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Drunkards, Scoffers & Tough Nuts – part 4
Isaiah 28:1-29 (17-29)
October 8, 2023

Tonight we want to jump back in to the message we started this morning.
• I had not originally intended to spend an entire sermon on verse 16,
• But what an important verse it is
• And certainly a joy of ours to gaze upon the perfection and value of Christ.

None of us who trust in Him have ever found Him to be a disappointment,
NOR WILL WE EVER.

But let’s jump back now into the flow of Isaiah’s sermon.
• You know we are discussing the stubbornness of Israel.
• You know Isaiah is asking Israel just how much they are going to force God to put them through?

And Isaiah gives 3 analogies regarding their stubbornness.
#1 DRUNKARDS
Isaiah 28:1-8

• The priests and prophets of Jerusalem were compared to drunks who totter in their judgments and their messages were comparable to vomit on the table.

• Their stubbornness was seen in their refusal to rightly value God’s word.

• Just as a drunk values the wrong things (sin over God)
• These priests and prophets valued their own opinions more than God’s.

It is stubbornness.

#2 SCOFFERS
Isaiah 28:9-22

• We saw their mocking of Isaiah as though he was talking baby-talk.
• We saw God announce that He would now speak to them through stammering lips.
• God would hide His word.

We saw how the rulers didn’t care because they already had a plan.
They had made an alliance with Egypt.

Their stubbornness emerged again
Because they didn’t see the need to listen to God
Since they had a plan for facing the judgment on their own.

They had a plan.
They had an ally.
They had a deliverer.

Isaiah called it a “covenant with death”
And he said it wouldn’t work.

And o God has now set out to set the record straight.

We said this morning that in verses 16-22
God lays out 4 things every scoffer ought to know.

If you scoff at God’s word
And have your own plan for facing the judgment,
Then here are 4 truths you need to be reacquainted with.

1) THERE IS ONLY ONE AVAILABLE SAVIOR (16)

We looked at this this morning.

God has provided only one means of salvation.
“I am laying in Zion a stone”

This is that foundation that will survive the judgment and it’s the only thing that will.
• “a tested stone” – chosen and proven, certainly up to the challenge.
• “a costly cornerstone” – costly but worth it! Precious and valuable.
• “for the foundation firmly placed” – the stone that everything will depend on.

Jesus Christ is the Only Savior.
HE IS THE ONLY SALVATION WHICH GOD HAS PROVIDED.

And this is what every scoffer needs to know.
• They think they have found a different avenue of salvation.
• They have made a “covenant with death”
• They have made a “pact” “with sheol”

That is a foolish notion because THERE IS ONLY ONE SAVIOR.
• There is only one salvation.
• Only one rock is capable of surviving the coming judgment
• And it isn’t Egypt or any other would-be savior.
• Only Jesus can save.

We saw all that this morning, TONIGHT WE MOVE ON.
3 more things a scoffer ought to know.

There is Only One Available Savior
2) THERE IS ONLY ONE APPROVED STANDARD (17)

(17) “I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place.”

I remember years ago watching a video of a Catholic priest on Larry King who was debating John MacArthur who assured all listeners that when God judges men it will be on a curve.

• That God will only require 60% or 70% in order to get into heaven.

IT IS A POPULAR VIEW.

Men instinctively know that they are sinful.
We hear statements like, “We all fall short” or “Nobody’s perfect”

And while those are true statements
They SHOULD NOT be comforting ones.

Mankind use them today as a means of comforting their anxiety.
They see their sinfulness and their imperfection
And then seek to eliminate their fears by saying, “Well, nobody’s perfect”

And the basis behind the statement is to basically say:
“God can’t judge men for being sinful or else God would have to judge everyone.”

If God wants people in heaven
Then He’s just going to have lower the bar.

And if you remember it,
You know that this was a mindset which Jesus directly confronted in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus says, “Do not think…”
• Because that is precisely what they thought.
• They thought that when the Messiah came
• He would clarify which parts of God’s Law really mattered and which parts didn’t.

We remember for instance the Rich Young Ruler
• After Jesus told him to enter into life he must “keep the commandments”
• And that man responded by saying, “Which ones?”
• As if to say: Surely you can’t mean all of them.

We remember Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well,
• After talking to her about immorality and worship she said:

John 4:25 “The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”

Jesus said, “Do not think
That I came to abolish the Law and the prophets”
He didn’t come to do away with one letter or stroke.

BUT MEN THINK THAT OUT OF NECESSITY.
They know that the only way they will ever enter heaven
Based upon their own merit is if God lowers the standard.

The only way Egypt can save you from God’s judgment
Is if God’s judgment isn’t too strict or severe.
Surely He only requires 60% or 70%

If you are a person who scoffs at God’s Law
Then you must embrace such a view.
• If you are going to willfully neglect to honor, read, listen to, and obey God’s Law
• Then your only hope is that God isn’t that strict in His application of it.

