Seventh-day Adventists must deliver God’s final message of hope and redemption to His people in the 21^st. Century. Around 740 B.C. When the people of Judah faced fear and hopelessness as those of present day, God needed a messenger. He had a message to deliver to His people, so He expressed His desire for a messenger. Both the desire and Isaiah’s response are as relevant today as then; “I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

As he reflected on the call, he became cognizant of his own unworthiness and exclaimed, “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (6:5). The Lord responded to him with a sanctifying touch. He then answered, “Here am I; send me.” Previous to that moment, he conceived himself as an unworthy messenger; Now that he was cleansed, he immediately replied positively to the Lord’s request. 

Like Isaiah initially, Seventh-day Adventists are cognizant of their own unworthiness and might even be exclaiming in the first person singular “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips…” (6:5). However, as they behold the Lord in all His glory and experience His justifying and sanctifying endowments that result in personal transformation and newness similar to Isaiah, they must become overwhelmed with confidence and joy. With such experience they are unhinged and as Isaiah did, answer, “Here am I; send me” (6:5). 

The mandate of Jesus to the church (Matthew 28:19-20) is similar to the mandate to Isaiah. He is still asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”—He wants volunteers in His service— we must not hesitate to embrace the opportunity: “I will go” or “Here am I; send me.” For the rest of his life, Isaiah served the God who had forgiven and saved him. This experience has both a personal appeal and an appeal to others. Most inhabitants in society are spiritually indifferent and careless in managing their physical, mental and social assets.

Even those who are more spiritually minded and engaged, do face the temptation of human tendencies to be worldly minded (Colossians 3:2; Romans 12:2). As a divine mandate, Seventh-day Adventists must respond. Leaders of the Church must continue to evaluate progress that is made towards fulfilling the gospel commission and strategize the way forward. “Had the purpose of God been carried out in giving the message of mercy to the world, Christ would have come, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God.” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 36)