If you wouldn't open your Bibles
with me to Genesis chapter 44. Genesis chapter 44. And he commanded the steward
of his house saying, fill the men's sacks with food as much
as they can carry and put every man's money in a sack's mouth
and put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest.
and his corn money, and he did according to the word that Joseph
had spoken. As soon as the morning was light, the men were sent
away, they and their asses. And when they were gone out of
the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward,
Up, follow after the men, and when thou dost overtake them,
say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is
not this an it which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed
he divineth? ye have done evil in so doing.'
And he overtook them, and he spake unto them these same words.
And they said unto him, Wherefore sayeth my lord these words? God
forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing. Behold
the money which we found in Arsac's mouth we brought again unto thee
out of the land of Canaan. How then shall we steal out of
thy lord's house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants
it be found. Both let him die, and we also
will be my Lord's bondmen. And he said, now also let it
be according unto your words. He with whom it is found should
be my servant, and ye should be blameless. Then they speedily
took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every
man his sack. And he searched and began at
the eldest and left at the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack. And they rent their clothes, and laid it every man his ass,
and returned to the city. And Judah and his brethren came
to Joseph's house, for he was yet there, and they fell before
him on the ground. And Joseph said unto them, What
deed is this that ye have done? Watch ye not, that such a man
as I can certainly divine? And Judah said, What shall we
say unto my Lord? What shall we speak, or how shall
we clear ourselves? God hath found out the iniquity
of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also with whom the cup is found. And he said,
God forbid that I should do so. But the man in whose hand the
cup is found, he should be my servant. And as for you, get
you up in peace unto your father." We'll end our reading there.
Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, we bow before you
this evening, a thankful people. Oh, how thankful we are for the
Lord Jesus Christ. How thankful we are for a Savior
whose blood redeems, fully and completely redeems. His blood
cleanses us from all sin. How we thank you for a Savior
who would willingly suffer and die for such wretched sinners
as we are. Oh, how thankful we are. How
thankful we are for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that
you've given to us to preach and to believe. How thankful
we are for this hour. This hour where we've gathered
together to hear a word from thee. Your message for us in
this hour. Father, we're so thankful. And
Father, yet we are a poor and a needy people. We can do nothing
without thee. And Father, I pray you send your
spirit upon us and enable us to worship, to truly worship
from the heart tonight. Enable us to be able to set aside
all the goings on of this life and to hear the gospel of Christ
our Savior, to have our souls refreshed, to have our hearts
thrilled at the sound of the gospel and be drawn to him, be
drawn ever closer to him, to believe him and rest in more
fully. Father, we thank you for this
family of believers that you've called together. Father, I ask
that you keep us faithful to this cause, to preach Christ
to our generation, to our town, to our generation, to our family
and children and loved ones. Father, I pray you'd bless your
word as it's preached and that you'd keep us faithful to preach
it. And Father, that you would cause us to be a help and encouragement
to one another. Don't let us be a stumbling block
for our brothers and sisters, but always make us be an encouragement
to them, to show our love and care for them. And Father, we pray for those
of our number and your people in other places who are going
through deep, deep waters. They need you especially at this
time. We pray especially for our sister Peg Wooten, Father,
that you'd undertake in her behalf in a mighty way. that you'd use
this surgery to heal her body, that you'd be with her, that
you'd give grace and comfort and peace to her and Earl as
they go through this difficult time. Now, Father, again, I beg
of you that you enable us tonight to hear word from thee. First,
in Christ's name, for his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen. I've titled the message this
evening, The Cup of Judgment. Back in verse one, We'll reread
this. And he commanded the steward
of his house, saying, fill the men's sacks with food, as much
as they can carry, and put every man's money in his sack's mouth,
and put my cup, the silver cup in the sack's mouth of the youngest,
and his corn money. And he did according to the word
that Joseph had spoken. As soon as the morning was light,
the men were sent away. And when they were gone out of
the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward,
follow after the men. And when thou dost overtake them,
say unto them, wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good? Is
not this it, in which my Lord drinketh, and whereby indeed
he divineth? Ye have done evil in so doing.
Now it seems like Joseph is playing a dirty trick on his brother
by planting the cup in Benjamin's bag. I mean, it just struck me. That's the kind of thing brothers
do to one another, you know. But this is no prank. I mean,
this is serious, serious business. Joseph has planted evidence on
Benjamin and made him guilty. And he did this to Benjamin.
