Luke 6:24-26; The Woes

All right, if you have your Bible, wants to join

me there in Luke chapter six, Luke chapter six, And

today we're going to do the woes. Nobody wants to

do the woes? Do they? I want the woes? But

how marvelous that our Savior gave us the woes. So

last week we examined the four blessed statements, and today

we're going to look at the four woes. So Kathy,

and she's not here today, but she asked me if

there was a difference between or significant difference between the

pronunciation blessed and the pronunciation blessed. The verb to bless

communicates an action in the past. Tense of that verb blessed,

which we pronounce blessed or blessed is the communicates the

state entered into because of the action of the verb,

and it should be pronounced blessed. What happens is our

American mouth likes to shorten everything. American English is the

great assimilator, right. We take words from all over the

world and we make them English words. And most of

the time what we do to those words is we

shorten them. That is, we put the emphasis on the

beginning of the word and then we just sort of

our mouth sort of trails off as we pronounce it.

Some words, don't you know. There are some French words

that we pronounce each syllable, but most of the time

our English American mouth wants to shorten all the syllables

at the end of a word so that we, you know,

get through it quicker. And that's what's happened with this

word blessed. It's the past tense of bless and what

we do is we pronounce it blessed. And you can

hear when you say blessed that I'm actually pronouncing a

T at the end of that. It's not a D,

it's not blessed. So we have to actually pronounce that

second syllable in the word. So there's nothing in the Greek,

there's nothing in a Hebrew word that would be that

we would translate into English that would be any different.

It's just the way we pronounce the word. We like

to shorten words. It's like the word a point to

a point is the verb communicates an action, but the

past tense is pronounced appointed. So we add that next

syllable with the with the past tense ending appointed, we

wouldn't say appointed you know, we wouldn't we wouldn't try

to shorten that because we know we need that ed

at the end, which communicates the state of being. So

there's no difference in the meaning for either English pronunciation.

It's just the way we say it. And this week

we're gonna look at the woes, and we're gonna look

at verses twenty four, twenty five, and twenty six. So

it's right there in chapter six, comes right after the

blessings here in the sermon. On the plane of the

two records of this sermon, only Luke gives us these woes. Now,

Matthew has plenty of woes. If you look in Matthew

chapter twenty three, verses thirteen through the end of the chapter,

you're going to find lots of woes there. He's pronouncing

woes on the Pharisees. You're going to find woes again

in Luke chapter eleven. There's some woes there as well.

But only in this sermon do we find these woes

in Luke's gospel, And of course we're talking about basically

the same thing. These woes are the mirror image of

the blessings. So we had the blessings, and now We're

going to see the opposite, the mirror image of these

in the woes there is that maketh himself rich, yet

hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath

great riches. So Solomon said, So we're going to see

that as well today here as we read Luke twenty

four through twenty six. But woe unto you that are rich,

for you ever your consolation, woe and to you that

are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe and you that

laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe unto

you when all men shall speak well of you, for

so did their fathers to the false prophets. Father, help

us today as we consider these verses and speak to

each of us. Father, who knows how the spirit moves Father,

convincing men of sin. But Lord, do that work today

as you, as we read convict us, Father, draw us

ever closer to the cross. This day. Father, we pray Lord,

that you would strengthen the membership here as we consider

these words of Christ Jesus and plant them in our hearts. Father,

and plant us by that river of water today that

we might grow strong and tall. For we pray in

Jesus' name. Amen. All right, You notice we begin with

but woe unto you that are rich. I'm often the

one that will point out the golden adversative, especially in

places like Ephesians chapter two. But God, who is rich

in mercy, and it creates such a wonderful contrast. But

here I'm not sure we would call it a golden adversative.

We might call it an adversative, but not a golden one,

because now we go to the woes, but woe. So

he's debt with the blessings and now he's going to

deal with these woes. But whoe unto you that are rich?

So what does the word woe mean? The Greek word

that's translated woe means alas or calamity. It is an

interjection of distress or sorrow, and it's it's pronunciation in

the Greek language kind of kind of speaks to it.

The pronunciation is oh i. Oh Oi is the way

it's pronounced. It's very much like the Hebrew word oi

or hoi. That's another word in the Bible that's translated

whoa hoi. Here it's oi, So they're very much alike.

