Prepare To MeetThy God

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Christian, greetings to each one this morning. What a privilege to be here with you. I appreciate that simple little child song this morning. And yet it's that which has motivated me to preach this message that the Lord has laid on my heart [00:00:33] concerning preparation in relation to communion. God's spotlight of love. Sometimes when we're children, or when we were children, and our fathers and mothers needed to bring a little discipline in our lives, and we thought, Dad's being a little strict, does a little bit hard on us. And yet, the reason Dad done it is because he loved us. [00:01:07] He didn't want us to continue that journey in that direction. And so he brought something in our lives that would help us, cause us to take notice and do different. That's what God wants for us as we think of preparatory service, preparing for his holy communion. And we'd like to bring some thoughts out in relation to that. But first scripture I'd like to turn to is a familiar portion out of Psalms 139. I'd like to read verses 23 and 24. Very familiar, and it has to do with God searching us, seeking us out. [00:01:52] I'm sure and confident that each one of you have a desire for each day. I'm confident that each day, each of you will take your scriptures and read from it and allow that scripture to speak to you. But there's times when we need to do, and we often relate to it in spring and fall, when we do a thorough cleaning. I think of the Amish church where, when they used to have and take the church to themselves, and that was a special time when the whole house was swept and garnished. [00:02:33] Not only the house, but the outside, the barn, everything was cleaned in preparation for having church for themselves at that time. And God wants those special times in our lives and we need those special times to take special effort to look. And in verse 23 and 24 it says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. [00:03:13] The thought here basically is asking God to look into the depth of me, see if there is something there that needs to be taken care of. It's good and it's proper and right to continually stand in front of the mirror of the Word and to allow the Spirit of grace to cross-examine us. Glenn made a statement that said we're human and we're not going to be found as totally spotless as we think of ourselves [00:03:48] because we're in the human form yet. But there's something that gives me courage in relation to that, and we'll find plenty of scriptures that talks us and demonstrates to us that God expects perfection. What perfection is he talking about? and I believe what he's basically talking about is when we allow the spirit of grace to come upon us we open and reveal ourselves to it that he speaks to us our need [00:04:18] and then we respond to it we take care of that which he shows to us we apply the blood of Jesus to it we cleanse ourselves from it and in God's sight that's perfection You've done what I've shown to you. Saul, as we heard, what is brought before him, he made excuses for number one. He said it wasn't really my fault. He said, I've done what you said. Who was he deceiving? [00:04:50] He was only deceiving himself. And finally, after the proof was all laid out, he says, I have sinned. He knew it all along. His heart was condemning him. That's why he was finding excuses. Let's not do that. that's the beginning of deception when we don't heed to what God lays before us that stands in the way that he's showing you have a need and we don't do anything about it that's the beginning of deception if we continue there on we'll do just like Saul did [00:05:21] we'll convince ourselves that it's it's someone else's fault it's not really mine and we're not perfect before God and God is interested in that now I would like to turn back to the The familiar scripture portion in preparation for communion, and we'll read that in 1 Corinthians 11. I don't want to stray from that. It's a very important portion of scripture, and it teaches us so many things. And I'd just really like to, I only have time to look at certain aspects of it this morning. [00:05:52] But let's turn to 1 Corinthians 11. I'd like to read beginning in verse 27 and to the end of the chapter there. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. [00:06:27] for if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged but if we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world therefore my brethren when you come together to eat tarry one for another and if any man hunger let him eat at home and he that ye come not together with condemnation and the rest will I set in order when I come First of all, I'd like to point out that the Lord's Supper is very important to the Lord. [00:07:06] And that's why he gave the inspiration to Paul to point some of these things out. And we'll go and touch on some of those things in relation to the importance of it if we have time. But we notice one aspect here in the latter part that I'd like to look at. It said there that we are to tarry one for another. Holy Communion is that togetherness in purity and unity with the Lord Jesus and with our fellow man. [00:07:40] To proceed in any other way will destroy instead of bring blessings. We are to tarry one for another. In other words, we are to do this together. It's a togetherness thing. Not only with one another, but with the Holy Father in heaven, Jesus Christ. It's a relationship