Isaiah’s Commissioning – Part 2
Isaiah 6:1-13 (6-13)
April 16, 2023
This morning we continued working on this wonderful 6th chapter
Where we learn the details surrounding the commissioning of Isaiah.
We have noted how Isaiah started his ministry with tremendous boldness and confrontation.
• Calling out false religion as that which is unpleasing to God.
• Calling out worldliness as that which offends God.
• Pronouncing woes upon Israel’s fruitlessness.
• And calling Israel to repentance in every sin of their life that they might once again find the blessing of God.
He came out of the gate swinging.
In chapter 6 we find out why.
Isaiah saw the Lord and it changed everything for him.
We’re continuing to work through this 6th chapter.
We saw the first two points this morning.
#1 THE SOURCE OF ISAIAH’S CONVICTION
Isaiah 6:1-4
Isaiah was a man content in his phony religion,
Just going through the motions of worship,
Even entering the temple to continue the charade.
But on this day Isaiah saw the Lord.
• He saw HIS ELEVATION – “lofty and exalted”
• He saw HIS EXALTATION – “Seraphim…called out to another…Holy, Holy, Holy”
• He saw HIS EFFECT – “the foundations…trembled…the temple was filling with smoke.”
Isaiah realized that he had seen “the LORD of hosts”
And what is even more terrifying is that
The LORD of hosts had no doubt seen Isaiah.
That vision would forever change Isaiah’s life.
• All of the petty sin that he had been involved in…
• All the concern for the world’s approval…
• All the desire for the things of the world…
In a moment all of those things were less than important
For now Isaiah was standing in the presence of the Holy One.
This is the Source of His Conviction.
#2 THE SIN OF ISAIAH’S LIPS
Isaiah 6:5
Isaiah pronounced woe upon himself for he was a man “of unclean lips”
This spoke of his hypocrisy.
Later Isaiah would spell it out in a passage Jesus would eventually quote as well:
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”
That had been Isaiah as well.
• His sacrifices were just as offensive.
• His attendance was just as irritating.
• His hands were just as bloody.
• His religion was just as detestable to God.
He had been a phony.
He was playing the game, giving lips service to God
But ultimately he did whatever he wanted.
And while Isaiah may have successfully deceived his contemporaries,
He knew that he could not deceive God.
Isaiah had been EXPOSED
And all he could do was fall to his face and pronounce woe on himself
For he knew he was about to die.
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!”
He was standing before God and that is
The absolute worse place that a hypocrite can stand.
God cannot be deceived.
ISAIAH WAS SOON TO PERISH.
BUT IN THAT MOMENT,
We see God do something that Isaiah had not expected.
And that is actually where we left off this morning, with the introduction of this 3rd point.
#3 THE SALVATION OF ISAIAH’S SOUL
Isaiah 6:6-7
As Isaiah lay on his face waiting to die at the hands of the Holy One,
Something remarkable happened.
(6) “Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.”
No doubt this came as an order from the Holy One.
That one of these angels should take this coal and approach Isaiah.
This is the process of SANCTIFICATION.
This holy fire is coming for a purpose in Isaiah’s life.
(7) “He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
Isaiah’s lips were the problem, Isaiah’s lips must be purified.
It is another way of saying that God was curing his hypocrisy problem.
There is nothing that sounds overly fun
About a burning coal touching your lips,
And no one is denying that repentance may be a little painful.
BUT THE EFFECT of this cleansing touch is remarkable.
“your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
It was THE SIGHT OF THE HOLY ONE
That brought Isaiah to the depths of despair.
It was THE TOUCH OF THE HOLY ONE
That brought him redemption.
Psalm 32:5 “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.”
And what we noted this morning is that the Holy One is merciful
To those who humble themselves in His sight.
Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Psalms 51:14-17 “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; Then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, That my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
You can see how Isaiah is no longer trying the hypocrisy game.
• He is not offering God another goat or a bull.
• There is no pretense left.
• There is no phony religion.
Isaiah comes totally clean before the Lord regarding his sin
And God reaches down to atone and forgive him.
And to make sure that we do not miss the GOSPEL PICTURE found here;
You need to see that coal as picture of Christ.
He is the One who touches the sinner
That iniquity may be taken away and sin forgiven.
• He is the One who atones for sin.
• He is the One who takes our sin upon Himself and carries it away.
• He is the One who purchases our pardon.
Isaiah’s sin cannot just vanish into thin air, it must be paid for.
Isaiah’s sin was removed from Isaiah and placed upon Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Perhaps no Old Testament prophet was more aware of this atonement
Than Isaiah who gives us that beautiful 53rd chapter.
Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
Isaiah didn’t just announce that, Isaiah enjoyed that.
He experienced it, he lived it.
In a moment, Isaiah would turn from being a hypocrite
To a true worshiper.
We’ve read Isaiah 57:15 a couple of times now.
That passage continues:
Isaiah 57:15-19 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. “For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made. “Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry and struck him; I hid My face and was angry, And he went on turning away, in the way of his heart. “I have seen his ways, but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, Creating the praise of the lips. Peace, peace to him who is far and to him who is near,” Says the LORD, “and I will heal him.”
God takes those in sin
• Who humble themselves before Him
• And become mourners over their sin
• And God says, “I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners, creating the praise of the lips.”
God takes those who feared for their lives and deserved to be undone
And says, “Peace, peace to him” and “I will heal him.”
Do you see why he is so aware of God’s salvation?
• He tasted it.
• He experienced it.
I’ll tell you right now this is one of the reasons
We have so many in the church who never preach the gospel.
They don’t know how to preach about sin and forgiveness
Because they’ve never owned their sin
And they’ve never experienced forgiveness.
It’s hard to be a hypocrite, playing the church game,
And then go out and explain to a sinner how to repent and be forgiven.
But those who have felt the terror of God’s holy gaze
And the peace of God’s atoning touch
Have no problem telling sinners how to be forgiven.
And those who refuse to repent never experience the peace of God like Isaiah did.
That same 57th chapter where God announced peace to those who mourn over their sin; Isaiah continues.
Isaiah 57:20-21 “But the wicked are like the tossing sea, For it cannot be quiet, And its waters toss up refuse and mud. “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
God gives peace to those who humble themselves and mourn their sin,
But those who insist on playing the game; they get no peace.
Isaiah 66:1-6 “Thus says the LORD, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, So I will choose their punishments And will bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.” Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at His word: “Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name’s sake, Have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy.’ But they will be put to shame. “A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple, The voice of the LORD who is rendering recompense to His enemies.”
THAT SPELLS IT OUT AGAIN DOESN’T IT?
So you see why Isaiah took such a hard stance against all those worthless sacrifices in chapter 1.
He had been bringing those his whole life
And they had never produced peace between him and God.
But it wasn’t until Isaiah met Christ that his sin was dealt with,
And he humbled himself, and found forgiveness at Christ’s expense.
Christ did what Isaiah’s religion never had.
• This sinner was atoned for.
• This sinner was forgiven.
• This one who is called an abomination in chapter 1 for his worthless worship is now at peace with God.
What a beautiful picture of the gospel!
Here was a hypocritical sinner
Who should have died in the presence of the LORD
And yet God saved him.
God sanctified Isaiah’s lips
And now God will use those filthy lips for His glory.
And that is the 4th point
The Source of Isaiah’s Conviction – The Sin of Isaiah’s Lips – The Salvation of Isaiah’s Soul
#4 THE SPECIFICS OF ISAIAH’S MINISTRY
Isaiah 6:8-13
Now we come to perhaps the MOST FAMOUS VERSE in this chapter,
Perhaps even the entire book.
But you see that this verse could not happen without the first 7.
I want to break down the specifics of Isaiah’s ministry a little more to help us grasp even better what it is that God has called him to do.
1) RESPONDING (8)
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Of incredible significance is the first 3 words of the verse.
“Then I heard…”
Isaiah DOESN’T say, “Then God said…”
Perhaps God had been calling for someone to go for some time
But Isaiah had never heard the call because he was dead in his sin.
But once God made him alive through Christ,
Now all or a sudden Isaiah has ears to hear.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord”
I hear it said from time to time by people in the church. “The Lord isn’t calling me to be on mission.”
In light of Isaiah 6 I should think it is time for repentance.
There is no doubt the Lord is calling His people on mission.
That may not be Africa, but I promise you He is calling you on mission.
What else would He be calling you to do?
(Watch TV and go on vacation?)
He has left His children here for the purpose of His kingdom.
• We are His witnesses.
• We are commissioned by Him to “go and make disciples”
• We are to “seek first His kingdom”
• We are to pray for “His kingdom to come”
The great missionary William Booth said:
“Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say. Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters and servants and masters not to come there. Then look Christ in the face — whose mercy you have professed to obey — and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/692389-not-called-did-you-say-not-heard-the-call-i
Isaiah was deaf until he turned from his sin,
But once he found salvation from the Lord
He said, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord”
Does He burden your heart for the lost?
Are you ever compelled to share the gospel?
