Series - The Road to the Resrrection - Message 6 - 8 Woes & a Wail - Majoring on the Minors

Introduction

Good morning Church!

I’m glad to see each and ever one who was able to make it out this morning. I also want to welcome anyone who may be joining in online.

Well, it’s homecoming here at New Home!

92 years ago in 1931 a little Brush Arbor meeting was held and that meeting would culminate into New Home Missionary Baptist Church.

For 92 years people have been coming together and meeting here on this corner and I am happy to have been a part of that progress for the last 8 years now.

In the last 8 years we’ve made a lot of progress in many different areas of our ministry here at New Home.

We’ve added Sunday School rooms and are even to the point of needing more now. We’ve added online services when online services weren’t a big thing as well as online giving and I think that was God just setting the stage for us because a few years later we had Covid and we were well positioned for that when it happened.

We’ve seen many been saved and baptized over the last 8 years. We’ve see our Church grow. We have an awesome Wednesday night program going on and people just love it and to say that we have been and are blessed, would be an understatement.

My prayer is that if this world is still standing in another 92 years, this Church, and when I say Church I mean body of believers, is still sharing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, to a lost and dying world.

If we ever lose sight of why we’re here, we won’t have to worry about it standing because it will fall.

But if we always keep Jesus as the focal point of our ministry, He’ll be sure to bless for ages to come.

This morning, we are going to be back in the Book of Matthew and we will be finishing out Chapter 23.

In today’s message we’re going to hear what A. T. Robertson called ‘the rolling thunder of Christ’s wrath’. — William Barclay

We will see Jesus take His rebuke of the Pharisees and Scribes up a notch to a whole new level.

There would be no rebuttal for every word that left His lips would be true but as I mentioned last week, sometimes the truth hurts.

This rebuke would set the stage for our Lord’s crucifixion in the coming days but it was what had to happen all along in order for His mission to come to pass.

Jesus knew the end was near. Jesus knew that within 3 days He would be taken and treated like the most vile criminal the world had ever seen. And He knew all this should come to pass in order that what would come next could take place.

Yes, the crucifixion was horrendous. Yes, the pain and agony He would suffer would be unimaginable but…but, the resurrection would be glorious!

And that’s why He went through all of the agonizing pain that He did, so that He might defeat death, hell, and the grave and rise victorious as the first fruit of the resurrection!

He died so that we might live!

And this morning, if you don’t know Him as your Lord and Savior, He’s allowed you an opportunity to get to know Him and my prayer is that you will make that move before you leave this place here today!

Alright, with no further ado, if you have your Bibles with you and turned to Matthew 23:13 would you say, Amen.

The Woe for Preventing — (Vs. 13)

As we get started by looking at each of these woes this morning, there are few definitions I want us to understand because they are a common theme in almost each of these verses.

The first is the word “woe” itself.

Woe — Greek word (ouai) — and it means “horror” or “how dreadful”. I believe the NLT does a great job of bringing out the original meaning of the word. Instead of “woe” it says… “what sorrow awaits you.”

Now, when you read the verse in this context, it really brings to light the forthcoming thought of horror and dread.

Matthew 23:13 NLT

13 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

What “sorrow” awaits you!

Sorrow speaks of a feeling of deep distress caused by loss, disappointment, or other misfortune suffered by oneself or others.

I don’t know that you can get a better definition than that for the future that awaited these Scribes and Pharisees!

One day, they would wake up on the wrong side of eternity and the only thing they would feel is the deep distress and disappointment suffered by their own disbelief!

Can you imagine being so zealous for something that you were blinded to the truth that was right before your very eyes!

So blinded even, that you crucified a man on account of it and then one day you wake up, only to realize the man who you had crucified was telling you the truth!

He was the truth! And you had him murdered!

And because of your unbelief, because of your zealousness of tradition instead of openness to the truth, you would now be separated from the one you were so zealous for to begin with and miss out on an eternity spent with Him!

