Worthy

1. A rather fascinating word in the New Testament is a term translated “worthy.”

2. John said he was not “worthy” of carrying the Lord’s shoes (Mt. 3:11).

3. Luke’s account goes a step further: John was not worthy of untying Jesus’ shoes (Lk. 3:16).

4. Matthew and Luke us the same word but John used a second word for worthy in Jn. 1:27.

5. We will say more about John’s word in just a moment.

6. For now let’s just say the word “worthy” that we sometimes use too.

7. It is even found in some of our songs.

WHAT DOES THE WORD “WORTHY” MEAN? IT WOULD APPEAR THIS TERM IS IMPORTANT TO GOD BECAUSE WE HAVE AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT WORDS TRANSLATED “WORTHY” IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.

1) Synonyms for “worthy” would be “adequate,” “sufficient,” “deserving.”

2) As noted a moment ago, we want to look at the word used in Jn. 1:27.

3) We begin with the first place this word occurs in the New Testament, Mt. 3:8.

a) John was preaching and he must have been the talk of the town because of his preaching and dress.

b) Lots and lots of people came out to see him and be baptized.

c) After a while even the Pharisees and Sadducees even came to him.

d) These groups were rebuked; John said they needed to repent.

e) His exact words to them are in verse 8 – READ.

4) There are fruits (deeds) that are “worthy” of repentance.

5) It is not enough to simply say that we repent; repentance is something that can be demonstrated.

a) Our works (life) demonstrates whether or not we truly repent.

b) Think of a man who is stopped by a police officer for speeding.

c) As the driver and the police officer talk, the speeding driver says how sorry he is.

d) He says he realizes speeding is dangerous and he promises to never do it again.

e) He pulls away slowly, but as soon as he is a mile up the road, again goes down the gas pedal.

f) He is not bringing forth fruits worthy of repentance.

g) We may learn from Mt. 3:8 that repentance is to be a real change.

h) Repentance should somehow be visible or at least demonstratable should that need arise.

6) If this is a difficult concept to grasp, let’s include a statement from Mt. 10:10.

7) Jesus said the worker is “worthy” of his pay; this verse has the same word used in Jn. 1:27.

a) Suppose we have a job that promises a weekly paycheck.

b) We work the week as we are supposed to do but the check doesn’t come.

c) We are never paid for the work we did.

d) Would we be satisfied or dissatisfied at the lack of payment?

e) Employees understand that work means they are worthy of being paid.

f) Repentance has this same sense. We engage in actions that are worthy of our repentance.

8) The word we are looking at occurs not only in Mt. 10:10 but Mt. 10:11.

a) Verse 11 becomes quite practical when we think about the word worthy.

b) Let’s read this verse together – READ.

c) In Mt. 10 we have the apostles going out on a “limited commission.”

d) Two by two they would spread the good news among the Jews.

e) Sometimes people think they have to get “good enough” to learn about God or become a Christian.

f) Jesus didn’t say, “Go out and find who is good enough.” Neither did He say, “go teach perfect people.”

9) He told the disciples to find who was “worthy” and stay in their house. Who are the worthy?

10) If we had no more information we might have to guess.

11) Notice verse 14 – READ.

12) A worthy person is someone who has a “good heart” (someone who is wiling to listen and obey).

13) A worthy person is someone who has a conscience that is tender and pliable.

14) Later in this chapter we find this term being used again – verse 37 - READ.

a) Having the right type of heart means having the right priorities.

b) I have seen Bible studies end because of the very items Jesus mentioned in this chapter.

c) A person was interested (and in some respects worthy), but their love for God was not the highest priority.

d) We cannot be worthy unless we are willing to listen, willing to repent, and willing to put God first.

e) Telling someone they are “unworthy” sounds pretty bad.

f) This is God’s message to people. Some people are unworthy of God and His blessings.

g) If people will not hear and heed the Word of God, they are unworthy.

15) A verse that goes right along with 37 is the next one – 38 – READ.

a) Taking up the cross of Christ summarizes all the verses used so far.

b) If we take up Jesus’ cross, we will seek to live as Jesus lived (this requires repentance/a changed life). Taking up the cross means we will love God supremely and want to know all we can about God.

16) All have the potential to be worthy; we know this because the Lord said so in Mt. 22.

17) A king arranged a wedding for his son (Mt. 22:2).

18) Everything was ready (verse 4) and all were invited.

a) In spite of the wonderful opportunity, the invitation was spurned (verse 5).

b) One had to go to his farm; another to his merchandise.

c) There were even those who beat the messengers (verse 6).

d) When God invites people to the kingdom of heaven and people say “no,” they are not worthy.

e) Being in that state results in the consequence described in verse 13 – READ.

f) The potential is there for anyone to be worthy but most make themselves unworthy.

