In This Issue:
Whoa! Woe Could be Headed Your Way!
When God Struck
What Motivated Booth
God’s Pay
Others’ Sins
Volume: 897 February 20, 2023
Theme: Judgment
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Whoa! Woe Could be Headed Your Way!
Bill Brinkworth
Stop now if you are involved in sin because you could be headed to great sorrow, grief, and misery. Payday for iniquity is someday, either immediately or in your eternal future.
Over 98 times, the King James Bible warns of the woe sinners will face. Twenty-six of those times, the warning was given to nations given over to sin. The rest of the references were to sinning individuals.
“woe” — misery, grief, experiencing great mournfulness
There will be woe to nations when:
- they are not bothered by their committing of sin. Some nations even flaunt or boast of their wickedness. There will be woe to them, as some biblical nations were warned.
“The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” Isaiah 3:9
“I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean …” Jeremiah 13:27 - they legalize sin.
“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;” Isaiah 10:1
There will also be woe to many individuals. Some of God’s warnings are to:
- the unsaved.
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 - those that sin.
“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?” Isaiah 29:15
“Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:11
“Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;” Jeremiah 22:13 - Christians that want to be like the world and seek the world’s approval.
“Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.” Luke 6:26 - drunkards.
“Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!” Isaiah 5:11 - those that help others drink!
“Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!” Habakkuk 2:15 - those that approve of sin.
“Woe 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!” Isaiah 5:20 - those who think they are so smart and have all the answers and excuses for their ungodly behavior.
“Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21 - to pastors that preach philosophies and ideas contrary to God’s Word.
“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:1 - those with filthy, ungodly speech.
“… Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5 - trouble-makers.
“Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.” Micah 2:1 - a man that turned against Christ: Judas.
“The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.” Matthew 26:24. I wonder if the principle taught here applies to the many who oppose and attempt to discredit Christ today. - those that will go through the great, future tribulation warned about in Revelation.
“One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.” Revelation 9:12
Since God is the same today as when he had men of God record these warnings, it would be correct to assume that many of the “woes” apply today. God left these warnings to remind the readers that unless they halt their sins, afflictions, unhappiness, or disaster will be upon them for their transgressions. Stop! Heed God’s warning, and turn from iniquity in your life!
“Foolish men imagine that because judgment for an evil thing is delayed, there is no justice, only coincidence here below. Judgment for an evil thing is often delayed some a day or two, some a century or two, but it is sure as life. It is sure as death!” — Thomas Carlyle
When God Struck
Sunday School Times
A Christian physician once took refuge from an approaching storm in a grocery store that also contained a bar. Two drunken men were present, and as the lightning flashed, they poured forth such a volley of fearful oaths that finally the storekeeper said, “Gentlemen, I am no Christian, but I want to say that your awful cursing is too much for me. God will strike you dead right here with a stroke of lightning if you do not hush your blasphemous oaths.”
The leader of the two rolled up his sleeves, went to the door, cursed God, and defied Him. At that moment, a blinding flash of lightning descended with a flame of fire. Quickly, the light was gone, and only smoke remained. In a moment that, too, had disappeared, and there lay God’s defier in a heap, just as an empty garment. The physician helped to lay the man out, and he said he did not believe there was a bone two inches long left unbroken in his body.
“We evaluate our friends with a God-like justice, but we want them to evaluate us with a God-like compassion.” — Sydney Harris
What Motivated Booth
Walter Knight
Many Christians say that they believe in the day of accountability but are as silent as the sphinx when it comes to warning others to flee from the wrath to come. The thing that made William Booth a “fiery” salvationist was the indicting, taunting statement of an infidel lecturer, who said, “If I believed what you Christians say you believe about the coming judgment and the day of reckoning, with the resultant eternal lostness of the impenitent Christ-rejectors, then I would crawl on my bare knees on crushed glass all over London, night and day telling men and women to flee from the wrath to come!”
Who does God’s work will get God’s pay,
However long may seem the day,
However weary be the way,
Though powers and princes thunder, “Nay!”
No human hand God’s hand can stay;
Who does His work will get His pay.
He does not pay as others pay,
In gold or land or raiment gay,
In goods that perish and decay,
But God’s high wisdom knows a way;
And that is sure, let come what may,
Who does God’s work will get God’s pay!
During a revival, a young man said he did not wish to be a Christian. When asked for his reason, he replied, “Several years ago, I was in a man’s kitchen. He found me there, swore at me, and kicked me out. He was a professing Christian, and from that time, I decided never to have anything to do with religion. And I never have to this day.”
The young man was asked to write down his reason in full and sign it. Then it was handed back to him with the words, “Take this, and when you are asked for your excuse on the Day of Judgment, hand this up.” The young man saw his folly and came to Christ that night.
Are you letting the sins of others keep you from giving your heart to Jesus? Don’t be so foolish, for it will not stand the test on Judgment Day.