So good morning to all of you. And I praise God for this great opportunity to bring the word of God to you this morning. And also, it's a great privilege to be with the saints of this church here, worshiping God together. And I bring greetings from Central Baptist Church and also my family. The saints at Central Baptist Church and my family, you know, are so pleased and then feel very, with heart full of gratitude, express our thanks for this great communion that we have with you and your support and your prayers for the ministry of Central Baptist Church towards the kingdom and the glory of our Lord. This morning, I would like to bring what's there in chapter 6 of the book of Isaiah. Let us turn our attention to chapter 6 of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 6. So before going through what is there in the passage, I would like to give you a brief introduction of the book of Isaiah and what has happened before the Holy Spirit prompted the Prophet Isaiah to write this chapter. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ provide salvation for the believers from the sin and the judgment and also the future hope of eternal life. While this is true for us, what about the Old Testament saints? They looked forward. They looked towards the cross. They looked towards the Messiah. They looked towards our Savior. In this case, Isaiah was one of a kind, one that kind of example who looked forward to that Messiah. This book of Isaiah is an unique book in the sense that the New Testament authors quoted Isaiah more than 65 times in their writings. And also it is noteworthy to be mentioned that The name of Isaiah is mentioned in the New Testament about 25 times by New Testament authors. So this book is all about the life, person and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe there is one thing that I would like you to know is that Isaiah, Prophet Isaiah used a literary method called prophetic foreshortening. And according to that method, all the prophecies that were there, some of the prophecies that were there in the book of Isaiah were fulfilled then and also in the life, in the death, resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So, The prophet Isaiah ministered during the reign of four kings of Judah and prominent among them is Uzziah who reigned the land of Judah for 52 years. He developed it as a commercial center And it became a strong military state. And also, they developed a port of commerce. And the walls of the fort were fortified with cement and then brick and then big, big stones. So it was a good cultural and military and also a great commercial economic center. So people were coming and people were going. Trade and commerce flourished. People were having a lot of money. you can easily sense that it is spiritually the land of Judah was on a downslide. And so it forgot God and it turned towards man. And when Syria and the state of Israel joined together to fight against the state of Judah, it sought the help of Assyria, but not God. So as a result of that, you know, there was brought an altar to be kept in the holy temple that belonged to Assyrian gods. There are no gods at all. So see the sin that these people have committed. They forgot God in their prosperity and they sought the help of man. and they brought the altar into the holy temple and there began the idol worship in the very heart and heart of the holy place that Lord has given for them so that he could meet with them, so that his people could have reconciliation with them through the sacrifice of animals and sprinkling of the blood. And also there were futile traditions because of these people's communion with the people of other religions, people beyond their borders. And the idol worship is one of the prominent themes that Isaiah was much critical about. It is something abhorring to the Lord. It is something that God hated. It is something that God advised them not to indulge in it. But Isaiah writes about those people, those people that God have separated unto him, you know, being indulging in this idol worship. And why should we preach the book of Isaiah as a, you know, keeping our Lord Jesus Christ as a center? The first reason is it serves as a bridge. The first 39 chapters talk about judgment and the later chapters talk about, you know, the deliverance. And the Isaiah 53rd chapter especially gives, you know, the answer, the solution, you know, posed by the question from Exodus chapter 34 verses 6 and 7 there we see God as holy God as God being a judge God and also God being merciful and also God being loving how can a judge how can a God be judging and also loving at the same time. Chapter 53 of Isaiah gives that wonderful answer. In a way, it solves the riddle posed by that wonderful chapter from Exodus 34. And second reason is, it moves us to evangelize. You know, Isaiah was told before he was commissioned, before he was called in, before he was sent out to ministry that his ministry would be a failure. Many people are not going to listen to Isaiah. Many people are going to, you know, turn away their minds and hearts away from the message preached by Isaiah. So he was foretold. What if somebody tells Pastor Barger or, you know, before Brother AJ and Brother Jameson comes