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Good evening, we're in Isaiah chapter 28, and the Bible reads, Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine. Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet, and a glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valleys shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer, which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand, he eateth it up. And that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people, and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for a strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink, they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. Whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine, them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast? For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little. For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people, to whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little, that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem, because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement, when the overflowing spirit shall pass through, shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone, a trite stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also, I will lay the line in righteousness to the plummet, and the hell shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place, and your covenant with death shall be dissolved, and your agreement with hell shall not stand, when the overflowing spirit shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth, it shall take you, for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the Lord shall rise up, as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth, as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. Give ye ear, and hear my voice hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the plumber and plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fishes, and scatter the cumin, and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and the rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him, for the fishes are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cumin, but the fishes are beaten out with a staff, and the cumin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised, because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horseman. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." Let's pray. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the King James Bible, dear God. We thank you for every precious soul in this church. Thank you for our pastor, dear God. Please bless him. Let's repeat his word. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Okay, we're continuing this evening with our Bible study in the book of Isaiah, chapter 28. And in this particular chapter, there is essentially two sermons against the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. So the northern kingdom, of course, is called Ephraim here. And Ephraim is just another way of saying Israel. And then the latter end of the chapter is focused on Judah, which is the southern kingdom. And obviously, out of both of these kingdoms, the southern kingdom was a little more righteous than the northern kingdom. But quite frankly, anybody can say that basically they're just better than Israel, because Israel, the northern kingdom was extremely wicked. Okay, they're involved in a lot of sin, a lot of idolatry, adultery, a lot of covetousness, a lot of wickedness, abominations, things that were greatly displeasing unto the Lord. And in fact, when you look at the lineage of kings that reigned over Israel, virtually all of them were bad with a few exceptions. And so Ephraim is an extremely wicked nation, and they're getting preached against here. Now, as I mentioned, you know, Israel is obviously guilty of a lot of sins. But one specific sin that Isaiah is focusing on in this chapter is actually alcohol consumption, drunkenness, drinking wine, and that's like a major sin that is being addressed here in chapter 28. And what we see here is the fact that not just the nation, the people of the nation are participating in drinking alcohol, and wine, and things of that nature, but even the priests and the prophets. So this is something that a sin that not only the common people are participating in, but even the spiritual leaders, which makes it even worse, okay? Now look at verse number one here, we're gonna look at preaching against Ephraim in this regard. Look what it says in verse one, it says, woe to the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine. Now what is he saying here? He's saying, you know, Ephraim, Israel, essentially has this crown of pride, they think that they are the greatest of all nations, and he's saying that they have glorious beauty, why? Because of the fact that they're God's chosen people, not only that, but geographically, it probably just looks like a beautiful landscape. It looks great, it's very attractive, however, because they're involved in such wicked sins, such as drunkenness and wine, it says that they're like a fading flower, okay? Their glorious beauty is fading greatly because of their drunkenness. Now we could obviously make a lot of spiritual applications to this, how sin makes you fade and it removes your beauty, but in its most literal sense, that's actually really true. Alcohol makes you ugly, alcohol makes you very unattractive, alcohol makes you horrendous, okay? You say, why? Well, when you think about alcohol consumption, you know, first of all, it dehydrates you and it removes all these vitamins from your skin, vitamin A, and you often see someone who's an alcoholic, for example, in their 20s, right? And they'll often look like they're 40, 50, 60 years old. Now there's nothing wrong with aging naturally, okay, right? If you're just getting older, you know, I got a couple of gray hairs right here, you know, in a couple of years, I'll be looking very old because it's stressful to be a pastor, but that's okay. You know, aging naturally is quite okay, that's God's order, right? But there's something wrong when you're like 20 years old and you look like you're 60. And if you've known any alcoholic personally, you know that's true, that alcohol ages you greatly, okay? It destroys your skin, it makes you fade, obviously, you have all these other health complications such as cirrhosis of the liver, redness of eyes, and you just essentially prepare yourself for an early grave. And we can say that someone who is young, glorious, and beautiful will begin to fade as a flower because of alcohol consumption. And you know, this is important because of the fact that, you know, you think of Israel, ancient Israel at this time, and the fact that they're the nation that's of God, to them were committed to the oracles of God, they