3ABN On the Road

In The Year King Uzziah Died - Thursday Seminar

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000813


01:00 Thank you for tuning in to this message
01:02 entitled "In the year King Uzziah died."
01:06 Very humbling message, a message I believe
01:09 that will get our hearts ready for the coming of the Lord.
01:12 And I'm not gonna begin with music,
01:14 I'm gonna begin with prayer.
01:16 And I'll sing at the end of the sermon.
01:17 So let's bow our hearts as I kneel before the Lord.
01:24 Our Father God in heaven,
01:25 as we bow our hearts before You,
01:28 we thank You that You are almighty,
01:30 and that You are all knowing.
01:33 And that, Father, You sent Your Holy Spirit to
01:37 be in our hearts to accomplish Your work
01:40 in preparation for the coming of our Lord.
01:43 And, Father, if these are not the last days,
01:46 then what kind of days are they?
01:48 And so help us to be mindful
01:50 that any defects in our character,
01:52 Father, we must pray,
01:55 and diligently label with Your Holy Spirit
01:58 to correct the flaws
01:59 that will disqualify us to be in the kingdom.
02:03 And we pray that You'll speak to us now,
02:05 Lord, that Your purposes may be accomplished
02:08 and that we will be that much closer
02:10 to being renewed in Your character.
02:13 In Jesus' name we pray.
02:15 Amen.
02:18 I chose this message in response to an article
02:22 that Pastor Hal Steenson put in our 3ABN World Magazine,
02:26 and it was a very insightful message
02:28 on the issue of pride.
02:30 Now there are very few of us.
02:32 I should say there are very few of us
02:34 that will admit that we have an issue with pride.
02:38 Shall I say, "We are almost too prideful
02:42 to admit that we struggle with pride?"
02:45 But I also discovered that pride is something
02:48 that is insidious.
02:50 It lies dormant and it manifests itself
02:54 to our destruction
02:55 if we failed to acknowledge that
02:57 it is an issue that we struggle with.
03:00 When I read that article, I thought to myself,
03:03 "I don't see myself in everything,
03:05 but there are some areas in our lives
03:08 where when we are either offended
03:11 or spoken wrongly against,
03:13 or someone does something better than us,
03:16 or someone gets more recognition than we get,
03:19 or someone gets a position we desire."
03:21 Sometimes out pride comes to the forefront
03:24 and battles with us,
03:25 and while people around us may never understand
03:28 what the difficulty is.
03:30 Pride is something that if no one ever knows about it,
03:34 it's still something that can defeat you
03:36 and lead to your destruction.
03:38 Now, I wanna also say this, "I'm a lot wiser now
03:40 that I'm getting older than when I was younger."
03:42 Anybody else could say amen to that?
03:44 I mean as we get older the record should say,
03:49 "I've learned about something's that I would never do again."
03:52 There are certain things that I did when I was young,
03:55 that I thank the Lord, I will never do again.
03:59 But what if the record were the other way around?
04:03 That as we got older, we began to do things
04:06 that we never thought of doing when we were young?
04:10 What if instead of getting better,
04:12 we got worst as time went on?
04:15 What if instead of God blessing us
04:17 as we're getting older,
04:18 God is removing His blessings as we are getting older,
04:21 because we're failing to grow, we are almost going backward.
04:26 We are back sliding, ignorant of our direction.
04:30 Well, I've chosen someone in the Bible that
04:33 the Bible in 2 Chronicles Chapter 26
04:36 beginning with verse 1,
04:38 talks about a man by the name of Uzziah.
04:41 What was his name? Uzziah.
04:42 Uzziah, very well-known man, as a matter of fact
04:46 you'll discover
04:47 quite a few things about his life
04:48 that many of us would hope to be true
04:50 about our own lives.
04:52 But before I read, 2 Chronicles 26:1,
04:56 I wanna begin with a Bible verse
04:59 that I have been wondering about for years what it meant.
05:02 Go with me to Isaiah 6:1, Isaiah 6:1,
05:08 if you have your Bible's, you can turn it with us.
05:10 Isaiah 6:1, and we have a sermon outlined
05:13 and when we get to the particular points
05:16 that you notice are missing
05:18 that there is some blank, missing words, that outline,
05:21 the answers will appear on the screen
05:23 and those of us watching the program,
05:25 you'll be able to see it,
05:26 but unfortunately you don't have an outline,
05:28 but those of you who are here,
05:29 will be able to fit those missing words in.
05:32 This text bewildered me for many, many years.
05:36 But when I began to study the life of Uzziah,
05:39 I finally understood
05:41 why God gave Isaiah the prophet,
05:43 this very profound single verse
05:46 that summarized a man's life.
05:48 Isaiah 6:1, the Bible says,
05:51 "In the year that king Uzziah died
05:55 I saw the Lord sitting on the throne,
05:59 high and lifted up,
06:01 and the train of His robe filled the temple."
06:06 Now the emphasis on the verse
06:07 was in the early part of the verse,
06:10 in the year that King Uzziah died,
06:13 Isaiah received a vision.
06:16 And he saw, I believe, and I'll try to prove that
06:19 as I go on in the message.
06:21 Isaiah saw what God intended for Uzziah to see,
06:26 but instead of Uzziah seeing it,
06:28 Isaiah saw it.
06:30 That's why I began by saying in the year
06:32 that King Uzziah died,
06:35 I saw the Lord high and lifted up.
06:38 I would haste to say that God has a vision
06:40 for every one of our lives.
06:43 God has a vision far beyond our imagination.
06:46 What God wants us to become is far exceedingly,
06:50 abundantly above all that we can ever ask or think.
06:54 But it is our own ideas, our own ideologies,
06:58 our own decisions, our own direction
07:00 that will be the only reason why we failed to see
07:03 what God intends for us to see.
07:06 And I would also haste to say that if we don't see
07:09 what God intents for us to see by the time
07:11 we're 68 years old,
07:15 chances are we missed the boat.
07:19 Now let's go back to 2 Chronicles Chapter 26.
07:25 The Bible says, and beginning with verse 1,
07:29 "Now all the people of Judah took Uzziah,
07:34 who was," how old? Sixteen.
07:37 "Sixteen years old, and made him king
07:40 instead of his father Amaziah."