here that, okay, you go and preach, but nobody would listen. Nobody would care about your words. You know, you can imagine, but still, my dear friends, Prophet Isaiah ministered and served the Holy God with such genuine integrity and honesty that he spelled the very message that God has placed upon his heart. And then as a measure of integrity in the subsequent chapters, we see that prophet Isaiah moved around the land of Israel naked without any shoes in those desert lands to stand as a symbol that God would desolate the land of Israel to such an extent that they will be taken away from the land of Israel just like Isaiah was moving in front of them. So it helps us to evangelize. You know, let me give a brief example. We have a place called Tharagraharam in our Machilipatnam. There, you know, the Hindus were staunch. They are very religious. They are very traditionalists, you know, and also they belong to upper caste. And since myself and my fellow elders belong to this low caste and which are considered as mean by them, you know, when we walk with our Bibles in our hand, with a sound system to the auto and then we walk before them, you know, they would close the doors as a symbol of, you know, just get away from us. We don't want to listen to you. But my dear friends, Isaiah, prophet Isaiah reminds us of the great need to evangelize, whether people would listen or people would not listen. One day, my dear friends, we will be judged in the light of what we have heard and also in the light of what we have turned against. And also, we must preach from the book of Isaiah because he preached against the futility of idol worship. You know, any sin, in fact, in the conference, Professor Joel Buecke was talking about, you know, the sin killing our joy. It destroys our happiness. It robs away that peace from us, you know, makes us blind to go forward. You know, sin robs us of God's word from us, God's presence, God's peace from us. And also, more importantly, we should preach from Isaiah because the birth, the life, the death, and the resurrection of the person of Jesus Christ was elaborated much in the book of Isaiah. In fact, you know, for me, if you turn to Isaiah, it is almost like a gospel. The letters of Isaiah will breathe the life and work of our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ. So these are the reasons that I put forward before you why should we preach from the book of Isaiah. So what is there in this chapter? This chapter you see a vision that Isaiah has. He gives an account of his calling. He gives an account of the repentance or the confession that he put forward before the Lord. And also, he gives us an account of his calling that he received from the Lord himself. And also, he gives us an account of the message that he received from the Lord. And in the end, he talks about a glorious hope that God has provided through his son and our Lord. It's a rich and unique and a well-known passage that is known to us. But we have to be mindful of the fact that the first five chapters of the book of Isaiah was chapters of warning and also invitation. In the first chapter itself, you know, we were asked to come back to the Lord. We were asked to return to the Lord and we are asked to reason out with Him. though how many sins we have upon us, but the Lord is willing and was merciful to cleanse us and make peace with us and make us His beloved children. But the Lord knows in His all-knowing capacity that His people would not listen, but also He would clearly state what is going to happen to those, and He explains the depravity, the very depth of sin that His people has committed. You know, sometimes, my dear friends, you know, it's good that to listen about, you know, the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings that flow out of our position in Jesus Christ and the enormous, you know, eternal life that we have been given through our Lord. But also, it is good to look at the sinful life that our fathers have led. You know, there is a book by Warren BSB that I have read long back, you know, walking in the footsteps of the Jains that have passed before you. In the same breath, my dear friends, you know, if you look at those sinful life of our fathers who passed before us, you know, we can glean. If we can glean through those things, we can learn more for our good and for our sanctification. And the Lord, you know, pronounces curse after curse through prophet Isaiah in these first chapters. And here we come into the chapter six. You know, I have divided so that we will remember and better understand the content of this chapter into three things. First, I will talk about the comprehension of Isaiah, Isaiah's comprehension. Let me read the first four verses for you. Chapter 6, I will be reading the first four verses. