Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:01]
A
So we've been making our way through the book of Second Chronicles. We find ourselves in chapter 26. This is a very rich chapter. Many of you might be familiar with this story. With this true historical account, we're going to focus on one man tonight. His name is Uzziah. Uzziah reigns in Judah. And so let's unpack this chapter together. I hope you're there by now. If you're there, say Amen. Verse 1 of 2 Chronicles, chapter 26 says, now all the people of Judah took Uzziah. Notice the language here. They took uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amaziah. So instead of a driver's license, he gets a kingdom. He's 16 years old. When the text here says that they take him, they make him king because of his father, Amaziah. Why? Well, if you were here with us last week, Uzziah's dad, his name was Amaziah. Amaziah started well, didn't finish so well. And Amaziah's life ends in tragedy. There's a conspiracy. He flees, but the men who are seeking his life were already there. And they kill Amaziah in the midst of that conspiracy. What Judah does, the southern kingdom of Judah is they take his 16 year old boy and they make him king. Verse 2, it says, he built Eilat, which is very southern Israel, and restored it to Judah after the king rested with his fathers. Verse 3. Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jekyll of Jerusalem. Verse 4. And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Because there were some good parts about Amaziah's life. And Uzziah keeps his eyes on the Lord for a time, though we're going to see how his life plays out. Verse 5. He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God. And. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. All right, by way of introduction, again, for those of you who've been following our Bible study, you know now that Israel, which was once a nation under King David, under his son, later there's civil war and the kingdom divides. So you have Israel to the north, Judah to the south. Now, check this out. The Bible says that king Uzziah, who's also known as Azariah in 2nd Kings 14, he reigns for a total of 52 years. He is going to be the second longest king who reigns in Judah. 52 years. Now, notice this in the north in Israel, because Uzziah reigns for a total of 52 years. You're gonna see that. How many do we have? 1, 2, 3, 4. We have a total of six kings in that same span who come to the throne in Israel. Jeroboam, ii, Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, and Pekah. All right, guys, that the Bible maybe gives us a few verses to because their reigns aren't that long and they fall into the 52 year span of King Uzziah's reign. I thought this was also interesting to note as well, because sometimes when we read through our Bibles, we don't exactly know how all of the prophets fit in to Israel's history. And so you have the prophets of Isaiah, Hosea, Amos and Zechariah. Those are going to be prophets who are contemporaries of Uzziah. So when you open your Bibles to Isaiah or the minor prophets like Hosea, Amos and Zechariah, you are inserting yourself into the reign of Uzziah, who again reigned for a total of 52 years. Now this is interesting here. It says in verse 5 that Uzziah sought God in the days of Zechariah. Now that could potentially be the prophet Zechariah. Bible scholars are mixed. We, we don't know for certain, but this man mentioned who's kind of like Uzziah's mentor, this could be the prophet Zechariah. It says, who had understanding in the visions of God. Your translation might say in the fear of God, Proverbs 9, 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So he seeks God in the days of Zechariah, who has understanding in the visions of God and the fear of the Lord, and, and as long as Uzziah sought the Lord, God made him prosper. This biblical principle is still true today. As long as we seek the Lord, as long as we faithfully chase after the Lord, seek after the Lord, the Lord is going to be faithful in our lives and we're going to experience blessing in our lives. It doesn't always come in the form of materialistic blessing, but when we set our eyes on the Lord, he's always so faithful to see us through good days, bad days, continue to chase after the Lord. And a little bit again, setting just the context here, Zechariah mentions that in the days of Uzziah there was an earthquake and we Know historically this to be true. In the year 760, there was an earthquake in Judah. Zechariah mentions it. And you need to go home and read Zechariah 14, because what's so interesting about this is Zechariah likens the second coming of Christ to this earthquake that they experienced in the time of Uzziah. I'll just read a few verses of Zechariah 14. So in Zechariah 14, Zechariah, by inspiration of the Spirit, is prophesying about the future time when the Messiah will come and return and rule and reign. In Zechariah 14, it says this in verse 4. And in that day his speaking about the Messiah, and we know this will be fulfilled