“This is the hour, this is the moment to be serious about your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ,” thundered Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell during a powerful, end-times-focused sermon on Matthew 23. Preaching from the pulpit of 2819 Church, Mitchell didn’t mince words as he declared that the urgency of the hour demands uncompromising faithfulness to Christ.
He opened by addressing both in-person and online attendees, welcoming seekers but warning them of the stakes: “Our prayer for you is that you would hear the invitation of Christ and that you would hurl yourself at the foot of the cross… before time has run out on you.”
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Mitchell reminded his congregation that the series they are in—Entry and End Times—centers on the final words and actions of Jesus. He noted that Jesus began His ministry with blessings (the Beatitudes) but ended it with warnings: “In His first public sermon, He preaches to the people eight blessings. In His last public sermon, He will preach to the people eight woes.”
Mitchell emphasized that this was not a message of comfort, but of confrontation, just as Jesus publicly confronted the religious leaders of His day: “He does not use His last sermon to talk about love… No, He uses His last sermon… to protect the people that He’s leaving behind, of the danger of these ravenous wolves called the Pharisees.”
He then walked through the woes Christ gave—warnings of divine judgment—and how they still apply today.
1. Woe for Shutting the Kingdom of Heaven (Matt. 23:13)
This woe condemns religious leaders who block access to salvation through false teaching and hypocritical behavior.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.”
Mitchell explained that these leaders “slam the door shut by blocking people from seeing the truth with their false accusations,” and warned, “You are turning people away from gospel truth. And that blood is going to be on your hands when you die.”
2. Woe for Making False Converts (Matt. 23:15)
Jesus rebukes those who convert people into dead religion rather than living faith.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. You travel across the sea and land to make a single proselyte… you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”
Mitchell highlighted the danger of spiritual zeal without truth: “Oftentimes new converts have more zeal than their teachers. And so now they are spreading your lies more aggressively on social media.”
3. Woe for Being Blind Guides Who Value Gold Over God (Matt. 23:16–22)
This woe reveals how the Pharisees prioritized materialism over holiness, twisting spiritual oaths.
“You blind fools!… For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?… You blind men!”
Mitchell connected this to modern church idolatry, saying, “False teachers are blind fools, blind men, blind guides… They lived in a time in a culture where everybody was lying.”
4. Woe for Legalism Without Justice or Mercy (Matt. 23:23–24)
The Pharisees were meticulous about tithing even their spices, but failed in compassion and faithfulness.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness… You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.”
Mitchell rebuked modern believers for focusing on theological minutiae while ignoring the heart of God: “You are majoring on these tiny things because you’re legalistic, but the other things you’re not doing… Do both. Tithe and love. Tithe and care about people.”
5. Woe for Outward Purity with Inward Corruption (Matt. 23:25–26)
Jesus condemned those who looked holy on the outside but were filthy within.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
Mitchell urged his listeners: “We need to stop purifying our external Christianity… and deal with the sinfulness of your heart… Lord, give us a consecrated interior life.”
6. Woe for Hypocrisy and Hidden Death (Matt. 23:27–28)
Jesus likened these leaders to tombs—beautiful outside, but full of decay.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like whitewashed tombs… outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”
Mitchell pointed to the deception of public image: “Y’all think people are holy ’cause they got a big ministry… No. Be more impressed with character than oratory.”
7. Woe for Self-Righteousness and Blood Guilt (Matt. 23:29–36)
The final woe condemns those who honored dead prophets while preparing to murder the living Christ.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites… saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’”
Mitchell challenged this hypocrisy: “Y’all are decorating the tombs of prophets, and before you is the Son of God… and you’re plotting my death.”
Jesus didn’t hold back either when He continued to address the Pharisees: “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?”
Mitchell emphasized: “He’s attaching them to the identity of the devil… Hell is a place that exists… a prison cell like Riker’s Island… Ain’t no purgatory. False doctrine.”
Final Warning: “No Excuses on the Day of Judgment”
As Mitchell closed his sermon, he issued a final sobering charge to the audience:
“The more truth you hear, the more you’re responsible for. It’d be better for you to not hear truth at all than to hear truth and reject it… There’s going to be no excuses on the Day of Judgment.”
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He cautioned against hiding behind powerless churches or ignoring what God has made plain: “You can’t tell God, ‘No, I went to that whack church for 30 years that never preached the truth.’”
Though the sermon was a severe indictment against hypocrisy and false teaching, Mitchell ended with a call to action, not despair: “This is the season to be right with Christ. Be serious with Christ. Read that Bible for yourself. Pray, fast, go after Jesus with your whole heart, man… Be a person who opens the door… and run from every woe.”
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
