I'm not worthy!

 

Though I'm not worthy to see your precious face 
I bow before thee pour out your holy grace 
For you alone can wash my sin 
And cleanse my soul so deep within. 

Heal me, wash me in your mercy 
Mend these broken pieces of my heart 
Love me though I am not worthy 
Cleanse my soul and make me whole again 
Only say the word and I shall be healed. 

Though I'm not worthy in your grace I long to stand 
And bow before thee, stretch out your healing hand 
For you alone can purify 
and heal these wounds so deep inside. 

Though I'm not worthy to feel your love, oh Lord 
I bow before thee, my Savior be adored. 
For you alone break hardened hearts 
And bid old bitterness depart.  --Curtis Stephan

In the 1988 Saturday Night Live sketch created by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, and later in the movie Wayne's World, the characters Wayne and Garth are immature metalheads, who dream of having their own band.  Yet when they jammed with Aerosmith in the in sketch, and with Alice Cooper in the movie, all they could say was "We're not worthy!"

As much as Wayne and Garth were not worthy of their rock idols, the rock gods Aerosmith and Alice Cooper, how much more are we unworthy of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ!  That is the point of the last few verses of Revelation 4.

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever.  They lay their crowns before the throne and say: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." --Revelation 4:9-11

For comments on the living creatures, see my prior posts.  I have also commented on him who sits on the throne; the one who lives for ever and ever; and, the twenty-four elders.  To recap, see Isaiah 6:1-8.  “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high  and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’  At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  ‘Woe to me’, I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’  Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.  With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’  And I said, ‘Here am I.  Send me!’ “    

This must have been how John felt when he was ushered into the presence of God. This is the eternal God, "who lives for ever and ever".  The Apostle Paul also sensed this; in Romans 16:27, he wrote, "To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ!  Amen."  This is the ultimate purpose of all things--to glorify God.

• Those in authority  "Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.  Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the spendor of his holiness." --Psalm 29:1, 2.
• Nations and individuals  "All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name....I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever." --Psalm 86.9, 12
• Heavenly hosts  "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." --Luke 2:14.  In this passage, the angels recognized the glory and majesty of God by giving praise to him.  "In the highest" is a reference to heaven, where God dwells.

So how do you glorify God? How do you give him the praise he deserves?  Benjamin Keach was a Baptist.  He is noted for introducing hymnology into the worship service.  He published a Catechism in 1689 to clarify the theology of the Second London Baptist Confession that had been written in 1677.  In this "Baptist Catechism", the second tenet taught was this: What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.  1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."

We can give glory, honor and thanks to God with our mouths, certainly.  Prayers and hymns and spiritual songs are vital parts of worship.  But if we live lives that do not glorify God or honor Him, what is the point of our giving thanks to Him? For what--for our faith? James said, "Faith without works is dead." 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, "You were bought with a price, so glorify God in your body."  Perform those acts that give honor to God; avoid doing anything that dishonors Him.

Another way we can give glory and honor to God is to defer any praise given to us.  In our passage we see that the elders laid their crowns at His feet before they gave praises with their words.  I saw in the news last week where American veterans of the war in Afghanistan were marching in protest, and they were planning to throw down their service medals on the White House lawn, to shame the government and call attention to their cause.  In contrast, the elders in heaven want to humble themselves before the King, and bestow on Him any glory given to them.  The crowns of glory laid aside for them, they were willing to lay at the feet of Jesus, to whom all glory and honor are due.

Paul devoted his later life to preaching and to ministering to people in Jesus' name.  In Acts 14, we read of Paul and Barnabas preaching to the people in the city of Lystra.  A crippled man was there, and when Paul saw that he had the faith to be healed, he called to him, "Stand up on your feet!"  The man jumped up and began to walk.  The people there in Lystra thought that the gods had come down from Mount Olympus to walk among them.  They called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul was called Hermes, as he was the chief speaker.  But Barnabas and Paul tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, who were preparing sacrifices to offer to them, and shouted, "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.  We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things (Greek mythology) to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the seas and everything in them." (Acts 14:15).

And this takes us back to Revelation 4:11--the last part of the verse says, "For you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."  By the way, in the creation account of Genesis 1, have you ever wondered who God was talking to in verse 26 when he said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness"?  I believe there were three persons present at creation--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  God created us in His own image, to have fellowship with him.  He had already created the angels, but they had no part in the creative Act of God.  And the angels knew nothing of Redemption--they either followed God and praised Him, or they followed Satan and were cast out of heaven.  There was no turning back to God, no changing of the demon's minds.  Yet when Man sinned, and was banished from the Garden, God gave Man a chance to redeem himself; and ultimately, God sent His Son as the Redeemer, so that man's fellowship with God could be restored.  This was why we were created; this was the will of God that He gave us life--so that we could spend this life and the next sharing His glory.

Psalm 146:6 says, "The Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them--the Lord, who remains faithful forever."  Praise God for his faithfulness.  His purpose for us can be restored even after sin separates us from His Holy Presence.  He is worthy, and now by His grace, we are given access to Him, unworthy as we are.

In the coming weeks, we will get to the verse in Revelation chapter 5 where Jesus is pronounced worthy to open the scroll, and also to receive power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and praise.  For those who enjoy numerology, the verse we studied here had but three attributes of God, three things that the Lamb is worthy of.  But in the next chapter, there are seven attributes, seven things for which the Lamb is worthy.  By God's grace, we shall study that soon.

Thank You For The Cross, Lord
Thank You For The Price You Paid
Bearing All My Sin And Shame
In Love You Came, And Gave Amazing Grace

Thank You For This Love, Lord
Thank You For The Nail Pierced Hands
Washed Me In Your Cleansing Flow
Now All I Know, Your Forgiveness And Embrace

Chorus:
Worthy Is The Lamb, Seated On The Throne
Crown You Now With Many Crowns
You Reign Victorious
High And Lifted Up, Jesus Son Of God
The Darling Of Heaven Crucified
Worthy Is The Lamb
Worthy Is The LambWorthy Is The Lamb  --Darlene Zschech