There are many actually Greek and Hebrew words that are

somewhat alike in the way they're pronounced and the way

they're spelled. This one, of course, right here, Jesus is

using it to pronounce this distress or sorrow that he sees,

and he says, whoa sorrow, it's a calamity. It's alas

you that are rich. Now, this is a word that

we find in several places in the Old Testament, but

one in particular I wanted to go to. Is we

consider the meaning of this word whoah is the way

Isaiah used it repeatedly in one of his chapters in

chapter five. There are other chapters that have woes. In Isaiah,

he used that word a lot. But in chapter five

we have this repeat. In chapter five of Isaiah's prophecy,

verse eight, he says, and again these are some of

these woes statements in Isaiah, woe unto them that join

house to house, that lay field to field to there

be no place that they may be placed alone in

the midst of the earth. Notice that join house to house,

field to field. Who can do that? The rich man

can do that? And so Jesus or Isaiah speaking to

the Israelites, saying woe to you who are able to

do this. Then in verse eleven of Isaiah five, we

have another woe. Woe unto them that rise up early

in the morning, that they may all strong drink, that

continue until night till wine inflame them. So it's not

only the woe on the rich, but it's the woe

on those who drink. Look at verse eighteen Isaiah five.

Woe and to them that draw iniquity with chords of

vanity and sin, as it were with a cart rope.

So they're drawing iniquity, they're after it, they want it

for themselves. Look at verse twenty Woe to them that

call evil good and good. Evil that put darkness for light,

and light for darkness, put that put bitter for sweet

and sweet for bitter. So they're changing all these things around.

They're calling evil good and good evil. This is what

a perversion that is of the language, and of course

a perversion in the heart. Look at verse twenty one.

I says, woe un to them that are wise in

their own eyes and prudent in their own s light.

We go again the proud, the conceited. That's who we're

talking about here in these rich men. Look at verse

twenty two, woe to them that are mighty to drink wine,

men of strength to mingle, strong drink. So these men

have been pronounced this woe upon them in Isaiah's day.

And I think Jesus sort of takes up the mantle

of the prophet here as he speaks to his day

basically some of the very same things that Isaiah says

to his time, Jesus now speaks to his time and

of course to all eternity. What does the word rich bean, Well,

the Greek word means to abound in, or to be

distinguished for something. You're rich in. How you're distinguished, You're

rich in what you have in abundance. Look at Isaiah

five again. The list of things he pronounced woe against

are the wrong things to be distinguished for. Greed for

lands and money, greed for alcoholic drink, lust for sins,

and the perversion of truth. All of that you don't

want to be distinguished for it. But these men in

Isaiah's day were rich in these things. And notice what

Jesus says to them. He says, for you have received

your consolation. Now, how do we use that word in

our current English language? Consolation? Well, we would probably call

it a consolation prize, right, And if you're in a

race and you receive the consolation prize, are you the

winner in that race? You're probably the one who gets

the trophy, the little bitty trophy. It's sort of like

the participation trophy, you know, in the pat on the

back you did good, you know you made it to

the finish line. Here's your trophy. Here's all you get,

and that's it. It's a little thing. It's not something marvelous.

When we were at the fourth of July parade. After

the parade, they have this little fellowship down there hot

dogs and things and have booths set up. Different groups

set up booths down there. And one of the fellows

that was there, what's his name, Denise the olympian that

was there, Connor Curran. He was the Olympian and he

had his medal and he was showing his medal off

and he was allowing some of the kids to hold

the medal. I didn't go over and do it, but

they said it was really heavy. That's pure gold. So

that's the winners prize. The consolation prize is the little

bitty trophy made out of ten painted gold you have

received your consolation. So the rich man is not winning anything,

He's being comforted with what he has now. What is

enjoyed now is all the comfort and consolation a man

will receive, because in the next life without Christ, all

he can hope for is torment and the second death.

While the poor man calls on Christ, the rich man

depends on trust in his abundance, his riches, his knowledge,

his tradition, his position, and whatever it is that he's

distinguished for, and never deals with his sin problem. Do

you know that you can be rich and poor at

the same time. You can have wealth and still bend

the knee before Christ and cry out to Him for

the forgiveness of sins. You can do that. But so

many people think because they're well healed and healthy and

have abundance and a nice house and a beautiful lawn

and a great job and all the rest that comes

with what we might call the American dream, because they

have all that, why do they need God? Why do

they need Christ? This all I'm not a sinner. Look

at me, I'm prosperous, I'm wealthy, I'm successful. Well, that's

your consolation, and there'll be nothing for you in the

next life. You get it now, friend, if that's all

you're gonna do. The rich man depends on his riches

and trusts in his abundance, riches, knowledge, tradition, position, all

the rest. He never deals with his sin problem because

he doesn't think he has one. He's rich. Thomas Brooks

and the Golden Key rights, or actually he quotes Augustine,

and Augustine says, because they have tasted the liberality of

God's kind and have employed it only against God's glory,

their felicity shall be short, but their misery shall be endless. Therefore,

to see the wicked prosper and flourish in this world

is a matter rather of pity than envy. It is

all the heaven they must have. That's it, all the

heaven they must have. Thomas Brooks later in the Peace writes,

this would any envy a man going to execution because

he saw him in prison nobly feasted and nobly attended

and bravely courted, Or because he saw him go up

the ladder with a gold chain about his neck and

a scarlet gown on his back, Or because he saw

him walk to execution through pleasant fields or delightsome gardens,

or because there went before him drums beating, colors flying,

and trumpet sounding. Surely no another said, no one envies

the prize soal for her ribbons and metals when she

is being let off to the handmaker smokehouse recently taught

through Psalm thirty seven. Psalm thirty seven is all about

the contrast between the wicked and the righteous, and in

Psalm thirty seven David writes, fret not yourself because of evildoers.