You stand face to face with the one you thought was a phony only to hear these final, fatal words....depart from me ye that work iniquity, I know you not!

Oh, what a sad thought!

This is the very feeling of the definition of sorrow and woe!

Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees…and then Jesus calls them hypocrites which is the next definition I want us to understand this morning before getting into the actual woes.

The word “hypocrites” — Greek word (hypokritēs) — and in it’s simplest form it means a “pretender.”

William Barclay writes — Originally, the Greek word hupokritēs meant one who answers; it then came to be specially connected with the statement and answer, the dialogue, of the stage; and it is the regular Greek word for an actor.

It then came to mean an actor in the worse sense of the term, a pretender, one who acts a part, one who wears a mask to cover true feelings, one who puts on an external show while inwardly having thoughts and feelings of a very different kind.

And as Jesus continues to tear down the religious elite’s form of religion here, He calls them often “hypocrites” thus ensuring He got the point across to all in earshot of this scathing sermon.

William Barclay writes — Their whole idea of religion consisted in outward observances, the wearing of elaborate phylacteries and tassels, the meticulous observance of the rules and regulations of the law. But in their hearts there was bitterness and envy and pride and arrogance.

To Jesus, these scribes and Pharisees were men who, under a mask of elaborate godliness, concealed hearts in which the most godless feelings and emotions held sway.

This would be the last public sermon our Lord would preach and talk about stepping on toes…that’s an understatement of what Jesus does here.

Instead of stepping on toes, Jesus was stepping on egos!

Generation upon generation of man made traditions that had been stacked up like Jenga blocks, were now being toppled in one fail swoop!

With each woe, another tradition topples and with each woe, another heart was hardened!

And with each hardened heart, the desire and need to rid themselves of this man named Jesus became more resounding!

This final sermon, which was preached by our Lord in hopes of repentance would only stir the fires of revenge in the hearts of the religious elite and seal our Lord’s fate!

Matthew 23:13 KJV 1900

13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Jesus begins lowering of the boom of woes with an indictment against them for keeping people out of the Kingdom of Heaven instead of ushering them in.

He says, “You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: you don’t go in yourselves, neither suffer them to go in.”

I want to read you what the NLT says because it really helps us understand the point that Jesus is making here.

The NLT says, “You shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces.”

Now, who is the door to heaven?

Jesus is, right?

John 10:7–9 KJV 1900

7 Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Jesus said, “I am the door!”

Listen this morning friend, the only way to get to heaven is through Jesus!

John 14:6 KJV 1900

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

If you don’t go through Jesus, you don’t go to heaven at all!

And the problem was, the Scribes and the Pharisees were doing all that was within their power to keep people from believing in Jesus!

They called Him a false prophet. They said that the only way He was able to perform the miracles He did was through the power of Beelzebub the prince of the devils! They disputed everything He said in hopes of discrediting Him!

They were to stubborn to see that Jesus was the door to Heaven, the one, true Messiah who had come to save their people from their sins!

The door was open, the door was right in front of them and yet they slammed it shut, wanting no part of it and in the process kept others from entering in as well!

Matthew 23:13

13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

The first woe, the woe of preventing. Next, comes the woe of Pilfering.

The Woe for Pilfering — (Vs. 14)

The religious leaders had no shame whatsoever when it came to their tactics of obtaining money.

Instead of grieving with widows over the loss of their husbands, they would prey upon them for donations to their causes.

Who better to prey upon than a grieving widow who isn’t thinking in her right frame of mind.

To think that they would stoop this low is saddening but apparently it was taking place and Jesus calls them out for it.

He also says, “and for pretence make long prayers.”

John G Butler said — One of the methods of pilfering money was by making long prayers for money.

They were using prayer as a weapon to encourage donations.

As I mentioned, there was no shame in their game when it came to money.

I like what John Phillips said about this verse here...

John Phillips — A prayer is measured not by its length but by its depth.

People would look at the length of their prayers and thing they were something special.

“They must be religious!”

