August 16, 2011
A Burden For The Lost! InFocus Today
Isaiah 6:5-8: 5 So I said: “ 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 my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “ Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” 8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:“ Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
How big is your burden for the lost? A huge problem within the Christian community is that people have no burden for the lost-a burden for people who are destined to spend eternity in hell, separated from God forever. In verse 5 of Isaiah 6, the writer said “woe is me.” The word “woe” is used to expresses a great concern.
In our Scripture passage we see this man, Isaiah, who has been placed in the presence of God. He says “I am ruined, I am unclean, I even live among unclean people, and I am not worthy to stand here.” Really Isaiah thought that his life was about to come to an end. He thought he was doomed. All of this gave Isaiah the sense of humbleness before God. Isaiah realized that God needed a man to stand in the gap and be His messenger to “unclean” people. Isaiah had a burden for the people who were his fellow countrymen.
How much of a burden do you have for the “unclean” or lost people in our area? A lot of Christians will say, "I'm not ready for that." The real problem is that a lot of Christians don't really have a burden for those who don't know the Lord. How can you develop a burden or passion for the lost? Look close at the sequence of events that took place in this passage:
Isaiah saw, or came into the presence of the Lord.
Isaiah was cleansed. The coal on his tongue purged his mouth.
Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord.
Isaiah mobilized! He was ready to go where the Lord needed him to go.
Isaiah realized he couldn’t do anything for the unclean people until he was cleansed. After his cleansing, he could hear the voice of the Lord and was able to volunteer for the mission that God called him to.
God still has a mission for us today and I hope that you will be willing to surrender to Him, be cleansed, and ready to move when God speaks. Look at verse 9 again: “And He said, go, and tell this people...” Will you be like the old hymn and say “Wherever He leads I’ll go?” I pray that God will give you a burden for the lost!
Pastor Scott
