Who Really is Worthy

 The following is a sermon I preached at ValleyView Baptist Church, Shakopee, Minnesota last fall. At the time I had some doubts that it would be timely for a wider audience, but recently some fringe elements of  so-called Christianity seem to be on the rise once again, and so I offer it here for your consideration/edification. 

Jude verses 3&4 says this: Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Now as we dive into the body of my message this morning, you may begin to wonder where this passage fits in, but rest assured we will come back to it before the end.

In the New Testament we often see the word “worthy”.  Often it is in the context of who “is” or “is not” worthy of something.  Of course, our biggest concern should be the question of who is worthy of the kingdom of God.  Who is worthy of his grace?  Who is worthy of his mercy?  Who is worthy of eternal life?

Now, I have an answer to this question of who is worthy, but there are people out there who have an answer that differs from the one I will attempt to prove from the pages of scripture. As a matter of fact, much of the material I will present here is what I wrote many years ago to refute one such individual. More on that later; first let's consider the question of who is worthy in light of the Holy Scripture.

Perhaps, using the process of elimination, it would be well to look at the phrase “who is not worthy” first.  We don’t have to go far in the New Testament to find examples. If we were to turn to Luke chapter 7 we would see an example of one who saw himself as unworthy.  In verse 3 the centurion sent the elders of the Jews to Jesus to beseech him to heal one of his servants.  Those elders thought the centurion to be worthy and said as much to Jesus. However, in verses 6 and 7 the centurion states that he did not believe himself worthy, either to come to Jesus, or to have him enter under his roof.  This centurion, though he was admired by the elders of the Jews, also had a proper view of his unworthiness in relation to the son of God. 

In Luke chapter 15 we could read the well-known story of the prodigal son.  In verse 19 the son has come to the realization that he was not worthy to be called his father’s son.  In verse 21 he stated that sentiment to his father.  This son had truly seen that his actions had proven him to be unworthy.

In Mark 1: 7 we find John the baptist saying this about Jesus: “...there cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.”  This is the very same John the baptist of whom our Savior would later say “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater...”  [Matt. 11: 11]. John the baptist certainly held a properly humble view of his own unworthiness in light of who he was and who the Savior is, and in doing so he set a pretty high bar for who might be considered worthy.

This theme of men being unworthy is one of the great themes of the bible.  The sermon on the mount [Matthew 5] starts out with Jesus stating, “blessed are the poor in spirit”.  Who are these “poor in spirit” if they are not those who have seen their own lack, who have humbled themselves before God. They have realized how “poor” their spirit really is.  Jesus goes on to say, “blessed are the meek”.  Meek is not the opposite of strong, but rather the opposite of proud.

Ephesians 2: 8-9 says “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.”  Even the faith that saves us is the gift of God.  We have no reason for pride; no reason to boast... because none of us is worthy! Although just studying the construction of the verse tells us the word “that” in the phrase “and that not of yourselves” refers back to “faith” which means the verse is stating that faith is a gift of God, we can also use logic to prove it.  Both grace and faith have to be a gift of God, or neither is, for if we receive grace in return for “our” faith, then it is a wage and not a gift!  The meek will never boast that they are worthy due to anything they have done. 

 Back in the sermon on the mount, Jesus also said “blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness”.  But isn’t this righteousness, if we achieve it, something we could boast of?  In no way!  The apostle Paul in Philippians 3: 8-9 says “...that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which if of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith”  The only righteousness that we can gain of our own is in the keeping of the law.  This righteousness is worthless, or as Isaiah the prophet says in Chapter 64: 6, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”.  The only righteousness that gives us any standing before God is the righteousness of Christ! 

 So, if the law does not give us any standing before God, what good is it.  Well actually, the law does give us a standing before God.  That standing is GUILTY!  In the first place the law gives us the knowledge of sin.   In Romans 7: 7 Paul says “...I had not known sin, but by the law...”.  But it seems that just knowing what sin is, isn't enough to convince most of us.  Of the many people that I have talked to about the Lord, I can only recall one that did not freely admit that he was a sinner.  But of all of them, very few seemed much concerned about being a sinner.  I believe that most of us have this picture in our heads of standing before God on judgment day and being just one of thousands of people.  Lost in the crowd, so to speak.  When we are lumped in with a great multitude, it is somehow comforting to us, because there are always others who are greater sinners than we (at least in our own eyes).  But I don’t believe that it will be like that on judgment day. 

