Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. I. THE PERSON WANTED, as described in the questions, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for Us?" The person wanted is viewed from two points. The person wanted has a Divine side: "Whom shall I send?" Then he has a human aspect: "Who will go for Us?" But the two meet together — the human and Divine unite in the last words, "for Us." Here is a man, nothing more than a man of human instincts, but clad through Divine grace with superhuman, even with Divine authority. Let us look, then, at this two-sided person. 1. He is Divinely chosen. 2. Cheerfully willing. 3. Sent by the Three-One. When we tell others the story of the Cross we speak for God the Father. Nor must we forget our tender Redeemer. Moreover, that blessed Spirit, under whose dispensatorial power we live at the present hour, He has no voice to speak to the sons of men audibly except by His people; and though He works invisibly and mysteriously in the saints, yet He chooses loving hearts, and compassionate lips, and tearful eyes to be the means of benediction. II. THE PERSON OFFERING HIMSELF. "Here am I; send me." The person offering himself is described in the chapter at very great length — he must be an Isaiah. Being an Isaiah, he must — 1. Have felt his own unworthiness. Notice how it was that Isaiah was made to feel his unworthiness. (1) By a sense of the presence of God. (2) Isaiah saw the glory of Christ. (3) It will strike you, too, that the particular aspect in which this humiliation may come to us will probably be, a sense of the Divine holiness, and the holiness of those who see His face. 2. We must possess a sense of mercy. 3. The man who will be acceptable must offer himself cheerfully. "Here am I." How few of us have in very deed given ourselves to Christ. it is with most professors, "Here is my half-guinea, here is my annual contribution"; but how few of us have said, "Here am I." 4. The person who thus volunteered for sacred service gave himself unreservedly. He did not say, "Here am I; use me where I am," but "send me." Where to? No condition as to place is so much as hinted at. 5. He gives obediently, for he pauses to ask directions. It is not, "Here am I; away I will go," but "Here am I; send me." Some people get into their head a notion that they must do something uncommon and extraordinary, and though it may be most irrational, it is for that very reason that the scheme commends itself to their want of judgment. Because it is absurd, they think it to be Divine; if earthly wisdom does not justify it, then certainly heavenly wisdom must be called in to endorse it. Now, I conceive that you will find that whenever a thing is wise in God's sight it is really wise, and that a thing which is absurd is not more likely to be adopted by God than by man; for though the Lord does use plans which are called foolish, they are only foolish to fools, but not actually foolish. III. THE WORK WHICH SUCH PERSONS WILL BE CALLED TO UNDERTAKE. Isaiah's history is a picture of what many and many a true Christian labourer may expect. Isaiah was sent to preach very unpleasant truth, but like a true hero he was very bold in preaching it. "Isaiah is very bold," says the apostle. Now, if you are called of God either to preach or teach, or whatever it is, remember the things you have to preach or teach will not be agreeable to your hearers. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. |
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