Now wasn't it the other 12? This was to Benjamin. Of all
Joseph's brothers, Benjamin is the only one who's innocent of
selling Joseph into slavery. When all that happened, Benjamin
was just an infant. He didn't have anything to do
with it. Yet Joseph chose him. to make guilty and plant this
cup in his sack. That seems like a dirty rotten
trick, doesn't it? But you know, there is a glorious picture of
the gospel of our Savior here. You see, this is the way, this
putting this cup, planting this cup in Benjamin's sack. This
is the way that Joseph is going to bring his brothers back to
him and reconcile himself back to his brothers. This makes Benjamin,
type of Christ who saved his people from their sin and made
them what they're not. He made them righteous. He made
them not guilty. Benjamin is a type of Christ
who reconciled God's people back to him. Now, Joseph's older ten
brothers, they're guilty and they know it. They know it. Joseph knows it. And they knew
exactly what they were doing years and years ago when they
sold Joseph into slavery. They knew what they were doing.
just exactly like our father Adam. He knew exactly what he
was doing. When he took the fruit of the
knowledge of the tree of good and evil and ate it, he knew
exactly what he was doing. He was saying, I'm gonna be God.
I'm gonna be the one to make the rules. I'm gonna be the one
to decide what's good and what's evil. I'm gonna make the rules.
He knew exactly what he was doing. These older 10 brothers, they
knew what they were doing. And they know they're guilty.
As you read through this story, how often do you see, you can
just see it. They have been living with a
guilty conscience ever since. They're afraid God's gonna get
them. They're afraid these things are gonna happen. They've got
a guilty conscience because they know what they did to their little
brother. And even though they got a guilty
conscience, a self-righteous, legalistic religion is still
alive and well in them. Look at verse six. And he, Joseph's
servant, overtook them And he spake unto them these same words.
And they said unto him, wherefore sayeth my Lord these words? God
forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing. Behold
the money which we found in our sack's mouth, we brought again
unto thee out of the land of Canaan. How then shall we steal
out of thy Lord's house silver or gold? But whosoever of thy
servants it be found, both let him die, and will also be my
Lord's bond. Lord's bondman. Here's what these
brothers are saying. Now, we're not perfect. We're not perfect. We have committed
other sins, but we never commit this sin. We never commit this
sin. Steal from you? No, no. Look,
look what honest men we are. We found that money in our sacks,
you know, last time we thought it was a mistake and we brought
it back to you to show you how honest we are. Now I know we're
guilty of sins, But now we're not that bad. We're not that
bad. And if you do think we're that
bad, here's what we'll do. We'll work to pay off our debt. You know, they didn't have a
thought. I mean, not a single thought did they have of asking
for mercy, asking for forgiveness. Not a single thought. And that's
us, spiritually. Our first thought, somebody tells
us, Charlie, somebody tells us I'm a sinner. My first thought
is I'm not that bad. But if you think I am, I'm gonna
do some good works to kind of level the scales out, you know,
a little bit. You know why we don't ever, it
just doesn't cross our mind to ask God for mercy. It's because
we don't think we need it. That's why these brothers never
asked his servant for mercy, forgiveness. They didn't think
they needed it. They said, well, I mean, you
know, we've sinned, but we're not that bad. But that's the only conclusion
a dead spiritual mind can come up with. The only conclusion
a dead mind, a dead heart can come up with is I can do some
work. I can do some good things to
offset my bad things, to offset my sin. And we think that. because we don't know what sin
really is. We think that because we have no idea what it takes
to put sin away. Look over at Zachariah, the book
of Zachariah chapter 12. You know, the only way you and
I will ever see what sin really is, is when we see Christ crucified
for our sin. I know we're not going to physically
see that, but by faith, if we ever see Christ crucified for
sin, that's the first time we're going to see what sin really
is. The awful, horrible, bloody slaughter that our Savior went
to at Calvary. Just in your mind's eye watching
suffering there. Body and soul. His body, more
than any other man. I mean, they treated him more
harshly, more cruelly than they treated anybody before or since
when they crucified him. And that's just the tip of the
iceberg. He made his soul an offering for sin. How he suffered
when he was made sin for his people. And if the Lord ever
gives us a glimpse of that, we're going to be shocked. I mean,
it'll just be a shock to our system. And we won't beg for
mercy until we see that. Until we see what it really took
to put Sin away. Zechariah tells us that in Zechariah
chapter 12, verse 10. And I'll pour upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and supplications. And when God pours out grace
upon his people, this is the first thing he makes them see.
