Young People's Group

THE CALLING OF ISAIAH (II)

by Pastor Mitch
November 10, 2013

The Cleansing Of The Servant Of The Lord

Before God calls us into the ministry, He wants us to see His great holiness and our grave sinfulness. A man cannot serve Him meaningfully and effectively unless he has the highest regard for God and learns to be totally contrite before the glory of His perfect purity. Isaiah understood this and sought to confess his utter wretchedness before Him. He saw how he was a man of unclean lips influenced by a world of uncleanness (Isaiah 6:5). The Lord responded by seeking to cleanse him.

“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.'” 
Isaiah 6:6-7

The live coal taken from the altar denotes the idea of a cleansing fire. Fire was meant to burn away all the “dross” in Isaiah’s life. The powerful act of the angel touching the lips of Isaiah was meant to bring about cleansing of his unclean lips. A servant of the Lord has to seek cleansing of his sins before he can be used by God. If we confess our sins, the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from our sins (1 John 1:9).

The Calling For The Servant Of The Lord

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
‘Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?'” 
Isaiah 6:8

From the beginning of time, the triune Godhead has been sending out this call for servants of God. Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord making this great call for him to rise up and serve Him. The question is raised concerning whom the Lord can send. During the time of Isaiah, there was much sinfulness in the land of Judah. The people were laden with sin and had forsaken the Lord (Isaiah 1:4). They also kept rebelling against God despite Him dealing with them (Isaiah 1:5). They had no regard for the work of the Lord (Isaiah 5:12). The people were insolent and wise in their own eyes. They had rejected the word of the Lord (Isaiah 5:24). There were not many whom the Lord could send. There were not many who would rise up and go and serve on behalf of the Lord. If the Lord were to call us to serve Him today, would we rise up to this call?

The Commitment Of The Servant Of The Lord

“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.”‘” 
Isaiah 6:8-9

Isaiah did rise up to this great call to serve the Lord. As part of the remnant, he understood what it meant to commit himself to the ministry. There was the personal consecration of himself towards God and His work. Isaiah decided in faith and in courage that he would be the one that the Lord could use. The work that the Lord would task Isaiah to do was not going to be easy. He would be sent to a people who were spiritually blind and deaf. The people were not going to respond to the preaching of Isaiah well. They were dull of heart and residing in a spiritual slumber. Isaiah was to preach and teach the people until the Lord’s judgment would come upon them (Isaiah 6:11). The majority of the people would perish in the judgment of the Lord. Only a remnant would remain and the line of the Messiah would come from them. Isaiah was to rise up to do this great work despite such challenges. Let’s also rise to the call to serve the Lord one day. Let’s seek to consecrate ourselves towards the Lord’s work despite the challenges of ministry.

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