Sermon: Woe Unto You (Luke 6:20-26)

Woe Unto You
Sunday, May 31^st, 2026
TRINITY SUNDAY
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Luke 6:20-26

Prayer

O Father, we thank you for the blessedness of Christ, and that by faith in His Passion, we may not only avoid eternal punishment, but we may attain unto eternal life. Teach us O Lord by the grace of Your Holy Spirit, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

In Revelation 3:20, our Lord Jesus says to the church at Laodicea, Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.

• Why did Jesus give this particular message to this particular church? What problems did the church at Laodicea have, so that they needed to be told in an inspired letter from Jesus, “I am outside! I am standing on your front porch, I am knocking on the door, and you need to let him in!”
• How did a Christian church, likely planted by the apostles, become deaf to hearing the voice of God?
• Well, we discover in the verses immediately prior that the church of Laodicea had become lukewarm. And they had become lukewarm because of their wealth.
  • Jesus describes their condition in Revelation 3:16-19 saying, because you are lukewarm, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, I have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—but you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. And then he says, Behold I stand at the door and knock.
• So you see the church at Laodicea had a No Soliciting sign on the doorway to their heart. They did like or want visitors. They did not like or want anyone disturbing their way of life. They did not like or want anyone knocking and asking to be let in for a meal. And it was that imagined self-sufficiency, their own lack of felt neediness, that prevented them from hearing the voice of their Master. And because they could not hear his voice, and could not hear him knocking, they never got up to open the door and let God in.
• You see the problem if you are lukewarm is that you are not needy enough for God. You have just enough Christianity to feel good about yourself, to feel secure. You go to church. You take communion. You work hard, perhaps you even tithe, and because of this God has blessed you and you have started to prosper. But somewhere along the way, you start to rest in that prosperity and lose your sense of neediness. And thus, bit by bit, little by little, you stop seeking the eternal things which are above, the kingdom of heaven, and start to settle for earthly goods below.
  • This is how Christians, how churches, how whole societies become lukewarm. We forget that naked we came into this world and naked we shall leave it (Job 1:21). You brought nothing into this world, and it is certain you can carry nothing out (1 Tim. 6:7).
• Well, it is for such lukewarm people, and lukewarm churches like Laodicea, that Jesus pronounces these Four Woes upon the crowds.
  • Woe to you who are rich. Woe to you who are full. Woe to you that laugh now. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.
  • And so this morning, I want you to receive these four woes as the word of love that it is. Jesus says, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
  • So whether you are a believer or an unbeliever, or unsure of what you believe, Jesus has a word of love for you this morning, if you will open your heart to hear it.

Outline of the Text

Now if you look at our text this morning, we are focusing on verses 24-26. And there Jesus addresses four classes/kinds of people:

• In verse 24, Jesus pronounces a Woe upon The Greedy.
• In verse 25a, He pronounces a Woe upon The Self-Indulgent.
• In verse 25b, He pronounces a Woe upon The Haughty.
• In verse 26, He pronounces a Woe upon The Vainglorious.
  • The Greedy, The Self-Indulgent, The Haughty, and The Vainglorious, these are the people Jesus wants to evangelize and bring into His kingdom. And he has already begun to do this by announcing who the blessed are. Who are the people that are truly happy? They are those who for Christ’s sake and the glory of God, become poor, hungry, sad, and hated. Jesus says, these are the blessed.
  • However, since not everyone is motivated to walk that hard path to blessedness, Jesus now turns to warning us of what awaits those who don’t follow that path. Where does the broad and easy way of sin lead to? It leads to destruction. It leads to eternal woe.
  • And so you could ask yourself here, What do I find more motivating in my relationship with God? The four blessings of Jesus, or the four woes? Which moves you to God more quickly and fervently? The promise of eternal life, or the threats of eternal punishment?
  • Well, the mature Christian should start to become more and more motivated by a love for God rather than a fear of God’s punishment. For as it says in 1 John 4:18-19, There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear [referring to the slavish fear of punishment]: because fear hath torment. He that feareth [like a slave] is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
  • So that is the mature state you want to grow up into, loving God because He loved you first. You go to God simply because you love Him and want to rest in Him. Love should be the motivating force of your relationship with Jesus, not the fear of punishment.
  • However, there is a proper place for the fear of God’s judgment, and that place is usually found at the beginning of the Christian life. The fear of hellfire and damnation can jolt us awake. It can jumpstart and awaken us to a new openness to hearing God’s voice.
    • Of this it says in Proverbs 1:7, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
• So are you are motivated more by love, or by fear? Well, it is for those people who are motivated by fear that Jesus now directs these four woes. And we see this in how Jesus marks a break between the four blessings and these four woes.
  • It says earlier in verse 20, And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. So the disciples are the first and primary audience as an example to the crowds. They’ve begun that life of poverty, hunger, sadness, and being hated. But then here, he says, But woe unto you that are rich, marking a contrast to the blessings he just pronounced on the disciples.
  • So who is this first Woe aimed at? It is aimed at whoever is Greedy. Jesus says in verse 24…

