Here Am I. Send Me!
Isaiah Chap. 6
One of the greatest needs of our day is to find spirit filled men and women who are willing to stand before God in prayer…
And from their heart speak the words Isaiah spoke in verse 8… “Here am I. Send me!”
Not just speak them mindlessly out of a heart bent on pleasing self…But to live in such closeness and fellowship with God…And enjoy such personal communion with Him…That we’re unable to hold the words back!
That Living for God…And Serving God…And being Pleasing to God…Mean so much to us…That asking God to use us to accomplish His will comes natural to us!
Have you ever wondered about the circumstances surrounding Isaiah when he spoke those words?
What was it about what the seraphs were saying…And where this vision was taking place that made Isaiah so eager to have God commission him?
Isaiah pretty much runs the gamet of emotions in these 13 verses.
The chapter begins with Isaiah in awe at what he sees in this vision…Then he becomes filled with fear at the realization that he had no business being where he was…
Only to turn around in the next few verses…And cry out for God to commission him and send him out to undeserving Israel.
What brought Isaiah here…And what made him so willing to go?
Perhaps if we can gain an understanding of where Isaiah came from…We can better understand why he was so willing to go.
And in understanding what made Isaiah so zealous for God…Maybe we can gain a better understanding of just where it is you and I need to be.
So…Where did this Isaiah come from?
And what circumstances brought him to receive this vision from God?
International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia says…
Isaiah was the son of Amoz …That he lived in Jerusalem and became court preacher…And that he was married and had two sons:
Nelson’s Bible Dictionary says that…
Isaiah was probably born in Jerusalem of a family that was related to the royal house of Judah…And that he spent his early years as an official of King Uzziah.
Unger’s Bible Dictionary says that…
Isaiah prophesied under the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…
In which time he called for repentance without success, and consequently had to announce judgment and banishment.
Isaiah had been around royalty all of his life.
In fact…It is believed that he was a cousin to King Uzziah.
He grew up in Jerusalem around the Temple…So Isaiah was no stranger to royalty or religion!
He is credited with having written books on the lives of Kings Uzziah and Hezekiah. (II Chron. 26:22/ II Chron. 32:32 both of which were destroyed)
Unger’s Bible Dictionary says…
Both biographies have been lost, together with the annals of Judah and Israel into which they had been inserted.
He also obviously wrote the one book in the Bible, which bears his name.
Isaiah was a writer…And is celebrated as being the greatest writer in the Old Testament.
In fact the International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia calls Isaiah…The Paul of the Old Testament!
High praise for either man…Wouldn’t you say?
That is just a brief timeline on the beginnings of Isaiah…But enough to allow us to see that Isaiah had a mind for the things of God!
How can we today expect to receive anything from the heart of God…If we don’t have a mind for it?
We allow our minds to focus on work!! We allow our minds to focus on family!! We allow our minds to get carried away by worldly entertainments…
But how often do we allow our minds to just rest and focus on God?!?
Worldly pressures…Business pressures…And financial pressures…All crowd out the Savior!!
Isaiah had a mind for the things of God…And there with a willing heart and an open mind…He received a vision from God!!
King Uzziah died between 739-740 B.C.
2 Chron 26:4-5
And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father Amaziah had done.
He sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God; and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper.
Uzziah was a good King!! And his death signaled the end of a good era in the history of Israel!!
Because for as good as Uzziah’s reign would be…He would eventually be replaced by his grandson Ahaz…Who was as wicked and as vile as against the God of Israel…As Uzziah had been for Him!!
Here at the death of a good King’s reign…God summons a prophet!!
The time’s are about to get rough!! Things within the palace are about to change…And God needs someone He can depend on to withstand the fiery trials that loom on the horizon!!
So there…In prayer and deep concern for Israel…God calls Isaiah!! But notice HOW Isaiah was called!!
The very year that Israel’s king dies…Isaiah is taking by vision to see the Lord sitting on a Throne in the Temple!!
There Isaiah begins to describe the sights and sounds he witnessed in the vision that day!!
He says that the Lord… “sat on a throne that was high and lifted up”…And that… “the train of His robe filled the Temple”!!
