The People God Uses (Isaiah 6:1-8 )

The People God Uses (Isaiah 6:1-8 )

 

1웃시야 왕이 죽던 해에 내가 본즉 주께서 높이 들린 보좌에 앉으셨는데 그의 옷자락은 성전에 가득하였고

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

 

2스랍들이 모시고 섰는데 각기 여섯 날개가 있어 그 둘로는 자기의 얼굴을 가리었고 그 둘로는 자기의 발을 가리었고 그 둘로는 날며

2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

 

3서로 불러 이르되 거룩하다 거룩하다 거룩하다 만군의 여호와여 그의 영광이 온 땅에 충만하도다 하더라

3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

 

4 이같이 화답하는 자의 소리로 말미암아 문지방의 터가 요동하며 성전에 연기가 충만한지라

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

 

5그 때에 내가 말하되 화로다 나여 망하게 되었도다 나는 입술이 부정한 사람이요 나는 입술이 부정한 백성 중에 거주하면서 만군의 여호와이신 왕을 뵈었음이로다 하였더라

5 Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

 

6그 때에 그 스랍 중의 하나가 부젓가락으로 제단에서 집은 바 핀 숯을 손에 가지고 내게로 날아와서

6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:

 

7그것을 내 입술에 대며 이르되 보라 이것이 네 입에 닿았으니 네 악이 제하여졌고 네 죄가 사하여졌느니라 하더라

7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

 

8내가 또 주의 목소리를 들으니 주께서 이르시되 내가 누구를 보내며 누가 우리를 위하여 갈꼬 하시니 그 때에 내가 이르되 내가 여기 있나이다 나를 보내소서 하였더니

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.

 

 

 

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, a year of great fear and impending war for the nation of Judah, the Prophet Isaiah burrowed himself deep into the sanctuary. Worried and concerned about the state and future of Judah, Isaiah prayed, and while he was kneeled and praying God showed him a great vision.

 

He saw “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with [two] he covered his face, and with [two] he covered his feet, and with [two] he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.”

 

Isaiah saw the Holy Face of God and at the same time he saw how unclean and great of a sinner he was. From this vision he received God’s calling and became one of the greatest prophets in the Bible, taking on the job of prophesizing for 4 generations of kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. The Prophet Isiah is also the one who made the most prophecies about Jesus Christ.

 

Today we will take a deeper look at today’s scripture from a new perspective to understand the process and reason behind God’s decision to choose Isaiah for His great work.

 

 

A) God Uses Those Who Have Experienced Him and His Power

 

When Isaiah saw the Lord on His throne, he realized his own meagerness and shortcomings and was overwhelmed by repentance. A seraph (a type of angel) saw Isaiah’s fear and took a coal from the altar and put the coal to Isaiah’s lips.

 

When the coal touched Isaiah’s lips, he experienced the great power of God’s fire. Those who are used by God are those who have experienced the Lord in some way: be it feeling His fire within them, hearing His voice, seeing His visions, receiving His healing, or being overwhelmed upon reading His Word. All of these are spiritual experiences from God.

 

I experienced a similar phenomenon when I received salvation and accepted Jesus. When I was in high school, I was the student body president. once, some of the students and teachers went on a prayer retreat where we prayed and heard the Gospel of God.

 

My teacher at the time, now a Full Gospel Church pastor, was someone who prayed earnestly and diligently. I can’t remember his name now, but he was an extremely devoted person. I used to attend a Holiness Church at the time, and a Presbyterian evangelist (preacher) came and gave us a passionate and fiery sermon.

 

Before he started, the evangelist proclaimed that some of us would receive salvation that night. The room had about 20 of us students and teachers and they must have used a lot of firewood to warm it because the floor was hot. Yet despite it being so warm, everyone gave praise with great enthusiasm. No one held back. I still remember the praise song.

 

With people praising, the room only got hotter but the evangelist preacher gave a fervent and impassioned sermon. I had heard the story about how Jesus died for my sins many times before, but the sermon emphasizing this fact that night touched me and this truth entered my heart.

 

The moment I chose to believe, I experienced something awesome and strange: I felt like I had swallowed a large and smooth lump. I could feel it slide down my throat. It was at that moment the truth about Jesus’ sacrifice took its place inside my heart.

 

I was filled with assurance and conviction and praised even more ardently. I felt the amazing joy and freedom of a saved soul. “It’s true! Jesus died for me on the cross 2000 years ago! I’m forgiven of all my sins! I now believe! Hallelujah!” It was a deeply moving moment. All night we sang praises, gave thanks, and repented before God. This was back in the spring of 1977.

