SERMON: “The Sufficiency of the Law and the Testimony” (Isa. 8:19–22)
“The Sufficiency of the Law and the Testimony” (Isaiah
8:19–22)
Series: Topical Text: Isaiah
8:19–22
By: Shaun Marksbury Date: Nov. 8, 2026
Venue: Living Water Baptist Church Occasion: AM Service
Introduction
I found myself thinking about the history of pulpits a bit
yesterday. They used to be up high, not
to elevate the man, but rather, the proclamation of the word of God. The man often wore robes and couldn’t be seen
well. He also was enclosed, meaning that
he couldn’t physically wander from text of Scripture until he was done.
Protestant churches sometimes brought the man a bit lower
and center over time. Usually, churches
wanted to avoid even the appearance of creating a spectacle of having the
preacher tower over the people, and they wanted to emphasize the Bible was
still central. There was still an
elevation which made practical sense for sound amplification, and the looking
upward was a subtle reminder to God’s people that they look up to God’s Word.
Over time, however, the pulpit has fallen even further, both
literally and figuratively. Some churches
have chosen to begin hiding the pulpit rather than the man, with the shedding
of the dark robes and the thinning of the pulpit to a simple podium. In some churches, they have expressly stated
that they want the congregation to feel a connection to the pastor.
This has played out differently in various settings. In some churches, the pulpit may be
completely transparent plexiglass; I remember one preacher commenting that the
Holy Spirit needs to move freely between him and the congregation and might
break a wooden pulpit! Other pastors
have started dressing in street clothes and they stand beside music stands,
making personal appeals to people. Some
postmodern churches even have the teacher sitting on a stool in the center of
the room, with people gathered around him on couches and chairs, so he isn’t
elevated at all above anyone. In any
event, the goal today seems to be to connect with the man rather than with the
text.
The truth, though, is that you don’t need to connect with me
or anyone else! You need to connect with
God and with His Word. You need the
truth of Holy Scripture above you.
A group of about seventeen of us gathered at the church
yesterday to watch the Sufficiency of Scripture Summit livestream. The entire day was nearly eleven hours, but
we had a lot of good food, singing, teaching, and fellowship. We then joined in the electronic signing of
the statement.
Why is such a statement important? Well, as its preamble observes, the battle
for the Bible has moved from whether Scripture has authority to whether that
authority has jurisdiction in our practice. In other words, we’re not talking so much
about whether the Bible is inspired today, or whether it accurately represents
God’s Word — we’re debating whether it’s adequate to answer the issues of our
lives.
Isaiah 8:20 is one of the places the statement itself
points. Let’s consider the setting of
this text. This is in the divided
kingdom, and Isaiah is dealing with the issues of Judah under King Ahaz. The Assyrian Empire is rising, and the people
are terrified. Instead of trusting the
Lord who has already spoken through Isaiah, though, they are being told to
consult mediums and spiritists.
They don’t see God’s Word as sufficient for their
situation. They’ve stopped looking up to
it. They’ve connected with people who
have other testimonies, instead.
Now, Isaiah isn’t only speaking to those in Judah who have
gone astray. He’s also speaking to God’s
people who are following him. He speaks
of disciples in v. 16, and he’s warning his faithful circle that they’ll face pressure
from their unbelieving community — though those who reject God’s revelation
will face judgment. They need to know
that they have the sufficient word for their day.
Just as Isaiah instructs his disciples, we must also see
God’s word as sufficient for our practice.
We’ll note four aspects of what it means to have a word that can meet
our every need this morning. First,
those with the sufficient word are tempted with testimonies of others (v.
19). Second, those with the sufficient
word call for the true testimony of God (v. 20a). Third, those with the sufficient word can
test the testimonies of others (v. 20b).
Fourth, those with the sufficient word see the trials of those rejecting
the testimony of God (vv. 21–22)
First, Those with the Sufficient Word are Tempted with Testimonies of
Others (v. 19)
Now when they say
to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,”
should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of
the living?
Again, the king and the people fear the future, but they are
looking for answers in the wrong places.