Verse 24 – But Woe unto the Greedy

²⁴But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.

• Now recall from last week that it is not riches or wealth in itself that is evil, but rather the love of riches that is evil. And we know this because Paul says, everything that God created is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:4).
  • And so find in Scripture that many of the holiest men were also immensely rich. We could think of Job for example, or Abraham, or Daniel (who helped the rule the empire). In the New Testament, we could think of Lydia in Acts 16, or some of the other women who helped bankroll Jesus’ ministry. Matthew 27 tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was rich and used his wealth to give Jesus a burial place.
• So this woe is not aimed at just rich people in general (Jesus is not a Marxist or socialist or trying to stir up class envy), No. This woe is aimed at those who live for riches, those who serve Mammon and not God, or who serve Mammon in the name of God. Many of the Pharisees were amongst this class.
• And so the warning Jesus has for them is that ironically, they are not rich enough.Jesus says they have already received their consolation. Meaning, they are presently enjoying and spending their wealth, but at death, they won’t have anything left for eternity. Their investments and accumulation of riches is too shortsighted. They have not planned their finances around living forever. And in this sense, they are most poor and to be pitied.
  • Later in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus will illustrate this truth with the story of the rich man and Lazaurus. Listen to this section from Luke 16:19-26, “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted [consoled] and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ (Luke 16:19-26).
  • This story is a window into the future of everyone who does not live for God. And from the perspective of eternity, who has the better life? Who is truly rich? Lazarus, or the unnamed man now in torment?
  • We see also in this story that after death, there is no second opportunity to repent. There is great gulf fixed that none can pass over. There is a division at death between those who love riches and those who love Christ. Between those who have their portion in this world, and those who have God for their exceedingly great reward. If you spend your life serving and enjoying the world, hell is your reward. But if you spend your life in service of Jesus, enduring evil for Him, then an eternal consolation awaits you.
  • So which future is yours? On which side of the gulf will you be carried to if you died today?Jesus pronounces a woe from His love upon those who have their best life now, rather than reserving their best life for the age to come. Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
• Now the second woe is upon The Self-Indulgent. Jesus says to them in verse 25a…

Verses 25a – Woe unto the Self-Indulgent

²⁵Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger.

• Who are The Full?
  • Again, we could think of the rich man in Jesus’ parable, who feasted sumptuously every day without giving a thought to the beggar outside. These are those people who fill themselves with the world’s goods, with sensual pleasures, who live to gratify their carnal appetites.
  • Paul speaks of such people in 2 Timothy 3:2-4 saying, For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
  • These are the full that Jesus is warning here. People who live to enjoy whatever makes them feel good, even if it is forbidden by the law of God.
• Now there many ways that a person can commit these sins of self-indulgence.
  • For example, if you indulge in food to excess, that is the sin of gluttony. If you indulge in alcohol to excess that is the sin of drunkenness. If you indulge in drugs and pharmaceuticals, marijuana and the like, that is the sin of insobriety. If you indulge in sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage, that is fornication, lust, idolatry.
  • And of such people who live to indulge their flesh, the Bible says, they will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10). And so Jesus sounds the alarm from His heart of love and speaks, Woe unto you that are full [in this life]! Because [one day] ye shall hunger [but then it will be too late].And so unless you repent now of your sensuality and perversity, you will experience a hunger in every part of you that will never be satisfied.
  • This is the horror of hell. To be always hungry but with no hope of eating or drinking anything ever. To starve but to never die of starvation. To live in misery and to know that your misery will never end. What could be worse? What does the rich man cry out in the story? ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
  • Abraham says, “No water is coming. Not a drop.”
  • Whatever hell actually is, whatever realities are signified by these fearful parables, it is a torment far worse than anything you can imagine. To be in misery without hope of that misery every ending, it is fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God having rejected His love.  
  • And so Jesus describes hell over and over again as being a place of fire, darkness, where the worm does not die and where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  • And so descend into hell now in your imagination. And then shudder and fear for your life. Fear for those who are headed here. Because forever is a long time to be hungry and thirsty and in torment. And so from love Jesus says, “Woe to the self-indulgent, save yourself from this hell. Come to me and you will never thirst, come to me for abundant life. Come to me and hide yourself from the wrath that is to come.” This is the warning of love.
• Now the third Woe is upon The Haughty. Jesus says in verse 25b…

