"Reaching The End Of The Road" – Mark 13:13 “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Jesus built His road little by little, and ours is built the same way: it is neither easy nor quick, and what matters is not the day to day but how we arrive at the end. What must be guarded is the heart, because when it hardens over a grievance we stop building and stand paralyzed for months or years. King Uzziah's story shows it: he began at sixteen counting on God and became marvelously strong, but his heart was lifted up, he tried to burn the incense that belonged only to the priests, and leprosy rose on his forehead; he was cut off from the house of God, and on his tomb they wrote “he is a leper.” When we leave God out of our decisions we do not receive His blessings, but the consequences of our own acts.
I. Jesus built His road little by little.
A. From the angel's word to Mary to the temple at twelve, He was marking every step.
1. He drew near to people with faith and miracles; Judas expected a deliverer from Rome, and that was not the purpose.
2. We grow desperate and want life perfect at once: children, marriage, work.
3. God could have made us like the angels, created to worship, and instead gave us freedom to choose.
B. The hard part is knowing His will for our life.
1. The more communion, the clearer the road: in prayer, in the Word, in the preaching.
2. What matters is how we arrive at the end; life is not finished, it must still be built.
II. Guarding the heart.
A. Life turns unexpectedly; for every such moment one must be ready by guarding the heart.
1. As a church we are a family, and as at home there are frictions and trifles that raise an uproar.
2. After the trouble come the reproaches, and the heart is tied up: hardening is easier than forgiving.
3. Jesus said not to bring the offering if you have something against your brother: the heart is not free.
B. We always cast blame and never take it ourselves.
1. There is usually blame on both sides; and if not, let one be the meek who breaks the cycle.
2. The golden rule and the second commandment are the hardest thing for human beings.
3. In complaining we stop building: a week, a month, a year, three years paralyzed.
III. King Uzziah: a road that began well (2 Chronicles 26:1-8).
A. The tenth king after David, he did right and sought God, and God made him prosper.
1. He became king at sixteen; the only explanation is that God was with him.
2. He imitated David's reign and his fame reached the border of Egypt: he was marvelously strong.
3. When Uzziah dies, God calls Isaiah, who sees the Lord sitting upon a throne.
B. Knowing the Bible opens the understanding and transforms in the spirit.
1. It leads us to decisions different from those our upbringing and nature hand us.
2. We criticize our parents' ways and repeat them as adults; to build the road is to improve it.
IV. Counting on God in every decision.
A. Uzziah took God into account from his youth.
1. In how many great decisions do we not take Him into account?
2. Also in small ones: in how we speak to a neighbor we push God aside and speak from a wounded self.
3. When we push God aside, what comes is the consequence of our acts, not His blessing.
B. Whoever hates us for preaching Christ is hating the Lord (Luke 10:16).
1. It is not us they reject: he that despiseth the sent one despiseth Him that sent him.
V. With what purpose do I come to church?
A. To come with joy, to sing to Him and hear the Word, asking what I must learn today.
1. The title of the message is its summary, and it is repeated so that it stays.
2. The preaching is not aimed at anyone in particular: it is for all, for no one is wholly wise.
3. What is life for, if not to keep improving and truly change?
VI. Responsibility to the end.
A. Teach our own so they can decide if they do not have us.
1. Would they know to say yes or no before temptation? It is not easy, but effort achieves it.
2. Responsibility is fulfilled to the end, so that we and ours reach the end.
B. The One who chose us is a sovereign God.
1. The same who chose Uzziah and called Isaiah has chosen each of us.
2. He is great in love and never tires of fighting for us, yet He judges with justice.
3. Uzziah surrounded himself with men who feared God; so must we.
VII. Uzziah did not endure to the end (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
A. “When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction.”
1. He tried to burn incense in the holy place, which belonged only to the sons of Aaron.
2. Eighty priests withstood the king, because it was God who stopped him.
3. When the heart is lifted up it cries “I am”, and forges its road without God.
B. The consequence: leprosy in his forehead, where everyone could see it.
1. On his tomb they wrote “he is a leper,” and buried him apart from the honored kings.
2. Consequences come: to him, at the very moment of failure; to us, sooner or later.
3. The consequences are for no one else: they are for oneself.
VIII. What Uzziah accomplished (2 Chronicles 26:9-15).
A. Towers, cisterns, husbandry and an army of three hundred seven thousand five hundred men.
1. Engines invented by cunning men: engineers existed even then; he was marvelously helped.
2. All of that is within our reach if we believe Him and see that sovereignty.
B. Without faith there are no results and no battles won.
1. We pray with doubt, not with confidence that tomorrow we will see the answer.
2. The woman with the issue believed that touching His garment would heal her; that is the faith we need.
IX. Pride and the holy of holies.
A. What madness pride is, and deciding lightly.
1. “The pastor is wrong, I will do what I think”: the one God chooses, He chooses.
2. The meek heart knows how to receive counsel and build the road God wants.
B. Only the high priest entered the holy of holies; today we may come to the altar.
1. The offering is not for a human being nor for the pastor: it is brought to God, in thanksgiving.
2. Uzziah was cut off from the house of God and never entered it again.
3. It is worth spending our life for Jesus; the world gives nothing that fills the heart more.
C. Do not rest on greatness, but keep building to the end.
1. We will be tested, as Uzziah was over the incense and we are over counsel.
2. When the heart is lifted up, ruin follows, and with it sorrow and tears.
3. With the courage with which we rise to build the road, so shall we see God.
Christian Church Mega Zoé · Pastor Edermira Cruz
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