07:43 Now I got to say something right here.
07:44 Many of us wouldn't even give a 16 year old car keys.
07:47 Am I right?
07:49 Many of us wouldn't leave our 16 year old home
07:51 by himself.
07:53 Can you imagine the wisdom of God
07:55 to make a 16 year old king?
07:58 God sees in us regardless of our age,
08:01 something that God can use.
08:02 Can you say amen to that?
08:04 So age is not the thing that disqualifies us
08:06 from being used by God, it's the human heart,
08:09 it's the condition of the life.
08:10 God shows a young man, who he saw a bright feature
08:15 quite ahead of him, and the Bible said
08:17 they made him king.
08:19 And in every one of us, there is a little king.
08:23 Think about it.
08:25 I mean we like to be recognized for our accomplishments.
08:29 We like to be handled at times with special gloves.
08:33 We like to know that
08:34 when we speak, people are listing to us.
08:37 We like to know that every once in a while
08:40 God rolls out a red carpet for us,
08:43 and blesses us more than any people.
08:45 Amen.
08:46 And every now and then,
08:48 we like to get that special seat.
08:50 There's a little king in every one of us,
08:53 that's why the story about Uzziah is true
08:56 about every one of us to a great degree.
09:00 God allowed this young man
09:02 at 16 years old to be made king in Israel.
09:06 The blessings that God however gives to us
09:09 are always for His glory and not for ours.
09:12 What do you say?
09:13 So at 16 years old, Uzziah was blessed by God.
09:18 But I've come around full circle now
09:20 that as I'm getting older, and I already told you
09:21 about the fact that I've resigned
09:24 to coloring my hair.
09:29 My vision is getting worst
09:31 whether I get new contacts or new glasses,
09:33 anybody else?
09:35 So I've decided to go ahead
09:37 and if God wanted my hair to stay dark,
09:40 God would have kept it dark at this age.
09:43 But the reason why I'm allowing it to change
09:44 is because the Bible says that,
09:47 "Wise men have gray hair."
09:51 Amen.
09:53 You get wiser as you get older, and God gives you a cap
09:57 to let people say, "See that guy?
09:59 He's wiser than you are, he's got...
10:02 He at least has learnt something
10:05 that you are yet to learn."
10:07 I said to a lady just a few days ago,
10:08 I said, "When you marry somebody,
10:10 make sure that you marry an archaeologist.
10:12 Because as you get older you won't lose value,
10:14 you'll gain value.
10:18 Make sure you marry an antique seller.
10:20 You won't be old furniture, you'll be valuable furniture."
10:24 As you get older, you should be getting better.
10:27 You discover, also at the same time
10:30 that the good things we did when we were young
10:35 will either tell for or against us
10:38 when we get older.
10:39 Think about it for a moment.
10:41 There are those that became promiscuous
10:42 when they were young, never thinking
10:44 that they would have to pay for their decisions
10:45 when they got older.
10:47 There's some people that were very promiscuous,
10:49 went from one partner to the other,
10:50 and they got a disease and as they are getting older,
10:53 the disease is beginning to take tolls
10:54 in a way that it never did when they were young.
10:57 They were those if they could reverse their lives
10:59 would do things quite differently.
11:01 Every one of us, when we get older,
11:03 what we did when we were young
11:05 is going to either be for our good or for our evil.
11:09 Every one of us will influence somebody
11:12 towards God or against God.
11:15 When you look at the story of Uzziah
11:17 he was a very influential man.
11:19 He was influential in wealth, he was influential as a king,
11:24 he was almost as influential as Solomon was.
11:28 But he also had of many of Solomon's traits.
11:31 Now Solomon was wise, but I tell you what?
11:34 I'm glad I didn't do a lot of the things
11:36 that Solomon did, anybody else?
11:39 I got one wife, I'm happy with one.
11:42 Don't need 700.
11:44 Amen, men. Amen.
11:47 Don't need 700 men.
11:48 Look at verse 2 of 26, 2 Chronicles 26,
11:52 talking about the blessing of God
11:53 on this young man Uzziah.
11:56 The Bible says, "He built Eloth..."
11:58 Look at his resume, "He built Eloth,
12:01 and restored it to Judah,
12:03 after the king rested with his fathers.
12:06 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king
12:10 and he reigned," how long?
12:12 "Fifty two years."
12:15 Now, can you imagine having Bill Clinton
12:19 for president for 52 years, or George Bush?
12:24 Fifty two years or anybody's leadership
12:27 after a while, you gonna say,
12:29 "Lord, I mean,
12:32 I don't really like the way
12:33 he's taking these things.
12:34 Maybe it's time for a new president?
12:38 And so Bill Clinton is replaced by, Reagan who's replaced by,
12:42 you know so on and so forth.
12:43 I may have got them backward.
12:47 But God saw fit for this young man to be king
12:51 in Jerusalem for 52 years.
12:54 And I would haste to say.
12:56 I'm sure that there were people in Jerusalem
12:58 that did not like the fact that after 20 years
13:01 that Uzziah was still there,
13:04 or maybe after 30 years
13:06 that he was still there, or maybe after 40 years
13:09 that he was still there.
13:11 But your longevity is not based on whether
13:14 or not people like you, it's based on God's plan.
13:16 Can you say amen?
13:18 So Uzziah was there not because
13:20 the people gave him that position,
13:22 but God prospered him as king
13:24 in Jerusalem for 52 years.
13:28 The verse goes on to say,
13:29 "His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem."
13:33 And I like chapter, verse 4,
13:35 "And he did that what was right
13:38 in the sight of the Lord, according to all
13:41 that his father Amaziah had done."
13:43 Uzziah reigned till he was 68 years old.
13:47 Sixteen to 68, that's a successful life,
13:49 to be known as king for 52 years.
13:53 But here's my first point, which is on the screen.
13:56 "Doing what is right in the sight of God
14:01 and doing what is right in the sight of men
14:05 are not always the same."
14:06 Let me say that again,
14:08 "Doing what is right in the sight of men
14:10 and doing what is right in the sight of God
14:13 are not always the same."
14:17 See, God sees into the inner chambers of our life
14:21 where men may never see.
14:23 God sees our actions,
14:25 but God also measures our motives.