BUT HERE GOD HAS A WARNING FOR SCOFFERS.
God reveals to them the standard of His judgment.

“I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level;”

Apparently God wasn’t joking when He said, “
You shall be holy as I am holy”

• When God judges men He will NOT judge them on the curve.
• When God judges men He will NOT judge them based on percentages.

All men will stand next to God’s righteous plum line.
All men will stand under God’s righteous level.

And just to make sure we are still clear on this.
THIS IS ALSO JESUS.

Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

Paul said that God would “judge the world in righteousness”
And that He would do so “through a Man”.

In other words God’s standard of judgment will be a man.
WHAT MAN?
• The man who God declared righteous by raising Him from the dead.

Listen to Jesus speak about it:
John 5:22 “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,”

And then later Jesus says:
John 5:26-29 “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

We talked about this last year at Disciple Now with our teenagers
And I hope you already understand it, but if not it is so important.

I typically at this point like to ask the question:
“Do good people go to heaven?”
• And most of the time our churchy background overtakes our Bible reading and we say, “No.”
• Now we say that because we know that “no one is good, not even one”.

But look again at what Jesus said.
“Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

What did He say?
• If you do the good deeds you go to a resurrection of life
• But if you do evil deeds you go to a resurrection of judgment.

Listen again to what Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler.
Matthew 19:16-17 “And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

When this man asked how to go to heaven Jesus did not say, “believe”,
He said, “keep the commandments”.

It is the same implied point.
You are going to have to do the good deeds
If you are going to enter into life.

Listen to the apostle Paul:
Romans 2:5-10 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

And there it is again.
• Those who do good get life, those who do evil get judgment.

So let me ask you again,
“Do good people go to heaven?”
And the answer is: YES
• If they are holy as He is holy…
• If they are perfect as He is perfect…
• If they are good like He is good…
• Then when they die they will go to heaven.

WHY?
Because “justice is the measuring line and righteousness the level.”

But what happens if a man is half a bubble off?
• What happens if a man is a little out of plum?
• What happens if a man isn’t quite perfect?

WELL I SHOULD THINK IT IS CLEAR.
THAT MAN IS JUDGED
Because he has failed to meet the standards required by God.

Does that make sense?
God will judge all men according to their deeds.

With God it is righteousness or bust.
There is only one approved standard.

That is why it is SO FOOLISH TO SCOFF at the word of God,
For it is there that God reveals His righteous standard.

It is through God’s Law that He shows men what righteousness looks like.

And you say,
“Well the Law doesn’t help me, it only condemns me.”

Quite right, but that is NOT ALL God’s word tells you.

God’s word ALSO TELLS YOU what to do
If you have been found guilty of sin
And have fallen short of God’s righteousness.

We are told to look to Jesus who perfectly fulfilled God’s standard and will make a way for us fulfill it in Him.

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.”

• At D-Now last year we told the kids to imagine that in order to go to heaven God requires a man to run an 8 second 100m dash.
• (That’s difficult since the current world record is 9.58 set by Ussain Bolt)
• And so the world says, “Well, if God wants anyone in heaven He’s going to have to lower the bar. He might need to limit it to a 14 second 100m or none of us are going to make it.”
• But that is where Jesus shows up and says, “No, God is not yielding. It’s 8 seconds or no entrance, but if you like, I’ll run the race for you and you can count My time on your card.” And Jesus then runs an 8 second 100m.

He didn’t come to abolish, but to fulfill.

So many people assume Jesus came to lower the bar
And widen the gate so that sinful people could go to heaven.

WRONG!
Jesus ENDORSED the Father’s plan of righteousness or bust
And then He FULFILLED it for us.

But the standard doesn’t change.

DON’T SCOFF AT GOD’S WORD.
It will condemn you but it will also drive you to Christ.

There is only one available savior
There is only one approved standard
3) THERE IS ONLY ONE ANTICIPATED SCENARIO (18-20)

(18-20) “Your covenant with death will be canceled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. “As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.” The bed is too short on which to stretch out, And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.”

For all those who ignore God’s standard.
For all those who ignore God’s savior.
They have only one scenario to look forward to and that is judgment.

The writer of Hebrews said:
Hebrews 10:26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

If you reject the only Savior available
Then all you can look forward to is “a terrifying expectation of judgment”

And that is exactly what Isaiah says here as well.

NO ESCAPE
“Your covenant with death will be canceled, and your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you become its trampling place.”

You’re not going to make it.
• So you trusted in Egypt…
• So you trusted in Muhammad…
• So you trusted in your own good works…
• It won’t work.

Your house is built on sand, and the storm is going to level it.
YOU WON’T SURVIVE.

