Mat 23;13-15 13 “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. 14 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. 15 “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.
There is a country called Wales in the UK. After the reformation in the 18th century, Wales experienced great revivals, a national outpouring of the Holy Spirit, with many swept into God’s kingdom and communities deeply affected. But in the 19th century, churches in Wales had slipped into coldness and dead spiritual life. A country that once was noted for its fervent Christianity became lifeless; this had terrible effects on a society full of crimes, immorality, and sin. The primary reason for that state was that preachers stopped preaching the Gospel of grace, and the country was filled with false teachers.
About that time, a young Welsh physician felt the burning of God’s call to preach. He was asked to address some of his fellow countrymen on a big stage. His name was Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the young physician. His sermon, in a way, shook that nation. He preached about the blindness of his nation, and he said the terrible state of his nation was mainly because of blind spiritual leaders who had failed to preach the Gospel.
That sermon offended and alarmed many because of the shocking way he described the spiritual condition of his beloved Wales, how hypocritical the leaders were, and how Christians blindly and with apathy went along with an impotent spirituality. Welsh newspapers criticized the sermon, castigating Lloyd-Jones as unpatriotic and even questioning his Christianity. But the “Doctor” firmly stood his ground upon the truth of Scripture and the reality God’s Word had exposed.
Lloyd-Jones’s sermon made a lot of people uncomfortable in what they believed and how they practiced their version of Christianity. They were offended that he would even suggest that they were religious hypocrites in grave danger of Christ’s judgment. It shook and disturbed many in their nation from their comfort zone.
As we look at our Lord’s teaching in Matthew 23, none can remain comfortable who refuse to see life and eternity from Christ’s perspective. Matthew 23 is such a sermon that should wake us up from our comfort zone, make us examine ourselves, and drive us to seek God’s grace and power in our lives. That is what will bring revival in personal lives, in our church life, and even in our society. Looking at our lives, the churches around us, and our society, don’t we yearn in our own hearts that, more than anything, we need a mighty outpouring of God’s Spirit? Nothing else will save us from the downward slide.
We keep looking at politics in our country and get angry about so many things happening, and worried that secularism and democracy are at risk. But you know, our greatest threat for believers and churches is not what comes from an outside pagan government, but from inside—from false teachers who pose as Gospel preachers. The greatest danger to Christianity and society is false teachers. It is when the land is filled with these false teachers that we hardly see the true Gospel being preached, souls truly saved, and never see God sending revivals. It is because of these false preachers that Christianity becomes dead and is like salt without taste, having no influence on society. Society without a salt influence becomes putrefied, as we see today. False teachers are the main culprits for this state, and the greatest danger to the church and society. Hence, we see our Lord rebuking with such blistering words—not the proud and crafty Herod, nor the cruel Romans or Pilate who mixed Jews’ blood in sacrifices—but the Pharisees and scribes who claim to be the spiritual leaders of Israel, but are false.
We already saw in verses 1–12 the Lord warning the disciples about five things not to do what the Pharisees did: Don’t preach what you may not practice; Don’t live an external religious life without heart religion; Don’t use religion to gain fame and worldly benefits; Don’t rob God’s glory with pride; Don’t confuse hypocritical drama with true greatness that comes with humble service.
Now, in verse 13, He turns from the crowd to the Pharisees and Scribes (PS). He tells them the eternal danger that will come upon these men in the form of eight woes. The original manuscript in Matthew has seven woes in this passage; verse 14 was copied by some scribe from Mark 12 and Luke 20. But it is something Jesus said, which is why we have it in Mark and Luke, so we will examine eight. Each woe identifies eight crimes of these false teachers.
The word “woe” in Greek is not even a word, but a painful, guttural cry. It is as if Christ, the ultimate Judge, sees the terrible, inevitable condemnation and judgment that will come upon these false leaders and is filled with pity and anguish because it is so unspeakable how terribly they are going to be judged, crushed, ground, and punished for all eternity. It is so unspeakable in human language that He cries out from deep inside: “Woe!”
In English, a milder version is “alas”; a more accurate expression of the feeling is a cry of pain. Think about this: if the infinite Son of God Himself, seeing the “hell of hell” that will be poured upon these people, has no words to explain but to cry from the deep gut, “Woe,” how terrible it must be. How scary. A divine deep sigh. This is not a wish, or just a curse; this is the statement of a fact because He cannot be wrong, and He sees what is coming on their heads and cries out in anger, but mingled with pity. It is not just a dispassionate angry cry; it is a very passionate, sorrowful cry and pity, which will end in Him coming to Jerusalem and weeping over the city seeing its judgment.
