Are You Worthy of Jesus?

[Applause] it was good to spend 13 months in core eatin Tennessee it was good to have a big wide front porch looking out on a hay field which we saw harvested if whatever you call the word you do with hay twice as they bailed him into round bales coming out the back of that little machine it was good to be with cousins one little way this way and one 1/4 of a mile that way it was good to be at Christchurch 60 folks on the weekend love and telleth it to death and making our year great and it is better to be back worshiping in our little pew right over there on Sunday and loving every minute of it and if you say doesn't it feel strange to be sitting there and not hear the answer is no strange would not be the right word it feels wonderful I love what's happening in this room connecting with the Living God on Sunday morning such that how could you not be happy in his presence as such remarkable worship happens and then to hear you sing again tonight that's it but that's it I don't care where I sit if that's happening that is just so beautiful and I love teaching 16 seminary guys the Greek exegesis of Philippians first class yesterday first time I've done this in what 35 years to dig in with a class like that and I just hope they enjoy it as much as I do because I'm loving it already and I love being the Chancellor so that I can wave the little flag wherever I go this is a great school come on get on board with this and let's make it happen for a few hundred years if Jesus Terri's and I love working full-time with desiring God who succumbs me over to Bethlehem College and Seminary so my life is very full I have a full-time job right now and I love every minute of it I love being married to Noelle in a big empty house good night we have not been in a situation like this since she was 24 years old which is 42 years ago it feels amazing that all of our children are out so can you tell I'm happy and that you would not chase me away but let me quietly be a part of this worshipping serving community is a sweet thing let's pray father in heaven we Bethlehem love Christ we love to sing Christ pray Christ teach Christ live Christ and so I invite you to come Lord Jesus you said I will be with you always to the end of the age and I lay hold on that promise now that you'll help me be faithful to your word say something that would be directive for our school and encouraging and helpful to everyone for the sake of Jesus is now in his name Amen I want to talk about the educational implications of the call in the Bible to walk worthy of God so if you read the desiring God blog you may have noticed that at the beginning of this week an article that I wrote called are you worthy of Jesus and my intention in this message that is to take that article and apply it to this school that's where we're going let me give you two reasons why I was drawn to the subject of are you worthy of Jesus in relation to the school reason number one the more I think about the implications of being worthy of God worthy of the Lord worthy of Jesus worthy of our calling worthy of the kingdom the more the implications ripple out concerning education I'll spell out three of those second reason we live in a time in these little pockets of evangelicalism where the doctrine of sanctification is controversial and the question of whether justification by faith alone apart from works of the law impedes the moral effort to be a pure and holy person or releases power to be and to pursue moral purity is up for grabs in a lot of people's minds in the spirit of our time is it appropriate to minimize or to highlight statements like this strive to enter through the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live in your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord if your right eye causes you to sin tear it out and throw it away for this batter for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell do we live at a time to minimize those statements in the Bible or to underline them that's the controversy so I'm drawn to this topic because this issue of worthy of the Lord sheds light on that controversy and secondly it's brimming with implications for how to do seminary and college education that's why we're doing this so here's whoever going number one let's get the biblical teaching on the table for everybody to see number two let's talk about what does it mean I mean nice sentence be worthy of Jesus what does it mean and third what are those implications for this school and how we do it look you're not gonna have time to look any of these up all these texts are online recording will be available listen with all your might book of Revelation chapter 3 verse 4 Jesus is speaking to the church at sardis and he says this you still have a few names in Sardis people who have not soiled their garments when they will walk with me in white for they are worthy and that does not mean worthy with the imputed righteousness of Jesus by an act of justification it means they did not soiled their garments they were worthy of walking with Jesus Matthew chapter 10 verse 37 Jesus whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me that's virtually the same as what he said in Luke 14 if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes his own life also cannot be my disciple whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple which means not to be worthy of Jesus is not to be his disciple this is not a standard held up to show that no one can reach it this is a straightforward demand and expectation from Jesus love me more than you love anyone or you're not my disciple and you're not worthy of me it's clear Jesus is not vague these are not ambiguous statements the Apostle Paul picks up the language of worthy and makes more of it than any other writer Ephesians 4 walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called Philippians 1 let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ Colossians 1 walk in a manner worthy of the Lord 1st Thessalonians 2 walk in a manner worthy of God 2nd Thessalonians 1 may