John 18, we got two verses of scripture
to read here to bring the message the Lord has laid on the heart. It says in verse 11, or verse
10, excuse me, Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and smote
the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's
name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, put
up thy sword into the sheath. Here's my subject. The cup which
my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? The cup which
my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Christ in his
cup. I read over there in Matthew
26 where our Lord Jesus went off and prayed three times. Three
times over this cup. Three times. He said, Father,
if it be possible, if there is any other way, soul is exceeding
sorrowful unto death. One place it says that when he
went off to pray, he prayed so fervently that his sweat became,
as it were, great drops of blood. That's our Lord Jesus in his
humanity, in his holiness, in his righteousness, in his glory. To take his cup meant that he
was going to go through things that no other human being has
ever went through. And he did not go through them
for himself. Not one of the things he went
through, went through for himself. When he says, oh father, this
cup, this cup. And then here he says, the cup
which fought my father. This is the last thing he said
before they led him away. The cup which my father hath
given me, shall I not drink it? Our Lord Jesus Christ and His
humanity was so far above, so far beyond our humanity. Though He became one with us,
identified with us, took flesh upon Himself, His humanity is
so far above our humanity or anybody else's humanity. And
that's why one of the many reasons why we love and adore Him. He
isn't like us. He isn't like us at all. Even
though He's a man. He isn't like us at all. Even though He sits as a man
at the right hand of the Father. And though He became one with
us, He isn't like us at all. The only way He's like us is
flesh and blood. flesh and blood and we see this
so clearly in our Lord Jesus Christ taking this cup and he
says this is the thing about it he says the cup which my father
has given me did you notice that he says the cup this is the first
thing that our Lord Jesus Christ said has given me he said this
cup is a gift from my father a gift A cup that he went off
and prayed, if it's possible, let it pass by me. Don't let me have to take it.
But he says, this cup that my father hath given me, it's a
gift. It's a gift. The cup my father gave me. The
serpent is about to bruise his heel. The Gentiles are about
to take him and mock him and scourge him. The Jews are going
to put him on trial and convict him as a common criminal and
cry away with him and crucify him. But our Lord Jesus Christ
looks beyond all the secondary causes, looks beyond all the
secondary causes and looks to the place where we all have to
look to His Father and our Father, His God and our God. and he looks
beyond all the second causes and look to him who said all
the wisdom and knowledge of God oh how unsearchable are his ways
his ways are past finding out for of him through him and by
him are all things and I tell you something he didn't say he
didn't say that the judge of all the earth gives me this cup
but he says my father My father gives me this cup. My father,
the one who loves me. My father, the one who adores
me. My father, the one whom he daily
delights. The one whom said, I always do
please him. My father, the one who dearly
loves me and loves those for whom I lay down my life. He gave
me this cup. this cup now this cup which our Lord says my father
hath given me this shows us several things about our blessed Savior
this shows our Lord's readiness to drink the bitter cup of suffering
he said if it be possible let this cup pass from me But if
this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, your will
be done, not mine, not mine. Until I not drink the cup which
my Father hath given me. He prayed for relief. He did. He prayed for relief. He prayed
for relief in his agony. And his prayer was answered.
And you know how it was answered? That your cup and you go drink
it and I give it to you and he said father I will do your will
and this prayer was answered by him being able to submit entirely
entirely to his father's will and this prayer was answered
by him finally being able to show complete willingness to
suffer when he said shall I not drink this cup which my father
hath given me. Now what is this cup? Well, first
of all, it's a cup of suffering. A cup of suffering. You know our Lord Jesus Christ,
like I said, His humanity is so far above our comprehension
even. Though as a man and had all the
things common to the flesh except sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ was
without sin, born without it, lived without it, and he was
perfect, he was sinless, he was infinitely righteous. Though
he was a man, he was eternally God. So in his suffering, there
was no reason on this earth for our Lord Jesus Christ to suffer.
