Sermon Central
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Under The Fire Series
Contributed by Russ Witkowski on Apr 18, 2002 (message contributor)
Summary: This teaching compares the heart of Uzziah with the heart of Isaiah
4/17/02
IGNITING A PASSION FOR GOD VIII
HOLY FIRE WITHIN
BY PASTOR RUSS WITKOWSKI
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
9 He said, "Go and tell this people: "’Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed."
Theme: If we humble ourselves and accept God’s chastening, we are enabled to hear His voice with greater clarity, positioning ourselves to mature in our relationship with Him!
I. THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED:
A. Who is king Uzziah?
1. Descendent of David, crowned king at age 16, and at first sought God with earnestness.
a. Conditions indicated this sense of need of God’s help for to rule an entire nation at this young age would require a strong leader whose youth could not be despised.
2 Chronicles 26:5 - He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.
b. Because he sought the Lord, Uzziah was prospered in the Lord.
c. He made war with the Philistines as well as the Arabians, Meunites, and the Ammonites. The nation had become strong economically and in military strength.
d. The nation was prosperous under his leadership.
B. He became over confident in the accomplishments of the Lord in him. It was not in a weak moment, but after a season of strength that this heart was lifted up with pride.
2 Chronicles 26:16 - But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
Summary: Was Uzziah any less religious? He became even more religious!
But with pride, especially religious pride, there is a moment of confrontation!
2 Chronicles 26:17-18 - Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. 18 They confronted him and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God."
Uzziah didn’t respond properly – 2 Chronicles 26:19 - Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.
Pride keeps us from clearly seeing Jesus. It causes us to view the things of God from the perspective of experience rather than from an understanding that God can make “old things new again”!
II. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY: Note the repetition.
A. Isaiah saw the Lord’s glory, and His angels:
1. Note the volume of the angel as he shouted!
a. The posts of the door were shaken!
b. They had been in the company of the full glory of God throughout all historical eternity, yet they shout aloud as if this were a new revelation to them!
c. There is no pride among these angelic beings! They respond to God in a fresh new way every day because the more we know of God the more they learn how much greater He is today than He was to us yesterday!
