Lord, Send Me

Lord, Send Me
Isaiah 6:1-8
January 2, 2022                     

Introduction

1. Happy New Year! Each New Year, we’re confronted by a question, “What do I want to change about my life?”

ILLUS – Top Three New Year’s Resolutions.

      2. The obvious reason people want to change is because they don’t like what their lives have become; they want their lives to be different.

      3. But I think there is a better question for us to consider at the start of this New Year, “What does God want to change about my life?”

      4.  You see, God has a plan for our lives; there is a reason why we are here.

      5. This means there are things that God wants to change about us because He knows what’s best for us, and what’s best for us is to live according to the pattern He purposed for us when He created us.

      6. We only get one shot at this thing called “life,” so we need to know what God wants to change about us and what God wants to do through us so that we may go and do His will.

Matthew 6:10, Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

      7. But many people also wonder, “What is God’s will for my life? What does God want me to do with my life?”

      8. During our study, we will discover God’s plan and purpose for our lives.

      9. God is still calling people and He is still asking, “Who will go?”

      10. My prayer is that after this message, all of us will say, “Lord, Send Me!”

Isaiah 6:1-8

Transition – Before we can say, “Lord, Send Me,” we need God to change our vision of who God is. What I mean is. . .  

I.  We Need a Biblical Vision of God (1-4)                                                                         

A.  God is King (1)

1. Uzziah became Judah’s king when he was sixteen and he reigned fifty-two years.

      (2 Chronicles 26)

      2.  Uzziah walked uprightly before God and Judah was blessed under his leadership.

      a. Judah prospered financially.

      b.  Judah was secure with fortified cities.

      c.  Judah had military success, possessing an elite army of over 307,000 soldiers.

      3.  But when Uzziah died Judah felt exposed and vulnerable.

1. Perspective: the U.S. has had ten presidents in the last fifty-two years.
   Isaiah the prophet also felt insecure, so God gave him a vision.

      4.  Isaiah “saw the Lord.”

1. “Lord”, Adonai means “sovereign,” “master.”
2. “sitting on a throne” reveals that God is the King of kings.
3. “lofty and exalted” means God is transcendent and eternal.
4. “train of His robe filling the temple” speaks of God’s majesty.

      5.  What was God’s message to Isaiah?

      6.  Judah’s throne was vacant, but the throne of heaven was occupied; it was then, it is now, and it always will be.

      7.  The Apostle John declared that Isaiah saw Jesus Christ seated on the throne; a preincarnate appearance of God the Son.

John 12:41, These things Isaiah said, because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.

APPL – During these troubling days, you may feel exposed and vulnerable.

God does not want you to feel that way.
God does not want you to remain in a place of insecurity.
The remedy for our insecurity is a biblical vision of God, like Isaiah.
Do not trust in princes.
Look to God. He is our help and our hope.

Psalm 146:3-5, 10, Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God; the Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

Transition – The next thing we must understand about God before we can say, “Lord, Send Me” is. . .

B.  God is holy (2-4)

1. The seraphim are only mentioned here in the Bible.
   The word “seraphim” means “to burn.”
   Seraphim burn in their zeal for God.

      2.  Seraphim have interesting anatomy; they have six wings.

1. Two wings cover their eyes which means they are forever reverent before God.
2. Two wings cover their feet which means they are forever submitted to God.
3. Two wings to fly which means they are forever serving God.

      3.  And the seraphim forever proclaim the excellencies of God; continually calling out to one another from worshipful hearts.

ILLUS – High School Football Game Cheers.

      4. Holiness is foundational to our understanding of God’s nature.

      a.  The word “holy” means “to be set apart, unique, distinct.” This means God is set apart from evil.

Habakkuk 1:13, Your eyes are too pure to approve evil

      b.  The word “holy” is repeated three times, which means God is without peer, complete, the standard of holiness.

The word “holy” is the only divine attribute that is repeated three times in a row in the Bible.

This means holiness is the defining attribute that helps us understand God’s character and actions.

God’s love is a holy

God’s anger is a holy

God’s jealousy is a holy

      5. “Lord of hosts” means the “Lord of the heavenly armies is fighting for you.”

      6. “The whole earth is filled with His glory.”

APPL – In what ways does God’s glory fill the whole earth?

Through creation.

Psalm 19:1, The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.

Under the Old Covenant, through Israel.

Romans 9:4, . . . who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises

Under the New Covenant, through born-again Christians, the Church.