What a scene it must be if you could only have reconstructed the drama of the moment in your mind! What an electrifying, burning scene, a very serious passage. The tone of it is revealed by the terms that He uses. Eight times He uses the solemn expression, “Woe unto you.” Seven times He calls them “hypocrites.” Twice He speaks of them as “blind guides,” twice as “fools and blind,” once as “serpents and a generation of vipers,” and once “children of hell.” Very strong, terrible language.
Imagine this: to feel this scene, you have to imagine how electric this scene must be. The temple is filled with masses at an important time. Can you imagine going to some traditional big churches today with all the priests robed in their vestments and screaming, “Woe to you bishop, priests, blind teachers, children of hell”? Or go to the Vatican during Christmas time, when millions are standing outside and the Pope in his great dress, and all the cardinals and bishops, with their big hats, red robes, and linen clothes, are standing and talking. Suddenly, someone screams and says, “Woe to you Pope, you are a child of hell, a hypocrite, you will go to the deepest pit in hell.” What a shocking and electrifying scene! These woes are like so many claps of thunder, or flashes of lightning from Mount Sinai, falling on them. These are terrible not only because of the authority of the one who pronounces this, but because it comes from the meek and gentle Jesus who has come in the form of a servant to save, and not judge. If at this time He pours out such woes, what will He do when He actually comes to judge? If the only one who can intercede and turn away God’s wrath from us pronounces these woes of wrath, who will save these people? A woe from Christ is a remediless woe. Scary. That is what is before us: absolute devastation and condemnation of all the religious leaders to their faces in front of the whole crowd. And out of His mouth comes the most fearful, the most terrible profusion of words that He ever uttered on this earth. May the Spirit of God help us to meditate on this with fear and trembling.
So, let us look at it one by one. We will attempt to see three of them today.
Sermon Title: Eight Woes of Christ on False Teachers – Part 1
- Woe 1: For hindering people from truly getting saved.
- Woe 2: For making themselves rich by robbing the poorest with a show of devotion.
- Woe 3: For making their false converts double children of hell.
Woe 1: For Hindering People from Truly Getting Saved
Verse 13: “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.”
Following the eternal principle of His Kingdom (verse 12), Jesus turns to these leaders, looks them in the eye, and says, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees.” He rips off their mask and calls them “hypocrites,” meaning actors, pretending to be something they are not. “I know you, you know what you do. You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men.”
The Kingdom of God has come near with the Messiah. John the Baptist prepared people for it by calling them to repent, but even there, the scribes and Pharisees tried to put on a show, which John identified, calling them a “brood of vipers” and warning them to “bring forth the fruits of repentance.” They rejected his warning. Jesus Christ went about doing miracles and preaching, proving without a doubt that He is the Messiah and that only by believing in Him would they enter the Kingdom. Christ alone is the way to God’s Kingdom. The prophets had foretold the promise of the Messiah, facts that Matthew repeatedly records. God had revealed Himself to men through attesting miracles, His holy life, and the fulfilling of Old Testament prophecies.
Sinful man can only be saved by entering the Kingdom, coming under the redemptive reign of God by grace through faith. Why didn’t so many Jews believe and get saved in spite of such a glorious display of Christ’s ministry? It is primarily because of these leaders. The scribes and Pharisees rejected the revelation of God. If people believed the Gospel and truly repented and were saved, they would lose their religious business, so they shut people from entering the Kingdom. They refused to acknowledge Jesus, when He appeared among them, as the Messiah. They tried to keep back Jewish inquirers. They would not believe the Gospel themselves, and they did all in their power to prevent others from believing it. They kept people from getting saved. Their life, teaching, and actions ensured people didn’t get saved. This was a great sin—the greatest sin: to hinder men from entering the Kingdom. They systematically opposed the progress of the Gospel. They “shut up the kingdom of heaven.” They would neither go in themselves, nor—which is worse—suffer others to go in.
