(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Isaiah 28, and look, it's only 29 verses, and normally you shouldn't take too long to preach with 29 verses, but this is the book of Isaiah. I mean, as that was being read, every verse is like a full-blown doctrine. Every verse is very deep, so I'll do my very best to get through this in the appointed time. But I wanted to show you, verse number one's really good, because it begins by saying, woe to the crown of pride. We see immediately what the issue of this chapter is, and that's the title of the sermon tonight, the crown of pride, the crown of pride. I preached against pride yesterday at New Life After the Church. Seems like I've been preaching a lot of sermons that are very similar in the same weeks between both churches, and you know, Isaiah 28 kind of begins a new topic from what we've been covering in previous chapters. You may recall in Isaiah 24, 25, 26, 27, the last four chapters, it was all about the end times, like very clearly about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we start Isaiah 28, we're back to the time of Isaiah. As he's preaching for his present day, he's actually, the first half of this chapter is preaching against the northern kingdom of Israel, and then the second half of this chapter, he's using the lessons that are from the northern kingdom of Israel, and he's teaching the southern tribe of Judah not to make the same mistakes that their sister nation has done with the Assyrian empire. But the first thing that we notice with the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes, was pride. Pride was one of their issues that God was holding them to account. Not only that, it continues in verse number one, to the drunkards of Ephraim. So we see two problems, pride and alcoholism, okay, two things that they're doing against the Lord. It says, whose glorious beauty is a fading flowers which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine. And so God is speaking of the northern nation as being beautiful, but it's losing its beauty like a fading flower, it's starting to die away, and that represents the fact that God will soon bring his judgment against that nation by the hand of the Assyrian empire. In fact, verse number two brings up the Assyrian empire, it says, behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one. Now who's the mighty and strong one that the Lord has? The Assyrian empire. That's who God is going to use to bring judgment upon Israel. It says, which is a tempest of hail and a destroying storm as a flood of mighty waters overflowing shall cast down to the earth with the hand. And so God, again, using that illustration of a beautiful flower that Israel was, was that flower, you know, this growing garden, these crops that are coming out, but then the winds come, the storms come, the flooding comes, and it destroys all the crops, destroys all of the growth that was seen as beautiful, but now it's that fading flower. Again, verse number three, the crown of pride, the fact that God mentioned it twice, it shows us that this definitely is the first and major problem for the northern kingdom. They've got that pride, they're wearing a crown of pride. Again, the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet, and the glorious beauty which is on the head of the fat valley shall be a fading flower. So again, God's repeating the same things here. And as a 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 so now another illustration, not just a flower, but a hasty fruit, a fruit that's come a little bit ahead of its time, and it gets plucked off, it gets looked at by Assyria as it were, and then, you know, Assyria goes, alright, I'll just eat it. You know, it just munches down on that fruit, and again, that's the illustration God is using with Israel and Assyria, like Assyria is going to eat you up when you least expect it. But verse number five, it says, In that day shall the Lord of hosts be a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people. And so verse number five introduces us to the second crown mentioned in this chapter. The first crown is the crown of pride, which is what the northern nation of Israel is wearing. But the crown that we should be wearing is a crown of glory, which is the Lord of hosts, alright? So we've got a decision, you know, this chapter is kind of presented two crowns. You know, we either continue wearing the crown of pride, you know, I'm right and I just do what I want, regardless of what God has to say, you know, not understanding that God's judgment is headed our way, or we say, I'm going to put down the pride, I'm going to have humility, and my crown of glory will be the Lord God. My eyes are going to be put on him, not upon myself, not upon my pride and my ego, my eyes are going to be set on God. And so we have that challenge at the beginning of this chapter. Which one are we going to be? Which crown are we going to wear? It's pretty much one or the other. It's not like, well, I won't wear either. No, no, if you're not wearing the crown of glory, which is the Lord God, you are definitely wearing the crown of pride. Because you're walking by your intellect, you're walking by your wisdom, you're walking by your understanding, you're living life how you decide, you're making the decisions for yourself. That's the crown of pride. Or you say, well, Lord, I can't make the decision for myself, I'm not wise enough, I've got to be humble, Lord, according to your word, according to your will, how do you want me to walk? How do you want me to behave and obviously obey the commandments that you've laid out before me? And when you do that in life, now you add the crown of glory, which is the Lord God of hosts, you're following after him. And so that's a decision that needs to be made. Now, the northern kingdom of Israel made the decision, no, we're going to be drunkards, we're going to drink alcohol, we're going to go contrary to the Lord, we're going to do it our way, we're going to be lifted up with pride, fine, okay, their judgment is coming, we've seen that already, okay? But when it says, in that day, the Lord of hosts, verse number five, Lord of hosts, sorry, in that day, shall the Lord of hosts be a crown of glory. This is because the lesson was learned by the southern kingdom of Judah. When they saw Assyria wipe out and take into captivity the people of the northern kingdom, the great king that arose out of Judah and learnt the lessons was King Hezekiah. And King Hezekiah was a great man, a great