that we have both horizontally and vertically. We need to keep that in mind. And we are to have patience one with another. We are to help one another. [00:08:12] As I see that last portion of this portion of scriptures, I see the love of Jesus coming down right before us. and he's saying, he's pleading for us, tarry one for another, work together, take care of anything that's in the way so that this could be a blessed relationship that we could have because there's results if we don't. If we don't meet those conditions, there's going to be results and that's the part that spoke to my heart. [00:08:42] It spoke to me last week, just before our communion. It stood out, and I would like to share with that this morning. Where it says, the word unworthily. It mentions it two times here. It says, if we eat and drink or partake of this cup unworthily, we shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. And secondly, it says in verse 29, he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. [00:09:16] This unworthily is not talking about looking down over ourselves and finding ourselves humble and undeserving and not fit to, or not fit, but unworthy to accept the gift that God has given to us. It's not talking about that kind of unworthily. It's talking about, it's rather talking about not properly being prepared for a great aspect that the Lord Jesus had asked us to do. [00:09:54] And there's a reason he had asked us to have this communion service, so that we don't forget what God has done for us. The provision that has been made for our being taken out of sin and being placed and having the acceptance of God Almighty. We can be in His holy presence, but it takes something to do that. And we have a tendency to forget we're a carnal man and we need to be reminded. [00:10:25] And so he gave us this last supper, this supper he instituted in order to continue to do that until he comes again to remember the price it cost to redeem our souls. And as we think of that, we think of approaching this table unworthily. I'd like to look at two illustrations to help us understand what Jesus is talking about [00:10:55] in relation to being prepared for that service. That service is also talking about preparing ourselves for eternity. And likewise, as we prepare ourselves for the communion table, the Lord's Supper, Remember, as we prepare ourselves for that, we need to do in likeness, preparing ourselves to enter into eternity. I'd like to take and turn back to, in the Old Testament, I'd like to take two illustrations, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. [00:11:33] So turn with me to Leviticus 16, and we will look at an illustration there in relation to preparing or being prepared. and the importance of being prepared and what the Lord is really talking about. Now, this portion of Scripture is talking about being prepared for the service that God has for us. Leviticus 16. [00:12:05] And I'd like to read, I think I'll just begin reading with verse 1 and read verse 2 And then we'll just, we should possibly read the whole chapter, but we're not going to. It's about the high priest coming before God. And it says here in verse 1, And the Lord spake unto Moses after the death of two sons of Aaron. Aaron was a high priest. When they offered before the Lord and died. And the Lord said unto Moses, [00:12:37] Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times unto the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat which is upon the ark that he die not for I will appear in the cloud before upon the mercy seat. Now in the Old Testament in the tabernacle that is where God met man is upon the mercy seat. In the holiest of holies of the tabernacle, the second part behind the veil, [00:13:09] And the priests, Aaron, the high priest, they were those who stood between God and man. So the priest was the one who offered the sacrifices, went in before God and met with God for the sake of the people. In the New Testament, Jesus is that high priest that goes between us and God. He's the mediator now. But it was a type here, pointing out what Jesus would do in the Old Testament, [00:13:45] what Jesus was going to do. But we notice here that he said, we notice that two sons of Aaron had died. They had been careless in relation to approaching God, God's presence. They approached God's presence unworthily, and God struck them dead. And so he reminded Aaron again, or told Moses to remind Aaron that there's some specifics that are involved in meeting God. [00:14:17] And some of these specifics we'd like to point out. First of all, we notice that the high priest could only go behind the veil once a year, and that was on the Day of Atonement. It was that special time when they could go back there, when the sacrifices had been made for the sins of the people. We also notice that before entering, there needed to be an offering of a young calf for the sin offering. There also needed to be a ram, if we would read down further in this portion of Scripture. [00:14:49] There needed to be a ram or a male sheep for a burnt offering. We can find that in verse 3. The priest needed to wash himself to be clean. There's another thing that was important before approaching the Holy of Holies, before he approached God. We also notice that he needed to put on holy garments, verse 4. And he needed to carry a censer full of burning coals from the altar. He needed his hands full of sweet incense, verse 12. [00:15:23] And this was all so the priest would not, the high