The Cup Bearer

Thank you, Mr. Bledsoe. Good afternoon, everyone.

Well, it's funny. You're all the same people that were sitting here when I was sitting back there, but it looks more crowded when you're up here looking at the faces. So it's good to be back. Sue and I had the pleasure to attend in Dayton last Sabbath. While some of you are at the prom, we got to travel with the ABC choir, and I'm sure you remember how well they did when they were here. I had to compliment them when I got to speak there. I thought they did even better last week. So it's always a good feeling, you know, when you do it well.

I wanted to make a comment, as Mr. Call mentioned, that I took the initiative to apply to the Good Works program. I should add that to show how good the system is, actually, I was told, you should, you know, tell us something because we want to help them and we have fun. So it wasn't even my idea originally. It was people at the home office who were involved in the program reminded me that that help is available, and, you know, I'm very glad that it came through.

I know I've... I'm going to move that back just a little bit. You know, me and my hands sometimes.

It's been so busy lately. I remember sometime within the last two weeks, and I honestly don't remember which one of those days it was, but in the morning before I went in, before I had a meeting, I was finishing up my summer camp application. Then Sue and I had a meeting at the Holiday Inn with one of the managers there to discuss feast plans.

Then when I got to the home office, I was talking with Paul Wozelkopf about the registration system for the Winter Family Weekend.

I'm trying to think what I went from there. Then I was talking with scheduling about the Continuing Ed Program for ABC, had my class, and I said, oh, and somewhere in the midst of this, there's looking ahead to Passover that's coming up sooner than you think.

It's easy when you have things going on at different times of the year to sort of forget and lose track.

That sort of leads into my introduction. I want you to, if you will, imagine with me that you're doing something that I'm sure none of you have done for a long time.

Actually, some of you are young enough that you would have never done it. That's looking at the want ads in the newspaper.

I remember doing this when I was a teenager, looking for my first job, spreading out the big Sunday paper and getting a marker.

Imagine you might see this ad, if we go back several years, say in the 1960s, might say, wanted, energetic young man with a mechanical aptitude to train as part of our typewriter repair team.

The successful applicant will be trained in all aspects of this profession and thus can look forward to lifetime employment with a secure income and a bright future and a permanently growing field.

Things change a little.

If we went back even further than that, say 60-some years to the turn of the century, not the one we just experienced a few years ago, a want ad might say, the nation's leading buggy whip manufacturer has an opening for a young man interested in learning all aspects of the trade.

This company has been in business for 95 years. Thus, the advertised position offers guaranteed job security.

I thought I'd get more laughs out of that one, but...

Well, let's consider going much, much further back. And this is all leading to a point. Say approximately 3,000 years. Now, of course, newspapers hadn't been invented yet, because printing hadn't been invented yet.

But imagine if there were and somebody needed someone for this position. So we're being a little imaginative, but indulge me, if you will. This one might say, wanted.

Cup-bearer to the king. Applicants must have extensive knowledge of wine and other beverages. A sharp, discerning palette.

Also required is a deep personal desire to protect the king from any harm, including potential foodborne illnesses and poisoning by enemies.

Of course, we don't have those type of ads today. Actually, we don't have one ads today.

You know, that section of the newspaper has become obsolete.

Now we have internet job-finding sites. And actually, maybe I should be saying newspapers are fast becoming obsolete.

But, you know, there might still be some people doing some of that. I think, you know, there might be a few rare people with the specialized skill required for repairing a typewriter. Perhaps there are still some in museums or third world countries.

That made me think even, you know, there might be some people that do historical reenacting at a place like Colonial Williamsburg or the Plymouth Plantation, where they know how to bake buggies and buggy whips.

But, cup-bearer?

We don't much have that. I shouldn't say we don't all have that. Nowadays, we have bodyguards, secret service agents. They take extensive precautions to protect presidents, prime ministers, even the few kings in the world.

So, unless I'm mistaken, the job title, Cup-bearer to the King, is obsolete.

But that doesn't mean it's going to stay that way. If you want, like titles, we were discussing titles earlier before services, you can call this one the Cup-bearer.