God make you worthy of his calling and fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power your suffering is evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be considered worthy this is happening through your suffering that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering the point of those texts is not being worthy of God is impossible for Spirit indwelt Christians it's just held up to make you know it's impossible and drive you to the cross that's not what those texts are saying it's important to know that they are straightforward statements of what normal Christianity looks like walking worthy of your calling worthy of the kingdom worthy of your father worthy of your savior that's normal Christianity 22 years ago I asked Tom Stiller to write an afterword for let the nation's be glad anything you want I'm just writing he was the missions pastor I think in those days Tom's had every job in this church it's been here thirty four years now and and he's had them all and when we didn't know if one should exist we gave the job to him to see whether it worked that's how I got Sam Crabtree we needed an executive pastor cuz Tom took the job for a year and said that works so I asked him write that and and those of you know the book know what text he used he used third John one six which says you will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God and you wrote a hole afterward on what does it mean to send from Bethlehem what does it mean to send missionaries in a manner worthy of God and then beautifully Tom unpacked the relationship between the the worth of the name which comes in the next verse the worth of the name and the worthiness of the senders of those who are going for the sake of the name and to Jesus Paul and John we could add John the Baptist who said to the Sadducees and the Pharisees you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the wrath to come bear fruit worthy of repentance that's the biblical data that's the biblical teaching on worthiness question number two what does that mean what does it mean to be worthy of Jesus if you love mother or father more than me you are not worthy of me what does it mean to be worthy of Jesus what does it mean to walk worthy of God worthy of the Lord worthy of the kingdom worthy of the calling what is this worthiness that we must have what complicates things as you know is that there are other passages of Scripture where our unworthiness is highlighted when the Centurion said to Jesus Lord do not trouble yourself for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof jesus said I've never seen faith like that in all the Israel he liked those words yes he did at the heart of faith is that I am not worthy to have you come under my roof is a good thing to say well that complicates things ten chapters later in Luke Jesus tells a story about a servant who was out in the field doing his job and he came home and instead of putting him down at the meal you said now fix my meal and then you can eat and and Jesus said does the master thank the servant because he did what was commanded so also when you have done all that you were commanded say we are unworthy servants when you've done all that I have commanded still say we are unworthy servants and John the Baptist said he who comes after me the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie so this is why our school exists to figure this out this is what we teach men and women to do I think the key to the mystery is found in the phrase that Paul and John the Baptist both use Paul in acts 26 20 and John the Baptist in Matthew 3:8 where they both say bear fruit worthy of repentance because that can't mean the fruit earned repentance or merits repentance or desire deserves repentance repentance is already there bearing the fruit of the deeds that are worthy there can't be any thought of the word meaning oh if you were the of blank you deserve like you married like you earned like what work right well work worthy of repentance can't mean I just bore the fruit of repentance and therefore became meritorious of having it doesn't work it just produced the fruit the tree is repentance and the fruit are the deeds worthy of the tree doesn't mean merit deserve earn worthy of repentance means repentance is so worthy so valuable repentance has such worth that the fruit it produces shares in the worth fruit worthy of repentance means there's a suitable commensurate relationship between the fruit and the tree the value of the tree and the value of the fruit have a commensurate relationship it's fitting this is a fitting fruit for that kind of tree and if that tree is super valuable what would this fruit have to be in order to show that what is repentance repentance is turning to God as supremely valuable away from all else as supremely valuable and said again repentance is a mind and heart change turning to God as supremely valuable away from everything as supremely valuable no competitors with God once you repent repenting is a shifting of the values of the soul on to the supreme value of the universe God Almighty and away from everything else as a competing value they have their place but not there and repentance is the movement of the soul toward that the changing of the mind or the heart that turning that turning of the mind and that change and that repentance is beautiful it's what humans were made for it is worthy of God suitable fitting appropriate correspondence to God right it's suitable that the human mind would turn away from everything as its supreme value to God as the supreme value that's a suitable response to the infinite value of God and therefore this suitability is its worthiness that's what worthiness means a suitable echo of the value of God so being worthy of repentance does not mean being deserving of repentance as if you could earn it or merit it it means an appropriate suitable fitting response to the worth of repentance which is a suitable response to the worth of God which is why the ESV translates perform deeds in keeping with repentance you want to see the