by Jesus. And in that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Half of the mountain shall move toward the north, half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, King of Judah. So what Zechariah does there is, he says, hey, remember that earthquake we experienced in the days of Uzziah? You're going to experience another earthquake when the Messiah returns. And this is yet to be fulfilled. The Bible says that Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives. When he does that, there will be an earthquake that will split the mountain mount of Olives in two. And Zechariah points to that earthquake, and he says, it's going to be like that when the Messiah returns. Check this out. In Amos. Amos chapter one. In Amos chapter one again, you don't have to turn there. I'm just going to read. Amos 1 refers to the days of Uzziah. Amos 1, verse 1 says the words of Amos, who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. So Amos reckons the time of his prophecy to the earthquake that happened two years ago in the days of Uzziah. You know how like we kind of reckon time to Covid, you know, where it's, you know, someone will say, hey, remember that time? And you think, okay, was that pre Covid or post Covid? And you go back to 2020. And so this is What Amos does. And Amos says he reckons time according to the earthquake of Uzziah. He says, I'm giving you, I'm reckoning time. Remember that earthquake we had Judah two years ago? He's reckoning time according to the earthquake that they experienced in the days of Uzziah. Continuing here in our text, 2nd Chronicles 26. Again, that's just setting up a little bit of the context for us. Verse 6. Now, Uzziah went out and made war against the Philistines and broke down the wall of Gath, the wall of Jabna, and the wall of Ashdod. Those are all cities in the territory of the Philistines. Remember, Goliath was from Gath, and he built cities around Ashdod among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gur BAAL and against the Mayunites. Those are regions to the southeastern part of Judah. There, verse 8. Also, the Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah. Now check this out. This is going to be important. We're going to see a pattern here. His fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt, for he became exceedingly strong. Verses 9 through 15. It's going to list his. A few of his accomplishments here. Verse 9. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, at the valley gate, and at the corner buttress of the wall. Then he fortified them. Also he built towers in the desert. He dug many wells, for he had much livestock, both in the lowlands and in the plains. He also had farmers and vine dressers in the mountains and in Carmel. The for he loved the soil. I love that. Interesting note. There's a lot of archeological discoveries that have to do with these verses here. Verse 11. It's going to talk about his military accomplishments. Moreover, Uzziah had an army of fighting men who went out to war by companies according to the number on their roll, as prepared by Jael, the scribe and Messiah, the officer under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains. The total number of chief officers of the mighty men of valor was 2,600. And under their authority was an army of 307,500 that made war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. Verse 14. Then Uzziah prepared for them for the entire army. Shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows and slings to cast stones. See, some kind of like catapult devices here in verse 15. And he made devices in Jerusalem invented by skillful men to be on the towers and the corners to shoot arrows and large stones. So here we see this again. His fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong. So the writer here notes some of his building accomplishments, some of his military accomplishments. And then there's this shift in the reign of Uzziah. Let's read down to the end of the chapter, and then we'll unpack it. Verse 16. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. For he transgressed against the Lord, his God, by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. So Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him were 80 priests of the Lord, valiant men. And they withstood King Uzziah. And they said to him, it is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed. You shall have no honor from the Lord God. Verse 19. Then Uzziah became furious. And he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord beside the incense altar. And Azariah, the chief priests and all the priests looked at him. And there on his forehead, he was leprous. So they thrust him out of that place. Indeed, he also hurried to get out because the Lord had struck him. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house because he was a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. Then Jotham, his son, was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. Now, the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last. The prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, wrote, so Uzziah rested with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial. And which belonged to the kings, for they said he is a leper. Then Jotham, his son, reigned in his place. We see here that again, Uzziah, his life starts off well, but then we see his downfall. Now, at face value, kind of just reading this passage, on the surface, it doesn't really seem like, why in the world did God give him such a harsh consequence? Leprosy breaks out on Uzziah's forehead. All because Uzziah wanted to go into the temple of God, worship God and serve the Lord. Like, what is going on here? That seems Like a pretty harsh consequence. At face value, there are three reasons why this was not a good idea. Three reasons why we see God strikes this man with leprosy. He lives the rest of his days as a leper, isolated. Here are the three reasons. We'll kind of just unpack it one by one. Number one, Uzziah's worship of God was motivated by love of self. So again, at face value, it's like, all right, Uzziah has a lot of military accomplishments, a lot of building accomplishments. All he wants to do now, right, is go into the temple of God and worship the Lord, burn some incense. What's the big deal? Well, very first point here again, is that Uzziah's worship of God was motivated by love of self. Why do we know this? How do we know this? Verse 16. We'll back it up to verse end of verse 15. It says, so his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord, his God, by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. It tells us here that after his building accomplishments and his military strength, the Bible says that his heart was lifted up, and that's when he goes into the temple of the Lord. So his worship of God was motivated really by a love of self. It tells us that his heart was lifted up. And I think that this is important for us to understand. His act in the temple was correlated with the disposition of his heart. 1st Samuel 16, 7 says that God doesn't look at the outward appearance, but he looks at the heart. Who looks at the outward appearance? It's man, right? Man looks at the outward appearance. The Lord looks at the heart. You remember that song? I think maybe it's from the 90s, maybe early 2000s. I'm coming back to the heart of worship when it's all about you. Remember that song? Now, why'd the guy write that song? Well, that was very nice. Maybe I should audition for the worship team. I don't know. All right? That's beside the point. Why did the guy write that song? Because the natural tendency of our flesh is to have attention, even in worship, right? I'm coming back to the heart of worship where it's all about you. Cause sometimes this is what we do, right? We're in worship and start to lift our hands before the Lord. I'm coming back to the heart of worship. And then this is what happens. It's all about you. It's all about. We start to do a little finger points, and we're thinking in our minds, maybe this is just me. I really hope people are watching me right now. And we kind of want some attention. Oh, I pray that some people notice how holy I am. Start to do a little bit of this. Start to do a little bit of this. Start to do. You know, maybe we're not doing that. I don't know. And that. That can. There's enough flesh in all of us where sometimes we. Even in the midst of our worship, we start to maybe want a little bit of attention on ourselves. And worship doesn't always just come in the form of singing, Right? Because you can worship the Lord through song, but we can worship the Lord through giving. And so sometimes the tendency is, you know, as we give our tithes and offerings, sometimes we want it to be seen or want it to be known. The amount of money we give. Look, the Lord doesn't care about the amount of money you give. Again, it's not the disposition of our hands. It's the disposition of our hearts. Remember Jesus in the New Testament, the lady who gave just a widow's mite? He said, that lady's given more than all these people. Why? Because she gave out of her poverty. It was the disposition of her heart, not the amount of money in her hands. So we can serve the Lord through giving, we can serve the Lord through song. We can serve the Lord just through obedience. Because true worship is being a living sacrifice, as Paul would say. So we worship the Lord just through our obedience. But sometimes we want to be noticed for our good works. And we want recognition. We want affirmation. We want people to notice our good deeds. And remember, Jesus would again rebuke the Pharisees. Why? Because they would pray in the streets publicly. They would do their good deeds to be seen by men. Again, the point is not to discourage us from. From raising our hands in worship or to tithe or to be obedient to the Lord. Again, the Bible says to lift up holy hands in worship. So we encourage you here at Cornerstone, lift up holy hands in worship to the Lord. That's a good thing. We encourage that. It's an amazing