We suffer because of sin. We suffer because of the curse
that we're under. We suffer. But our Lord Jesus
Christ wasn't under the curse. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not
have to suffer. There's no reason for him to
suffer. So everything that he did in this world, he had to
do for somebody else. So in his suffering, he did his
suffering not for himself. He had no reason for him to suffer. There was no reason for him even
to die. That's how infinitely above our
Lord Jesus Christ is by his humanity from us. But this cup was filled
with suffering. But this suffering was not for
himself. He had no reason to suffer for
himself. Well, what's he suffering for?
What's he suffering for? Will you keep John 18 and look
over here with me in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18. Oh my,
he suffered. And here's the thing. There was
no reason for him to suffer. And I told Bruce the other day,
Bruce Daley, I told him and he was hurting and I said, oh Bruce,
I said, ain't you grateful that
the only place we'll ever suffer is in this world? The only place
we're ever going to suffer is in this world. But we're going
to suffer. And we suffer because of our
sin and this flesh. That's what our Lord Jesus told
Simon Peter, the Spirit's willing. Paul said, I'm willing, but how
to perform, I don't know how. And our Lord told his disciples,
said the Spirit's willing, but the flesh is weak. But our Lord Jesus Christ didn't
have no weak flesh. He had no reason to suffer. And I thank God that the only
place we'll ever suffer is here. And the only place our Lord Jesus
Christ ever suffered was here. And He didn't suffer for Himself.
Look what it said here in verse 18. 1 Peter 3, For Christ also,
now listen to this, hath suffered, hath suffered. What did he suffer
for? Sins. And it tells us he was
the just. Suffering for the unjust. And
this is the reason why he did it. That he might bring us to
God. We couldn't go to God. We had
no right to God. We couldn't either approach God.
We had to be brought to God. And so he brings us to God. And
listen to this, being put to death in the flesh, but then
quickened by the Spirit. But he suffered for us. And oh,
what suffering our Lord Jesus Christ went through. Not only
was it a cup of suffering, but it was a cup of sin. Cup
of sin. I just read it to you. He suffered
for sin. Now God done told you our Lord Jesus Christ had no
sin of his own. Never, never had to be sin. He told all those Pharisees,
which of you convinces me of sin? Which of you can convince
me that you saw me sin? Which of you can convince me
that I did anything other than perfect in my whole life? A sinless
humanity. Everything our Lord Jesus Christ
said, done, acted, everything He did was holy, righteous, and
perfect. He could touch a leper and not
be affected by leprosy. Me and you touch a leper, we
become contaminated. But our Lord Jesus can touch
a leper and not become lepers. Our Lord Jesus can touch a sinner
and not become a sinner. Our Lord Jesus can wash away
a sinner's blood, the sins from him by his blood and not be contaminated
by us. But he had a cup full of sin.
Not his own. Not his own as it tells us all
through the Old Testament. that our Lord Jesus Christ he
made his soul God made his soul his soul an offering for sin
his soul he said my soul is exceeding sorrow that soul is what we are
his soul was poured out I'm going to tell you know if you
can do this you take a Well, I won't use that construction. Don't even come close to talking
about it. But listen, our Lord Jesus Christ was made sin. He didn't become sin. He was
made sin before God. And who was He made sin for?
Us. He knew no sin, but He is made
to be sin. When He was there in that garden
and He said, The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I
not drink it? Oh, this cup of sin? Me, who
am sinless? Me, who is holy? Me, who is perfect? Me, who loves my Father? Me, take the cup? Me take the
sin? Me take the sin of others? Give it to me. Give it to me. Huh? Give it to me. Here, just my sins alone would
fill his cup up. But you take all the sins of
all his elect from all time. From the beginning of time to
the end of time, all the sins of God's elect. And it was full, full. And now Lord Jesus says, give
it to me. Shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given
me? And not only was it a cup of suffering, but not for himself. It was a cup full of sin, though
he had no sin. It was a cup of wrath. Oh my! You know what sin deserves and
sin must have? God must be angry. He is angry
with the wicked every day. He hates the workers of iniquity. And that was a cup of wrath.
