Isaiah describes a vision he had of the Lord that humbled him in Isaiah 6:1-3. He saw the Lord seated on a lofty throne and a number of angelic beings called seraphs ('seraphim' is the plural of 'seraph') worshipping Him. Each seraph had six wings, and they covered their bodies with four wings and flew with two. In other words, they used four of their wings to worship God and two wings to serve Him. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that the Father seeks for worshippers. He also replied to Satan's temptation with the words: "You shall worship the Lord your God and you shall serve Him." Notice there that worship must precede service. But we must also worship God more than we serve Him. The more we worship God, the more effective our service for Him will be.
Worship means a total surrender of everything that we are and that we have to God, and a total devotion to Christ. Worship is more than thanksgiving and praise. Worship involves recognising God's holiness and greatness, and acknowledging Him as Lord of lords and King of kings. These seraphs who had never sinned could not even look at God. They covered their faces before Him. That teaches us something about the "unapproachable light" of God's holiness (1 Tim.6:16). We must not think lightly of God's holiness. It is a tremendous privilege that we are allowed to come before Him, through the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
When Isaiah saw all this, he was deeply convicted. The man who had just been pronouncing "Woes" on others, pronounces one on himself now - "Woe is me......"(Isaiah 6:5)! Not one of the "Woes" that he had pronounced on others was in error. But it was necessary for him as a prophet of God, to get alone before God and to see the sin within himself. This is what happens when we see the glory of God. We will still see the wrongs in others and speak against them when led by the Lord to do so. But we will see the sin in our own flesh first.
It is necessary for every prophet and preacher who stands in the pulpit and preaches against sin to see the sin in his flesh first. Otherwise he will soon become a backslider. Many preachers never cry out like Isaiah saying, "Woe unto me," or like Paul saying, "O wretched man that I am. In my flesh there dwells no good thing" (Rom.7:18,24).
Isaiah was particularly convicted about his speech. He said, "Lord, I am a man of unclean lips"(Isaiah 6:5). Then one of the seraphs took a coal from the altar in a pair of tongs and cleansed Isaiah's lips immediately. The sin which Isaiah confessed was immediately forgiven. The fire that an angel could not touch (but needed a pair of tongs to take) could touch the lips of Isaiah. Man can receive an anointing from God that no angel can receive.
Isaiah had a vision of both the throne and the altar here. Then the Lord asks, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?" (Isaiah 6:8). Isaiah replies, "Here am I. Send me." We need to see both the throne and the altar constantly. We need to be struck down to the dust first with a vision of God's holiness, and then we need to be lifted up because the blood from the altar has cleansed us. Only then can we go forth and serve the Lord. We can't go forth if God doesn't send us. If we go without God sending us, then we will labour in vain. Many "Christian workers" have not been sent by God. Some organisation or man has sent them to the mission field. Or perhaps they have gone on their own. It is easy to engage in Christian activity, because the need is so great. But if we want fruit that lasts for all eternity, God Himself must send us. Other godly men may confirm the call we receive from God - but they cannot call us. God called Saul and Barnabas personally to His service. The confirmation of that call came later through other prophets (Acts.13:1-4). And when God calls us, He will also tell us what to preach. He told Isaiah, "Go. Tell this people........" (Isaiah 6:9). God is still the same today as He was in Isaiah's time. Under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and so we don't hear God with our physical ears now, as Isaiah heard Him then. We hear His voice today in our hearts. But His voice is just as unmistakable. I have never heard the Lord's voice audibly with my physical ears and I have never seen Him or an angel with my physical eyes. But I have seen Him and heard Him clearly in my heart many times during the last more than 40 years. Jesus said that those who believed in Him without seeing Him with their physical eyes are actually more blessed than those who see Him and believe (John 20:29).
The commission that the Lord gave Isaiah was a very difficult one. He told him, "Go and tell my people this: 'Though you hear my words repeatedly, you won't understand them. Though you watch and watch as I perform my miracles, still you won't know what they mean.' Dull their understanding, close their ears, and shut their eyes. I don't want them to see or to hear or to understand, or to turn to me to heal them" (Isaiah 6:9,10). This is the verse that Jesus quoted when He was explaining why He spoke to people in parables (Mt.13:15).
So what do we see here? A vision of God, a vision of self, a vision of grace that forgives, a vision of anointed service, and finally, a vision of fruit (Isaiah 6:13). A holy seed would come forth from the corrupt nation of Judah. A remnant will be raised up for the Lord through our service.
