See What Isaiah Saw to Accept the Call, Part 2
II. V. 5-7 WE NEED TO SENSE WHAT ISAIAH SENSED
Isaiah 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.”
- V. 5 He Sensed His Own Condition – When Isaiah saw the Lord, he instantly realized that there were problems within his own heart. That is what happens when you get close to Him! Moving closer to God and seeing Him as He is, reveals the wickedness and sin in our own lives.
(Note: Isaiah probably thought all was well in his life until he saw the Lord in His glory and holiness. When he did, he was made aware of his own shortcomings! Until we see God and are confronted with out own condition before Him, we will remain haughty and proud, but when we come face to face with Who He is and what we are, it will produce humility and confession!)
Isaiah did not cry out “Woe is my neighbor!”. He cried out “Woe is me!”
Until we are able to see our own failures and our need for repentance before the Lord, we will never come clean. And, the sooner we come clean with the Lord about our own condition, the sooner we will see our downtime start to turn up!)
The third thing that Isaiah saw was:
3. ISAIAH SAW GOD’S CLEANSING POWER.
And I praise God for this! Oh, if all we ever see is the weakness of our sin – the depravity of our hearts – without discovering the cleansing power of God, WHAT MISERABLE PEOPLE WE WILL BE. But He DOES have power to cleanse!
When Isaiah confessed his sin, God was faithful and just to forgive his sin and cleanse him from all unrighteousness.
Isaiah 6:6 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.
7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
A live coal – a burning coal – a coal that speaks of purification and cleansing – was brought by that seraphim from off the altar of sacrifice and touched to his lips. That altar that the live coal was taken from was the Altar of Burnt Offerings – it was the altar where the blood was shed. It was the place where the priests would kill those animals to pay for the sins of the people, because without the shedding of blood there is no remission (no cleansing) from sin –
Heb 9:22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. NKJV
God has declared it.
So you have a coal that has been touched by two things: BLOOD and FIRE. The blood speaks of cleansing from sin (only blood can wash away our sin), and the fire speaks of refining, purifying power. The blood washes away sin, the fire brings the refining of positive holiness.
When God saves you, what does He do? He applies to your life the cleansing power of the eternal blood of His Son, Jesus – that washes away the sins of your old life – and then He sets you in the way of a whole new life which is being refined by the workings of the Spirit of Holiness; we begin to live a life of positive righteousness. HE CALLS US RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE OF THE BLOOD OF HIS SON, AND THEN HE MAKES US RIGHTEOUS THROUGH THE WORKING OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT – the FIRE of the Holy Ghost.
This is the power that ONLY GOD has in a life. Government agencies, social workers, psychiatrists, modern education; they can all try what they will, they cannot change the heart of man with all their programs of reform – THEY’RE POWERLESS! But God can come in a moment of time, and revolutionize a person, and make them a new creation!
[ILLUSTRATION:] I understand that the success rate for rehabilitating hard-line drug addicts is pitifully low. An independent government study was undertaken in the U.S. and found that the success rate of de-tox centers in getting people off drugs permanently (tested after 7 years) was just 2 – 9%. The more intensive rehabilitation centers were not much better – just 9 – 11%. But this independent government study found that “TEEN CHALLENGE” (an organization that is thoroughly Christian – founded by David Wilkerson in New York – you may remember the story “The Cross and the Switchblade”) had a success rate documented as being 86%. When the government researchers were asked what was the difference, they replied (in their words) that the ONLY thing they could put Teen Challenge’s success down to was “THE JESUS FACTOR” (the government’s own words!). Teen Challenge are making a difference because this is not a program based upon the wisdom of men, but on the power of God to transform a life. they’re not preaching rehabilitation; they’re preaching RADICAL REGENERATION. And they’re not prescribing substitute drugs; they’re prescribing a relationship with the Saviour Jesus Christ!
Isaiah saw God’s cleansing power. The seraphim applied the blood-soaked, fire-purifying coal from off the altar and Isaiah experienced the sweet, clean feeling of forgiveness and peace. Hallelujah! Oh, there’s nothing like it in all the world!
Isaiah 6:6 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.
7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”
- V. 6-7 He Sensed His Own Cleansing – Thank God, the Lord does not just point out our sins, He also provides a means for our cleansing! With Isaiah, it was an angel with a live coal from the altar. With us, it is the precious blood of Jesus, 1 John 1:7-10!
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
If we ever see Him as He is and we see ourselves as we are, then we will come before Him in humility and confess our sins.
(Note: The closer you get to Him, the worse you look! But, when that realization comes, and we deal with it in repentance before the Lord, we will experience His cleansing and we will be able to stand in His presence and receive all He has for us! Talk about a downtime turning up!)
Isaiah saw the Lord, Isaiah saw himself, Isaiah saw God’s cleansing power; then, the fourth and final thing he saw was:
4. ISAIAH SAW THE WORLD.
Isaiah 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.”
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
A knowledge of God will make us good in all our relationships. Isaiah got in with God and he heard God’s heartbeat for a lost and dying people. He heard God’s summons for a messenger to reach out to them. God said: Whom shall I send, who will go for us? And immediately Isaiah says, HERE I AM, SEND ME!
Would God call a sinful man to preach His message? A man of unclean lips?!
YES !!!!
There are no other kind of people available to God! Yes, God calls sinners to go for Him. He has not committed His glorious gospel to sinless angels but to fallen men.