The phrase in verse 13, “against men,” is important. It is a very vivid picture. Eternal souls, after realizing their horrible sinfulness, seek answers, seek God, search for spiritual reality, and see what God has done through Christ and see Christ fulfilling prophecy. They come seeking Him. In their search, they even find the door. Matthew 7 says, “Enter through the narrow gate,” and that very few find the door to eternal life; it is so difficult. But after a lot of struggle, they find it, and just when they were about to enter, these men shut the door right in their faces. How terrible! They use their false teaching to shut the true door and lead souls astray. They do not allow those who are constantly trying to enter. They repeatedly slam the door. They don’t allow people to be saved.
They shut the door by preaching a false gospel, by giving a false assurance of salvation with their self-righteous, traditional system, denying the Word of God, misinterpreting the Word of God, denying that Jesus was the Messiah, denying His deity, denying salvation by grace, and denying the need for repentance. They shut it in the faces of the people with a works-righteousness system that had no place for Jesus Christ.
They did all they could to keep people from believing in Christ and entering the Kingdom. Christ came to open the kingdom of heaven, but they kept shutting the door. Sitting in Moses’ seat, if they interpreted the Scriptures, they should have helped people by opening the door and making them see the Messiah, how Moses and the prophets testified of Christ. They should have done great work and helped thousands to heaven. But they made it their business to create and nourish in the minds of the people prejudices against Christ and His doctrine.
- They would not go in themselves: “Have any of the rulers, or of the Pharisees, believed on him?” (John 7:48). No. They were too proud to stoop to His lowliness. They did not like a religion which insisted so much on humility, self-denial, contempt of the world, and spiritual worship. Repentance was the door of admission into this Kingdom, and nothing could be more disagreeable to the self-righteous Pharisees, who justified and admired themselves, than to repent—that is, to accuse and abase and abhor themselves. Therefore, they went not in themselves. Their not going in themselves was a hindrance to many, for, they having so great an influence/interest in the people, multitudes rejected the Gospel only because their leaders did. But that was not all.
- They would not suffer them that were entering to go in. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but it is worse to keep others from Him. Yet that is commonly the way of hypocrites; they do not love that any should go beyond them in religion, or be better than they. They perverted His doctrine, confronted His miracles, represented Him as performing the works of the devil, quarreled with His disciples, and represented Him and His teaching to the people in the most dishonest, dangerous manner imaginable. In John 9, we read they thundered out their excommunications against those that confessed Him. They made a rule in all synagogues that anyone who believed or confessed Christ (which is the only way to be saved) would be removed from the church, and they used all their wit and power to serve their malice against Him; and thus they shut up the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 11:52 says, “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” They claimed to have the key of God’s truth and perverted it; they did not use it to save themselves or allow others to be saved. A contrast comes in Matthew 16, where Jesus says to Peter, “I give you the keys to the kingdom.” You see the true teacher, Peter, the apostles, and all who follow in their doctrine, we have the keys. We open the door and let people in. These people shut the door in their faces by their lies and false religion.
We see them continuing this in Acts 4, when they see the apostles preaching and spreading the Gospel, and many were entering the Kingdom and getting saved. What do they do? They catch the apostles, beat them, threaten them, and command that “they should not speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” In whose name alone there is salvation, they shut the door on people like this. In 1 Thessalonians 2:16, speaking of the Jews, Paul says they are “forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved.” They’re trying to keep people from getting saved, is what they’re doing. That is the role of a false teacher.
Think about it: they shut the door of the Kingdom. The point being made here is that false spiritual leaders damn people’s souls to hell. False religious leaders keep people from being saved. So you don’t deal with this lightly. It is very severe. The only Kingdom that will save people, the Kingdom which all Jewish forefathers yearned for, and for which all their religious rituals were a shadow—when the reality of that Kingdom came, they shut it so people could not enter. That is the definition of false religion. That is the primary job description of a false teacher. In all that they do, they do not allow people to be saved.
See all the false religion and priestcraft, whether in the Roman Catholic Church, CSI, or any traditional churches, or prosperity gospels. What is the purpose or work of all their activities? Starting from sprinkling a baby, confirmation, teaching them to observe outwardly regular self-righteous activities, praying, family prayer, reading the Bible in name only, going to church, communion in big traditional buildings, teaching all moral acts without preaching sin and the Gospel of Christ. On the other side, talking about baptism of the Holy Spirit, tongues, miracles, blessings, blessings—what is the ultimate purpose of these people? They shut the kingdom of God.
What a great crime is that! Can there be a greater sin? It does not help anybody. We can’t say, “Oh, they’re nice folks and they’re doing what they think is best and they’re helping some folks over their trouble and they’re giving them some moral standards to live by, and so forth.” They are false teachers and need to be terribly rebuked and exposed. Christ says “woe to them.” May we also join Him and say that.