know about the Bible, and you're like, how can they get involved in alcohol? How is it that the priests and prophets are drinking alcohol? How is it that they're just getting involved in that? But folks, in 2024, you have churches promoting alcohol, you have pastors that promote alcohol consumption, and in fact, when you think of the idols of Christianity of today, here are three major idols in golden calves that if you talk about, Christians just freak out over. Number one, defending fags. You know, you defend fags, or you criticize homos and fags, Christians are just like all over you. It's like, that's like a golden calf of Christians for whatever reason. Number two, the Republican Party is another golden calf. You talk about politics, they'll freak out. And number three, alcohol. When you start preaching or talking about alcohol and how it's sinful, because it is, and how it's wicked in the eyes of the Lord, the Bible makes it explicitly clear that it's sinful. Oh, man, you'll get a bunch of winos on the comment section. Christians just like, no, Jesus turned water into wine. And you know, wine makes glad the hard, you know, they have all these verses memorized. They don't have any salvation verses memorized, but they have all the alcohol consumption verses memorized. You know, they can't quote you anything from the book of John. They can't quote you anything from the book of Proverbs, oh, but those alcohol verses, they got down packed. And it's like you strike a nerve when you talk about alcohol. And they always say this, well, it's okay in moderation, just not in excess, you know. But folks, the Bible explicitly teaches that alcohol is always bad to consume. Not only unhealthy, I'm saying it's sinful to drink alcohol. And people say, huh, this guy don't know what he's talking about. Doesn't he know the Apostle Paul said, a little wine for thy stomach's sake? But folks, don't we believe the Bible? Don't we say that the Bible is the Word of God, and because of that, it doesn't contradict itself? So how can we have one passage that says, you know, that the Apostle Paul says, a little wine for thy stomach's sake, but then you have other verses in the Bible that say that alcohol is like a serpent, that strikes like a serpent and stings like an adder, and both of them be alcohol. Not possible. Obviously, one is referring to juice, and the other one's referring to alcohol, okay? One of them, if it's speaking of wine in a good light, we can surmise that's referring to juice. When it's telling you to stay away from it, that's obviously referring to alcohol. You know, this is why the Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 24, wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. The pastor, the Christian, the Calvinist, the non-denom Christian who is just constantly, you know, permitting alcohol consumption and saying you can drink just a little bit, enjoy with your friends, a little wine for thy stomach's sake, wine to make glad the heart, and all this nonsense, they don't know what they're talking about. Why don't they ever quote Proverbs 23 and Proverbs 24? You know, the Bible says, who hath woe, who hath sorrow, who hath wounds without a cause, who has redness of eyes, they that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine, the Bible says, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it turneth itself aright, and why? Because it says that at the last, it will bite like an adder and sting like a serpent, it's gonna destroy you in the long run. So how is it that alcohol is permissible according to these guys when the Bible literally says don't even look at it? How can you even drink it in moderation if according to the Bible it's forbidden to even get close enough to look at it? The Bible's telling us, given this exaggerated commandment, because it's trying to help us to see, to understand, just stay away from it, period. When it says don't look at it, he's basically saying just stay away from it, okay? No, the Bible says, be not drunk with wine wherein it is excess, okay? Oh, okay, but then just drink it in moderation, that's how the verse ends, right? No, it says, but be filled with the Spirit, because the alternative to not drinking wine in excess is not to drink it in moderation, the alternative is what? To be filled with the Spirit. And obviously, I don't even believe that's referring to alcohol, I believe that's referring to just juice in general. And so the Bible's very clear on this, that alcohol is sinful, and we need to talk about that, we need to be reminded of that, because if you're not careful, there's so many videos out there, and so many false prophets, and so many winos out there that are constantly telling people it's okay to drink a little bit, and not beer, but just a little wine, a little more classy or something like that, and as long as you're not getting drunk, as long as you're not being excessive, it's okay to do, Jesus turned water into wine. But folks, that's the oldest argument in the book, and it's a stupid argument. To say that Jesus made alcohol is absolutely insane, okay? You say, why? These people, for example, this one guy back in the day, a couple years ago, his name was inspiring philosophy, and he's this heretic on YouTube, and he was going back and forth with me on this whole thing, and he said this, oh man, this guy doesn't understand that as soon as you crush the grapes, it just ferments automatically, they don't have the systems we have today and the technology to keep it from fermenting, that's why Jesus made alcohol. Because by the time that the grapes are squeezed into the vessels, and by the time they got it to the wedding, and by the time they walked in that heat, it would automatically just turn into alcohol because of the temperatures and everything, okay? This is his argument. He's like, oh, this guy doesn't know. They're crushing the grapes in there, they're not using juice for the wedding, they're using alcohol because as soon as they crush the grapes, by the time they get to the wedding feast, it's already alcohol. This is his proof that Jesus turned water into wine. Because in his mind, he's like, oh, when Jesus turned the water into wine, he's making it alcohol because the way it was done back then is he had to transport it by the time it got to its destination, turn it into alcohol. He turned the water into wine, he didn't have to transport it anywhere. That whole story, that argument falls flat on its face in John chapter two, that they're using John chapter two for because of the fact that they claim that drinking alcohol in excess is sinful. And my position is that it's always sinful, whether in moderation or in excess. But they want to use John chapter two as an example, and it's a bad illustration, why? Because Jesus gave them more wine after they had well drunk. So after they're