"Commissioned To Go" Isaiah 6:8

Introduction:

Isaiah the prophet had seen the Lord on His throne high and lifted up with the train of His robe filling the temple. It was a sight that brought Isaiah to place of grief and despair because he saw himself in contrast to the majestic holiness of God.

But it was the Lord who initiated Isaiah’s atonement that brought him deliverance from his guilt and sin.

This must have been somewhat of a relief for Isaiah and moved him to a place of gratitude for the Lord’s provision. But what does it do to a sinful man when he is confronted with the holiness of God?

We learn from Isaiah that: Encountering the holiness of God transforms our lives and compels us to respond to the Lord’s call with obedient service as His covenant people.

It is in the first part of verse 8 where we see the Divine Inquiry of the Lord that serves as a call to Isaiah. Look back at your text to verse 8:

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

There is a two part question that comes from the Lord on His throne: “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?”

Both question are getting at the same thing but with a subtle difference. The difference is in the singular one in the sending contrast with the one who goes on behalf of the plurality.

We know the singular is the pre-incarnate Christ seated on His throne as we saw affirmed to us from John 12:41. But who is the “us” referring to when the Lord ask, “who will go for us?

There are two possibilities. One is that the plural pronoun is referring to the heavenly court that is in the throne-room. Meaning all the creatures that are present including the seraphim and the other creatures that scripture mentions in other places that may have been present. I don’t believe that this is the best way to understand the identity of the “us.”

I say this because of the display of the majestic holiness is making a clear distinction between God and His creatures. Therefore I believe the second view is much more likely.

It is that the “us” is referring to the person’s within the Godhead. And the pronoun is being used here like it is used in Genesis 1:26 where God says, “Let us make man in our image.”

Christian the divine inquiry is one that is related to obedient service, not only on behalf of the Lord but on behalf of the whole of the Godhead. The questions are not just merely rhetorical in nature that are coming from the throne. There is divine authority due to the holy nature of God. Remember He is distinct and He has the highest priority in the Universe and beyond.

And after all that Isaiah has seen and heard and experienced of the Lord’s provision he can’t help but declare a response in the second half of verse 8. Look back at your text:

II. The Declared Response (8b): Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Isaiah had encountered the holiness of the Lord upon His throne. The One who is distinct from His creation and the One who has the priority over and above all things. What else could he say? What other way could He respond? But to declare, Here I am! Send me.

My dad was in the Army and he always told me that if you ever go into the Army, when your sergeant says he needs a volunteer don’t ever volunteer. Because it was my dad’s experience that when you volunteered you then would find out that you volunteered to clean the latrine or to peal potatoes or some other horrible job. So my dad thought it wise to just keep your mouth shut and don’t volunteer for anything.

But Christian what is a man to do when the Holy King of the Universe inquires for a volunteer? How does someone respond to the One who knows all things and is perfect in all His ways and who rules in absolute authority? Is the creature in any position to say, “not me, don't send me!”

Moses tried this and he had a few excuses, One being that he couldn’t speak very well. And God appointed Aaron to be his mouthpiece. With every excuse God met the lack in Moses with a provision that nullified the excuse. God didn’t say to Moses, Oh yes that is right you do have a problem with speech, I completely forgot. My omniscience isn’t what it used to be Moses, I guess I am getting old.

Christian God calls all of us to ministerial service to fulfill His Kingdom purposes. He doesn’t call you by mistake to the ministry that He has for you.

Remember that if God is holy, meaning that He is distinct from all of His creation and that He has the priority over all things, then how could we say no to Him.

We can’t loose sight of the vision of the holiness of God when it come to the Christian life. Because it reminds us that we have an ultimate purpose and it is something higher than ourselves.

And our calling would be consistent with our ultimate purpose in life according to His providential will. Such things are not ultimately self determined but they are determined by God.

This challenges us to see all that we are called to as being done for Him. The kind of spouse I am, the kind of parent I am, the kind of boss that I am and the kind of employee that I am, how I run my business and on and on.

Christian if God is holy then remember we are not sanctifying Him to fit us in our lives, He is sanctifying us to fit Him in our lives. The one true holy God of the Universe doesn’t need sanctifying, He is already set apart from all that is defiled in this fallen world. And He already has Himself as the supreme priority over all things.

Holiness to fallen men seems like a weight of obligation that we often believe stifles us to be free to live out life to it’s fullest.

And it does if you measure the “fullest” by the standards of the world. And we seam heart broken when God doesn’t play along with this and in His providence we are interrupted in our pursuits.

Our purpose and calling in ministry comes from Him and it begins with a Christ encounter. Just like it did for Isaiah. Christ was obedient to the point of even death on a Cross. The guiltless and sinless died in the place of the guilty and sinful.

He laid His life down for the purpose and will of the Father. Philippians 2:6 speaking of Christ says,“6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,”

In other words He didn’t live in such a way as to bend the Father to fit Him, He bent in humility and obedience to fit Himself to the Father’s will. Ministry is like that when God calls.

Most will not be preachers or missionaries full time. Some will, but most will be called to minister for God in the local church, in their home, or in the workplace or the marketplace. But regardless, it is powerless and pointless without a vision of God’s holiness.

Conclusion:

That is why in Christ He call us to confess our sin and to call it what it is in agreement with Him. And that we don’t come to Him thinking we have a better plan than He does to deal with our sin. He is bending us to fit Him not the other way around. Confess and receive from Him.

Unbeliever that is why God sent His Son to die in the place of sinners, to make it clear what the issue really is when it comes to sin before a Holy God. Believe the gospel!

Lets Pray!