Woe 2: For Making Themselves Rich by Robbing the Poorest with a Show of Devotion
Verse 14: “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.”
The reason for the second woe, it says, is that they “devour widows’ houses.” Can anyone devour houses? This is a grotesque illustration of how someone suddenly, secretly, and completely swallows up, woof, what belongs to someone else. “I saved for so many years and kept it, but he took it and put it in his mouth in a minute.” Whose houses? The most helpless and poorest among them are widows.
These Pharisees and Scribes, as official judges of the community, would be called to settle matters of litigation, property, and the making of a will if a husband dies and the widow has property. In their position, they took advantage of the widow’s weakest condition when no one was there to guide her. These people, by gaining her trust as trustworthy, became trustees of her estates. They would probably say, “You can devote your life to God and make your property a gift to God. God will bless you.” They used their official position to manipulate and take advantage, thereby swallowing up and taking to themselves for personal wealth the goods of even widows. They devoured the most destitute of all. Widows and the fatherless are God’s object of deepest concern. What will they do with others?
They may also charge an offering for their services offered to help settle the land and meanwhile take more than was coming to them, took advantage of material support which widows gave freely, or by showing the helpless condition of widows, asking money from people, and using it for themselves. Also, in tithing, they asked widows to contribute more than what was expected of them, or pronounced a curse if they didn’t pay the tithes.
These heartless religious leaders even took financial advantage of the most helpless widows. Imagine what they would do with others. They made themselves rich.
Now, how did the widows believe them? How do people get deceived into giving them wealth and so much money? Look at what the verse says: “…you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers.”
Oh, they put up such a devotional show as very devoted men. Lest anyone should suspect that they will take money and make themselves rich, and use that money for themselves, they put on a godly show before everyone. The Bible shows prayer, more than any other exercise, is the most immediate form of access to God, and as such, prayer is generally the most certain index of a man’s soul. Sitting here this morning, the most telling question I can ask all of you to find out where you are spiritually is this: Do you pray? If so, is there reality in your prayer? Is there communion with God in prayers? Is there engagement of heart in prayer? Is there delight in prayer? Tenacity in prayer?
These people knew all their leaders—Moses, Daniel, David—were all men of prayer. So, what did they do to gain trust and make people believe that they were not worldly, covetous men? They wanted to convince people that their main desire and goal 24/7 was to commune with God; they were not interested in enjoying anything in the world, not interested in having any wealth; they were very spiritual. So, they would take the symbol of the highest levels of spirituality and use that as a covering for the greediness of their heart and deceive people into thinking, “We are so devoted and spiritual.” So, even widows were so impressed with their long prayer that they would think, “We are godly and will use the money in a godly way.”
So they prayed lengthy prayers. They prayed on and on. Jewish writers tell us that they spent three hours at a time in the formalities of meditation and prayer, and did it three times every day, until people thought, “Oh, how spiritual they are! See how long they pray.” Maybe they prayed for the widows while they were swallowing their houses. What devastating incisiveness exposes this practice! No one can find this out except the One who knows the heart. Christ says they do it “for a pretense.” Who will pray for so long and make a conscious effort of being inward with God in the duty, daring to pretend ordinarily to do so? But to the Pharisees it was easy enough, who never made a serious effort of the duty, and always made a trade of the outside of it. By this craft they got their wealth and maintained their grandeur.
They imposed on the credulity (trust) of weak and unprotected women by an affectation of great devoutness, until they were regarded as their spiritual directors. By insinuating themselves into their affections, they got to be the trustees of their estates. Widows, so impressed, would come and ask them, “I have this house, what to do? I have this jewelry, money. As a spiritual Father, what is your advice?” They abused the influence thus unrighteously obtained to their own temporal advantage, and, in a word, to make money by their religion. This again was a great sin.
The thing they aimed at was to enrich themselves; and, this being their chief and highest end, all considerations of justice and equity were laid aside, and even widows’ houses were sacrificed to this. Widows are of the weaker sex in its weakest state, easily imposed upon; and therefore they fastened on them to make a prey of. They devoured those whom, by the law of God, they were particularly obliged to protect, patronize, and relieve. Yet these were they whose houses the Pharisees devoured by wholesale; so greedy were they to fill their bellies with the poorest and weakest.