priest would not die when he came into God's presence. It was important. And all these things have types that relate to how that relates to our lives of cleansing and being purified and honoring God. But these things need to be done. so that they wouldn't physically die. [00:15:57] How about us today? These things are important so that we might not spiritually die. And that's the thing we want to look at. These things needed to be obeyed and the Lord would preserve them. We notice those times where there were some rules and when the Ark of the Covenant was misused and taken out in front of the army so that it could be used as a good luck charm, basically, so that the enemy won't beat them. [00:16:32] And it didn't work because they were abusing. They weren't following the principles. And so when it came back, it brought much destruction where it was. So when it came back, there were two occasions where things happened, where they looked into it and they weren't supposed to and they were slew. Another time when the ark was coming back with the oxen carrying it on the cart there and they thought it was going to fall off and so they kept from falling off, [00:17:04] but they died because they were not to touch. God has some rules and they're for purposes. And likewise, as we approach the communion table, we need to be careful. We need to be a prepared people that we die not. Maybe not physically, but we'll talk about that a little further on. We also notice that the high priest needed to wash himself at the laver before putting on the holy garments that were acceptable. [00:17:40] If we read in this portion of Scripture, I'll just go on for science sake. The laver was that bowl of water that was between the altar and the holy place, the tabernacle, and the holy of holies was beyond. And the priest needed to wash his hands and his feet. Let's turn to Exodus 30, and we'll see what it talks about being washed there. [00:18:11] Exodus 30, I want to point these scriptures out so that you can see for yourself as some of the rules that he had in the Old Testament concerning being prepared. The priests needed to be prepared, and the people needed to prepare themselves likewise. Verse 30, I mean chapter 30, verse 19. And Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat. When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not. [00:18:49] Or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the Lord. Verse 21, they shall wash their hands and their feet, and they shall die not. And it shall be a statue forever to them, even unto him and his seed throughout their generations. Wash. Wash was very important. Not only the hands, but there was a place for them to wash their feet at the laver. Not only the hands is what they used to offer. [00:19:23] The feet needed to be cleansed and sanctified because it was that which took them to the holies. of holies. Took them into the right direction. It was that which was very important to God. It was symbolic of our walk of life and that which we do. And the New Testament, it talks about conversation. And that's not necessarily talking, but it's our way of life needs to be washed. And it's represented by the washing the hands and the feet. The Levites need to [00:19:59] We do that to be purified in Numbers 8, verse 7, where it talks about purifying themselves with the water at the laver. The washing cleanses us. It purifies us. It makes us holy. We talked about having pure hearts that last song. And that's our desire, is to be cleansed fully and purified. And I'd like to turn to Hebrews, a New Testament scripture, Hebrews 10, where it gives another aspect of washing and being purified. [00:20:38] Hebrews 10, I'd like to read verses 22, verse 10-22, where it says, Let us draw near with a true heart of full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. The pure water of Jesus Christ allowing salvation to be a part of our life. We need to have the cleansing from the blood of Jesus and that will, if it's sprinkled upon us, it will cleanse us and our conscience can be clean and our bodies are washed with pure water. [00:21:17] Jesus and his word is that pure water that can clean or cleanse us from sin and make us holy. Turn back to Ephesians 5, another portion of scripture, reading verses 25 and 26. And this here is relating to the example that he's using for our marriages, But it relates back to his relationship between Christ and the church. [00:21:50] And there he says in verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present to himself a glorious church, Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Notice those words of our desire to be completely clean as we approach. [00:22:24] It's something that's very important as we approach the community table. It's the desire of God's heart is to have us be pure and holy. And it can be accomplished by letting the water of the word cleanse us. John 1.1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And it's talking about Jesus there. So Jesus is the Word, the Word of God. He gave us, it's the written Word, and the Holy Spirit inspires that Word. [00:22:57] And it causes us to grow in the truth of God. It's that which we need to cleanse us. Thank you. And John 15.3 We'd like to return to those scriptures yet, talking more about the cleanness that Jesus is talking about here, or the cleansing that we need. John 15, verse 3, giving us a description about cleanness. [00:23:30] There it says, Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. The