To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.To the law and to the testimony! if they speak not according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
5 sermons cite this verse
… They were going and consulting mediums and what the new King James called wizards, which were people who talked to the spirits of the dead. Look at Isaiah chapter 8, verses 19 and 20, and I want you to see how God responds to these people. Verse 19, he says, and when they say to you, seek those who are mediums and wizards who whisper and mutter, that is, seek those for advice. God says, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? Verse 20, to the law and to the testimony, if they do not speak according to this word, it's because there is no light in them. God tells Isaiah, hey, there's people out there who are trying to talk to the dead on behalf of the living. No, go to the word of God. And if they don't come to the word of God, then there's no light in them. What do you do when you're stuck? Well, you go to people. …
But surely I may use the text with reference to skeptical learned men. Every now and then there is a great eruption— a volcano bursts up just under the foundations of the temple of the Truth of God as if it were going to blow it all up— and the lava of skepticism begins running down our streets as if everything were about to be destroyed! At one time, it is a bishop who has been figuring on a slate and found out that Genesis is wrong. At another time we are told to give up some other portion of Scripture as being incorrect. Well, what do we say to all this? Why, that we have more understanding than all these skeptical teachers if we meditate in God's statutes! We may not know how to answer all their questions, but we know how to ask them questions which they cannot answer! We may not be able to confute them in argument, but we shall still believe the Law of the Lord! Many a poor Christian has been baffled by some clever infidel, but he has said to himself, "If that gentleman had tried to prove that I do not exist, I daresay he could have proved it in the same fashion as he has proved this point, which I could not answer, but I know what I do know—and I do know that Christ is a precious Savior. And as I have read of Him in His Word, so have I found it in my own experience. The Word of the Lord and my experience tally, so I am satisfied." If you come straight from searching the Scriptures, you need not mind who attacks you—the Scriptures will be like a coat of mail to repel all the darts of those who assail you—and you shall be able to stand up against those who are far more learned than you are. It is well if you can cope with all the arguments of the skeptic and meet him and master him on his own ground—but the most of believing men and women are not able to do so. If you cannot argue thus, be content if you are like Cowper's poor woman who knows no more than that the Bible is true, for you may, like David, still be more than a match for the skeptic and understand more than all your teachers because you meditate upon God's statutes. …
"Buy the truth"\ shall not speak tonight of those common forms of truth that relate to politics, to history, to science, or to ordinary life, yet would I say of all these—buy the truth. Never be afraid of the truth. Never be afraid in anything of having your prejudices knocked on the head. Always be determined, come what may, even though truth should prove you to be a fool, yet to accept the truth—and though it should cost you dearly, yet still pursue it, for in the long run they who build mere speculations, fancies and errors, though they may seem to build suitable structures for the time, shall find that they are wood, hay, and stubble, and shall be consumed—but he that keeps to what he knows, to matters of fact, and matters of truth, builds gold, silver, and precious stones, which the trying fire of the coming ages shall not be able to destroy! I would sooner discover one fact and lay down one certain truth, than be the author of ten thousand theories, even though those theories should, for a while, rule all the thought of mankind! But I speak now of religious truth Buy that truth! Buy that truth above all others. And here we must have three heads. First, in the matter of doctrinal truth, buy the truth Holy Scripture is the standard of the Truth of God. To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no truth in them. "Your Word is Truth." Here is silver tried in the furnace and purified seven times. Speak of Infallibility? It is not at Rome, but it is here in this Book! Here is an Infallible Witness to the Truth of God, and he that is taught of the Holy Spirit to understand it gets at the Truth of God. Now, dear Brothers and Sisters, do aim to get the right Truth, the real Truth as to matters of Doctrine. Count it not a trifle to be sound in the faith. Think no error to be harmless, for the Truth of God is very precious, and error, even when we do not see it to be so, may lead to the most solemn consequences of mischief. In this world we see too much of salvation without Christ—I mean we meet with many who believe that they are saved because they have been baptized, or confirmed, or passed through the ceremonies of the church to which they belong. They have not looked to the precious blood! They are not depending simply upon the finished work of the Redeemer, but something else than Christ has become their confidence. Now, avoid that, and buy the Truth which lies here, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." We hear too much, now-a-days, of regeneration without faith—the supposed regeneration of unconscious babies, the new birth of people through drops of water when they are not able to understand what is performed upon them! I beseech you believe that there is no new birth where there is not a confidence in Christ, and that the regeneration which does not lead to repentance and faith, which is not, indeed, immediately attended therewith, is no regeneration whatever! Buy the truth in this matter. Stand to it that it is the work of the Holy Spirit in rational and intelligent beings, leading them to hate sin and to lay hold of eternal life! Alas, we have in some quarters too much of faith without works. A kind of faith is preached, a