Not only did they use religion for personal reputation earlier (for Rabbi, Father, best places, robbing God), but even for robbing people for personal financial gain.
And doubtless they did all this under color of law, for they did it so artfully that it passed uncensured and did not at all lessen the people’s veneration for them. The cloak must be very thick which was used to cover such wicked practices. By them they got the reputation of pious, devout men, that loved prayer, and were the favorites of Heaven. By this means people were made to believe it was not possible that such men as they should cheat them, and, therefore, happy the widow that could get a Pharisee for her trustee and guardian to her children! Thus, while they seemed to soar heaven-ward, upon the wings of prayer, their eye, like the kite’s, was all the while upon their prey on the earth, some widow’s house or other that lay convenient for them.
Oh, how many Pharisees and Scribes (PS) like this there are! Our land is full of prosperity preachers who do not even leave the poorest of the poor alone, and give false promises which God did not give. How many get deceived, and you see mostly those groups filled with lots of women. They use their tactics on weak and struggling women.
How do people make them believe? Do you realize how they have so much fasting and praying: 24 hours, 21 days, 40 days fasting? Long, long prayers. I wonder how any human being can pray for so long. 40 days fasting and prayer? We struggle to pray for 40 minutes! But these godly Pharisees today pray long. Jesus said when you fast and pray, don’t advertise, but they advertise to the whole city: “21 days fasting prayer.” They celebrate anniversaries on that. “100 fasting prayers.” All to enrich themselves.
Why do they do that? That is what impressed people. These are men who do not spare even the poorest and rob them, giving them false lies and making themselves rich, devouring poor people. You may say, “Yes, Pastor, that is called the majority of the ministry in our country.” Do you see why God never sends revival to our country? They are the greatest danger to our society. Today they may deceive people. See what Christ says:
“Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
Oh, these people may cheat now and cheat the poorest, accumulating money from the poorest, promising them lies. Here Christ says, “Woe to them, therefore you will receive greater condemnation.” He is making a prophecy. He who pronounces this, even if heaven and earth pass away, His words will not pass away. He directly tells them, “You will receive greater condemnation,” meaning more abundant judgment. Condemnation and execution. The frightening judgment of Almighty God. Oh, may this should thunder into all the false preachers in our country.
It is amazing: they claim they are the safest guide to heaven; here He says they are a greased slide to the deepest hell. The worst condemnation will come upon them. There are degrees of damnation; there are some whose sin is more inexcusable, and whose ruin will therefore be more intolerable. The pretenses of religion, with which hypocrites disguise or excuse their sin now, will aggravate their condemnation shortly. Such is the deceitfulness of sin, that the very thing by which sinners hope to expiate and atone for their sins will come against them, and make their sins more exceedingly sinful. But it is sad for the criminal when his defense proves his offense, and his pleas (“We have prophesied in your name, and in your name made long prayers”) heighten the charge against him.
Frankly, sometimes I feel confused. I wonder, we struggle so much: five days full, hectic job, all sitting at a table and chair, back-breaking job, and then comes Saturday, more back-breaking work, sitting and preparing day and night. We preach God’s Word accurately, we do not take one rupee, we teach God’s Word accurately. Nobody gives anything to us for our ministry, but they are pouring money on these false teachers. But if there is any man we shouldn’t envy, it is these false teachers who make themselves rich through the poor. Think of it. Just for a few years with money and wealth, putting up a show and robbing from the poor, eternally their condemnation will be the greatest.
So the second woe is for making themselves rich by robbing the poorest with a show of devotion.
Woe 3: For Making Their False Converts Double Children of Hell / Corrupting People Who Follow You
Verse 15: “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.”
While the Pharisees were such enemies to the conversion of souls to Christianity, they were very industrious in converting men to their own group. They shut up the kingdom of heaven against those who would turn to Christ, but at the same time, they “compassed sea and land to make proselytes” to themselves.
The Lord noticed their commendable industry in making proselytes to the Jewish religion, seeing they put a lot of effort into converting others to their sect.
There were two kinds of proselytes: the proselyte of the gate and the proselyte of righteousness. The proselyte of the gate was a Gentile who just attended the synagogue. He barely got in the gate. He stopped worshipping his pagan deities and started worshipping the true God. He is called, in the book of Acts, a worshipper of God (Acts 16:14 and Acts 18:7). But the other proselyte was the proselyte of righteousness. This was the one who took the whole thing. He became a self-righteous, legalistic, tradition-keeping, law-keeping, circumcised proselyte, a disciple of the Pharisee, and joined their group. This is what the Pharisees were after. Very few of them achieved this.
