My Cup
I collect coffee cups. My favorite cup is this Commemorative Desert storm gold plated mug. SHOW MUG w/ coffee in it. >> THEN HIDE MUG.
I have sipped coffee from some really nice cups, and the same coffee taste better - from a better cup. I have tasted some coffee that no cup could improve.
Ever go into a store and ask if the coffee is fresh, and the clerk probably has never tasted coffee in his life says “O, yes I just made it this morning” -and it’s 3:00 in the afternoon! It has been sitting there for 8 hours burning, getting stronger and bitter. It takes a real man to chug down a cup of that stuff. At VBS last week some of the guys tried to get me to drink so “kool-aid”, suicide, (different flavors all mixed together) I wasn’t brave enough for hat.
ILL>>> James C. Dobson >>>> When I think of parents today, I’m reminded of a photograph of an elegantly dressed woman who is holding a cup of coffee. Her little finger is cocked ever so daintily to the side, and her face reveals utter self-confidence. Unfortunately, this woman does not yet know that her slip has collapsed around her feet. The caption reads, "Confidence is what you have before you understand the situation." Indeed!
ILL>>>The legend of the Holy Grail is familiar; the search for the chalice from the upper room, the very cup with which the Lord’s Supper was first instituted. If we had that cup would it enhance our observance of Communion? Not at all. We do have something from that first supper in that upper room. That something does enhance our observance of Communion. We have the presence of Jesus Christ who said, "I drink it anew [with you] in the kingdom of God"
We have been offered cups of coffee and many other cups in out lifetime. The cup of selfishness, pleasure, pride, anger. greed, gluttony, unbelief, unfaithfulness. This morning I want to invite you to taste a different cup --- the cup of Christ!
Read ----Mat 26:26-29
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
The cup is spoken of often in the Bible in a literal sense. Figuratively, the image of a cup also expresses several important ideas,
**** >>> the most important one is the sacrificial death of Christ.
Three cups were passed around by the Jewish householder during the Passover meal; the third, which is probably that referred to here, was known as “the cup of blessing.”
Today it is seen as ...
The cup of Christ was
I. The Cup of Sacrifice
A. Sacrifice created a new communion v 27 all of you ... together
1 Cor 10:16–17. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
When a believer participates, he partakes of Christ’s death on the cross.
So we observe communion also called the Lord’s supper.
1. Communion with Christ
This means to share and to participate in the benefits of Christ’s saving work on Calvary.
May I be willing, Lord, to bear
Daily my cross for thee;
Even thy cup of grief to share,
Thou hast borne all for me.
Jennie Evelyn Hussey (1874-1958)
2. Communion with the Church
ILL>>> Today hopefully I wont forget to serve the bread first and the cup last... Thank you for not getting angry about something like that. You are good about being kind and laughing about things like that. >>> When a church comes together for communion it must be together in unity. No anger or unforgiveness, but only love and warmth that can be seen and felt.
GOD ASKS US ALL TO DRINK FROM THIS CUP! HE SACRIFICED FOR THE CHURCH-- YOU CAN TOO.
All those who come to the Lord’s Supper enter into communion with one another. They form one body because of their participation with Christ. For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
- A celebration --- of a new relationship
- A constitution ----of a new covenant
B. Sacrifice created a new covenant (or testament) w/ 2 sides
a document that provides for the distribution of one’s property after death; a bequest.
1. new covenant of Promise By the shedding of blood
This word is not an agreement between equals, but a settlement by a great or rich man for the benefit of another. ie - “last will and testament”
2. new covenant of forgiveness For the remission of sins
EX 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD.
6 And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
8 And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
This is the picture of forgiveness
ILL>>> I’ve not seen this myself, but I have hear about a Museum in Istanbul, where they have a very precious cup (called a goblet). In the center of the inside of that goblet is carved, in gold, a serpent. It has ruby eyes and diamond fangs; its mouth is open and ready to strike. When the goblet is filled with wine, the ruby-red liquid covers the snake. You cannot see it, but as you drink the wine, suddenly the presence of the serpent with all of its menacing appearance is revealed.
Now Jesus, when he came to live life with us, drank the cup of life to the full. But here in Calvary he is at the depths of that cup. And suddenly the serpent, which had been lingering in all of it, through all of it, was revealed in all of its menacing nature. The intensity of evil--and Jesus saw it. ----- >>>>Yet He continued on to sacrifice and surrender. - J Vernon McGee- "I think"
The cup of Christ was The Cup of Sacrifice & was preceded by...
I. The Cup of Surrender
Gethsemane means “olive press” and was a lush garden east of the city near the slopes of the Mount of Olives. Jesus often resorted there for peace and quiet-- Tonight however He had no peace.
(Mat 26:39 KJV) And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
(Mat 26:42 KJV) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
A. Surrender to God’s will!
The prayer for the cup to pass is not due to Jesus’ fear of death. Many martyrs have faced terrible deaths without great fear.
Jesus questions the will of the Father as to the necessity of drinking the cup. It is likely that the cup represents the wrath of God against sin.
God’s divine wrath overwhelmed Christ on the cross as man’s sinbearer:
In the awful anguish of that moment, the sin of the world was poured on Christ and He became “sin for us” (II Cor 5:21).
His total submission to the will of the Father caused Him to be obedient
(Phil 2:8 KJV) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
All of us will be asked to surrender to the will of God!
GOD ASKS US ALL TO DRINK FROM THIS CUP!
1. Surrender means releasing --- our own desires, plans, wants. v39
2. Surrender means returning to the Fathers desires, plans, wants
His cup may be a cup of sorrow or disappointment... “Yes Lord as you will.”
In Mat 20:22 The mother & her two sons James and John asked Jesus to sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.”
But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.
They said they were able but they slept.
B. Or Surrender to Man’s way.
- Asleep in sin
(Mat 23:25 KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
(Mat 23:26 KJV) Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
- Asleep in self centeredness
- Asleep in service
ARE YOU SLEEPING??
ILL>>> In college I sang with a group of men called the “Singing Men of Temple” I was working 3dr shift at the time and went to school exhausted most of the time and then fell into bed in the afternoon. One day our group was asked to sing at a funeral in Nashville so after school I loaded up on cups of coffee and drove my car with several guys in the back seat over Mont Eagle Mountain to Nashville. After the funeral we headed hove and I felt good because of all the coffee so I drove. As soon as we got started all the guys in the car went to sleep. I didn’t think I had a problem until I was awakened by the loud screeching of the car against the guard rail on the top of the mountain. Boy we all woke up then and looked out the front of the car to see not the highway but clouds.
I shouldn’t have tried to drive like that. But my buddies didn’t offer to drive either. They didn’t know that I was tired.
Are you asleep at the wheel? Who is driving your life? Will you wake up and taste the cup of Christ? WAKE UP!