Back in Isaiah’s time…A long flowing train was a symbol of dignity!!
Isn’t it amazing how that God uses images and symbols which were common in Isaiah’s day?!?
God didn’t reveal Himself to Isaiah in way that Isaiah would have a hard time understanding!!
HE KNEW when he saw that long flowing train…That he was in the presence of dignity!!
And then he begins to try and describe the seraphim…And how a person can describe something so amazing and breathtaking…I don’t know!!
Be he said…
Isa 6:2-4
Each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!"
And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
What a scene!! What a vision Isaiah has received!!
Strong’s says that the word seraphim means…To burn with fire!! Fire is a symbol for purity!!
Notice that the seraphim formed two choirs!! One was on the left hand side of the Throne…And one was on the right…And the first seraph would cry…"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
And the second one would resound back…YES!! "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
And as they would cry out in praise to God…Isaiah says that the very posts of the door would shake…And the house was filled with smoke!!
You see…Seraphim know that in the presence of God there is no room for pomp…And no place for pride!!
They realize that they are in the presence of the Great God of the Universe…And they love to sing His praise!!
Who are we that we think we can come before God bearing our own good works?!? Who are we that we think we can stand before God on our own merits?!?
God is a jealous God…And God is a God who inhabits praise…And the only way you or I can ever hope to stand before Him…Is to stand there in awe!!
With our mouths open…Not believing our eyes…That God would take time for someone like me!!
Those are exactly the thoughts that went through Isaiah’s mind…Because verse 5 says…
Isa 6:5
So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because 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."
No doubt Isaiah had to have been standing there with his knees quivering…Listening to the seraphim sing in chorus one to the other…And each time they sing the doors shake…And there’s God sitting on the Throne with this long elegant train in a room filled with smoke!!
Isaiah had to have been thinking to himself…
“Well that’s it!! I’m either dead…Or I’m about to die”!!
Something that I just cannot get away from in the scriptures…Is the way the apostle John described Jesus in the book of Revelation!!
Listen to John’s description of Jesus…
Rev 1:10-17
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet…Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire…His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters…
He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.
DID JOHN RECEIVE A VISION OR WHAT?!? Very similar to Isaiah’s vision wasn’t it?!?
But what really stands out to me about John’s vision…Is verse 17!!
Verse 17 is where John says…
Rev 1:17
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.
Those words literally jump off the page at me BECAUSE…
John when describing himself in his gospel calls himself… “The one whom Jesus loved”!! Remember that?
It was John who had his head laying on Jesus’ breast during the Last Supper!! It was about John that Jesus spoke the words…
John 21:22
If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?
Which got the belief started that John would never die!!
And yet…For all of the wonderful words spoken by Jesus
concerning John…And for as much love as there must have been between them…When John saw a glorified Jesus on the Isle of Patmos…He didn’t run up and throw his arms around Him and say…“Hey Jesus how have you been”?!?
John says… “I fell down at His feet as if I were dead”!!
Now listen…You would think that if anybody would have been able to stand in Jesus’ presence…It would have been John!! But not so!!
So who are we?!? Just who do we think we are that we’ll be able to stand before God on that final day like me and Jesus are best buds?!?
Don’t you understand then…That how we choose to live our life is going to play a great part in how we come before God?!?
John had lived out his entire adult life in service for Jesus!!
He had gone through torture and banishment on behalf of his belief…And yet when he came face to face with glorified Jesus…He fell down dead at His feet!!
Here is Isaiah who had been raised around religion and religious people all of his life…In fact he had already been acting the part of spiritual counselor…And had written several books!!
But when taken by vision into the Temple…And there seeing a Throne and the One sitting on the Throne having a long flowing train…And seeing the seraphim…And hearing their song…And listening to the doors shake…Isaiah automatically knew within himself that he had no business being where he was…So he just naturally assumed that he was about to die!!
Today…We’ve got God on the ‘buddy system’…And have attempted to make Him our own personal slave!!
And yet…Two of the greatest prophetic writers in the Bible prepared for death when brought into His presence!!