thing. It's not about the position of your hands. Some people like to do this. Some people like to do this. Some people like to do this. Some people like to do this. Mummies like the walking dead. Some people, again, like to just worship in various ways. As long as the motive of our heart is not to draw attention to ourselves, as long as the motive of our heart is not to be self seeking. Okay, so the Lord cares about the motives of our heart. Right? But it says here that the disposition of Uzziah's heart was. His heart was lifted up. And so he then goes into the temple to act as a priest. And that's problem number two. Because more than just the disposition of his heart, which wasn't right in the sight of the Lord because his heart was lifted up because of his many accomplishments. Number two, Uzziah should have known the Mosaic law so the priests don't chase him out just because, you know, they don't know his heart probably in the moment. So the priests aren't chasing them out of the temple because they recognize, man, your heart's not right with the Lord, Uzziah. No, this is against Mosaic law, and Uzziah should have known this. You can write down numbers 3, 10, numbers 16, 39, numbers 18. And I'll put the verses here for us on the screen just so we're. We're aware this is a big deal. All right? Uzziah's just not going in the temple. Cause he wants to worship the Lord. No, this is. This is forbidden in the mosaic law. Numbers 3, 10. God would write to Moses, appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. Anyone else who approaches the sanctuary is to be put to death. That's pretty straightforward, right? Then we have it in Numbers 16 again. The Lord doesn't just repeat this once. It's not like Uzziah missed it. I forgot about that Bible verse, Lord. No, he's going to mention it three other times in the book of Numbers, Numbers 16:39. So. So Eliezer the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned up had presented, and they were hammered out as a covering on the altar to be a memorial to the children of Israel. That no outsider who was not a descendant of Aaron should come near to offer incense before the Lord that he might not become like Korah and his companions, just as the Lord had said to him through Moses, no, outsider, don't approach the sanctuary if you are not a priest because you don't want to end up like Korah. Who's this guy Korah? Long story short, the Book of Numbers says that Korah, he was a Levite, but he wasn't a priest. All right? All priests were to be Levites from the tribe of Levi, but not all Levites were priests. Korah did serve, but he. He was tasked to take care of the. The articles of the Temple, like the Ark of the Covenant. He was not called to be a priest to mediate on behalf of the people to God. And what happens is there's this jealousy that arises in Korah. He becomes very envious of Aaron and his sons. And he complains to Moses and Aaron. He says, listen, we're all of the people of Israel. We're all holy. Why can't we all just serve as priests? And him, by meaning we all. He's talking about himself. He wanted to serve as a priest. And what happens again, long story short, is God swallows up Korah and his companions for their disobedience. And he says, listen, I have set aside a select group of people to be priests. And Korah, because of his rebellion, he gets swallowed up. The Earth opens, and him and his companions get swallowed up because of the rebellion against the Lord. This is a serious deal. Again, if you're Uzziah, you gotta be remembering Korah in these situations. Right again. Numbers 18, 6, 7. Just to stamp this on our hearts one more time, numbers 18 says, I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord, to do the work at the tent of meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain, I am giving you the service of the priesthood. Talking to Aaron and his descendants as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary is to be put to death. This is why the priests. When Azariah, the chief priest, when he sees Uzziah burning incense on the altar, he freaks out. He says, what in the world are you doing serving and acting as a priest? He says, this is against the Mosaic law. So, number one, his heart wasn't right to begin with. His heart was lifted up. Number two, this was strictly forbidden in Mosaic law. And number three, and this is maybe most important here, the offices of prophet, priest and king were reserved for one man, the Messiah. And these offices would later be fulfilled by Jesus Christ. See, what had happened is Uzziah violated a principle that God had set in place with his people, that no king was to serve as priest, no priest was to serve as king. These three offices were to only combine with the Messiah figure. Now, I'm gonna throw up just this by way of just showing you here, the Messiah figure. In the Old Testament, he was supposed to serve again as prophet, priest and king. This office was reserved only for him. And we're going to see how Jesus is the fulfillment of this. Jesus fulfilled