Near the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus pronounced seven blessings
upon the righteous (Matthew 5:1-9). The Lord said about righteous persons
– They are poor in spirit. – They mourn. – They are meek. – They hunger
and thirst for righteousness. – They are merciful. – They are pure in
heart. – They are peacemakers. Then Jesus says that because of these
characteristics, the happy state of righteous persons is that – Theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. – They are comforted. – They shall inherit the
earth. – They shall be filled. – They shall obtain mercy. – They shall
see God. They shall be called the sons of God. Many wonderful lessons
have been brought forth from the Lord’s teaching here.
Finally, at the close of His ministry on earth, the Master pronounces “woes”
upon the unrighteous – those hardened hypocrites (Matthew 23:13-33 NKJV).
We have grouped these into seven woes which it is clear to see express two
elements – the Lord’s deepest pity and His most solemn condemnation.
FIRST WOE:
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you
allow those who are entering to go in” (Verse 13). This is against
perverse hindrance of others. It is against those who pretended to be the
Lord’s people but refused themselves to do His will and blocked others from
learning the Truth and doing it. We are all aware of those who don’t want
to do right and will criticize others who try.
SECOND WOE:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’
houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive
greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For
you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make
him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Verse 14,15). We all know
those who pretend to be righteous people but are in it for what they can
gain for themselves. They proselyte to their own cause, not the Lord’s.
They try to win people over to them and make them doubly children of Hell.
THIRD WOE:
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is
nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to
perform it.’ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple
that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing;
but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that
sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and
by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him
who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God
and by Him who sits on it” (Verses 23:16–22).
Here the Lord condemns inventing distinctions. They pretend to be teachers
of God’s Will but they do not understand the very things on which they lay
emphasis. Their teaching is childish; it is full of trivial and false
distinctions. They make out things to be sin or no sin, as it serves their
own purpose. We all know people who can see clear teaching of the word of
God but don’t want to do what it says. Then one day they shout gleefully,
“Eureka, I’ve found a loophole!” How sad! God has always pronounced a woe
on those who would try to change His principles – “Woe unto them that call
evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
FOURTH WOE:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint
and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:
justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving
the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a
camel!” (Verses 23,24). There are those who misplace emphasis. They are
particular about one thing or another, but are careless about great things.
They major on minors and minor on majors. (Read James 4:17). They pray
with themselves, “I thank God I’m not as others... ” When they need to put
into practice the “weightier matters... justice, mercy and faith.”
FIFTH WOE:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the
outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup
and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Verses 25,26).
This, of course, is condemnation of externalism. They are careful about
externals, but are indifferent toward internals. They want the outside of
their life to look clean but they leave filthy things (evil thoughts) on the
inside. They do not know that outward purity is an outgrowth of internal
cleansing. When a person knows the forgiveness of sin in his life, and he
walks with the Lord, there is a serenity about him. “And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
SIXTH WOE:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are
full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly
appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness” (Verses 27,28). There is an inordinate desire in some for
popularity. The Lord soundly condemns this. Outwardly they appear
beautiful–attractive to men, but inwardly they are full of
corruption–corrupt thoughts, jealousy, envy, hostility, and corrupt
motives. We all know the one who “wants to be a big fish in a little
pond.”
SEVENTH WOE:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs
of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we
had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are witnesses against
yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets” (Verses
29-31). These religious leaders pretended to be kind toward the departed
prophets, while they persecuted those of the present day. Notice the
imperative, expression of the Lord’s irony: “Fill ye up the measure of your
fathers.” Paraphrased: “Go on, complete the evil work; finish what your
fathers began.” How often today do we hear praise for a preacher of bygone
days or maybe one off yonder somewhere, and hear no words of appreciation or
sincere thankfulness for those here. The Lord knows our motives. He knows
just why we say and do the things we do. We may claim other reasons, but
the Lord knows!
PARTIALITY IS A SIN!
Whether it is favoritism toward a family member, or your friend, or to
return a favor, it is all sin. The Old Testament teaches against it. 2
Chronicles 19:7 reads, “Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you;
take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor
respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.” This teaches that showing
partiality is how the dishonest deal. Proverbs 24:23 says, “These things
also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in
judgment.” It is a foolish person who shows partiality. Proverbs 28:21
warns, “To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that
man will transgress.” When you do something to favor a dishonest person,
he’ll betray you at the first chance he gets.
The New Testament teaches that we are to become like our Father in heaven.
Jesus said that God sends sun and rain on all. Good men and evil men
receive sunshine and rain from God (Matt. 5:44-48). In this Jesus teaches
that you must be good to everyone “That ye may be the children of your
Father which is in heaven.” Paul repeats the demand saying, in Romans 2:11,
“For there is no respect of persons with God.” And again in Ephesians 6:9
“...neither is there respect of persons with him.”
And also in Colossians 3:25, “But he that doeth wrong shall receive for
the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.” Paul
commands, “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before
another, doing nothing by partiality” (1 Tim. 5:21).
Repeating this truth about God, Peter says, “...ye call on the Father, who
without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work...” (1
Peter 1:17). James tells Christians, “My brethren, have not the faith of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons” (James
2:1). The New Testament teaches that the Christian with godly wisdom is
fair or just among men. James again states, “But the wisdom that is from
above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James
3:17).
How horrible is the sin of insincerity! While upon the earth, the Master
denounced immorality of any kind in no uncertain terms. However, His most
sever condemnation, is found in the language of this passage. It was lodged
against those religious leaders who seemed to be moral, but whose decisions
and actions were in reality driven by personal motives, i.e. praise, pomp,
popularity and position. Jesus calls them, “You snakes! You brood of
vipers!” And then asks, “How can ye escape the damnation of hell?”
(Matthew 23:33). As a consequence of the Lord knowing their hearts,
understanding their devices and condemning their sin, they became bent on
killing Him and their ENVY drove them to put Jesus to death (Matt. 27:18).
= = = = = = =
WHAT PART DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT PLAY IN SALVATION?
The Holy Spirit directed Philip to leave Samaria and contact the Ethiopian
whom the preacher taught about Jesus from the Scriptures The Eunuch was baptized
after confessing his faith that Jesus is the Son of God. He was saved in
this way. He needed to be taught by another human the gospel (2 Cor. 4:7).
The Holy Spirit did not teach the convert but another man did. The Holy
Spirit brought the Truth; the inspired men taught it and penned it, and in
this way people are converted today. No direct operation of the Holy Ghost
ever saved anyone. “The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto
salvation” (Rom. 1:16)