Just a few verses later in Romans 7, Paul uses the phrase “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful” [verse 13].  Everyone needs to see their sin as personal, just between you and a holy, all powerful God.  Sin is not just a trifle to a God of perfect justice! It is EXCEEDING SINFUL!  Every sin has a penalty, and every penalty must be paid!  Paul, later in the new testament [1 Timothy 1: 15] calls himself the chief of sinners.  Note that he did not state it in the past tense, but in the present.

 Paul saw himself as a sinner despite his conversion on the road to Damascus.  And not only did he see himself as a sinner, not just one of many, but as the worst of the lot!  Speaking from my own experience, I believe that God will humble every one of his elect in that way.  I believe that the Bible is true and so I believe that Paul saw himself as the chief of sinners.  But I also believe that is the correct frame of mind for any Christian, as Paul recommends in his letter to the Philippians: "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."  When I consider my own sinful flesh, I have no problem admitting that I am the most sinful of men.

So, who is worthy?  The only thing that you and I are worthy of is death.  The only thing you and I are worthy of is destruction.  The only thing you and I are worthy of is eternal hell!  The first 3 chapters of the book of Romans makes it clear that every man is guilty and worthy of only judgment!  So once again, just who is worthy of life?    

In Luke 20: 35-36 the bible says, “But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”  Here we see some who are accounted worthy.  Are they worthy because they do not marry? Not at all. The verse says nothing as to why they are worthy of the resurrection, only a couple of characteristics they will possess once they are counted as worthy.  Note that this text says that they are accounted as worthy, not that they are worthy in and of themselves. And how did they even become accounted as worthy? Because they are the children of God, and they are the children of God because they have been born again!  As we read in John 3: 3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 

Acts 5: 41-42 tells of apostles being counted as worthy: “. . . and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.  And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.”  Why were these men joyful to suffer shame for the name of Jesus?  Because they knew that it was a fruit of their salvation, for in Philippians 1: 28-29 we read “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.  For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” Again, being worthy is here linked to salvation, and being counted worthy is offered as a proof of salvation, not a cause of it.

Along the same line we find in 2 Thessalonians 1: 4-5 “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:  Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:”  Here again we see being worthy of the kingdom of God linked to patience and faith and suffering, not as a cause, but as a proof.

So, who else is named as worthy in the Bible?  Revelation 3: 4 says “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.”  Here we clearly see some who are named as worthy.  But why were they worthy?  The text would seem to say it is because they have not defiled their garments.  But where did they get these garments in the first place?  We find a couple places in Revelation that shed some light on these garments, such as Revelation 19: 8: “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” and Revelation 7: 14 ". . . And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."  

Perhaps the best verse to help us understand these garments is found in Isaiah 61: 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."  With this understanding of the garments mentioned in Revelation 3: 4, it's plain that those with the garments had them because of God's salvation, not because of any righteousness of their own.

The final place I find someone being called worthy in scripture is in Revelation 5.  In verses 2 through 4 we find the question asked, "Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?"  In verses 5-9 we see that no man was found worthy, but culminating in verse 9 we see that Jesus Christ is worthy:  “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;”   

Here we see one who is deemed worthy, and while this text is speaking of being worthy to open the seals of the book, if we go a few verses further to verse 12 we see:  “... Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."  I could be wrong, but I think this may be the only place in the Bible where anyone is found to be worthy of anything good strictly on his own merits.  I would argue that every other occasion the person is accounted worthy it is only through the imputed righteousness of Christ.  

So, who is worthy?   Galatians 2:16  tells us;  “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”  Our attempts to keep God’s law have not made us worthy; indeed, the law has served to condemn us. 

Revelation 5:9 as quoted earlier shows us that it is not our kindred, tongue, people or nation that makes us worthy, for the scripture says that Christ has redeemed people out of every one of those.  The truth of course is found right there in that same verse.  The only ones that will be counted as worthy are those who Christ has redeemed, and even among those it is not due to their own worthiness but based on the Savior's worthiness. As Romans 9:15-16 says: “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” 

So, who truly is worthy of the kingdom of God?  Certainly not me; certainly not any other sinful man.  The only hope for any man is that he might be counted as if he was worthy because of the blood of Jesus Christ! 