Consider how Ahaz started. 2 Kings
16:1–4 says,
In the seventeenth year of Pekah
the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. Ahaz was
twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in
Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of Yahweh his God, as
David his father had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of
Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the
abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had dispossessed from before the sons
of Israel. He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the
hills and under every green tree.
He didn’t start well, to say the least! We can begin to see why the people would go
astray. In vv. 5–6, we read that the
Lord allowed Aram and Israel to march on Judah and besiege Jerusalem, but not
thankfully take it.
Rather than turning to God, though, Ahaz turns to Assyria
for help. We read in v. 8, “Ahaz also
took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Yahweh and in the
treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a gift to the king of Assyria.” So, in addition to plundering his own house
for a bounty against Israel, he also plundered the temple of Yahweh. He has no respect for the Lord!
That helps to establish the mindset in this day. The people, without the restraint of the
king, have turned to the errors of the Canaanites. They’ve been idolatrous and engaging in their
mystical pagan practices. With the
threat of war and seeing their neighbors suffer, they default to these
practices rather than God’s Word.
The pull is practical for them! The people want guidance, protection, insight
into the future. They want help with the
crisis of the moment.
Now, you might ask who is speaking in v. 19. This seems to be Isaiah speaking to his
disciples, warning them that some “will reject what God has said through words
and signs”[1]
and demand godless consultations. They
come to those who seem to have knowledge and tell them to speak encouraging
words, but to do it like the pagans do it.
The command here, “inquire,” is sometimes translated
“consult” (NASB). The English word
appears three times in this verse, and the underlying Hebrew word twice. Maybe they are coming to Isaiah to tell him
to do what is wrong; “The people wanted Isaiah to engage in necromancy as did
the witch of Endor (1 Sa 28).”[2] Isaiah has seen it, and he warns that others
will demand the same of God’s disciples.
But Christians today aren’t asking for mediums and
spiritists, you might object!
However, is this different
than what some Christians do when they pray to the dead? We recently celebrated Reformation Day, and
we might remember an young, unconverted Martin Luther who was frightened in a
terrible storm as he traveled. Afraid to
pray to Jesus, he begged Saint Anne to help him, who would then supposedly ask
Mary, and she would then petition Jesus for his assistance. He repented later, but there are professing
Christians today telling us to pray to the dead.
In our area, we
have a great many people also seeking the testimony of a spirit that supposedly
came from heaven. They read “The Book of
Mormon,” which says it’s “Another Testament.”
People are enamored with what seems to be secret knowledge of the
history of the native peoples here, so much so that they are willing to believe
another gospel (cf. Gal. 1:8).
Today, there are also Christians who import divination
practices and try to “baptize” them into the church — there are “Christian”
tarot card readers, fortune-tellers that can read your tattoos, and the
like. There are those who say you can go
to the graves of dead saints and “soak up” an anointing for yourself by laying
on them. There are others who call for
the “activation” of angels in your life by praying prayers to them or blowing
shofars.
There are also more “acceptable” importations into the
church. For instance, some see psychology
as the definitive word on the soul rather than God’s Word. Some see cultural or political theories as
the definitive word on divine justice and our true identity as men or women,
white or minority. Some bring business
or leadership methods into the church alongside Scripture. Some seek experiences or “what works,” and
they shame those who would call them to Scripture alone.
Note how Isaiah treated the words of his day. He said these supposed magicians and
necromancers “whisper and mutter” or “chirp and mutter” (ESV). Imagine seeking a definitive word and hearing
bird sounds![3] Far from being true prophets, these people
might have been masters of ventriloquism,[4] but they were not bringing true
testimonies from the spirit world.
Isaiah brings out
rhetorical questions for teaching — “should not a people inquire of
their God? Should they inquire of
the dead on behalf of the living?” The
problem is not that people seek wisdom; it is that they seek it from sources
that cannot speak with God’s authority.
They seek a word from the dead when they have a living God!