A cup of vengeance if I can say it that way. Well what was the
wrath about? The wrath against sin? The wrath against rebels. I live my life a rebel against
God. Against lawbreakers. If you got
the Ten Commandments in your home, in your yard, or any place
else, take them down, take them down, take them down. Every time you look at them,
you say, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty. And oh, it's wrath against unbelief. Wrath against indifference towards
God. How can anybody be indifferent
toward God? How can you come where the gospel
is? How can you live in a world that
God created? How can you live in a world that
God gives you life, breath, and the ability to move? And live not only indifferent
towards Him, but with an animosity towards Him. And he said, Oh, Father, You
are angry with all these people. He that hath the Son hath life,
he that hath not the Son of God, he said your wrath, your wrath
abides on him. You want to know how God deals
with sin? Go in the garden. When he drove
Adam out, Go to Noah and the flood when
it destroyed the whole human race. Go down to Solomon and Gomorrah
where it rained fire and brimstone and destroyed those cities. And that's how God dealt with
it in His day. And then I tell you what, but
here He is, our Lord Jesus Christ, God's wrath. And He took that
cup and He said, shall I not drink it? My father gave it to
me. All the wrath do you and me.
He had no wrath do himself. The wrath do us. God's wrath for us. Christ said give me the wrath.
I drank it. And then it was a cup of death. a cup of death and I'm going
to tell you something right here and I'll tell you what this is
it, this is right here our Lord Jesus Christ because of the worth
of his person the virtue of his person he has such infinite mercy
and was such a way that he could suffer in six hours and by his
death serve suffer our eternal death because of the worth of
his person we have to suffer eternal death for what we do
but because of the worth of his person the virtue of his person
the worth of his merit God he was so holy and so righteous
and so perfect that he was able to endure by his death our eternal
death that's just inconceivable If we didn't have faith, we couldn't
grasp it. We wouldn't believe it. There was no reason for our Lord
Jesus Christ to die. No reason. Unless He's willing. Everything I've told you, our
Lord Jesus Christ in and of Himself could never have done it. He
had no... He couldn't. But oh my! And he
is willing and his cup of death that he takes unless it's for
others and not himself. Sin, sin, the wages of sin is
death. A man wants to serve God and
get something from Him. But the only person God pays
wages to is sin. Everything else is free. Everything
else is freely given to us. Everything else comes to us free. But the only person he pays wages
to is sin. And sin separates from God. And
it separated the Father from the Son. And he says, My God. My God. Oh my God. Why? Why has thou forsaken me? And the verse 4 of Psalm 22 tells
us why. Because thou art holy. Oh listen, but because of this,
because he took that cup, And there's a cup given by his father.
Look with me over at Psalm 116. I'm going to show us some things
here that's going to bless us. Oh, thank God that our Lord Jesus
Christ did this. And you know what we was doing
while he was doing this? We was like Simon, Peter, James
and John, sleeping. Sleeping. But look here at Psalm 116. 16 in verse 12 and 13 What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? What shall I give God? What shall I render unto him
for all his benefits toward me? Now look what it says in the
next verse I will take the cup of salvation I'll take the cup of salvation.
He took all them cups and turned it into a cup of salvation. He
took the cup of suffering, the cup of sin, the cup of wrath,
the cup of death, and turned it over into a cup of salvation. He said, I will take the cup
of salvation and when I take it, I will call upon the name
of the Lord. Oh my. And because our Lord Jesus
Christ took this cup given to him, a gift from his Father,
he turns around and says, here's your cup. Here's your cup. But it's a cup of salvation. And oh, what is in this cup?
When He said, oh, He gives us a cup of salvation, what's in
this cup? God's free, eternal, electing grace. That's what's
in this cup. Free grace, eternal grace, electing
grace. That's why He said, I lay down
my life for the sin. And this cup, this cup of salvation,
it has forgiveness in it. The forgiveness of all sin. Every sin. Every sin you've thought. Every sin you've done. All the
sins in your past. All the sins in your present.