king, yes, he made some mistakes, but overall, he lived a godly life, and his crown was the crown of glory, his crown was the Lord God. That's what it says, in a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people. So the people that do remain in the land, which is the southern kingdom of Judah, you know, the Lord God would be that crown of glory for that nation, all right? But again, mainly because of Hezekiah, Hezekiah had in his government, he had people under him that were very wicked people, but he himself was a godly king. So even though Hezekiah fixed things up in the nation, there was still a lot of ungodly influence, you know, in the nation, and we'll talk about those people in a moment as we continue. But again, this must be about Hezekiah, if you know the history of Isaiah, the two kingdoms in Assyria and Babylon, all that, you know, Hezekiah is definitely the king that stands out during this time as being a godly king. And when we understand that it's about Hezekiah, verse number six then applies to him. It says, and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment. So of course the king is the one that sits in judgment. He's been given a spirit of judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gates. I believe the strength to them is the strength to Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah. And so King Hezekiah would be a king, yes, his crown, with his crown of gold, but his true crown is the Lord God of hosts. Now let me take you to another passage. Keep your finger there and come with me to 1 Peter chapter five. First Peter chapter five, I hope I haven't lost you just yet, okay? But while we turn to 1 Peter chapter five, just very quickly summarize what we've covered. The northern kingdom, they said we're in the crown of pride, we're going to be prideful, we'll do it our way, okay, the judgment's come in. The southern kingdom, and the king Hezekiah is saying, no, no, no, I'm going to wear the crown of glory, which is the Lord of hosts, all right. Now this crown of glory gets brought up in the New Testament. And when you go to 1 Peter chapter five and verse number two, 1 Peter chapter five and verse number two, this is the only reference to the crown of glory in the New Testament. And it's about pastors, okay, so I'm the pastor of this church. So we get this instruction in 1 Peter chapter five, verse number two, feed the flock of God which is among you. So that's my goal right now as I preach, I'm hoping to feed you guys God's word, right? Taking the oversight thereof, like the supervisor, not by constraints but willingly. So yes, I'm doing this willingly, I'm in this role willingly, okay? I haven't been forced into this role or anything like that. Not for filthy Luca, definitely not, okay, but of a ready mind, all right, okay. So I've got some instructions. All right, now what else? Verse number three, neither has been Lord's over God's heritage. So I'm not here to be your Lord, I'm not here to be your boss. Yes, I have the rule, I have authority in the house of God. When we gather together the congregation, we come in the house of God to praise and worship our Lord God, but bravely we go our separate ways, I am not your Lord, all right? I'm not telling you how fast to drive your car home, you know, or try to obey the rules, but at the end of the day, I'm not there trying to tell you how to live your lives and what you need to cook for dinner and, you know, when you need to get up for work and when you need to go on holidays. That's not my place, otherwise I'm making myself a Lord over the flock. So that is not what I should be doing, all right? So I hope I've never done that in your life. He says this, but being ensembles to the flock, okay, that's what I want to be. I want to be a godly ensemble, a godly example of a pastor, yes, but also of a father, of a husband, of all the other responsibilities that God has given me. I hope I'm an example of a godly son to my parents who are sitting here today. I hope he can look at that and go, yes, you know, he's a good example to the flock, I hope so, I don't know. Okay, that's for you guys to judge. And look, if I'm doing all these things that God has laid out in 1 Peter 5 verses number 2 and number 3, it says, and when the chief shepherd shall appear, that's Jesus Christ, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. This is the one crown in the Bible that is specifically for pastors, okay? But the pastor must fulfill these roles laid out for him and God promises us when Christ comes back and rewards us in heaven and he gives us his, you know, the treasure in heaven, our eternal rewards and our crowns, I would like to receive this crown of glory. I would like to, okay? I think I'd be embarrassed. I'm going to have a new resurrected body so my feelings are going to be a little bit differently. But I think I'd be embarrassed if I go to heaven and you go, pastor, did you get the crown of glory? Uh, no. There's going to be a lot of pastors that don't get it though, okay, but I want to get it. Like, honestly, yes, Lord, I followed your laws. I followed your instructions, you know, being, you know, the shepherd of the flock that you've given me at Blessed Art Baptist Church and New Life Baptist Church. So I say that to you so you guys can help me, hopefully, get that crown, right? Please, please don't be rebellious, troublemakers, church splitting people, you know. Please understand that I'm trying to stretch myself as much as I can to serve church churches. It's not the ideal scenario. We are still praying for God to raise up a man that can be the full-time pastor for Blessed Art Baptist Church. Keep that in prayer and, you know, Lord willing, you know, we can continue serving the Lord till the time Christ comes back and this can be the crown of glory that I can receive which will be the service that I've done for him at Blessed Art Baptist Church and New Life Baptist Church. All right, back to Isaiah 28, back to Isaiah 28, it's in verse number 7. Isaiah 28 and verse number 7. Isaiah 28, verse number 7. Okay, so we saw the Northern Kingdom of Israel, its problem was pride and it was also alcohol. So verse number 7 goes back to their problems, but they also have erred through wine and through strong drink are out of the way. So instead of teaching God's ways, they're teaching other ways, out of the way, ways that are not God's ways, why? Because of the alcohol. Why is this happening? Why did this happen with Israel? Because this is why, it