What about these guys?
“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’”

Or how about the man who tried to enter the wedding banquet without wedding clothes?
“Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Whatever plan you had for escaping judgment, it won’t work.

NO PEACE
(19) “As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”

You’re NOT going to get peace and hope and safety and confidence.
• You’re going to be like a man caught in a tidal wave of judgment.
• It’s just going to bowl you over and over and over and over.

There will never be any peace for you.
And the more you understand this, the more terrified you’re going to be.

NO REST
(20) “The bed is too short on which to stretch out, And the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in.”

Ever try to sleep on an airplane?
Ever try to sleep in the cold without enough cover?

You won’t get much rest in such circumstances.
And that is the reality of judgment.

And you see the point of Isaiah.
It is A REMINDER TO EVERY SCOFFER who rejects God’s word.

You have chosen a false savior
And placed your hope there instead of listening to God’s word.

WELL YOU NEED TO KNOW
• There is only ONE available savior.
• There is only ONE approved standard
• There is only ONE anticipated scenario
• All you have to look forward to is a sure and certain judgment.

There is nothing else.
It is either heaven or hell.

• Those who are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus go to heaven.
• Those who are not go to hell.

And on that day they will find that
Their plan for facing death did not work.

WHAT IS YOUR PLAN?
• How were you planning to explain your sin to God?
• How were you planning in working around His holy expectation?

If that plan is anything other than Jesus then you are sunk.
All you have coming is sheer terror.

Every scoffer needs to know that.
• Only God’s word reveals the savior.
• Only God’s word reveals the standard.
• Only God’s word reveals the scenario.

DON’T SCOFF AT IT.

One more thing ever scoffer needs to know.
4) THERE IS ONLY ONE ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION (21-22)

(21-22) “For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon, To do His task, His unusual task, And to work His work, His extraordinary work. And now do not carry on as scoffers, Or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts Of decisive destruction on all the earth.”

God is coming in judgment.
• “Perazim” is where God broke through the Philistine army to deliver David.
• “Gibeon” is where God used Joshua to sley the Ammorites.
• Both of those places were places of God’s outpouring judgment.

And I like that Isaiah calls it
“His unusual task” and “His extraordinary work”
• God is a Savior.
• God delights in salvation.
• God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

BUT HE WILL DO IT.
• He will judge, but He takes no delight.
• It is “His unusual task”

And because God will do it,
There is a piece of advice given here.

(22) “And now do not carry on as scoffers, Or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts of decisive destruction on all the earth.”

What is the acceptable solution?
REPENT
• Start honoring God’s word.
• Start listening to what God has to say.
• Repent of your sin and trust in His Savior.

When Peter revealed that Israel had killed God’s Son they were terrified and asked what to do.

Acts 2:38-40 “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

He preached again in Jerusalem.
Acts 3:19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”

You must repent of your scoffing!
You must repent of your neglect of God’s word!
You must seek it and listen to it and obey it.
For God has it within His power to squeeze you until you will.

And thus God has now corrected the scoffers.
It is not wise to scoff at God’s word.

So now Isaiah has confronted the stubbornness of Jerusalem with 2 analogies, “Drunkards and Scoffers”

Let’s now take a look at the 3rd.
#3 TOUGH NUTS
Isaiah 28:23-29

It’s a simple farming analogy.
It is not hard to understand, and it is quite fitting.

(23-24) “Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my words. Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?”

So we start with a couple of questions.
Their just farming questions.

When a farmer goes and hooks up his plow so that he might break up the ground, does he “plow continually”?

“Does he continually turn and harrow the ground?”

And what is the answer? NO

• Surely he plows until the ground is soft.
• Surely he plows until the ground will take the seed.
• But he doesn’t just keep ripping up the ground.

His plowing is for a purpose
And when that purpose is reached he stops.

(25-26) “Does he not level its surface And sow dill and scatter cummin And plant wheat in rows, Barley in its place and rye within its area? For his God instructs and teaches him properly.”

So he only plows it for so long.
There is not need to cut up the land any more than that.

AND THEN WHAT DOES HE DO?
He sows grain.

Now why do you suppose a farmer only plows so much
And then plants the grain?

“For his God instructs and teaches him properly.”

In other words, This knowledge is not man’s knowledge, it comes from God.

That isn’t a man invented principle, that is a God invented principle.
THAT IS HOW GOD OPERATES.

God doesn’t plow just to plow.
God plows for a purpose.

And if that ground will yield to the plow
Then God will stop plowing and will plant a seed.

That makes sense.

(27-28) “For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin; But dill is beaten out with a rod, and cummin with a club. Grain for bread is crushed, Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, He does not thresh it longer.”

Here we move from planting season to harvest.

And when you plant “dill” and it produces a crop
You don’t have to run it under “a threshing sledge”.