And all the sins in your future. Forgiveness is in this cup. Take
it up. Drink it. Freely drink it. It's full of pardon. Pardon. Oh, drink of this cup. It has,
you know, this cup has this free elect and eternal grace in it.
It has forgiveness in it. It has justification in it. What's
justification? That means that God clears a
man of everything and ever charges against him. There's therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. He was delivered
for all our sins. But then He is raised. He sits
in God's right hand. How do you know your sins are
gone? There he sits. How do you know you're justified
before God? There he sits. How do you know
that you've been accepted of God? There he sits. My justification
before God. Woke up during the night thinking
what a wonderful thing it is. What a blessed thing it is. For all those that's done gone
to be with Christ. And I get to go one of these
days too. You know why? Because I'm justified. God Himself justified me. Take this cup, turn it over.
Turn it over. Drink it, drink it, drink it.
And it has righteousness in it. Not just anybody's righteousness.
Not the righteousness of anybody's works. Not the righteousness
that a man could produce. It's the very righteousness of
God Himself. Come to salvation. Oh, he took all these cups. Turned
around and had another cup. Oh my. And listen to this. I'll tell you what else is in
this cup. Sometimes you get up and you say, Lord, how am I going
to get through this day? This day is a tough day. This
day's got bad news in it. This day's got trouble in it.
This day's got heartache in it. This day's got fear in it. This
day's got anxiety in it. This day's got trouble in it.
This day's got sickness in it. This day's got death in it. This
cup says, this cup says, it has strength for you, for your day. That's what it says. Drink this
cup, it's got strength for your day. And I tell you what, you have
trials. There's people here going through some trials, rough trials. Trials that God himself has called
them to go through. Listen, if you think it's tough
going through a trial, just remember this. It's an honor, it's a blessing
to God himself to let you be tried. And how you react in that
trial will tell whether you're trusting God or yourself. I'm
not saying that you don't have fears. I'm not saying that you
don't have trouble. I'm not saying you don't have
tears. I'm not saying you don't have heaviness. I'm not saying
that. But oh, for God to call you to suffer for Christ's sake. But here's what's in that cup.
He said, There's grace sufficient for your trial. Oh my! I believe I'll take a drink. I believe I'll take a drink of
that. And you know what? Every time I've drunk from this
cup of salvation, it's been just exactly like He always said it
would be. And oh my! This cup has redemption
accomplished. What does that mean? That means
that He has paid to the uttermost farthing. God ain't going to
come to you and ask you to pay for nothing. Somebody pays all your debts.
You know what you do? You thank them. You embrace them.
You love them. You kiss them. And you worship
them. And you say thank you. You paid
all my debts. You paid my father Adam's debt
for me. You paid my father grandfather's
debt for me. You paid my father's debt for
me. And you paid all mine too. Paid all mine too. All mine. And all in His faithfulness.
Oh, it's got faithfulness in it. I want you to see something. I want you to see this. This
cup has got faithfulness in it. But look with me in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5 and verse 27. 1 Thessalonians. Oh my, I want
you to see this. Oh, this is such a blessed, blessed
verse of Scripture. Oh my. Oh, this cup has faithfulness. God's faithfulness in it. Oh,
you drink this cup and it's got God's faithfulness in it. It's
got justification. It's got righteousness, strength
for your day. Grace sufficient for your trials.
Faithfulness. Look what he said here in chapter
5, verse 24. Oh, my. 1 Thessalonians 5, 24. Faithful
is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. What's he going to do? If he called me, he's faithful
and whatever he calls, he's going to do it. And oh my, you know what else
this cup has in it? This here got good cold water.
And there's nothing like good cold water when you're thirsty. But this cup has God's love in
it for us. You know when God started loving
us? You know when God started loving
us? You know when he started loving
us? It was before we ever was. It was before Adam was ever put
in a garb. He said, I loved you. Oh, I loved you. How much did
you love us, Lord? With an everlasting love. Oh
my! I loved you so much that I called
you to myself. I drew you to myself. I passed by you. And I saw you
polluted in your blood. And you know what? And I loved
you. And you know what I said unto you? Live. Oh, and I tell
you drink, drink, drink. Oh, the love of God. Then about
the love of Christ for us. Oh, how much did Christ love
us? How much did Christ love us?
