Tthe eight woes of Matthew 23 are relevant today 529-2 - 16 - 2

Matthew 23:13, “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.”

The Good News is so simple and available to those of us who place our faith in Jesus, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” Jesus seeks a personal relationship, not ritual.

The Roman Catholic Church “shuts up the kingdom of heaven against men” unless rituals such as confession are observed. In indulgences are sold, masses are set for the dead and holding the correct the correct icon…:

“Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular Shall not suffer eternal fire!

Our Lady of Mount Carmel to Simon Stock

July 16, 1251”

[http://www.philomena.org/scapular.asp]

By encouraging their congregants into these rituals that have nothing to do with Jesus leads one into Matthew 23:15, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”

And then we have the prosperity, name it and claim it tele-evangelists. Matthew 23:14, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.”

These tele-evangelists use a hard-sell prosperity message if only you will support their ministries. Jesus traveled the earth for 3 1/2 years in sandals and homespun and made the comment, Matthew 8:20, “And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Now we have a prosperity form of Christianity spread by televangelists who live in multi-million-dollar mansions and insist on having their private jets.

They promote false teachings, Matthew 23:16, “Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!”

There are several more woes in the 23 chapter of Matthew, subject for another time. Suffice to say that the woes enumerated by Jesus nearly 2000 years ago are relevant today.

Isaiah Chapter 5 and America today 543 - 3 - 4

Although what Isaiah wrote in chapter 5 through the inspiration of God originally concerned Israel, it has application to America.

Isaiah 5:1-2. “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. “

Historically it's as if America had its own original sins, slavery not only of Africans, also the poor who were in bondage and the cruel treatment of the original occupants of the land. In many cases instead of the good harvest God was expecting, the people were disobedience, rebellion, and practiced idolatry.

In Isaiah 5:5 God said what he would take down His hedge of protection from around His vineyard and command the clouds that no rain would fall. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 shattered America’s complacency. Parts of the country have had extreme droughts and in other parts of the country, there's been massive flooding and mudslides.

Isaiah 5-7, God was expecting fair judgment but instead found oppression rather than righteousness. The balance of the chapter deals with “Woe to the Wicked. CM provided a simplified listing of the six woes mentioned in Isaiah 5:

1. Materialism

2. Hedonism

3. Flaunting Sin

4. Denial of the Word of God

5. Relativism

6. Lack of Justice

Black Friday has long been an example of materialism. This has been upstaged by the riots and looting due to covetousness.

Hedonism is the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good and proper aim of human life. Drugs, drunkenness, sexual deviance and more in the name of “Doing my thing.” Millions of unborn babies have been sacrificed on the altar of convenience.

As for flaunting sin, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) community has hijacked God’s rainbow. They are demanding that their deviant lifestyle to be treated as normal. Sadly, the mainstream church is becoming more acceptance of the LGBT agenda rather than following Scripture.

Denial of the Word of God, Atheists work very hard to prove that the God they don’t believe in doesn’t indeed exist. While not directly denying the word of God, many claiming to be Christians do even greater harm through false teachings. Prideful and arrogant had its start in the garden with the question, “Did God really say that?”

Relativism is the doctrine that no ideas or beliefs are universally true but that all are relative, there are no absolute truths, only what is right in his/ her own eyes.

Lack of Justice due not just only to corruption in the judicial area but with those authoring laws. We are slowly learning the extent of the damage done by the last administration and the existence of a deeper shadow government, minions of the one world government agenda.

God speaking through Isaiah summed it up; Isaiah 5:20, “Woe (H1945) 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!”

Woe, H1945, an interjection meaning alas! It is used in lamenting a person's death, It is used in prophetic announcements of judgment or threats.

[The Complete Word Study Dictionary]