WHY?
Because all you have to do is hit the plant with a rod and it will yield up its seed.
The same with “cummin”.
• You don’t have to grind it, just whack it with a club and it will give you the seed.

Now the same CAN’T BE SAID for “Grain”
“Grain for bread is crushed”

If you want to turn wheat into flower you’ve got to run it under “a threshing sledge”
• You’ve got to crush it.
• You’ve got to really hit it hard.

Dill and cummin not so much, but wheat is hard.
You’ve got to hit it harder to make it productive.

BUT EVEN THEN:
“he does not continue to thresh it forever”

WHY?
“Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it.”

Even wheat, which requires a stiffer beating, isn’t beaten forever.
It’s only beaten until it yields.

And then Isaiah says:
(29) “This also comes from the LORD of hosts, Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great.”

It is the equivalent
Of when Jesus gave the parable of the soils and then said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ISAIAH TALKING ABOUT?

In this world
• There is some ground that is soft and only requires a little plowing.
• There is some ground that is hard and requires more plowing.

But it is never plowed just to plow it.
And when it finally yields the plowing stops.

In this world
• There are some seeds that are soft and require a little pounding.
• There are some seeds that are hard and require a severe pounding.

But it is never just beaten to beat it.
When it finally yields the beating stops.

DO YOU NEED THE APPLICATION?

In this world
• There are some people who are soft and repent after a little pressure.
• There are some who are hard and require more pressure to repent.

But God never afflicts just for the fun of it.
When a person finally yields the pressure stops.

And so the obvious question is:
HOW TOUGH A NUT ARE YOU?

When Jesus approached Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road:
Acts 26:12-14 “While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”

“to kick against the goads” was a farming analogy.
• It refers to spikes that a farmer would put behind the oxen to keep them from kicking back or resisting the plow.
• They could kick all the wanted but all it would do is hurt and injure the ox.

You can kick all you want but you’re only hurting yourself.
How stubborn do you intend to be?

When Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream he said:
Daniel 4:27 “Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.”

• Of course if you insist upon eating grass like a cow for 7 years we can do that
• But it would be much easier if you would just repent now.

Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

It is not God’s desire to plow forever.
It is not God’s desire to thresh forever.

But if the ground won’t yield and the nut won’t crack,
Rest assured that He will hit it again.

Do you see again the danger of stubbornness?

TURN TO: PSALMS 32
It is the testimony of David as he recounts the absolute blessing of repentance and the forgiveness that follows.

Good advice isn’t it?

FRIEND, DON’T BE STUBBORN.
Don’t be like a drunkard who values the wrong thing.
• Value God’s word over your own wisdom or logic.

Don’t be a scoffer who turns a deaf ear to God’s word.
• Listen to Him and do what He says, He has the only plan of salvation.

Don’t be a tough nut who forces God to beat him relentlessly to get him to yield.
• Read what God says and repent and obey without requiring a beating.

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Drunkards, Scoffers & Tough Nuts – Part 3
Isaiah 28:1-29 (14-16)
October 8, 2023

We began this chapter last Sunday morning
And we understand it to be a chapter in which
Isaiah is confronting the stubbornness of Jerusalem.

We saw in the previous chapter
How God will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to save His own.

And this “whatever” includes things like
Suffering and discipline and even a time of great tribulation.

And so the obvious question from Isaiah is:
Just how hard are you going to make God hit you?

It is not wise to stubbornly resist what God has to say.

But that is precisely what the people of Jerusalem are doing.
• They are not rightly valuing the word of God.
• They are not listening correctly.
• And thus they were setting themselves up for a tremendous time of discipline.

Isaiah will even say in verse 22:
“And now do not carry on as scoffers, Or your fetters will be made stronger; For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts Of decisive destruction on all the earth.”

You are pushing God to act in a way that you aren’t going to enjoy.

So Isaiah is CONFRONTING THEIR STUBBORNNESS.
And, as we said last week, he is doing so through 3 ANALOGIES.

He is talking about drunkards, scoffers, and tough nuts.
In reality, the people of Jerusalem were all 3.

We saw the first one last week.
#1 DRUNKARDS
Isaiah 28:1-8

Isaiah began by denouncing the actual drunks of the northern kingdom.
• They were worldly.
• They were drunkards.
• They valued and took pride in the wrong thing.

While they should have considered the LORD to be their crown and joy
They celebrated sin and a life of drunken immorality.

But in their chosen drunkenness they wobbled and reeled and staggered
And God determined to judge them.

He promised to wipe them out with a tidal wave of destruction (Assyria)

Such a sermon would have been
Pleasing to the ears of the southern kingdom.

After all, the two nations were not allies.
• It wasn’t that long ago that Pekah the son of Remaliah and Rezin the king of Aram had conspired to invade Judah and overthrow it.