smashed, they're just absolutely just hammered. Jesus just brings six more kegs and just gave them more. Because when men had well drunk, the Bible says, and then they brought up the other stuff, it's nonsense. But this is like the mental gymnastics that people will try to do in order to justify alcohol. This is why I say it's like an idol, it's a calf, the golden calf of Christianity because they will twist any passage of scripture they possibly can, so they can still have their Bud Light or whatever beer that they drink, it's nonsense. And alcohol is never spoken of in a good light in the Bible. People are either getting raped, they're getting taken advantage of, they're being fags with it. I mean, there's all kinds of wickedness that takes place with alcohol in the Bible. And in this particular case, he's saying, hey, your glorious beauty is fading because you are overcome with wine. You're drinking alcohol, it's making you age, it's removing your beauty from you, and so it's wrong. And we need to realize, folks, drinking alcohol is a sin. And you know what? If you drink alcohol, number one, you're stupid and you're a fool, but number two, you'll get thrown out of church for that. Because according to the Bible, drunkenness is a sin that according to the Bible merits excommunication from the local New Testament church. And you know what? People are like, well, how are we supposed to have fun? And it's crazy that people think that you can only have fun unless you're on, as long as you have some drug in your system, alcohol in your system. Folks, I've been saved for 17 years, and you know what? I don't drink alcohol and I've had fun all these 17 years. And they're like, oh, are you trying to say that people don't use alcohol in weddings? Like yeah, like how many weddings have we had in our church? I don't know, 20 something, 22 weddings? Not a single wedding had alcohol and we had a blast. And you know what? The groom and the bride had even more fun, right? That's what the wedding's about. We don't need something to aid us in having fun. You know, sparkling cider does just fine, okay? And so there are nonsensical arguments to try to justify alcohol consumption. And again, I know I've said this before, but this is important because I'm sure this is something that people struggle with even in our church, okay? It's important to understand this because they'll say, well, moderation, not excess. But folks, if you've never drunk an alcohol before or you're not accustomed to drinking alcohol, it doesn't take that much alcohol to get you drunk. So in order for you to even drink in moderation where you're not getting drunk, you have to get drunk first to build up a tolerance so that when you drink again, you're not drunk. So how is that biblically justifiable to say, well, get drunk a couple of times so you can build up tolerance to the alcohol so then at that point you can drink in moderation and not be drunk? It's stupid. Where in the Bible does it ever say to do any sin in moderation? On what occasions? Okay, just in moderation. Adultery in moderation, railing in moderation, idolatry in moderation, it's nonsense. Extortion moderation, let's be moderate about these sins, folks. Covetousness in moderation, it's never right to do any sin in moderation. And drunkenness is a sin according to the Bible, there's no such thing as moderation. And again, if God approves of alcohol, then let's just give it to kids and pregnant women. And it's already been debunked that, you know, wine is good for your health and all this stuff. Folks, it's literal poison, putting poison into your body. And so it's nonsense. He says in verse two, behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and destroying storm as a flood of mighty waters overflowing shall cast down to the earth with the hand, the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trotted under feet and the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley shall be a fading flower and as the hasty fruit before the summer, which when he, that looketh upon it, seeth while it is yet in his hand, he eateth it up. He's basically saying like, I'm going to judge you for this. And it's not just for that. We've seen other sins that he highlights, but he's saying, I'm going to send mighty ones of foreign nation to come and destroy you and just completely remove your glorious beauty, remove this crown of pride. Now obviously the intent by which, why he's removing the crown of pride is to replace that crown because he says in verse five, in that day, shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment and for strength to them that turned the battle to the gate. He's saying, look, I'm going to remove your crown of pride. I'm going to actually give you a good crown. What's that crown? That diadem is referring to Jesus Christ. Sing forth his royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. Jesus Christ is the crown of Israel. Now that's not the crown that they have right now though. They have a crown of pride, a crown of Sodom, a crown of just hating the Lord Jesus Christ. And what Isaiah is saying is like, one day this is going to be completely removed and a crown, a diadem, which is Jesus Christ will be placed on that head. And he's the one who's going to essentially beautify the land of Israel, right? He's going to beautify that geographical location because right now it's ugly. It's filthy. It's perverse. It's spiritually wicked. It's spiritually Sodom and Egypt, according to the Bible. But then one day the crown, which is Jesus Christ, which what does a crown signify? Authority. That proper authority will be placed on the land of Israel. And at that point they will actually be attractive, okay? Spiritually speaking, look at verse seven. He says, but they also have aired through wine. So he's bringing up alcohol again. And he says through strong drink are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have aired through strong drink. They are swallowed up of wine. They're out of the way through strong drink. They air in vision. They stumble in judgment. So they is referring to Israel. But then he gets specific and he says also the priest and the prophet are involved in this alcohol consumption. Now again, wine in the Bible is used interchangeably to describe alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages. And by the way, a proof of that, for example, is Numbers chapter six. When you read Numbers chapter six, when it comes to the Nazarite vow, he says that he's to abstain from wine and strong drink. Well strong drink is what? Alcohol. So why would he say abstain from alcohol and alcohol? That's because wine is obviously referring to juice. Strong drink is referring to alcohol. So obviously that's a clear case where wine is being used in such a way that it's obviously not talking about strong drink as noted