ACCOUNTED
WORTHY
By
W. P. CLARKE
The
phrase "accounted worthy",
if it means
anything, must mean to be "deserving"
(a dictionary definition) of some special distinction, merit or reward,
not
attained by all. It is significant that the words
are used in the
Scriptures almost invariably in connection with the Coming of our Lord,
or His [millennial] Kingdom.
Addressing His disciples (Luke
21: 34-36)
Our Lord warned them that without
continued vigilance and prayer they would not be "accounted
worthy" to escape the things coming to pass on the earth
(the
Great Tribulation), and to stand before Him. The exponents of
the belief
that the whole Church will
escape the Tribulation finds this
passage fatal to their theory, and so relegate it to the Jews only.
Poor
Jew! He gets all the warnings and the curses, and the
blessings are
reserved for the Church. How, logically, anyone, except those
bent on
proving a cherished idea, can say this warning was intended for the
Jews only passes
all understanding, when our Lord speaks of that day coming as a snare on all
those that dwell on the face
of the whole earth,
and excepts none. It was
spoken to the twelve disciples directly and personally (watch ye,
and pray that ye may be
accounted worthy to escape)
and it would be passing strange that Apostles only, of all the Church,
were
included in the warning! It was
addressed to them as representatives of the whole body of disciples
in this
dispensation: What I say unto you,
I say unto all,
Watch; Neither
pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on Me
through their word.
The
phrase occurs again (Luke
20: 35) in Our
Lords answer to the Sadducees. They
that are accounted
worthy to obtain that age
[the Millennial], and
the resurrection [out] from
among the dead [the
first resurrection]
are children of the
resurrection, and can die no more.
This cannot refer to all mankind, for unbelievers merit the second
death. 1
Nor can it refer
to all [regenerate]
believers, as it is explicitly stated that it
is only for those accounted
worthy. Even
if the former passage in Luke
21 is
addressed to the Jew only, it is quite certain this passage cannot be
so
relegated, as the Apostle Paul refers to
it as his great aim (Phil.
3: 11-14): If by
any means I may attain
[be accounted worthy] unto
the resurrection [out]
from among the dead
- a resurrection simultaneous with the first rapture; an attainment he
had not
yet arrived at, and might possibly miss; and therefore, forgetting all
the
things which were behind, he pressed
on towards the
goal unto the prize of the high
["upward", R. V.
margin] calling of God in
Christ Jesus. If the great
Apostle might possibly not be
accounted worthy, it behoves all [regenerate]
believers to beware lest they also be accounted
unworthy and miss the prize.
Again
in 2
Thess. 1: 5
the same Apostle writes [unto the church of the
Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
(verse 1)]:
To the end that ye
may be accounted worthy of the
The
only other passage in which the phrase occurs is Acts
5: 11, when the Disciples, beaten by the Sanhedrin,
rejoiced that they
were accounted worthy
to suffer shame for His
name; and this also has some reference to the [Millennial] Kingdom, for only they
reign with Christ who suffer
for His sake (2Tim. 2: 12).
Some years ago, a
young man (the son of the writer) was turned out of a house, in the
dead of
night, by two men who had befriended him, when night fell, while he was
in a
forest pioneering and seeking a location to commence gospel work in
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God hath His best things for the few
Who dare to stand the test:
God hath his second choice for those
Who will not have his best.
It is not always open ill
That risks the promised rest;
The better often is the foe
That keeps us from the best.
A
conditional
promise of a
selected rapture, before the Great Tribulation commences, to faithful
disciples:-
"Since you have kept my command to endure
patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to
come
upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I
am coming
soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your
crown."
(Rev. 3: 10, 11).
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