all of these roles. So just a few verses. I'm not going to have the verses on the screen, but you can write these verses down and I'll read them out loud to us. So first prophet this Messiah would serve as a prophet to the people. Moses would say this to Israel in Deuteronomy 18:15 the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers. To him you shall listen, speaking about a future Messiah which is to come, who will serve as a prophet to the people. This was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 7, verse 16 says, Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, a great prophet has risen up among us and God has visited his people. They said this in reference to Jesus. The Messiah figure would also serve as priest. Isaiah 53, verse 12, speaking about this future Messiah says, therefore I will divide him. This is God speaking, therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bore the sin of many, and he makes intercession for the transgressor. The role of a priest is to make intercession for sinful people and a holy God. That was the role of a priest to be the mediator between sinful people, the sinful nation of Israel, and a holy God. Jesus would fulfill this. The writer Of Hebrews, Hebrews 4, verses 14 to 16 says, since then, speaking about Jesus, since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. I love these verses, for we do not have a high priest who's unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet was without sin. Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace and help in our time of need. You see, Jesus, his death on the cross mediated and reconciled sinful man to a holy God. Jesus didn't serve just as a prophet. He also served as our intercessor, as our priest. First Timothy 2. 5 says, there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and then finally as king. Zechariah 9:9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, o daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation. This Messiah figure would also fulfill the office as King and Luke 1:31 Gabriel speaking to Mary when she was conceived with child and Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom will never end. You see how this messianic figure fulfilled all of these three offices. And Christ Jesus fulfilled all of these three offices. This is, this is why back to our point here, Uzziah is making a big boo boo here. And essentially what the Lord does is he says, because you made a big boo boo by trying to fulfill these offices, which is not meant for you, but for the future Messiah, I'm going to put a big boo boo right on your forehead. This, this leprosy is this, this horrible skin condition. And so we see that this is what led to Uzziah's downfall. Now, some principles in our remaining few minutes that I'd like to glean from Uzziah's life. And the very first thing is this. Don't let the accomplishments of your hands distort the attitude of your heart. See, this is what happens in Uzziah's life before he goes in to serve as priest, before God strikes him with leprosy, before he's isolated and has to live alone the rest of his life. He was a good man. He was seeking the Lord. Pride goes to his head. And really, this is father like son. This was Amaziah's life as well. Pride goes to his head. Pride fills his heart. And it's no coincidence here that we see all of his accomplishments right before this shift in his life. See the accomplishments of his hands, his building projects, his military strength that goes to his head, that seeps into his heart. The Bible again in verse 16, says, his heart is lifted up. Now check this out. It says, for he was marvelously helped until he became strong, but when he was strong, his heart was lifted up. When he was strong, his heart was lifted up. Write down 2nd Corinthians 12, 9, 10. 2nd Corinthians 12. Remember this passage where what happened in 2 Corinthians 12? Paul would write to the early church, and he would say he would explain that he had some kind of like a thorn in his flesh. Whatever that was, we don't specifically know. Sounds like it was a spiritual attack. And Paul Sundays, I prayed three times that the Lord would deliver me from this thorn in the flesh. Three times. And what did God say to Paul? He says, my grace is sufficient for you, but for my power, My power is made perfect in your weaknesses. So then Paul says, so therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. And then when I am weak, then I am strong. You see, Isaiah had it, or Uzziah had it backwards. He said the. The text says, when he was strong, that led to his downfall. You see, it's not truly until we recognize that we are weak apart from the Lord, that then we become strong by His Spirit. You see, God desires us to come to him humbly. He wants this humility. He wants this brokenness. He wants us to get down on our knees before the Lord to recognize our sin, to confess sin to Him. The Bible says, when you draw near to God, he will draw near to you. When you humbly come to him broken, he will lift you up. That's