Well, please turn with me in your Bibles if you have one with you to the second book of Chronicles, chapter 26. Let me just quickly set the scene for you. We're in the first half of the eighth century before Christ. We are in days when The people of God are beginning to become increasingly distanced from the reality, the power and the grace of the God they confessed. They were beginning to drift very far from their confessional moorings. They continued to confess the Lord. They were punctilious in their religious observances. But if you know, for example, the first chapter of the book of Isaiah, which really takes up the second half of the eighth century before Christ, you remember how there the Lord tells his people that he abominates their religion, that he will close his ears to their prayers, that he finds their sacrifices offensive in his sight. So what we have here is a people, God's church, that is increasingly becoming distant from the very reality of the God that they confessed. I said yesterday that when you read the scriptures, you need to remind yourself that you're in the midst of a cosmic conflict. So what we are thinking about here tonight has immediate significance, of course, to this little state of Israel, this little buffer state sandwiched between great world empires, Assyria to the north and Egypt basically to the south. But actually something more dramatic and more cosmic is going on. It's kingdom against kingdom. It's the seed of the woman against the seed of the serpent. And what we find here is a king who begins with remarkable promise. And remember that the people of God knew that God had made them a promise that he would sign one day a deliverer who would crush the serpent. There would be a serpent crusher. And you could imagine as year succeeded year and age succeeded age, the people would be wondering, when will he come? Will it be this one? Will it be that one? King David came and the kingdom began to enlarge and expand and there were victories on this side and that side. And then David collapsed. It wouldn't be David. And here we have another king who begins with remarkable promise. And you could well imagine some people perhaps beginning to think, maybe it's him, maybe it's him. But though he begins well, he ends disastrously. 2 Chronicles chapter 26. And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was 16 years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. He built Eilat, restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers. Isaiah was 16 years old when he began to reign. And he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jechaliah of Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, now notice this, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper. He went out and made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabnah and the wall of Ashdod. And he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived at Gurba'al and against the Munites. The Ammonites paid tribute to Isaiah and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. Moreover, Isaiah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate and at the valley gate and at the angle and fortified them. and he built towers in the wilderness, and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shefala and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. Moreover, Isaiah had an army of soldiers fit for war in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jael, the secretary, and Masaiah, the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. The whole number of the heads of father's houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. Under their command was an army of 307,500 who could make war with mighty power to help the king against the enemy. And Isaiah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows and stones for slinging. In Jerusalem he made machines invented by skillful men to be on the towers and the corners to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far for he was marvelously helped till he was strong. But When he was strong, he grew proud to all his destruction, for he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and 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, go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God." Then Isaiah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out in his forehead. in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord by the altar of incense. And Azariah, the chief priests, and all the priests looked at him and behold, he was leprous in his forehead. And they rushed him out quickly and he himself hurried to go out because the Lord had struck him. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death. And being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded, that is cut off, excommunicated from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of Isaiah from first to last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz wrote. And Isaiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings. For they said, here is his epitaph, this man who had begun so wonderfully, so remarkably, so encouragingly. This is his epitaph. He's a leper. And Jotham, his son, reigned in his place. I would hope that all of us here this evening know that what matters in the life of faith is not how well you begin, but how faithfully you end. And the story of King Isaiah is a salutary reminder to us that it's one thing to begin well, and it's another thing altogether to end well. He began with such promise. He