They shall look on me whom they've pierced. He's pierced for my
sin. He's pierced because I'm the
one that drove the nails in his hands and feet. He's pierced
because I'm the one that thrust the crown of thorns on his head.
He's pierced because I'm the one that thrust the spear into
his side. That spear had to be thrust into
his side so out would flow blood and water because that's the
only way I could be clean. That's the only way I could be redeemed.
That was done on account of me. On account of, oh, they'll look
upon me whom they pierced and then they shall mourn for him. as one mourneth for his only
son, and they should be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness
for his firstborn. The only way we'll ever truly
mourn over sin is by seeing what it cost Christ to put it away.
That's the only way we'll ever mourn over it. Now look back
in our text, Genesis 44 verse 10. See, this is how Benjamin
pictures Christ in our story. And this servant said, now also
let it be according unto your words. He with whom it is found
shall be my servant and ye shall be blameless. Then they speedily
took down every man his sack to the ground and opened every
man his sack. And he searched and began at
the eldest and left at the youngest. And the cup was found in Benjamin's
sack. Then they rent their clothes and laid it every man his ass
and returned to the city. You know when the brothers realized
that they're in trouble? When they saw their little brother
was guilty. That's the first hint that they ever got, we're
in real trouble. They know what's gonna happen.
They know we're not gonna be able to bring Benjamin home now.
And Judah, later on in the chapter, tells Joseph, our father, his
life is tied up in the land. If we don't bring him home, our
father's gonna die. He's just gonna die of a broken
heart. We're in trouble. We're in real
trouble. Look at verse 27 in this chapter. This is Judah, this is when he's
talking to Joseph. And he said, thy servant, my
father, said unto us, you know that my wife bear me two sons. Everybody knows Jacob had two
wives. He's saying to the ten, the one of the wife that he didn't
love, my wife, he's only recognizing one of them. Can you imagine
how much that hurt them? My wife bare me two sons. The
one went out from me and I said, surely he's torn in pieces and
I saw him not since. If you take this also from me
and mischief befall him, you should bring down my gray hairs
with sorrow to the grave. Now he didn't say that about
Judah or Simeon or any of that, only Benjamin. Jacob should not have said that
that way. He should not have done that.
What an awful example of parenting. But you know what? This is a
picture of everybody God saves. It's just like Zacharias said,
we're only gonna start realizing we're in trouble because of our
sin when we see Christ was made guilty. That he was made guilty
for my sin. And look at what he had to suffer.
at Calvary to put my sin away. That's the first time I'll ever
mourn over my sin. Well, they bring the guilty party,
they bring their brother back to Joseph, who's the judge. Verse
14, and Judah and his brethren came to Joseph's house, for he
was yet there, and they fell down, they fell before him on
the ground. I should have counted this up.
How many times, when Joseph's brothers come back to Egypt,
how many times did they fulfill Joseph's dreams that they hated
him for? I mean, this is just their standard place, right?
At Joseph's feet on the ground. And Joseph said unto them, what
deed is this that you've done? Watching not that such a man
as I can certainly divine? And Joseph said, what are you
boys doing? How could you ever think you could get away with
this? Don't you know? Surely you know this, I can divine.
Now that word divine, I look this up. It means divine, like
what you'd think it means, like enchantments and spells and magic
and so forth. It also means seeing things that
are hidden from everybody else. You see something nobody else
can see. And it also means to diligently observe. It means
to see things as they really are. The marginal reading here
says it means to judge. That's the best way, if you're
gonna be a judge, the best thing to do is if you can see things
as they really are, right? That's the way you know you hand
down the right verdict. Here's what Joseph's telling
his brothers. Surely you know, I see everything about you. I
mean, I see clear through you. I know everything that there
is to know about you and I'm gonna judge you. Well, verse
16, Judas said, what shall we say unto my Lord? What shall
we speak or how shall we clear ourselves? God hath found out
the iniquity of thy servants. Behold, we are my Lord's servants,
both we and he also with whom the cup is found. And Joseph
said, God forbid that I should do so, but the man in whose hand
the cup is found, he should be my servant. And as for you, get
you up in peace unto your father. Now the brothers, they all want
to be guilty. I think if I was them, I would
too. I think I'd rather stay Joseph's slave than have to go
back home and tell my father, we lost Benjamin too. We lost
Joseph, we lost Benjamin. Maybe they think it's just better
off I stay a slave, not have to go back and face my father.
