The Devil's Cup

John 2:9-10 is our text.

The Governer of the feast said something here that is a very important truth.

As we read this scripture, we see the manner of the world (or the devil) described, and we see the manner of the bridegroom (or the Lord).

The Governer said; Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse.

It is the way of the world, the way of man, the way of the devil to at first set forth something that is appealing, something that is pleasing. A cup of pleasure or maybe even riches. A kind word, some softness, and then a knife.

As an old trapper, I can tell you that we used bait in those sets for a week and then laid the trap.

It is the way of the world to set forth at first good wine and when men have well drunk then that which is worse.

This is the way of the devil’s cup.

A man drinks from that cup and the longer he drinks the more bitter it becomes.

Oh we may take that first taste of the pleasures of the world very cautiously at first. Surely just one little taste won’t hurt me. I can take it or leave it.

That first drink of alcohol may have seemed to taste good, but it began to take hold and began to steal and rob a man, first of his money, then his health. It began to grow bitter, but now it has taken hold. He loses his job, his friends, his family. It becomes worse and worse.

The way of the world is to set for you a cup that at first will be pleasing to your fleshly desires. As soon as you have well drunk of this cup, it will turn bitter.

Satan sets forth a golden cup trimmed in bright colors, but in the bottom of that cup is deadly poison. The poison of sin that brings damnation to the soul and death to the flesh.

The first drink may have seemed pleasurable, but what does the next drink hold?

The next drink is a drink of unsatisfaction. Suddenly the wine has become flat and unsatisfying.

One drink is no longer enough. You have tasted the pleasures of the world, and now you can’t get enough. Twelve beers aren’t enough. One line of cocaine is not enough. One wife is not enough. One husband is not enough. Normal relationships between a man and a woman are not enough these days.

Satan is the master of unsatisfaction. I haven’t met anyone who was bound by him that was satisfied. They are always looking for more.

But it is going to get worse as you take the next drink. With the next drink Satan will open a man’s eyes to all that he has lost. It becomes a drink of guilt, despair, loneliness, depression, and fear.

But wait, we are nearing the bottom of the cup. From the dredges of the bottom of this cup there is one drink left, and a man will drink this drink alone. There will be no friends. There will be no laughter. No good times.

Only Satan urging him on to drink the drink of death.

That my friend is a picture of the devil’s cup.

But no one has to stay at that table. No one has to continue to drink from that cup.

There is another cup, another table. It is the feast of the bridgegroom. And Jesus said in Luke chapter 14; Come for all things are now ready.

But what about the wine that the bridegroom has?

The Governer of the feast told the bridegroom; You’re different from every man. You have saved the good wine until now.

Let’s talk about the good wine. The wine of the Holy Ghost. The wine of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The wine that grows sweeter, more satisfying with every drink. Drawn from the fountain that never runs dry.

The devil’s table left one starving, empty, and alone. The table of the Lord Jesus Christ will fill an empty spirit and satisfy that hunger that is gnawing away at your soul.

The good wine of the Holy Ghost has come.

David said, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

He said, My cup runneth over.

Drink from the bridegroom’s cup. The cup of the Lord. It contains righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17)

Drink from the Lord’s cup and though your sins be as scarlet, they will be cleansed whiter than snow.

Drink from the Lord’s cup as deeply as you will, and you will not find the bottom of the cup. You will find a river springing up into life everlasting.