was a man greatly used of God. We're told that God made him prosper. We're told that God helped him. We're told in verse 15, he was marvelously helped. He was a man who knew the blessing of Almighty God. He was a man who had seen the Lord use him greatly. even gloriously, to see this little company of people whom God had covenanted to be their God, to see them grow and expand and develop in so many different ways. He began with such promise, but he ends with tragedy. And what is his epitaph? He's a leper. No mention of the great advances, No mention of the transformation of the countryside. No mention of his military victories. Here's how he's remembered. He's a leper. I want to look at the chapter very simply under two headings. Look at the first 15 verses where we see Isaiah's triumphs and then the second half from verse 16 to the end of the chapter simply to notice with you his tragedy and then look to draw some conclusions of application for us as we reflect on his life. We're told in verse 3 that he became king while a young man. He reigned for 52 years. We know he died in the year 740 before Christ. Remember how Isaiah chapter 6 begins, in the year that King Uzziah died. And we'll come back to that. I saw the Lord. high and lifted up. He reigns for 52 years and what we read especially in verses 4 and 5 is, I think, remarkable. He did what would write in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. Now here is A place in scripture where you're expected to know what's just happened in the previous chapters. And so if you turn back just very briefly to the previous chapter, chapter 25 at verse 2, this is what's said about Isaiah's father. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. Like father, like son. We are told in verse 4, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord according to all that his father Amaziah had done. But his father Amaziah had not left his son an example of wholehearted devotion to the Lord. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, we are told, Amaziah, yet not with a whole heart. And that would be the reality that would mark ultimately the life of his son, Isaiah. Like father, like son. But then you go on, we're told, he set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of the Lord. And as long as he sought The Lord God made him prosper. You could hardly think of a king's reign beginning with more promise and with the prospect of the blessing of God descending upon it. And that's what you have from verse 6 right through to verse 15. Why are we being told all about these military advances and these technological advances and the militarizing and defending of Jerusalem and the prospering of the countryside? Why are we being told all that? Why are we being told about the vast army of 307,500? simply to impress upon us, to heap upon us. How remarkably blessed and privileged this King's early years were. He began with such astonishing promise. Almost everything he turns his hand to is blessed of God. And the chronicler wants us really to take note of the many blessings and privileges that God was pleased to bestow on this King Isaiah. Are you getting it, he is saying? Are you taking this to heart? What promise, what blessings God heaped upon this man and through him, the covenant people of God? Are you getting it? Are you taking it in? Do you see how expansively He ruled and reigned throughout the land. What a beginning, triumphs in every side. People would be talking about this King. What a blessed thing it is for us to have such a man at our head, leading us, directing us, everything he puts his hand to. God is pleased to bless. His reign begins with such promise. And then in the second half of the chapter, and we'll dwell more on this, verse 16 begins, but when he was strong, he grew proud. He is a man who exhibited strength, but actually the strength was somewhat illusory. He was a man whose father had not served the Lord with a whole heart and eventually the chickens were coming home to roost. But when he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. Now, we're not told how long Isaiah's triumphs lasted, but we are told that his triumphs ended. Just notice, first of all, how strikingly verse 16 begins. Verse 15 ends, he was marvelously helped till he became strong. But, and I think there are few more tragic buts in the Bible than this but we read in verse 16. But when he was strong, he grew proud. Here is a king who forgot himself. Here is a king who forgot remarkably, almost unimaginably remarkably, that all the blessings he had had thus far, he had by the kindness, the good pleasure of Almighty God. That's why we read at the end of verse 5, God made him prosper. And again in verse 7, God helped him. And again in verse 15, he was marvelously helped, that is by the Lord. But Isaiah remarkably, unimaginably, unfathomably forgot that all the blessings that he enjoyed and all the advances he had seen and all the triumphs that he had accumulated, He had by the good pleasure and kindness of the Lord. He forgot He owed all His triumphs to Him. And what He does is to do unimaginably, I think, what the Word of God expressly forbade Him to do. He becomes so proud and so arrogant. This young man who began with such promise, He does what the Word of God plainly, unambiguously said he should never do. He sought to intrude into the ministry of the priesthood. Now God is jealous for his worship. Remember how in Leviticus 10 we are told that Nadab and Abihu decided that they would offer up