WHO IS WORTHY?
IN THE VISIONS of the
Apocalypse we read of a wonderful scroll in the right hand of the great King
who sits upon the throne of universal dominion. This scroll is a
forceful representation of the divine plan, originally existing only in the
mind of God, and which could not be made known to men until some one was
found worthy to open the seals and display it to view. But “no one in heaven
nor in earth was able to open the scroll, neither to look thereon,” until one
came whom the Revelator describes as the “The Lion [the strong one] of the
tribe of Judah, the root of David,” of whom the testimony is given-“Thou art
worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain
and hast redeemed to God by thy blood out of every kindred and people and
nation; and hast made them unto our God a kingdom and priesthood; and they
shall reign on the earth.”-Rev. 5:1-5, 9, 10.
Excepting the bare promise (written on the outside of the scroll-verse I) of
salvation through the Seed of the woman, nothing could be known of the
wonderful scheme for human restitution until the Son of God, having left the
glory of the spiritual nature, took our nature and by the sacrifice of himself
redeemed us from death. Then, having his righteousness imputed to us by faith,
we are counted worthy to look upon the scroll as he opens the seals one after
another.
Great was the favor bestowed upon the Strong One of the tribe of Judah, in
being permitted to open the seals-to carry out and make manifest the grand
designs of infinite love-and great is the privilege of those who are permitted
to look thereon as the seals are opened. It is not our purpose here, however,
to treat of the peculiar symbols relating to the opening of the seals, but
rather of what constitutes worthiness in us to look thereon, and what favor of
God to us is implied in this privilege of looking.
The knowledge of God’s purposes is due only to those able and anxious to
co-operate with him in their development; for God does not display his plans to
satisfy mere idle curiosity. First, then, if we would comprehend what is
revealed within the scroll we must have faith in what is written on the
outside-the promised redemption through the precious blood of Christ-and must
be sincerely desirous of knowing the details of God’s plan in order to an
earnest co-operation with it. In other words, there must be the earnest
inquiry arising from a heart grateful for the promise of life through the
Redeemer-“Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Such, and such only, are worthy
to know, and such only ever come to see, in the sense of understanding and
appreciating, the deep things of God written within the scroll. Such are the
called according to the divine purpose, to be educated in and to serve the
truth. Such are the righteous for whom the light (truth) is sown. Such was our
Lord’s attitude when he said, “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.” (Heb. 10:7.)
He was meek and lowly of heart and ever ready to render implicit obedience to
the will of God; and it is to those who are similarly meek that he was sent to
preach the good tidings (Isa. 61:1)-to open the scroll. “The meek will he
guide in judgment; the meek will he teach his way.” (Psa. 25:9.) If any man
have this evidence of worthiness-this acquaintance with the truth-let him
rejoice in his privilege and by his works manifest his continued worthiness.
This worthiness is inquired for not only at the beginning, but all along the
path of light. If we are not found worthy by the various tests applied from
time to time, we cannot proceed in the path of light; and unless the unfaithful
ones arouse themselves to greater diligence and watchfulness, the light that
already is in them will become darkness. And how great, how intense must be
the darkness of one cast out of light! (Matt. 6:23.) To find the glorious hope
that once inspired our hearts slipping away and the truth whereon we built that
hope beginning to seem like an old song or an idle tale, or as relics of the
past to be displaced at any time by any plausible subterfuge of error which our
wily adversary may be pleased to palm off as advanced divine truth, are
indications that should arouse any one who discovers them to a realization of
the fact that he is going into darkness-a darkness that will only become the
more intense as he slips and slides along the backward track.
All along the way, as we have said, we will find tests applied to prove our
worthiness to proceed from knowledge to knowledge and from grace to grace. Who
is worthy?-worthy to receive the truth, worthy to continue in the truth, worthy
to suffer and to endure hardness as a good soldier for the truth, and finally
to be exalted to power and great glory when truth and righteousness shall be
exalted in the earth and their glorious triumph begun?
Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23.) At the very beginning of our
course we each found the cross confronting us, and had we not taken it up we
would not have been counted worthy even to look with intelligent appreciation
into the precious truths of God’s plan. And as we advance from step to step
and find the truth increasingly precious-sweeter than honey from the honey
comb-we have these additional evidences of continued worthiness and should
greatly rejoice in them as such. Our possession of these truths has thus far
proved us meek enough to discard the popular theology of the nominal church and
be counted as heretics, turncoats, fanatics, cranks, or whatever our former
friends are, in their ignorance, now pleased to term us. And it has proved us
meek enough to bear willingly this reproach for the great joy of thus realizing
the Lord’s approval, and of seeing by faith the great blessings in store for us
if faithful unto the end.