Beloved, we don’t need dead words. We need a living and active word, one that is
“sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul
and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and
intentions of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
Let’s not look to the testimonies of others,
Second, Those with the Sufficient Word Call for the True Testimony of God
(v. 20a)
To the law and to
the testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
Here, we get to the heart of the passage. God’s people should go straight to God’s word,
not voices of others! A true disciple does
this, for consider the difference we see in vv. 16–18 — “Bind up the testimony,
seal the law among my disciples. And I
will wait for Yahweh who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; and I will
hope for Him. Behold, I and the children
whom Yahweh has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Yahweh of
hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” They
seek God’s written revelation.
The term “law” is torah, and it can
mean “teaching” (LSB FN). Likening the
rulers of Judah to some of the worst sinners in Scripture, Isaiah started the
book this way: “Hear the word of Yahweh, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the
law of our God, you people of Gomorrah” (1:10).
They were not seeking the teaching of the Lord, and their current woes
result from ignoring God’s Law.
A “testimony” is a term for evidence that
could be used in a legal attestation to establish a matter (cf. Ruth 4:7). This could include the “tablets containing
the law given by God to Moses (Exod. 31:18; Num. 17:4)”[5] or
more broadly to the “laws of God as a directive for one’s life (1 Kings 2:13;
Ps. 119:36, 88).”[6] In other words, this is synonymous to the
“law” to which they needed to turn. This
was used in conjunction with “law” as recently as v. 16. The term “word” seems synonymous with these
three words.
This is not a call to vague spiritual intuition; it is a
call to what God has spoken. Scripture
is not one voice among many. It is the
standard by which every other voice is tested.
That doesn’t mean we don’t have secondary sources that arise from God’s
common grace, but they are subservient to the word of God. Scripture alone is sufficient, God-breathed,
and profitable (2 Tim. 3:16).
Now, that means we can practice some discernment. We can see if the testimony in front of us is
worthwhile. That brings us to the next
point.
Third, Those with the Sufficient Word Can Test the Testimonies of Others
(v. 20b)
If they do not
speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
It’s a myth that we are called not to judge. I was in a conversation this week with
someone who told me I was wrong for judging Joseph Smith to be a false prophet
because Jesus said not to judge. I
replied that Jesus actually said to judge with righteous judgment and discern
the truthfulness of someone’s words. I
further said that is something she understands at some level because she’s
judging me to be wrong; we must see if what is being said matches God’s Word.
Any counsel, teaching, or system that does not align with
what God has already said has no light. It
cannot bring true understanding, true hope, or true direction. It doesn’t mirror God’s revelation because
there is no light reflecting in it.
This is the practical jurisdiction of Scripture’s authority.
Affirming inspiration and inerrancy
while treating Scripture as silent or insufficient on the issues of life, the
soul, the church, or culture leaves people in the dark. Neither common grace nor general revelation
places human observation on equal footing with what God has said. We need God’s word over all.
What happens when we fail to have it? That brings us to the final point:
Fourth, Those with the Sufficient Word See the Trials of Those Rejecting
the Testimony of God (vv. 21–22)
And they will pass
through the land hard-pressed and hungry, and it will be that when they are
hungry, they will be angry and curse their king and their God as they face
upward. Then they will look to the
earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will
be banished into thick darkness.
There is a greater judgment coming. The Lord says that the false prophets and
those who follow them will pass through the land distressed and hungry. The next chapter graphically reveals, “They
slice off what is on the right hand
but still are hungry, and they eat what is on the left hand but they are
not satisfied; each of them eats the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh devours
Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and
together they are against Judah. In spite of all this, His anger does not
turn back, and His hand is still stretched out” (Isa. 9:20–21). Their sin leads to incredible suffering.
People who reject God’s word don’t like to acknowledge how
they bring pain upon themselves. And,
the sad fact is, as one study notes, “Suffering
does nothing in itself to abate God’s anger against sinners.”[7] Some think that, once they receive some
sorrow in life, God will feel bad for them and make things better, but God
calls people to repentance.
No one wants to hear this.
People grow angry over hardship, especially if they aren’t grounded in
the truths of Scripture. They may know
enough to understand that God is fundamentally in control, but they also
believe He is being unjust, so they blame Him for their sorrows.
