Isaiah 6:6-13-Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.
And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
“Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, The houses are without a man, The land is utterly desolate,
The Lord has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
But yet a tenth will be in it, And will return and be for consuming, As a terebinth tree or as an oak, Whose stump remains when it is cut down. So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
Verse 8-Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
God is looking for volunteers!
He is looking for those who would do His work!
He is looking for those people who would hear His call!
Here is the message:
Verse 9-10-And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
“Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed.”
Basically, I want you to preach them right in to destruction!
Now, how Isaiah was going to accomplish this, I do not know, maybe he was going to preach at them hard and the would just harden their hearts (Like pharaoh with Moses, then God begin to harden pharaoh’s heart), or they would get mad and not listen to him, or go around him.
Now I want to understand an important part here, there are lot of people who would love to do this kind of preaching!
You know that kind of preaching that points out every flaw, every mistake of somebody!
There are people out there in this world and within the church, that love pointing out people’s sin!
They derive great pleasure from it!
They are going for God, even though God hasn’t sent them!
He hasn’t ask them to go!
They have just taken upon themselves to judge and jury upon people’s lives!
They think it’s their place to point out other peoples sin!
Now, the difference with Isaiah and those kind of people, is that, Isaiah saw himself for what he was (A man of unclean lips) before he seen the people’s sin (I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips).
He saw his sins, before he saw the people’s sin.
See, as long as I am looking at your sins, I don’t have to look at mine!
As long as I am focused on your sins, I don’t have to focus on mine!
God, likes sending people like that, because he would have to preach a hard message.
But he would not preach out hatred, vengeance, or out of anger, but with a tender heart, because God may have been punishing them for their sins, that does not mean that He does love them!
So, God wants to use people that recognize their own faults, their own sins, their own short comings!
Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
God answers back, “Until destruction comes.”
This was going to be a hard task, and unpleasant task.
Basically, one person out of ten was going to continue to follow God, was going to be saved.
Now, God maybe asking you to minister to people, who have not listened, who have not heard.
People who could careless about living a Christian life!
And, you maybe asking God, “How long am I suppose to witness to them, How long am I suppose to pray for them, How long am I suppose to minister to them?”
God maybe saying to this morning, “Until destruction comes!”
Until hope turns into no hope!
You may ask, “When will I know that happens?”
I believe God will reveal that to you.
But the point I want to make to you is this: Keep witnessing, keep praying, keep helping, keep ministering and either it will drive them to God or farther away from God!
But remember the choice is up to them!
The choice you and I have to make is: Are we going to be obedient to what God wants us to do or be disobedient?
