Not Worthy of Me!

Not Worthy of Me!

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matt. 10:37-39.

We are not used to hearing or thinking that we shall be worthy of Him. We are more used to hearing that everything is by grace. This is also true, and we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus from our evil conduct, which we have inherited from our forefathers. 1 Pet. 1:18-19. “For by grace you have been saved through faith . . . it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8-9. Nevertheless, from among all those who have been redeemed by His blood and are partakers of the atonement, there are those who are elected to be His bride. Being worthy of Jesus is to be worthy to be His bride. Someone who does not know how to appreciate something is not worthy of possessing it either. This also true in this respect. Someone who is not apprehended of Jesus is not worthy of being His bride. Paul was so apprehended of Jesus that he counted everything else as loss and rubbish in order to gain Him. Phil. 3:8. Then we are worthy of Jesus.

To be apprehended of Jesus is to be apprehended of His life—His virtues. Jesus’ life is the opposite of our human and carnal life. This is why we cannot love Jesus and our own life at the same time. Jesus says, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26. He who loves Jesus loses his self-life when he finds it, for Jesus’ sake—to gain His life. We “are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” 2 Cor. 4:11. If this is true, then my love for Him is boiling hot instead of lukewarm. Then I will also experience growth and development—from being carnal to becoming spiritual. We are not sufficiently mature to be Jesus’ bride without this development.

“Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.” Heb. 13:12. This is a message you can hear in all religious assemblies. There they speak about the goodness of Jesus who kept the commandments for them, suffered for them, was crucified for them, and died for them so that they could receive forgiveness for their sins through His blood. Those who speak only about this are His people, but the apostle has a greater message; he speaks of a higher calling. We read further in verse 13: “Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.” Only the bride has an ear for this message. Among the bride, outside the camp with Jesus, they speak about keeping God’s commandments. John 14:21. There they speak about suffering with Him. Rom. 8:17. They speak about being crucified with Him and no longer living for themselves. Gal. 2:20, 5:24. They speak about walking in the light so that Jesus’ blood can cleanse them from all sin. 1 John 1:7.

The people of God cannot understand this message that is heard by the bride. It sounds like bondage to them; it sounds to them as if Jesus is being dishonored—as if what He has done is not good enough, and that we also have to add something to it. They do not have a sense for being conformed to the image of the Son. Rom. 8:29.

When you are among believers, you can easily hear whether they are within the camp and praise Jesus only for what He has done for them, or whether they have come to Him outside the camp to follow Him in His steps in order to be conformed to His image. Those who lose their life for His sake—to become like Him—are worthy of Him. They know how to appreciate Him, and they regard Him so highly that they count everything as dung in order to gain Him as their Bridegroom.