by the fact that he follows up with strong drink after wine. But the point that this verse is making right here is that Israel is so inebriated spiritually but even physically that they're erring in their visions and they're stumbling in judgment. That should come as no surprise, right? Because drinking alcohol impairs judgment. So if it impairs just normal judgments that we make from day to day, how much more does it impair spiritual judgment? So these priests and prophets are drinking alcohol, they're getting drunk, and they're erring, meaning they have error in their visions and they're stumbling in their judgments. Let me read to you from Micah chapter 2, and go with it if you would to Proverbs 31, hold your place there in Isaiah. I'm going to read to you from Micah 2 verse 11, it says, if a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and strong drink, he shall even be the prophet of this people, the Bible says. So here's a good way for you to determine what preacher you should be listening to. First of all, if he makes permission for alcohol, just put an X right there. He has a spirit and falsehood of lying. He's a man of deceit. He's prophesying of the wine and strong drink. And by the way, that just automatically includes all priests, right, Catholicism, which literally just drinks alcohol every Sunday and even gives alcohol to children because they're taking their communion or whatever. They're literally drinking alcohol, they're drinking wine in that mass. And I told this story before, but I remember being in the Catholic church, it's a funny story. I was in the Catholic church and we went to mass, this is when I used to go to Catholic school. But we went to mass and the Monsignor, he was performing the mass or whatever, and they got to the point where they're doing the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist, and he gives everyone the wine to drink or whatever, and then he just killed, you know, because he ends up killing it himself, like he finishes it off. And sometimes, I don't know if you've ever been in mass before, but he's just like, like he just kills it. And the service is not over, like there's like a lecturer that's supposed to go thereafter, you know, a liturgy that they're supposed to recite or whatever. But the dude's drunk though. So he kills it, he like cleans it, and then he just like, he just walks off the stage. And then we're just kind of sitting there like, is he getting something or, no, he just forgot. His judgment is impaired. So he just forgot that he's like, the service is still going. And then after like, I don't know, 10, 15 minutes, everyone just kind of like, one by one just starts getting up, like, I think we should leave now, you know, he didn't close out the service or anything. And he probably just went in his little bedchamber and just slept or something. I don't know what he did. But what is that an example of? A drunkard? A priest and a prophet who's airing through strong drink? Well, you know what, Catholics aren't the only ones, Calvinists are responsible for this stuff too. A bunch of wine bibbers, drunkards, you know, getting tattoos and drinking alcohol and try to be all hip or whatever. It's nonsense. They are airing in vision and stumbling in judgment. Look at Proverbs 31 and verse four, it says, it is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink, lest they drink, listen to this, and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. So what does alcohol do? It causes you to forget the Bible. And it also perverts judgment of any of the afflicted, meaning you don't have good judgment when you're drunk, when you are impaired, when you're inebriated, you can't think straight. And it's impossible for us to justify alcohol consumption and also promote sobriety. The Bible promotes being sober, having sobriety, making sure that we are alert, right? How can you have that mental state when you're drunk? Well, I'm not drunk, I'm buzzed. There's no buzz in the Bible though, right? There's no like, thou shall not drink, but it's okay to be buzzeth or something. Thou shall buzzeth, that is just drunk, that's just buzzed and all that, that's like a modern thing. It's just a nice way of saying drunk. It's for people who are too embarrassed to say they're drunk, because they can't handle their alcohol or whatever, so they don't want to admit that they're drunk, so they'll say, I'm not drunk, I'm buzzed, you're drunk. And he said, well, this is an instruction to kings though. We are kings though. Bible says we're kings and priests, so we're to operate on this level, amen? Shouldn't drink, why? It'll cause us to forget the law, it'll cause us to pervert judgment of any of the afflicted. The Bible also says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 6, therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober, for they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night, but let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for in helmet, the hope of salvation. So it's no wonder that the northern kingdom is so wicked. It's a bastardization of the religion of God in the Old Testament, because they are essentially Judah, but perverted in their beliefs. They have this heathenistic amalgamation of God's religion and the heathen, and they have their own priests and their own way of worshiping, but they're worshiping false gods. So it's no wonder, it's no surprise that they have alcohol included with that. And it's no wonder their vision is impaired, they're not speaking right things about the word of God, they are airing through strong drink. Now people may read this and say, well, pastor, this is obviously spiritual drunkenness. Go back to Isaiah. What Isaiah is describing is spiritual drunkenness. You know, they're airing because they're not being sober in their minds, they're not thinking about the things of God, and so you're making too much of a literal application to this. This should only be applied spiritually, that we're supposed to be spiritually sober and not spiritually drunk. Okay, look at verse 8. For all the tables are full of vomit and filthiness. Now I'm going to make a spiritual application to this, but this is literally what they're doing because when people drink alcohol, you know what they do? They vomit, okay, so that there is no place clean. So the priests and prophets are getting hammered and they're just throwing up, just reveling in their filth. It's like a bar that's being like described here, okay? It's disgusting. So here's the thing, they're vomiting, they're making their immediate surroundings filthy, and this is what they're saying in verse number 9. Whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast, for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little. Now I believe what this is referring to is them mocking Isaiah and God's word. Because he's basically saying like, who is Isaiah going to teach knowledge, whom shall he make to understand doctrine, and he's basically saying, oh, he's going to make babies understand this stuff. Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast, and then they're basically trying to teach Isaiah how to teach. Them must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line. You don't know anything about alcohol, you got to look at the cultural context of everything. What seminary did you graduate from? You need to do expository, you don't know the context. This is how Calvinists talk. As they're drunk, they want to explain to me how to study the Bible, right? They're drinking their Guinness, they're drinking their wine, and they're trying to explain to me how I should be expanded. You got to understand context and cultural context. Sober up and talk to me when you're sober, and then we'll talk. But let me give you the spiritual application to this, because obviously we know when people drink they throw up, right? This is just very common connotations here. Vomit is a byproduct of drinking alcohol. And the reason why is because your body's rejecting it, because when your body receives poison and wants to get it out, therefore it's vomiting, right? But it's pretty interesting that they vomit and then they say this. So I believe the spiritual application here is that basically they're bringing out all this filth out of their mouth that they claim to be the word of God, okay? Let me read to you from Matthew 15 verse 17. It says here, Do not ye yet understand that what's over enterth into the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the draft, but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. And what are these men doing? They're blaspheming the word of God by saying and asserting that Isaiah's wrong and that he doesn't know what he's talking about. That's not how you teach the word of God. I mean, how embarrassing is that? Hey, you're not teaching the word of God correctly. Who would you respect? How are they supposed to get in here? They literally just throw up. Then after they're done and wipe their mouth, they're like, hey, just let you know, precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, and, you know, line upon line, line upon line. They're like repeating themselves here a little, there a little, and it's just like, okay. After they literally just got finished vomiting and throwing up. But what does the vomit represent? Represents the filthiness that's coming out of their mouth, the blasphemies that are coming out of their mouth. Okay. And, you know, vomit defiles a person. You vomit is just filth, you know, it's just unclean. The tables are unclean, they're defiled, and you know what? That's what's coming out of their mouth is that which defiles them, these blasphemies of the word of God. Because Isaiah is not a drunkard. He's a righteous man. He's the right one. But you have all these false prophets around him in Israel, drunken, vomiting, and trying to tell him how he should teach the word of God is nonsense. That's why I don't esteem any of these scholars if they don't have the common sense and biblical sense to stay away from alcohol. I don't care how many degrees they got. I got a bachelor's or a master's in divinity, and, you know, I know the Greek and the Hebrew. It's like, wow, you know all that and you still can't stay away from alcohol. That's crazy. And you're still a drunkard, wow. And to go back to Isaiah, or you're in Isaiah, look at verse 11. So these guys are mocking God's word, they are spewing out their filth and their vomit, and it's giving us like a picture of like the spiritual condition of the leaders of that day. And let me just say this, there's more pastors out there that are pro-alcohol than those who are against alcohol today. There's a lot of Calvinists out there that are pro-alcohol, they like to drink. And you know what? Let's just pretend for a second that some of these pastors are actually capable of drinking in moderation. I promise you whoever they're leading cannot. I promise you whoever they're teaching this to cannot, because what they do in moderation, their followers will do in excess. You know you get some Calvinists and you get some tattoo or whatever that says Jesus, or some scriptural thing, you know, his church members are going to get sleep. Because what they do in moderation, his followers are going to do in excess, plain and simple. Look at verse 11, he says, you can turn that off brother, he says, for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was unto them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. So God is almost like flipping this on them to say, well, it will be to you, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little, until you stumble at the word. Now go to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, because we're going to look at where this is actually quoted at in the New Testament, and it's going to give us some insight on what he's specifically saying here. Because Isaiah's preaching to Israel, and these Israelites, this northern kingdom, let me ask you, are they believers or not? No they're not. Worshipping false gods, you know, they're not serving the God of the Bible as they're supposed to, they're wicked, they're wrong. And so the Lord in Isaiah 28 is saying, well, with a nation of stammering lips, I'm going to speak to you. What is he literally saying? He's saying a foreign nation that has a language that does not understand is going to come upon you and tell you this stuff. So you're mocking God's word, but you're going to have someone else, you're going to have the Assyrians come to you in a language that you don't understand, and then you'll get the message. But by that time, what's going to happen? They're going to fall backward, be broken, snared, and taken. Now look at 1 Corinthians 14, verse 18. This is the chapter regarding tongues, meaning speaking different languages, right? This is not referring to some heavenly dialect that's spoken of by angels and people who are filled with the Spirit, some incoherent language that no man understands but God himself. Tongues is literally referring to an actual language. That's all that it's talking about in the Bible, okay? And this is the chapter that addresses that the most. Verse 18 says, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than ye all. And by the way, a lot of these people who say that tongues is referring to that incoherent language, that divine language, will often use that as a meter for spirituality. Like if you're really spiritual, you'll speak in tongues. But here's the problem, Jesus didn't do that. So are you saying that he's not spiritual or something? Because he's the most spiritual man that ever lived. Verse 19 says, yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I