• The citizens of Jerusalem would have certainly agreed that God was just in judging those drunkards up north.

But Israel wasn’t really the focus of Isaiah’s sermon.
THEY WERE JUST A SET-UP.

They were actual drunkards who obviously deserved judgment,
But the people Isaiah wanted to talk to were
The spiritual drunkards of Jerusalem who also deserved it.

(7-8) “And these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink: The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, They are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; They reel while having visions, They totter when rendering judgment. For all the tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.”

God compared the priest and prophets of Jerusalem
To the drunkards up north.

IN WHAT WAY?
• The drunks up north wobbled when they walked the preachers down south wobbled when they preached.
• The drunks up north teetered and tottered and the preachers down south reeled in their visions and tottered in their judgments.
• The drunks up north vomited in their drunken stupor and from God’s perspective the preaching of the priests and prophets in the south was just as detestable.

Where the drunks up north VALUED THE WRONG THING
So did the prophets down south.

Instead of revering, loving, honoring, and preaching God’s word
They preached their own logic and wisdom.

Jeremiah asked:
Jeremiah 23:28-29 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

Isaiah will say later:
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

THERE’S JUST NO COMPARISON.

And here God says that compared to His word,
The word of the prophets is nothing but a table full of vomit.

They are stubborn people who do not rightly value the word of God.

And we said that this is WHERE STUBBORNNESS BEGINS.
If you won’t rightly value God’s word
You are setting yourself up for a life of stubborn disobedience.

Those were the drunkards Isaiah compared them to.

Last Sunday night we started looking at the second analogy.
#2 SCOFFERS
Isaiah 28:9-22

We looked at verses 9-13
Where the priests and the prophets fired back at Isaiah.

They didn’t appreciate his analogy regarding their preaching and so they accused him of speaking gibberish suitable only for a babbling baby.

(9-10 “To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast? “For He says, ‘Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there.’”

And of course you remember that the Hebrew here
Sounds very mocking and disrespectful.

So when God speaks, not only do they fail to value it,
But when He speaks they actually mock it.

And God’s response to their scorn is absolutely terrifying.
(11) “Indeed, He will speak to this people Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,”

God’s answer to their mocking was, “Fine, the next time I speak to you it will be in a language you can’t understand.”

Just as Jesus did with the parables.
Just as Paul explained regarding tongues.
• It is a terrible judgment when God conceals His word from a person.
• It is a terrible judgment when God speaks but does not permit the hearer to understand what He is saying.

Why would God do this?
(13b) “That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.”

In short, God will conceal His word
So that they won’t repent and will be judged.

He does not respond kindly to those who scoff at His word.
There are so many warnings for us in those passages.

BUT ISAIAH ISN’T FINISHED.

He is still talking to the scoffers
And we pick back up in our text in verses 14-15.

(14-15) “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

Isaiah is still speaking primarily to the leaders among the people.
• He references those “who rule this people who are in Jerusalem”
• And it is them primarily who refuse to “hear the word of the LORD”
• It is them primarily who are the “scoffers”

And here Isaiah identifies why they are so bold
So as to scoff at God’s warnings and God’s word.

AND THE REASON IS
Because they think they have a plan that will work just fine.

• Isaiah calls it “a covenant with death”
• He calls it “a pact” “with Sheol”

What was actually happening is
The rulers of the day weren’t worried about trusting in God
Because they had a plan to deal with Assyria…EGYPT.

• They had already made an agreement with Egypt.
• They had already made a pact with Egypt.
• They weren’t worried about seeking God because Egypt would deliver them.

But Isaiah more accurately describes that treaty as
“a covenant with death”

It’s Isaiah’s way of pointing out how foolish their alliance really is.
• Who takes on death as an ally?
• Who runs to death to ask for help?

According to Isaiah that is what they are doing when they run to Egypt.

They say, “The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by”

• That “overwhelming scourge” is what God said was coming to the northern kingdom.

Remember back up in verse 2?
“Behold the Lord has a strong and mighty agent; As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, Like a storm of mighty overflowing waters…”

Well the leaders of Jerusalem heard that and said, “We don’t have to worry about that judgment reaching us because we have a treaty with Egypt. We’ll be fine.”

Isaiah says on the contrary, you “have made falsehood [your] refuge and [you] have concealed [yourselves] with deception.”

But hopefully now you understand the reason behind their arrogance.

Instead of valuing God’s word they valued man’s ideas.
• And those ideas were to trust in Egypt.

And when Isaiah warned them against it they scoffed at him.
• So Isaiah says, “I hate to tell you, but your plan isn’t going to work.”

And that is precisely the revelation Isaiah gives them starting in verse 16.

I told you last Sunday night that I wasn’t going to break down this section any more because it flowed so nicely, but I changed my mind.

I do want us to take a more detailed look at verses 16-22.