But God sends them ONLY after they’ve been cleansed of their sins by His grace. The message of God must be spoken through purged lips. The work of God must be poured from clean vessels. YOUR PAST WILL NOT EXCLUDE YOU FROM BEING USED BY GOD: BUT HOW YOU’RE LIVING TODAY MIGHT!
III. V. 8 WE NEED TO SAY WHAT ISAIAH SAID
Isaiah 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.”
- He Said “I Am Available” – As soon as Isaiah gets His heart clean, he hears the call of the Lord to service. When Isaiah said “Here am I”, he was saying, “My downtime is over and I am ready for service!” He was signifying that he was over the death of Uzziah and that his life was on the altar of sacrifice for the glory of God! (Ill. That’s what we need to say when life turns down! We need to get our all on the altar for God and come to the place where nothing means anything to us but what He wants from us! We need to submit, surrender and sacrifice, Rom. 12:1-2.)
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJV
- He Said “I Am Agreeable” – Isaiah not only told the Lord of His availability, but he also mentioned his agreeability!
He was saying, “Lord, I am here to do what you want and I am willing to do what you want! Send me and let me go do what you want me to do!”
That is a sure way to turn your downtimes upside down! Make yourself available to the Lord and get agreeable with whatever He asks you to do and you can be sure that He will bless your life and that He will use you for His glory!)
A 15 year old girl in Wales – “I love Jesus” was all she said and the Great Welsh revivals broke out!)
Moody’s response to Henry Varley’s statement, “The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.“
It’s not going to be easy, and not everyone gets it.
Yes, God can take YOU and use you for His glory – if only you’ll live for Him a cleansed, purified life.
Isaiah 6:9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
10 “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.”
Isaiah 6:9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
[And he said …] The expressions which follow are those which denote hardness of heart and blindness of mind. They would hear the words of the prophet, but they would not understand him. They were so obstinately bent on iniquity that they would neither believe nor regard him. This shows the spirit with which ministers must deliver the message of God. It is their business to deliver the message, though they should know that it will neither be understood nor believed.
[Hear ye indeed] Hebrew ‘In hearing, hear.’ This is a mode of expressing emphasis. This passage is quoted in Matt 13:14
Matt 13:14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. NKJV
Isaiah 6:10 “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.”
Isaiah 6:10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
[Make the heart] The word “heart” here is used in the sense of the “mind” – to denote all their mental powers. It is commonly used in this sense in the Scriptures.
[Fat] Gross, heavy, dull, stupid. That is, go and proclaim such “truth” to them as shall have this effect-as shall irritate, provoke, enrage them; truth, whose delivery shall be attended, in their gross and corrupt hearts, with this blinding and infatuating influence the effect would be produced by the corrupt state of their hearts, not by any native tendency of the truth, and still less by any direct divine influence. ‘Go, and proclaim truth to a corrupt and sensual people, and the result will be that they will not hear; they are so wicked that they will not attend to it; they will become even more hardened; yet go, and though certain of producing this effect, still proclaim it;’ see this passage explained in the notes at John 12:40.
John 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. NKJV
[Their ears heavy] Dull, stupid, insensible.
[And shut their eyes] The word used here means “to spread over,” and then to close. It denotes here the state of mind which is more and more indisposed to attend to the truth.
[And be healed] Be restored from the condition of sin; be recovered and pardoned. Sin is often represented as a painful, loathsome condition, and forgiveness as restoration from such a condition;
Isa 30:26; Ps 103:1; 41:3-4; 2 Chron 7:14; Jer 3:22; 17:14. We may learn here,
(1) That the effect of truth is often to irritate people and make them more wicked.
(2) The truth must, nevertheless, be proclaimed.
This effect is not the fault of the truth; and it is often well that the heart should be known, and the true effect should be seen.
(from Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
And how long dose He want you to do this??
How long????
11 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, 12 The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. 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.” NKJV
CONCLUSION:
Note: Isaiah did NOT say, “Where do you want me to go?” “What’s in it for me?” “What is the salary?” “What are the retirement benefits?” Isaiah signed a blank cheque on his whole life. He didn’t try to strike a bargain with God; he didn’t attempt to negotiate a compromise. God called – Isaiah answered. God commanded – Isaiah obeyed. Such an unconditional response comes only from the heart of one who has SEEN THE VISION: the one who’s MET WITH GOD.
The same thing can happen to you here. THE KING IS ALIVE! He WAS dead – He died for our sins on the cross. But He arose from the grave and He lives today – He lives forever! He calls us to see Him as He truly is – the holy God. He calls us to see ourselves as we truly are – sinful and needing Him desperately. He calls us to discover that He can cleanse from all sin, and give life anew to those who will receive Him. And then He commissions us to look on the fields of this world that are white unto harvest, and to GO and be His witnesses.
Where are you along this process? Have you seen Him? In the pages of His Word – in the voice of the preacher – do you hear His call? Do you recognize that your sin and guilt keep you from Him? Have you accepted His salvation – purchased with His own blood? Are you hearing His call to go, to be His witness to others?
Open your heart to Him. Don’t be the one who is hardened, and goes away empty. Respond to Him with the faith He gives.
The downtimes are going to come in life! You can count on them just as surely as you can count on the sun rising and sitting day by day. However, when they do come, you can shorten their duration and severity by simply seeing what Isaiah saw, sensing what Isaiah sensed and saying what Isaiah said! A focused heart, a clean heart and a surrendered heart will quickly find itself on the upward path. I know that’s what I want in my life, how about you?
