Isaiah 6:8, commentary and pictures

In the sanctuary Isaiah was shown the glory of the Lord with seraphim worshiping His holiness before he was sent with a message to His people. He first saw God's holiness, confessed his own uncleanness and unclean lips, was cleansed by a live coal from the altar taking away iniquity, and only then heard the call and willingly offered himself to go. No one is fit to be sent until the refining Spirit purges sin, with the coal on the lips picturing the cleansing that makes words holy and able to reach the heart. The Lord's question of whom to send and who will go is still sounding as the call of the hour, and answering it is surrender of faith that places the servant in God's hands to be planned, trained, purified from selfishness, and worked by the Holy Spirit. Before the foundation of the world the same call for one to go as surety for man was made in heaven with the angelic host present, and Christ alone could answer because He is equal with God and under no yoke of obligation, covenanting to become a willing spotless sacrifice even to shedding His blood on the cross for remission of sin.

Vision Cleansing and Calling

Isaiah saw the Lord's glory in the sanctuary before being sent with a message to His people, where seraphim worshiped Him as holy and praised His glory as filling the earth. Heaven is closely bound to events on earth in this passage from vision through call, showing God's care for those loyal to Him.

The verse follows a fixed order: Isaiah saw God's holiness and the King, confessed his own uncleanness and unclean lips and felt undone, had his iniquity taken away and sin purged by a live coal from the altar, and only then heard the Lord ask whom to send and who would go and willingly offered himself to go. The cleansing of unclean lips with the live coal comes first and makes the willing offer possible, and this representation is acted over and over again when workers press close to Christ, wear His yoke, daily learn of Him, are imbued with His Spirit, and are fitted to carry messages of peace and comfort to the sorrowing, disappointed, sad and brokenhearted and to go forth with publications to minister to souls who do not know present truth, sounding warning in byways and highways to prepare a people for the great day of God. Workers in God's institutions need this same vital connection with God and sanctification through the truth, without which they lose a sense of truth's power and the ability to distinguish the sacred from the common. The Lord desires many consecrated people with humble hearts to answer in the same way and to engage in any line of service that demands them, including the canvassing work.

No one is fit to be sent until the refining Spirit purges iniquity and sin as the live coal touched Isaiah's lips and took away his iniquity, and after that cleansing hearing God's call produces immediate willingness to go. Before speaking for God the worker must be cleansed and purified from all impurity, pictured by the altar's live coal touching the lips; then words will be wise and holy, and the worker will know what to say and what to leave unsaid. Even lips that are unclean can be touched and purified by the living coal, enabling them to speak words that reach the heart, so that those who bear Christ's name and have received light are accountable to offer themselves and carry that light to others. God's chosen messengers must be consecrated and faithful like lips touched with a live coal, ready to answer the call to speak for God and lead souls to salvation and to point people to Jesus as the Lamb who takes away sin, through whom Christ speaks, being accountable for words they could have spoken but withheld because souls need the bread of life. The call to serve therefore requires humility and Spirit-guided speech, not self-display or needless argument.

The vision of Christ's glory humbled Isaiah, made him feel undone and aware of his own unworthiness and unclean speech, and entrusted him with God's message after his sin was purged, as Peter's call to work for Christ followed self-renunciation and dependence on divine power. Those who handle sacred things should tremble before God's holiness, see their own sinfulness, revere God and holy things, and respond willingly when God calls. The vision strengthened Isaiah to accept the mission with confidence despite knowing he would face stubborn resistance in long difficult work.

The chapter teaches that God calls human agents to serve while remaining the director of His work, guiding them by His wisdom and power and alone receiving the glory, with each worker doing his part under His instruction without trying to control the work or claim its glory. God calls people with different talents and qualities and uses them for the work suited to their time, and no one person's judgment is meant to control His work.