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim, each had six wings, With two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Was four. And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. It was a vision. Isaiah sees the Lord here. Let me explain about his seeing of the Lord at a later point very shortly. And also he looks at the worship, heavenly worship there. And he hears the voice of the Lord. Here he sees the Lord sitting on the throne. And also He sees how the Serapim covers their feet, covers their face and how they flew and what they sing. It's a glorious vision. And also because of the glory that He saw that filled around the throne, you know, that after effect or the result of that glory was explained by Him in verse 4. In the year that King Uzziah died, Uzziah ruled for almost 52 years. Do you know anybody who ruled for that long? I know in recent elections I came to understand that any president of America that is elected can rule only for four years and if re-elected for another four years. But in India, it's also a democracy, but you can rule any number of times if you're re-elected and if you're living. You know, likewise, Uzziah ruled for almost 52 years. It was a glorious and long reign. In fact, the only king that ruled more than Uzziah was Manasseh, who ruled for almost 55 years. And as you can recall, I told you that during the reign of Uzziah, the nation of Judah became a very great military, economic and commercial center. It was on the line of prosperity. So, in 2 Chronicles 26, it lists about the achievements that took place during the reign of Uzziah. And also it tells us that, you know, it reminds us that though Uzziah died, though our fathers died, though our heroes died, you know, they have to, in fact, as fallen human beings, but the Lord is alive. The Lord is the only one who is eternal. It reminds us the false hope that the land of Israel has placed in men. Even the God-blessed Uzziah died, but here Isaiah immediately says that he saw the Lord sitting upon the throne. In fact, Uzziah, though he was known for most of his notable achievements, he died with leprosy. He died as a forsaken man because of his entering into the temple and his jealousy to burn incense which Lord prescribed only for certain people and because of this punishment he was punished with leprosy and he died as a forsaken man. In fact, Bible, you know, often speaks about this fallen man only to remind us that God is the only one faithful that we can keep our hope and trust. God is the only one who is, you know, who is worthy of our hope and our trust. And we also see that in Revelation that, you know, the same scene where God is high and lifted up. God is exalted. You know, that is a seed. I mean, in fact, in John chapter 12, if you can turn your attention to John chapter 12, there is a beautiful illustration. You know, when here, if you ask prophet Isaiah, what did you see? I saw the glory of the Lord. In fact, he would say, I saw a little bit of Yahweh. But John here says that he saw Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 12. You know, let me read John chapter 12 from verse 36. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. When Jesus has said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. Now we see John quoting the book of Isaiah, Lord, who has believed what he heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, for again Isaiah said, He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, Lord's glory, Jesus' glory, and spoke of Him. This is one of the pre-incarnate appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, my dear friends, the past year, We had a conference and I was speaking about the pre-incarnate appearances of Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. I also spoke about this one and also the servant passages, you know, from the book of Isaiah on the topic, how to preach Christ from the Old Testament to almost 145 plus pastors that have attended the conference. So he saw the Lord. So he saw the Lord high and exalted. But he gives a sense of the magnitude of the glory of the Lord by describing the worship there. And he saw the Seraphim who are an order of angelic creatures. Two wings, he talks about the six wings that these have. While two wings he saw that they were covered the face of Seraphim because they could not dare to gaze directly at God's glory. You know, in India, lot of times I hear this, I saw the Lord in my dream last night, you know, they would be all smiling, they would be happy, they would be blessed. You know, they see him as this, you know, this wonderful vision that they have got. The Lord spoke to me. It's often, you know, you see in America also. But my dear friends, you know, when the angelic creatures, you know, even they could not dare to see directly at God's glory. How can a fallen human being like you and me can see God and, you know, be not filled with, you know, what is this? this awe and then you know fear and dread and you know we will be shaken we will be humble you just cannot lift up your head and say that god spoke to me or i saw lord i saw the lord you know just cannot say that it's not possible at all in fact here isaiah looks as a shaken man because he saw the magnitude of the majesty of the lord and he also tells us that two wings covered their feet, acknowledging their lowliness in that divine service. My dear friends, see the humility of the angelic creatures themselves. And with the other two, they flew in serving others. And he says that they are calling to each other by saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. you know only two times this is mentioned holy holy holy this is called I just