unauthorized strange fire to the Lord. Why should it only be the Levites who do that? And what happened to them? God killed them. What happened to Uzzah when he stretched out his hand? You would think, well, was he not doing a good thing to steady the ark? But God's Word plainly and unambiguously declared that was not for him to do. Now, maybe you're thinking, well, Ian, I hear what you're saying, but that was then and this is now. That's the old covenant. This is now the new covenant. And that's absolutely true. But what do we read in 1 Corinthians 11? The reason why some of you have died and some of you are sick, says Paul, is because you are abusing the supper of the Lord. You think, goodness me, what am I to make of that? Simply this, God takes his worship seriously. And here is a king who is defiant of God. Here is a king who decides that he will take to himself what God had forbidden him to take to himself. He sinned against the plain teaching of the Word of God. He sinned clearly against the light. Pride in his achievements, the blessings of God blinded him to the plainest of truths. I've sometimes pondered this and thought, Lord, how could a man like Isaiah be so blind to your truth? Did he not know what the Word of God said? Well, plainly he did. Clearly he did. But when pride begins to take root within our hearts and minds, it warps our thinking. Think of King David when he sees Bathsheba bathing. Did he not know what the seventh commandment said? Did he not know that he was to honor the Lord with his eyes, with his thoughts, as well as with his actions? Clearly, he did. But he had become proud. That's why Second Samuel 11 begins as it does. In the days when kings should be going out to war, what was David doing? He was lounging around. He didn't need to go. He had won victory after victory. The kingdom was growing, it was expanding. Hadn't he done well? And here you have this King Isaiah seeking to take to himself what God had forbidden men like him to do. And you'll notice in the text that his disobedience appalled Azariah the priest and the other 80 priests. They were men of valor. They needed to be because in those days kings were autocrats. But the king even refuses to listen to the priests. It's not for you, Isaiah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated, set apart by God to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary. You've done wrong. It will bring you no honor from the Lord. Then, Isaiah, you would think he might be thinking, what on earth am I doing? I'm out of my mind. Thank you so much for rebuking me and reminding me. He becomes angry. How dare you? How dare you confront me and rebuke me? He becomes angry and he takes the sensor, the sensor of incense. And he's about to engage in a priestly act. and leprosy, that sign of God's great displeasure breaks out on his forehead. And the rest of the chapter relates the tragic consequences of his disobedience. He's struck with leprosy, he's forced to live apart from his family, he is excommunicated from the life and the fellowship of the people of God. And he ends his reign in public disgrace. And as Epitaph reads, he was a leper. Imagine that being the only words on your headstone when you die. He's a leper, a man who died bearing the mark of the displeasure and anger of God upon his life. Now, the question I want to ask in the light of that is this. What on earth went wrong? Now, the answer is clearly in the text. Verse 16. When he was strong, he grew proud to his destruction. So I want to ask, what exactly is pride? What is pride? And why is it so wicked, so destructive? And why does it bring down upon us the solemn judgment of Almighty God? What is pride? At its heart, pride is self-idolatry. Pride is exalting yourself above God and before God. Pride is making self the idol that you serve. Pride forgets God and exalts self. Pride looks to itself and concludes, what a good boy am I. Haven't I done well? Haven't I done well? Didn't I preach a good sermon? Didn't I teach a good Sunday school class? Aren't my children growing up so, so well and faithfully before God? The perpendicular pronoun becomes paramount in our lives. If I were to ask you the question, what was the sin of Sodom? You know, Sodom and Gomorrah, the two cities God destroyed on the plain, Genesis 19. What was the great sin of Sodom? I would guess most people would think, well, that's pretty straightforward. It was sexual perversion. It was willful, deliberate perversion. of the sexuality that God gifted to us at creation. That's not what the Bible says. If you read Ezekiel 16, if we have time we could do that. Ezekiel 16, verses 48 and 49. The sin of Sodom was pride. It exalted itself. Self-idolatry. is the heart and the evil of pride. And you go right back to the beginning where we see pride is the mother of all sins. Why did Adam and Eve rebel against God in the garden? Why on earth did they listen to a talking snake? You think they would have said snakes don't talk? What's going on here? This isn't Disney. What's going on here? Snakes don't talk. Why do they listen and why do they believe the lie of the serpent? Because pride had entered into their hearts. Self-idolatry. They exalted themselves above God and before God. And that's the seriousness of pride. It seeks to bring God down from his throne. The Puritans in the 17th century would often speak of sin as Dea Echidium. That is God killing. If sin had its way, it would kill God. Because sin wants self to be exalted. Sin wants self to reign. Pride