Jude 20+21, But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 
	In our prior consideration of the diligence due unto God in our worship, we looked at the fact that God, Himself, is our pattern for the need of preparation to perfectly bring our offering of worship unto Him. He has prepared everything from before the eternal ages even began, in Jesus Christ. We also saw that the angelic hosts need to prepare themselves to carry out the foreordained plan and purpose of God. We read many passages showing that Jesus is our earthly pattern of being ready to do all that is unto the Father for the sake of His glory on this earth. 
This morning, let us continue our look at the principle of God that is in place with regard to the need for complete preparation and readiness. This is not just some whimsical thing that seems to be evident, it is a Biblical standard that can be traced and witnessed throughout the scriptures. There is a spiritual rule in place that we cannot just choose to ignore. Preparation precedes God’s blessing. This is not only true in terms of our receiving the blessing, but in God’s receiving blessing from us.
	Consider the fact that when the armies of Israel went forth to do battle with the Moabites, that they were without water for themselves and their beasts. Elisha was called upon for the wisdom of the Lord by Jehoshaphat. The Lord told Elisha that to get the water, many ditches had to be dug. There would be no water until the men had filled the valley with ditches. 2 Kings 3:16+17, And he said, "Thus says the Lord, 'Make this valley full of trenches.' "For thus says the Lord, 'You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. In order to receive the blessing, the entire army was required to dig ditches all along the valley floor. There was immense effort and work needed to be prepared for receiving the blessing of God’s grace. Until those ditches were dug, God could not bestow the blessing of the water.
	In the next chapter, Elisha was called upon by the widow for the sake of her sons who were to be ransomed. All she had was one jar of oil. Elisha told her that she would need to gather as many containers as she could possibly get from all her neighbors. It was after she faithfully went forth and put together as many jars and containers as possible that the oil flowed forth from her single jar to fill all that she had. There was enough oil to sell to ransom her sons and on which they could all live. But, there was no oil until the vessels were gathered. 2 Kings 4:3-6, Then he said, "Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels; and you shall set aside what is full." So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. And it came about when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, "There is not one vessel more." And the oil stopped. 
	The proper groundwork had to be laid for God’s blessing to flow forth. Until sufficient jars and pots had been accumulated and readied, there was no way that God could pour forth the gift of the oil. Then, once that oil started, it only flowed while the jars were available. Once all the receptacles were completely filled, the oil ran out. God does not waste anything, but will fill to the fullest all the containers that are ready to receive.
	Then consider the fact that there was no healing Namaan from his leprosy until he had dipped 7 times. 2 Kings 5:10, And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean." At first he was too proud and he refused, leaving him with the leprosy on his body. Finally, he followed the path that was set before him, his heart was prepared to do as he was instructed and he was healed. There was no healing until he humbled his heart unto the Lord and dipped his body 7 times in the Jordan. 
	We see that this principle is not just with regard to preparation unto obedience, but even unto the very eternal plan and purpose of God. The truth is that God moves in full accordance with this divine attribute. Notice that He did not send forth His Son, the Messiah, until the way was fully prepared. Isa 40:3-5, A voice is calling, "Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. "Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley; Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, And all flesh will see it together; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." There had to be the necessary steps of groundwork in place before Jesus Christ could come forth with God’s full plan of salvation.
	The same is true in the hearts of believers. We cannot see the Hand of God operating until the ground of the hardness of our hearts is prepared, is made ready for the planting of His righteousness. There is no harvest until the ground is completely broken up, tilled, and readied to receive the Word. Hos 10:12, Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. 
	Furthermore, on this same intensity level, there is no reconciliation without repentance. We cannot find ourselves in the place of the fellowship and intimate companionship with the Lord until we have gone to Him in earnest and humble contrition over the manner in which we have dealt with Him. He is always faithful and just and righteous in His dealings with us. We, however, often put our interests and our concerns before any consideration of Him. We seek after those things which are seemingly pleasing to us, yet that are so vile and unholy to Him. It is at this point that we must repent and rend our hearts unto Him before we can be enrobed in His ministry of reconciliation. Joel 2:12-19, "Yet even now," declares the Lord, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments. "Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a libation For the Lord your God? Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Thy people, O Lord, And do not make Thine inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, 'Where is their God?'" Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And will have pity on His people. And the Lord will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I am going to send you grain, new wine, and oil, And you will be satisfied in full with them; And I will never again make you a reproach among the nations. 
	Continuing on, then, with the reality of the principle that preparation is required for the fullness of the Lord to be evidenced, we come to the fact that there is no vision without obedience. Many of us continually beseech God to show us what He is doing. We want to know what is taking place in our lives as we are under His hand of operation. But, the fact is that we are not able to see, to truly understand and comprehend unless we obey Him. We see this evidenced in the physical healing of the blind man in John 9:6+7. When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). And so he went away and washed, and came back seeing. 
