By Glenn Metts
Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church, Seymour
Focal Passage: Isaiah 6:1-13
It is an incredibly humbling thought to know that God uses ordinary people to declare His glory and His purposes. Preachers and evangelists from R.G. Lee or Adrian Rogers to Billy Graham, to missionaries such as Lottie Moon, or the faithful pastors most people never hear of, God uses ordinary people who have been captured by His glory to tell of His purposes and grace.
God calls all believers to be faithful witnesses. In light of that, Isaiah’s experience will help us as we consider that God has a mission for us as well. There are three conditions for being a faithful witness I would like to mention to you.
First, a faithful witness is captured by the Holiness and grandeur of God. In Isaiah 6:1-13, Isaiah sees a vision of Holy God. He is shaken and his heart is captured by what he witnessed.
Glenn Metts
He describes what he saw and declared, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” He described the seraphim that cried to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” Isn’t it true?! The whole earth is full of His glory! The mountains declare the glory of God. The oceans declare the glory of God! The sun, moon and stars all declare His glory. Ultimately, the Word of God declares His glory. It points to the ultimate display of His love and purpose in the cross of Calvary and the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus.
Friend, the more we seek Him, the more we look in His Word, and the more we walk with Him daily, the more we become aware of His holiness and majesty! Our hearts will be in awe and worship happens.
Secondly, a faithful witness has experienced the overwhelming grace of God. Isaiah, having witnessed a vision of the Lord, became aware of his own sin.
He said, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Dr. Henry Blackaby writes, “An exalted view of God brings a clear view of sin and a realistic view of self.”
When we truly begin to worship and see the Lord for who He is, it transforms our hearts. Isaiah then experienced the grace of God. He wrote that one of the seraphim flew to him and touched his lips with a coal which he had taken from the altar. He declared, “Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.”
I am reminded of the words we sing so often, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” Once we recognize our own sin because we see the Lord for who He is, we are forever changed if we will receive the gift of salvation God offers us through His Son.
Finally, a faithful witness responds to the call of God. Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah responded, “Here am I! Send me.” May we be so captured by the holiness and majesty of our God, and the grace He has bestowed upon us, that we wholeheartedly and enthusiastically say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Send us, Lord! Send us to declare your glory and your purposes in our communities and in the world today. Help us be faithful witnesses for you! B&R