He said, greater love, greater love, greater love hath no man
than this, listen to it, than a man who laid down his life
for his friends. Hitherto I have called you servants,
now I call you friends. Oh, drink, drink, drink from
this cup of salvation and every time you drink from it, It's
full every time you put it to your lips. You never take any out of it.
You take a drink out of it, and you drink this cup of salvation,
and every time you put it to your lips, it's as full as it
was the first time. Oh, what a Savior. Oh, what a
Savior. And I'll tell you something else
we also have. Look over with me now in 1 Corinthians 10. Oh,
I don't mean to take too long. 1 Corinthians 10. Here's another cup that God gave
us. Verse 10 and 16. 1 Corinthians
10, 15, 16 and 17. Oh, a cup of salvation. And then
look here. Verse 16. 1 Corinthians 10, 16,
17. The cup of blessing. which we bless, the cup of blessing
given to us and we bless God for it, thankful for it. Is it not the communion, the
union that we have with the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we
being many are one bread and one body for all partakers of
that one bread. Oh my! How can we reckon up the
blessings contained in the cup that our Lord gives us? This
cup of blessing. This cup of the shed blood and
broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ. That cup that He took. And you know, every blessing
that's contained in this cup. Do you know what's contained
in the blood of Christ? Do you know what's contained
in the body of Christ? Everything. It shows us our union
with Him. Shows us our oneness with Him.
Shows us that we have absolute perfect union with our Lord Jesus
Christ. What does it say? This is the
New Testament cup, where our Lord said, which is shed for
you. And you know what David said?
He said, my cup runneth over. My cup runs over. Did your cup
ever run over? My cup runs over. Oh my. This cup, this communion,
this union with, partakers with, the blood of Christ, the body
of Christ. And what this tells us is what
He did, we did. What He accomplished, we accomplished. It's ours. Me and Todd's talked about this
and Bruce a lot. Look with me in Matthew 20, 22.
This is something that shows, this is exactly what our Lord
said here in Matthew 20, in verse 22. I think you'll be blessed
by this right here. I think you will. I think you'll
be blessed by this. His disciples, you know, they're
wanting to settle his right hand his left hand and they're all
trying to strive to get closer You know, which one of you you
love the most and all that who's got the most preeminent? And
our Lord answered them there in verse 22, you know not what
you ask Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink
up and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with I They
say unto him, we are able. Now listen to it. Now this is
what he says with the next one. And he said unto them, you shall
indeed drink of my cup. What does that mean? That everything
he got out of that cup, we had the same cup. Because we was
one with him. And you're going to be baptized
with the baptism that I am. You're going to be baptized with
suffering like I've suffered because you're so identified
with me that what I do, you do. Together with Christ. Together
we suffered with Christ. Together we're risen again with
Christ. And oh my, you're going to do
it. What I go through, you're going
to go through. Because I'm going through it for you. Going through
it for you. And let me tell you the last,
there's a couple other cups now. Oh my, we have a cup of salvation,
a cup of blessing. And our Lord said, if you give
a cup of cold water to one of my disciples, you'll not lose
your reward because you give it to me. But here's another cup. Here's
a cup that you don't want. Here's a cup, if you're here,
And you've never committed to Christ, never trusted Christ,
never embraced Christ. This is what you got to look
forward to. A cup of tribulation and anguish. God said, I've got a cup. I can
show it to you to several places. But he said, I've got a cup of
vengeance and of wrath. And I'm going to hand it to the
wicked. Vengeance and wrath. Oh my! God hand you a cup? And I tell
you what, isn't it full of vengeance? Vengeance for what? The way you've
treated God. The way you think about yourself.
The way you're full of pride and self-righteousness and sin.
