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.”
The U.S. military continually recruits youth into the armed services. They
use commercials on television. They pay to insert propaganda into
Hollywood movies. They have invested tens-of-millions to incorporate
brainwashing propaganda into video games to lure youth into the military,
glamorizing the soldier's life. Such worldly advertising has been very
effective.
Yet, there is a spiritual war raging that is infinitely more important. The military pales in comparison to the ministry. Instead of guns our weapon is the inspired Word of God. Instead of a uniform we wear a holy life. Instead of bullets we use Bible verses. Instead of belonging to a unit we belong to a local church. Instead of fighting other men, our enemies are the flesh, the world and Satan.
In Isaiah 6:8 we read that the Godhead (“who will go for us?”) was searching for a man to go preach. May I say, when you preach the Word, you are doing it for the Lord. Isaiah volunteered and said to the Lord, “Here am I, send me.” God instructed Isaiah to go preach the Word to the people...
Isaiah 6:9-10, “And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.”
Historical Background of Isaiah
Isaiah was a prophet during the 8th century BC to the nation of Israel, specifically the northern kingdom, whose capitol was Samaria. The nation of Israel was a whole nation during the kingly reigns of Saul, David and Solomon; but then divided during the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam. Due to a revolt caused by Rehoboam's foolish pride, ten of the Jewish tribes journeyed north to form their own kingdom under the reign of Jeroboam. The tribes of Levi (the priestly tribe) and Benjamin remaining in Judah under king Rehoboam. Both the northern and southern kingdoms went into gross idolatry and wickedness against the Lord.
God sent the prophets Isaiah and Nahum to preach the Gospel to the northern kingdom. They didn't listen and in 722 BC Assyria conquered them, taking them into slavery. God sent the prophet Jeremiah to preach to the southern kingdom, whose capitol was Judah. They didn't listen and in 586 BC were conquered by king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Ezekiel and Daniel were captivity prophets, who were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon.
The Lord Jesus Christ made reference to the prophet Isaiah (see Isaiah 6:9-10)...
Matthew 13:13-16, “Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.”
Are your eyes and ears blessed, taking heed to the Word of God? Or is your heart waxed gross, having dull ears and closed eyes? Most people have no interest in learning about God or the things of God. We are living in wicked times, when people have no fear of God and regard not the Holy Bible. The following Scripture passage refers to many of our religious institutions, synagogues and apostate churches nowadays...
Matthew 15:7, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
Isaiah Wanted to Preach the Word of God
I admire Isaiah for volunteering to preach. We often hear preachers say that God called them to preach. It is interesting that God didn't call Isaiah to preach; but rather, he heard the Godhead asking whom they could send. I believe it is quite clear here that God knew Isaiah would volunteer. This story reminds me of John 6:5-6 when Jesus asked His disciples how they were going to feed the 5,000 people. The Bible says Jesus already knew what He was going to do, but asked for the sake of the disciples. I believe this same situation applies to Isaiah 6:8-10. God knew that Isaiah would volunteer, but Isaiah needed to make the choice himself. God is a beautiful, considerate and awesome God.
My friend, you can volunteer to serve God too. There is a voluntary call to serve God. And may I say, we are all in full-time ministry as born-again Christians. There is a full-time call to labor as a worker for Christ; but truthfully, every believer is on-call 24 hours a day. Whether you are at work or on vacation, you should always be serving the Lord in how you think, speak and behave. We should always be soul-conscious. It is shameful how so many churchgoers abandon their Christian morals and faith when they go on vacation. God pity the Christian who vacations in Sin City Las Vegas or attends Mardi Gras. Too many believers are only Christian up to a point, when it is convenient for them to do so, but when they go on vacation they are no better than the heathen world.
We read a wonderful passage of Scripture concerning Jeremiah the prophet. Jeremiah had a ministry of doom and gloom. God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 25:11 that Jerusalem was doomed to servitude to Babylon. The Jews had passed the point of no return with God. If they refused to serve Nebuchadnezzar in Israel they would become slaves in Babylon. Jeremiah became discouraged and quit preaching, but God's Word burned in his heart as a fire and he was compelled to return to preaching...
Jeremiah 7:20, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.”
Does God Word burn in your heart? It does mine. I must preach! I must get the truth out to whoever will listen! I hope you are one of the truth-seekers in this world, because there aren't many. I see stingy people corrupting and perverting the truth to increase profits. It is wickedness. Here am I Lord, send me, I will preach Thy Word!!! By God's grace and will I have been faithfully preaching THE TRUTH since 2002 online and will continue to do so. Won't you join me? Someone is always watching and listening!!!
The world is desperate today for help. Matthew 9:37-38, “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Here is a wonderful MP3 sermon by Dr. Carl Hatch titled, “Ten Reasons Why Soul Winning Should Be Our Main Business.”
Brother Lester Roloff rightly states...
Folks, the end time's come. The field is white, the laborers are few. We have the greatest opportunity of any generation, that ever lived, to reach desperate souls for the Lord Jesus Christ!
SOURCE: Brother Lester Roloff, from the classic MP3 sermon, “JESUS IS LORD!!!”
By God's grace I'm doing my part to reach others. If every Christian believer did their part, we could reach America for Jesus Christ. The biggest mistake that any Christian could ever make is to think that the efforts of one person couldn't make a significant difference in the world. One Christian plus God equals a majority! LORD, HERE AM I, SEND ME!!!
