Worthy is the Lamb

"And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb.... 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... And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (From Rev. ch. 5). So that settles it, there is none worthy but Jesus; not only to open that book, but also to stand in the presence of God and make intercession for ANYBODY! Many of God's children are plagued from time to time with the 'I'm not worthy' mentality.

There are only two answers to that dilemma, and one of them is simply that the person is in sin, and their conscience is letting them know it. If we are in sin, then we AREN'T WORTHY of much of anything. And why is that? Well, for starters sin separates from God, and you can only be in condemnation in that state. Plus if you're in sin you are on your own merits which obviously are not good, and you're NOT worthy to ask anything of God on your own merits [which are not very good at all]. John said it simply this way: "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, THEN have we confidence toward God" (I Jn. 2:20,21). The only remedy to that problem is simply to REPENT OF SIN and get renewed in the righteousness of God's holy Spirit (I Jn. 1:9; I Cor. 6:11; Tit. 3:5). The truth is, if we are in sin we are only worthy of death; "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). The other reason that people come under the 'I'm not worthy' mindset is really the one I want to address more than the sin issue. Some of God's children are keeping their hearts pure as best they can, and they STILL feel that they are not worthy to receive things like healing, spiritual gifts, miraculous intervention, and many other things that God has promised to his children. The problem in that circumstance is that someone has their mind on themselves and on other people, rather than on Jesus and the merits of his worthiness. We've already established that he alone is worthy to make intercession to God on anyone's behalf, so apart from him nobody IS WORTHY! So the key here is to BE IN HIM, and to keep our minds on HIS WORTHINESS. The scripture makes it clear how we GET in him, telling us; "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body [of Christ]" (I Cor. 12:13). So the baptism of the holy Ghost is what puts us INTO Christ, and here's another verse that even clamps it down tighter with some additional detail: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have PUT ON CHRIST" (Gal. 3:27).

So if we are baptized with the Spirit BY JESUS, then we have literally "put on Christ," because "the Lord IS that Spirit" (II Cor. 3:17). This is to say the same thing as 1 Cor. 6:17, which tells us; "He that is joined to the Lord is ONE spirit." We are joined to the Lord by 'putting him on,' as Gal. 3:27 says. Okay, if we are 'in Christ,' and we have "put on Christ," and we are "joined to the Lord [as] one spirit;" then we are NO LONGER coming before God on OUR OWN MERITS. We are part of the one who alone is worthy, as the scripture states: "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones" (Eph. 5:30). The second key to our being worthy is to ABIDE IN HIM once we are IN him. We are still capable of sin after being born again, but WE DON'T HAVE TO! If we sin and do not repent, then we are back to square one where we are on our own merits, and separated from God by sin. Jesus addressed this in detail in John 15, in the parable of 'the vine and the branches.' Being in Christ and abiding in Christ are two different things, and abiding in him is the only way to salvation, even as Jesus made clear: "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (Jn. 15:6). But if we DO abide in him, meaning we keep our hearts from sin, then we ARE WORTHY of all the promises of God; because we are coming before God on the worthy merits of Jesus, and not on our own merits (I Jn. 3:2,3). Jesus said it this way: "Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father IN MY NAME [his stead], he will give it you" (Jn. 16:23). So there you have it my friend. You are worthy of all that God has promised IF you are in Christ, and IF you are abiding in him. And we are all EQUALLY worthy because our worthiness is only of and in him. He suffered and died one time for ALL men, and he offered himself before the Father in heaven ONE TIME for all men (Heb. 9:26; Heb. 10:12,14). That makes us even, and that makes us worthy. Let us remain pure that we may remain worthy. Amen.