A Vision of Duty and Privilege

The first eight verses of the sixth chapter of Isaiah are a beautiful description of God's dealing with an honest soul, and also a feast of fat things to spiritually minded readers. The first thought revealed there, that impressed the writer, was God's successful method of revealing the soul's need, and at the same time creating an intense appetite for the thing needed. If it had been some of us evangelists and preachers dealing with Isaiah, rather than God, we no doubt would have begun on him by pounding him with the "Holiness or Hell" club. But God used a different method altogether, which caused Isaiah to commence praying for holiness without ever hearing a sermon on the subject. Let us notice the method which God used.

He first gave Isaiah a vision of duty and privilege; and in this vision Isaiah saw the great contrast between those holy beings and himself. Observe a few of the things which he saw, that convicted him of his need.

First, he got a glimpse of a holy God and the cleanliness and purity of heaven; hence he quickly saw that he was no eligible candidate, in his present condition, to go up there to live.

Secondly, he saw that God wanted His subjects to be filled with praise and adoration. Isaiah was a Christian, but he saw that those beings were filled with something which he did not possess. People are more quickly convinced of their need of holiness at this point than any other. On attending a holiness meeting, and seeing the saints' shining faces, and hearing them shouting the praises of God and giving such bold, fiery testimonies, it does not take the visitor long to awake to the fact that they are in possession of something which he does not possess.

Thirdly, Isaiah saw the kind of service God required. No doubt, heretofore, he had been a dull, tame, weak-kneed Christian; one that was a little bashful to pray and testify in public, one that was too reserved to scream, shout, and clap his hands. But on seeing the house filled with smoke, and the posts of the doors moving, and seraphims crying at the top of their voices, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory," he saw that he was not even half awake for God.

Fourth-The next fact that he was awakened to through the seraphims crying, "The whole earth is full of thy glory," was that some of what they were enjoying could be had on earth. The greater part of the twentieth century preachers are telling their hearers how beautiful and holy heaven is, but are failing to tell them that they must be holy here upon earth to enter heaven (Heb. 12: 14).

A fifth thing that got hold of Isaiah was the holy modesty and sanctity of behaviour the seraphims used in worshiping God. "With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they did fly." No doubt Isaiah had been using some carelessness in his devotions, such as standing up praying, or looking about over the church while some one else was praying; or perhaps he was given to loud laughter and light talk in the house of God; or perhaps he had gone so far as to sit up in church and sleep; but on seeing these fervent, modest, holy beings, he could not help crying out, "Woe is me, for I am undone." Hence, this frank acknowledgement brought immediate help. "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; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquities are taken away and thy sin purged."

A sixth thought revealed here is, immediately after receiving the fiery touch he was ready to carry the divine message. Therefore, by this, we are made to see plainly that no man is properly qualified to preach God's word without the cleansing, purifying, fiery baptism of the Holy Ghost, as was taught by John Wesley.