He is Worthy

 




Why is our answer - like Peter's - to whom shall we go?  Ultimately our reason is that He is worthy.  When others are turning and their back on Him (and you are tempted to do the same), when following Jesus seems to hold only hardship and suffering and the other way seems easy, why go on with Him? Why stay the course? Why then - in the darkest season of your life - would you say with Peter “to whom shall we go?”  The answer is simple yet profound in its significance: Jesus deserves you.  He is worthy.

Believer, haven’t you found in Jesus that treasure hidden in the field?  Here is that One whom the Bible calls the pearl of great price! Isn't it true that when you made that discovery you were willing to part with the whole world to buy the field and get the treasure?  And having sold everything to get the field and get the treasure what did you lose?  Nothing!  What did you gain?  Everything!  So what now?  When things are dark and bleak and hard will you turn your back on Him?  Impossible. You know that He deserves more.  Its still true that if the whole realm of nature were yours that would be an offering far too small.

Christian reader, He deserves you.  He has a been a Friend to you, and He deserves your loyalty.  He has bled for you, and He deserves that you would magnify Him whether it be by life or death.  He has loved you, and He deserves that you should love Him.

Consider again the cross.  There Jesus bled and died for us.  As believers we can say, "He loved me and gave Himself for me." Does He not deserve those for whom He died?  

Think of what the Redeemer deserves from the redeemed.  As you view Calvary and consider the Man of sorrows there bearing the Father’s wrath, wounded and bruised for your iniquities, what is the cry of your heart?   You know from the the depths of your being that He deserves the reward of His suffering.  And that reward is that He should get those for whom He died: that they should be His, and that they should show forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light.   He deserves that they should live for Him and die for Him. He deserves that they should think on Him, and sing for Him and even breathe for Him.  He deserves their love, their affection, their service, their life and their all.  

Believing Christian I am speaking about you.  The Spirit bears witness within you that you are His.  You have been taught to cry “abba Father.” You are a citizen of heaven, a son or daughter of the living God, your sins have been buried in the deepest sea, and you have been raised to new life; so that Jesus can say of you "behold I make all things new." You are new creature; and all of this by grace. None of it is your own doing.  All of it was done for you. The cost was all His.  So now what? “All for Jesus! All for Jesus! All my being's ransomed pow'rs; All my thoughts and words and doings, All my days and all my hours. All for Jesus!”

So will you leave Him?  Others have, and others will. A day may come when you look around you and its you against the world. Surely the Spirit bears witness within you, “to whom shall I go?”  Christian, He is worthy.  

That is one thing that so excites me about heaven. Though I manage to do so little for Jesus here, I am so grateful that I have an eternity ahead of me to serve Him (and serve Him well). I sometimes find I know less than I did when I started out. But if I know anything, I know that my Redeemer lives, and I know that He is worthy.  

O how wonderful to be able to say of Jesus "I am His and He is mine … not for the years of time alone but for eternity."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Church of God & Ray Tinsman

  I have been asked repeatedly about our connection with the Church of God (COG) in Aylmer.  When the questions first started to come I had never spoken to Henry Hildebrandt and knew very little about his church.  In the weeks and months that followed I spoke with Henry on separate occasions and in person. At that initial meeting with Henry I asked him a series of pointed questions.  I was concerned.  I was glad his church was open, but I had heard rumors of heresy and cultish behaviour and wanted to hear it from him.  Ordinarily I might have dismissed a group like his outright. But the COG Aylmer was one of the very few churches in Ontario that remained open through the lockdowns, and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. So, I asked him about his view of Scripture, his view of salvation, his understanding of the person and work of Christ and so on.  And I came away mostly satisfied.  There were clear differences between us, but on the main points it seemed as if we agree
Read more

On Baptism

Image
For 12 years I enthusiastically subscribed to the Westminster standards.  I signed my copy of the Solemn League and Covenant , I taught my children the catechisms, and I prayed earnestly that they would grow up to subscribe in full to the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF).  For much of that time I was convinced that given enough time I could persuade any Baptist of the error of his ways.  I even went so far as to tell some Baptists brothers that withholding baptism from their children was sinful.  I grieved when Presbyterians became Baptist; and if you had told me of a man who had gone from being a Baptist to a Presbyterian only to become Baptist again I would have felt embarrassment for him.  Sounds more like a ship “tossed to and fro” (Ephesians 4:14) than a man.  But here I am writing to say that I am that man.  Even four months ago I was certain I would always be Presbyterian.  But after a period of prayer and intense study I have concluded that I was wrong.  Here, in brief,
Read more

Our Compromise in the Face of Covid-19: An open letter to the Church

Dear brothers and sisters, greetings in the name of King Jesus.  I am writing to you (as I have written to my own Session) because I believe that we - the Church in North America - have let the Lord down.  Like Peter we have made big promises, but in a moment of trial we have in this way denied Him.  We have compromised and we have sinned.  I don't say that lightly.   Many better men than me hold an entirely different position. Still, I believe our decision to submit to the government is wrong.  I believe it’s seriously wrong.  I believe one day we will look back on this with sorrow at how easily we gave in to the pressures of government and society.   I know it’s well intended but still wrong.   As you know churches almost everywhere (including our own) have closed.  Gathering together for worship has been replaced almost everywhere by live-streaming, so that there is no more ‘meaningful’ gathering of believers for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacram
Read more