recently came to know that this is called trihagion you know where the attribute of God is mentioned thrice trihagion Though we can say that it refers to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. But here this emphasis is all about God being separate from the creation. God being special altogether. God being none like the other. In fact, we can resonate with prophet Isaiah in chapter 40, verse 25, where God asks his people, to whom then will you compare me? That I should be like him, says the Holy One. To whom then will you compare me? That I should be like him, says the Holy One. You know, in fact, any minister of the world or any member of the church should be filled with the understanding of the divine majesty and glory that one will stay humble all through his life. In fact, you know, long before I heard a message on the sovereignty of the Lord, and I remember pastor quoting that, you know, in that pastor and evangelist meeting, you know, encouraging people to stay humble. Whenever there is this pride or whenever there is this, you know, All is possible with me feeling comes into us, my dear friends. That is a time where you are crossing the boundary. where you are trying to lean on your own understanding. You know, I still remember that message. So, in 1 Samuel chapter 2 and 2 also says that, there is none like the Lord. You know, Hannah says that, after having tasted the divine miracle, blessed with a boy child, she praises God. She understands that, you know, you do not have a God, our God cannot be compared with any other. And also verse 4 says that, you know, we can see that the earth is a worldwide display of His immeasurable glory. The earth is full of God's perfection and attributes. But you know, we understand that Fallen Man refused to glorify him as God. In the letter to Romans, as we see in chapter 1 at 23, and let me read that verse for you because what comes after this has some resonance with this. Claiming to be wise, chapter 1 verse 22. They became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. If you come to India by any chance, you would see this in person. There trees will be gods, snakes will be gods. You know, you will have idols all over. In fact, that has come to America. Pastor Barger was telling me while we are coming to the church, that there is a man here in Texas built a very big idol in the very heartland of America. You know, just imagine where the Bible, your president places his hand on the Bible and takes oath. You see the sinfulness of sin of man. You know how He longs to bring the extensive magnitude of sin into lands which doesn't know that kind of idol worship. And also in 323, as we read in that verse well known to us, where it says that, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of the Lord, glory of God. So He is separate from all others. His holiness and purity are so grand and complete that others would stand pale and low before Him. So what did He comprehend? What did He understand? The Lord is on the throne, the earth is full of His glory. My dear friends, so even though Uzziah is gone, Isaiah was made to understand that it was Lord who is sovereign and he is the actual king. You know, Lord made him to understand. And also, my dear friends, he was made to understand that the earth is full of God's glory in the sense that nothing is hidden and is out of control for the Lord. You know, the Lord allowed that one. It pleased the Lord so that His people, I mean, like, you know, go back, go out of, into Babylon and then come back, all for His glory, all in His eternal purposes. Nothing is out of God's hands there. He is in perfect control. No man can thwart the purposes of God. Isaiah was made to understand that. also my dear friends before being a man of God and he was a man of God by then he already was prophesying but he was made to understand you know the angelic worship that is being taken place when he saw the Lord. My dear friends, you know, as a church while we are sitting here, I often wonder that, you know, when we say the Lord's prayer, in Telugu, let thy will be done upon this earth as it is in heaven. You know, this is... I mean, I remembered this, you know. dignity and humbleness just as this and we don't cover our feet or we don't cover our face like this but that sort of humility that sort of you know honesty that God asked that the word is asking us to tell when we talks about spiritual worship in the New Testament letters for what, who he is and what he has done. So Isaiah understood the lesson very perfectly because we can see in his ministry he was given glorious truths to proclaim And also, His name among the Old Testament prophets is remembered most. Not because He towers above all other prophets, but because of the glorious message that the Lord allowed Him to proclaim. And secondly, in this chapter, we see Isaiah's confession. I'll be reading verses 5 to 7. Chapter 6, verses 5 to 7. And I said, O is me, for I am lost, for 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. Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for. Calvin writes, makes a beautiful statement. It goes like this, Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty. Let me read that verse for you. I just loved that verse, you know, when I read that when I was preparing this message, you know, I was struck by this, you know, what a glorious truth that he, you know, encompasses in this beautiful statement. Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty. You know, if I compare myself with A.J. or Jameson or Pastor Barker, you know, one way or other I might seem myself good to me in some or other way. But you know, when we compare with the Lord, when we understand the true majesty of our divine God, you know, we just fall on the ground. Isaiah was exposed to the incomparable holiness of the Lord. This is true of the every minister who proclaims the glorious gospel to the people around. In fact, you know, you can clearly say that if one is speaking about the gospel with a vision, you can clearly say that this man has an understanding of the glory of God. He has come to understand that God is like none other man. You know, I'm not here magnifying the men of God who proclaim the gospel, but their eyes have seen the glory of man. That's why they proclaim with such urgency, with such urgency. In fact, I came in contact with a man by name Vijay recently, again after almost 9 years. Earlier he was with us, but he went out and he joined a Pentecostal church and he moved from one pastor to another, big big churches. He also ventured into business and one day, you know, after he gave birth to his two children in one stroke of night, he lost all his money. He was, I mean like, and also he lost in favor with the servant of God that he was ministering with in that Pentecostal church. And then he was, he came out and his wife told him, let us forget about this ministry. You know, they have come to almost, you know, a conviction that, you know, let us live like normal people. Let us go to church and come out. You know, all the pastors and leaders of the church are fake. They cannot satisfy our souls. Let's wait upon the Lord. And it so happened that I was sitting in the vacation Bible school. Some 150 of our children from other churches also were being trained by teachers from our church. And I was sitting there and I saw this man, my friend coming again into our church. You know, I asked him, Hey Vijay, how are you? He's a jealous man for the Lord and he was so down, he appeared so dull. He said, yeah, yeah, yeah, it all sounds good and all that. And then I asked him a couple of things and he left. After that, his friend came to me and told me that they are not visiting any church for the last three months. And then my elders counseled him. I took him and his wife to my home over a dinner for about three to four hours. I spoke to him about the reason why he has left the ministry and the church itself. Then he came back with this. Nobody around me is so concerned with the glory of gospel. Everybody is concerned about himself. That's the reason I have served three masters so far, thinking that they would keep me on the path of our Lord Jesus Christ, but everybody deceived me. On his WhatsApp group, it goes like this, learning from fake pastors and leaders will unlearn you in Telugu. I mean, like it takes away the, just the teaching, the minimal teaching that you have, even within you. And then I told him, okay, you know, that's not the reason that he should be out of the ministry or the church. Okay, learn from the Bible. You know, just come to us. Just be in the church. Maybe you may not consider me as a good teacher, but we will learn together. And slowly, slowly, slowly, my dear friends, you know, you just cannot put away the man of God for so long, right? He's so captured by God's beauty. He's a man with a zeal for gospel. Even, you know, I mean, like if I, if we go to him a restaurant, you know, within a second, I see him sharing, opening his mouth and sharing gospel to others. You know, he has such a zeal and passion. And then, you know, Sometime back, I asked him, I was like, why do you act like a warrior? You know, when you proclaim gospel of our Lord, you know, is there anything that you are so captured by? Then he told me one thing. I have seen and understood the majesty of our Lord. When the Lord sent man after man, or allowed incident after incident and has sent finally his son, his only son. He himself came upon the face of the earth. Imagine the urgency with which we have to spread this gospel, Anna. Anna means brother in Telugu. I am captured by that, you know, urgency. If at all, you know, I resonate with the sending of his son by the father himself, I would proclaim his gospel every day. In fact, he took a decision without sharing the gospel to a person in one day, he will not have his dinner. There were times when he did not take his dinner just because he did not have the opportunity to share the gospel. My dear friends, I mean, if you see men like that, you know, you can understand Isaiah. You know, you cannot have a normal response if you see the beauty of the Lord. You cannot see the normal response, you know. Like Job, you know, says that in chapter 42, till now I heard, but now I see, I'm a known man. My dear friends, such is this, you know, confession of Isaiah. Though Isaiah was regarded as one of the good men in this nation of Israel, but he abode himself and pronounces woe after