14:27 God sees what we say it publicly
14:30 and how we live privately.
14:31 Amen?
14:33 So how we live in the sight of men
14:35 and doing what we do in the sight of men
14:37 or doing what is right in the sight of men
14:39 is not always the same as doing
14:42 what is right in the sight of God.
14:44 So when the Bible says,
14:45 "He did what was right in the sight of God."
14:48 That means he had a good life.
14:52 I would rather people say, "You know what?
14:55 I don't like him."
14:56 But God says, "He did what was right."
14:59 You missed the chance to say amen.
15:02 I may not agree with him but God says,
15:04 "But he's doing what's right."
15:11 When we live according to God's approval,
15:16 we will not always have man's approval.
15:19 But you got to decide
15:20 whose approval means more to you.
15:23 When we live to impress God,
15:26 we may or may not really impress men.
15:29 But does it really matter when God is impressed.
15:32 When God says,
15:34 "Well done thou good and faithful servant."
15:36 Does it really matter what the multitude says?
15:40 We've got to live for the glory of God,
15:41 obedient to the will of God, obedient to the vision of God.
15:46 That's why, I wanna say that,
15:48 that's why I'm still here at 3ABN.
15:50 If I didn't believe that this ministry was moving
15:54 into direction that God intended for it to go,
15:57 I wouldn't be here.
15:59 I wouldn't be here, because the one thing that
16:02 I don't wanna have experience
16:03 in life is to go down with a ship
16:05 when I had a chance to get off the ship.
16:07 Amen.
16:10 So I'm here because I believe firmly with all my heart
16:14 that what's happening here is right in the sight of God
16:17 whether or not men accept it or believe it.
16:23 Look at verse 5 of 2 Chronicles Chapter 26,
16:28 his resume continues to unfold.
16:30 The Bible says,
16:32 "He sought God in the days of Zechariah,
16:35 who had understanding in the visions of God,
16:38 and as long as he sought the Lord,
16:41 God made him prosper."
16:43 The Bible says,
16:45 "Seek the Lord while He may be found.
16:46 Call upon Him while He is near."
16:48 When you seek Him first,
16:50 when you seek the kingdom of God
16:51 and His righteousness, every need you have
16:54 will be added to you.
16:56 The Bible says, "He sought the Lord."
16:59 And as long as he sought the Lord,
17:01 God made him prosper.
17:03 When Uzziah made sure to put God first,
17:05 God made sure Uzziah came first.
17:07 Uzziah never fell to the back of the line
17:10 when he made sure and put God at the front of the line.
17:14 And, my brethren, that's what the Bible says,
17:16 "We got to love the Lord with our heart,
17:18 mind, soul and strength first."
17:21 When it comes to making decisions,
17:22 put God first, when it comes to loving, put God first.
17:27 Uzziah put God first.
17:30 In the words that we speak, put God first.
17:35 In the life that we live, put God first.
17:38 When you put God first, God will make sure
17:41 that you do not come in last, what do you say?
17:45 But being first in God's book,
17:48 you may not be first in men's book.
17:51 So it may look like you had a disadvantage.
17:52 Remember Paul the Apostle,
17:54 when we was in chains on his way to Rome,
17:56 he had appealed to Caesar, he was shackled,
17:58 he was in chains.
18:00 But when the boat was in trouble,
18:01 they listened to Paul even while he was handcuffed.
18:06 When Paul and Silas was in prison,
18:09 shackled, chained to guards in the prison.
18:14 When the time came, the prisoners asked Paul
18:16 how to be saved?
18:18 So being in an unfavorable position
18:20 in the sight of men is not the same as being in
18:23 an unfavorable position in the sight of God.
18:26 Never measure your success by how people see you,
18:29 but how God sees you.
18:32 Uzziah did what was right in the sight of God.
18:34 Look at verse 6 and 7,
18:36 just the first part of verse 6 and 7,
18:38 I like this, just the first part of each of those verses,
18:42 "Now when he went out and made war, God helped Him."
18:48 You see that, verse 6 and 7, just the first part.
18:52 Wouldn't you like God to be on your side
18:53 when you go out to battle?
18:56 When a difficult situation arises, you say,
18:58 "Who's on my side?"
19:00 And you get a phone call, God's on your side.
19:03 Isn't that all that really matters?
19:07 Muhammad Ali calls himself the greatest,
19:10 but he got knocked out at one, he lost some fights.
19:13 But you know, brothers and sisters,
19:14 I'm here today to tell you that Jesus never lost a fight,
19:19 and He's not about to lose now.
19:23 When Uzziah went to war, God was with him.
19:27 I could imagine how the people must have felt,
19:31 when they heard that Uzziah was on his way.
19:34 You see when Uzziah was faithful,
19:37 God was with him in every battle.
19:40 Look at verse 8, this is an amazing resume,
19:44 this is an amazing resume.
19:45 He became prominent, no nation could withstand him,
19:49 every advancement he made went forward
19:51 because God was with him.
19:52 Look at verse 8,
19:53 "Also the Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah.
19:58 And his fame spread as far as the entrance of Egypt,
20:04 for he became," how?
20:06 Say that word.
20:08 Say that word, exceedingly.
20:10 Say it exceedingly.
20:11 Sound exceedingly. Exceedingly.
20:14 There you go, "He became exceedingly strong."
20:17 Have you met people that are exceedingly strong?
20:20 I met a guy the other day and I shook His hand,
20:22 I felt like I was shaking a mountain.
20:25 This guy was stone through and through.
20:28 Tall...
20:30 You ever met those people that are just really round,
20:32 but their roundness has nothing to do with fat,
20:33 everything to do with muscle.
20:36 I mean I hugged him, he said, "Good to see you!"
20:39 And my arms couldn't reach.
20:41 I was hugging a pile of muscle.
20:43 I shook his hand and I felt like
20:45 I was using my entire body to try to just shake his hand.
20:50 Exceedingly strong, God is saying
20:53 when you stand with God,
20:55 you can be exceedingly strong in the power of God.
20:59 Classic example, who was stronger?
21:02 David or Goliath?
21:05 David was, because God stood with him.
21:08 This young man's life was very, very powerful.