But it’s not the length of a person’s prayer that makes them religious but their relationship with the one they are praying to!

And then Jesus goes on to say, “Ye shall receive the greater damnation!”

Deceitful intentions will bring about greater damnation!

The woe of pilfering had been brought to light and now comes the woe for proselytizing.

The Woe for Proselytizing — (Vs. 15)

The word proselyte used here means convert.

Matthew 23:15 NLT

15 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

What it was speaking of here was someone who was ethnically non-Jewish but had formally converted to Judaism.

John Phillips said — The Jews had two classifications of proselytes: (1) those who were circumcised and were called “proselytes of righteousness”; and (2) those who were not yet circumcised and were called “proselytes of the gate.”

But Jesus says here that by converting them to Judaism, they were turning these converts into twice the child of hell they themselves were!

So what exactly is Jesus saying here?

The problem was not that they were trying to convert people, that’s what they were called to do and even we today, that’s what we have been called to do.

It’s the great commission of the Christian to lead the lost to Christ!

Matthew 28:19–20 KJV 1900

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

The problem was not with the proselytizing but with what these religious leaders were proselytizing people to!

John Phillips says — The Lord was not denouncing Israel’s mission to mankind. It was Israel’s destiny to witness to the world about the true and living God; and that will be Israel’s mission in the millennium. Jesus was denouncing proselytizing people to Pharisaic, rabbinic Judaism.

William Barclay writes — A convert often becomes the most fanatical devotee of the new religion; and many of these proselytes were more fanatically devoted to the Jewish law than even the Jews themselves. One of the gravest dangers which any missionary runs is that of trying to convert people to a sect rather than to a religion, and of being more concerned in bringing people to a church than to Jesus Christ.

John G Butler said — The proselyting was not for the Gospel, but for followers for the religious leaders. However, if you follow these wicked leaders, you will go to hell. It is not wrong to seek after souls for the Gospel, but the religious leaders of Israel were not seeking souls for the Gospel but for guile.

This morning there’s two things we need to take from this woe.

It’s our job to proselytize the lost. Jesus has called us and given us a commission that should be the driving force behind everyone of our lives. Yes, we have to work. Yes we have to provide for our families. But in doing so, in every aspect of our lives, we ought to be carrying out the great commission of leading unbelievers to our Lord Jesus Christ!

It’s of the utmost importance that we don’t forget the who and the why behind the commission. We’re not leading them to NHMBC so they can follow our beliefs.

We’re not baptizing people in as members of NHMBC because we got it all figured out. I can definitely tell you that ain’t the case. That was made evident in our business meeting last Sunday night.

We’re leading people to NHMBC so that they can find Jesus.

We’re inviting them to become members of the Kingdom of God so that they in turn can know the same Jesus that we know and have the same kind of relationship with Him that we have.

The great commission is all about the mission and the mission is telling the world about Jesus!

The Scribes and Pharisees had missed the mission.

My prayer is that no matter what struggles we may face as a Church, whatever big decisions have to be made so that this place is still existing another 92 years from now, my prayer is that we will never forget the mission!

Because I can guarantee you this…if we forget the mission…this Church won’t be here in another 92 years!

Oh the building may stand, but the building is just that…a building!

The people are what make the Church and it’s God who holds it together!

We would do well to never forget that!

There’s the woe of proselytizing and next, we’re going to see a woe for perverting.

The Woe for Perverting — (Vs. 16-22)

The religious leaders had become masters at twisting and perverting the scriptures.

And Jesus starts off here by calling them “blind guides.”

Now, someone tell me…what is the job of a guide?

To lead people, right?

But it’s awful hard to lead someone if you yourself cannot see, right?

Here were religious leaders trying to lead people in the ways of righteousness but they themselves were blind to the way of righteousness!

If you will remember ,we covered this a few chapters back in...

Matthew 15:14 KJV 1900

14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

And sadly this is what was happening.

Jesus goes on to prove His point in the following verses.