But Joseph says, no, I won't do that. I won't do that. That's not just. See, I'm the
judge. I see things as they really are.
It wouldn't be just to make the innocent stay here and be my
slaves. He said, no, you go in peace and go back to your father. You're not guilty. All right,
that's the story, what happened between these 12 brothers. Now
let me give you a picture of Christ. This is the gospel of
salvation that's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one
is this. If God's elect are gonna be saved,
something's got to be done with this cup. The Lord Jesus Christ
has got to drink the cup of judgment for you. He's got to drink it.
You know, you have to say, humanly speaking, Joseph was underhanded,
wasn't he? Making his brother Benjamin guilty.
I mean, he planted the evidence on him. We got all kinds of laws
and rules. You can't plant evidence on people. Joseph did. Make his brother guilty. And
remember, this is his brother. I mean, this is the son of his
mother. It's his precious baby brother.
and it's the only brother that hadn't done Joseph wrong. Yet by what he did, Joseph made
Benjamin guilty. He made him under the law by
making him take that cup unawares to be a slave to the law. But
this is a picture of how it is Almighty God puts away the sin
of his people. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
only righteous man, the only innocent man to ever live. He
never once sinned against God. He never wanted to, he never
thought about it, he never did it. Not one time did he ever
sin against God. He obeyed his father's law perfectly. He did it so well, he honored
and magnified it. But the end of his life, the
father made his son guilty. The father gave his son the cup
and Christ took it willingly. When the father gave him that
cup, you know what he did? He made him sin. He made him
guilty. He made him guilty of the sins
of his people. The Savior willingly became guilty. He wasn't tricked into it. He
willingly became guilty. The sin of God's elect was transferred
from them to Christ. Now, not only did the Savior
owe the debt, he actually became guilty of it. Even though he
never committed, he's the only one who never committed a sin,
but when the father gave him that cup, he actually became
guilty of the sin of his people. And when Christ was made sin
for his people, something's got to be done with that sin. Judgment,
justice has to be satisfied. So the Savior took that cup of
God's judgment and he drank it dry. I mean every last drop. So if you believe him, you'll
never taste it. There's not a drop left for you
to drink. He drank it dry. See, the father
has a cup of divination. It's the father, and it's not
magical. It's not something that casts
spells. The father sees things as they really are. He sees things
men cannot see. He sees the hearts of men. He
knows our secret sins. And this cup is also a cup of
judgment. Now remember the father, he sees
every sin. Nothing's hid from him, he sees
everything as it really is. He's going to punish every sin.
His holy character demands it. He must punish every sin and
he won't miss one because he sees them all. Well, when Christ
was made sin for his people, he took that cup of judgment
from his father. He took that cup because he was
going to willingly suffer for every sin of every one of his
people. When our Savior went to Calvary
and he hung on Calvary's tree, the father sought every sin of
every one of his people and he punished his son fully for them.
He didn't miss one. He didn't miss one. I'll tell
you why that's good news. There can't be one left for you
to pay for. He paid for them all. That cup of suffering. Look at Isaiah chapter 51. I love how the Old Testament foretells
of these things. So we know this. The cross was
not plan B on God's part. It's not like, well, the law
didn't work The ceremonies didn't work, people won't follow me,
so I gotta do this plan B or plan C, whatever. No, this is
God, the cross is God's eternal purpose. Isaiah 51, verse 22. Here's how horrible, how horrible
this cup of judgment was. The Savior called it the cup
of trembling. Isaiah 51, verse 22. Thus saith
thy Lord, thee Lord, and thy God, that pleadeth the cause
of his people, Behold, I've taken out of thine hand the cup of
trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury. Thou shalt
no more drink it again. The Savior drank that cup of
trembling dry. I mean, it was so awful. The
sufferings it would cause him so awfully called it the cup
of trembling. And he drank the very dregs of
it. I mean, the worst tasting stuff
glommed up there at the bottom of it. He drank it all. The Lord calls it drinking the
judgment of God against sin. He says that's the dregs. The
dregs of God's fury. And our Savior drank the fury
of His Father until that fury was no more. He drank until sin
was gone. The only reason the Father's
fury stopped is sin was gone. His fury stopped when the blood
of Christ put away the sin of his people. So you know what
the Father can say to you? There's no more fury left in
me. The Savior drank it dry. Our
Savior suffered until that cup was empty. So the justice of
God makes it impossible for any of God's elect to ever be punished
for their sins. Christ drank it dry. So there's
no judgment left. But I'm telling you what that
cost our Savior. His suffering was so horrible.