Words of Invitation and Answer

The Lord's question of whom to send and who will go for the divine mission is a heavenly inquiry that still sounds as the call of the hour for the great work of warning the world. It is a call for workmen in every age, to be answered clearly and distinctly by human agencies cooperating with divine power in willing self-offering. To every man and woman who so answers, fitness is imparted for the work, with all requisite talent, courage, perseverance, faith and tact supplied as they put the armor on, in holy endeavor, unshrinking faith and unhesitating obedience.

To answer Here am I; send me is the surrender of faith by which servants place themselves in God's hands to be worked by the Holy Spirit. It means serving as stewards who put aside their own will for God's will, crucify self day by day, get out of the Lord's way, and make room for Him to plan and work without hindrance from human devising, judgment, ambition or reliance on own wisdom. When the answer is given in this way the Lord undertakes the work entrusted to Him and accomplishes it without failure, enlightening and training every worker by His Spirit, using sanctified ability and qualifications to glorify His name, purifying from selfishness and shaping to bear abundant fruit.

The answer makes the speaker one of God's minute men, laborers together with God, ready at once to be sent. For a gospel minister it means having given life to God for His work, no longer living to himself, unable to call himself his own or do what he pleases with his time. It means following Christ and yoking with Him as a willing agent and co-worker with the Master, receiving His Spirit day by day and working as Christ worked, neither failing nor being discouraged. He is chosen by God as a faithful instrument to promote missionary work in all lands, ever considering the duties of that calling and pondering well the path traveled, standing as a sentinel constantly on duty whose labor is not measured by hours and whose wages must not be limited and discouraged by selfish judgment.

The answer means laying oneself upon God's altar in readiness to be sent to speak the truth to others, with a heart of faith and obedience. Because the solemn last days are upon us, this readiness requires realizing it and acting with reference to it, taking good courage, clinging to Jesus continually and loving Him truly, keeping influence ever on the right side to draw souls to truth and to look after those who need help. It means going through this world once in a manner God approves without mistake, seeking a true and genuine experience in the things of God, advancing every day in the divine life, gaining victory in prayer, and learning simplicity of faith by exercising it in trust in God as helper.

God makes His will known and invites obedience but never compels the decision, leaving each person to choose to obey or refuse. Closeness to the Lord through the Holy Spirit moves a prompt voluntary offer to be sent, to place the feet quickly in the path of the Lord's choosing and to go with the means needed to advance His work. Delay and hindrance from human judgment and reasoning interposing between God and the called person is not of the Lord's devising, as when John Wessels should have gone to Australia more than a year before with means for the work there. Willingness alone is not enough, for one may volunteer without understanding the spirit and proper conduct of the work, and those who respond must be trained according to God's order and taught to carry responsibility in the fear of God.

Readiness to hear God's voice and answer comes by having the Holy Spirit and cooperating with His teaching. It is learned by turning from cheap foolish talking, fun and pranks, resisting the suggestions of Satan that keep learners on a low level, hungering for Bible study, loving and fearing God, bringing self into subjection to God's requirements and bringing even thoughts into captivity to the will of Jesus Christ. This is advance to a higher education giving knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent, bringing learners into a pure and fragrant atmosphere where they have something more worthy to communicate than the cheap common nonsensical things unbelievers entertain and dwell upon. The answer is wholehearted offering of self to be sent, joined with asking what God wants done, in thorough consecration and unreserved surrender, walking with Christ and learning His lessons, in contrast to being dull of understanding, unable to bear plain Scripture, and half Christian and half worldling, a hindrance instead of a teacher and a strength to the church.

Christ's Preexistent Voluntary Offering

The inquiry for one to go as surety for the human race was made in heaven before the foundation of the world with the angelic host present, and of all the heavenly host Christ alone could answer it.

He alone could answer because He is equal with God, infinite and omnipotent, the eternal self-existent Son on whom no yoke had come, above all finite requirements, Himself the law in character, and the One on whom the human family depended for existence. Even the highest angels could not become substitute and surety because they bear the yoke of dependence and obedience and their life is God's, so they could not surrender it. His offer was wholly voluntary, with no yoke of obligation laid upon Him to undertake redemption.