blinded Isaiah to reality. Now, the one point I want to focus on briefly towards the end is this. Here was a man who had begun with such promise. And yet he ended with such tragedy. And the two things I want simply to leave with you are this. Number one, he became vulnerable to pride through the blessings of the goodness of God. We are at our most vulnerable. when we're experiencing the blessings and the kindnesses and the goodness of Almighty God. Because when the blessings of God come to us, remaining or indwelling sin within us seeks to turn us aside from the disciplines of grace. Isn't it remarkable that as our Lord Jesus Christ finds himself in the garden of Gethsemane, as the dark shadow of the cross begins to penetrate his human soul, as he finds himself crying out to this father that if it be possible, this cup would pass from him. Almost His last words to His disciples were what? Watch and pray. Watch and pray. These men had been with Him three years. They had been privileged to hear from the lips of the Son of God the gospel of the grace of God. They had witnessed the mighty acts of the Son of God. They had seen people healed of sicknesses. They'd seen even people raised from the dead. And Jesus said to them, Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. My brothers and sisters, we are at our most vulnerable when the blessings of God are enriching our lives because blessings have a capacity to turn our eyes off the giver to the gift. They have a capacity to make us focus on the blessings. And not on the grace, the sovereign undeserved kindness and goodness of God from which all our blessings flow. What do you have? Paul would write to the Corinthians that you did not first receive. Why are you boasting about your attainments and your gifts and your abilities and this and that? What do you have that God himself did not give you? You know, the sovereignty of God is not simply a truth we are to confess. It's a truth that we are to cherish. Because it reminds us that every virtue I possess and every victory won and every thought of holiness are His alone. I've never thought a good thought. I've never said a good word. I've never accomplished a kind deed but for the kindness, goodness and mercy of Almighty God. That's why Jesus said at the end of the day, what are you? Unprofitable servants. And that's why we will bring all our crowns and lay them before Him. Because from Him, through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory. To Him be the glory. My brothers and sisters, we need to watch and pray. Lest we enter into temptation. Lest at the height of our blessings, familiarly, personally, congregationally, you're a blessed congregation. At the height of your blessings, you begin to think, well, aren't we doing well? Aren't we doing well? More people are coming. Finances are improving. People are coming to faith, being baptized. We're on the cusp of better things. And we begin to become like the Pharisee in Luke 18. Lord, we're so thankful we're not like that church down the road. You know, they preach a defective gospel. Pride has this capacity in the midst of our blessings to distract us from the one from whom alone they come. I think that was Israel's great sin throughout the whole Old Covenant period. They became transfixed with their privileges and not with the God who gave them. And we're little different from them. This is the church we're reading about here. This is the church that we are grafted into. Romans 11. This is the olive tree. They are the natural shoots. We are the unnatural shoots. We are grafted into them. Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. But there's a second thing here we should notice about Isaiah. And I mentioned it early on, chapter 25, verse 2, regarding Isaiah's father. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart. And then those telling words in verse 4 of chapter 26. Isaiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father, Amaziah, had done. Let me speak to those of you who are fathers here tonight. What are you giving to your children? What are your children seeing in the way you live? What are they seeing about the true nature of heart devotion to the Lord? Are your children seeing, yes, my dad, yeah, he sins. Our children see our sins, but you know, our children can cope with our sins when they see that that's not the bent of our lives. Yeah, my dad doesn't get it always right, but I know he has a heart that's wholly given to the Savior. I know he has an undivided heart. Nothing more grieves him than the sin that yet remains within him. He's passing on to me reality and truth and righteousness. I see that what He is, is exactly what He says. You see, Isaiah was raised by a father whose devotion was partial. Little wonder, David prayed, Lord, give me an undivided heart. 