continues, the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they're 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. So the religious leaders of the Northern Kingdom of Israel are what? Drunkards. And you know, to this day, I just don't understand, I don't believe it, why churches and pastors and preachers are constantly trying to affirm that God is okay with us drinking alcohol. You know, I constantly hear about it, that God is not against alcohol, it's just against drunkenness. Well how much alcohol do you have to drink to lose sobriety? I mean, that's what I'm saying, people say, I'm just tipsy, but that's slightly drunk according to the dictionary, you are drunk, just slightly drunk, and people make all kinds of excuses for alcohol, but you know, there's a big problem when the preachers are making excuses for alcohol. I thank God that I hate that stuff. I hate the smell, and I don't hate it because of the Bible, I just hate it, I hate the smell, I hate what it made me feel like when I had a beer or something like that, you know, I hate the taste, I hate the vomit, the smell, you know, I hate the smell of clubs and pubs where you can smell, it just, why do people want to spend time here? I'm disgusted by that smell. Like I'm glad it's not an issue that I have to deal with, but I don't know, like when preachers start to preach, it's okay, man, this is when it's going to cause people to stumble, to fall, to become prideful, to face the judgment of God, and to be destroyed. And that's what's happened to the northern kingdom of Israel. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness. The idea that I get there is as they're preaching, the preaching is like vomit. Like pastors are meant to what, feed, right? Feed the flock. You know, as I come and preach God's word, I want it to be a nourishing spiritual meal that you walk away from church tonight and say, man, yeah, I had a good feed. I learned something from God's word today. Or, man, my pastor just vomited all over us and I took it in. Arrgh. Like how disgusting would that be? But that's the comparison, right? The ones that should be feeding people God's word are just vomiting all over you, spiritually speaking. When they're preaching false doctrines, preaching that pride is okay, drunkenness is okay, alcohol is okay, and they're not preaching God's ways, they're preaching the ways of man. That is the crown of pride. We start to teach things that are contrary to God's word and trying to justify sin in the congregation. Now, we're in Isaiah 28. What's the 28th book of the Bible? Did anyone do their homework? Hosea. Hosea. All right. So keep your finger there. Come with me to Hosea. Come with me to Hosea, please, Hosea chapter 4. And once again, there are just so many parallels with Hosea, I just don't have the time to cover it all. Hosea was a preacher against which nation? Does anyone know? Israel. Yeah. The northern kingdom of Israel. Which should not be a surprise. The fact that Isaiah has started preaching against the northern kingdom of Israel once again. Like, we've transitioned from the end times, now he's preaching against the northern kingdom of Israel. Well, Hosea was one of the main prophets that God used to preach against that northern kingdom. Right? But anyway, we saw what the problem is in Isaiah 28 with that king, with that nation, and now Hosea is preaching against that nation, and in Hosea chapter 4, verse number 9, Hosea chapter 4, and verse number 9, it says here, And there shall be like people, like priests. Now remember those are religious leaders that are drinking alcohol, right? So God is saying, look, the people are going to be like the priests, like the religious leaders. So punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. Remember, punish them for their ways. What did God say in Isaiah 28? It says, and through strong drinking are out of the way. It says they are out of the way through strong drink. Okay, so they've got other ways that are contrary to God's ways. And then verse number 10, For they shall eat, and not have enough. They shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase, because they have left off to take heed to the Lord. So they're not listening to the laws and the words of the Lord. Look at verse number 11, Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. So again we see the problem with the priests and the people of the northern kingdom of Israel from Hosea. Now we've seen the whoredom attached to it, but also the wine, which is the alcoholic wine, and the new wine, which is of course used to make the alcoholic wine. This has taken their heart away from the Lord. And again, there shouldn't be any, like I hope you're not surprised anymore, that the chapters of Isaiah are lining up with the books of the Bible. Like I'm starting to not be surprised. It all kind of lines up, you know, Isaiah, it does appear so far at least to be a mini Bible, you know, in the 66 chapters of Isaiah, seems to line up somehow with the 66 books of the Bible, in the very order that you have it in the King James Version. Now back to Isaiah, keep your finger on Hosea, we'll come back to Hosea for another reference. I'll just see how far that is, I think it's toward the end, yeah it's toward the end. But you can keep your finger on Hosea if you want. Back to Isaiah 28, verse number 9. The question gets asked, whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Because again, the whole nation's full of pride. So who's God going to teach knowledge? Who's going to understand doctrine when they're so messed up as a nation? Well this is the answer. Men that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. Alright, so, even though the northern kingdom was largely a rebellious people, to be taken to captivity by the Assyrians, God was hopeful that the only ones that would listen to God's word at this point in time would be a new generation, okay? So literally speaking, the young children who have not made the mistakes, they're still innocent, they're still growing, they're still learning, God says it's the little babies that we need to teach doctrine to. Alright? Again, it's important that we as a church allow our children to be part of church, okay? Not to remove the children away from service, thinking that they can't understand, it's too much for them, no, no, no. It's our children that must heed and listen. They're the ones that God is going to use in the next generation to come. And not only do we see obviously a very literal teaching of children, because the adults