His answer was a covenant to become a willing spotless sacrifice, having power over His own life to lay it down and take it again. It meant not merely coming to live the law and reveal the divine character in a spotless life, but shedding His blood in the agony of a public death on the cross for the remission of sin. This bloody sacrifice was necessary because without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Isaiah's Hard Mission and Remnant

After cleansing from sin he heard the Lord ask whom He would send, and he willingly offered himself for the work, whereupon he was commissioned to speak to a people who would hear without understanding and see without perceiving. A vision of God's majesty and holiness exposes such lack of spiritual understanding, so His servants must give plain and direct testimony even when hearers are unable or unwilling to receive it. One called to serve is confused and made less fit for the work when relying on instruction and circumstances instead of God.

He accepted the plain duty to lift his voice in protest against prevailing evils and to deliver messages of warning and entreaty to rebellious Judah. He took up the mission with confidence though he knew the people were rebellious and he would meet stubborn resistance, and the vision of God's holiness and glory with purging of sin strengthened him for long difficult work. He dreaded to undertake the work without some assurance of hope, asking how long none would understand and repent and be healed.

The evils multiplied through many generations could not be removed in his day, so throughout his lifetime he must be a patient courageous teacher. He must be a prophet of hope as well as of doom. His burden of soul for erring Judah was not to be borne in vain and his mission was not to be wholly fruitless, for the divine purpose would finally be accomplished. The full fruitage of his efforts and of all God's faithful messengers would appear afterward, and a remnant would be saved.

God Calls and Equips Workers

Isaiah 6:8 shows God calling for workmen in every age for the special work required in each age, and that call is answered by human agencies cooperating with divine power in willing self-offering, clearly and distinctly spoken. God prepares people with varied abilities for the work of each age, and to every man and woman who so responds He imparts fitness for the work, supplying as they put the armor on and take up the work all requisite talent, courage, perseverance, faith, tact and skill to give the warning to the world. The divine question about who will go still sounds as the call of the hour for the great work of warning those who do not know present truth, to prepare them for the great day of the Lord. In this application canvassers answer it by carrying publications, opening the Scriptures, warning people, calling them to repentance, and going where needed to labor for others.

When the Lord calls for someone to go in His service, the divine Spirit moves hearts to volunteer the willing answer, putting that offer into human hearts when He impresses a person appointed and fit for His work. Before speaking for God the worker must be cleansed, pictured by the altar's live coal touching Isaiah's lips and cleansing from impurity. Then the words will be wise and holy, and the worker will know what to say and what to leave unsaid, serving in humility and Spirit-guided speech rather than self-display or needless argument.

One who answers in holy surrender as a willing messenger for the grand and solemn work for this time is not left unaided to do the work alone but works in holy companionship with heavenly angels. It is the response of one whose heart God has touched, who longs for those who do not know His love and offers himself as a heaven-sent messenger, ready even to risk life in service, with angels able to work alongside him.

The answer is spoken by true workers who accept their calling with an understanding of the conditions of serving the Master who was crucified for them, on hearing the cry of perishing souls needing salvation from the tempter. It means standing ready to go where God sends, holding possessions at His disposal as stewards of His grace, with hearts throbbing in unison with the heart of Christ. Desire ripens into earnest endeavor in His strength, delighting to testify loyalty to Him, filled with thanksgiving for mercies too numerous to be numbered and with great desire to do something for Him who loves and calls them friends, and such Christians who rightly value service are counted worthy of a place in His kingdom.

Answering the Call in Service

Isaiah 6:8 is a pattern to be acted over and over again, with the Lord still asking whom He shall send and who will go for Him after cleansing by the live coal from the altar, and desiring many consecrated people with humble hearts to answer with willing self-offering for any line of service that demands them, including canvassing work. Hearts deeply transformed and ready to carry the divine message stand in the position the verse holds out, and those attentive and perceptive hear the message while the Holy Spirit works powerfully through them. The willing self-offering expresses readiness to serve as a missionary at home or abroad, as humble consecrated people offer themselves to serve in whatever way is needed.