may teach others also than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. Brethren, be not children in understanding, how be it in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, now let me just explain something to you. When it says the law, often it can be referring to what? The first five books of the Bible, right? Talk about the law, the laws of Moses. But sometimes when it says the law, it's just referring to anything in the Old Testament. Because the verse that it's gonna quote here is Isaiah 28, and obviously Isaiah is considered part of the prophets, but in general it could be lumped in as being part of the law. He says, in the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. And I want you to notice this, wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not. So what does this have to do with Isaiah 28? Well if he's sending people of a different tongue, stammering tongue in the Old Testament, to speak unto Israel, and the Bible's saying here that these tongues are for those who do not believe, what does it say of Israel of the Old Testament? They don't really believe. Because he's sending men of stammering lips, of a different tongue to speak unto Israel, they're not gonna understand, and here's the thing, he's basically implying they don't really believe in the true God of the Bible. This is the application that 1 Corinthians 14, the connection that it's making between this and Isaiah 28, because it's saying tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not, which is why he's sending the Assyrians to punish Israel because they don't believe. Go back to Isaiah 28 if you would, Isaiah 28. So he's saying you're mocking God, but you're not gonna be laughing once the Assyrians come and destroy you. Look at verse 14, so that's pretty much the end of the preaching for Israel, it's basically saying you guys are gonna be taking over the Assyrians. Okay anyways, now Judah, it's like there's no happy ending with Israel there, okay? But obviously Judah's not necessarily in the best shape either, they're in better shape than Israel, the northern kingdom, but they're still also gonna be punished. Verse 14 says, wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem, indicating that he's obviously addressing Judah, since Jerusalem is the capital of Judah, right? Because ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Now that's an interesting statement, right? We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we are at agreement. Now what is he talking about there? Well we'll see in the coming chapters that the covenant that they're making is with Egypt, because they are trying to get help from Egypt to fight against Assyria. So when he says you made a covenant with death, he's referring to Egypt. And when he says and with hell you're at agreement, he's talking about Egypt. He said, why not just say Egypt then? Because at the end of the day it doesn't matter what nation they're making confederate with, he's basically saying you're just basically agreeing to die, because I don't care what nation you use to protect you, you're going to die. Now a good way to explain this is this, you can tell me you believe anything you want, any variation of salvation, you can say it's by repenting of your sins, you can say it's by works, you can say it's by praying to Mary, you can say it's by taking the Eucharist, you can say it's by anything, at the end of the day it's just an agreement with death. You understand what I'm saying? So you can say, oh it's Egypt, it's going to take everything, no you just made a covenant with death is what you did. You could have made a covenant with Assyria, it's a covenant with death. Because if it's not a covenant with God, then it's a covenant of death. And in like manner, if it's not salvation by grace through faith alone, then basically it's a covenant of hell and death. Because every system of beliefs when it comes to salvation, all leads to hell, if it's not by salvation, salvation by grace through faith alone, in Jesus Christ. You can package it however you want, you can say it's by faith and repenting of your sins, faith and doing works, oh it's by believing in Jesus but you have to do your part, it's by producing fruits, you can wrap that works-based salvation any way you please. At the end of the day, the way God views it, is a covenant with death. Because that's the road that it leads to. So he's basically telling them, I don't care who you made a covenant with, I just know it wasn't with me. And because it's not with me, it's a covenant of death, it's a covenant of hell. And at the end of the day, I like what he says at the latter end of verse 15, he says, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. What does this mean? It means that Judah is depending on lies. They are resting and covering themselves with lies, with falsehood, and therefore they will be punished. Okay? Look at verse 16, it says, therefore, thus saith the Lord, behold, I lay in Zion for foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste. So you know, obviously, this is referring to Jesus Christ, right? So it's a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ. And the reason he's mentioning this is because he realizes that Judah is depending on or using for refuge that which is deceit, deception, lies, and he's saying, you know, I'm giving you the sure foundation, which is Jesus Christ, God himself, right? And this is quoted in the New Testament in First Peter chapter two, slightly different, but it's talking about the same thing. And what this is referring to is what? The fact that the foundation of our faith is what? Jesus Christ, our faith in Jesus Christ. So if we build upon a faulty foundation of lies, deceit, a false gospel, doesn't matter how godly of a life you live, you made a covenant with death, okay? Because you know, you have people out there who literally spent decades calling themselves Christians, saying that they're saved, living a Christian life, living out biblical principles, but they don't have the right salvation. And what does the prophet, if he shall gain the whole world, lose his own soul? You have to make sure you have the right foundation, which is what? The tried stone, the precious cornerstone, the sure foundation. And if you believe on him, you'll not make haste, you know, who's ever believed that him in the New Testament says shall not be ashamed, you will not be let down. So you know, this is a foreshadowing, he's telling Judah, like, you need to, you know, place yourself back onto the right foundation, which is the Christ, Emmanuel, the Lord, and of course, in the New Testament, we'll know that he will be named Jesus. Let me read to you from 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 5, it says, he also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. We know