have messed up so badly, but of course the spiritual application for us is the moment that you're saved, you're born again, born into God's family, and because you're born, you're a babe, you're a baby in the Lord. And in 1 Peter 2, 2 it says, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby. Look, when you're recently saved, someone's brand new saved, you say, pastor, I've only been saved, will we count a two-year-old as a baby? Maybe we say a toddler. Say pastor, I've only been saved one year, two years, okay, you really still are a baby. Like honestly, beyond, like, okay, no, no, you don't understand, pastor, I've heard five sermons a day for the past two years. You know, I can tell, I know more Bible than the average person. Do you believe that happens? People talk like that? I've only been saved for a couple of years, yep, I've seen it. You know what it is? The crown of pride. I'm a baby, but I can consume the strong meat. No, no, if you're a baby, you know what's going to help you grow? The sincere milk of the word. You know, I always find it funny when someone gets saved and the first book they want to read is the book of Revelation. Like we've all done it though, right? Like we can stomach this, I've just been saved. I watched the documentary, right, whatever eight times documentary it is. I've got it now. It's like you haven't even drunk the milk. You don't even know about humility. You don't even know how to memorize John 3.16 just yet. Like you don't know anything about living by faith day by day. You haven't gone through the persecution and realizing that you can't fight your own battles. You need to always draw from the strength of the Lord. You know, you haven't learned the most basic things. You probably don't even know how long ago God created the heavens and the earth. No, no, I know. You know because you watched some creation science documentary, but you've never sat down and read the Bible and worked out exactly how well the world is and it's just all laid out for us in the scriptures. It's true. People tell me all about the end times, but I ask the most basic questions and they don't know the answer. And it's a sincere milk of God's word that we need. Pride will make you think, no, no, I don't need that. It's too basic. I need the strong things, all right? I'm ready to call out the reprobate, even though I've only been saved for six months. It's crazy, but I've seen that behavior. I've seen that behavior amongst believers, but I'm trying to tell you, brethren, it's the crown of pride. We need the milk. There's nothing wrong with milk. And in fact, continues in verse number 10, and look, if you've only been saved a short period of time, like, you know, God doesn't use these illustrations for no reason, right? Like, we know what a baby is. We know that a one-year-old is not going to be fully developed. We know that a five-year-old is barely fully developed. We know that, hey, you know, we say when a man hits the, or in Australia, we say, you know, when someone hits the age of 18, you're an adult, but really in the Bible, you're 20 years old by the time God really counts you're an adult. We also have learned that our brains don't fully develop to about 26 anyway. And so why would God use this illustration of growth if it means nothing? Like, why do we think that by the time I'm three years old as a saved believer, I'm ready to just pass through a church or something like that? People are like that, okay? And what it is, it's the crown of pride. There's nothing wrong with milk. Milk is beautiful. It's nutritious for you. I mean, it's God's word that helps you grow. That's why the verse and the tense is like this. For precepts must be upon precepts. Precept upon precepts. Line upon line. Line upon line. Here a little and there a little. One of the wonderful things about the internet is just how much information we have at our fingertips. It's wonderful. But sometimes believers just absorb large amounts of doctrine. Large amounts of preaching. Like I said, a year later, they think they're ready to pass through a church. A year later, they're ready to go to some old IFB church and rebuke the pastor that's been preaching there for 20, 30 years. Yeah, it might be watered down. But I tell you, that pastor knows a lot more than some two-year-old who's only been listening to doctrine online. Like that pastor has gone through experiences, has helped church people, has had pains and sufferings, has had to cry out to the Lord over the years. And sometimes, he realizes his church is just not developed and just needs more milk. Here a little and there a little. And brethren, we need that sometimes. It can't always be Isaiah. Isaiah's a deep book. It's a meaty book. But we also need a little bit here and a little bit there. Okay, just, hey, just drink a bit of milk here, a bit of milk there. Line upon line, just build on what you've learned before. Slowly, it's growth. Take your time. Absorb, digest, okay? Have time to digest your food or you're consuming, consuming, consuming. And then you're just this overweight Christian, full of pride, big-headed, and thinking of better than most pastors in Australia. No, no, no, we're trying to overcome pride. And the only time you're ready for the meat is once you've absorbed all the milk, once you know the milk very well. And my strong recommendation to you, brethren, is just ground yourself on the fundamental doctrines first. Why do you attend a Baptist church? Maybe you don't even know. Why do we read the King James Bible? Maybe you don't know. Maybe you do, I don't know. We're all different places. Are you able to put a soul within presentation together? Not necessarily you're ready to go and preach door to door, but if you just happen to speak to a person you care about, a family or friend, God gives you one-on-one time, are you ready to just show them the gospel according to God's word? If you're married, are you taking God's word, His milk, all right, and showing love to your spouse, and fulfilling the roles and responsibilities that God has laid out on your heart according to His word? Are we doing the most basic things, or are we just ready to call out the next reprobate? And the next false prophet, and everyone's wrong, and we're the only one that's right, that's crazy attitude, and I've seen plenty of it, and it makes me sick, actually. It's like watching a baby in nappies, trying to go and be the CEO of Amazon or something. It's like, that doesn't work. You've not shown anything of value. You still