Ezekiel 23 verse 33. He called it the cup of astonishment. It's astonishing. What Christ
suffered for his people. It's astonishing that he would
suffer for people like you and me. It's astonishing. He also
called it the cup of desolation. The son suffered desolation on
the cross because the father deserted him. He deserted him
because sin was found on his son and he suffered alone. He had to take the cup alone
by himself. He had to drink the cup alone.
He had to suffer alone. He had to. because nobody else
is able to pay the price that God's justice deserves. He suffered
alone. And you think about it, this
is the glorious good news of the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the only innocent man to ever live, was made guilty when he
took the cup of God's judgment and God's wrath. He did it willingly. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Just like Adam knew what he was doing, our Savior knew what he
was doing. He took that cup willingly because He loved the people.
That's the only way the sin of those people could be put away.
But look at Matthew chapter 26. Now the Savior did this willingly.
This is His own personal, eternal will and purpose that He come
to this earth as a man to suffer and die. That's why He came.
That was His whole purpose in all of this. but don't think
it was no big deal. Look at Matthew 26, beginning
in verse 37. And he took with him Peter, the
two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
Then saith he unto them, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death. This thing is so awful, I'm afraid
I'm gonna die right here. Tarry ye here and watch with
me. And he went a little further, And he fell on his face and prayed. I mean, this is serious praying.
Fell on his face and prayed, saying, oh my father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou will. And he cometh unto the disciples
and findeth them asleep. And saith unto Peter, what? Could
you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter
not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. And he went away again the second
time and prayed, saying, Oh, my father, if this cup may not
pass away from me, except I drink it, I will be done. He came and he found them asleep
again for their eyes were heavy. And he left them and went away
again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh
he to his disciples and saith unto them, sleep on now and take
your rest. Behold, the hour's at hand. The
son of man is betrayed. The hour of hours is at hand. The son of man is betrayed into
the hands of sinners. Rise and let us be going. He
wasn't trying to hide, was it? He said, rise and let us be going.
Behold, he is at hand that doth betray me. Three times the son
of God prayed. if it be possible, let this cup
pass from him. It didn't pass from him. He drank
it. You know why it didn't pass from
him? Because it's not possible that he not drink it. The only
way his people could be saved is if he drank that cup dry.
And he drank it. The cup's empty. No judgment
for you to drink. Well, here's the second thing.
Now that cup's gone. It's empty. You don't have to
drink of it. Christ drinking the cup of judgment for his people
saved them from all. All. All. I mean, all. Can we get to all? All of their
sin. First, when Christ drank that
cup dry, he made his people perfect. He made them blameless. We have
that in picture back in our text. Genesis 44. Verse 10, the servant
said, now also let it be according to your words. He with whom it's
found shall be my servant, and you should be blameless. And
he said that to them 10 brothers who are the furthest from blameless
you can be. But he said, you'll be blameless. When Christ came,
he fulfilled that picture, didn't he? Peter, in 2 Peter 3 verse
14, says believers are gonna be found of him in peace, without
spot, and blameless. God, who sees everything as it
is, finds you blameless if Christ died for you. There's no sin
that he could blame you for. Christ took it all away. Then
second, Christ drank the cup of God's wrath dry. He gave his
people peace. Peter says that the believers
will be found of him in peace. In peace, they have peace, peace
with God. That's pictured in our text too,
verse 17. Joseph said, God forbid that
I should do so. But the man whose cup, in whose
hand the cup is found, he should be my servant. He's gonna be
punished. But as for you, get you up in peace unto your father. Joseph tells him, go in peace.
You didn't do anything wrong. You and me are at peace. Judgment's
not chasing you, we're at peace. You can have peace of conscience,
you didn't steal my cup. But the gospel of God's grace
tells his people, now go in peace. Go in peace. You don't have to
fear God's wrath. Now if Christ died for you, you
don't. The blood of Christ made peace with God for you. The blood
of Christ took away the sin that made God angry. There's no reason
for Him to be angry. He's at peace. And you know what? If you trust Christ, you have
peace with God. You're not angry at God. God's
not angry with you. You have peace. Now go in peace. Let your conscience enjoy that
peace. Let your conscience enjoy it.
