Three Sobering Verses (Mt. 7:21-23)

Read Matthew 7:21-23.

Three sobering verses indeed!  It is not your confession or your "ministry" that gets you into the Kingdom.  Evidently, those things don't overly impress Jesus.  What gets His attention is not success in the supernatural but faithfulness in something else.

What is that "something else"?  I think the preceding paragraph (Mt. 7:15-20) sheds light on that question.  What is highlighted is "fruit."  Jesus taught, "Look for the fruit.  That's how you'll know who is genuine."

What is meant by "fruit"?  There are several options.  Perhaps Jesus meant all three.

• "Fruit" is adopting and manifesting the kingdom lifestyle (Mt. ch. 5-7).
• "Fruit" is spiritual character (Gal. 5:22-23).
• "Fruit" is making disciples who make disciples (Jn. 15:1-17). 

Observations from Luke 11:24-26

Read Luke 11:24-26.

You have to do more than evict the evil tenant.  You must invite in the Righteous One.  Do more than stop sinning.  Replace the sin with righteousness.  It's not enough to not be a bad person.  You must become a "good" person.  That can only happen because the One who is Himself both good and righteous, Jesus Christ, lives in you.  Resist evil, but also embrace righteousness.  Without the latter, you're nothing more than an improved sinner.

Verse Of The Week (05/13/16)

Burrell Lake Park, Lower Burrell, PA  4-8-16

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD 

And whose trust is the LORD. 

For he will be like a tree planted by the water, 

That extends its roots by a stream 

And will not fear when the heat comes; 

But its leaves will be green, 

And it will not be anxious in a year of drought 

Nor cease to yield fruit." (Jer. 17:7-8)

Extremes (2 Kin. 23:26-27)

One man's extreme righteousness wasn't enough to cancel the effects of one man's extreme sin.  Josiah's good works weren't enough to overcome Manasseh's wickedness.

How hopeless and miserable we would be if the story ended there.  It didn't.  Jesus came!  His perfect righteousness overcame every effect of every man's extreme unrighteousness (2 Cor. 5:20; Heb. 4:14-16; Rom. 5:9-10, 15-19).

Robe of Righteousness (Isa. 61:10)

 

 

The Russian Delegation During Opening
Ceremony at The Olympics in Sochi 

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD,
My soul will exult in my God;
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation,
He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
(Isa. 61:10)

The Path of the Righteous (Prov. 4:18)

Rock Furnace Trail  12.3.13

"The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day." (Prov. 4:18)