Seeing Isaiah in this condition…One of the seraphim take a live coal off of the altar…Flies over to Isaiah and touches the coal to his lips while speaking these words…
Isa 6:7
"Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged."
That coal…Originally came from the Altar of Sacrifice…Or the Altar of Burnt Offerings…A fire which began when God ignited the flame from heaven!!
Notice that when the coal touched Isaiah’s lips…His iniquity was taken away…And his sin was purged!!
Isaiah had his own personal Day of Atonement with the Lord!!
The words taken away allude to practice of symbolically placing one’s sins onto the head of a scapegoat…Who was then driven into the wilderness!!
When that coal touched Isaiah’s lips…His sins were taken away!!
But the seraphim doesn’t stop there!! He goes on and uses the word purged!!
The Hebrew word for purged means…COVERED…And it is the same word which is translated ATONEMENT!!
When that seraph said… “And your sin is purged”…
He was referring to the process of killing an animal and sprinkling it’s blood on the altar for atonement!!
You see…That coal from off of the altar prepared Isaiah to do the work of God!!
And so it is…That before you and I could ever hope to begin a ministry for the Lord…That we must also have our own Personal Day of Atonement!! There must be a time in the history of our lives…Where our iniquity is taken away…And our sins have been purged!! There is no other way for us to work in the army of God!! We have no other hope than that which is left us in Christ Jesus!!
Notice the steps Isaiah has taken thus far in his vision…
1) Recognize Our Own Inability’s:
Isaiah realized that he was a… “man of unclean lips (who dwelt) in the midst of a people of unclean lips”!!
Isaiah was willing to confess his faults…And recognize his short comings!!
In plain words Isaiah was saying…
“I’m in serious trouble because not only do I not belong here…But I am completely unworthy to have even received this vision”!!
If you want to work for God…And see souls saved…And see hearts and lives changed by His Mercy and Grace…
Then you must first be willing to recognize the fact of your unworthiness!! In and of ourselves…We are nothing!! In and of ourselves…We can do nothing!!
But it’s only when we take the time to realize it and confess it…That we can begin to be useful for God!!
Think about it!! How far do you think Isaiah would have gotten if taken up into that Temple he gave off a ho-hum attitude?!?
“Can we make this quick God? I really need to get back down there do something useful”!!
It may sound amusing to us…But how many times have we been guilty of the same thing?!?
God through the work of the Holy Spirit begins talking to us…And instead of making time to listen and learn…
We allow the cares of the world to shut Him out!!
Or maybe God begins to speak to us during the service…And we feel the Spirit leading us to go to the altar and pray…But we allow the fact that somebody might see us stand in the way!!
When we do those things we are in essence saying to God… “I really don’t have time right now…Can we do this later”?!?
“Speak to me at home God when I’m by myself…And then I won’t have to worry about what other people are thinking”!!
If you truly want to be taken into the Divine Presence of God…Then you must first be willing to confess your sins and realize your own shortcomings…And allow God to speak to you!! That’s how Isaiah received this vision to begin with!! Displaying a deep concern for the future of Israel…And minding the things of God!!
And then the second step Isaiah has taken in these few verses is to…
2) Have His Iniquity Taken Away, And His Sin Purged:
Once it becomes real to us that we’re not all that we think we are…And that we stand in need of God…
We must then take the steps to ensure that we experience a life altering event like the one Isaiah experienced in verse 7!!
Only it isn’t going to be a coal from off the altar that cleanses us…It will be the precious blood of Jesus!!
Notice the symbols which prefigured Jesus in verse 7!!
Just as the scapegoat had the sins of the nation Israel placed on it’s back…Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins of the world!!
There upon the cross…He became the ultimate sacrifice for sin!!
And by His blood…We are able to find complete and total forgiveness from our sin!!
Jesus Christ gave His life to make an atonement for sin! So when you and I come to that point in our lives where we are aware of our need for God…And we call out to Him…He is able to remove our iniquity and purge our sins away!! But realize that we must first see the need…And then call out to Him!!
Isaiah realized his own inability to stand where he was…So he cried out as one who would die…It was then the seraph brought the coal which ultimately cleansed Isaiah from his sin!! Realize your need for Jesus Christ this morning (evening)…And then call out to Him!! For He has already bought and paid for the forgiveness we so desperately need!!