need to grow. Cuz when we start to elevate ourselves ahead of time, it's pride. And really, we need to put on the crown of glory and say, Lord, just let me follow you, Lord, your ways. Show me, Lord, guide me, help me. Lord, maybe this doctrine I don't fully grasp, can you show me your word? And you need to get off sometimes the teaching online and just open God's word and say, hold on, why do I believe this doctrine? Was I convinced by the powerful preacher, or was I convinced by the milk of God's word? And you need to learn to make that transition at some point. So you go, hey, okay, preach, yeah, might be true, good. But why do I believe it, though? Let me go to God's word, dig in, read, okay, I see that principle, I see that principle, I see this black and white. That's not as black and white as that preacher made it out to be. I don't know where to stand there, it doesn't matter. Put that aside, line upon line, principle upon principle. Let me get grounded on the fundamental doctrines of blessing our Baptist church. And when it comes to all the meatier stuff, maybe end times goes over my head, doesn't matter. There is so much more doctrine to learn and understand, so much more milk to absorb, and then once I've grown and once I've matured, I know that God will allow me to eat and drink and eat of that meat and teach of that meat in due time. Verse 11, now again, this is about the Northern Kingdom. I'll give you my thoughts. These verses are a little bit confusing, but I think I know what it's saying here. Verse 11, for with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. So if Israel, Northern Kingdom has been taken into captivity by Syria, then where they've been taken into captivity, it's another tongue. It's the Assyrian language that they don't fully understand. I'll give you the spiritual application in a moment. Verse number 12, it says, 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. Now again, from a very practical, I couldn't really understand what this is speaking about. I do believe it's speaking, they're hearing the Assyrian tongue, they don't understand. God is trying to get through to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but they're not hearing. They're not hearing, partly because they're hearing another language. And again, I don't know what that really signifies, but I do see the spiritual application. So, let me show you what that is. Keep your finger there and come with me to 1 Corinthians 14. Come with me to 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians 14 deals with tongue speaking. Well, I don't like saying tongue speaking, cuz that's how the charismatic, charismatic, whatever you call them, say it. I'm not gonna cover the charismatic side. Let's just deal with, you know, tongues is just another language. Where God gave a miracle, the Holy Spirit came upon people in the early church. One of the spiritual gifts was able to just speak another language without having to learn it, okay? And when they spoke that language, it wasn't to impress the crowd, it was to preach the gospel. In a language that they could understand, all right? So, when we understand that, 1 Corinthians 14, 21, it says, In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, for yet for all that they will, sorry, let me read that again, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. All right, interesting. So, what's that about? Like, okay, you gotta speak to your people in other languages? But they're not gonna hear you, Lord? Verse number 22, wherefore tongues are for a sign. So, other languages. Not to them that believe, I'll stop there for a moment. You know, the Charismatics, they believe they're saved, right? They believe they're God's people, and they still speak in tongues. But it's not for those that believe, it's not for believers. It's for unbelievers, okay? It says here, but to them that believe not, is that any clearer? That the gift of tongues, being able to speak in other language, was not for believers, it was for unbelievers, people that believe not. But prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe, that's preaching, prophesying, preaching God's word. All right, why is it for the non-believer? It's because if God gave me the gift of, the real gift of tongue speaking, and I came across someone that can only speak, What's a language that's not easy to speak? Swahili. Swahili. If I came across someone who can only speak Swahili and can't understand English, and God gave me the ability to speak Swahili, in tongues, in that tongue, I'm now helping someone that is an unbeliever to hear the gospel to be saved. But once they're saved, there's no more need for tongue speaking, okay? What they need now that they're saved is the prophesying, is the preaching, cuz they are believers at this point in time. So God is using this illustration back with Israel, that they would not hear God, not even their own language, and then they'll take it into another country, and they still couldn't hear. Well, obviously, cuz they're hearing this Syrian language, and God is using that as a metaphor that when God gave the early church the ability to speak other tongues, that it didn't profit the unbelieving Jews, okay? Cuz it's another language, like what language is that? Yeah, but it was helping get other people saved, and that's the purpose of that special miracle gift, all right? So again, how do we apply that to the time of Isaiah? I'm not sure exactly, but again, I can see how God uses that to teach a spiritual truth, the need to reach all the world in other languages, as we go and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Back to Isaiah 29, I'm in 28, sorry, Isaiah 28, and verse number 13. All right, verse number 13. 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. Can you guys, as my church, can you please take this on board? This is how you learn the Bible, okay? Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, there a little. When you hear a sermon, and sermons can have a lot of material, a lot of call of actions, but I know you're not gonna apply the whole sermon this week, not even me. Especially if you're coming here in two sermons or three sermons a week, maybe you're listening to other sermons online. My strong encouragement to people that ask me a lot of times is, just take one thing out of the sermon, and just do that one thing. Instead of trying to do ten things, and failing to do ten things, just do one thing, here a little, and there a little. You say, well, there are aspects here in the past that you've preached that I think I need to apply to my life. This part's hard, this part's a little bit easier. Okay, do what's a bit easier. Do the milk, apply the milk. Because that's how you grow. And then five years down the track, when you hear me preach a similar sermon, or someone else preach a similar sermon, maybe at that point you'll be like, hey, that part, that was a little bit difficult for me, now I can do that easier. Now I've got the ability, I've got the strength to do that part in my life. Yeah, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. That's the magic, the silver bullet, let's say it that way. That's the silver bullet to growth. Otherwise, you're going to be like a lot of Christians that I've come across, when they're full of zeal and excited and want to do great things for God, and six months later they're out of church and full of pride and everyone else is a problem. They're the only ones that's holy and loves the Lord and everyone else doesn't love the Lord apparently. They've got the crown of pride. Verse number 14. Oh, by the way, it tells us why we need it like that. Verse number 13, the next part of it says, here a little, there a little, that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. So when you don't do it, when you don't grow slowly, that's going to be you. Fall backward, be broken, snared and taken. And again, I've seen lots of Christians like that. They just want to get straight to the meat, they want to be superhero Christian, they want to criticize every other believer and every other church and every other pastor and before you know it, they're out of the faith pretty much. I mean, they're saved, but they're just, you know, instead of admitting I was full of pride, it's like everyone else has failed me and everyone else is stupid and blah, blah, blah. All right, let's continue. Verse number 13, verse number 14, sorry. Okay, so verse number 14. Now that we've seen the problem with the northern kingdom of Israel, now God speaks to the southern kingdom of Judah and says learn from the mistakes of the northern kingdom. And for us, we need to learn from the mistakes of the northern kingdom as well, okay? That's why it says in verse number 14, wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Once again, Hezekiah was a godly man, but he had people in his kingdom that were wicked men and so God is speaking to these wicked people. But also the instruction is to us. We need to hear the word of the Lord, right? Instead of walking in our pride, we say, no, Lord, we're not going to walk in our pride, we're going to walk according to the word of the Lord. Verse number 15, because ye have said, so this is what the wicked in Jerusalem 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 in the falsehood we have hid ourselves. So God is kind of, God will mock their answer. These wicked people even in the southern kingdom of Judah are saying, no, no, we're just going to go to hell. We're just, you know, yeah, we're just going to die and we're going to go to hell. You know what this reminds me of? You've seen this, you know what I'm talking about. When you go to the southern kingdom of Judah and you ask them, you know, if you were to die today, would you be sure that you'd be going to heaven or would you have some doubts? Have you guys ever come across a situation where someone says, I'm pretty sure I'm going to hell. It's kind of like they're just blowing it off. Like, oh, I'm just going to go to hell. Like some people are actually sincere. Look, I think I'm going to go to hell. You know, one of my greatest experiences of soul winning was a woman who was a devil worshiper and she said to me, I'm going to hell. And I said, why? And she showed me her back and she had a tattoo of the devil or something like that. And I'm like, like, hey, look, your body's just going to perish in the grave. Like that drawing on your body means nothing. Like God's more concerned about the sin in your heart than what you've drawn in your body. And praise God she got saved and, you know, she was all teary after that. Not that that proves anything, but, you know, just those little experiences that make soul winning so exciting sometimes. But we've got some people. We spot are probably going to hell. Like they're blowing off the question. Like, I don't care. And I've had people say that. Oh, if God thinks I should go to hell, then I'm fine with that. And suddenly you hear what you have to say. That's kind of the response that God is hearing from the people of Jerusalem. Okay. And then God responds in verse number 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste. Now, again, if you know your Bibles, you know who God is speaking about here. They're saying we've made an allegiance to hell. God says, look, I've given you the cornerstone, which of course is Jesus Christ. Okay. I'll just quickly read to you. You know these passages. Romans 9 31. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, have not attained to the law of righteousness. God is saying, hey, the Israel that have tried to be righteous by the law have not attained it. They can't be righteous by the law. Nobody can keep the law and be righteous in the eyes of God. Verse number 32. Wherefore, why? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at the stumbling stone. So God is saying because they don't have faith. Okay. And then it says in verse number 33. As it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense. But this is an important thing about the rock. And whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Believe in it on who? On him, which is the rock. You know, who do we need to believe on to be saved? Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the rock of our salvation. He is the cornerstone. And so God has reminded them, okay, you've made your so-called allegiances to hell, but I'm giving you a way out here. I'm giving you the cornerstone. Are you going to hear? Are you going to stumble? Or are you going to believe on him? Who is the cornerstone? That's why at the end of verse number 16, just right at the end of it, he says, he that believeth shall not make haste. Again, the one that believes on the cornerstone. Doesn't matter if you've made your allegiance to hell. It means nothing. People think that, oh yeah, I'm probably going to go to hell. I sowed my soul. You can't sell your soul to the devil. Amen. Okay. You know, either God makes you reprobate in his time, that's a different story altogether. But you know, anybody is able to come and receive Christ as Saviour. As wicked as people can be, Christ has died for the sins of the whole world. Praise God for that. So I'll go to hell. God says, look, I don't want you to go to hell. Here's the cornerstone. Believe on him. All right. I mean, God's trying to get through to the southern kingdom. Learn from the mistakes of the northern kingdom. Verse number 17. Judgment also will lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters 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 ye shall be trodden down by it. So God is kind of mocking their answers about making an alliance, allegiance with death and hell. God says, well, that's not going to stand up. When you shall be trodden down by it. Again, he's referring to the Assyrian Empire there. Because they took out Israel, and they briefly, they briefly invaded the southern kingdom of Judah. Okay. The southern kingdom of Judah was on the verge of being destroyed by Assyria as well. Okay. King Hezekiah prays to the Lord, Isaiah prays to the Lord, and God does a miracle and turns them aside, you know, turns them back. But God is showing, look, you know, like I know you're mocking about this hell and death and all this. You're not going to be saying that when you're taken over by Assyria though. Like he's saying, look, you know, judgment's coming to you unless you fix things. Then verse number 19. From the time that it go forth, it shall take you. Again, speaking of Assyria. For morning by morning shall it pass over you, by day and by night, and it shall be a vexation only to understand the reports. The report of, hey, the Assyrians are here, the Assyrians are on the land. He says, this is going to bother you. This is going to be a vexation to you, a problem to you, a concern, a worry. And he gives the illustration, verse number 20. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it. And the covering narrower than he that can wrap himself in it. Now, this has never been a problem for me because I'm not very tall. Pretty much any bed I sleep in is going to cover me from head to toe. But the taller people, probably brother Jackson, maybe you've had this problem. I don't know. You probably have beds that just don't and you've got to crunch up and maybe the covers aren't long enough. I know that feeling where covers might, you know, like I'm sleeping in the bed with Christina and she might have taken all the covers and I'm like cold. I'm trying to get the covers off her. And so it's like vexations like, oh, I'm not comfortable in this situation. I mean, God's using that illustration. That's how a series is going to be to you guys. You're like when they're on your land. You're not going to be comfortable, okay? It's going to be very uncomfortable for your situation. And then verse number 21. 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. I'll stop there for a moment. So, Mount Perazim and the Valley of Gibeon are locations that King David had victory over enemies like the Philistines. So God's reminding the nation that God's had victory for Israel, for Judah against her enemies, okay? So God's done that work in the past, okay? So in the same way that he's done that, he says that he may do his work, but this is where it comes interesting. His strange work and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now what's strange about it is just like God has given Israel victory over her enemies, the strange part is that God is going to give the enemies victory over Israel or over Judah at this point in time, okay? Just in the same way I gave you victory, well I'm going to give victory to the enemies against you guys. And that for you is going to be strange. Like that's not what you expect God to do for you, okay? That's why he says in verse number 22, now therefore be ye not mockers. Ah, it's not going to happen. Ah, I'm going to go to hell anyway, who cares? God says, therefore be ye not mockers. Lest your bands be made strong, for I have heard from the Lord God of host consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. Give ye ear, and hearer my voice, hearken, and hear my speech. So God's like, okay, they've been mocking God, and God's like, look, just listen to what I'm saying. Like God's pleading with the southern kingdom. I don't want to wipe you out like I had to wipe out the northern kingdom. You know, I just feel like we see God's heart is, you know, he's like sometimes I think, well, we'll just destroy them. You know, whatever that time when God says to Moses, look, stand aside, I'm just going to wipe out the whole nation. And I'll start a new people just from you, Moses. And Moses is like, God, please, don't do it, don't do it. What are the nations going to say about you? That you took the people out of the land and you just destroyed them in the wilderness. Sometimes I just wonder like, God, man, you know, and like we see his long suffering, we see his patience. You know, we're such a rebellious, prideful people. But then I'm reminded when I'm rebellious and I'm prideful, and I just thank God you didn't wipe me out. Wipe me out, right? Just that one time that I was contrary to you, that one time that I disobeyed you, you didn't wipe me out, you were patient with me. And so it's reminded like, you know, even when we're sinning and offending our Lord God Almighty, he's begging us, just listen to my word, do what I say. It's going to be better for us in the long run. Now get rid of that pride. And then he uses that illustration in verse 24. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? Clods is just the soil or clay, okay? So God's doing this illustration. He says, look, for you to learn and to go my way instead of being full of pride, some plowing needs to be done. The soil needs to be broken up a little bit so we can plant, okay? And that's what pride is like. Pride makes you stiff. Pride makes you hard, hardened against God's word. To the point where you can read God's word, you can hear preaching and you know you're wrong, you know your face has been ripped and you say, ah, okay. God is saying, look, we need to plow that ground. We need to plow the ground of your heart so God can start planting his seeds and bring a fruitful work in your life. Now just remember that, verse 24. Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground? If you kept the finger in Hosea, come back with me to Hosea. Hosea chapter 10, verse 11. I just want to show you one more parallel. Hosea chapter 10, verse 11. Though there are many parallels in the book of Hosea. You can do your own study in your own time. Hosea chapter 10, verse 11. The Bible says, And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, that's a cow, that loveth to tread out the corn, but I passed over upon her fair neck, I will make Ephraim to ride, Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. There's that reference to the clods again. And then it says, verse 12. Sow to yourselves in righteousness Reap in mercy. You see, God wants us to sow the hardness of our heart, the stiff neck that we can have, the pride. He wants us to plow that ground, and sow righteousness, seeds of righteousness. Reap in mercy. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain righteousness upon you. God wants to rain his righteousness, his blessings, his rewards in your life. He wants to just bless you abundantly with rain. But that rain's not going to seep through if we've got hard ground in our lives. God says, Break the pride. Right? Sow the seeds of righteousness. Here a little, there a little, the milk of God's word, the meat of God's word as you grow. Do it God's way. He is going to bless you. A great fruitfulness in your Christian life. And so again, we see that parallel with Hosea and Isaiah 28. Back to Isaiah 28, verse number 25. The rest of it is all about plowing. He uses illustrations of real farming. Some of this stuff goes over my head a little bit. But it says, When he have made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fetches and scatter the common, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place? God is saying that when the farmer comes, he plows a certain way, he sows a certain way for different crops, and you know why? Because we need different elements in our life to develop and grow. And again, God is reminding us the importance of toiling the ground in our hearts, the hardened pride that we have, you know, to break it up, to be humble, to be able to be used by God, that we can have all these crops and fruits come out of our life. Verse number 26. For his God doth instruct him to discretion and doth teach him. So that's the thing, right? When we soften ourselves to God, we need God, you teach me. You give me direction in my life. For the fitchers, verse number 27, are not fresh, we are fresh in instruments. And again, if you maybe are a farm, maybe you know what it's all about. I don't know, okay? Neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the common, but the fitchers are beaten out with a staff and the common with a rod. So it looks like sometimes a bit of beating is necessary. A bit of God's discipline, a bit of chastisement necessary to bring the fruit of righteousness in our lives. Verse number 28. Bread corn is bruised because he will not ever be fresh in it, nor break it with the will of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. And verse number 29 is the ending, right? And I believe this is the key to overcoming the crown of pride. Like again, God used the illustration of farming and breaking up and sowing the ground, planting seeds and reaping in different manners and whatever all this means. But I believe this is the key, okay? If we've got the crown of pride, we need the crown of glory instead. It says in verse number 29, this also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts. Two things. What comes forth from the Lord of hosts? Which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Two things. Wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. This is what I take out of this. To overcome the crown of pride in our lives, we need to recognize what is, we need to, instead of living our lives, how we want it to live, our will, we need to go, okay, Lord, no, no, you're wonderful in counsel. I need to go to your counsel, which is his word, right? We need to know his word. We need to learn his word. We need to understand his word. We need to read the Bibles for ourselves because his counsel is wonderful. All right, you've read it. You've understood it. But part two is this. And excellent in working. We need to put what we've learned into, we need to work what we've learned, or we need to do what we've learned, right? Okay, I know doctrine. Well, great, that's part one. But do the word. Do the excellence in working that God would have in your life. And this is the same as James 1.22. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. You know, when you're just a hearer, sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon after sermon, you've been saved one year, and you know all about the revelation, you can rebuke every pastor because they're not as smart as you. You've deceived yourself because you're a hearer, but you're not a doer. You don't do the milk of God's word. You've heard it all, and you think you're righteous, you think you're this wonderful Christian, but you've deceived yourself. You're wearing the crown of pride. And so, I'll overcome that, Reverend. You need to understand that God's counsel is wonderful, and we need God to be excellent in his working for us. When you say, God, you need to change me. You need to help me get this pride, this hardness that I have in my heart. Let me break up that soil so we can plant some seeds of righteousness, and then, Lord, you can rain down the blessings that you have for me, and I can be used by you, Lord. I can be used in excellence in working, do something to fulfill your will, to work for your kingdom, and to be a blessing to your people. But, Reverend, the title of the sermon was The Crown of Pride. I hope that chapter makes a lot more sense to you. Again, we see the problem with the Northern Kingdom. God has got instructions for the Southern Kingdom. Don't make the same mistakes. That's instructions for us. Don't make the same mistakes. And for a while, they improved. They did better, but unfortunately, the story goes, they were then taken over by Babylon because they went the same direction. We can go the same direction. Like, we might have moments of improvement in our life, but maybe in the long way, maybe down the track full of pride, you know, thinking everyone else is a problem and forgetting man. Maybe you've only been saved for a period of time, and there you are lifting yourself up, thinking that you're wiser than everybody else, when all you needed from the beginning was a sincere milk of God's word. There's nothing wrong that babes need that. It's wonderful. It's beautiful. It helps you grow. But, brethren, we need to take off that crown of pride and wear the crown of glory. Let's pray.