WOE
MATTHEW 23:1 39
MATTHEW 23:1 12 Pharisees Exposed
1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,
2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;
3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.
4 "They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.
5 "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
6 "They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.
8 "But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 "Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.
11 "But the greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
Eight Woes, you are guilty, and punishment will come upon you. Jesus proceeds to state wherein they were guilty. This most eloquent, most appalling, and most terrible of all discourses ever delivered to mortals was pronounced in the temple, in the presence of multitudes. Never was there more faithful dealing, more terrible reproof, more profound knowledge of the workings of hypocrisy, or more skill in detecting the concealments of sin. This was the last of the Savior’s public discourses; and it is a most impressive summary of all that he had ever said, or that he had to say, of a wicked and hypocritical generation.
In seven of the eight woes Jesus calls them hypocrites. The word "hypocrite" is taken from stage players, who act the part of others, or speak not their own sentiments, but the sentiments of others. It means here, and in the New Testament generally, those who "evade" or hide their real sentiments, and assume or express other feelings than their own those who, for purposes of display, gain, or applause, put on the appearance of religion. All of these woes can be put on the church today just a Jesus put them on the Pharisees.
1. 13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the
kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
We keep people from coming to God, because we ourselves do not come to God.
2. 14["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]
We claim to be holy and show it by your long prayers, yet we steal from widows. You may will say when did we steal from widows and I say just as Jesus said, in
MATTHEW 25:45
45 "Then He will answer them, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
3. 15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
To be a child of hell was a Hebrew phrase, signifying to be deserving of hell, to be awfully wicked. The Jewish writers themselves say that the proselytes were "scabs of Israel," and "hindered the coming of the Messiah" by their great wickedness. The Pharisees gained them either to swell their own numbers or to make gain by extorting their money under various pretences; and when they had accomplished that, they took no pains to instruct them or to restrain them. They had renounced their superstition which had before somewhat restrained them, but the Pharisees had given them no religion in its place to restrain them, and they were consequently left to the full indulgence of their vices.
More times than not when some one comes into the church, they are left on their own and not given good instruction or we will give them false instruction as not to make them fell bad. Because, they have no firm ground to stand on they are worst off than before.
MATTHEW 12:43 45
43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.
44 "Then it says, "I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.
45 "Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."
Story in Evansville, IN. paper about the 300+ households in Vandenburg county that have the same sex couples. How could we in the church world let this happen and even give our blessings?
4. 16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, "Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’
17 "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?
18 "And, "Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’
19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?
20 "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
21 "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.
22 "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Just as today it was then all about money. Not the temple built to God, but the gold in the temple. Not the altar, but the offering on it. That was all they could see. The temporal things of life are all that many, who call them selves Christian, can see. We build great churches and put wads of dollar bills in the plate and yet we can not see God anywhere, because we are more concerned about the great building and the dollar bills.
5. 23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
24 "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
(from Barnes’ Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
Tithe a tenth part. The law required the Jews to devote a tenth part of all their property to the support of the Levites, Num 18:20 24. Another tenth part they paid for the service of the sanctuary, commonly in cattle or grain, but where they lived far from the place of worship they changed it to money, Deut 14:22 24. Besides these, there was to be every third year a tenth part given to the poor, to be eaten at their own dwellings (Deut 14:2829); so that nearly one third of the property of the Jews was devoted to religious services by law. This was besides the voluntary offerings which they made. How much more mild and gentle are the laws of Christianity under which we live! They were willing to give a third of what they had, but would not give of themselves. We are the same today we will put in the plate, but don’t ask us to give of our time.
6. 25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self indulgence.
26 "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.
Outward appearance, just so it looks good.
7. 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
What is in a mans heart, not how he acts, is what will judge us.
8. 29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
30 and say, "If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
34 "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
35 so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem.
Verses 37 39 Jesus gives His lament over Jerusalem, but it could clearly be His lament over the church world today.
37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!
39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, "BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!"
We wonder why we seem unable to find Christ in the church today, could it be we are just like the Pharisees? That we have kicked Him our and put ourselves in His place. That maybe He is waiting for us to say, "BLESSED IS BE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!”
PLAN OF SALVATION
ROMANS 10: 17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
HEBREWS 11:6
6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
ACTS 2:38
38 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.
ROMANS 10:9 10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
MARK 16:16
16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
MATTHEW 7:21
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