21:11 As a matter of fact,
21:12 Jerusalem under the leadership of Uzziah,
21:14 they lacked absolutely nothing, they had fertile grounds,
21:18 they had livestock that could not be counted.
21:20 They had plush gardens, strong armies,
21:23 and they had the most well protected walls
21:26 and gates of any city in the region.
21:29 Uzziah made sure they had everything
21:31 and the reason why they prospered so well,
21:33 is because God spoke to Uzziah
21:35 and told Uzziah in his night visions
21:37 what to do, and how to do it.
21:39 You know what?
21:40 When you spent time in the Word of God,
21:42 you'll always be a step or two ahead of your enemy.
21:46 You'll always be ahead of those plotting against you,
21:49 Uzziah gave God all the credit.
21:51 Matter of fact, look at his military resume.
21:54 Verse 14 and verse 15,
21:58 "Then Uzziah,"
22:00 the Bible says, "prepared for them
22:03 for the entire army,
22:05 shields, spears, helmets, body armor, bows,
22:11 and slings to cast stones.
22:13 And he made devices in Jerusalem,
22:16 invented by skilful men,
22:20 to be on the towers and the corners,
22:23 to shoot arrows and large stones.
22:25 So his fame spread far and wide,
22:29 for he was marvelously helped..."
22:32 Oh, but there are those four words
22:33 that no one really wants to see,
22:35 "Till he became strong."
22:38 Have you noticed?
22:40 All the good things said about him could have continued.
22:44 But before I go to that point, I wanna point out
22:46 what kind of a man he was.
22:47 Uzziah was the kind of man that every defeated king
22:51 had Uzziah's name on their tongue.
22:53 He was the poster boy for success, every magazine,
22:57 front cover, Uzziah, Fortune 500, Uzziah,
23:01 Time Magazine, Uzziah, Christianity Today, Uzziah.
23:05 He was the king that every other king
23:08 was measured by.
23:09 When you mention the word success,
23:10 they said, "Like Uzziah?"
23:12 He had it all.
23:13 He had no lack, he was filled with power
23:17 and every gift that God gave him,
23:20 God gave to him so that he can prosper
23:23 in the ways of the Lord.
23:27 But remember this, God gives us gifts
23:31 for His glory and not for ours.
23:35 I like to sing, every now and then I...
23:40 I guess it's becoming less and less of a desire.
23:43 Many, many years ago, maybe this desire was greater.
23:45 But every now and then I see people
23:47 sing on television and I say,
23:48 "Man, they can't sing as good as I do.
23:51 If I could just get out there,
23:53 maybe I'll get as rich as they are."
23:54 And God taps me on the shoulder and says, "Sit still."
23:59 Because they are those who are famous
24:00 in the eyes of the world that are not famous
24:02 in the eyes of God.
24:05 So the fame that you desire, if it's not in God's plan,
24:09 it's something that's gonna become a stumbling block
24:11 rather than a stepping stone in God's grace.
24:19 The problem was not what
24:21 other people thought about Uzziah,
24:24 the problem was
24:25 what Uzziah thought about himself.
24:29 Brethren, we are most vulnerable,
24:31 don't miss this point, we are most vulnerable
24:34 when we are most successful.
24:38 Not when we are poor, you don't hear
24:39 poor people going to jail a lot.
24:41 White color crime, you know, going to jail
24:44 for embezzling billions and millions.
24:45 And what's that place that a couple of year ago
24:48 that stock E...Enron.
24:53 Guy going in suit...
24:54 Guy going to jail in an expensive suit.
24:58 When he gets there, they put an orange one on him
25:00 and he just looks like everybody else.
25:05 The problem was
25:07 what Uzziah thought about himself.
25:08 Remember the Beatles in the 1960's?
25:10 Anybody been around long enough?
25:11 I'm looking at all the gray hair,
25:13 you know exactly what I'm talking about.
25:14 They were famous until they said
25:17 that they were more famous than God.
25:20 The problem was not what the people thought
25:23 about the Beatles,
25:24 but what the Beatles thought themselves.
25:26 It was not the people praising them,
25:28 it was them praising themselves
25:29 that lead to the Beatles demise.
25:32 After that they dropped off the chart,
25:34 like the world really did have an edge
25:36 and they rolled off of it.
25:38 Their fame plummeted because all the people loved
25:42 what they did and how they sang,
25:43 they said, "We are more famous than God."
25:45 But do you realize that still even today
25:47 the number one selling book is still God's Word.
25:50 Can you say amen?
25:51 Do you realize you got the number one
25:53 best seller in your lap!
25:56 We don't need any more books,
25:57 we just need to get into this one.
26:00 Also the Kennedy Family, I am so glad
26:02 my last name is not Kennedy.
26:05 John F. Kennedy, at the height of his fame, gunned down.
26:10 Robert Kennedy, as he was rising to fame,
26:13 gunned down.
26:14 John F. Kennedy Jr. as he was rising to fame,
26:18 brand new magazine, new bride, lost his life.
26:22 I'm glad my last name is Lomacang.
26:24 Amen.
26:26 Dr. Martin Luther King, God raised him up
26:30 to make an impact on the civil rights movement,
26:32 but at the high of his life
26:33 before he hit 40, he was gunned down.
26:36 It's when you are most successful
26:39 and most visible that you are most vulnerable,
26:43 which takes me to my second point.
26:45 Look at the screen.
26:48 "When God prospers us we must never forget
26:52 that God still places limits on us."
26:57 When God prospers us, we must never forget
27:00 that God still places limits on us.
27:04 In other words, simply God still has boundaries,
27:06 no matter how famous you are, you better listen to God
27:08 because God is God and we are not.
27:10 Amen.
27:11 So God places limits on us for what reason?
27:14 Look at verse 16 of Chapter 26.
27:17 This is the reason why God always has limits.
27:19 2 Chronicles 26:16,
27:22 the Bible gives a sad commentary
27:24 about a man whose life could have ended
27:25 quite differently,
27:26 that's why when God gives you something...
27:28 Let me say this right now before I read the verse.
27:30 When God gives you wealth, or fame, or visibility,
27:34 or influence, you got to handle that like you handle an egg
27:39 because it could be as productive as an egg,
27:42 but at the same time just as fragile as an egg.