word worthy in your translation I had to change it because it's the same word everywhere in keeping with means the translators said and their right to be worthy of repentance means to be in step with it in sync with it a proper reflection of the value of it when Nixon resigned in 1975 what did it mean to say he was unworthy of the presidency what does it mean or the other way around what did it mean to say he was not worthy of his office this gave grit this this shed enormous light for me on this biblical issue because I saw right away oh it's really an odd use of language is too in Greek it's too in English we say he's worthy of the presidency not when he has great worth but when he honors the great worth of the office right that's the way we used to language is odd we say you are worthy of the office when you are behaving in such a way as to show that the office is worthy it's the office that has massive value either you are worthy or unworthy of that by whether you act in a way that shows that that was very helpful for me he failed what did he fail he failed to see and he failed to feel and he failed to embrace the superior value of the office over his sinful behaviors now let's apply this to Jesus words see if it works Jesus said whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and I'm now inferring oh he doesn't mean is not deserving of me is not earning me is not meriting me all of which are true as know what he's saying because that's not what the phrase means in that kind of construction when Jesus says we are not worthy of him if we treasure our parents or children or self more than him we're not worthy of him if we cherish something else more than him he means he is of infinite worth like the presidency far above parents far above children far above self he is of inference in infinite Worth and there's a commensurate response to that what prefer him see him that way savor him that way embrace him that way that's fitting commensurate suitable worthy it calls all attention to his worth as we treasure him embrace him love him over everything that's being worthy of infinite worth so here's the most important sentence I'll give you I think our passionate preference for Jesus worth is our worth that's the key sentence in this message our preference embrace treasuring of Jesus as supreme leave al Yubel is my value to be worthy of infinite worth is to see it savor it and prefer it as infinitely worthy in fact stir this in one aspect of the beauty of Jesus the worth of Jesus is that he is gracious towards sinners in fact we would rank the glory of His grace just about at the top of his beauties and the things we value about him so how are you worthy of a gracious Saviour of sinners be worthy of a gracious Saviour of sinners would necessarily include the confession of your unworthiness like the Centurion like John the Baptist you become worthy of grace you become a suitable beneficiary of grace when you see your need for grace and embrace the infinite value of the gracious long as your supreme treasure therefore woven into your worthiness is a profound sense of unworthiness a suitable fitting appropriate commensurate beneficiary of an infinitely gracious God knows it needs Grace and embraces him as infinitely valuable more than anything in the world and thus becomes worthy of a gracious one Jesus confirms this I keep asking myself am I on the right track here am i tracked him with Jesus see if this doesn't confirm it he told a parable of a wedding feast remember Matthew 22 the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son and he sent out his servants to call to invite those who were invited to the wedding feast come freely you learn this it's open how everyone who thirsts come to the waters you who have no money come by and eat without money without price come and enjoy the supreme pleasures of my son's wedding and they wouldn't God why this is one of the most horrifying sentences in the Bible they went off one to his farm and another to his business and the master of the feast said to his servants go beat the bushes you get to every people group on this planet you get to the poor you get to the blade Lane you get to the blind you get to the helpless who won't argue that they got better things to do in my face you go get them but before he said that you know what he said here's what he said the wedding feast is ready but those who were invited were not they preferred their farms over the infinite value and worth of the banquet with the Son of God millions of people in America like that so what does it mean to be worthy of the feast what the feats see the feast this is way better than a farm way better than a business isn't it exactly the same thing jesus said if you love mother or father more than me you're not worthy of me here he just says if you love farm or business more than me you're not worthy of me meaning I invited you to come to the greatest pleasures in the universe with my son and you preferred refuse that's the definition of unworthy don't recognize worth I'm infinitely worthy not to see and savor and prefer my worth is the meaning of unworthiness and to see it savour it want it embrace it as a desperate sinner who loves grace is to be worthy of it the principle is the same whether it's farms or business or mother or father or son or daughter or your own life worthiness of the feast worthiness of God worthiness of the Lord worthiness of the kingdom means to prefer him over everything now if we had time like to go one by one and oh the light that would shine worthy of our calling worthy of the gospel worthy of the Lord worthy of God worthy of the kingdom those are all phrases from the Apostle Paul we could go one by one apply this truth to that and it would explode with meaning and relevance but we don't have that time we turn finally to the implications for education three number one we must teach we faculty and by implication everyone who has any kind of teaching role at all mom dad we must teach not only what is but the value of what is which is not quite the way I want