Notice then…The third step Isaiah encounters in this vision from God…
3) A Willingness To Do Whatever It Is God Needs Me To Do:
Isa 6:8
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."
Upon having his iniquity taken away…And his sin purged…Isaiah then hears God ask the question that has stirred so many hearts…
“Whom shall I send, and who will go”?
I can’t help but wonder how many times that same question has fallen on deaf ears!! A person commits their life to Christ…And promises to give Him their all…Until they realize God expects them to work!! They were happy when they heard the message of Christ!!
They were happy when they realized that Christ died to save them from their sins!!
But far too many have given their lives to Christ with no intentions of ever working for Him!!
And so the question goes unheeded…And the work goes undone…And countless souls wake up to find themselves in a devil’s hell…All because someone refused to answer the call!! But not Isaiah!!
Upon realizing just what it was God had done for him…And seeing the position he now stood in…Isaiah responded to the call!!
Not waiting for God to answer His own question…And not putting his down because he felt ‘so unworthy’…Isaiah looked up to the throne and said… “Here am I! Send me”!!
Isaiah…Standing there in awesome and powerful presence of God…Volunteers for service!!
OH MY!! How active and far reaching would the arm of the church be…If every member of the body of Christ stood before the Lord in their prayer closet and spoke the words… “Here am I! Send me”!!
How powerful would the arm of God be in a community which housed a church…Whose banner was… “Lord! Here we are!! Empower us for your service”!! What stronghold of satan…Could not be torn down and removed?!? What hindrance in the church…Would not be worked out…If only the battle cry of each person in the seat was…“HERE AM I LORD! SEND ME”!!
Once you realize your need for Christ…And you allow Him to cleanse you of your sin…You must then be willing to heed the call to service!!
A christian is saved to serve!! Not saved to be idle!!
If you are a christian here this morning (evening)…Are you serving or are you idle?!? Health cannot be an issue!! Feelings of inadequacy cannot be an issue!!
Age cannot be an issue!! Financial status…Marital status…Work status…These cannot be used as excuses as to why you aren’t actively serving the Lord!!
When will we realize that what Jesus Christ did on Calvary’s Tree carries far greater rewards than anything we could ever buy on earth?!?
It’s time we stopped investing our time finding reasons why we CAN’T serve God…And start investing our time finding ways we CAN!!Good intentions won’t save lost souls!!
Now just incase you think that Isaiah agreed to some cushy assignment on a sun filled shore line…Listen to what God says right after Isaiah agrees to go!!
Isa 6:9-10
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."
Notice that the call Isaiah agrees to fulfill…Is completely opposite that of the majestic Throne Room in which he is standing!! He’s just been given the responsibility to go and preach salvation to a nation of people that would refuse to hear!!
I don’t know of anything more aggravating to someone who longs to see souls saved…Then to know that the people they’ve been called to preach salvation to…Refuse to listen!!
Here’s Isaiah standing here in this grand throne room vision…Seraph flying around shouting out the praises of God…The door posts shaking at their voice…This long flowing train coming from the Throne…While smoke fills the room!! And in the midst of all this power and glory…Isaiah receives freedom from sin which prepares him for ministry…
You have to picture that Isaiah is all excited about getting to work for God…And then he hears that question… “Who will go”?!?
With the joy of the Lord in his heart…Isaiah shouts out… “Hey! Here am I…Send me”!!
God says… “OK! I want you to go back to Israel and preach your heart out!! But I’m warning you right now…That they won’t hear you”!!
That realization hits Isaiah and you picture him losing all his steam!!
And Isaiah replies…
Isa 6:11
"Lord, how long?"
Isaiah’s all gung-ho and ready to do battle for God…And God rewards his obedience with a mission impossible!!
And so the first thing Isaiah says is… “How long will this be Lord”?!?
Isaiah discovers what God wants you and I to discover today…That service for the King probably won’t lead you into hotels and high rise’s with your own personal maid…That you will be expected to get down onto the ‘every day’ level where real people live…And that may just entail pouring your heart out to a bunch of people who have no intention what so ever of listening to a word you speak!!