27:46 It can bring life
27:48 or it could spell the end of life
27:50 if you drop it and not handle it carefully.
27:52 When God gives you influence, and wealth and fame,
27:55 and materialism, don't boast about it
27:57 because God gives you
27:58 what He gives you for the blessings
27:59 of those around you.
28:01 What do you say?
28:02 Uzziah forgot that.
28:03 And verse 26 came to the forefront.
28:06 As he began to get older, he got worst.
28:10 Verse 16,
28:13 it begins with that all too familiar word, but.
28:17 "But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up
28:22 to his destruction, for he transgressed
28:26 against the Lord his God by entering the temple
28:30 of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense."
28:34 Which takes me to truth point A.
28:36 Look at the screen.
28:38 Brethren, this is powerful.
28:40 "There is still a line
28:42 that we cannot safely cross."
28:47 Have you heard people say, "Don't cross the line?"
28:49 Have your parents ever said that?
28:51 You know no matter how famous you are,
28:53 there's a line over which we cannot safely cross.
28:58 God called Uzziah to be king,
29:01 Uzziah wanted what God never gave to him.
29:05 You see the line where safety ends,
29:07 is when you want go into areas
29:08 that God never intended for you to be in.
29:11 When you want to accomplish what God never intended for you
29:13 to accomplish or become
29:15 what God never intended for you to become.
29:17 Uzziah crossed a line that God never intended.
29:21 God called him to be king,
29:24 but he wanted to be priest instead,
29:27 which brings me to point number three.
29:29 Look at the screen again.
29:32 "When God prospers us, we must understand
29:38 where our authority begins
29:41 and where it ends."
29:44 When God prospers us, we must understand
29:46 where our authority begins and where it ends.
29:50 There are people that I have met
29:51 that think they have authority.
29:53 You know what, brethren?
29:54 I let them go on until they make an...
29:56 I'm saying this in the right context.
29:57 Until they make an absolute fool of themselves
29:59 because God is the only one that really has authority.
30:03 Can you say amen?
30:05 So when people talk about all...
30:07 You know some people like to rattle of their resume.
30:12 I got an ABC next to my PhD, next to my MBC,
30:16 next to my ABC, next to my CNN.
30:17 All these names that is behind their name...
30:22 and it doesn't mean anything because they are really
30:24 just a pile of dust with a lot of paper work.
30:28 Amen.
30:31 So don't let what you have
30:33 become the sum total of who you are.
30:34 A man's life does not consist in the abundance
30:38 of the things he possesses.
30:39 If you die wealthy, you leave back a whole lot,
30:42 if you die poor you leave very little,
30:44 but you go to the grave with nothing.
30:48 That's the bottom line.
30:50 So actually the poor man is in a better condition,
30:52 he doesn't really miss much when he dies.
30:56 Now you don't miss anything anyway
30:57 because you're not conscious.
30:59 But if you could be conscious, you'll miss a whole lot
31:01 when you die when you're wealthy, right?
31:05 Look at verse 17,
31:11 and before I read that...
31:13 Matter of fact, let me read that first.
31:17 This is amazing verse.
31:20 If you ever wake up one day, and I'm a pastor,
31:22 and I can put this in a context of a pastor.
31:25 If I wake up one day
31:26 and I got 25 elders of my church ringing the door,
31:31 and they're not smiling, I better run for cover.
31:34 Am I right?
31:36 If you ring a doorbell and all your church members
31:39 are outside and they are not smiling,
31:42 and they got bats and gloves,
31:44 and rope and tar, and feathers,
31:47 you better find a hole in your house
31:49 that they don't know about.
31:50 Am I telling the truth?
31:52 Uzziah, when he crossed the line,
31:54 the priest who was still being led by God
31:58 did not hesitate to straighten him out.
32:02 There are some folks that are messed up
32:03 because people don't take the time
32:04 to straighten them out.
32:07 There are some folks
32:08 that are in high positions in this church
32:10 and others that think somehow
32:12 that they got control of something
32:14 when they don't have control of anything.
32:17 Ellen White says,
32:18 "If there are matters in God's work
32:20 that need to be straightened out,
32:21 God will take care of His own church,
32:24 it's God's church."
32:25 Can you say amen?
32:27 You remember that you could be in the GC,
32:28 the division, the union, the conference,
32:30 you could be a local pastor.
32:32 God is the only one that really has any power
32:36 to straighten anything out
32:37 because God doesn't see like we see.
32:40 God sees the human heart,
32:42 when all we see is just the exterior.
32:44 Look at verse 17 and 18,
32:49 "So Azariah the priest went in after him,"
32:53 that is after Uzziah,
32:55 "and with him were
32:56 eighty priests of the Lord, valiant men."
33:00 In other words, they were ready for the fight.
33:02 They say, "We're gonna Uzziah down today,
33:03 no matter what he did, we're ready for him."
33:05 And it goes on in verse 18,
33:07 "And they withstood Uzziah,
33:11 to burn incense to the Lord."
33:14 Let me say this, "And they withstood Uzziah,
33:16 and said to him,
33:17 'It is not for you, Uzziah,
33:19 to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests,
33:23 the sons of Aaron,
33:24 who are consecrated to burn incense.
33:27 Get out of the sanctuary, for you have..."
33:30 What's the next word?
33:31 "Trespassed, you shall have no honor
33:35 from the Lord."
33:37 Which takes me to truth B, write it down.
33:41 Which takes me to truth B.
33:44 "There is still an authority reserved for God alone."
33:49 Can the church say amen?
33:51 God is all powerful, only God sits in the top seat.
33:57 If this world were pyramid,
33:59 God would be up there all by Himself.
34:02 That's why I'm amazed, when people come and go.
34:04 I'm at the place in life, I'm almost 50,
34:07 I'll go ahead and say it.
34:08 You know why I'm saying it because I don't look 50.
34:10 Amen. Say amen for me.
34:14 I'm still fast.
34:16 Don't throw anything at me,
34:18 I can duck, I can see it coming.
34:20 I'm at the place after these many years to know that,
34:22 you know what?
34:24 I don't bow to the positions of men anymore,
34:27 I just bow to God.
34:29 You got to get to the place in life
34:31 where you gonna say what you got to say it
34:32 regardless of the person's position
34:34 because they can't...