 

Accepting Jesus as our Savior and serving Him as our master is not easy. We need to first experience God’s presence and existence. We need to experience that He is indeed calling for us and wants to use us.

 

Moses experienced God’s spiritual flame at the old age of 80, and God used him for monumental works. Jeremiah no longer wanted to evangelize because of brutal persecution, but he couldn’t walk away because not doing God’s work made him physically hurt to the core of his bones.

 

The Prophet Elijah proved to 850 idolaters that our Almighty God is the only true God by setting aflame a pile of soaking wet firewood with fire that fell from the sky.

 

There is a famous Japanese evangelist named “Hoji Yuteran”. Hoji Yuteran was convicted of rape, murder, arson, and attempted murder and was given a life sentence. But while serving his sentence, he received God’s baptism of fire. He was a changed man, praying for and teaching the Gospel to every inmate that entered the prison.

 

He would even suck the pus and infection out of boils and sores of some inmates. He may have been a convicted prisoner, but he still went from one prison to another spreading the word of God and causing revivals in prisons.

 

English Anglican cleric George Whitefield would pray to God asking Him to make him the Lord’s fire. In the end he became an evangelist with a burning spirit.

 

Let everyone here today receive the grace of the Holy Spirit as Isaiah did and experience the power of our Living God. Hallelujah!

 

B) God Uses Those Who Recognize that They Are Sinners

 

In order to be used by God, we must next recognize that we are sinners. In verse 5 it says, “Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

 

When he found himself before God, Isaiah realized that he and his people were unclean sinners and deserved punishment in Hell and proclaimed, “Woe is me! for I am undone…”

 

Upon seeing Isaiah’s anguish, a seraph takes a hot coal from the altar and puts it to Isaiah’s lips saying, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Isaiah had received forgiveness for his sins. Hallelujah!

 

God cleansed and forgave Isaiah of all his sins when he lamented his own uncleanliness. There are so many people in the world who fail to see their own evil and delude themselves into believing that they are strong, perfect, and righteous.

 

We too must recognize and accept that we are sinners, weak, and deserving of punishment and suffering. Someone who fails to see themselves in an objective light cannot receive salvation and will not enter Heaven.

 

C) God Uses Those Who Truly Repent

 

For someone to be used by God, they much first truly and thoroughly repent for their sins. Verse 5 tells us, “5 Then said I, 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 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

 

The moment Isaiah saw God, he also saw himself and immediately repented. The first thing any human must do before the Lord is confess and repent. only when such genuine repentance takes place will God forgive all sins.

 

In 2 Samuel 12:13, even though he became King, David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”

 

1 John 1:9-10 says, “9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

 

D) God Uses Worshippers

 

John 4:24 tells us, “24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

 

To worship means to acknowledge God; it is a time to meet Him. Isaiah considered this time to be precious and vital. He earnestly and desperately sought God’s help.

 

It was when Isaiah worshiped in spirit and in truth that he felt God’s presence. Those who value worship are those who meet God. They meet Him through prayer, praise, the message, and fellowship. Isaiah experienced door posts move and saw all of glory on a throne. He experienced the forgiveness of his sins. He received his mission for the Lord. He received his calling as God’s servant. All of this happened while he was worshipping. Hallelujah!

 

E) God Uses Those Who Volunteer

 

In verse 8, Isaiah saw God troubled because He could not find anyone fitting to take up His work. Isaiah then steps forth and offers himself to God: “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.”

 

As a result, Isaiah became a prophet who spread the word of God. Upon receiving God’s calling, Isaiah fulfilled his mission through the duration of the reign of four generations of kings (from Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, to Hezekiah).

 

Everything in this world is created by God. Everything has a purpose. All of us here, and everyone in the world, was created by God with the purpose of carrying out His mission. Everyone has a unique mission tailored to them by Him.

 

As Christians it is our responsibility to find out what our mission is. Not only do we have a duty to fulfill at church, but also with our families and in society. God’s work for us today is to reach out so people will believe in Jesus, receive salvation, and repent. To do God’s work, we must first volunteer and offer ourselves to Him.

 

Even today God is searching for servants and people to come forth and say, “Here I am Lord. Send me.” He is waiting for volunteers who will joyfully carry out His work. If God calls for you, what will be your answer to His great question?

 

* Translated by yebin choi Ahn

 

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