Read 16b-18.

William Barclay writes — To the Jew, an oath was absolutely binding, as long as it was a binding oath. Broadly speaking, a binding oath was an oath which definitely and without equivocation employed the name of God; such an oath must be kept, no matter what the cost. Any other oath might be legitimately broken.

The idea was that if God’s name was actually used, then God was introduced as a partner into the transaction, and to break the oath was not only to break faith with others but to insult God.

Jesus basically says of their ignorance here that it’s ludicrous.

Read 19-22.

Jesus basically tells them, it doesn’t matter what you take an oath on, if you’re going to go as far as to make an oath towards anything that has to do with God, you better be serious about it!

This morning I would simply caution you on making an oath with God.

Think twice about it before doing so and if you do decide to make an oath, then take it seriously, and do everything within your power to uphold your part of the oath.

Next, we have the woe of pettiness.

The Woe of Pettiness — (Vs. 23-24)

Now, in order to understand what Jesus is saying here in this section, you have to understand what He’s talking about.

First off, He’s talking about tithing…and as soon as I said that word some of you reached for your wallets!

“Oh no, he’s about to break loose on tithing!”

Well you can take your hands off because I’m not gonna preaching on tithing specifically.

Now, what I will say is if your heart gets pricked over your tithing through the sermon then by all means you can make a mends with God about it at the end of service but preaching on tithing is not my goal.

My goal this morning, just as Jesus’ goal, is to strike at something much deeper than your wallet!

My aim is your heart!

Jesus said here, “ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

John Phillips said — What should have been the overflow of a joyful and grateful heart was made drudgery by them. The minute rabbinic rules required that even the smallest products of the soil, like mint and anise and cumin, had to be tithed. In practice the Mosaic law of tithing extended to corn, wine, oil, and the firstborn of herds and flocks (Deuteronomy 14:23), but the Pharisees seized on Leviticus 27:30 and rigorously applied the law of tithing to everything.

Leviticus 27:30 KJV 1900

30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.

The problem was, as was with everything they did, they took it to the extreme and missed the most important matters at hand which Jesus says were, the law, judgment, mercy & faith!

The Lord’s words echoed Micah 6:8 which say...

Micah 6:8 KJV 1900

8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; And what doth the Lord require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly with thy God?

And then Jesus drove the concept home by making the statement...

Matthew 23:24 KJV 1900

24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

He again calls them blind guides and uses one of their perverted laws to make his point.

You see, according to tradition it was a sin to drink a gnat so…when they would go to drink their water or their wine or whatever their choice of drink was, they would literally strain their drink to ensure there were no gnats in it before drinking.

And Jesus says here, you strain out gnats but you swallow camels!

You are great at majoring on the minors and missing the bigger picture!

In this case, it’s the state of your heart when tithing.

Notice Jesus doesn’t condemn the tithing in and of itself but the fact that they were missing the bigger picture.

Listen, for some sitting here, tithing is something we just do and don’t give it a second thought.

For others, they give grudgingly as if with every dime they donate they lose a little piece of their soul!

In either case, we all need to make sure we don’t miss the weightier matter behind the tithing and that’s the fact that the only reason we are able to tithe in the first place is because God gave it to us!

And because we understand what we have is because God allowed us to have it, we ought to tithe with a generous heart, thanking God for it to begin with!

We need to make sure we major on the majors and minor on the minors instead majoring on the minors like the Scribes and Pharisees here.

We see the woe of pettiness and then, we have two woes over priorities.

Two Woes over Priorities — (Vs. 25-28)

The religious leaders were meticulous about outward cleanliness.

They would wash their hands certain ways, they gave special attention to the outward cleansing of their dishes and their tombs but they missed the most important details which focused on the inside condition of a man instead of the outside!

John G Butler writes — When Jesus said...“Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:26). This command informs us that when man has a clean heart, it will clean up his conduct. Government tries to improve man’s behavior with clean clothes, housing, etc. But what will clean up man’s conduct is to clean up his heart. A clean heart will promote a clean outside.