34:35 What can they do to you? What can man do to me?
34:38 God is our helper and our strength.
34:40 Whom shall we fear, if God before us,
34:43 who can be against us?
34:44 Sometimes you got to look at people
34:46 in high positions to say,
34:47 "You know what? You just stepped out of line.
34:50 And you are where
34:51 God never intended for you to be."
34:53 That's exactly what they did to Uzziah.
34:55 Point four, look at this, point four.
34:58 You got to get this.
35:01 "If we fail to acknowledge the limits God place on us,
35:06 the honor that God gives us will be removed."
35:11 If we fail to acknowledge the limits God places on us,
35:16 the honor that God gives us will be removed.
35:21 You know what Uzziah's problem was?
35:24 He ignored the limits that God placed on him.
35:26 He walked through a door that God never opened.
35:29 He tried to occupy a position that God never gave him.
35:33 He exercised an authority that ignored God's authority,
35:36 which take me right away to point number five.
35:40 Here it is, are you ready for it?
35:45 I wanna read verse 19
35:48 before I give you point five.
35:53 "Then," the Bible says, "Uzziah became," what?
35:59 "Furious, angry and he had a censer
36:03 in his hand to burn incense.
36:05 And while he was angry with the priests..."
36:09 Let me just stop and say, you got to watch out
36:11 who you get angry with.
36:15 You may think it,
36:16 but sometimes you better not say it.
36:19 Amen.
36:23 There are times that wisdom dictates,
36:25 you better keep your mouth shut because the next thing you say
36:29 could spell your demise.
36:30 Am I telling the truth?
36:32 Look at the verse,
36:34 "And while he was angry with the priest,
36:36 leprosy broke out on his forehead
36:40 before the priests in the house of the Lord,
36:42 beside the incense altar."
36:44 He was where God never called him to be.
36:47 Let me make this very clear.
36:48 Uzziah had power in all of the kingdom,
36:50 but there was a place
36:52 that God reserve for certain people
36:53 that Uzziah wanted that too, that's covetousness.
36:56 When what you have becomes the desire of somebody else,
36:59 that person can be very well taken
37:01 the very first step to their destruction.
37:04 Because God has a square,
37:06 He say, "Don't touch my anointed."
37:08 Amen.
37:09 When you step over that line and try to mess with somebody
37:11 that God says, "Keep hands off."
37:12 God steps in.
37:14 God called the priest to be priest,
37:16 He did not call Uzziah to be priest,
37:19 which brings me to point number five.
37:21 Are you ready for it? Here we go.
37:25 "The intensity of your anger could be very well spell
37:30 the beginning of your fall."
37:33 The intensity of your anger can very well spell
37:38 the beginning of your fall.
37:39 If that's ever true, it's true today.
37:42 The Bible says, "Be angry and sin not."
37:46 Let not the sun go down on your wrath,
37:50 because when the sun goes down on your wrath,
37:52 it goes down on you too.
37:55 Think about that.
37:56 It's not going down on everybody else.
37:58 Everybody is going to bed with a pleasant heart.
38:00 But when the sun goes down on your wrath,
38:02 you sense the sun going down.
38:06 When you get angry, when you lose your mind,
38:10 God doesn't have a whole lot to work with.
38:13 The intensity of Uzziah's anger spelled
38:17 the beginning of his downfall.
38:19 And, brethren, the place where the leprosy broke out
38:23 pointed to the problem, it broke out on
38:25 Uzziah's head which meant
38:27 that Uzziah's problem was high-mindedness.
38:31 The Bible says, "In the last days,
38:33 men will be lovers of themselves,
38:36 boastful, proud, blasphemers, lovers of themselves,
38:41 high-minded, heady."
38:44 And I will haste to say that,
38:45 Satan wants that problem to be in the church.
38:49 Matter of fact, see God's plan is,
38:52 a good ending to a bad journey.
38:54 Satan's plan is a bad ending to a good journey.
38:58 Satan had a plan for Uzziah, that's why no matter
39:00 how old you get, no matter how successful you get,
39:03 you better keep your hand and your life
39:04 under the humbling almighty hand of God.
39:07 What do you say?
39:08 Because at any point you think that you're safe,
39:10 look at the story of Abraham.
39:12 Ellen White says that,
39:13 "His greatest test came to him when he was oldest."
39:18 The greatest test that came to him
39:20 came to him when he was an older man.
39:22 Not when he was the young personnel
39:24 and not when we was 16 years old.
39:26 And the reason why God brought that test
39:28 or allowed them is because God knew
39:30 that when you get older, brethren,
39:32 you ought to know better.
39:35 Amen?
39:36 Look at the next verse.
39:40 Verse 20, "And Azariah the chief priest,
39:44 and all the priests, looked at him,
39:47 and there on his forehead, he was leprous,
39:52 so they thrust him out of that place.
39:54 Indeed he also hurried to get out,
39:56 because the Lord had struck him."
39:57 God said, "You better got out of here,
39:59 I'm gonna whip you."
40:00 Matter of fact, have you ever had
40:02 whipping before?
40:03 Now you may have had a really good whipping,
40:05 I call those...
40:06 What do I call them again, honey?
40:08 I use a phrase.
40:10 A blazing saddle, that's what I call them.
40:13 You think that man can make your saddle blaze,
40:16 let God whack you.
40:18 The reason why Uzziah ran out
40:19 is because God was about to whack him,
40:21 and he was trying to run faster than God
40:23 could swing His hand.
40:26 He got out real fast, he ran out.
40:28 And the reason why he ran out
40:30 because he finally realized that in his old age,
40:34 he was not as wise as God intended for him to be.
40:38 Got to pray for wisdom at every age,
40:40 but especially when you get older.
40:41 Some people...
40:42 I've heard people say, "Ah, that's how he is,
40:44 he's getting older, ignore him."
40:46 Brethren, that's when we should be
40:48 really right fruits for the Lord.
40:49 Amen.
40:51 We shouldn't be nuts anymore, we should be fruits.
40:59 Age is no license to being foolish.
41:03 Look at point number six.
41:09 "God places limits on us
41:14 so that we can be safe
41:16 to occupy an exalted position."
41:20 God places limits on us so that we can be safe
41:24 to occupy an exalted position.