Verse 25b – Woe unto the Haughty

Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep.

• The laughter here is the laugh of those who scoff at Christ and His Word.
  • This refers to every person who laughs at hell thinking it is just a myth, a lie, a made up place to satisfy man’s psychological need for justice. Haughty and proud are such people. Heartless and cruel are they who deny God and exalt themselves against Him.
  • Think of Sodom and Gomorrah before it was destroyed. Think of King Belshazzar at his feast, before the Persians came and executed him. Think of the whole world before the flood, when for years Noah was building the ark, preaching righteousness, but they laughed at him to their own condemnation.
  • Or think of the Athenians in Acts 17, when Paul preaches of Christ, and the resurrection, and the judgment to come. It says, And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
  • Those who laugh now, shall mourn and weep. Those who scoff and treat lightly of the things of God, shall no longer be laughing on judgment day. So are you sober to this?
  • Have you taken to heart the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes when he says, 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 take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is 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 (Eccl. 7:2-6).
• So Jesus, the wise man, the man of sorrows, the one who gives kind rebukes, says Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep. And blessed are you who weep now, for ye shall laugh and rejoice in eternity.
• The Christian life is so often a valley of tears, but it is valley of tears that cleanse the heart, and water the soul so that it can be sorrowful yet always rejoicing. Sad over sin but hopeful for forgiveness. Sad over evil, but trusting that God has a good purpose in every evil He permits.
• Fourth and finally, Jesus warns the Vainglorious. He says in verse 26…

Verse 26 – Woe unto the Vainglorious

²⁶Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

• We know from elsewhere in Scripture that,A good name is to be chosen more than great riches (Proverbs 22:1), and Paul makes having a good testimony with outsiders a qualification for eldership (1 Tim. 3:7). But what is impossible to do without, lying or deceiving yourself and others, is to be well spoken of by everyone.
  • Universal popularity is impossible for an honest man. And you have to accept that. If everyone likes you, then you have no principles. You are two-faced, or thee-faced, or four-face, or just a mirror of whoever you are around. And that is what false prophets do, they just tell people what they want to hear.
• Paul warns of such people in 2 Timothy 3:12-13 saying,Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
  • So be warned if nobody dislikes you for your Christianity. Be warned, if nobody looks contemptuously at you for following Jesus. Be warned, if you are always hiding your light under a bushel, living in fear and shame of your Christian faith. Because that is the fear of man and it is offensive to God.
• So confront this idol in your heart today if you are a people-pleaser. And by the way, that is pretty much all of us. None of us wants to be disliked, or lied about, or to have false rumors spread about us. We should want a good reputation, but we should want a good reputation with God and the godly.
  • Who do you fear offending more? God, or your coworker? God, or your unbelieving in-laws? Whose good opinion do you seek? God’s, or man’s? Do you want heaven to approve of you, or do you want the world’s applause as they head for destruction?
• Jesus says in Mark 8:38, Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
• And Jesus says in Revelation 3:5-6, He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Conclusion

Receive these woes and warnings as a loving rebuke from Your Savior. Don’t go on in your lukewarmness, be zealous and repent. Jesus suffered hatred and persecution far more than you ever will. He endured the cross, He was mocked, He was spat upon He was laughed to scorn, and all because He wanted to welcome you into His paradise.

• So if you are still breathing it is not too late for you, to forsake this world that you may gain the world to come. Now is the time to contemn your riches, your self-indulgence, your wantonness, and vainglory, and every other sin that clings so closely.
• Renounce and abandon those efforts to make a name for yourself, so that you may receive a name in heaven’s book, in the book of life, in the mouth of Christ, when he confesses your name before His Father and the holy angels. Live for that. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.