86 Psalm, an undivided heart. You know, the greatest thing we can do for our children, mothers and fathers together. Yes, it is to bring them to the Lord's house on the Lord's day. Yes, it is day by day to gather around the Word of God for family worship, singing God's praise, learning together, praying together. These are great and vital things. But if all of that is not being nurtured and nourished, In lives that are undividedly given to the Lord, our children will see through everything. What are we handing on to our children? And so I think the life of Isaiah is a warning to parents. Not simply to cherish their children, absolutely that, but to so cherish them that you want before God to give them hearts that are undivided. Not to leave them with a legacy of partial devotion, seasonal devotion, Sabbath day devotion. We want our children to see in our lives hearts that are holy Christ's. I think it's also a warning to ministers and elders. The danger when God is pleased to bless our ministrations. And I think that Satan, who is always seeking our destruction and demise, I think there are times Satan says, I'm going to leave this man to enjoy the blessings and to see whether the blessings can become his corruptions. Nothing is more vital, my brothers, that when God is pleased to bless our ministrations, that we give ourselves the more to watching and praying. And I think it's also a warning to covenant children, you children who are here tonight. Here was a young man who began with such promise. Maybe his father could look at him and think, my, my boy's doing well, he's serving the Lord. God is blessing him and prospering him. You young men and women here tonight, you boys and girls, It's not how well you begin that really matters, it's how well you end. And how well you end depends on this, that you recognize that from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory. Whatever blessing you enjoy in life, remember, it comes from the Most High God. If you've a godly and a good father, bless God every day that you have such a father because it's a gift from Him. If you have such a mother, bless God you have such a mother because the gift is from Him. If you're doing well in any way in your schoolwork, remember, what do you have that you did not first receive? You've got nothing to boast about. I find it very striking that when Paul writes his first letter to the Corinthians, and these Corinthians were so proud and arrogant, thinking themselves to be something when they were nothing. You know what Paul writes in the third chapter? They're making much of men the Corinthians. Oh, we think Apollos is the man. He's a better preacher than Paul. Oh, no, said the others. We think Cephas is the man, Peter. We think he's the main man. And then there were those who say, no, no, Paul's the man. And Paul says, what is Paul and what is Apollos? Notice that he doesn't say who is Paul. He neuterizes the pronoun. Only servants. That's all we are. Why are you making much of men? To God be the glory. Great things he has done. To God all praise and glory. Paul does nothing. Apollos does nothing. What is Paul? What is Apollos? In fact, beginning of chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians, he says, we are mere huperites, third tier under rowers in the galley of Jesus Christ. That's how significant we are. Third tier, you know, these great galley ships. And at the very bottom, the bottom tier, where those poor souls never saw the light of day. inconspicuous, out of sight. Paul says that's what we are. That's what we are. Because God will have no man to glory in his presence. The devil is always seeking to turn us in upon ourselves. He's always seeking to divert us from the Lord because he knows that when our gaze spiritually is fixed on him, we're healthy and useful to the Lord. The moment we begin to admire ourselves, admire our gifts, admire our abilities, admire our blessings. We become useless to the Lord. Isaiah began well. He didn't end well. So, let me ask you as I close, as I ask myself tonight, how well are you going on? Have you begun to drift away and become distant from the Lord? Are you beginning to reflect more on yourself and how well you are doing unlike others perhaps that you know? My brothers and sisters, let me encourage you every day of your life to begin your day saying, Lord, not to us, not to us, but to your name be the glory. Psalm 115. Lord, help me to bring all my giftedness to you because it has come from you. Sanctify it. Let it not become an idol in my life. Let my attainments in business or in any sphere of work, let me be reminded every day what do I have that I did not first receive. Because everything you have, everything I have, we have by the good pleasure and kindness of our God. Are you going on? Are you going on? I have a friend, a good friend. His name is Douglas Kelly, Douglas Floyd Kelly. For many years he taught systematic theology at Reformed Seminary in Jackson and then at Charlotte. I met him first of all in Edinburgh. I began theological studies as a young undergraduate and Douglas was finishing his PhD. I got to know him well. He's a remarkable man. Talks like a hick, looks like a hick and he's a genius. And almost every time I meet with Douglas, as we part, he says this to me. He says, Ian, pray for me. And by God's grace, I'll pray for you. Pray for one another. That the Lord would guard us from that mother sin of pride. that we might become useful instruments and end our days not with an epitaph that reads, he or she is a leper or the equivalent, but he or she died, going on, going on, and now they've arrived. May God bless to us his word. Let us pray. Father, guard our hearts, we pray. We are only too vulnerable to the wiles of the devil, too susceptible to the remnants of corruption that yet remain within us. Forgive us, Lord, where we have thought any proud thought. How grievous and dishonoring to you Oh, grant us, Lord, godly humility, that we may recognize that every good thing we enjoy in this life and every good gift you've given to us, we have by your kindness and sovereign good pleasure. And may it ever be our delight to say not to us, oh Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.