Canvassers answer by taking to heart the lesson of iniquity taken away and sin purged and being ready to serve. They go forth with publications to minister to souls who do not know present truth, sounding warning in byways and highways to prepare a people for the great day of God, as men and women who feel in heart they are doing the Lord's work. Pressing close to Christ, wearing His yoke, learning daily of Him and imbued with His Spirit, they are fitted by Christ the great Teacher for the good and important work of carrying messages of peace and comfort to the sorrowing, disappointed, sad and brokenhearted. The divine Spirit puts the willing answer into human hearts to carry printed truth in tracts and books to all places of the earth, especially through faithful canvassing, after being touched and cleansed from impurity like lips touched by the live coal so words become wise and holy. God fits each one for a distinct part so all are not canvassers but some are printers, editors and managers, and thoroughly converted canvassers reflect light, honor God and speak a timely word to those willing to hear.

Every soul who believes the truth is to take up a part in the work, and serving at camp-meetings helps believers learn to work successfully in home churches. Each person who has received grace is appointed to work for others by making himself available in his own place, and this responsibility belongs to Christians in every occupation to reveal the gospel of salvation. The call to carry the message is not limited to one place or class of worker but extends throughout the world. It belongs not to ordained ministers alone but to every believer, including men, women and children enlisted in service, with no believer acting as if he owns himself since body, soul and spirit are divine property to be used as such. Everyone in the army must stand at post with every sentinel at his post and every soldier in rank, fighting the battles amid coming trials with tested faith to the close when each receives according to deeds, whether minister of the Word or physician, merchant or farmer, professional man or mechanic, making every enterprise a means to reveal salvation.

Giving possessions while withholding self does not fulfill the response or secure approval and blessing, for the work requires placing self as well as goods in service with sacrifice of pleasure and inclination, succeeding not by human strength but by divine wisdom and power with the willing and faithful. Those unable to go to distant fields themselves can provide means to send and sustain messengers who carry the message. Such volunteering out of longing to carry living truth to thousands thirsting where missionaries plant the standard requires money to support the going, as help is begged from every direction for foreign lands. Giving back entrusted means to send forth and sustain those who by voice and influence prepare the way is putting money to the exchangers, so at His coming His own is returned with increase.

The verse applies to urgent untouched fields where few professed people have answered, leaving many without opportunity for salvation. Those who offer themselves open blind eyes, turn people from darkness and Satan's power to God for forgiveness and the inheritance of the sanctified, carrying grace to the world and hastening the kingdom. God asks for men to be sent to open fields in all nations where souls need pure saving faith, yet professed believers sleep over allotted work and leave it almost untouched despite arousing messages, so through neglect many lose the opportunity intended for them and the work still demands men and money and self-denial and sacrifice wherever there is an opening. God has opened fields but few respond, and members are to cooperate with heavenly angels as instruments in helping people and proclaiming truth.

Specific applications include helping establish the Sydney Sanitarium, with the heavenly message calling people in Australia to give careful attention, understand, answer willingly and do what they can to put it into operation. Every believer is to take place in the work, and the camp-meetings in Sydney and Melbourne need more workers making practical personal efforts to reach people and learn to work in home churches. Workers are needed to preach in towns between Morisset and Sydney and between Cooranbong and Newcastle, and to answer calls from Maitland, Singleton, Queensland and Western Australia, work that must be done though it is not known who can undertake it. Those given timely message and opportunity who stayed inactive failed to make themselves ready for God-given work, so younger workers were called to do what they left undone, and the people in Olcott are to give themselves and not only money to missionary labor.