For they explain to us WHAT EVERY SCOFFER NEEDS TO KNOW.

So if you are one who makes notes in your Bible
• Then just make a note for verses 16-22
• That this is “What every scoffer needs to know”
• And there are 4 things here.

1. If you are one who has disdain for the word of God…
2. If you are one who values man’s wisdom over God’s…
3. If you are one who has his own plan for facing judgment and don’t feel the need to listen to God…
4. If you are one who mocks when someone calls you to repentance…
5. If you are one who scoffs when someone calls you to humble yourself…

Then God has a message here for you.

There are 4 things here you need to know.
1) THERE IS ONLY ONE AVAILABLE SAVIOR (16)

(16) “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”

I hope you recognize this verse
For it is a favorite of the apostles in their preaching.

It is God’s rebuttal to those who think
They can survive the coming scourge on their own.

AND IT IS A PICTURE OF A BUILDING.
It is a picture of A REFUGE where one will go and hide when the storm comes through.

The most obvious illustration you have seen along these lines came in Matthew 7 when Jesus said:

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

Jesus references two men who are preparing for the coming judgment.
• The foolish man builds on the sand.
• The wise man builds on the rock.

This story is NOT ABOUT their works.
• Both men work, both men build.

This story IS ABOUT their faith.
• One man has faith that anything he builds can withstand the coming judgment.
• The wise man knows that he can’t build anything that will survive the judgment.

So while the foolish man builds without a foundation
The wise man ties everything he’s got to the rock.
That rock is of course Jesus and the wise man puts everything on Him.

The wise man says, “The only way anything I’ve built will survive the judgment is if it is founded on Jesus.”

• He has to be my foundation.
• He has to be my refuge.
• He has to be my fortress through the coming judgment.

Well, that reality is the SAME REALITY THAT ISAIAH is talking about here.

God has already announced that the JUDGMENT IS COMING.
There is an “overwhelming scourge” on the way.

But God has MADE PROVISION for His people to survive the judgment.
God has provided a place where His people can weather the storm.

• For Noah God provided an ark to safely carry him through.
• For these people God has provided a building to protect them from judgment.

But the entire focus of God ISN’T on the walls or the roof.
THE FOCUS OF GOD IS ON THE FOUNDATION STONE.

God is focused on what this whole thing rests on.

And let’s examine it a little more closely.

First off God says, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone”

• God is NOT laying a pile of sand.
• God is NOT laying a stick.
• God is NOT laying sod.

For the foundation of God’s building He is placing “a stone”

And at this point we simply recognize two things.
1. God is providing the foundation.
2. The foundation He is providing is strong.

God DOESN’T tell the people to make provision.
God DOESN’T tell the people to figure it out.

God reveals the coming judgment and then reveals that
He is making provision for them to survive it.

That provision is “a stone”.
• It is a picture of strength
• It is a picture of endurance
• It can weather the storm
• It will be there afterward

Anything you tie to this stone
Is going to be here when the judgment is complete.

But that is not all we learn.
God says it is, “a tested stone”

The Hebrew word is (BO-KHAN)
And this is the ONLY PLACE it is used in the Old Testament.

But we learn a little more about the INTENT
• When we go to the New Testament.
• For Peter quotes this very passage.

1 Peter 2:6 “For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

When Peter quotes this verse it is not translated “tested stone”.
Rather it is translated “choice stone”.

The Greek word for “choice” is ek-lek-TOS
(It’s were we get our word for “elect” or “chosen”)

And this FILLS IN THE GAPS for us here in Isaiah.

This stone which was chosen by God was not haphazardly chosen.
• God didn’t just pick up the first rock He could find.
• God didn’t just casually throw the first volunteer at it.

He chose One on purpose.

Psalms 2:6-9 “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

It was not random, it was intentional.
God specifically chose the stone that would serve
As the foundation which would save His people.

And you already know who this stone is.
It is THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

He is “a choice stone”
He is “a tested stone”

We think to the first 30 years of His life.
• We don’t have much record of anything in those first years of His life
• But we don’t need it because what we do have is the evaluation of His Father upon the completion of those years.

And God Himself from heaven gave us His evaluation of Christ.

Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

We are not concerned with every story from Jesus’ childhood
But we are greatly interested in what God thought of His life.

Jesus passed with flying colors.
• He was perfect.
• He was sinless.
• He had pleased the Father.

He was born under the Law and for 30 years in relative seclusion
But before God Jesus faithfully obeyed every command
And never messed up once.

He had been tested.
He is the One.

Of course from there we know that
Satan didn’t buy God’s evaluation and wanted His own crack at Jesus.

Much like Satan demanded with Job,
Satan would now seek to cull out Jesus and topple Him in sin.