woe, curse after curse upon him. This is what, again, in the conference that we have heard in the state of Alabama, I heard that though Jesus has come here to fulfill the law, But, you know, my dear friends, he now is enabling us to keep the law. This statement will be with me for a long, long time. You know, sometimes we take the commands, we take the... I mean like Lord's commands very lightly that we just think that Jesus has lived the righteous life and it's accounted to him. What more to me that I can be responsible for or accountable for? But Jesus enables us to keep the law. That's what We were reminded that the moral law is still there, though ceremonial and civil laws were abrogated for it. We have to be reminded of this holy God and his demands and his commands. For Isaiah, the vision is sheer terror. It reminds us that we should fear God, honoring Him, loving Him. Love involves fear. You know, I love my wife and I fear that, you know, she loses that kind of focus or, you know, the warmth and all that, you know, will not be there if I don't talk to her for days together. You know, we will be speaking to her morning and evening. Why? Because we love our wives and there is a fear that if I don't talk to my wife, that is a loving fear, that is a guarding fear, that is a jealous fear. She is my wife. I should speak to her. Right? He is my husband. I should guard him. I should ask him where he has gone, if he is late. Mrs. Barger would be asking, Pastor Barger, where are you? You are not at home, you know, right? And that is a jealousy, you know. The Lord keeps us because He is a God, He is a jealous God. Isaiah understood God's love for people when he saw the glory of the Lord. Then, you know, if we are captured by the beauty and majesty and glory of the Lord, we will realize our need, our need for salvation. When Isaiah says that I am a man of unclean lips, you know, he is talking about the condition of his heart. Out of his heart, the mouth responds, right? Mouth reflects our heart. And also he identifies with his people. I dwell among, see, He says that, I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. He did not stay apart and said, Oh Lord, you are good. And I'm somewhat good, but these people are not good. He did not say, he identified with his people. Man, what a man of God, you know. I abhor this kind of perception that, you know, a lot of times when I see on TV, we see these prosperity preachers, you know, who calls themselves prophets and apostles as they see themselves as a divine gift. you know, to this face of the earth and then they behave as if they were supposed to be heaven but sent by God, you know, as a gift to us, you know. In fact, Pastor Barger was telling that there is an apostolic church where there are apostles and prophets in the church. They might be big and they might be good, they might draw attention more than any of the good and faithful biblical churches, my dear friends. But let's be very honest that, you know, There is this understanding of this depravity and sinfulness of self, you know, for those people, you know, God creates that need, that gap, that lacuna, that understanding, that perception in them that they understand the provision, they cry out for the provision of salvation by the God Himself. Atonement is made at the altar. Then afterwards atonement is applied to the sinner. It is a double grace for all of us, right? Our sins are taken away. The purity and the perfection of the Lord is accounted to us. Righteousness is accounted to us. That's what Isaiah hears here. Behold, this has touched your lips. Your guilt is taken away and your sin is atoned for. What a beautiful message. We heard that in the heart of our hearts. We heard that. that Jesus bore our sins and His perfect righteousness is accounted to us. You know, after I understood that the Lord saved me, within a month or two, I went to a place nearby to my university to share the gospel. There is a slightly elder man than me who studied with me in the university, was making fun of me. Till yesterday this man was in the world, but now he is wearing righteous robes and a fake joy on his face and is talking about Lord Jesus Christ. You know, lot of times it is like that with so many people. People may not understand the salvation that we have, my dear friends. You know, many must have ridiculed, in fact, people ridicule Isaiah for the message that he preached. We will be ridiculed, but we should not just be content with this glorious vision and, you know, the glorious salvation that we have been given. You know, if you are given, you ought to distribute it. That's a word my father told me that, you know. So Isaiah now hears from verse lastly. We have seen the comprehension of Isaiah. We have seen the confession of Isaiah. And lastly, we will see the commission of Isaiah. I will be reading verse 8 to 13. Please be with me while I read this. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go before us? Then I said, Here I am, send me. And he said, Go and say to these people, Keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of these people dull and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. Then I said, How long, O Lord? And He said, Until cities lie waste without inhabitants, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste. And the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a turban or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump. God calls, Isaiah answers. and he preaches and there is a great revival. This should be the story, but it is not. In fact, it is a dumb meeting. There was no success at all. In fact, there will be people, but they will not hear, they will not understand, they will not see the glorious reality of the message that Isaiah is preaching. So Isaiah was asked to go to people who would not listen to God. It is a hard calling, right? As we just discovered that he was ridiculed. We are reminded that he was ridiculed. In the book of Acts, at the fag end of the books, Apostle Paul reminds us, quotes these verses about those people who are stiff-necked and hard-necked. The book of Acts, chapter 28 and I'll be reading from verses 23 to 26. Maybe I'll read from verse 26. Go to these people and say you will indeed hear but never understand and you will indeed see but never perceive. You know when some were convinced when Paul was told that there were lot many people who disbelieved. And Paul comes to a conclusion that this is what Holy Spirit meant when Isaiah spoke these words. My dear friends, you know, in fact, we can see this in the chapter 13 of Matthew, where the disciple quotes, I mean, put these words prompted by the Holy Spirit about the response that has been given to Lord Jesus Christ. And finally here, Lord tells him that how long when he asks, and these people will go to Babylon. These people will be, you know, dragged to Assyria. Even though you seek the help and then you go and hide under the power of Egyptian army, from there you will be taken away. It will all happen. But then he gives a glorious hope in the end by talking about the stump. You see much extension of it in the chapter 11. You know, a stump remembers, like you see a tree and here just before the spring you don't see any leaves, right? And you don't see any green out there. And imagine a tornado comes and then takes out all those stems and then only roots remain and the stump remain. In Telugu, we call it kandam. You know, only stump remains. It speaks about desolation, right? It speaks about the waste that has been there, that has been done. It speaks about some kind of drought. But then, When the word says that the stump is the holy seed and Isaiah is reminded of the glorious coming of the Messiah, somehow God will bring to fruition his purposes and his plan which is through the son of David. who is the son of Jesse, what we see in chapter 11 verse 1, where he writes about, There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. You know, this is one more encouragement to any God child that you, whatever the people whatever amount the sin that they be was captured or whatever the religion they belong to. You just give them Jesus. You just give them this stump and then, you know, the branches, the righteous branches and the green and the fruit of the spirit and that, you know, the purposes of God will be fulfilled. Jesus is enough. You know, Isaiah looked forward to that day. As Old Testament saints, we look back to the cross. My dear friends, thank God for this glorious gospel. Isaiah was commissioned, and just like Isaiah, we need to have this sense of giving people a hope. from the gospel about the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came sinless, He lived sinless, He died sinless, He rose victoriously and He is coming back. In fact, you know, I tell you that our eternity depends upon what we do with this stump, what we do with the Son of God, what we do with this Saviour. Let us pray. Our loving Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you, Lord, for reminding us this truth from chapter 6 of the book of Isaiah. Yes, Lord, we are convicted and we are convinced that not many times we are captured by the divine majesty, glory and beauty of yourself, Lord. Not many of us have understood the depravity of our stiffened necks and hardened souls, Lord. And not many of us have this hope of eternal life in us, that not many of us have this understanding that You are the holy seed and you are the only savior, you are the only God. Lord, we ask you to forgive us, Lord. We ask you to commission us, just like you have commissioned Isaiah. help us to be captured by the beauty of the divine glory and be filled with awe of the glorious salvation that you have provided to us by placing us in your Son and our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, let us be captured by those wonderful blessings as we see in the first chapter of Ephesians that you have provided through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, help us to be people, you know, who carry this message out to those people who are in need, Lord. Let us produce, you produce that empathy and sympathy in our hearts, Lord, towards those people who need to hear your glorious salvation. Lord, we thank you for times like this, Lord, wherein we just don't hear, but we, but having understood and also convicted and also do according to the word proclaimed and be doers of the your word we thank you lord once again in jesus name we pray