How to Avoid the Worst Woes in Life - Part 1

The Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 23:13-24

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared January 28, 2023)

MESSAGE:

*In this chapter you will hear the strongest words of condemnation Jesus ever spoke during His ministry here on earth. Eight times Jesus called these religious leaders "hypocrites." A. T. Robertson explained that "this hardest word from the lips of Jesus fell on those who were the religious leaders of the Jews. The Lord's verbal thunderbolts of wrath were deserved by the scribes and Pharisees, due to their murderous conduct toward Jesus and their unholy treatment of God's things." (1)

*Jesus called them hypocrites 8 times, and in the same verses He pronounced 8 woes on their souls. Our English word "woe" is a strong exclamation of grief that comes from a serious affliction or misfortune. It expresses deep distress, misery, or wretchedness.

*William Barclay explained that "the original word for 'woe' here was hard to translate because it included both wrath and sorrow. There is righteous anger in the Lord's voice in this Scripture, but it is the anger of a loving heart that was broken by the stubborn blindness of these evil leaders." (2)

*These scribes and Pharisees brought the Lord's condemnation on their own heads. But their story can help us today. We need to be as far away from them spiritually as we can possibly be. We need to run away from their hard-hearted ways, and the Lord Jesus Christ will help us!

1. SO FIRST: DON'T HINDER PEOPLE FROM GOD'S KINGDOM. -- HELP THEM GO IN!

*This is the Lord's message to us in vs. 13 where Jesus said, "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."

*What did Jesus mean by this accusation? Well, we have to understand that the only way into the Kingdom is through the King! The only way into the Kingdom is through God's Son, the Messiah Jesus Christ. As Jesus said in John 10:9, "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." Then in John 14:5-6 , when Jesus was about to go to the cross: "Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'"

*The Pharisees believed that the way into the Kingdom of Heaven was by keeping the multitude of petty regulations they had added to God's Law. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Trusting in Jesus Christ is the only way into the Kingdom of heaven! So, by rejecting Jesus, they were slamming the door on themselves, and on anyone else who would listen to them.

*How can we avoid this woe? Don't do anything to hinder people from God's Kingdom. Help them go in. And God will help us to help them!

*I love to hear stories about how God does that. Charles Spurgeon was one of the great preachers of the 1800s. One morning, he asked the Lord to direct him in what he should read for his morning devotions. And he was strongly moved to read the book of Joel.

*When Spurgeon came to Joel 3:3, he read, "They have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink." Or as the Living Bible says, "They divided up my people as their slaves; they traded a young lad for a prostitute, and a little girl for wine enough to get drunk." In that moment of reading, the Holy Spirit made sure that the word "girl" caught Spurgeon's eye. The preacher was curious about it, and he checked his concordance to see how many times the word "girl" was found in his KJV Bible. To his great surprise, he found the word only occurred once.

*Later that same day, Spurgeon decided to take a walk. He had gone about a block and a half, when he looked up to see a certain house. Spurgeon knew that a radical atheist lived in that house. This hard-hearted unbeliever was very ugly to anyone who believed the Bible. But Spurgeon went up and knocked on the front door.

*In a growling voice, the atheist asked, "Well, what do you want?" "I would like to read the Bible to you," Spurgeon replied. The atheist began his usual abuse, but then suddenly he stopped and asked, "Will you tell me how often the word 'girl' is in the Bible?"

*Mr. Spurgeon immediately answered, "Once." Then the surprised atheist said, "Tell me where it is found, and I will let you in." Again, without delay Spurgeon answered, "Joel 3:3." The shocked atheist then said, "Before I let you in, tell me: How did you know it?" And Mr. Spurgeon answered, "I haven't known it two hours. But in my morning devotions I read the book of Joel." The atheist let Pastor Spurgeon come in, and in half an hour that lost man was down on his knees asking God to forgive his sins. Praise the Lord! (3)

*How did that happen? It was the supernatural Hand of God, working through the infallible Word of God, and a Christian like you and me. God helped Charles Spurgeon that day. And He will help us help other people enter the kingdom of heaven.

*So, don't hinder people from God's Kingdom. Help them go in! That's how to avoid the worst woes in life.

2. AND DON'T BE GREEDY. -- BE GENEROUS!

*Tragically, the scribes and Pharisees in today's Scripture were living in the exact opposite way. But in vs. 14, the Lord's message to us is: Don't be greedy. -- Be generous! Here Jesus said: "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."

*Those men were so greedy that they were like savage animals, devouring widow's houses. W. E. Vine thought they were seizing the widows' property by force, and they certainly had the power to do that, if their deceased husbands were behind on their temple tax. John Phillips also explained that "one of the duties of the scribes was to make out wills and other deeds. And whenever they were not satisfied with their usual fees, the scribes would swindle grieving, fearful widows by persuading them to deed their property over to the temple. The scribes often did this, and whenever they did, they would receive a big portion of the money. Then they would cover up this fraudulent activity with hypocritical prayers. (4)

*Again in vs. 14 Jesus told these wicked rulers, "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."