The goal was not just an ordinary Jew, but a fully discipled follower of the Pharisees following all their rituals. So, to win one proselyte, they “compass sea and land,” had many a cunning scheme, laid many a plot, rode and ran, and sent and wrote, and labored unweariedly. They would zealously go everywhere they could, making a great effort to get one convert to Phariseeism. Very aggressive evangelistic efforts, missions. “You’re compassing sea and land. You’re going everywhere. You’re just surrounding the whole part of the world you live in for one convert, for one proselyte,” which is to say they were busy trying to add to their numbers.
They didn’t do this with a burden for souls or to glorify God, but to increase the numbers of their sect. You know, when you’re in a false system it helps if other people join. It sort of gives you a feeling that you must be right because, “Look at the people that are joining.” I really believe that people flourish sometimes in the cults for no other reason than they think it must be right because of all the people who are in it. And so the Pharisees put a lot of effort into increasing numbers.
What happens when they get one? “You make him the disciple of a Pharisee presently, and he sucks in all a Pharisee’s notions, and so ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” You not only shut him out of the true Kingdom, but you turn him into a child of hell, double than you. These false teachers not only keep them from truly getting saved, but corrupt people by teaching them their false religion.
At least if the new convert were in their own previous religion, they might have been open to the Gospel and saved, but now, because they joined this group, they are against the Gospel. How can they be double children of hell than themselves? Because new converts are always more zealous than old ones, right? The disciples outdid their masters. They go beyond the Pharisees in keeping rituals and laws. They were not converting people to Judaism as followers of the Lord God, but converting them to Pharisaism as followers of Pharisaic teaching. The result was that their converts, as Don Carson aptly put it, “out-Phariseed the Pharisees.”
Have you ever noticed that a convert to a cult is more zealous and aggressive for the cult than somebody raised in it? That happens even in true Christianity. Very frequently people saved out of the world and brought into Christ from an ungodly, un-Christlike background are more zealous for their newfound faith than people that are raised up in it. The euphoria of coming into the movement gives you a great amount of zeal.
And so here this new convert is filled with more fanatical zeal for his newfound system than even the ones that brought him in. Naturally, there’s a euphoria about having discovered what he thinks is the truth and the newness, and he’s not been in long enough to find out all the problems with it. And he becomes a double son of hell in the sense that he is perverted even beyond his teachers, and more zealous even than they are. And so they make a spiritual convert who turns out to be perverted; instead of finding God, instead of finding heaven, he becomes a son of hell. What a statement! Twice as hypocritical, twice as damnable.
They become very zealous and very hardened against the Gospel, and it became doubly impossible to save them because they had become double children of hell. The Pharisees’ religion made them doubly and extremely hot against the truth. They are called “children of hell” because of their rooted enmity to the Kingdom of heaven. The most bitter enemies the apostles met with in all places were the Hellenist Jews, who were mostly proselytes (Acts 13:45; 14:2-19; 17:5; 18:6). Disciples become more against the truth even than the masters. Like Paul, a disciple of the Pharisees, was “exceedingly mad against the Christians” (Acts 26:11), when his master, Gamaliel, seems to have been more moderate.
You see, when false religions convert people, they’re making them double children of hell. Meaning, a child of hell would be doubly worthy of hell, doubly worthy of damnation, doubly difficult to be saved—very strong language. So when you make one of your converts, you make them twice a son of hell. Doubly qualify him for hell. Twice a hellish person than you yourselves are.
Oh, how true it is today. How much effort goes into conversion in all these false movements, and once they get someone, he becomes so zealous, it is almost impossible for us to preach the Gospel. If he were a sinner without these influences, he could probably hear the Gospel and repent. Now he is doubly difficult, a double child of hell. That is what false religions do. You see, these systems which are the real threat to the eternal souls of men must be confronted as what they are: hellish systems.
So we see:
- Woe 1: For hindering people from truly getting saved.
- Woe 2: For making themselves rich by robbing the poorest with a show of devotion.
- Woe 3: For making their false converts double children of hell.
Applications
What does God say to His followers today?
