It's Too Late!

‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!’

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for’” [ISAIAH 6:1-7].

Pretty dramatic, wouldn’t you say? How many of you have seen the LORD seated on His throne? How many of you have witnessed the seraphs attending the Living God? Has one of these awesome burning servants ever lifted a coal from the altar that is before the Lord GOD to touch your lips? An event such as that would never be forgotten.

Dramatic as was the vision and the interaction with the seraphs had been, it was the words of Him Who was seated on the throne that struck the prophet, cementing his understanding of the character of the LORD. The court prophet writes that he heard the voice of the LORD. He doesn’t actually describe what the voice sounded like, but what the voice said was abundantly clear to the prophet. Somehow, Isaiah knew that the voice he heard was the voice of the LORD, asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us” [ISAIAH 6:8b]? Without hesitation, Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me” [ISAIAH 6:8c]. The LORD had spoken, and the prophet could only present himself to fulfil God’s call.

Let me step aside from the message for a moment to observe that in a very real sense every preacher whom God calls has been appointed to preach prophetically. Those appointed to preach in the New Testament model are expected to be prophetic in the conduct of their service before the Lord. I am careful not to say that every preacher who is trained in a Bible college or blessed with a seminary education will understand this divine appointment; however, I am quite certain that every preacher of the Word that has been appointed by the Risen Son of God has received a charge to preach prophetically.

When I say that preachers are to preach prophetically, I don’t mean to imply that a preacher is to spend all his time in the pulpit speaking of eschatological themes. What I do mean is that each preacher of the Word must realise that his time of service is limited, and he must therefore faithfully declare the mind of the Living God to his generation. Each preacher who has received that divine appointment must be faithful to Him who alone appoints to that high and holy service.

The man of God receives the charge that Paul delivered to the Pastor of the congregation in Ephesus. You will recall that the Apostle wrote to Timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” [2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5].