2 Corinthians 3:18, But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

      7. The foundations trembled, and the Temple filled with smoke.

Transition – Next, before we can say, “Lord, Send Me”. . .

II.  We Need God’s Forgiveness (5-7)           

A.  All of us have sinned (5)

      1.  Isaiah was the kind of man you want your daughter to bring home, a righteous man.

      2.  In Isaiah 1-5, Isaiah pronounced judgment upon Israel because of their sin.

      3.  But once Isaiah saw the holy King of kings, Isaiah said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined!”

1. Compared to others, Isaiah was righteous.
2. But in God’s presence, Isaiah called down a curse upon himself.
3. Isaiah literally declared he was coming apart at the seams. Why? Isaiah tells us why. . .

      4. “Because I am a man of unclean lips”

1. Isaiah did not cover up his sin or make excuses for his moral failures.
2. Isaiah confessed his sin without hesitation or justification.
3. But why did he confess that he was “man of unclean lips”?

Matthew 15:18, But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.

ILLUS – Foul-mouthed drunk at the Portland waterfront on the 4th of July.

      5. “For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts”                          

      a. Mercifully, God reveals our sin to us incrementally, bit by bit.

      b. Here, Isaiah received a rare revelation.

      c. At that moment, Isaiah knew two things: God is holy, and he was not.

APPL – And we are in the same boat with Isaiah.

Romans 3:10-12, There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have been become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.

B.  God is faithful to forgive our sin (6-7)

      1. God didn’t leave Isaiah to grovel and disintegrate.
      2. God immediately dispatched one of the seraphim to cleanse Isaiah with a burning coal.
      3. This means grace flowed from God’s throne to Isaiah just as it does to us through Jesus Christ.               

Hebrews 4:16, Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

      4. In fact, notice how quickly God’s forgiveness came after Isaiah’s confession.

1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

APPL – Have you confessed your sins to God and asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior?            

Romans 10:9-10, . . . if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord,  and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

APPL – There is a desire within all of us to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

We want our lives to count.

We want our lives to make a difference, to leave our world a better place.

The greatest thing that we can ever do with our lives is to do God’s work.

But before we can do God’s work, we must get right with God; not because I say so, because God’s Word, the Bible, says so.

The way we get right with God is by receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior, asking Him to forgive our sins and to give us His gift of eternal life.

Transition – After you have done so, then. . .

III. It’s Time to Get in the Game (8)

Isaiah heard God’s voice for the first time. With his sins forgiven, he was ready to hear God’s call, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”

A.  God is asking the same question today

      1. God was looking for someone to be His ambassador.

1. Isaiah did not hear a job description along with a list of benefits.
2. Isaiah heard an invitation, “Who will go?”

      2. Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send Me!”

1. No reservations.
2. No conditions.
3. Isaiah knew he was serving the King of kings.
   Isaiah knew he was serving a holy God.
   Isaiah knew he was serving the Lord of heaven’s army.

      d. Isaiah also knew what God had done for him, that he had been created and cleansed for a purpose; to serve and glorify God with his life.

APPL – If you have confessed your sins to God and received Jesus Christ as your Savior, then God has cleansed you so that you may serve Him; it’s time to get in the game.

Matthew 9:36-38, Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

God will not reject you.

God wanted to use Isaiah and God wants to use you.

Paul understood this about God.

Look at his response to God’s calling and grace. . .

1 Corinthians 15:10, But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.

APPL – But, again, you might be wondering, what has God specifically called you to do? Three things.

Trust Jesus.

John 6:28-29, Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

Love Jesus. 

John 14:15, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Share Jesus.

Matthew 28:18-20, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you

Transition – And one more thing. . .

B.  Remain true to your calling

1. Isaiah’s calling was not easy.

Isaiah 6:9, He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’”

      2. Here is the problem. After saying “Yes” to God, the challenge is to remain true to the call.
      3. There will be distractions, difficulties, and discouragements.
      4. But we must stay focused and leave the results with God.

ILLUS – A lesson I learned while planting a church in Dallas, Texas.

      5. Be faithful even in the little things and run the race set before you; finish strong.

2 Timothy 4:7, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith

Conclusion

APPL – God is calling. Will you go?

It is never too early. David and Daniel were teenagers.

It is never too late. Moses was 80.

Will you answer the Lord and say, “Here am I. Lord, Send Me!”?