So we read in Matthew 4 of the great temptation of Jesus.
• Satan daring Him to turn stones into bread.
• Satan daring Him to throw Himself off the temple.
• Satan offering Jesus the world if He would bow to Satan.

And again Jesus, having been tested, passed with flying colors.

THEN MEN BEGAN TO TEST HIM.
WE SAW HIM IN DAY TO DAY MINISTRY.
• We saw Him when He was tired.
• We saw Him when He was under attack.
• We saw Him in danger.
• We saw Him when He was abandoned.
• We saw Him arrested, on trial, wrongfully condemned, beaten and mocked.

And not once did Jesus ever sin even under such heavy scrutiny.

Even the criminal crucified next to Him
Testified that “this Man has done nothing wrong”.

He is the chosen and tested stone.

Hebrews 4:15-16 “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

No one was ever more tested or more tempted than Jesus
And yet He never sinned.

You can rest assured that this foundation stone
Has gone through the testing. He is qualified.

And yet Isaiah is still not finished.
God also calls Him “a costly cornerstone”

“costly” there is the Hebrew word (YAW-KAR) and it is used a lot in Scripture.
Translated “valuable” – “rare” – “precious” – “glorious” – “costly” – “influential”

AND THEY ALL FIT HIM.

But the point to be made that any stone
That is capable of holding up this building;
You know it’s not going to be cheap.

When Solomon built the temple.
1 Kings 5:17 “Then the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones.”

We are talking about a foundation that will survive the coming judgment.
If you’re going to purchase a stone like that
You know it’s going to cost you.

When Peter spoke of Jesus’ work he said:
1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Peter compares His blood to “silver and gold”
And considers them of no value at all in comparison.

Jesus asked His followers:
Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

• And we wonder how much would you pay for something that can rescue you from hell and send you to heaven?

When Jesus gave parables about the value of His salvation:
Matthew 13:44-46 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

• In both of those cases we have greedy men who are only seeking to get ahead.
• But when both of them were able to gaze upon the value of Christ
• They willingly gave all that they had to acquire Him.

IS HE COSTLY? Absolutely!
• He will cost you relationships.
• He will cost you jobs.
• He will cost you riches.
• He may even cost you this earthly life.

BUT HE IS SO VALUABLE!

Matthew 10:37-38 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

Luke 14:25-27 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

He is costly.
He is valuable and rare and precious and glorious!

We are talking about One who has the ability
To save you from the coming judgment,
Are you surprised that acquiring Him comes at great cost?

I know we often talk about salvation being free.
AND THAT’S TRUE.
• It is free in the sense that it is by grace
• You can’t buy it, and you can’t earn it.

But make no mistake, there is great cost associated with following Jesus
And Jesus continually points that out.
(you lose reputation and relationships and comforts and even life)

BECAUSE OF THIS COST MANY REJECT HIM.

BUT HOW FOOLISH!
• Would Noah have sold the ark for 1 million dollars the night before the flood?
• What if building the ark wore out Noah’s body and caused him to limp in his old age; was it still worth building?

HOW VALUABLE IS THIS STONE TO YOU?
GOD SAYS HE IS VALUABLE!

And then God says that:
This stone is “for the foundation firmly placed.”

He has been strategically placed by God
To be the rock that saves men from judgment.

Everything is designed to rest on Him.
Everything is designed to trust in Him.

When Paul spoke of the church, he described it like this.
Ephesians 2:19-20 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,”

• We know the church is made up of strangers and aliens.
• We know the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles.
• We know the church is made up of rich and poor.
• We know that the church rests on the gospel which was preached to us by the apostles and prophets.

We stand on this gospel as our foundation.

But we know that “Christ Jesus Himself [is] the corner stone.”
• It all rests on Him.
• It all clings to Him.
• He is the only reason any of it works.

AND OF COURSE YOU KNOW WHY.

1. We have a Holy God who created man in His image.
2. But man sinned against God brought upon himself the curse of death and judgment.

3. That was Adam in the garden and because we are his children we are all born with his sinful and rebellious nature.

4. God then gave the Law to explain to men what righteous living looked like.
5. The Law was a pattern to show us how to live righteous.

6. And no one could live up to it.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

• We had failed to be righteous as God demanded.
• We had sinned as God had forbidden.
• And there was no hope of us ever being reconciled to Him on our own.

BUT GOD INTERVENED.
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation firmly placed…”

He sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world.
• This Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life and earned a righteous standing before God.
• He was tested and tried and He passed every test.
• The ultimate statement of approval for Him came 3 days after He died when God raised Him from the dead.

But this Jesus DIDN’T COME ONLY to live a righteous life
As though He were just some moral example for us all to follow.

If that were the case He would be no different than the Law.
• He would be a clear expression of holiness,
• But an expression that we could not live up to no matter how hard we tried.