James, chapter five. That's why James five would go into. To say, wash your hands, cleanse your. Cleanse your hands, you dirty sinners. See, God desires this brokenness, this humility in our relationship with Him. Now, that doesn't mean to beat yourself up. We have too many Christians beating themselves up over sin. No, Jesus was beaten for you. You don't have to beat yourself up, but he does desire brokenness. And there's a difference. You don't need to beat yourself up. Jesus was bruised and beaten for you. But he does desire this healthy attitude of brokenness. God, I am a sinner. I don't want to hide sin from you. I don't want to justify or make excuses for my sin. I want to come to you and recognize it. I'm broken. And when God recognizes that weakness, that humility, God will then lift you up. He'll fill you with his spirit. He'll encourage you. He'll pour out his power upon you. That's why Paul says, when I am weak, then I am strong. When I recognize that Jesus is all I need and his grace is sufficient for me, then I'll boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, Paul says, so that I can get more of God's power in my life. This is what he says. You see, Uzziah here, He allowed the accomplishments of his hands to distort the attitude of his heart. And then he felt like, I can do what I want. I can go into the temple. I can serve as a priest. We have to be very careful just to remain soft and sensitive with the Lord. When. When we were building this building, it'll be. Actually, we'll have been in this new building. 10 years this November, and time is flying. And I remember Pastor Andy, who was overseeing a lot of the building project, and he was the go between between us and the builders. I remember him saying that in the winter months when they were trying to break ground, it. It would just delay the project. Why? Because the ground was very hard. And then in the summer months when it was warm like today, it was baking outside today. And today is a great day for builders to build. Why? Because the ground is very soft and it's easier to break ground. And it's no different in our lives spiritually. God desires to work with soft soil. He wants to work with the soft soil of our hearts. And sometimes we can just be really hard, bitter before the Lord. And speaking personally, when I've been hard and bitter or harboring unforgiveness or just angry man, it takes a long time for the Lord to work on me. And it's not the Lord's fault, it's mine, because I'm giving him just this bitter soil, this hard soil, and my growth is stunted in the Lord. But then when you experience humility and brokenness and you confess sin and you give unforgiveness over to the Lord and your anger and frustration, you give it all over to the Lord. The Lord's then working with soft soil, and he can go to work at rapid speed. He matures us and grows us. He gets into our lives and restores us. All of that happens because of humility. Number two. Unrepentant sin leads to isolation. Leprosy symbolizes sin in the Bible. And because of his leprosy, because of Uzziah's leprosy, we see verse 21. King Uzziah was a leper until the day of his death. He dwelt in an isolated house because he was a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the Lord. This is the effect of sin, you see, sin. By nature, sin is a separator. Sin separates. The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Sin separates us from fellowship with God. Even as believers, when we sin, it's not that we lose our salvation, okay? But the fellowship, the intimacy with the Lord, it wanes. Just like in a marriage, when you and your spouse are butting heads and maybe you're harboring something, you don't want to apologize. It's not that you just. You stop being married, hopefully, praise God. But the fellowship, the intimacy, the closeness, it needs to be restored. And so we See here again, leprosy throughout the Bible is a type of sin and leprosy. You had to be isolated. You had to be quarantined. And unless we repent of sin. And again, back to this idea of humility. Unless we get alone with the Lord and we just repent of sin, what sin does is it separates us from just closeness with the Lord. It separates us from other people. We start to isolate ourselves because we love our sin. And with sin, there's just this isolation. There's this darkness. You just want to be alone because sin loves isolation. Number three. Only have two more here. Number three. It doesn't matter how you start, but how you finish. And this, this principle could apply to so many of the kings of Judah and Israel. So many of them started well. They didn't finish so well. This is Uzziah's life. Listen, I want this point in principle to encourage some of you. For some of you. Tonight you feel like you've gotten a real slow start off the blocks in your Christian race. It doesn't matter how you start. If you feel like you've been chugging along and just there's been this slow start, listen. Abide in Christ. He will abide in you. Stay close to the Lord, get in his