that Jesus is the foundation, but the Bible also calls him the cornerstone. And a cornerstone essentially joins two walls, right? Well, what does Jesus Christ do in the New Testament? He joins two people and makes them one, right? Jew and Gentile become one man. That's what the foundation is built upon, okay? Look at verse 17, if you would, he says, judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies and the water shall overflow the hiding place and your covenant with death shall be disannulled and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it. And he's basically explaining to them like, you know, this covering that you're using is not going to help you, but if you place your faith in this cornerstone, what's going to happen? Well, then your covenant with death shall be disannulled. And another way of saying this in the New Testament would be, you know, whoever doesn't believe is condemned already, right? That covenant is in full effect because you have not believed, but once you believe, you're no longer under the condemnation. The covenant has now been made disannulled by your faith in Jesus Christ. And look at verse 20 says, for the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. He's basically saying, you know, you're placing your faith in Egypt, but you know, they're providing a bed that you can't even like stretch yourself on. It's like a kid's bed. It's like one of those race car beds, you know, it's like, you're depending on Egypt to take care of you, but you can't even rest in Egypt properly because you can't even stretch yourself out. You're going to be all cramped up. And then just look at the blanket that Egypt is providing you. It's too small. You can't even wrap yourself in it. It's like a towel or something. And in fact, go to chapter 30 of Isaiah chapter 30 and look at verse one. He says, woe to the rebellious children, say the Lord that take counsel, but not of me and that cover with the covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin that walk to go down into Egypt, but have not asked that my mouth to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. So the literal interpretation of this is that, you know, you're placing your faith in something that can't help you at all. You can't rest in the bed of Egypt. You can't cover yourself with the covering of Egypt. It's not going to help you any. The spiritual application we can make to that when it comes to salvation is that all these people who are working their way to heaven, you know, it's a small little covering. They only covers like that one little sin or something. And even then, it's just like kind of see through. Whereas what do we need? We need the blood of Jesus Christ that covers all sin, right, where we can essentially, you know, have the righteousness of God imputed on us, where we could put on the Lord Jesus Christ and just have all sins forgiven and not just depend on the aprons of Adam and Eve, but rather the skins of the Lord Jesus Christ through his sacrifice. That's basically what the principle there. Go back to Isaiah 28. We're almost done here. Look at verse 21. It says, For the Lord shall rise up in Mount Parazim, and he shall be wroth as in the Valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work and his strange work, and bring to pass his act his strange act. Verse 22, Now therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. Give ye ear, and hear my voice hearken, and hear my speech. So keep in mind, this is Isaiah speaking. And what is Isaiah saying? He's like, hey, God's just letting you know God's going to punish you guys. So I really recommend that you don't mock. It's probably not a good idea to mock the Lord, because if you do, your bands will be made strong. And he says, I've heard from the Lord that there's going to be a host of consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. He's saying, this punishment is going to be very thorough, and it's going to be throughout the land. So my recommendation to you is don't make fun of it. And you know what we have today? We have people just mocking Christianity, mocking men of God, mocking the things of God, thinking that they'll get away with that stuff. There's no fear of God in their heart. There's no fear of God in their eyes, right? We shouldn't mock men of God. We shouldn't mock Christianity. God's people especially shouldn't mock churches and men of God. Why? Because God is not mocked. So that shall he also reap. Let me just say this right off the bat. This has nothing to do with the sermon, but it kind of does. You have these people with all this controversy going on right now. And they're like, oh, I'm against abuse, all the while making fun of abuse. I'm against abuse as they're taking pictures with electric cords. That's funny. I thought you were against it. There's this guy who used to be in our church a couple of years ago, and he got all disgruntled with the new IFP. And he's like, I'm against abuse. Well, folks, I'm against abuse too. But yeah, here's the difference between me and that guy. I'm not taking a picture for Facebook and saying, oh, I was late to church because you know why. Oh, yeah, that's very godly of you. What a Christian thing to say. What a Christian thing to do. Taking pictures with electric cords all the while you're claiming that you are against abuse. You hypocrite. Disgusting. And let me just say this as a pastor, and this may make you mad, but I don't care because I'm the pastor here, and at the end of the day, you're forced to listen to me. If you're sitting right there and if you don't like it, walk out. At the end of the day, folks, you shouldn't be liking photos of disgusting, perverse things. People are posting sexually inappropriate things, making fun of men of God. Even if you disagree with those men of God, you're sick in the head if you think that's funny. Get right with God, you filthy pervert. You call yourself a Christian, do you know that you can disagree and not like whatever pastor and still not be for wicked people? That's how you should be if that's your position, but it looks godless, disgusting, and perverse when you claim to disagree all the while liking perverseness. You're filthy, you're disgusting, and get out of my church if that's you, because you know what, I want people to be diplomatic and respectable. I want you to be a respectable person. Hey, is it too much to ask to just ask you to be a Christian? I know that's kind of weird, but this is a Baptist church, though, and we should have Christian behavior, and part of Christian behavior is, you know what, I don't have to side with this crowd or this crowd, but how about you just not side with reprobates? Even if you believe them, which is nonsense if you do, but let's say you just believe them. Okay, why not just not like their posts where they're posting faggotry