Verse 5.--As the believer nearer to the Lord, so will he feel more intensely his own

depravity and the sin of others. Salvation does not in any way improve or eradicate the

old nature.

Verse 6.--Those who speak of the Holiness of God, who use their wings in reverence

and worship, are ready to apply the atonement for the cleansing of sin. The live coal

speaks of a sacrifice consumed, and because of the sacrifice there is cleansing.

Verse 7.--The believer's sins are still called "iniquity" and "sin".  There is no

sanctification apart from the altar.  The Spirit of God works along the line of

Verse 8: ""Also I heard."--Unforgiven, unconfessed sin prevents hearing. Isaiah

was about to be sent to those who neither saw nor heard (verse 10). He himself, by

contrast, had both seen (verse 5) and heard (verse 8). Note also in this verse the Divine

hint of the plurality of the Godhead: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?"

Verse 9: "Go, and tell this people."--Isaiah had confessed that he was a "man of

unclean lips", but the live coal had touched them and they are now to be used in the

Lord's service.

Isaiah uses the expression: "Then said I" three times:

We have here (1) a recognition of failure (2) a willingness for service, after

cleansing and sanctification, and (3) a tender concern for the blinded, sinful, and

doomed people.

In verses 12 and 13 the words: "But ye in it shall be a tenth" should be placed in

brackets, the passage reading straight on from "land" to "and it shall return". In these

verses we have the majority of Israel perishing, but Jehovah's portion--the tenth--

brought safely through, and finally filling the face of the earth.

Dear fellow-believer, the Holiest of All is accessible to all the redeemed, by virtue of

the blood of Christ. Draw near with a true heart, seek to keep a clear conscience,

definitely confess your sins, and seek to hear the will of the Lord from above the Mercy

Seat. If unsaved, have you ever thought of the holiness of God? His eyes cannot look

upon sin. His holiness and wrath are alike a devouring fire to all that is sinful. By nature,

we are all unclean, but the soul that seeks pardon through the precious blood is washed

whiter than snow.