word, pray, seek him fast, repent. And as you abide in Christ, he's going to be faithful to see you through. He's forgiving, he's gracious, he's compassionate, he's slow to anger and abounding in love. He's patient with us. So don't feel like, oh, I've gotten off to a slow start and so I'm done for. No, God is faithful. He's going to see you through. It's not about how you started, but finish well. When all of this is said and done, we're going to meet the Lord, just you and Him. And the Bible says that when you enter his kingdom, Jesus will speak these words, well done, good and faithful servant. You don't have to be impressive. You don't have to impress people. You don't have to have this amazing set of skills or this impressive resume. All that is just. That's a worldly way to view ourselves. You just be faithful. God wants you to be faithful with what he's given you today. And as you're faithful with today, the Lord will guide and direct your steps toward his will for your life. He'll lay down one track at a time. He'll guide you. He'll direct you. You be faithful. That's why? He says, well done, good and faithful servant. Are you faithful? You being faithful with what God has given you today in your marriage, in your world, in your home? Just be faithful with whatever God has given you. I don't know what that is, but steward it well. Be faithful. Walk with him. He's patient, he's forgiving, he's kind. So you be faithful just to stay with the Lord. Walk with him. And you finish well. And then finally, number four. And this is where I want us to turn to the book of Isaiah. If you could, real briefly for me, Isaiah, chapter 6. I'm going to read verse 22. While you're turning there, I'm going to read 2nd Chronicles 26, verse 22. It says now the rest of the Acts of Uzziah from first to last. The prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, wrote, so there's this mention of Isaiah here. Go to Isaiah, chapter six. And notice here in Isaiah, chapter six again, Isaiah was a prophet in the land of Judah who was alive during the time of Uzziah. He would write this. Isaiah 6. 1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. And the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. And with two he flew. And one cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Can somebody say principle number four? Don't place your hope in the seat of government, but keep your eyes on the throne of heaven. You see, this was God's reminder to Isaiah. See, their king had just died 52 years on the throne. Uzziah dies. And in the year of his death, Isaiah says, I saw the Lord seated on his heavenly throne. See, God gave Isaiah this heavenly vision of his throne room. And this is an encouragement to us Church be engaged in the political sphere. Absolutely. But do not set your eyes on the seat of government. Hope doesn't come out of the White House. So keep your eyes fixed and focused on the Lord. He's coming again for us. He's coming back soon. Are you right with him? Do you know him? Keep your eyes fixed and focused on the Lord. He's in control. He's in charge. Everything. You know, sometimes we think everything's falling out of place. When you look in the Middle east, you look at our own nation and the sin of our Nation. You look around at the chaos of the world. Listen. Everything is falling according to plan. God's plan. He knows. Beginning to end. He's in control. Keep your eyes fixed on the Lord. Let's pray and then we'll partake in communion together. Heavenly Father, we keep our eyes fixed and focused on you, the author and perfecter of our faith. We love you, God. We thank you for Isaiah Uzziah's life. And we have so much to learn from his life. Lord, I pray that you'd keep us soft and humble before you, Lord. I pray that you would fill this place afresh with your spirit, Lord, that you would renew us, Lord, that you would walk with us, Lord, that you would continue to remain faithful as we know that you will. I pray that you would just stir within us such a zeal for you, God, such a love for righteousness, Lord, bring us to a wonderful place of brokenness in our relationships with you. And we're going to partake in communion in just a moment, Lord, and this is a perfect opportunity just to get right with you. If there's any unconfessed sin, just to confess it before you. We're so glad to know that your Word tells us you are forgiving. You are slow to anger, abounding in love. You are compassionate. So we keep our eyes on you, God. Just as Isaiah wrote, we keep our eyes on the throne of heaven. Come back for us, Lord Maranatha. Come for us. Come soon, Jesus, right every wrong. Wipe away every tear from our eyes. Set up your kingdom. Come to the Mount of Olives as Zechariah predicted. Rule and reign, Lord. Then we will experience perfect peace because the Prince of Peace has come, Lord. We look forward to that day. In the meantime, we pray that you would be with us. Fill us afresh with your spirit. We love you, God. And it's in Jesus name we pray. And all God's people would say Amen and amen.