context is talking about the vine, God being the vine, or Jesus being the vine, and we're the branches. And as we're connected to Him, and we allow Him to purge us, that we might bring more fruit, then He says, you are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you. [00:24:00] The Word of God, His truth, that is the mirror that we need to look at to allow the Spirit of Grace to speak to our needs. And turning back to the high priestly prayer in John 17, where He is interceding on the behalf of His children before He was crucified. And He says in verse 17, He talks about being cleaned. He says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. Allowing the truth of God to clean us and to wash us brings sanctification, takes care of that ugliness that's within, and those things that hinder our connection with the relationship between us and Jesus and God. [00:24:52] This morning, please ask God to search and try you. Are there any spots that he would like to reveal to you? Those spots are those things that cause us to be unprepared. And when we're unprepared, we bring death to our life, our own life. That's what he said there in 1 Corinthians. Now let's look at the example that I would like to look at in the New Testament, Matthew 22, and read that portion of Scripture. [00:25:27] I'd like to read verses 2 to 14. It's a little lengthy, but I want you to understand what we're talking about here. And the kingdom of heaven is likened to a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and went before his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding. and they would not come again he sent forth other servants saying tell them which are bidden behold I have prepared my dinner my oxen and my fatlings are killed [00:25:58] and all things are ready come unto the marriage but they made light of it they went their ways one to his farm the other to his merchandise and the remnant took his servants and treated them spitefully and slew them but when the king heard thereof he was wroth and he He sent forth his enemies and destroyed those murderers and burned up their city. Then said he unto his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden are not worthy. [00:26:30] Go therefore to the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid to the marriage. So the servants went out and came to the highways and gathered together all, as many as they found, Both bad and good, and the wedding was furnished with guests. And the king came in to see his guests, and he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, Friend, how come a stallion is not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. [00:27:03] Then said the king to the servants, Bind them hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. The first part we notice that talking about the children of Israel, the Old Testament children, and how it was His chosen people, and they refused when Jesus came. [00:27:34] The Jews refused when Jesus came on the scene. They were not interested. They were careless. They had their own set of rules. They knew how he was coming, but they couldn't see when Jesus came. And so they were found unworthy. And so the door was opened to the Gentiles, to all the people. Now everyone has the invitation to come. He went out to the byways. That includes us, the heathen, those that are Gentiles. They were all invited to come. [00:28:06] The invitation is to every person that ever lived and that will ever live until he comes. It's open for everyone to accept the plan of salvation. The wedding has been made. The gift, it's been made ready. Are we going to be careless or are we not? We notice that the church, the one he personally called out and kept as a token for bringing in the Christ child or his Redeemer, They were rejected because they were careless. They weren't prepared. They were not ready. And likewise, in the portion there in John 15, if we're not, we can be, he added us in, he grafted us into the vine, those that were outside. [00:28:54] And he tells us that if those that were the natural branches were cut off, how much more will he also cut off those that were grafted in? If we don't prepare ourselves. So it's important that we're prepared people. I'd like to look at several things here. Those that lived carelessly were not serious, scoffed at the provision the Lord had given. They were not worthy. They not only received destruction for themselves, but they were destroyed. [00:29:31] Those that they took with them were also destroyed. We need to be careful of that. What kind of influence are we leaving? Our lives do leave influences. Our careless, carnal, selfish lives will affect others. And secondly, it also mocks at the cost that the Lord spent for the invitation. Did you notice that? He said that. I have killed and I have made ready. I have done it all. But you're careless. You're unconcerned. We sense that, my wife senses that quite often over in Romania where I go get the boys to bring them home [00:30:11] and my wife and I, we have spent time to prepare supper and it's there, it's ready to come and on the way home one says, I'm not hungry tonight, I'm not going to eat, I'm not hungry. I have other plans for tonight. I say, well we've made supper for you. So what? Who cares? I'm not hungry. It hurts us. And it hurts Jesus the same way. He's paid the cost. And if we're careless and we're not prepared when we come to the community table, it hurts. [00:30:47] What did it say there? We're guilty