AM I Worthy? (Part II)
Memory Verse -Revelation 3:20 – "Behold, I stand at the door, and
knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and
will sup with him, and he with me."
As we continue to cover the topic of sitting at the Lord’s table we will
take a closer look at (1) What the Lord’s Table is and (2) Who is welcome at
the table.
(1) The Lord’s table is the place where we get to learn about Jesus and
receive the salvation that was appointed to us (1 Thess. 5:9 – "For God hath
not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus
Christ."). Just think about it, the Lord desires so much that we sup with
Him that He Himself is knocking on the door so that we can let Him in for an
intimate one-on-one dinner.
But the Lord’s table is not just a place for sinners to be converted; it’s
also a place for the children of God. Once we receive salvation we can go back
to the table at anytime to learn even more about the Lord and to continually
grow spiritually in Christ. So we must not get complacent in our Christian
walks. We must make ourselves regulars at His table.
(2) Who’s welcome at the Lord’s Table
Last week we took a look at Zacchaeus–a tax collector. Now tax collectors
were notorious in this time for their crookedness, so as Zacchaeus and
Jesus left to go to Zacchaeus’ house the crowd muttered, "He [Jesus] has
gone to be a guest of that man [Zacchaeus] a sinner. (Luke 19:7)" What if
Jesus had judged Zacchaeus’ worth based on how the crowd felt? Zacchaeus would
have been hell-bound…. just like you and just like me!!!!! We should be
overjoyed that Jesus didn’t listen to other folk when we wanted to come to His
table to get saved—Praise God!!!!!!
This week we look at another tax collector, Matthew, who was sitting at his
booth when Jesus passed by and told him to "follow me," and Matthew
did (Matthew 9:9-12). While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house with
other tax collectors, sinners and the disciples, the Pharisees saw this and
asked the disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and
sinners?" Again, we see another example of mankind trying to figure out
"Who’s worthy to sit at the Lord’s table?" Jesus answered "It is
not the well that seek a doctor, but the sick. . . . I did not come to call the
righteous, but the sinners (12th-13th)." His response should help us see
that we–the sick– are worthy.
In the 15th chapter of Luke, we see another instance when tax collectors and
sinners are gathered around Jesus. These men came to the Lord’s table to learn
about Him and possibly gain their salvation. However, the Pharisees and
teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with
them." So again, we have the same situation where MEN are saying that
OTHER MEN should not be received or should not be allowed to eat with Jesus
(2nd). To show them who is worthy to sit at His table, Jesus tells them three
parables about the lost: (1) The Lost Sheep, (2) The Lost Silver Coin & (3)
The Lost Son.
(1) The first lost item, the sheep, gets lost due to its own ignorance. In
other words, it just wanders off not knowing any better (sounds like us when we
didn’t know Jesus). Yet the good shepherd (Jesus) goes after that one lost
sheep and when he finds it, He and his friends (the angels) rejoice. "I
tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent"(8th).
(2) The second item, the silver, takes a bit of diligence to be found. The
woman who loses the silver coin must light a lamp, sweep and search carefully
for it. However, when she finally finds it she rejoices. "In the same way,
I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents"(10th). Here we are shown that it takes a diligent
worker to gain a lost soul for Christ – But the search is well worth it to see
that soul added to the kingdom of God.
(3) In the final parable, the prodigal son leaves on his own after receiving
his share of wealth from his father. He goes away, squanders his wealth on wild
living and then takes a job feeding pigs. He gets so hungry that he even
desires to eat what the pigs are eating, yet no one will feed him. Finally
coming to his senses, he realizes that at his father’s house even the servants
are well fed, so he decides to go home. On his way, he carefully plans the
"I am not worthy speech" for his father. However, to his surprise,
the father recognizes him from a distance, runs to him and throws his arms around
him. The son then says, "I have sinned against heaven and you and I am no
longer worthy to be your son." But the father immediately extends love to
him. All the father wants to do is give his son the best he has and celebrate
his homecoming. The father in this story sounds a lot like our Father in
heaven. As soon as we come seeking forgiveness he forgives us. All past sins
are forgotten and we are welcomed home with full restoration.
These three parables show us that the lost (those who don’t know Christ) and
those who don’t know him as well as they should—that’s all of us–are OF
WORTH to Him. He loves us and desires for us to sit at His table and learn
about Him. And by sitting at His table, His children are made more worthy. This
time, though, we are made worthy of heaven THROUGH Him.
Now let’s look back to when we were at our worst—neck deep in sin, lost to
the kingdom of heaven. At this point in our lives, some of us even made
statements like, "I got to get right before I get saved" or "I
need to work out some things before I come to church." But we CAN NOT
"Get Right" to meet Jesus. Even if we got rid of all of our bad
habits (like drinking, cursing, stealing, lying, fornicating, etc.) that would
not make us "Pre-Saved" or "Prepared"—because there is no
such a thing. Believe it or not, Jesus wants us to come to Him "just as we
are" and He’ll do the rest. Unfortunately, because so many of us insist
upon trying to "get right" first, or because some of us feel that we
are just too filthy to dine with the Savior, we become content in our
"unworthy" comfort zones. We feel that that’s where we should be–but
it’s not.
WE NEED TO BE AT THE LORD’S TABLE because it is there that we get the
guidance of Jesus, the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the power of God that
brings about our change–and this change, unlike the ones we try to make on our
own, lasts forever.