41:26 Can you imagine having a United States president
41:29 that didn't have to even ask Congress
41:31 for any permission to do anything?
41:34 That would be a dictatorship.
41:36 I'm so glad that God does not have His church that way.
41:39 At every stage in the Seventh-day Adventist Church
41:41 there is accountability.
41:43 From the local level, to the conference level,
41:46 to the union level, to the division level,
41:48 to the GC level, at every stage
41:50 God puts in place checks and balances,
41:53 so that no man or woman become a law unto themselves.
41:56 And a reason why God places limits there,
41:58 so that we can be safe to occupy an exalted position.
42:02 But hear this point.
42:03 An exalted position is not a safe place,
42:06 you're gonna be shot at when you're high up there,
42:08 am I right?
42:09 An exalted position is not a safe place.
42:11 But get this part, but a safe person
42:15 can occupy an exalted position.
42:19 When a person's heart is changed by God
42:21 and pure Holy Spirit, a safe person can be trusted
42:26 in an exalted position.
42:28 Watch out for prideful people.
42:30 The Bible says, "Whoever exalts himself
42:32 will be humbled and whoever humbles himself
42:34 will be exalted."
42:35 Matthew 23:12.
42:36 We got to make sure that we stay humble
42:39 under the hand of God and never think that we are it.
42:45 When we rush ahead of God's timetable,
42:47 we are at risk.
42:49 When we live outside of God's plans, we are at risk.
42:53 Look at verse 21,
42:59 "King Uzziah was a leper
43:01 until the day of his death,
43:03 he dwelt in an isolated house..."
43:05 What a commentary to 68 years of fame?
43:09 What a commentary to 68 years of success?
43:12 He was a leper until the day of his death.
43:15 He dwelt in an isolated house because he was a leper,
43:19 for he was cast off from the house of the Lord.
43:22 Then Jotham his son was over the king's house,
43:26 judging the people of the land."
43:28 Now get this, brethren, I caught this one,
43:30 I read the story.
43:31 You see every one of us is a leper.
43:35 Say amen.
43:36 But when we are leper is the big deal.
43:40 You see, Naaman was a leper until God touched his life
43:44 and changed his heart.
43:46 He started out with pride, but God changed him
43:49 and the Bible says,
43:50 "Good things about Naaman from that day on."
43:52 But, brethren, if you become
43:54 a leper at the end of your life,
43:55 you are in serious trouble.
43:58 If God places leprosy on you
44:00 when He should be sealing you up for the kingdom,
44:02 that's a sad commentary.
44:05 Naaman was a leper,
44:06 the Bible says, Uzziah is a leper.
44:10 What a difference? What a contrast?
44:12 Two different directions, two different men.
44:15 Everyone is a leper, but when we become a leper
44:18 is the big issue.
44:19 Look at verse 23,
44:21 "So Uzziah rested with his fathers,
44:22 and they buried him with his fathers
44:25 in the field of burial
44:27 which belongs to the kings, for they said..."
44:29 Notice this is not past tense, it's in a present tense,
44:33 "He is a leper,
44:35 then Jotham his son reigned in his place."
44:38 This is powerful,
44:39 this is righteousness by faith right here.
44:41 Listen to this.
44:43 If King Uzziah had died to sin,
44:49 he would have seen the vision
44:51 that God had for him.
44:53 If he had died to sin, but King Uzziah died in sin
44:58 and that's why Isaiah 6:1 says,
45:01 "In the year that King Uzziah died,
45:03 Isaiah saw the Lord."
45:05 Let me tell you something, brethren,
45:06 this is a humbling sermon.
45:08 It made me check myself out.
45:09 If you think that you got it all,
45:11 and nobody else has it,
45:13 you better be careful, because God took
45:16 what He intended to be Uzziah's and gave it to Isaiah instead.
45:21 In the year that Uzziah died,
45:25 Isaiah got the vision.
45:30 There's only one king and kingdom
45:31 that will never end.
45:33 Uzziah thought it was going to be his.
45:35 But, brethren, today, it's still God's kingdom.
45:37 Can you say amen?
45:39 Truth C, here it is.
45:43 Truth C.
45:45 "There is still..."
45:47 And I'm gonna add today in 2007,
45:49 whatever the year may be,
45:50 "There is still a place that belongs to God alone."
45:58 And He's inviting us to be there.
46:01 We are not gonna get there by pride,
46:02 we're gonna get there by a changed heart.
46:04 Can you say amen?
46:07 When he was strong in verse 16, when Uzziah became strong
46:11 and popular, and famous and puffed up,
46:14 and he thought he was the only one,
46:16 when he became strong,
46:18 his heart was lifted up to his destruction.
46:21 The sin that brought down
46:23 Uzziah is the sin of presumption.
46:27 What is the sin of presumption?
46:28 Here it is, "When you want to have
46:31 more than God gave you, that's presumption.
46:34 When you go where God never sent you,
46:37 that's presumption.
46:38 When you stand where God never placed you,
46:41 that's presumption.
46:42 When you do
46:44 what God never intended for you to do,
46:46 that presumption.
46:47 When you live how God never intended for you to live
46:50 and think God's gonna bless you anyhow,
46:52 that's presumption."
46:54 Brethren, I don't wanna be a person that preach
46:56 for people to be saved and be lost myself.
46:59 Can anybody else say amen?
47:00 I don't want to be a member of this church
47:02 and not a member of the heavenly kingdom.
47:04 We got to pray for those in high position from GC
47:07 all the way down
47:08 to the back room of our churches.
47:11 Because pride, the thing that keeps Satan out,
47:13 we're not taking it in.
47:15 And my last point, point number seven.
47:19 I like this point.
47:21 It ends on a high note, a positive note.
47:24 "There is no greater blessing
47:28 than the blessing that we receive
47:31 from the Lord for being faithful."
47:35 Don't just write it down, say amen.
47:37 When you are faithful, all my brothers and sisters,
47:40 my wife and I can sit you down for hours
47:42 and tell you how God has blessed us,
47:44 because our prayer has always been,
47:46 since the day we've been married,
47:47 just celebrated 24 years.
47:48 From the day we got married, our prayer has
47:51 and continues to be,
47:52 Lord, keep us humble.