Christ bought it for you. You may as well enjoy it, hadn't
you? And then third, when Christ drank the cup of judgment, he
gave his people a full and free salvation. Verse one in our text,
he commanded the steward of his house, saying, fill the men's
sacks with food, as much as they can carry, and put every man's
money in his sack's mouth. Joseph, under no circumstances,
is ever gonna let his brothers pay him anything for food. No,
they're his brothers. He's not gonna let them do that.
This is being done as a picture of salvation. Now I want to tell
you, salvation in Christ is free. It's free now. It's not free
in the sense that it was given freely. Christ had to earn it,
didn't he? He had to purchase it. He had to buy it with his
own blood. He had to purchase it by making his soul an offering
for sin, but he gives it to his people freely. You can have salvation for free. It's yours, as long as you don't
bring any of your good works to help pay for it. I tell you
the reason people are gonna go to hell is they're trying to
help God out. That's exactly right. They got
something, they just insist on helping God out. I'm gonna pay
some of my own way anyway. If you're gonna have God's salvation,
you're gonna have it for free. You're gonna have it by trusting
Christ to do all the saving for you. Well, there's full, free salvation
because Christ drank the cup dry. But here's the last thing. There's still a cup for God's
people to drink of. There's still a cup. Look at
Psalm 116. David tells us about this cup. I was reading this week. One
of the old writers was talking about I just find it fascinating. 300 years ago, 400 years ago,
people got, I mean, the exact same issues with the gospel that
we do. He's wound tight. He was so upset. With hearing
preachers in his day preach a whole message on God's grace. Preach
a whole message on God. I mean, grace, grace, grace,
grace, grace. The blood, the blood, the blood, the blood,
the blood, the blood. and then get to the end and take out that
cup of judgment and beat people up with the law, trying to get
them back right. That's not the cup I'm talking
about. Let's don't get that cup back out now. There's a cup for
you today. David calls it the cup of salvation. Psalm 116 verse 12. The Lord
has been mindful of us. He'd been mindful of his people
from all of eternity. He never forgot you. He'll bless
us. He'll bless the house of Israel.
He'll bless the house of Aaron. He'll bless them that fear the
Lord, both small and great. I'm in the wrong spot. I'm in
verse 10. Those are good verses, but I
meant to say Psalm 116, excuse me. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I'll take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. Sinners can take the cup
of salvation and drink it. Life in faith, drink it. I'm
telling you, come to Christ. Believe Him. Just lay down your
works. Just quit trying to help God
out and take the cup of salvation and drink it. That cup is filled
with all the blessings that Almighty God has for a sinner. Now come
drink it. Come drink it. Since our salvation
is full and free, wouldn't you say we have to say with David,
my cup runneth over. I just wonder, that what David
was thinking about in Psalm 23, my cup runneth over. It's the
cup of salvation. And the second cup that I thought
of for believers to take, it's a blessing now to take it, is
the cup of the Lord's table. That cup of wine that we drink
at the Lord's table, it always reminds us of Christ's blood. His pure, sinless blood, shed
as a sacrifice for our sin. And our Lord remembered our frame,
and He said, in remembrance of me. You do this to remember me.
Do this, that cup helps us remember that Christ drank the cup of
judgment and he drank it dry. Now we take that cup of the Lord's
table, remembering his blood, celebrating his blood, rejoicing
in what his blood bought for us. That's two pretty good cups,
isn't it? We can drink that cup because
Christ drank the cup of wrath for us. I don't know about you,
but I'm thankful. I'm thankful. Let's bow together. Our Father, how can we even begin to thank
you for the sacrifice of your son? How can we ever begin to
thank you for your mercy, your grace that you would Take the
sin of wretched, vile sinners, natural born enemies of yours,
and put that sin upon your son. And that he would put it away
by the sacrifice of himself. Oh, how we thank you. Our words
are not sufficient, but from the heart we thank you. And Father,
I pray that you would grant each heart here tonight peace. in
trusting Christ our Savior, trusting Him to drink that cup dry for
us, that we might take the cup of salvation and drink of it
freely. Father, we do ask this blessing
for our good, for our benefit, but Father, for your glory, we
ask this, that you'd save us so that you'd get all the glory
in doing it. It's in Christ's name. For his sake we pray. Amen.