of the body and the blood of Jesus. We've made a mockery of it. And it's a concern that we need to be concerned about. Because there's results. We notice that when the invitation was given to all and the house was well filled, that's what he wanted. But to be able to partake and to be prepared, there's requirements. And that's what the first people in this portion of Scripture weren't willing to do. [00:31:22] And there was a person in the last portion that wasn't willing to do. There was a requirement. The qualification was that they needed a wedding garment, and he didn't have one. And he was embarrassed. He was speechless. We need to have that. We need to meet at the laver. We need to have ourselves washed. That's how we get that wedding garment. We must be washed at the fountain of life before we can have that wedding garment. [00:31:53] It's the only acceptable way of coming before the Lord's table. Back in the time of Moses, when God called Moses to direct the people of Israel out of Egypt, we notice he was out taking care of the sheep. And he looked and there was a fire burning up there. It was a bush on fire. and so he proudly watched it and it just continued to burn. [00:32:25] It didn't burn up. So it stirred his interest and he went there. And as he went there he seen it still just kept on burning. Then finally there was a voice there. The voice said, Moses remove your shoes. The place whereon thou standest is holy ground. When we approach and come to God's presence, we need to take the shoes off, we need to make preparations, we need to have everything cleansed and taken care of, because if we don't, we have results. [00:33:00] Turning back to 1 Corinthians again now. Let's look at what it says there. It's serious. It says there, Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. First of all, we make mockery of the sacrifice that God did for us. [00:33:34] That which he offered, the gift that he gave, we trample it underfoot. But what we do, secondly, is we begin that deception process in our lives. We give Satan an opportunity to put a loophole in that loophole, to put a lever, and he starts to push on us. and he starts to, when we're in Satan's grip, he's not going to let loose very easily. And he hangs on and he does all he can to keep us from seeing the truth of God. [00:34:09] Don't give him that opportunity. God's answer in relation to that destruction and outer darkness, Spiritual rune that can come to us if we unworthily or unpreparedly come before the Lord's table We bring that destruction upon ourselves God's answer is, humble thyself in the sight of God and He will lift you up Make acceptable preparations that we can find at the fountain, at the laver, at the Word of God [00:34:44] Let those truths come into our heart. When He reveals something to us, when we beg Him to show us, search us, and to try us, He will do that for us. And then we can humble ourselves in the sight of God, and He will lift us up. He will allow the truth of His salvation to bring salvation to us and give us a clean heart. and make us a prepared people for that communion table. [00:35:14] It's very important that we do not mock at God by coming unprepared. Allow Him to bring the experience of joy and gladness and peace. And our cup overflows because we have prepared ourselves. We can be like those that were in the wedding and were enjoying it. Those that are not prepared will have to face the facts. God will come and say, where is your robe of righteousness? [00:35:47] In Revelation, it calls it a robe of righteousness. Let's be careful. Going on to the last part, it talks about, in verse 30, it says, For this cause many are weak and sickly among you. We are going downhill. sickness and weakness continue to degenerate and take us away from God healing is that which restores and God wants us to restore [00:36:18] and when he lays something on your heart today the Spirit of God lays something on your heart that is not cleansed is not sanctified is not made holy bow before God Allowing to heal you. Confess it. Don't be found of those that are weak and sickly. Going away. And when that grip is upon us, his end is destruction. That's not what we want. We want holiness unto the Lord. [00:36:54] Jesus continues to plead. Can we see Jesus' love and concern in this portion of Scripture of wanting to draw us to himself? Because he wants the joy of that wedding to be full. In Romans 13, 12 it says, The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light. Turning to, for our last scripture, to Hebrews 9 again. [00:37:30] And we'll read verses 13 and 14 where it says, and it reminds us of that which we looked at in the aspect in the first part of the message and then also in the last part. For if the blood of bulls and goats and ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? [00:38:04] That's the only answer that is really going to pay off when we approach God at the communion table as a prepared people. This is what it means to be worthy. To partake unworthily will cause us to eat and drink damnation to ourselves and also to scoff and mock at the sufferings of Jesus. And that will bring condemnation to us. The judgment of God will be upon us. Search me, O God, and know my heart. [00:38:37] Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me to a way of life everlasting. There is a way. That's what God wants us to experience at the communion table, as a blessings of fellowship, one with another and with Him. Shall we kneel in prayer?