47:56 Because I know at any given day,
47:58 I could be gone, I could be forgotten,
48:00 somebody else could sing better than me,
48:02 preach better than me, do programming better than me.
48:05 Brethren, when God gives you what He gives you,
48:07 He gives it for His glory, not for ours.
48:11 There is no greater blessing than the blessing
48:13 that we receive from the Lord for being faithful
48:16 which is the final scripture.
48:17 Look at the last scripture, beauty of it all, here it is.
48:22 Ephesians 6:10, if you can see that,
48:24 let's read that together."
48:25 Finally, my brethren..." All ready?
48:28 "Be strong in the Lord
48:30 and in the power of His might."
48:34 Not your own.
48:36 I didn't read the rest,
48:37 because I wanna emphases the fact
48:39 that the power is God's power.
48:41 If you gonna have any power, it better come from God.
48:44 If you gonna have any position, it better come from God.
48:47 If you gonna have any influence,
48:48 it better come from God.
48:50 The answer to Uzziah's syndrome is the answer for us.
48:54 Just before I sing this song,
48:56 let me tell you what that answer is.
48:58 By the way, the answer is always Jesus.
48:59 Can you say amen?
49:01 But here is Jesus in detail.
49:03 The answer that Uzziah's
49:04 should have sought is the answer
49:06 that we still have a chance to see.
49:10 Uzziah's heart needed to be searched by God,
49:14 but he never prayed the prayer.
49:16 Uzziah's pride needed to be uncovered,
49:19 but he never prayed the prayer.
49:21 Uzziah did not see his own weakness
49:23 because he didn't pray the prayer.
49:25 Uzziah paid no attention to the dangers
49:28 that lay in his path
49:29 because he didn't pray the prayer.
49:31 Uzziah never realized the joy
49:35 of knowing that all is well
49:39 because he didn't pray the prayer.
49:42 My prayer for you today, as I sing this song
49:44 is that we will pray this prayer.
49:46 Search me O God, reveal my heart,
49:50 as I sing this song and that's your desire,
49:53 I'm gonna ask you to just bow your heads
49:54 and listen as God speaks to us in this message.
49:57 The greatest desire
49:59 we should have is for God to search us.
50:05 Search me, oh God Reveal my heart
50:12 Expose my sin
50:14 That it may be confessed
50:23 Search me, oh God Unveil each thought
50:29 And leave no hidden motive unaddressed
50:40 Uncover every action born in pride
50:49 Show me the worldly ways
50:52 I still embrace
51:00 May every anxious thought
51:04 Be brought to light
51:09 And each unspoken fear
51:12 With faith replaced
51:18 Isn't that a prayer today for changed heart?
51:21 Listen.
51:24 Search me, oh God Observe my life
51:31 Bring to my mind Each idle word I speak
51:42 Search me, oh God
51:45 Test my resolve
51:49 And alert me Where you find it weak
51:59 Reveal all weakened walls
52:03 With in my soul
52:08 And show me potential dangers Unforeseen
52:19 Then clothe my conscience
52:22 With your holiness
52:28 Help me to guard it well
52:31 And keep it clean
52:39 Search me, oh God
52:42 That I may walk in peace
52:49 Filled with the joy Of knowing all is well
52:59 My heart surrendered
53:03 And my conscience clean
53:09 So great a joy
53:11 My tongue can scarcely tell
53:18 Oh what a joy of knowing That all is well
53:48 Today I wanna pray,
53:51 that the pride that's building up in us,
53:55 be the pride that we say, Lord, today,
53:58 I want you to take that
53:59 Holy Spirit vacuum and begin to remove it,
54:02 what do you say?
54:04 If there's anybody here today that wanna join with me
54:06 in that prayer of saying,
54:09 "Lord, do whatever You need to do
54:10 to get me into the kingdom.
54:12 Take whatever You need to take to make sure that I make it.
54:15 Let not my life of success end
54:18 with a sad statement,
54:22 that I died on the outside of the kingdom
54:24 You prepared for me,
54:25 that I died short of the realization
54:29 that all is well with me."
54:30 If you wanna join me today, and asking God to begin
54:33 to search you out and show you who you are,
54:36 stand with me as we pray.
54:38 You can join us at home.
54:40 Just bow your heads with us.
54:43 Our gracious God and our everlasting Father,
54:45 what a joy it is to know that our record
54:48 is not finished being written,
54:50 and our lives are not finished being lived.
54:54 Today, Lord, we stand before You,
54:56 humbly asking You to look into our hearts,
54:59 into our words, into our actions,
55:00 into our deeds and show us who we are,
55:05 that we may see who You are.
55:09 The glory, Lord, that You desire,
55:11 may it be just Yours.
55:13 The success You entrust to us,
55:15 may it glorify You and You alone.
55:18 The position we occupy may we desire
55:21 that position to be where You stand with us.
55:25 And, Father, when the day comes
55:26 that we stand before Your presence,
55:28 may it be to hear the words well done
55:30 rather than depart from me.
55:33 Today the decision is being made,
55:34 Lord, we are Your people, get us ready for that
55:38 which we cannot prepare ourselves for
55:41 and all that we do and say, our desire is to be saved.
55:46 Save us the way that you see fit, Lord,
55:49 and we pray this to Your holy
55:51 and honorable name.
55:53 In Jesus' name we pray and God's people said amen.
55:58 Friends, as this program is ending,
56:00 we're gonna ask that God will also speak to your heart.
56:04 That whatever challenges you may find in your home,
56:06 in your life, and in your spiritual walk
56:07 with the pastor, leader, parishioner,
56:10 whatever position you occupy in life,
56:12 give God the first place.
56:14 So that when the time comes for Jesus to come,
56:18 you'll know that all is well in your heart and in your life.
56:22 We are living in the last days, days where God says
56:25 that we must examine our own hearts.
56:28 Pray the prayer of David, Lord,
56:29 if there is any wicked way in me,
56:32 lead me into the way of everlasting life.
56:34 That's my prayer for you, that's 3ABNs prayer for you,
56:37 continue praying for us that when the Lord comes,
56:40 we will all be found faithful and be ready
56:43 to enter God's eternal kingdom.
56:46 May God bless you.


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Revised 2019-08-29