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IN A DAY OF MINUSES, ISAIAH CAME OUT WITH A PLUS ISAIAH 6:1-13 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the year that Uzziah died Isaiah saw also the Lord. Uzziah was king of Judah. The death of King Uzziah was a national calamity. He had been a good king. He had sought the Lord. The Lord had prospered him! He had defeated the enemies of Judah, improved living conditions, and built up a national defense. 2 CHRONICLES 26:16, But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction. Paul was strong when he was weak, but Uzziah was weak when he was strong. Why? For Uzziah's transgression against the Lord his God, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of insense. Uzziah usurped the office of priest and tried to offer incense in the temple, God struck him with leprosy, and he died in disgrace. 2 CHRONICLES 26:14-23. Everybody was over-whelmed. People were saying, "If a good man like King Uzziah should end up like that, what hope is there for the rest of us?" (my quote) NOTE: Isaiah the prophet was stunned, but for him there was something extra, "he saw the Lord". It was that, also, that plus, that made the difference. Everybody else saw the disaster, the disillusionment, and the despair that gripped the country. Isaiah saw that, but in addition, he saw also, the Lord. Then too: One thinks of Jeremiah's long lament over the state of the nation. LAMENTATIONS 5:1-8. Jeremiah paints the darkest picture, but ends up declaring in v. 19, Thou, O Lord, remainest forever, thy throne from generation to generation. Jeremiah had a plus, he saw also, the Lord. ALSO: Micah moaned that the good and the upright were gone and the crooks had taken over and that one could not trust a friend, guide, or even his wife. But, immediately out of all this wretched state of affairs comes a holy resolve. MICAH 7:7, Therefore I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear us. Micah saw also the Lord, In a day of minuses he came out with a plus. OBSERVE: In the New Testament, it is gloriously summed up in Hebrews 2:8-9 , "But we see Jesus". Over against all the minuses stands one eternal plus, but we see Jesus. Isaiah and Jeremiah did not paint an unrealistically drab picture. Everything they said then can be said now. America is a land of plenty, but also a land of poverty. "We gain the world and lose the souls." "King Uzziah was a leper." We started out like he did, but now that we are strong, our hearts are lifted up to our destruction. We have become our own priests, and we are stricken with moral and spiritual leprosy. Blessed is the man, who amidst all these minuses can come out with a plus, and see also, the Lord. "I want to share with your hearts today, Isaiah's crisis, and from that crisis to his commission". Please continue Here Wayside Baptist Church - 2002 |