to say it that's the first way I thought of saying it here's the better way to say it no we must not only teach what is but must teach and awaken a suitable affection for the value of what it is we must we must teach what is reality seen for what it is and we must teach and awake affections for the value of what is hatred for the ugly love for the glorious why because you can't be worthy of a god or a kingdom or a calling that you do not know the worth of if you don't know the worth of God the worth of the kingdom the worth of your calling you cannot walk worthily of it because walking worthily of it means esteeming it cherishing it treasuring it as supremely valuable but you can't see if you haven't been shown walking worthy means that an intellectual an emotional and a behavioral life suitable to the worth of God suitable to the worth of the kingdom suitable to the worth of your calling is what you live you cannot walk worthy of a God you do not know and feel to be infinitely worthy you cannot walk worthy of his kingdom if you don't know and feel the worth of his kingdom you can't walk worthy of your calling if you don't know and feel the worth of your calling therefore we cannot achieve our goals as professors for our students if we do not teach what is and the value of what is Jesus said teach them to observe all that I commanded you he did not say teach them to know all that I commanded you observe keep do teach them to do teach them to keep teach them to observe one of those Commandments is love me more than your children how do you teach people to do that by showing them his supreme value to them implication number two therefore the highest aims of our education are impossible for human beings to bring about without the intervention of divine power and therefore we should be crying out regularly for that power in prayer as a learning community the point here is prayer desperate prayer for God to do the impossible because you cannot make your students value the kingdom value God value they're calling above their life and their children you can't do it only God can do that do you remember the rich young ruler when he walked away preferring money to Jesus Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a man to prefer God over wealth that's my paraphrase it is easier for a camel to the Ivan needle then for a man to treasure God more than a million dollars and when his disciples said then who can be saved Jesus didn't make it easier he said with man it is impossible but not with God all things are possible with God it is possible for a man to love God more than money if God does it it is possible to see him better than a billion dollars to feel awesome satisfaction and desire in him forever when you're offered the world but only because it's miracle that God works which means if that's one of our goals at Bethlehem College and Seminary which it is we can't do it so when I got Tom's email yesterday that we would be meeting at 12:45 today to pray for our students I knew where I'd be I have 16 guys I don't know them well yet some of them are here I don't know where they are spiritually I do know some of what they'll be up against in the next 50 years and I know that if they don't value God Jesus the kingdom and their calling more than their wives and their children and their health they won't make it because they will be unworthy of God therefore my goals for them are impossible so it means I will hold up the supreme value of Jesus and I will pray like crazy that God do what I can't do number 3 and closing since walking worthily of God worthy of the kingdom worthy of our calling means seeing and savoring showing and embracing and preferring the supreme worth of God and the kingdom and our calling this educational community should be a worshiping community corporate worshiping community why the essence of worship is a passionate preference for the worth of God over all things say it again the essence not the act the essence of worship is a passionate preference for God over all things and the act of worship are the various things we do to express that preference therefore if right at the top of our goal is that we be a people who are worthy of the Lord and the essence of being worthy of the Lord is to see and savor and prefer his worth therefore we will be a worshiping people last sentence may God use Bethlehem to awaken and instruct students about the Supreme worth of God the supreme worth of his kingdom the supreme worth of his calling so that through all of us thousands and thousands of people all out of proportion to Bethlehem size will walk worthy of the Lord let's pray Oh father thank you for your holy word where would we be in beginning to understand what life is had you not spoken in this book so thank you for the book then thank you for being a God of great grace towards sinners thank you for sending Jesus into the world and displaying in human flesh the most beautiful and most glorious value in the universe namely yourself and thank you for the Holy Spirit who has quickened our dead blind souls so that we have seen and we savor and we prefer you over everything granted thousands upon thousands of people would prefer you and thus be worthy of you because this school exists pray this in Jesus name I'm gonna invite Rick Siegel vice president for advancement here and I just want you to listen I have no idea what he's gonna say except I know what a job is and I want to underline what you're going to say before I hear it because I love this school I hope God gives me 10 good years teaching and Chancellor and then I hope they're a good century or two that it keeps on doing what it's doing

Channel: Desiring God

Views: 7,241

Rating: 4.974359 out of 5

Keywords: Desiring God, John Piper, God, Jesus Christ, Christianity, Christian Hedonism, Repentance, Justification, Sanctification, Joy, Happiness, Glory, Salvation, Forgiveness, Obedience, Worthiness, Life, Church, Worship, Sin, Christian, Love

Id: lkUr8U07Q3M

Length: 48min 15sec (2895 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 20 2018