But “let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;” for sudden and
sharp will be many of the tests applied to prove our continued faithfulness.
The world, the flesh and the devil all conspire to allure, ensnare and overcome
us. The world will present its allurements through friends or wife or husband
or children. They will try to encroach upon the clearly defined line which you
have drawn between yourself and the world. Then the flesh will grow weary in
fighting the good fight of faith, weary of the reproaches of the world, weary
of the alienation of former friends and weary of the self-denying, sacrificing
and daily cross-bearing life. Then if you turn aside for a moment to ponder on
these things the devil will quickly see his opportunity and will cunningly
devise some trial specially suited to your peculiar condition of mind, and a
crisis comes in your experience, the result of which will prove the exact
strength of your devotion to God and his truth. These tests God permits and
even desires to have come upon us, in order that we may be thoroughly tried and
proved either worthy or unworthy of the great reward he has in keeping for
those who remain faithful unto death.
The Lord is seeking his precious jewels. Many of them are indeed diamonds in
the rough. The real diamond is a noble, loyal, faithful character, devoted and
uncompromising in its allegiance to God. Sometimes the circumstances of life
have deprived such of education or culture and have left them only sufficient
means for the barest necessities of life. But no matter, God’s eye is on
them: character is what he is looking for, and in due time, when that character
is sufficiently developed, confirmed, tested and proved worthy of exaltation,
he can and will add to it all the glories of knowledge and wisdom and grace and
beauty. But first he will subject it to all the necessary tests. If it is a
true diamond it will receive and it will also transmit to others the light of
divine truth. Nothing so gloriously reflects the light as the diamond; and
nothing so gloriously reflects the truth as the worthy character of the true
and faithful saint.
Another way of testing a diamond is to put it under pressure. If it is a real
diamond it will stand the pressure, for the diamond is the hardest substance
known; but if it is not a real diamond it will go to pieces and thus prove
itself spurious. So God allows us to come under the constant pressure of years
of toil and care and self-sacrifice to see how we will endure; and blessed is
that diamond-proved character that endures to the end.-Jas. I:12; Matt.
10:22.
Sometimes the tests come in the way of trials of faith, and we are called upon
to prove ourselves whether we be in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5) when some subtle
errors are presented to us as advanced truth. But if we know the voice of the
“Good Shepherd” we will not be easily beguiled. We remember the inspired
counsel, “To the law and the testimony: if they speak not according to this
word it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20); and to the law and
the testimony we go, and, relying implicitly upon this as the infallible
teaching of the Spirit of God, we are enabled to arrive at definite, clear and
positive doctrine. We are not left in doubt as to what is truth, but are
enabled to give a solid Scriptural reason for the hope that is in us, on which
hope we dare implicitly to rest our faith, and with humble boldness to
successfully withstand the assaults of error. But oh, how dead to selfish
ambition, how fully devoted to the will of God such must be!
Let us, dearly beloved, as we realize that thus far
God has counted us worthy to look upon the scroll of his plan which has been
unsealed for us by our blessed Lord Jesus, the Lion of the tribe of
Judah, prove our worthiness to continue to look therein and to read the
wondrous things of his law, by faithful obedience and loyalty to it in all
things. Let us not undervalue our great privilege in being counted worthy to suffer some reproach and some hardness as good
soldiers for the truth’s sake; and also in being counted worthy to have some part in the blessed ministry of reflecting the
light of divine truth; let us prove ourselves jewels of rarest value, diamonds
indeed, heartily receiving and beautifully transmitting to others the light of
truth, and faithfully enduring the severest pressure that God may permit to
come upon us; for, if faithful in these small things we shall in due time be
counted worthy also to reign with Christ in power and great glory. Let
us not be like some who have only a little good earth on the surface of their
hearts while the heart is really hard and stony. Let the good seed of divine
truth sink down and take deep root, and then let it branch out in the light and
bear its abundant fruitage to the Master’s glory. So shall we be accounted
worthy to see the King in his beauty and to live and reign with him as his
beloved bride and joint heir. And when to the “worthy Lamb that was
slain” the voices of the multitudes ascribe blessing and honor and glory and
power, they will also exclaim, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to
him for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready.”-Rev. 5:13; 19:7.