatorial work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the Lord justly killed him,
condemned him over this terrible sin, usurping God's way of salvation. Now, how serious is that? Turn to Hebrews 10. You're right
there in the book of Hebrews, Hebrews 10. He that despised
Moses' law, Hebrews 10, 28. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. And that's what he
did. He despised the law of Moses.
How much sore punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy
who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted
the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing."
That's what Uzziah did, and that's what every sinner does who thinks
he can be his own savior, his own high priest. "...and hath
done despite to the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath
said, Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. And again, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God. May God help us to see that the
Lord Jesus Christ is all in salvation and that we stand complete in
Him. Nothing needs to be added. You just mess it up. Christ is all and in all. All and in all. Christ is all. He's all I need.