(ii) Worthiness

David Brown (Edinburgh)

Revelation 5: 2, 9, 10; 3: 4; Luke 20: 34, 35

The scripture in Luke was referred to in the prayer meeting in Loanhead yesterday. The thought of what is worthy was brought to my mind from it, and the question of persons who are worthy. We find this firstly and distinctively in the Lord Jesus and we find it there in many different ways. In Revelation 4 it says, “Thou art worthy, O our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou has created all things” (v.11). His power in creation is spoken of there. At the end of chapter 5 there is a more general reference, “Worthy is the Lamb that has been slain” (v.12). The question which is raised in the passage read relates to the future; “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?”. The Lord Jesus is viewed in this way. Our brother has spoken of God being in control, which is and remains true, but we need to think of what this means, that there is One, a Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy to take control publicly in this scene. God is in control now, somewhat behind the scenes. Through faith, through the Spirit’s guidance, and through teaching, we have some knowledge of the fact that God is in control. That is a wonderful fact. The believers have that.

Here is someone, the Lord Jesus, who is worthy to take these matters up publicly and clearly, and it will be established on the earth who is in control. Man will be in control. How affecting it is that it gives a reason. Why is the Lord Jesus worthy? We could easily bring in what He is personally, but here there is a song referring to how He is worthy because of what He has done, and the way that He has gone: “thou hast been slain, and hast redeemed to God, by thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation”. It is a wonderful fact that the Lord Jesus is worthy to take up this book, and take up what follows from it throughout this book of Revelation, because of what He has done and His sacrifice, the way He has gone – “the Lamb that has been slain”. How wonderful that God has accorded Him this accolade, that He is worthy and that these twenty-four elders and living creatures are expressing this. The Lord Jesus is worthy because of the way that He has gone, what He has done, and what He has secured. That includes what is said about the way in which He has, “made them to our God kings and priests”. He is worthy because He has introduced, along with Himself, persons who can take up these wonderful places as kings and priests, “they shall reign over the earth”.

That leads back to the exercise for each one of us, and whether we can be spoken of as worthy. We get the reference in Sardis, “a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white”. Think of how wonderful it is that the Lord Jesus should speak about persons and give His own opinion of them, His approbation of them, “they are worthy”. They are worthy to take a place with Him in white, worthy to walk with Him, worthy to be with Him. Clearly that is not according to anything that is natural or to what we are in the flesh. What is brought in in this reference is not defiling their garments. I was encouraged to refer to that by what our brother has said, because it is just a different way of looking at the same thing. These are persons who have not defiled their garments, they have respected divine boundaries. There are things that have been set up and they have given respect to them. There is a distinction between the believer walking in the light of the assembly, and the believer who is walking simply in the ways of the world. They have respected that boundary. Of course there are matters that link us, even natural things that link us, that we would have to respect. There are certain matters in natural relations that we have to respect from God too. But in all these things there should be this care, this desire that we should not defile our garments.

This company is interesting because it is made up of persons in Sardis. As far as I understand, that is publicly our own position, and that of those that we walk with. Our position is in Sardis, that is, it is in what is Protestant. Through weakness, through lack of interest, lack of desire, such a company may decline to Laodicea. Or there may be persons who may be helped to be morally in accord with the dignity that belongs to Philadelphia where the Lord could say that “they … shall know that I have loved thee”, Rev 3: 9. But I think the underlying exercise if we are to be preserved from Laodicea, and are to enjoy what is at Philadelphia, is to be those “which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy”. I think what has been said about boundaries is important – I was reminded of Ecclesiastes which says, “who breaketh down a hedge, a serpent biteth him”, Eccl 10: 8. That is quite a matter, and the world is characterised by breaking down divinely appointed boundaries. What defilement there is in the world and how readily it can affect us. We are given, as this book proceeds, the exercise and desire to wash our robes to keep them clean, to keep what is clean and distinct from this world (see Rev 22: 14).

The other thought is that God should have persons, as referred to in Luke 20, “who are counted worthy to have part in that world, and the resurrection from among the dead”. There are persons around us, who are as sons of this world. I suppose it refers to what is natural to us too, “given in marriage”. It is not something that is wrong, these are divinely appointed matters, but there are persons who are worthy to have part in what is greater. The future that we have is fuller – what blessing it is to have part in another world, another world order! How wonderful that is. ‘Another scene’. There will be on this earth another scene and everything in due order according to God; and there will be those who are brought into that scene who are worthy because they have gone through great tribulation. How wonderful that is, that even in this very earth with all its current defilements there will be persons who are worthy to have a part. But then that world and the resurrection and what belongs to resurrection relate to what belongs to heavenly families. Whatever is in resurrection is brought into heaven and in accord with heaven, and there are persons like that. How our desire would be that God would count us in a certain way as we come under His view. It does not say God counts them, but I think we can infer that God looks at persons, He takes account of them, He sees them, He sees their walk, He sees how they have been, He sees what their part has been in the testimony, He sees how they have conducted themselves in regard to this world and its defilements and He says, ‘these are persons who are worthy to have part in my system, my arrangements, that world and the resurrection’.

May we all be encouraged to have a part in these things and be kept according to what is in the divine mind, so that we have that privilege of being with Christ, to walk with Him in white. For His Name’s sake.