19) Lk. 12:48 refers to people who are “worthy” of stripes (same word in the original text).

20) God believes and has said there will be people who are “worthy” of eternal punishment.

21) Imagine how shocking it would be for God to say to us, “You deserve to die.”

22) “You deserve to spend an eternity without me. You deserve the devil and his angels forever and forever.”

23) “Be gone – off with you into eternal banishment.”

24) Rejecting the invitation makes us deserving of these consequences and some will hear similar words.

25) Eventually most wrongdoers figure out in life that they deserve punishment.

a) Jesus was crucified between two thieves.

b) According to Lk. 23:41, one of these thieves made an important statement.

c) He said he and his counterpart were on the cross “justly.”

d) He used the word elsewhere translated “worthy.”

e) A man said, “we are getting what we deserve; this is justice; this is fair treatment.”

f) Not many people on death row today make that statement.

g) At least in this case of Lk. 23 personal responsibility was taken for crimes.

h) When the judgment bar of Christ is faced, such a conclusion will also surely be formed in the minds of the unsaved.

i) They will see the justice of God and have to say, “we are worthy of heaven’s punishment.”

j) Such a conclusion will not be liked or accepted with joy, but the truth of it will be evident to all.

26) Moving on from the gospels I am now turning to the 13^th chapter of Acts.

a) Some preaching was being done and there were people present who didn’t like the message.

b) In fact, the opposition to the gospel was very strong.

c) Acts 13:46 says Paul and Barnabas “waxed bold.”

d) What these men said is very interesting – READ verse 46.

27) Mt. 22 teaches that God will tell people they were unworthy of eternal life.

28) God makes that decision because of what we decide to do with an in our lives.

29) We are the determining factor if we are judged “worthy” or “unworthy” of heaven.

30) When God talks about being unworthy of eternal life, He is not kidding.

31) If we make ourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will answer for that choice.

32) My next verse comes from the end of Rom. 1.

33) Here the apostle spoke about God’s judgment (the final judgment).

34) He said people knew of this judgment but chose to ignore it.

35) Here is the full thought – Rom. 1:32 – READ.

a) If we reject God in one fashion or another, we are “worthy of death.”

b) Our culture says some crimes are worse than others. There are felonies and capital crimes.

c) Not embracing God is a capital crime. It deserves the worst sentence ever passed down to man.

d) This sentence will be pronounced and executed if we do not bring forth the fruits of repentance.

36) Some say the Christian life is just too hard, too inconvenient, there is just enough time.

37) Paul deal with these objections in Rom. 8:18.

a) We will not read about all the examples of suffering, but many are mentioned.

b) Paul was a man who had taken the time to see both sides of life.

c) He saw the suffering and he knew what eternity offered for the saved.

d) His conclusion is stated clearly in verse 18 and he used the word “worthy.”

e) READ Rom. 8:18.

f) When people say to us Christianity is “just not worth it,” this is a text to turn to.

g) There is no comparison between all the problems of this life and heaven.

38) Because of what eternity offers and what God has done, we have seen that heaven must be put first.

39) If it is not put first or we pay no attention to it all, the result will be punishment everlasting.

THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH NONE OF US ARE “WORTHY.” WE CANNOT HAVE A STANDARD OF PERSONAL GOODNESS OR DO ENOUGH GOOD DEEDS TO BE DECLARED WORTHY, RIGHTEOUS, SAVED, OR SOMETHING ELSE IN THE EYES OF GOD.

a) Christ can be our righteousness just as the Lord was for Paul (Phil. 3:9).

b) Righteousness through Christ means that we can be declared worthy.

c) Let’s flip back to the final book of the Bible.

d) I want to start with Rev. 3 and then pull from Rev. 16.

e) In Rev. 3:4 we find a specific statement about being worthy.

f) READ – is it possible to be “worthy” in the sight of God? Yes, if we go through Christ.

g) Now we want Rev. 16; this is a rather gory text.

h) John spoke of righteous people being destroyed.

i) He then described the punishment for this – READ Rev. 16:6.

2) Destroying the righteous meant people were deserving (worthy) of drinking blood.

3) Two choices are associated with the word worthy in the book of Revelation: Christ or death.

4) These same 2 choices are still available today. Which have we made?

5) Have we made ourselves worthy through Christ by accepting and obeying the gospel?

6) Have we up to this time made ourselves unworthy by rejecting it? We are the deciding factor.