Neither be the envious against the workers of iniquity, for

they shall should soon be cut down like the grass

and wither as the green herb. Woe to you, who

are rich, for you've received your consolation, David said in

verses ten and eleven of that thirty seventh Psalm. For

yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be

Thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not

be but the meek shall inherit the earth and shall

delight themselves in the abundance of peace. And then again

in Psalm thirty seven, at the end of the psalmon

verses thirty five and thirty six, David writes, I have

seen the wicked in great power in spreading himself like

a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and lo

he was not yeay I sought for him, but he

could not be found. It's temporary, this thing of riches,

and it deceives us because we think we're so good

and so successful and so prosperous that do we really

need God? And so often it takes a calamity in

life to break us so that we know that we

need to call on him. Poverty of spirit, ladies and gentlemen,

and richness and satisfaction of the things that we can

produce in this life. They often don't go together. They could,

but they don't. And then he gives a woe to

those that are full. Now, just like in the previous

list the blessings, when he lists all these blessings, every

one of them had to do with the poor man.

Blessed to you that are poor. He begins there in

what was the verse twenty twenty one, No. Twenty twenty

blessed be you poor? Now he says, woe to you

that are rich. Now, all the woes are going to

have to do with the rich man, just like all

the blessings had to do with the poor. Man, because

they are a part of who the poor man is.

So the woes now are a part of who the

rich man is. Noticed, he says, woe to you that

are full. What's it mean to be full? Well? Remember

the rich man in Lazarus there was a certain rich

man which was clothed in purple and fine lined, and

fired sumptuous every day. That's Luke sixteen, verse nineteen, fared

sumptuously every day, to fare sumptuously. If I can say

that word is not a dietary designation, but a heart condition.

He is not full of food, but he is full

of his own conceits, his own opinions, his own station.

He's satisfied with all that he has produced. His vanity

is great, his pride is even greater. Never challenge the

full man the rich man. He won't cotton to any criticism,

since he knows just how right and righteous he is.

He does not take an interest in the things of Christ.

He scoffs at the word of God and thinks that

things of eternal life are a fairy tale. He is

full on his own supply and does not hunger and

thirst after righteousness like the poor man. Jesus says woe

to you that are full, for you shall hunger again.

Remember the rich man in Lazarus in that story in

Luke sixteen. But Abraham said, son, remember that in thy

lifetime thou receivest thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things.

But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. Hunger

here is not a hunger for food, but it's a

torment because righteousness has been set aside. The torment is eternal,

a gnawing hunger that can never be filled. Because he

a skewed the righteousness of God for his own. Eternity

will feed him with torment. Hunger will abase him. While

the saints sit down at the wedding feast with Jesus,

the self satisfied man will experience the pains and the

hungers of hell. Third, the laughter, woe unto you that laughed.

Now he says, well, what are we talking about when

we mean laughter? Mark the word Now we we talked

about this last week. We had that word. Now, the

present it's the it's that present activity of the blessed.

And now we see it's a present activity of the rich,

of the of those experiencing the woes. Now it means

at this present moment m just the same as the

present suffering of the saints in last week's message, which

was highlighted by the same word. Here the current condition

of the full rich. Why why is this here? Their

laughter is not rejoicing over the things of the Lord,

as it was with the poor man, but it's a

laughter over their satisfied condition. Listen to solemn at this point.

Solomon speaks to this in Ecclesiastes chapter seven. It is

better to go to the house of mourning than to

go to the house of feasting, for that is the

end of all men, and the living will lay it

to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by

the sadness of the countenance, the heart is made better.

The heart of the wises in the house of mourning,

but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise

than for a man to hear the song of fools,

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so

is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity. Yeah,

there you go, there's your laughter. There's the laughter for

this present moment, when we ignore all the things of

substance and weight that could lead us to Christ. And

we laughed them off, and we enjoy all the pleasures

of sin for a season that leads us to Hell,

and laughing all the way through the broad Gate, along

the Broadway into the broad pit. John gilladds to this point.