And this goes right along with the same concept of Jesus woe in verses 27-28.

Matthew 23:27–28 KJV 1900

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

This morning dear friend, may I simply say this…you can look the part and play the part and chances are we may never know the difference.

But there’s one who can see clear through to the heart of a man and that’s God.

He knows your heart. He knows whether you are truly saved or not.

He knows whether you have trusted in His Son or whether you’re just playing the role of a Christian!

And one day, that knowledge will be brought to light.

Dear friend, if you are sitting here this morning and you’ve been playing Church; you’ve been playing the role of a Christian but you know deep down that you’ve never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, then make today the day you give up that hypocritic act and put your trust in the one, true, living God here today!

Stop pretending to be something you aren’t and be what God wants you to be and that’s…saved!

Believe and be set free from those chains of hypocrisy!

Two woes over priorities and then we come to our final woe of the day...a woe for persecution!

A Woe for Persecution — (Vs. 29-36)

Matthew 23:29–36 NLT

29 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ 31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell? 34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.

In this final woe, Jesus condemns the religious leaders for what they were about to do.

He calls them hypocrites because their actions would soon betray them and bring about the fulfillment of these verses.

They claimed that if they had of been in the time of their forefathers they wouldn’t have partaken in the killing of the prophets like they did but what Jesus knew was that in three days time they would do the very same thing to Him!

John Phillips said — Such was their foolish mistake! The scribes and Pharisees were soon to dye their hands crimson in richer blood drawn from nobler veins. Their fathers had martyred God’s saints; they would murder God’s Son.

You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell!

The last woe having been passed, we now come to the wail but before we do I want to share something with you about these woes that will help put them in perspective for you.

Warren Wiersbe said — As we review these tragic woes from the lips of our Lord, we can see why the Pharisees were His enemies. He emphasized the inner man; they were concerned with externals. He taught a spiritual life based on principles, while the Pharisees majored on rules and regulations. Jesus measured spirituality in terms of character, while the Pharisees measured it in terms of religious activities and conformity to external laws. Jesus taught humility and sacrificial service; but the Pharisees were proud and used people to accomplish their own purposes. The holy life of Jesus exposed their artificial piety and shallow religion. Instead of coming out of the darkness, the Pharisees tried to put out the Light; and they failed.

A Wail of Poignancy — (Vs. 37-39)

In His final wail here we see the true heart of Christ. Even after rebuking the religious leaders in the previous verses we see that what Christ really seeks is their repentance and salvation.

There are 3 “P’s” I want us to see here in Verse 37.

The first is the reference to the Parable of the Vineyard owner we read about a few weeks ago in Matthew 21.

If you will remember the vineyard owner had rented his vineyard out to some husbandmen and took a trip into a far country.

When the time of harvest drew nigh, he sent his servants to receive their portion of the fruits but the wicked husbandmen took the owners servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

The owner sent other servants but the husbandmen treated them the same.

At last, he sent his own son thinking these wicked husbandmen would reverence him but they did right the opposite.

They saw it as an opportunity to get rid of the only heir and so they did! They slew the owners own son!

This was a parable of what was about to take place in a few days here but Jesus references it again in this verse.

Not only is there the Parable of the Vineyard owner but we also see here the Patience of Christ when dealing with the Children of Israel.

Notice what He says next… “how often would I have gathered thy children together.”

Over and over and over down throughout the ages God tried to gain the attention of the Children of Israel, hoping that they would repent of their wicked ways and return unto Him but over and over and over they rejected the men God sent and thought their way was better!

Who needs a man of God to tell men how to live when they have compiled their own set of rules to go by?

This shows the patience of God though in how He dealt with His people down throughout the ages.

Sadly though, they continued to reject Him time after time as we will see on down.

The last “P” is the protection that Christ had offered.

Noticed what Jesus says here… “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”

“Even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings.”

Jesus uses an illustration here to prove His point.

