Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1351
Delivered on Lord’s-Day Morning April 22, 1877
“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.” Isaiah 6:8.
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, the heathen are perishing and there is but one way of salvation for them, for there is but one name given under Heaven among men whereby they must be saved. God, in the glorious unity of His Divine Nature is calling for messengers who shall proclaim to men the way of life. Out of the thick darkness my ears can hear that sound mysterious and Divine, “Whom shall I send?” If you will but listen with the ear of faith you may hear it in this house today—“Whom shall I send?” While the world lies under the curse of sin, the living God, who wills not that any should perish but that they should come to repentance, is seeking heralds to proclaim His mercy. He is asking, even in pleading terms, for some who will go forth to the dying millions and tell the wondrous story of His love—“Whom shall I
send?”
As if to make the voice more powerful by a threefold utterance we hear the sacred Trinity enquire, “Who will go for Us?” The Father asks, “Who will go for Me and invite My far-off children to return?” The Son enquires, “Who will seek for Me, My redeemed but wandering sheep?” The Holy Spirit demands, “In whom shall I dwell and through whom shall I speak that I may convey life to the perishing multitudes?” God, in the unity of His Nature, cries, “Whom shall I send?” and in the trinity of His Persons, He asks, “Who will go for Us?” Happy shall we be, today, if earnest responses shall be heard in this house—“Here am I, send me.” It is ours, at any rate, very solemnly to put the matter before you, Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and while we shall try to plead Jehovah’s cause we trust the Holy Spirit may be here, saying of one and another, quite unknown to us, “Separate Me Saul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them.”
Yes, may the constraining voice of the special call of Grace come to the ear of some here present who shall respond like young Samuel and say, “Here am I, for You did call me.” First, we shall, this morning, consider the vision of Glory in reference to the offer of service made by the Prophet—the vision which he saw. And secondly, the vision of ordination which he more than saw, for his lips were touched. Thirdly, we will speak upon the Divine Voice and conclude by dwelling upon the earnest response.
I. Reverently, and with all our hearts attention, let us gaze upon THE VISION OF GLORY which Isaiah saw. It was necessary for him to see it in order that he might be brought into the condition of heart out of which should come the full consecration expressed in—“Here am I, send me.” Observe what he saw. He saw, first, the supreme Glory of God. “I saw the Lord,” he says, “sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.” Was it Jesus that he saw? Was this one of the anticipations of His future Incarnation? Probably so, for John writes in his 12th chapter, at the 41st verse, “These things said Isaiah, when he saw His Glory, and spoke of Him”—referring to the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not, however, insist upon that interpretation, for the word, “Lord,” doubtless included, at times, the whole Godhead and, therefore, the vision may have represented the Lord Himself revealed in visible form.
As to His absolute Essence, eyes cannot behold the Lord, but He chooses to make an apparition of Himself— appearing among men in such a form as may come under the understanding of their senses. Now, Brothers and Sisters, we know of nothing that will supply a better motive for missionary work, or for Christian effort of any sort, than a sight of the Divine Glory. This is one of the strongest impulses a soul can feel. Behold, O believers in the Divine Word, at this day the Lord God, even Jehovah, is not dethroned, but sits on the Throne of His Glory! Some know Him not and others deny Him and blaspheme Him, but He is still God over all, blessed forever!
See the patience of His infinite majesty—He sits in calm Glory upon His eternal Throne. The nations furiously rage and imagine a vain thing but, “He that sits in the heavens does laugh; the Lord does have them in derision.” Still are His
purposes fulfilled and His soul abides in its serenity. He is the same and of His years there is no end. He sits as a King, observe, upon a throne—He never renounces His sovereignty and dominion. All things still feel the Omnipotence of the reign of God. “The Lord has prepared His Throne in the heavens and His Kingdom rules over all.” The rebellions of men, can they ever shake His firm dominion? No, but out of their wildest uproar He fashions order and by their most violent resistance He works His own purposes! After all, the Lord reigns—let the earth rejoice, let the multitudes of the isles be glad! Still, despite all the hurly-burly of war and all the wickedness of men in the dark places of the earth, and the detestable blasphemies of the heathen against the Most High, the Lord sits on a throne which can never be shaken.