“Send Me”

Isaiah 6:1–9 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “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.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “ ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

Introduction

Encounter

if you missed the last two days..

I cant explain to you what you missed..

God showed up in an unexpected and intimate way..

and I know that same portion of his glory resides in this place this morning in our midst..

Today

I want to spend a few minutes in this passage of scripture here in Isaiah 6..

because I believe the lord wants to speak to each one of us deeply this morning.

Calling

There is a calling here..

not just for Isaiah..

but to each and everyone who is birthed into the kingdom of god..

A calling like Jesus gives us in Matthew 28..

to go..

And I want us to see that this morning.

and I really don’t want to preach this as much as I just want to walk through this passage and let it apply to our lives..

because their is a journey we find here in this vision..

that is applicable to us as well..

The Situation

Encounter

when we come into Isaiah 6 we find Isaiah describing a vision he’s had..

and this is not just a day dream..

its not just that he just saw something..

or had a dream…

He has encountered the lord..

we can tell this vision was as real to the prophet as if he was physically there by the way he recounts it..

the words he uses..

the actions he describes..

the way he explains what he sees..

It was tangible and personal..

as if he was in the very throne room of god..

He says..

I saw the lord sitting on his throne.. …

and this encounter changed him..

Isaiah had a revelation of Gods glory

Isaiah had a revelation of gods glory..

look what he says..

Isaiah 6:1–4 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “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.

Last week we talked about moses seeing the Glory of God..

and we talked about how the Glory of god was the luminous, tangible, and weighty presence of the god..

and here we see Isaiah literally describing the glory of god..

he says He was high and lifted up..

His train filled the entire temple..

Seraphim where above the throne everywhere praising him..

and his voice..shakes the foundations of the temple..

his presence fills the temple..

smoke fills the temple..

isaiah has an intimate encounter with the god of all creation..

he sees him with his own eyes..

He feels the tangible nature of his presence..

hes able to describe him with his own mouth..

like moses he has seen the glory of god..

and this encounter changes him..

Isaiahs Revelation of God Showed him the reality of himself

this revelation of gods glory..

give isaiah another revelation..

one of who he is..

look what he says..

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

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!”

Isaiah revelation of the glory and holiness of god caused him to realize in the moment that HE IS NOT WORTHY TO BE THERE..

He’s not saying he has committed some wretched sin..

he’s admitting like paul will later..

that all have sinned and fallen short..

that mankind is not worthy to be in the presence of god..

not even one..

yet here he is..

and hes says.. im dead..

this will surely take me..

The revelation of gods holiness.. drives isaiah to the revelation of his sinfulness..

Us

listen..

when you endeavor to draw near to god..

and you desire to see his glory..

He will who you truly are..

Youre going to see your true nature..

you’ll start to see yourself in ways.. that frankly you dont like..

because the reality of who we are depravity..

we are wretched…

sinful brokenness..

when you step into the light of gods glory..

everything is illuminated..

the good, the bad, and the ugly..

Paul

Remember the encounter that shook Paul to his core and changed him?

It was his encounter with the glory of the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus

It causes him to see not only who Jesus was.. but also who he was..

and it lead to his everlasting change.. ..

humility

Isaiah is having a moment of humility..

realizing and confessing that god is greater than he is..

God is holier than he is..

and that he is not worthy to see god..

us

Im telling you..

at the top of the list of thing we need in the church today..

We need a move of humility again in our lives..

where we recognize that god is greater..

that he and his ways.. his will.. is more important than our own..

Jesus

even jesus had that kind of humility before the cross..

in the garden he prayer father let this cup pass if its possible..

but not my will your will be done..

We need humility before god once again..

Isaiah has encountered the glory of god..

and come to the conclusion he is not worthy to be there..

and look what happens..

God himself Cleanses Isaiah

god himself cleansed Isaia..

Isaiah 6:6–7 ESV

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.”

upon isaiahs confession of his unworth..

God dispatches and angle from the throne..

and the angle takes a coal…

from the altar..

Altar

The altar is the place of sacrifice..

its the place where the lamb was slain and offered up for the people in tabernacle..

its the place that represents the payments for sin..

and this angle takes the altar cole..

and cleanses isaiah lips..

and tells him your guilt has been taken away and you sin atoned for..