May this lesson teach us to see false teachers and false religion as Christ, our Shepherd, sees it. This is a warning from our Shepherd. We are all so much influenced by the world’s teaching and perspective rather than how to see false teachers. Where do we hear in churches this kind of exposure and rebuke of false teachers and religion? We seem to be resistant to that. It seems as though if you speak against any false system or any false religious leader or spiritual leader, people pounce on you as if you don’t know the meaning of graciousness and love and kindness and all of that. We judge them and they use the famous verse, “Judge not so you will not be judged.” But that is a very warped perspective. And this text ought to teach us how to view and warn others of false teachers as Christ did.
We have people who say, “Oh, Pastor, be positive. Just expound positive teaching of God’s Word, and people will be grounded in the Word of God; they will not be deceived by false teachers.” If that is so, such teaching makes the words of Jesus irrelevant and unnecessary, because no one can so positively teach the truths than the Son of God. He says, “Beware of the scribes.” Jesus Himself didn’t assume that His own immediate presence would immunize His people from the horrible influence of false teachers; He verbally warned them.
Look at the timing. Just before He goes to the cross, He seems to think it is so important to warn His sheep as a good Shepherd. He warns them about the identifiable traits of false shepherds. He warned them of their teaching; here, He is teaching them to beware of their person. Look at the Lord so direct. He didn’t say it is not polite to name call, so indirectly, “Beware of big spiritual leaders; think about who they are.” No, no. “Beware of Scribes and Pharisees,” a direct reference, a clearly identifiable group. He warns His people.
He specifically names the vices of these people, no general allusions. He didn’t say, “Beware of their pride,” but gave specific examples of their pride: how they abuse their power, what a hindrance they are to the Gospel, how they rob the poorest with a religious show, and make their converts worse, double children of hell. He even predicts their damnation.
A ministry comprised predominantly of warning and rebuking false teachers will not feed us. Some do it, always talking of false teaching. Some say, “You should keep warning, warning.” There is so much false teaching; all life, I can keep warning. But sheep not only need to be kept from the wolves and poisonous grass, but they need to be led to green pastures and feed. So, don’t grow weary of explicit warnings when balanced with teaching.
Paul said, “Night and day for the space of three years, I cease not to warn you” (Acts 20). And he said that to the Ephesian elders. What was he warning them about? He was warning them about grievous wolves who would enter in, not sparing the flock, and perverse men from among them rising up—false spiritual leaders.
Oh, may this teaching make you wake up and realize the danger of false teachers. The most dangerous people who need to be opposed for us should be false teachers. Never tolerate them. Never speak nicely to them. Why talk about them? “They keep doing what they know.” No, they hinder people from getting saved; that is their business. They convert somebody to their false religion and make him doubly impossible to save, and in all this, rob the poorest people and make themselves rich. How can we speak nicely about them?
When you face the false teacher, learn to confront them. The same kind of confrontiveness that Jesus confronted them with and warned the people, so do we need to confront them and warn the people today. Use this chapter, show them how Christ rebukes them, tell them they are liars and that greater condemnation awaits them. Learn to use the same strong language. Many times such confrontation may lead to repentance. We are wishy-washy, nicely, smooth-talking. Learn from our Lord how to deal with them. There needs to be a confrontation. And you have to be sensitive to the Spirit of God as to how you should do that, but we need to be calling people away. As Jude talks, we need to be snatching brands from the burning.
You see, men’s souls are at stake. And these people work for hell, the scribes and the Pharisees did. This is no small issue. False spiritual leaders damn people’s souls to hell. No small issue. So you don’t deal with this lightly. It is very severe. More than seeing what the government is doing, the threat to democracy, the threat coming from these false teachers is more dangerous. We are focused on fighting certain political battles over here on the other side, and completely fail to understand that there’s a more important battle. And the battle that I see that must be fought is the battle for the clear and popular articulation of the truth as opposed to the error that’s out there.
They damn men’s souls. Paul writes to Timothy and says they propagate damnable heresies and doctrines of demons. And we can’t treat that lightly. We can’t treat it with some kind of indifference. We can’t say, “Well, we don’t want to say anything harsh. We want to express love. We want to be kind.” If Jesus did it, we have a mandate from Him to act as He acted.
