A sad and mysterious errand, the statement of which might well have quenched the enthusiasm inspired by his vision of the Divine glory. When he exclaimed, "Here am I, send me!" how little did he anticipate for what purpose he would be sent! It must have astounded and saddened him, and it is full of astonishment and mystery for us. How could God have sent His servant on an errand such as this? Much of the mystery will be relieved, though not altogether removed, if we recognise--what I believe to be the fact--that here we have a statement, not of the messages Isaiah was to deliver (for they were many, and were revealed to him at various times), but of what would be the result of them all. Those to whom he was sent, and whom he desired to bless, would not be made better, but worse, by his ministry. This is in accordance with a well-known and terrible fact, viz., that the proclamation of truth often leads men to cleave more desperately to error.[1] Why, then, does God send His servants to proclaim it? _Not because He desires the depravity and destruction of men._ Such a desire would be utterly inconsistent with His _character_ and with His express _declarations_ (Ezek. xviii. 23, 32, &c.). We need not imagine, then, that we have here a confirmation of those schemes of arbitrary election and reprobation which some theologians have attributed to Him. But 1. _Because it is necessary for the preservation of His character as a God of righteousness and mercy that He should do what_ OUGHT _to result in the salvation of men._ Had He not sent His prophets forth on their sad mission, we should have been confronted by a greater difficulty: God permitting His chosen people to go on to ruin without one word of warning spoken, without one effort put forth to arrest them. But one of the supreme moral necessities of the universe is this, that His character as a God desiring the redemption of sinners should be maintained unimpaired; and therefore He sends forth His messengers to proclaim the truth, although He foresees that to many they will be the "savour of death unto death,"--and not "the savour of life unto life,"--not as that same frosty air which "braces" and invigorates those who are already vigorous. As this quotation reminds you, this is the effect of the Gospel itself. Ought God, therefore, never to have sent its preachers forth? 2. _That stubborn sinners may be left without excuse in the day of their doom._ God will not merely take vengeance on the violators of His laws of righteousness; He will make it manifest that while in Him there is an awful severity, there is no vindictiveness; and He will so act that, even when that severity is most manifested, not only the onlookers, but even those who experience it shall be constrained to confess, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints!" He will not leave it possible for them to say, "Hadst Thou warned us, we should not have sinned." They shall be speechless (Matt. xxii. 12; Jer. xliv. 2-5). 3.