Redeemed..

I love that.. even though all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god..

even though we are a sinfull broken humanity..

God.. Makes a ways for us to cleansed..

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hebrews 9:12–14 ESV

he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

You see in our sinfulness..

god dispatched, not an angle, but his own son..

to lay his life down on the altar of the cross so we could be saved..

And the blood from that altar..

has covered and attoned for our sin..

so that as romans 10:9 says.

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Jesus makes us cleans..

and cleanses us..

isn't that beautiful..

and going even further..

the writer of hebrews tells us that because of what Jesus did..

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

because Jesus has cleansed us..

we can not stand in his presence..

isn't that beautiful?

most of us go this far..

we come to god.. and he cleanses us..

but notice thats not the end of the story..

the vision doesn't end there..

God calls isaiah

God cleanses isaiah..

and where Isaiah only could hear the thunder of gods voice before..

now he can hear what God is saying..

and look what he hears go says..

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”

Isaiah is cleansed..

and he is able to hear the voice of the lord clearly..

Holy Spirit ..

when we come into relationship with God and we are cleansed from our sins..

and open line of communication is created for us..

his name is the Holy Spirit

he is the one who inspired the word of god as its author....

He is the illuminator of the scripture..

We can now hear his voice..

Parable..

Remember Jesus talked about this one time..

Jesus would tell parables

someone asked him.. why can't people understand

he says because the kingdom has not been revealed to them yet.. ..

but when We come into relationship with God..

He begins to reveal the mysteries of who he ius..

Go

Isaiah here's the voice of god..

and here's what god is saying…

and God asks a question..

Who will god for us.. ..

Who is going to go and walk out our will in the earth..

who is going to go and speak for me..

who will go and tell others about my glory.

who will go..

Calling

many theologians view this passage as Isaiah's own commissioning by god..

this is where god called the prophet..

to go..

to do his will in the earth..

to be his voice..

16 years ago..

I was stadning in an altar at a camp meeting..

and god spoke this passage to me.

and I heard the lord say who will go for me..

And all I could say was here I am lord..

Send me..

Jesus

interestingly enough..

in the new testament..

We see this same journey play out..

God reveals his glory..

in his son Jesus..

and jesus gives his life for those who are sinners..

and then after raising from the dead..

on the day he will assend..

he gathers 500 of his followers

and gives the a command..

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Purpose

I want to tell you this morning..

like Isaiah..

god is not say and cleanse us to simply be saved..

he saved and cleansed us because he loves us..

and in this love for us he has a purpose for us..

a plan for our life..

and that plan is to .. go…

to go.

God does not save us to sit..

god does not save us to just.. GO.. to church..

as his people we are call to go and do his will

to go into the highways and hedges.. to go to our schools and work..

our homes and share the gospel..

we are called to go..

What does go mean?

you might say pastor..

what does go mean?

it could mean anything..

but it means walking in the will and purpose of god for your life..

what ever that may be..

all

for all of us.. its to share the gospel..

that's for every believer..

PErsonal

But for each of us there is a personal go as well..

Isaiahs was to be a prophet..

mine was to be a minister

yours may be to be a doctor.. ..

Go means Step forward and fulfill my kingdom will for your life in the earth..

God..

Isaiah Responds to the Call of God (Worship Team)

Isaiah saw the glory of god..

god cleansed him from his sin..

and called him..

and look how isaiah responds..

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

If we have seen gods glory..

if we have been saved by gods gift of grace through christ..

then it should compel us to be grateful and willing to do whatever god has for us..

Our cry should be god.. im grateful for your salvation.. im grateful for your glory.. what can I do for you.. how can i serve you

God has a plan and a purpose

God has a plan and a purpose for every person in this room..

but you have to be willing to walk in that..

God wants to release his glory into the earth..

he wants to reach the lost the broken and the dyying..

He wants to deliver the addicted and heal the sick..

but I believe this morning he is asking..

who will go for me…

What is your answer?

were going to do a prayer line.

and if your here today and you would say.. God I will go for you..

what ever you want from me.. send me..

I want you to come up and go through it..

If your sick today and need a tough.. go through it..

if you need the lord to interviene in your life.. go through it..

if you need salvation.. go through it..

but today is the day we say god.. Im yours .. send me..