The call of God.
"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." The symbol of the seraphim had been on the prophet's head, and the voice of the Lord had come to his conscience and his heart. The live coal had touched his lips. Prophets, apostles, teachers, must be sent of God. Other qualifications are appropriate and excellent, but this is indispensable.
I. THE DIVINE QUERY. "Whom?" Then God takes thought about Divine government in human history. Just as Nature expresses, in all her forms of beauty, his skill and care, so in grace God is observant of character, and watchful for the wisest means. He knows the secret places of grace and genius, and he can call them forth at the appropriate time. Isaiah now; Paul in the great epoch to come.
II. THE ELECTIVE HONOR. "Whom shall I send?" Here we have the sublime election to privilege, so far as responsibility is concerned, which, rightly considered, explains God's calling of Jews then, and Jews and Gentiles now. It is not an election to salvation, but to a status of honor and influence in witnessing for him. "Send!" Then God is the great Father of all human spirits, not willing that any should perish. The Jewish Church was a city set on a hill to enlighten others; the salt to save the world from death and putrefaction.
III. THE QUICK RESPONSE. There is no hesitation. "Here am I." Men should fulfill their own prayers. They ask for grace and strength to work and give. Let them inquire within whether they cannot turn supplication into consecration. "Here am I." How few say that! They look round and exclaim, "Send others!" "Send reel" says the prophet, fulfilling the commission which makes him the great evangelic spirit of the Old Testament.—W.M.S.