August 17

Beautiful Righteousness

For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
—2 Corinthians 3:9

Scripture reading: Psalm 11

Nothing is as beautiful as righteousness. All the excellent glory is in Him. All righteousness is in Him. Everything that pertains to holiness and godliness, everything that denounces and brings to death the carnal, everything that makes you know you have ceased to be forever, is found in the knowledge of the endless power in the risen Christ. As Paul wrote, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17).

When you come to the very essence of Christ’s ministry, you see the righteousness of His purpose. The excellence of His ministry was the glory that covered Him. His Word was convincing, inflexible, divine, and eternal. It never failed.

Oh, the righteousness of God. If Christ said it, it was there. He said it, and it stood fast (Ps. 33:9). It was an unchangeable condition with Him. When God spoke, it was done (v. 9). And His righteousness abides. God must have us in this place of righteousness. We must be people of our word. People ought to be able to depend on our word. God is establishing righteousness in our hearts so that we will not exaggerate about anything.

Jesus was true inwardly and outwardly. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and on these things we can build; on these things we can pray; on these things we can live. When we know that our own hearts do not condemn us (1 John 3:21), we can say to the mountain, “Be removed” (Matt. 21:21). But when our own hearts condemn us, there is no power in prayer, no power in preaching, no power in anything. We are just sounding brass and clanging cymbals (1 Cor. 13:1).

May God the Holy Spirit show us there must be a ministry of righteousness. We ought to stand by our word and abide by it. If we were cut in two, our persecutors should find pure gold right through us. That is what I call righteousness. Jesus was righteousness through and through. He is lovely! Oh, truly, He is beautiful!

One thing God wants to establish in our hearts is the importance of being like Him. Be like Him in character. Don’t be troubled so much about your outward appearance, but be more concerned about your heart. Makeup won’t change the heart. All the adorning of silks and satins won’t create purity. Beloved, if I was going down a road and I saw a foxtail sticking out of a hole, I wouldn’t ask anybody what was inside. And if there is anything hanging outside of us, we know what is inside. God wants righteousness in the inward parts, purity through and through.

The Bible is the plumb line of everything. And so, may God the Holy Spirit bring us into that blessed ministry of righteousness. Amen! Glory to God!

Thought for today: Unless we are lined right up with the Word of God, we will fail in the measure in which we are not righteous.

Smith Wigglesworth Devotional: 365 Day Devotional
By Whitaker House

Smith Wigglesworth was a man who took God at his word, and God used his faith as a model for others. Explore these daily truths from Scripture and the writings of the Apostle of Faith, and you’ll quench your spiritual thirst, conquer defeating fears, be an effective soul winner, and see impossibilities turn into realities. 558 pages.

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Smith Wigglesworth Devotional