Good evening brothers and sisters! I am so very sorry for the late study. Life happened today and here I am finally sitting down to do this at 9:30 p.m. Please forgive me…

Today’s Bible References

[17]Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
[18]For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
[19]Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
[20]For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:17-20 KJV

[10]I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10 KJV

[1]Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: 1 Peter 1:1 KJV

[30]But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV

[21]For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV

[24]And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:24 KJV

[1]Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
[2]Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
[3]All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
[4]For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
[5]But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
[6]And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
[7]And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
[8]But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
[9]And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
[10]Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
[11]But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
[12]And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
[13]But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
[14]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
[15]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
[16]Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
[17]Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
[18]And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
[19]Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
[20]Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
[21]And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
[22]And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
[23]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
[24]Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
[25]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
[26]Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
[27]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
[28]Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
[29]Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
[30]And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
[31]Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
[32]Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
[33]Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
[34]Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
[35]That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
[36]Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
[37]O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
[38]Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
[39]For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:1-39 KJV

He Is Our Righteousness

After Jesus lays out the Beatitudes – the path to righteousness – He then goes on to explain that although He is establishing something new, He is not discarding the old but fulfilling it. His teaching is revolutionary, but not as man would think!

The law pointed to Jesus; He is the fulfillment of it. The law pointed to the way of life, but Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the King of Righteousness, our very provision, the righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees. He is the way, according to the Scriptures you read today, where does our righteousness come from?

Prayerfully meditate upon each word of Matthew 5:18-20 and listen carefully, knowing that these are Jesus’ words to you. Please take them to heart.

Jesus spoke very plainly to the scribes and the Pharisees before His ministry was completed on earth. Matthew 23 serves as a warning to us. I am sure they did not see themselves as He saw them. I pray that we don’t fall into the trap of being so “religious” or “rigid” in our thinking that we lose our relationship with Christ and our effectiveness with those the Lord has put in our lives. Our righteousness must surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees – we must be credited with Christ’s righteousness in God’s sight. Any other “righteousness” falls short.

How can we respond now to Christ’s righteousness given to us? Don’t be afraid to preach the gospel to yourself (see Day 6) or to ask the Lord to shine light into your heart so that you can burn more brightly. He loves you and wants to gently show you where you can line yourself up more with His Word. Ask Him to help you see and obey the things He shows you.

Thank you Jesus for the blood applied, thank you Jesus it has washed me white… Thank you Jesus! This is finished, I made it before midnight. Today was an interesting day, I visited with a man that was one of two things, Holy Spirit filled to the point of madness… or demon filled. I honestly don’t know which. (leaning towards crazy) However, that being said, he did say some things that made me think of God and how this world is His creation. One of the things that he said was: “Not that you coming over here and doing something nice is bad but you don’t have to go out of your way to be nice to someone. You have people all around you to be kind too.” This has me thinking about a lot of things. I don’t know as of yet why I was led to talk to that man but nothing happens by accident so we shall see! until next time my brothers and sisters, stay peculiar!