*God doesn't want us to be greedy. He wants us to be generous. That's why in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, Paul said this about prosperous Christians:

17. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

18. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,

19. storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

*John Gill explained that when we are generous, we are laying up a treasure in heaven, which we will enjoy to all eternity! And God promises to bless generous givers. As the New Living Translation says in Proverbs 11:24-25: "Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." (5)

*Of course, Jesus Christ is our best model for generosity. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, Paul spoke to the church about giving and said: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich."

*God wants us to be givers, because HE is a giver. He wants us to generously give our time, our talents, our tithes, and our offerings. In short, God wants us to give our lives and our love to other people, every way we can. They will be blessed, and so will we.

*Sometimes even a small gift can make a giant difference. In 1992, a teacher named Jeff Leeland and his wife Kristi found themselves in a desperate situation. Their 9-month-old son, Michael needed a bone marrow transplant to save his life. But the health insurance at Jeff's new job did not cover the cost of $200,000.

*Jeff taught an Adaptive PE class that included a 325-pound 7th grader named Dameon Sharkey. Dameon was in special-ed classes, and walked with a limp. You can imagine how some of the other children made fun of him. But Dameon had a compassionate heart, and he helped out in Jeff's class every day.

*After hearing about his teacher’s crisis, Dameon emptied his bank account. Then he went to visit the Leelands, and he brought his whole life savings to give for Michael’s medical expenses. It was only $60. But Dameon's generosity started a chain reaction of compassion by the kids and staff at Kamiakin Junior High. The community rallied behind the students and in just four weeks an astonishing $227,000 was raised. Michael received his lifesaving transplant.

*The sad part of the story is that 8 years later, Dameon died from a rapidly spreading staph infection. But the great news is that through his friendship with the Leeland family, Dameon gave his life to Jesus Christ. And he is in Heaven right now.

*But that's not all. Michael's dad was so inspired by Dameon's example, that he started a school club to help other children in need. They called it the Sparrow Club. It spread to other schools. So far, they have been able to help over 1,400 families, and they are still helping people today.

*So much good came from Dameon's generosity! Michael Leeland's life was saved. Thousands of people have been inspired to help others in need. And best of all, Dameon Sharkey was saved! (6)

*That's the kind of thing God can do through us, if we will choose generosity over greed. So be a giver for God. Give all you can. But first do what Dameon did: Give your heart to God, and don't be greedy. Be generous! That's how we can avoid the worst woes in life.

3. ALSO, DON'T MAKE PEOPLE WORSE. -- MAKE THEM BETTER!

*This is the Lord's message to us in vs. 15, where Jesus said, "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."

*What a terrible woe. How can we avoid it? Don't be a bad influence on people. Be a good influence. Don't pull people down. Lift them up. Don't make people worse. Make them better!

*Legendary baseball player Babe Ruth recognized the value of positive influence. Listen to Babe's testimony about the good influence of an old preacher he knew:

-"Most of the people who have really counted in my life were not famous. Few ever heard of them, except those who knew and loved them. I knew an old minister once whose hair was white and whose face shone. I have written my name on thousands and thousands of baseballs in my life. He wrote his name on just a few simple hearts. How I envy him! He was not trying to please himself and win the plaudits of the world, so fame never came to him. I am listed as a famous home-run hitter. Yet, beside that humble, obscure minister, who was so good and wise, I never got to first base!" (7)

*What kind of an influence are we? May God help us to be a good influence on other people, not making them worse, but making them better! That's how to avoid these terrible woes.

4. BUT ALSO, DON'T TREASURE THINGS LIKE GOLD. -- TREASURE THE THINGS OF GOD.

*This is the Lord's message to us in vs. 16-22:

16. "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.'

17. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

18. 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.'

19. Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

20. Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.

21. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.

22. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."

*John Gill explained that the gold Jesus was talking about here was not "the gold that covered any part of the temple, or the golden vessels in it, but the gold, money, or gifts that were offered for the service of the temple. The temple leaders had established an oath called "Corban" that worked like this: If a man's parents were in need, and he had the money to help them, he could still legally avoid helping them by swearing that the money was Corban or set aside for the temple. The result was that the man could keep the money for his own selfish use, as long as in the end he gave it to the temple. (8)

*Jesus also spoke of this in Mark 7:6-13. Please listen to it today from the NLT:

6. Jesus replied, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was prophesying about you when he said,

7. 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their own man-made teachings.'*

8. For you ignore God's specific laws and substitute your own traditions."

9. Then he said, "You reject God's laws in order to hold on to your own traditions.

10. For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: 'Honor your father and mother,' and 'Anyone who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.'*

11. But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, 'Sorry, I can't help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I could have given to you.'