They’re in the business of sending people to hell. They’re in the business of damning the souls of people, and they will damn their souls by a denial of the Messiahship of Christ, the deity of Christ, the power of Christ, the work of Christ, the Gospel of grace. Whatever it takes to damn men’s souls, that’s exactly what they want to do—false spiritual leaders. That is the definition of false religion. That is the definition of false spiritual leadership. It does not help anybody. We can’t say, “Oh, they’re nice folks and they’re doing what they think is best and they’re helping some folks over their trouble and they’re giving them some moral standards to live by, and so forth.”
Secondly, Remember and Warn Everyone About Danger Signs of Unsaved Spiritual Leaders
When you find a leader itching to be seen with special dress and special titles, shouldering their way into positions of prominence in social and religious gatherings. When you see them shutting men from being saved by preaching a false gospel, converting them and making them children of hell, and robbing and becoming rich. They use their position to rob people in the pretense of godliness—long prayers. You see the marks of a false teacher.
There are men who wouldn’t preach without a robe, who never preach the Gospel, always a self-righteous false system. What is the work of many, many self-righteous traditional churches? At a small age itself, they baptize them as infants and teach them all outward activities, moral activities, fill them with habits of coming to church, tithing, outwardly moral, never preach the Gospel and make them see their hearts, and shut the kingdom of heaven. Then they make them double children of hell, and keep robbing them with this priestcraft. Isn’t all this religious activity? I see some of our relatives. They would soon hear the Gospel and be saved if they were not part of that church. All that church does is to hinder them from getting saved, and make them worse and hardened. How terrible the tragedy! People are hooked without realizing that.
See the clear signs of a false teacher: itching to be called Reverend, Doctor, and robbing people’s money, and in the midst of it all, seeming excessively pious. True piety is modest and excessive in secret, not before men. Long prayers, 24-hour prayer, 21 days, with a pretense of praying long prayers, and tears of compassion for people. They earn millions with big, grand dressing, cars, homes, expensive jets, making themselves rich, without ever preaching the Gospel, even taking money from the poorest, giving false promises. They live in luxury at the expense of widows’ mites. Their condemnation will be greater. May the prosperity preachers of our day—Dr. Dhinkarans, Reverend Paul Thangiahs, Pastor, Reverend Johnson—hear this warning.
Instead of being blessings, they are the curse of this land and never allow people to be saved and hinder revivals and the mighty movement of God’s Spirit. While we pray for God to raise up men, pray God should rebuke and stop these false teachers.
Our Responsibility to Truth
We have to praise God on the one hand that He didn’t allow us to be deceived by these false teachers, who could have closed the door of heaven, not allowed us to come to the Gospel truth, and shut the door, made us double children of hell. No, God brought us to preachers and a church where the door was opened for us. Now it is our responsibility, knowing the truth, that we should be door openers to lost souls. We have the keys to the Kingdom. We understand the truth of the Gospel. We know how people get saved. And it’s our tremendous responsibility to open that door to people and to call them out of those damning systems. Don’t be nicely talking about false teaching. Call it what it is. We of all people, if we say God is teaching truths millions in our country don’t know, with our reformed church and confession of faith, learning errors and learning truth, we have a responsibility to stand for that truth and confess what we believe and articulate it loudly and clearly and confront error with boldness and courage. That’s what we need. That is our responsibility to the truth. That should be our greatest burden and task we need to pursue with all energy: spread the truth as much as possible. Plan to do that through Gospel outreach, social media, digitally. That’s what the church needs. The church needs to know the Word of God and it needs to take its stand on the truth against false religious leaders. Each of you have a responsibility; none of you can stand as spectators. God has taught you. The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. Each of you should be involved in spreading the truth.
Look at the efforts false teachers put forth to make someone a double child of hell, and we should be ashamed of how little effort we put forth to make someone a child of heaven. They cross sea and land to convert one man to their way. What do we do? We keep praying for the burden of the Gospel. If we value the worth of an infinite eternal soul, how much care and effort we should put forth. Nothing must be thought too much to do, to save a soul from death.
The industry of the Pharisees herein may show and shame the negligence of many who would be thought to act from better principles, but will be at no pains or cost to propagate the Gospel. To save a soul, we must be ready to cross sea and land; all ways and means must be tried; first one way, and then another, must be tried. If God is pleased to use our efforts, oh how worth it is! To gain one soul, even if we gain the whole world, we cannot buy a soul.
Learn from these Pharisees: for worldly motives, carnal hearts seldom shrink from the pains necessary to carry on their carnal purposes; when a proselyte is to be made to serve a turn for themselves, they will compass sea and land to make him, rather than be disappointed.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 