Are you commissioned at all?
ISAIAH HEARD.
And what did he hear?
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
He was looking for one
• Who would expose the people in their sin,
• Who would call them out for their hypocrisy,
• Who would preach to them the necessity of repentance,
• And who would offer them the mercy of God if they would humble themselves.
It reminds us of the pitiful condition in Ezekiel’s day.
Ezekiel 22:30 “I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”
God had been calling and none would answer the call.
In fact, none were even hearing the call.
But on this day, Isaiah’s ears were opened by the Lord
And he heard God’s call for someone to go and tell the people.
And Isaiah famously answered, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah volunteered.
And let me put it again bluntly.
PEOPLE WHO ENCOUNTER CHRIST SHARE ABOUT CHRIST.
The woman at the well
John 4:28-29 “So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?”
• She’s like a present day Isaiah.
• He told me I was a sinner! Let me tell you about Him!
The Gadarene Demoniac
Luke 8:38-39 “But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
• Now telling the story of his humiliating condition
• And how Jesus freed him from it.
The Apostles under threat of persecution
Acts 4:19-20 “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
• We cannot stop!
Those who encounter Christ speak of Christ!
But it’s really hard to speak about what you have neither seen nor heard.
People go out and talk about their church attendance and their religion,
But they have no testimony of an encounter with Christ.
Isaiah could not preach to the people about the holiness of God
And the redemption of Jesus until he experienced both.
That is why Spurgeon said:
“Every Christian is either a missionary or an imposter.”
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/404648-every-christian-is-either-a-missionary-or-an-imposter
Isaiah’s ministry began with responding to God
And volunteering to share what he knew of God with his contemporaries.
They were “a people of unclean lips” as he was,
And he now would go tell them what God had done for him.
It started with Responding
2) REPORTING (9a)
“He said, “Go, and tell this people:”
• Isaiah was NOT simply called to be more faithful in attendance.
• Isaiah was NOT simply called to do more Bible studies.
• Isaiah was NOT simply called to pray more.
Isaiah was called to “Go, and tell this people”
God has ordained that those who know Him
Should go and testify of Him to those who do not.
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
You know the passages.
But familiarity with the passage should not nullify responsibility to them.
These are the commands of Jesus.
DOES THAT COMMAND MATTER TO ME OR NOT?
Isaiah was to report what he had seen and heard about God.
3) RENDERING (9b-10)
“He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
Now this is the hard part.
And many have a tough time wrapping their minds around the call here.
The MESSAGE that Isaiah is to speak is clear.
“Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.”
• It’s a clear message of judgment.
• It is a statement that seemingly drips with sarcasm.
Isaiah is to preach to people the truth,
And at the same time remind them that they don’t get it.
“I’m preaching but you don’t understand a thing I’m saying.”
It’s NOT the type of message that promises to be received very well.
But that’s been precisely the way Isaiah preached
In those first 3 sermons we studied in chapters 1-5.
What could possibly be GOD’S OBJECTIVE
In preaching a message like that to people?
Well, look at what God says in verse 10:
“Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
“Render” God says.
• That is to say, “Make them this way”
• It is literally “Make their heart fat”
And on one hand we could say, “Oh, so Isaiah was supposed to preach a message that exposed the people like he had been exposed.”
He was supposed to preach in such a way that proved that they were blind and deaf and hard-hearted, right?
Well, that’s part of it.
• Certainly when one preaches as Isaiah would preach
• And calls down the holiness of God to apply to the hypocritical religion of the day
• You would expect that people would be exposed.
That is sort of what the Law does.
Paul testified to that.
Romans 7:7-10 “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;”
• The Law didn’t actually kill Paul, he was already dead.
• But the Law did reveal his spiritual deadness to him.
And some would say, “Well that is Isaiah’s ministry”
He’s supposed to go around and expose that people are actually deaf, dumb, blind, and heard-hearted.
That is partly true, but that is NOT the full grasp of his ministry.
God says to “Render the hearts of this people insensitive…OTHERWISE they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
Isaiah will expose some men and may lead them to repentance,
But the main thrust of his ministry is NOT to lead them to salvation,
But to actually harden them in their sin.
His ministry is to preach to truth to sinners
Which will in effect solidify their blindness and intensify their judgment.
That’s what the text says.
Render them blind “otherwise” they might see.
That sounds very anti-gospel
And perhaps nothing like we would expect from God.
But can I remind you that Jesus did this?
In Matthew 13 Jesus gave the crowds the truth, but He gave it to them in a manner in which they could not understand it.