kind of faith is trusted in which is not practical. Men say they believe, but they do not prove it by their lives. They remain in sin and yet wrap themselves up in the belief that they are God's chosen ones. From such, turn away, and remember that a faith without works is dead, and only the faith that changes the character, sanctifies the life and leads the man to God, is the faith which will save the soul! We must see to it that in our Doctrine we bow our judgment to the teachings of Scripture and try to be conformed to all the Revelation of God and especially to all the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ! May we not fall into one error or another. Scylla is there and Charyb-dis there, and he is a happy helmsman who can steer between the two! You shall fall into this 'ism' or into that, unless you keep to the Truth of God! Never mind whether you can make the Truth always consistent to your own judgment or not. If it is the Truth of God, believe it! And though it should seem to contradict another Truth, yet hold to it, if it is in the Word, waiting till clearer Light of God shall reveal to you that all these Truths stand in a wonderful harmony and consistency which, at first, you could not perceive. In Doctrine, buy the Truth! …
Who am I that I should begin to agitate myself about the safety of the Empire of France and should go to Napoleon and should tell him that I was afraid the empire was insecure, and I was come to help him manage the Government? I think I should be sent back about my business. And so, surely, when you begin to say, "The Church is in danger! The Church is in danger!" what is that to you? It stood before you were born—it will stand when you have become worm's meat! Do your duty. Keep in the path of obedience, and fear not. He who made the Church knew through what trials she would have to pass, and He made her so that she can endure the trials and become the richer for it. The enemy is but grass, the Word of the Lord endures forever! And so, Beloved, take heed, let each of us take heed that we keep to the enduring Truth of God. Never let us be tempted by the flash of novelty, or by the attractions of supposed intelligence, to turn aside from the Word of God. "To the Law and the Testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." If our creed is partly made up of the Word of God, partly of the traditions of the Fathers, partly of the speculations of thinkers, it will be like Nebuchadnezzar's image—part of gold, part of iron and part of clay—and the clay will fly and the iron will be melted. But if we can get a creed that is made up, as far as our poor fallible judgments can enable us, altogether of the Word of God, then we have a creed that we can take with us into eternity! The Word of the Lord endures forever. How I like to get my own thoughts and beliefs put through the fire every now and then. I do not think there is a single Doctrine that I have not doubted. I am happy to have to say that now, painful as the process was. It has been such a blessed thing to have to go to the bottom of it, to get arguments for it, to dig up and see whether the roots were sound and healthy, and oh, what a deal of what we think we know goes to the dogs in the hour of trial! But that which comes to us through the Word, and concerning which we can give a, "Thus says the Lord," that, and only that, will stand with an honest man who subjects himself to a daily examination—and asks the Holy Spirit, like a refiner's fire, to go through and through his soul! I fear there are many who could not abide the day of the coming of this work into their hearts. It acts like a refiner's fire and like fuller's soap. It burns up a thousand fancies! It washes away I do not know what of predilection and of prejudice. It might induce some here to give up some of their most cherished things! It might involve a solemn sacrifice for the future, but I beseech them to do it. Side not with the grass that must wither, for you must wither with it if you take it for your defense. But keep to this grand old Book! Keep the Word of God, for this shall neither wither, nor shall you, if you abide in the living Spirit of God hard and fast by what this Word teaches you. …
Himself. They probably misunderstood His language, but they certainly took offense at His statement. Hence there were those who said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" So they walked no more with Him. There are many points and particulars in which the Gospel is offensive to human nature and revolting to the pride of the creature. It was not intended to please man. How can we attribute such a purpose to God? Why should He devise a Gospel to suit the whims of our poor fallen human nature? He intended to save men, but He never intended to gratify their depraved tastes. Rather does He lay the axe to the root of the tree and cut down human pride. When God's servants are led to set forth some humbling Doctrine, there are those who say, "Ah, I will not assent to that!" They kick against any Truth of God which wounds their prejudices! What say you, Brothers and Sisters, to the claims of the Gospel on your allegiance? Should you discover that God's Word rebukes your favorite pleasure, or contradicts your cherished convictions, will you forthwith take offense and go away? No, but if your hearts are right with Christ, you will be prepared to welcome all His teaching and yield obedience to all His precepts. Only prove it to be Christ's teaching and the right-minded professor is ready to receive it. That which is transparent on the face of Scripture, he will cordially accept, as he says, "To the Law and to the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." As for that which is merely inferred and argued from the general drift of Scripture, the true heart will not be hasty to reject, but patient to investigate, like the Bereans, who, "were more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica, because they searched the Scriptures to see whether these things were so." Oh, that the word of Christ may dwell in us richly! God forbid that any of us should ever turn aside offended because of Him—His blessed Person, His holy example, or His sacred teaching! May we be always ready to believe what He says and prompt to do what He commands! …