So, we read that they will first curse their king. King Ahaz is responsible for the poor
spiritual state of the people. If he
isn’t troubled by the fact that people are cursing God, then he can be
disturbed by their cursing of him! Those
who reject the sufficient word will be disillusioned eventually[8]
and take it out on those who lead them astray.
The Lord said, “You shall not curse God, nor
curse a ruler of your people” (Exod. 22:28). Yet, they will curse Elohim, as
well. They are called by His name as the
Jewish nation, but that doesn’t mean they are all truly converted. Perhaps they face toward heaven as though
they were in an act of prayer, but here, they engage in cursing.
Then, they look down and all around
them. On earth, they only see distress,
darkness, and gloom. They only look to
God to blame Him. They then look at
their circumstances and lives apart from God.
Those without the light of God see no grace
or beauty in this world. They experience
only overwhelming despair, not having the peace or protection of God to comfort
them. Nathan Busenitz noted in the
Sufficiency of Scripture Summit that philosophers and thinkers often take their
own lives because they come to completely believe their nihilism and see no way
out of the darkness.
We read finally that “they will be banished into thick darkness.” Now, the immediate context here means that
God will remove them from the land, which is part of the coming warning of
judgment. They will not remain in the
promised land.
Even so, this may speaking beyond physical
destruction to spiritual destruction. The
“thick darkness” here finds an answer in the light promised in 9:1–2, where
those walking in darkness will see a great light. Thus, the darkness also signifies the
condition of people under judgment and without the saving light of God. There is a “black darkness” God keeps for
false prophets and teachers (2 Pet. 2:17).
Rejecting the sufficiency of God’s Word isn’t a neutral
position. It produces spiritual darkness
and futility, anxiety and even gloom.
Those looking for dead words eventually find themselves joining the
dead.[9]
Let us go to the written word of God, not to
our feelings or anything else. Those who
don’t trust in the sufficiency of God’s Word will find that the Lord doesn’t
shield them from all the bad consequences of their lives. They may go to church, and they may even be
genuine Christians. However, the Lord
will sometimes allow unpleasant circumstances to mold and shape us, working
sanctification within us.
It may also indicate a lack of
salvation. The person who trusts little
in God’s Word may evidence that he or she isn’t truly of God. That person may trust in the words of so-called
experts and worldly friends first because he is unredeemed from this
world.
Thankfully, there is good news for them. Just as the next chapter predicts a coming
deliverance for the people out of darkness through the light of the Messiah,
you can also have deliverance from your spiritual darkness through Jesus
Christ!
Conclusion
“To the law and to the testimony!” We do not need additional authorities for
salvation, sanctification, counseling, mission, or the framing of all of life.
The Word is enough. Signing the statement is one way of saying so publicly, if
you want, but it is more important that we live it out practically.
As individuals, when fear, confusion, or the pressure of the
moment tempts you to consult other sources as though they carry equal weight,
the call remains the same — “To the law and to the testimony.”
May our ministry always return to the sufficient law and to
the testimony. All our preaching,
discipleship, and care must be measured by whether people speak according to
this Word. Anything that does not is
without dawn of God’s light.
May we be the generation that fights for the sufficiency of
Scripture rather than assuming or losing it.
[1] Gary V. Smith, Isaiah 1–39,
ed. E. Ray Clendenen, The New American Commentary (Nashville: B & H
Publishing Group, 2007), 230.
[2] Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in Holman
Illustrated Bible Commentary, eds. E. Ray Clendenen and Jeremy Royal
Howard, (Broadman & Holman, 2015), 719.
[4] Matthew Poole, Annotations upon
the Holy Bible (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853),
2:345.
[5] Paul J. Achtemeier, Harper & Row, Society of
Biblical Literature, Harper’s Bible
dictionary, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), 1036.
[6] Ibid.
[7] R. A. Bertram and Alfred Tucker, Isaiah 1–39,
The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary (New York; London; Toronto: Funk
& Wagnalls Company, 1892), 1:181–182.
[8] Smith, 232.
TO READ THE STATEMENT, VISIT: https://www.statementonsufficiency.org/the-statement/