Don't you hate when somebody else gets props for something that you started? Remember a little while ago, a popular rapper had a song introducing us to a new slang term. He said when you see something that's ill, you say, "that's whoa!" But guess what? This is not the first time that someone tried to put us up on the phrase "that's Whoa!" Over and over in the scriptures Jesus can be found saying something very similar. He would look at certain situations and say that's Woe! Since Jesus was the 1st to say this, there are two things you might want to know if your growing up in the 2Gs. (1) What did Jesus mean when he said "that's woe!" and (2) how can I know if he's saying "woe" to me?

Have you ever heard someone say "woe is me" when they think something is hopeless, meaning "I'm doomed", that's because the word 'woe' is really used to speak of imminent judgment and doom. (this is not something that you want God to say about you). Now, what would make God pull out a woe on someone. Well first, peep this mental picture - think of an ordinary can of food.  There are preservatives in a can of food that will enable the can to sit on the shelf for years without spoiling. But if you take those preservatives out of that can, it wouldn't last more than a day. Well, in the same way, God knew that with Him gone from the picture, this world would only decay and rot away more and more. When Jesus spoke of this decay and the wickedness of men that would make their way to the surface, He knew that terrible things would happen, that things fall apart without Him in the picture. In fact with Him gone, He said these things must happen.   But here's the part that's important for you and me. Even though Jesus said "these things will definitely happen", He changed the whole game when He said "but WOE unto him through whom these things happen". So now we can't just say, "well, somebody was gonna do it anyway, it might as well be me". Instead we need to understand how God sees things.

Yeah, people are gonna sin, yeah brothers are gonna thug. Yeah, cats are gonna sell drugs, and yes, others will be hooked on drugs. Yeah, people are gonna have sex with out being married. Yeah, some are even gonna sell it, some are even gonna pay for it. Yeah there will be theft and robberies, there's gonna be murders, there's gonna be tension between the races. Yeah, there's gonna be injustice in the justice system, Yes there is gonna be pain and suffering in the world. 

YES, to all of this, until God stops the world from spinning, all these must be when He's not in the picture, but WOE unto him through whom these things come. Woe unto him who makes it possible for these things to happen, woe unto the person who does what it takes to make people comfortable with doing these things. Woe to the individual who instructs others on how to do these things. And even though I can point at someone else for making it easier for me to sin, now there is some one who can point to me as the inspiration for their sin. So Woe unto me!! Jesus said, if the blind lead the blind they will both fall into a ditch. Which means not only will my own sins lead me into a ditch, but so will the sins of others if I follow their lead. And I in turn will lead someone else into a ditch. Proverbs 20:9 says "who can say 'I've kept my heart clean from sin?'" And of course, the answer is, no one.

But wait, if from God's perspective, no one has kept their heart pure from sin, then doesn't that leave God saying "WOE" to our entire planet? And if woe means unstoppable judgment and doom, then doesn't that mean doom for our whole planet? Even if not while we live, then certainly when we die, this doom will catch up to us. Then we will be without excuse. And if this is true, then we are in desperate need of a way to make it from this life to the next without this doom coming upon us.

Have you ever read a book or saw a movie, and you wished that you could change the ending? You know how some movies or books give you one or two alternate endings, and you get to choose which one you like best. Well God shows us the ending, as bleak and horrific as it is, but He also gives us an alternate ending, one completely different from what aught to be. The reason this is necessary is because it's not just the bad stuff that we do that puts us in the 'woe' category, the bible shows us that God is able to detect sin the moment it surfaces in our hearts, and this will always cancel out any amount of good deeds that we do. Now after all this, are you ready for some good news? the good news is that there are some who will take advantage of the alternate ending, the one where the bible says that through the cross of Jesus Christ we have escaped judgment. The judgment of God that was aimed at us turned around and headed for Him, and this is true for you the moment that you put your hope and trust in Person of Jesus Christ to save you from the ultimate penalty of being someone with sin in your heart.

So now only two questions remain, (1) will you have the 'WOE' ending or the alternate ending. And (2) if you think that you may choose the alternate ending, how much of your life will be different from the 'WOE' ending? will it be the last minute, the last day, the last few years of your life? Or will the alternate ending start now!

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