But that you and I be willing to go…If for no other reason than for the fact that Jesus took my sin away!!
And if Christ was willing to endure the cross…Then I’m willing to give my life in service for Him…No matter where that may be!!
So in response to Isaiah’s question God replies…
Isa 6:11
And He answered: "Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate…
Does that sound like the perfect job to you?!? First God informs Isaiah that He was sending him to a people with deaf ears…Then when Isaiah asks for how long God says… “Until the people I’m sending you to are utterly destroyed”!!
How’s that for a calling? How’s that for a commission?
And yet…No where in that sixth chapter will you read where Isaiah refused the call!!
He didn’t say… “Give me some time to think about it Lord…I tell you what…Let me pray about it, and I’ll get back to you”!!
All Isaiah knew was that God had called him…And God had commissioned him…So off went Isaiah to face the nation of Israel under the power of God!!
What is it God is calling you to do? Come on now…Be honest with yourself and with God!! God has been speaking to your heart about something!! I don’t what it is…I don’t know where it is…All I know is that if God is calling you…He will equip you!!
Don’t raise your hand…But how many times in the last month have you felt God leading you to do something…Only you’ve refused? Maybe it’s just to sing a special song!! Maybe it’s to send a letter or encouraging note to someone going through a tough time!! Maybe you’ve felt led lately to go and visit with someone who is sick…Only you just can’t seen to find the time! Maybe God is calling you to be a teacher…Or maybe God is calling someone in this room to be a preacher…And you’ve really been trying to push those thoughts and feelings aside using the excuse…
“Well, God could never call someone like me”!!
Whatever it is God is calling you to do…Stop giving satan the victory and heed the call!!God will not call you without first equipping you and giving you the strength to see the battle through!!
Isaiah was called after king Uzziah died!! Not long after his death…Rome was born!!Israel’s glory died with Uzziah…And has never returned!!
So was Isaiah truly given a… ‘Mission Impossible’?!? NO!!
Notice verse 13…
Isa 6:13
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."
Isaiah had a ministry that spanned over forty years of preaching to the nation of Israel…And because of his willingness to obey…And his willingness to go…God allowed him to hear the words of verse 13…
“So the holy seed shall be it’s stump”!!
That after all of his years of preaching…There would be an outpouring of God’s mercy on the remnant of Israel that remained faithful to God!!
And from Israel’s blasted stump…God would produce a ‘holy seed’ which would ultimately bring forth the ‘Branch’ known as Jesus Christ the Lord!!
Those of you who are sitting here this morning (evening)…Who’ve been telling yourself that all of your past efforts to reach someone have been vain…Look to the life and ministry of Isaiah!!
Those of you sitting here this morning (evening)…Who’ve allowed satan to convince you that you’re just not worthy enough to serve God…Look to the life and ministry of Isaiah!!
Those of you sitting here this morning (evening)…Who’ve refused to heed the call because you just can’t find the time…Look to the life and ministry of Isaiah!!
And realize this morning (evening) that we serve a mighty God!!
A God who is far more capable of equipping and sending than we give Him credit for!!
Or maybe you’re here this morning (evening)…And you HAVE been out there working…And you HAVE been out there plowing the fields for Christ…And it just seems like all of your efforts have come up empty…Look to the life and ministry of Isaiah!!
A man who for over forty years preached to a nation of people who refused to heed his words…Yet there were a few who caught the vision and because of Isaiah’s faithfulness…Paved the way for the planting of the ‘holy seed’!!
This morning (evening)…The call goes out afresh…God is looking for workers to send out into His harvest!!
Is it possible today…For Him to depend on you?!?
Are you willing to leave the success of the mission in His hands and just make yourself available…If for no other reason than the mere fact that Jesus died to save your soul?!?
Do you know how tradition says Isaiah died? By being sawn apart under Manasseh’s evil reign!!
And yet…For all of the hardships Isaiah must have endured…He left some of the most beautiful writings concerning the suffering Jesus in the Old Testament!!
Isaiah left a legacy of obedience to God!! An obedience which rewarded him a home in heaven!! What does your life say about you?