and they're mocking men of God regarding sexually perverse things that I can't even say from the pulpit? You're perverse and you're wicked, clean your mind, get your mind out of the gutter. It's disgusting. You're like, well, I'm never coming back. Good, because I want perverseness in my church. Yeah, but how are you going to fill this seat the way we've been filling seats for the last seven years? That's how. And you know what, if half the church thinks that that's appropriate, then I want half the church to get up and leave right now. I don't want you around my kids. You know, if that's your mentality and you're okay with liking perverseness and disgusting filth and you claim to be against abuse all the while liking posts about mocking abuse, then there's this door right here, there's a bunch of doors, but you could go without this one, then go out that one over there like right now. And you know what? I'll never miss you because I don't miss people who can pervert the minds of my children. Disgusting. Get right with God. Read the Bible. Pray. Be a Christian for once. Act like a Christian. Have Godly conduct. Disgusting. I don't remember how I got off on that, but you know, don't be mockers. Oh, you know, what does the Bible say? Oh, yeah. Fools make a mock at sin. Look at verse 24. Mad now. I'm really mad now because it's crazy that people think that that's like appropriate behavior. You know, I respect the person that says, you know, I disagree, but I'm just not going to say anything because, you know, disagree doesn't mean I have to agree with the other side either. And just like I just won't say anything. I want to move on. Serve my church. Love the pastor. Love the church. I'm all for that because we can disagree about things. What I don't like is when people support wicked people, though. You're stupid if you do. Yeah, I said it. If you're supporting reprobation and I'm talking and I'm not talking about the claims that are being made. I'm talking about liking and supporting posts that are saying vile, perverse things that no Christian should ever like. Even if you don't like the pastors in question, you say, why? Because it's weird. You're being a weirdo. You're showing you don't read the Bible. You're not acting like a Christian. Look at verse 24, that the plowman plow all day to sow, that he open and break the clods of his ground. When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fetches and scatter the cumin and cast in the principal weed and the appointed barley and the rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion and doth teach him. For the fetches are not thresh with the threshing instrument, neither is a cartwheel turned about upon the cumin, but the fetches are beaten out with a staff and the cumin with a rod. What is he saying here? He's using agricultural terminology to help Judah understand, you know, just as the farmer uses different tools to arrive to a specific destination with his crops or whatever, in like manner. God is saying, I'm using different ways to chastise you. I'll use the Assyrians. I'll use foreign nations. I'll use famines, pestilences, foreign nations to destroy you, because just as a farmer uses an array of different tools to produce fruit in like manner, God does the same thing. And a great way to apply this to our lives is the fact, you know, God will use a variety of different things to mold you to be what he wants you to be, right? He'll use trials. He'll use health problems. He'll use financial issues. He'll use tribulations, fears, doubts, anxieties. He'll use the election. He'll use everything, a variety of tools to make you the right kind of Christian. And you're like, well, I got all those things down. Oh, he's got a barn full of tools, though, that he can use on you. You know, the Bible tells us that God as our Father, God is our Father, and we are the clay. He molds us. He'll use trials in our lives. And yeah, you know, sometimes he even uses success in our lives, too, right? To help us to be grateful to learn things. But he'll also use losses. He'll use, you know, persecution. He'll use tribulation. He'll use people. He'll use preaching. He'll use your parents. He'll use your brothers and sisters in Christ. He'll use your husband. He'll use your wife. You use everyone to help you, to make you conform to the image of Christ. He's not a one-trick pony, amen? God is very creative, and he'll use anything possible. That's why the Bible says all things work together for good, because he can take any situation that you're experiencing and produce gold, okay? The Bible tells us in Philippians 1, 6, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And so, you know, I'm going to finish off there. What is the sermon? The sermon is simply this. You know, it looks like Israel is just done, right? Now, whereas Judah seems to have some hope. And at the end of the day, you know, he wants to bless Judah because Judah is still worshiping the God of the Bible, albeit they're backsliding in a lot of ways, but they do worship the God of the Bible, and God is trying to help them get back on track, and just as the farmer will use any tool to produce that peaceable fruit of righteousness in Judah, you know, the same way, God will do that to us as well. Hebrews 12 tells us that. He'll chastise us in order to yield that peaceable fruit of righteousness and of holiness, so we can be, you know, vessels unto honor and meet for the master's use, amen? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for Isaiah 28. Lord, may you help us to view both northern and southern kingdom through the lens of our personal lives and even our church, Lord, our nation. Help us to make those applications, Lord, to ourselves. And Lord, as your people, obviously, we know that alcohol consumption is wrong and it's sinful. But I'm sure that someone here who may struggle with that temptation, Lord, and I pray that tonight that reminder would exhort them to abstain from alcohol and to remind them how destructive alcohol can be in their lives. And Lord, we're so thankful that we're not deceived by false prophets and prophets of wine and strong drink who try to convince us that it's permissible, Lord. That's the devil. That's satanic. Just to remove sobriety from the mind of a Christian makes them less effective in the work of God. And Lord, I just pray that you'd help us as your people to be holy, to be to have Christian conduct and not to make a mock at sin and filth and perversion. Lord, help us to be sober and aware of our surroundings and recognize that we are in a spiritual battle. We love you. We thank you. Pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. Song number 377, Rescue the Perishing. Song number 377. Song number 377 on the first verse. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying. Stash them in pity from sin and the...