So that brings us back to the scripture that we started with. Jude verses 3&4. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The specific men who I am concerned with creeping into Churches unnoticed are, like the man who led me to refute him from scripture, those who believe themselves to be worthy of the kingdom of God due to being descendants of White Western Europeans. In other words, white supremist who are either masquerading as Christians or have deluded themselves into thinking they really are. It's also worth noting that in my experience, along with the vainglory they hold due to ancestry, they generally have a strong hatred of Jews and are quick to blame them for every problem in the world. 

I admit that I have wondered if there was any need to bring such a message to a church like ValleyView. After all, here we are a small friendly church where everyone knows each other quite well.  We are blessed to have a good number of differing ethnicities, and as far as I can tell, we all seem to be united in Christian love for one another; just as it should be any Christian Church.

 However, being aware of possible danger in advance can be a good defense against it, and better to have a defense and not need it than to need it and not have it.  I'd like to insure that at least in this body of Christ, if any who bring this false gospel attempt to creep in, they will not be unnoticed.

For many years I thought that the number of men like this were so small as to be inconsequential, but now I fear that number is growing for a number of reasons. The media calls these men White Christian Nationalists, which is an unfortunate slur on both the term Christian and Nationalist.

Another unfortunate slur is that these white supremacists call themselves Christian Nationalists. It's important to understand that Christian Nationalists and White Christian Nationalists are completely different things. There are Christians who believe in Nationalism, which makes sense because God does ordain the concept and reality of nations. Believe it or not, God is also on board with nations being Christian, which makes it hard to argue with the concept of Christian Nationalism. Who here would argue against a Christian United States? Or a Christian Canadian Nation? A Christian Philippine Nation? A Christian Ugandan Nation? A Christian Chinese Nation? All of those, when they are the result of a majority of the citizens believing the Gospel and following Jesus, regardless of skin color, are something we should all pray for.

But if Christian Nationalism is obtained through a superficial Christianity where the citizens are Christian in name only, that's not the kind of Christian Nation that God has in mind. 

Unfortunately the fact is that those who promote a Godly Christian Nationalism wind up unintentionally providing cover for those who would settle for a "Christian-in-name-only Nationalism, and even worse: a White Christian-in-name-only Nationalism.

Part of the danger, as I see it, is that there are those who see the evil in the world and because of it they subscribe to a Christian worldview without ever becoming a genuine born-again believer. They mistakenly think that by affirming Christian values they have become Christians. They are particularly susceptible to the Christian-in-name-only Nationalism, and once there, they are subject to manipulation into the White Christian-in-name-only Nationalism camp as well. Such manipulation is aided by a constant diet of social media showing wicked people doing wicked things and attributing those actions to ethnicity rather than to the sinful desires of unregenerate men, whatever their skin tone might be.

Satan has been using secular society to attack Christ's churches for years now, generations really; mocking and undermining every Biblical understanding of the proper relationship between men and women, family, and marriage.  Why would we think he would only attack the churches from one side. What makes the white supremacists so dangerous is that they come affirming many of the same Christian values that those on the other side attack, making it much easier for them to slip in unnoticed, . . . at least initially. What would serve the Evil One's purpose better than to attack the Church both by unbelievers outside the Church and unbelievers inside the Church?

So, let's close this out with a couple thoughts on how to keep certain men from creeping into this Church unnoticed, spreading the sin of racism.   

One defense is for each member to be secure in the knowledge that each one of us has been placed here by God's sovereign providence to fulfill a unique roll within this local body of Christ. 

As we read in Ephesians 4:16, ". . . the whole body [is] fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. 

Another biblical directive that will help guard against a host of problems within our Church, not the least of which is to allowing someone to come in and spread division, is what we find in Philippians 2:3, "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Is it even possible for a church to fall into any type of division over skin color or any other issue if we count each of our brothers and sisters as more important than ourselves? Not if we take those words to heart!

Finaly, much as I love the fact that we have such a diversity in ethnic backgrounds here at ValleyView, diversity is NOT our strength. Unity in CHRIST is our strength! As the apostle Paul tell us in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." To paraphrase John Gill, in the business of justification and salvation, it signifies nothing whether a person is of one race or another, it signifies nothing the social position of the person, and nothing whether the person is a man or a woman. We are all equally accepted by the Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.