When King Uzziah Died
Isaiah. 6:1-8
Introduction:
I had been praying to the Lord for more than a week as I prepared my sermon for this worship service. The Lord had impressed in my heart to preach on this passage. During the week I gathered materials from different sources, I even referred to my old sermon outlines. Finally, on Thursday morning ( a day before our worship service which is scheduled on Friday in compliance with the Islamic day off which falls on Friday) I made up my mind to change the text and the topic. I was so tense and puzzled what to do. I kept on praying to God for His divine intervention and I took a break and was praying to God while taking a bath. The Lord put His thought in my mind and gave the topic and the three point outline which I will be preaching this morning. The topic is " When King Uzziah Died" and the points that the Lord gave me were 1. When King Uzziah died Isaiah sought the Lord. 11. When King Uzziah died Isaiah search his heart. 111. When King Uzziah died Isaiah surrendered his life .
Who this King Uzziah was?
King Uzziah was a good king. Not only a good king but a successful king, a king who did what was right in the eyes of God. He served the tribe of Judah for 52 long years. During his time Judah became prosperous. Apparently, Isaiah looked up to him with awe and respect. He had his subjects eye on him because of his great accomplishments. On his accomplishments, he became conceited and proud. He over emphasized his power. He thought that he could do everything he wanted to do. He assumed that he could be a king and a priest at the same time by burning incense in the temple, which was the job of the priest and not the job of the king. Eze46:2 . God was displeased of what he did and, because king Uzziah defiled the temple of God, God struck him with leprosy and later on he died.
A lesson that we can learn from king Uzziah is that when we reach the apex of our success we must remain humble to the praise and honor of our God , for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Uzziah was adored by Isaiah, it was not until Uzziah died that he saw the Lord.
Why? It was because Isaiah at one point in his life depended on king Uzziah. He had a lot of respect on him, rather than the Lord.
But…….When Uzziah died " He saw the Lord."
Sometimes in order for us to get a proper view of who God is , somebody or something in our lives has to die.
Usually, it is something or someone that we hold on so dearly that keep us from seeing God for who He really is.
Illustration: I am sorry I failed to ask Pastor Jack’s permission to use his life story as an illustration of the one who met God when his first wife died. Anyway he kept testifying about this so I presumed that it is okay with him to use his life experience. According to him he met the Lord when his wife died.
•Now- When king Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord.
•The question we have to ponder is: What is your King Uzziah ?
a. Is it your boyfriend or girlfriend?
b. Is it your job, car , house , family your job, drugs, liquor, Tv show or whatever.
c. Or is it your health?
Illustration: I had the privilege to minister with the girl who had undergone surgery after surgery. Due to the series surgery she became weak, but praise God when her health failed she saw the Lord. Now she became an active member of our church here in United Arab Emirates.
•Isaiah said, " In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord". Why did he see the Lord? He saw the Lord because …
1. He sought the Lord. Verse 1
A. In the temple
You might probably ask me , where in the text that says , he sought the Lord?
I venture to say that the reason that he went to the temple because he wanted to
see the Lord. The best place to seek the Lord is in His holy temple. Please, do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that you might not be able to meet the Lord in other place aside from the temple. I want to remind you that Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus. Other met the Lord while they were in the hospital, in ship, in the beach or anywhere. There is no place in this world where you can not meet God, Matt.7:7-8. The best place that we can meet Him is in the temple ( church). Some people could not find Him because they sought Him in questionable places during the time of sorrow, such as : disco houses, beer houses, prostitution house and etc. There is no remembrance of the Lord in these places. Isaiah, went to the temple during the time of sorrow. The time of the death of the beloved King Uzziah.V1. In the year that King Uzziah died.
Illustration: We can not help but mourn over the death of our beloved leaders, like President John F. Kennedy of United State, President Ramon Magsaysay of the Philippines. Unlike Saddam who was punished for the crime against humanity.
B. Throne V1
When he sought the Lord in the temple " he saw the Lord" sitting in His heavenly throne.
a. He is high and exalted King.
b. The King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
c. The God above all Gods.
Yes, King Uzziah is dead, but Isaiah learnt that there was a King that was far greater than King Uzziah. That King is the Lord Jesus, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
C. Train V1
Ladies, you know what train is to your wedding gown. The train covered the inside of the temple. The inside of the temple was approximately 90 ft. long, 30 ft. wide and 45 ft. high and the train of the Lord’s robe filled the temple. Remember that it is after it dangles from up the sky where the throne was located.
Illustration: During our wedding I saw my wife with her train and I said to myself , "oh , what a beautiful bride I have."
Her train added to her beauty, but her train is nothing compared to the train that dangles from the throne and filled the temple. Train of the Lord’s robe magnified the beauty of His holiness. The seraphs in v2 with 6 wings, two covering the feet, two covering the face, with two he did fly. Why does he cover his face? I had listened to the preaching in the cassette tape 18 years ago by R.C. Sproll. He gave one of the reasons why the angel covered his face, because he can not stare at the Holiness of God. While covering his faces , he was saying Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty the whole earth is full of His glory.
Holy, holy, holy- the mention of the word holy for three times speaks of the Trinity of God. The Lord , the Adoni , is a plural form reflecting the trinity. That is why the passage says " who will go for us".
Transition: When he saw the Lord and contemplated His holiness.
II. He searched his heart V5
Woe to me " I cried"
1. I am undone ( KJV )
Literally- I am on my way to destruction, I am perishing. Like if you undo the building, literally you destroy it.
Note: I venture to employ how I understand the phrase " I am undone" . Meaning , he had not done anything good. He served his King Uzziah, right?
Note: Some people are here in the Emirates serving their Uzziah. Their only reason to be here is money. In that case, you have not done anything good for the Lord.
2. I am a man of unclean lips. V5 He stated the reason why?
a. Because , he was living among people of unclean lips.
Illustration: Charles Spurgeon said " tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are?’ The birds of a feather flock together.
So be discreet in your choice of your company.
In the presence of the Holy God, all self-esteem is shattered. All confidence in oneself is destroyed. " Woe to me" – when he searched himself, he realized how desperate he was.
a. He confessed his sin. Vv 6-7
The Lord sent the seraphs with live coal from the altar. The altar reminds us of the sacrificial lamb for the remission of sin. That sacrificial lamb is the type of Christ – who gave His life for us. .Hebrews 10.
b. God gives grace to the humble and cleanses the heart of the contrite. 1ohn 1:9
After seeking the Lord and searching his heart
III He surrendered his life V8
" Whom shall I send and who will go for us?"
Here am I send me. Some people would say "here am I send somebody else".
Illustration: When Pastor Delfin and I were traveling we were discussing about mission and he quoted this phrase " Here am I Lord " and then added "Send Pastor Joel" . Well, he did not realize that I’ll be using this against him this morning.
My dearly beloved brethren, if you say here I am when God calls you, you go. Amen.
When God is calling you just respond plainly by saying , here I am Lord send me. It is no good to say send me until we have said " Here I am".
First, we must lay ourselves on the altar- only then we can be used in God’s service.
Conclusion: Have you seen the Lord Jesus in your life? Has Jesus forgiven your sin? If not this morning is the time of your salvation. If you are saved Jesus calls you to be a part of the great work for the salvation of the lost.
Respond to Him by saying , "Here am I send me."
I don’t claim originality in all my preaching. Some of my sermon materials were from Sermon Central. I want to be thankful to Sermon Central by publishing what I gathered from the site.
