"Here am I, send me"

(Isaiah 6:5-8)

How can I get to a place of usefulness for the Lord?

1) See the Lord as He Is (6:1-4)

• The Lord reveals Himself to us to make us useful for His purposes
• In response to this revelation of God we see Isaiah come to a whole new understanding about himself and the Lord God Almighty

2) Respond to Holiness of the Lord (6:5)

• Isaiah had pronounced six woes upon the people of Judah in chapter five – now he pronounces a woe upon himself
• Isaiah realized how far short he fell of God’s glory – and how gracious God’s salvation is compared to the debt we owe

• The Hebrew word for “undone” is damah – it is also translated “silence” and “perish” in other places in the OT
• Seeing the Lord high and lifted up left Isaiah speechless and feeling as if he was utterly inadequate

• Notice Isaiah doesn’t say he was a man of an unclean heart – he knew the Lord in salvation – he had unclean lips
• Apparently after coming into the presence of the Lord he had to deal with some sin previously unconfessed but now revealed
• Isaiah was preaching a message of righteousness and he needed to be living a righteous life so that he would not be standing in self-righteous hypocrisy before those hearing his message
• We must witness to the message of the righteousness of Christ in meekness, not in hypocrisy of self-righteousness

• Isaiah realized he was much more like the people he was prophesying to, rather than having much in common with a Holy God

3) Purge yourself of sin (6:6-7)

• The seraphim came with the fiery hot coal and burned away the sin from the lips of Isaiah making him fit for service
• We must fan the flame of God’s Spirit in our lives with the Word of God so that its red hot fire will burn away the dross in our lives that we may be useful for the Lord’s work

4) Answer the call (6:8)

• Will Isaiah’s fear or sense of unworthiness prevent him from heeding the call of the Almighty?
• No, he voluntarily offers himself with the right attitude of heart