Donald Barnhouse tells in one of his writings – that when he was a little boy raised in the Midwest, the wheat fields in front of his house caught fire. There was a dirt road that separated the farm house from the wheat field. The blaze began to roar and the heat became intense, as the flames licked up and found their way to that road, and they feared the loss of their home. He said he remembered cowering in the corner as he watched that flame.

They had a big tree out in front of the house, a big oak tree that hung out over the road, and as the flames licked up from the wheat field, they caught the branches of that tree and (they) set it on fire. The tree began to drop great chunks of burning debris onto the road – pieces of branch and bark. But, by the grace of God, the fire went no further. The tree burned, but the house was spared.

Donald Barnhouse said he remembers stuff­ing his hands into his pockets that evening and walking out­side, feeling the heat as it radiated from that charred field. As he walked along the road, he was absent-mindedly kicking pieces of debris lying in his path. He saw a large chunk that looked like a piece of bark and he kicked it – and little chickens ran every­where. He leaned over and flipped what he thought was debris over and it was the charred remains of a mother hen that had pulled her little ones under her wings.

Jesus said, how often have I tried to protect you and you wouldn’t allow me to!

John MacArthur — But you were unwilling, He said. He came to His people in truth and light and love and offered them the kingdom God had long promised, but they rejected the King and forfeited the kingdom. Instead of inheriting the blessing God proffered for their faith, they inherited the judgment He promised for their unbelief.

Which brings us to the final two verses.

They couldn’t see it then but within 40 years their city would be utterly desolate and deserted.

Rome would besiege the city round about, the people would begin to turn on one another, many would die of starvation while others turned to cannibalism and the dreadful act of eating their own children!

Then, as if things couldn’t get any worse, the armies of Rome would charge the city and over 1 million Jews would die!

The streets of the city ran red with blood all because they rejected the one and only Son of God!

Closing

This morning, as we come to a close, I want to leave you with a few cautions when it comes to these woes.

For the saved this morning, I would simply ask you to examine your heart. As we have seen, the Pharisees problem was they were more worried about the externals instead of the internals.

It doesn’t matter what the external looks like if the internal isn’t right.

Is your heart and soul at peace with God this morning?

Or have you been so worried about the outside activities looking good that you’ve missed the work God is trying to do on the inside?

Maybe you’re here and you are saved, but somewhere along the way, your priorities have gotten all jacked up.

You’ve been so focused on the temporal that you’ve lost sight of the eternal things of God.

If that’s you this morning, I’m going to ask you to come and do business with God this morning and see if you and Him can get those things worked out.

Secondly this morning, I wouldn't be doing my job well if I didn’t tell you that Jesus is still the door to Heaven.

He is still the way, the truth, and the life and no man enters into the Kingdom of Heaven without going through Him.

If you are not saved this morning, the door is standing here wide open. Jesus is standing here, arms wide open saying, “Come, put your trust in me. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

If you are here and lost this morning, won’t you accept Jesus invitation?

Won’t you come while there’s still time and take Him as your Lord and your Savior?

The door is open, the invitation is being given, and the only thing you need to do is accept the invitation that Christ has given and believe upon Him.

Romans 10:9–10 KJV 1900

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

And last but not least, please don’t leave here this morning thinking that just because God is a merciful God that His mercy goes without judgment.

There will come a time when the floodgates of mercy close and the floodgates of judgment will open.

God was merciful time after time after time to the Children of Israel but there were times when they frustrated the grace of God and mistook His mercy for a lack of judgment and they found out the hard way that even God’s mercy has limits.

And when those limits have been reached, His mercy turns to righteous judgment.

If you are here and in need of being saved this morning, don’t frustrate the grace of God.

He has given you an opportunity to turn your life around right here today!

To start afresh!

An opportunity at a new beginning!

Won’t you take it?

Mercy is so much sweeter than judgment!

Accept the wonderful grace and mercy that God has provided through His one and only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, right now before it’s too late!