No Jesus did not come to make us righteous,
He came to be our righteousness.

This Jesus, who had never sinned then did the unthinkable
And offered sinful man forgiveness of their sins.

Have you read those stories in the gospels?
Matthew 9:2 “And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Luke 7:47-48 “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

Do you understand what He was doing there?
HE WAS ASSUMING THEIR DEBT.

You can’t forgive someone of their sin against God
Unless you agree to pay off their penalty.

That is precisely what Jesus was doing for them
AND FOR ALL WHO WOULD COME TO HIM.

HE OFFERED SINNERS ETERNAL LIFE.
How?
• Because He would pay the debt against them.
• Throughout the gospels Jesus walked around offering sinners forgiveness in His name.

And as He offered them forgiveness and eternal life,
He would call them to forsake this world and follow Him.

BUT WAIT JUST A SECOND…

For that to work then not only would Jesus have to be sinless (otherwise He would die for His own sin),

But God would also have to be willing to accept Jesus’ on my behalf.

Preacher are you sure that will work?
• We’re talking about my eternity here?
• We’re talking about whether or not I go to heaven or hell?

ARE YOU SURE THAT JESUS DID ENOUGH?
• Are you sure that God will accept me based on what He did?

And there you have the very question of faith don’t you.
What do you think?
What do you believe?

Are you going to keep building on sand,
And trust your building skills?
Or are you going to believe Jesus and go put it all on Him?

• Are you going to believe that His righteousness is acceptable to God?
• Are you going to believe that God accepted His death on your behalf?
• Are you going to believe that when you stand before God you can look at Jesus and He will have arranged everything for you to enter heaven?

That’s what we’re talking about.

And you say, “I don’t know preacher, that’s an awfully big gamble.”
• I like to do things myself.
• If you want something done right you have to do it yourself.

• What if I put it all on Jesus and then get there and find out He failed?
• What if I find out that God didn’t accept Him?

CAN I SET YOUR MIND AT EASE?
God already announced that He would accept Jesus.
God already announced that His work was sufficient.

• He did?
• Where?
• When?

Look at the last line of verse 16.
(This is God speaking.)
“Thus says the LORD God”

“He who believes in it will not be disturbed.”

“disturbed” in the Hebrew is (KOOSH) and it means “to show haste”
In Job 20 it referred to “inward agitation”

In other words, if you believe in God’s stone
Then on the day when the storm hits
You aren’t going to be upset that it didn’t work.

In the New Testament Paul quotes this verse and it reads like this:
Romans 10:11 “For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

YOU WANT TO KNOW
If putting it all on the work of Jesus is an effective and wise strategy?

GOD SAYS,
“Absolutely! If you trust in Him you will not be disappointed.”

AND FRIEND THAT IS WHAT THE CHURCH RESTS ON.
That is our foundation.
He is our cornerstone.

That Jesus lived a righteous life and satisfied God’s holy requirement.
That Jesus died a sacrificial death and satisfied my penalty.

And when I believe in Him and trust in Him
God saves me based on what He did.

Only a fool would reject this
Because He is the only One God ever said that about.

THERE IS ONLY ONE AVAILABLE SALVATION.

But if you are a scoffer…
• If you don’t want to believe God…
• If you want to make your own covenant with death…
• You are bound to be disappointed when that overwhelming scourge comes passing through.

For God has only made one way for man to be saved.
John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”

Don’t be a scoffer like Israel was.
Romans 9:30-33 “What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

• They insisted on doing it themselves.
• They insisted on taking care of their own salvation.
• That thought it foolish to put their eternal state on the back of Jesus.
• And instead of building upon this precious corner stone they tripped over it.

HOW ABOUT YOU?
Are you going to secure your own eternity or are you going to entrust it to Jesus?

This morning we conclude our service by taking the Lord’s Supper.
It is an ordinance where we declare our faith in His atoning work.

• We eat this cracker as a symbol of His body and the sinless life He lived.
• We drink this grape juice as a symbol of the blood He shed to pay for our sin.

He lived sinless and imputed that righteousness to us.
He died sacrificially with our sin imputed to Him.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

This morning we partake as an expression of our faith in His work.
• If you don’t believe in Him, don’t partake.
• If you’d prefer to do it yourself, don’t partake.
• But this table is open to all those who want to put it all on the back of Jesus.

As always we’ll have a time of preparation
And then we’ll partake of the table of the Lord.

LORD’S SUPPER

• Deacons come forward

Romans 9:8-11 “That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. For this is the word of promise: “AT THIS TIME I WILL COME, AND SARAH SHALL HAVE A SON.” And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls,”

• Give bread to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out bread

Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

• Take bread

1 Peter 2:4-10 “And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”

• Give juice to deacons
• Deacon prayer
• Deacons pass out juice

Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

• Take juice

• Deacon prayer