Young men whom Christ calls to enlist under His standard and bear the banner of the cross are to first cleanse the soul-temple of all impurity and enthrone Christ in the heart, then put energy into effort with enthusiastic zeal to persuade men to be reconciled. Their answer is bearing courageous testimony, stirring sluggish energies to increase the church's power, resisting worldliness and warning against the first steps of immorality and vice, pressing to the front as laborers together with Christ to take up where He left it and carry it to completion. They enter the gospel harvest to work diligently alongside experienced laborers, trusting guidance with evidence they are chosen vessels with words to speak and not machines to present subjects dictated by human authority. Practical strength and skill through earnest labor, learning to overcome difficulties and seeking wisdom from God, fits youth to answer when demanding work must be done, with thoughts purified by the Spirit and wisdom from above. Those able to be sent in emergency and crisis are youth with well-defined landmarks, hearts clear as crystal, thoughts kept from triviality and sanctified by virtue and holiness through the Spirit, lives refined, elevated and ennobled, with active well-developed physical powers and clear strong practical minds where every stroke must tell.

Those who know present truth are to sacrifice for its sake and hasten to share it while there is still time to work, for time is short and night comes when no one can work. Pardoned souls rejoicing in light exercise entrusted talents as living agents communicating light to those ignorant of precious truth, so through grace they become redeemed humanity precious in divine sight exerting influence to divine glory. All who will triumph when truth triumphs gloriously must answer as laborers together with God, doing now with earnest determined effort what is possible and improving grace, talents, privileges and opportunities to help others follow the same example instead of leaving churches under unbelief.

Ministers are people who belong to God rather than themselves, remaining ready and giving time and strength to advance His work. Few ministers answer and more voices are needed to offer themselves. The Lord raises up such workers for particular times and reforms, tests character, and expects just dealing, mercy-loving and humble walking.

The verse means watching and praying instead of letting Satan allure ministers and companions into positions preventing assigned work, opening the heart to the Holy Spirit, devoting God-given capabilities as for life to pull souls from the fire, and staying in the channel of light for more direct communication from heaven to earth, for there is not a moment to lose with heaven to win and hell to shun, in serious waiting work by unselfish consecrated workers. The willing answer looked for amid last-day perils is standing at post on duty awake and sober rather than sleeping, offering self for the essential work of reformation and trusting the wise Counselor who waits to give abundant help as present help in every need and reveal close presence to those ready to be helped. Refusing lethargy and watching soberly at assigned posts in all institutions is the response needed for reformation to begin, with every worker seeing need of help from Him wise in counsel and receiving abundantly provided waiting help, and the pure in heart seeing God as His presence is revealed.

Readiness is everyday business: wherever there is work for the Master people should offer themselves and do their best, and taking up God-given work even amid difficulties brings precious blessings while leaving it untouched loses them. Those hearing the message and called to carry out the work should accept rather than sit still and leave it to others, turning from selfish pursuits to use all influence to strengthen and bless others. The Lord can move someone to answer a need even when not the one others would choose, requiring setting aside preferences and joining will to divine will for use in His work. Hearing heaven's voice with a heart connected to heaven and responding with readiness to be sent is a privilege. The prayer when the necessities of those without truth lie upon the soul is self-offering to go as a missionary, wisely improving entrusted ability and talents for heathen nations in darkness, nations that received the gospel, and ripe fields in civilized countries needing present truth, with every lover of Jesus speaking it, every missionary meeting alive with interest and zeal enthused with Christ's Spirit, eye and mind open to world necessity, often looking to Calvary to see the dying Son of the infinite God giving life for a lost world, learning His estimate of man, imbued with His spirit, until sight and contemplation move the soul to practical effort to save the perishing. Diligence or negligence is recorded in heaven, as each stands in rank with hand raised for action, takes whatever duty is given wherever sent, begins promptly and perseveres without discouragement in small or unnoticed work amid difficulties, submits preferences, glorifies the Creator and gathers no glory to self.

God still asks for someone to send to gather sheaves for the garner instead of devoting time, brain, bone and muscle to earthly things and dropping eternity from reckoning, but many with earthly ears do not hear. Answering means expanding and growing like seed in soil from blade to ear to full corn, with continual progress.