And then said:
Matthew 13:11-13 “Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”
These were people who had been given the truth but had not listened to it
And now they were being hardened in their sin.
Now here’s a good question for you.
WHY WOULD GOD DO THAT?
WHY would God give truth to a sinner that is meant to harden them in sin and intensify their judgment?
Isaiah has already answered that question.
Isaiah 5:16 “But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness.”
The answer is: FOR HIS GLORY
You can cry “foul” and “unfair” all you like,
But this is how God has revealed Himself to Isaiah.
WHAT IS MORE,
Did you know that of all the great Old Testament passages we have in the Bible, none is quoted more in the New Testament than this one?
Matthew 13:14, Mark 8:17-19, John 9:39, John 12:40,
Acts 28:26, Romans 11:8;
They all say the same thing.
Matthew 13:14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;”
What should you take from this?
Well YOU SHOULD BELIEVE Isaiah’s word.
Later God will say through Isaiah:
Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
If you think about that verse, IT CAN’T BE TRUE,
If the only purpose for preaching is to see men saved.
If that is the only thing God’s word accomplishes
Then that verse can’t be true for not all who hear the gospel are saved.
But what if God’s word also accomplishes securing men in judgment also for the glory of God?
Then that verse is true.
Paul said:
2 Corinthians 2:15-16 “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things?”
To some people Paul’s preaching was “an aroma from life to life”
But for others it was “an aroma from death to death”
And what a warning to all who sit under gospel preaching.
God’s word IS working in your life.
• It is either working to draw you to salvation
• Or it is working to secure your judgment.
Isaiah’s primary ministry would be a ministry “from death to death”
He would preach for the purpose of rendering men
As deserving of God’s wrath and that to the glory of God.
That is a harsh ministry to be assigned, but it is real.
• And many a prophet and minister has labored under that exact calling.
• Many have preached for years and seen very little saved,
• But that does not mean they failed.
• They merely succeeded in hardening sinners.
That is Isaiah’s ministry.
Responding, Reporting, Rendering
4) REMAINING (11-12)
With such a difficult ministry, Isaiah’s question is fitting.
“Then I said, “Lord, how long?”
How long do I have to do this?
“And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people And the land us utterly desolate, The LORD has removed men far away, And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.”
The answer?
Preach until they are all dead.
• You must endure.
• You must remain.
• You must keep preaching.
• Even if the results seem few.
• Even if people hate you for it.
• Keep preaching.
As Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:1-4 “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
Preach rather they like it or not.
Preach rather they listen or not.
God’s word is at work through you, keep preaching.
God is using your preaching to secure the judgment
Of the hard hearted who turn away from His word.
Granted, it is not an enviable ministry,
But it is Isaiah’s ministry
And many have followed in his footsteps since that day.
But there is one more point.
5) REVEALING (13)
Thank God for that little word “Yet”
Your ministry may primarily be a ministry of securing judgment,
BUT IT WON’T TOTALLY BE THAT.
“Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”
We call this the remnant.
• Your preaching will secure the salvation of some.
• 10% according to God’s announcement will receive the preaching of Isaiah and repent.
• And they will be tested, and they will walk through the fire, but it will be proven that they are real.
• It will be proven that they are holy.
Remember, Isaiah told us about that remnant too.
Isaiah 5:16-17 “But the LORD of hosts will be exalted in judgment, And the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, And strangers will eat in the waste places of the wealthy.”
Isaiah heard what the LORD told him.
• He knew that most would be judged to the glory of God,
• But he also knew that some would be saved to His glory as well.
You want to sum up the ministry of Isaiah.
Preaching to hypocritical sinners for the rest of his life.
• To secure 90% of them in judgment
• But to save some 10% of them from judgment,
• And all of that to the glory of God.
And so you see now why Isaiah is preaching the way he is preaching.
You see now why he so boldly confronts sin and calls men out of it.
He saw the Lord!
• He feared judgment,
• But God showed him mercy to save him.
Now he takes that message to the people.
• It is the gospel!
• It is the message of God’s holiness and yet God’s mercy to sinners who repent.
• And this message will either lead men to repentance and salvation
• Or it will harden them in sin and secure their judgment.
But either way God will be glorified,
Either in saving sinners or in judging them.
THIS IS OUR MINISTRY.
If you have seen the Lord and received His salvation, take that message to the world.
Don’t be discouraged if they don’t respond as you’d like, God is at work through His word regardless.
And if you are not saved, you had better listen to the message
For God will be glorified in your life one way or another.
But now you see Isaiah’s commissioning
And understand why he preaches the way he does.