In order to see, this blind man had to obey. He had to go wash his eyes out in order for his eyes to be enabled to see. This is as true in our lives. We need to obey the Word of God in order to be able to view what is taking place in our lives and on this earth from the vantage point of His glory in operation. We cannot see, cannot understand the full weight of His working grace until we have learned to trust Him and obey His every Word and guidance.
	This follows hand in hand with the reality that there can be no resurrection until the stone is rolled away. Consider the resurrection of Lazarus as recorded in John 11:39-42. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" And so they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me. "And I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me." 
The stone that needs to be rolled away in our lives is that of unbelief. In this passage we see that Jesus had waited to come to Lazarus until it was very clear that there was no other hope. …by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days. There was no other obvious means to look at the situation except that it had been so long that the body had begun decomposing. But when Jesus commanded that the stone be rolled away, despite the apparent futility of the situation, it was removed and Jesus prayed and then called forth Lazarus from the dead. There was the resurrection ground of belief that was the witness to the glory of God. So it is in our lives. Our stones of unbelief need to be rolled away in order for the resurrection life of Jesus Christ to be evidenced to the sole glory of God on high. Our unbelief needs to be rolled away for God’s glory to shine forth in all the brilliance of the risen Son of God.
	This then brings us to the truth that there is no entrance into heaven without the cleansing of the blood of the Lamb. It is only through the blood of Jesus Christ, His cleansing work of redemption, through His death and resurrection, that anyone will be brought to heaven. Rev 7:13-17, And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?" And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes." 
The key to this is that apart from the cleansing work of Jesus Christ, heaven is unattainable. It is not something that we can earn or work our way into. It is not available to those who think that God will not adhere to His Holiness. Only the spotless and pure will find entrance into the direct presence of God, into the place of His glory. And that spotlessness and perfection and purity is only in Jesus Christ. 
Unless we come before God, clothed in Christ’s righteousness, we will never enter into heaven. This fact is immutable and unchangeable. John 14:6, Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. 
This brings us to this morning’s final contemplation of the principle of preparation before blessing. It is the direct aspect of our concern for a more perfect service of worship unto God. There can be no acceptance of our offering nor our fellowship in communion until our hearts are examined before Him. This is an operation that the Holy Spirit undertakes within our hearts each and every time we gather together in His name. There is a very direct responsibility in grounding that needs to be instilled into our hearts as we begin to ready ourselves to come unto Him in praise and adoration. We need to allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity and be willing to undergo His perfect scrutiny in our hearts and minds before we gather together. 
One reason that this is so crucial is the fact that when we partake of the communion table, the Lord’s Supper, we must not do so with less than a complete awe at what it represents. This is not a matter of the transformation of the symbols into the actual flesh and blood as some denominations assert. No, it is the fact that we need to have a deep and reverent appreciation in place within us as to the whole reason for which we partake of the communion table. There should be an understanding of the fact that Jesus Christ so loved us, that God the Father so loved us, that the Holy Spirit so loved us that the ultimate and perfect sacrifice was prepared and offered for our salvation. All of the heart of the Supreme, Almighty Godhead is wrapped up in the giving of His grace and mercy through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. This is not something to take with casualness and with disinterest. It is not something that we do because it is habit and ritual. We partake of the Lord’s Supper because we want to honor and to remember and to cherish in our heart the glorious and selfless and perfect love of the One Who took our guilt and sin upon Himself. He bled and died for us. He buried our sin forever by His death on the cross. He suffered our guilt and paid its righteous and required price by His death so that we can live forever in Him. 
1 Cor 11:27-29, Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself, if he does not judge the body rightly. 
	And fully in line with this reverence and honor of service is the fact that we must present our offering and sacrifice of praise with the same examination of our hearts and minds. With what motives do we bring our worship unto God? Is there anything in us that is other than perfectly seeking to honor and glorify Him? Matt 5:23+24, "If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 
There can be no acceptance of our offering nor our fellowship in communion until our hearts are laid before Him for His intense scrutiny and examination. As His glory is our perfect desire, so will His blessing flood forth and fill the assembly of His people with the manifest presence of His satisfied heart.
We must prepare ourselves to bless our God. We must dig deep trenches in the valley of our souls. We need to gather all the vessels of our hearts and minds, thoughts and prayers for the outpouring of His oil of grace and mercy and joy. We must dip ourselves in all obedience and humility in the River of His healing water of life. We must declare the way of the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s Messiah in every area of our hearts and minds. Our fallow ground needs to be broken asunder as our hearts are rent in repentance before the Lord. There is the absolute need for our obedience to His Word in seeking after His sight in these eyes that have been so blinded by the ways and the deceit of this world. Our stones of unbelief need to be rolled away, no matter what foul stench they have sealed up in our beings. And, above all, we need to cherish and to revere the Lamb of God, slain for you and for me. We must honor Him with a service of awe and admiration and reverence that He will be blessed in our communion together in His name. Let us share this single heart as we prepare every time to enter into His presence with our more and more perfect desire to worship Him. So be it! 
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Amen. 

This morning’s benediction is Ps 113:1-4. Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens. Amen.