He says, they laugh at sin, rejoice in iniquity, make

a mock at it instead of mourning for it. Oh

that glory in themselves and their righteousness, and rejoice in

their boastings. Woe to you that laugh. Now here's the

reason for you shall mourn and weep. Here's a picture

of hell, the gnawing hunger, the emptiness, the weeping in

the morning. Those who are cast out, those who never

knew the Lord. Jesus told us plainly of their condition

in Luke thirteen, when he said, but he shall say,

I tell you I know you not. Whence are ye

depart from me, all ye that workers of iniquity, There

shall be weeping and ashing of teeth. When you shall

see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in

the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out, Yes,

mourning and weeping, come laughing now over all the joys

of sin, transgressions, iniquities, disobedience, all of it. But one

day there'll be weeping and gnashing where there once was

laughter because they haven't turned to Christ. Fourth, woe to you,

and all men shall speak well of you. Here we

have the well healed. What does it mean when all

men speak well of you? We see this on the

red carpet runways, don't we When all the world is

ablaze because the king has no clothes and they're all

clapping and happy, men and women draped with next to

nothing on the world is losing its mind over the daring,

the beauty, the fashion, sins, the power, the opulence. Speak

well of them? And why would they speak well of you?

If you're standing for Christian truth? Would both wicked men

and righteous men speak well of you? Unless you're a hypocrite.

Make up your mind to have a biblical worldview, and

just see what happens. I dare you see what happens?

Listen to Solomon at this point Proverbs chapter fourteen. The

poor is hated even of his own neighbor, but the

rich hath many friends. I wonder if he maybe heard

Jesus' sermon on the plane, and then again in Proverbs

twenty eight. To have respective persons is not good for

for a piece of bread that man will transgress. We

want it so bad. We want the respect, we want

the attention. We want it so bad. And so the

wicked man with all of his with all of his fullness,

and all of his after now he finds, he finds

the approval in the praise of the world. And notice

what Jesus says. So did their fathers to the prophets.

And here here the hear the words of Isaiah. Here

when their fathers actually spoke to the prophets. Listen to

what they say that this is a rebellious people, lying children,

children that have well that will not hear the law

of the Lord, which say to the seers, see not.

And to the prophets, prophesy not unto us. Right things

speak unto us, smooth things prophesied deceits. Get you out

of the way, turn his side out of the path,

Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.

This is what they said to the false prophets. And

of course the false prophets gave them exactly what they wanted.

This is a woe woe to you, and all men

speak well of you, for so did their fathers to

the false prophets, and of course they praised the false

prophets for their prophecies. So how do we apply this? Well,

just a few things here. I think application is easy

on these. Isn't it marvelous? How understandable messages of Jesus are.

Jesus himself pronounced these woes, which should cause us to

sit up and take notice. We might read the blessed

statements there in twenty twenty one and twenty two and say, yeah,

that's Jesus. He would bless us, he would give us

these blessings. This falls into line with what we who

we know he is. But then we come to the woes,

and that should cause us to sit back, because here

the meek Jesus is pronouncing woes on the rich, woes

on the full, woes on those who laugh, now, woes

on those who when men all men speak well of you.

We need to take seriously the woes, just as we

took seriously the blessings. Second thing is I think we

should be poor rather than rich. That is, I'm not

talking about a bank account or a number, but humble

before God rather than exalted over our own accomplishments. And

whatever accomplishments we have, we need to lay those at

the feet of Christ Jesus. Thirdly, we need to be

hungry rather than full. That is, be hungry for righteousness

rather than for one's own pride, for one's own station,

for one's own success. We should be hungry to be

right with God. That's what the poor man is, and

that's what we should do. Next, we should be weeping

rather than laughing. That is, weeping over our own sinfulness,

rather than celebrating it. The rich man celebrates his sin

with laughter. The poor man weeps over his sin and

the sins of others, because he knows that hell is waiting. Fifth,

we should be warned when all men speak well of us,

something may be off. Be warned when all men speak

well of you. Examine yourself closely. Are you walking in

things of the Lord? Finally, be happy when you suffer

from the name of Christ. Jesus told us plainly were

to leap, shout for joy, and leap. It's a difficult

lesson to take because we don't want to suffer for anything,

but we will suffer when we stand for what's true.

Think about the man in Psalmn One who didn't stand,

who didn't walk with, or stand with or sit with

the wicked men. What do you think the wicked men

said of him? Nothing good? And what would have happened

if he had walked with, and stood with and sat

with those wicked men? All? They would have spoken well

of him. Maybe that's a good barometer for us. Be

happy when you suffer. For Christ, Father, help us to

take just as seriously these woes as we take those blessings.

We thank you for our Christ, who tells us the

truth and gives us exactly what we need. And every moment, Father,

call us to yourself to day, for we pray in

Jesus name,