12. You let them disregard their needy parents.

13. As such, you break the law of God in order to protect your own tradition. And this is only one example. There are many, many others."

*The only vows that these hypocrites cared about were the ones that would put gold under their control. They put more value on the gold than on God! But Jesus doesn't want us to treasure things like gold. He wants us to treasure the things of God. Don't treasure worldly things. Treasure worshipful things. Don't treasure earthly things. Treasure eternal things.

*The great Emperor Charlemagne teaches us this truth. Charlemagne died in 814 A.D. and was buried in the royal posture of a king sitting upon his throne, with his sword beside him, and his crown on his head. But a copy of the Gospels was also placed on Charlemagne's lap.

*When his tomb was opened about a thousand years later, Charlemagne still wore his crown and royal garments. But his cold, lifeless finger pointed to a verse in the Bible on his lap. It was Mark 8:36 where Jesus said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" (9)

*God's Word speaks very clearly to us: Don't treasure things like gold. Treasure the things of God. This is how to avoid these terrible woes.

5. BUT ALSO DON'T BE SATISFIED WITH LESS. -- STRIVE FOR GOD'S BEST!

*We must strive for God's best in our lives. This is the Lord's message to us in vs. 23-24, where Jesus said:

23. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, 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.

24. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"

*These scribes and Pharisees were careful to tithe even the tiniest herbs, and Jesus said that was good. We ought to be faithful in the smallest things. But they left out the most important things: justice and mercy and faith.

*What are we leaving out? It is easy for people to numb themselves with religious routine and neglect the most important things of God. These scribes and Pharisees were the most religious people in town. But they were utterly lost, because they had left out the most important things of God.

*I suppose every church has at least some people like that. After serving the Lord for 30 years, evangelist Bailey Smith gave these statistics for church members getting saved: 57 pastors, 69 pastors' wives, 139 deacons, 171 deacons' wives, and 17 missionaries.

*One of those wives who got saved told Bro. Smith that she was 69 years old, and had doubted her salvation for years. But she was too proud to deal with it. She was afraid that jaws would hit the floor. Then God asked her, "What good is pride in a lake of fire?" That gave her the conviction she needed, and she called on the Lord to save her. That lady avoided the worst woes in life, and that's what our loving God wants for all of us too. (10)

CONCLUSION:

*Yes, we are going to face some woes in this world. We will go through times of sadness, grief, and regret. But in today's Scripture, the Lord shows us how to avoid the worst woes of all. And the most important thing we can ever do is put our trust in Jesus Christ.

*Jesus loves us so much that He died on the cross for all of our sins. Then three days later He rose again, in everlasting victory over sin and death! And Jesus will give you this everlasting victory, if you will put your trust in Him. Ask the Lord to save you right now, as we go back to God in prayer. Then begin to grow in your faith, and keep seeking to follow Jesus more closely every day.

(2) BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES - NEW TESTAMENT by William Barclay - Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "Shutting The Door" - Matthew 23:13 - https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/william-barclay/scribes-and-pharisees-matthew-231-39

(4) Sources:

-BARCLAY'S DAILY BIBLE STUDY SERIES - NEW TESTAMENT by William Barclay - Revised Edition - Copyright 1975 - First published by the Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland - The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - "The Temple Tax" - Matthew 17:24-27 - https://bibleportal.com/commentary/section/william-barclay/the-temple-tax-matthew-1724-27

-Adapted from EXPLORING THE GOSPEL OF MARK by John Phillips, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids - "A Word of Warning" - Mark 12:38-40 - Downloaded to "Bible Study 6" from Olive Tree Bible Software, Inc.

(6) Sources:

-Adapted from Jeff Leeland, "ONE SMALL SPARROW" - Multnomah, 2000 - Cited in LEADERSHIP, Fall, 2001 - Source: "A PLATFORM FOR LIFE" - Romans 8:26-39 - "DYNAMIC PREACHING" - July, Aug, Sept, 2002 - 4th Sunday in July

-https://www.sparrowclubs.org/

-https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCULvlr45WKdyrfVG4Pe40Ow/videos

(7) Sources:

(9) Sources:

-Robert J. Morgan, Nelson’s Complete Book of Stories, Illustrations & Quotes, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers - 2000

-"Bible Illustrator for Windows" - Topic: Riches - Subtopic: Deceptive - Index: 2810 - Date: 1/1987.17 - Title: Charlemagne's Tomb

(10) SermonCentral sermon "The Price of Pentecost, Part 4" by Jerry Shirley - Acts 1:15-26