And self-reliance and self-confidence. That you trust yourself more
than you trust God. That you'd rather work your way
to heaven than to be saved by grace. Don't you think He ought to give
you some vengeance? Pay you back for the way you
think of Him? The way you treat Him? The way
you view Him? But everybody is going to get
just exactly what they deserve. I got what I deserved. I got
everything I deserve from the hand of God. But you know where
I got it at? I got it from my Lord Jesus Christ
through being one with Him. And if you're not one with Him,
I wouldn't be in your shoes for 10,000 worlds like this one.
I wouldn't do it. And He said there's also a cup
of abominations. But here's the last cup I want
us to look at. I believe it's 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. Look at this with me. There's a cup of affliction that
God gives us. Cup of affliction. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Look what he says here now. He says in verse 16 of chapter
4, for which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish,
this old fellow right here, he's perishing, fading away, dying
daily, yet the inward man, that new man, that man of Christ,
he's renewed day by day. Now listen to this, for I, light
affliction, light affliction, And you know it's only a cup
that our Lord gives us. It's not an ocean. It's not a
river. It's not a sea. It's just a cup. Just a cup.
And our lot of affliction. It's not hell. People say, boy,
you just don't know the hell I'm going through. You don't
know what hell's like. Nobody on this earth does. They
can say they said, oh, I'm going through hell. Listen. This, our Lord said here, is
just a light affliction. Just a light affliction. And
then look what else He says. It's just for a moment. I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
to the glory we'll have with Christ. And it's just for a moment. You compare what we go through
in this life, our afflictions. He said they're light compared
to what Christ went through. They're light. And it's just
a moment. You think about eternity and
what we go through here. Just a snap of a finger. Just a snap of a finger. I'd
have never dreamed I'd have been this old. But I am. You didn't think you were going
to get this old either, did you? But ain't you grateful that your
age is just for the bodies, not for the heart and mind? And it's just a moment and then
it's a cup that's given to us Given to us, you know sufferings
are gifts gifts You know, he said it's not only
Given you to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for his name's
sake suffer for Christ first Philippians 1 9 29 But let me tell you about this
suffering or gifts. And that's the way we take it.
That's the way, by God's grace, I've been able to take it. And
I hope God will continue to let me be that way. You know, whatever
God sends our way, I say it's the hand of Providence. We'll
kiss it and get up tomorrow and kiss it again and get up tomorrow
and kiss it again. You know, it's a cup, like our
Lord said, Shall I? It's a cup. The cup that my father
hath given me. Shall I not drink it? It's a
cup given by a father. Our father gives us this cup.
One has a father's authority. And he does us no wrong. But
it also has a father's affection. A father's love. That means us
no harm. Just good. And then it says back
over there in John 18, and they bound Jesus and led him away. They bound Jesus and led him
away. Christ in his cup, ain't you
thankful that I, Lord Jesus Christ, said, shall this cup which my
father hath given me, Shall I not? Shall I not drink it? Ain't you
thankful? Don't you bless His name that
He took all that cup and turned around and gave us a cup of salvation? Oh Father, Father, Abba Father,
oh how blessed, how glorious, How precious you are. How wondrous
you are in grace. How wondrous you are in mercy.
How wondrous you are in love. Oh, thank you for this blessing.
Taking the cup for us and then giving us a cup of salvation,
a cup of blessing. Oh, blessed be your name. Oh,
Lord, who's like unto thee? Who is like unto thee? Oh, we
bow before you. Thanking you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh, how blessed you are. How wondrous you are. Save your
people in this place. Bring glory to yourself in the
salvation of sinners. For Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Let's turn to 125 in our hymn
book. Stand back. Stand together while
we sing it. And if the Lord's done something
for you, I sure would love to hear it. 125. Let's stand together. We all know this one. Princess, take me, wash me white
as snow. Lord, now indeed I find, Thy
power and Thine alone. See! He washed it! I'll wash my garments white In
the blood of Calvary's flame I want the ladies, the ladies
alone, to sing this last verse.