In the days of old, kings and other royals sometimes feared that someone might try to harm them.

And so, they employed the services of a cup-bearer.

Whenever something was brought to the king to drink, the cup-bearer would take a drink first.

If it was poisoned, the cup-bearer died, and the king had something else to drink.

But if what was in the cup was safe, as it usually was, well, the king would enjoy it. But note also, the cup-bearer also got to have a taste of something that was probably pretty good. Enjoy its taste, its refreshing qualities, and he would get to continue doing his job.

Now, I'm focusing on beverages here because the position is called cup-bearer. But it wasn't uncommon in ancient times for that same person to also be a food taster.

And so, they would taste the king's food in advance.

Perhaps a very wealthy king would employ separate people for that. But if it's the same one, we would realize that even though there's obvious risk in being a cup-bearer, there's also considerable potential benefit.

We're speaking of a time when most people had a very bland diet, very ordinary little variety.

So, a cup-bearer got to literally eat like a king.

And I imagine if a cup-bearer was wise, which you'd have to be to stay in the job, I'll bet the cup-bearer would take very careful control over every bottle, every barrel that came into the castle, and make sure they sampled it and keep a close eye on it.

I also wonder if they might keep a couple of pets.

Some reason I can imagine the cup-bearer calling his dog over and saying, hey, how'd you like to try a really good microbrew?

I say that because Sue and I used to have a dog that really liked beer and wine.

I offered him some whiskey once, and he turned his nose up pretty quickly at that. But he wouldn't swig a beer, but I pour a little in a saucer.

I'm getting off-truck here.

The Bible includes a couple of stories about cup-bearers.

So, I want us to get familiar with this role before we turn it to see where it's going.

The first cup-bearer we meet was in ancient Egypt. We don't know much about him. We know his story because he happened to bump into the patriarch Joseph.

I'm going to turn to Genesis 40 to see a little bit about this man.

Since I don't want to go through all of Joseph's story, I'll just remind you that, of course, he was one of Jacob's 12 children.

As the youngest at the time, well, before Benjamin came along, he was somewhat favored.

God gave him dreams, and he managed to annoy his older brothers. So much so that eventually they sold him into slavery.

After becoming fairly successful as a house manager to a slave, he was unfairly or unjustly accused of rape and thrown in prison.

But there, he was such a hard worker and so diligent that the warden put him in charge of everything that happened there. That's when he happened to bump into two officers of the king who were in there. So starting in Genesis 40, it came to pass that after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Now here it says butler, but as we read, we'll see that this personal servant included the role of cupbearer.

Pharaoh was angry with these two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker, so he put them into custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison, in the place where Joseph was confined.

The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and so he served them, and they were in custody for a while.

Then the butler, or cupbearer, and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in prison, had a dream. Both of them, each man's dream in one night, and each man's dream with its own interpretation.

Joseph came in with them in the morning, he looked at them and said, and they were sad, so he asked.

Actually...

Well, actually, I...

Sorry, I looked at my notes, I forgot. I wanted to mention the fact that they're in prison shows the cupbearer has a pretty close relationship with the king, which can be good, but it also shows that when you're that close, poisoning isn't the only thing to be in danger of. If you annoy the king for whatever reason, there's also that danger.

So Joseph comes in as we turn back to verse 6, and he notices that they were sad, and he asks them...

Let me get the glasses out.

Why do you look so sad today? And I said, well, we each had a dream. There's no interpreter of it. What Joseph said, don't interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.

Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and he said, behold, and my dream of vine was before me. And the vine were three branches, and it was as though it butted. Its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand. As I said, his duties included being cupbearer. And I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.

And Joseph goes on to interpret the dream, and I'm going to skip there. He basically explains that this interpretation means you're going to get back to your job. You'll put the cup in Pharaoh's hand as you've done before.

And I'm going to skip over the baker's dream, because it doesn't have a very pleasant ending. And what we're focusing on now is the role of the cupbearer, and how intimate a relationship they have with their ruler.

The cupbearer was in the know about some of the king's closest secrets. Actually, I do want to drop down to verse 9, because Joseph asked the butler, when you get back in your job, please remember me. I wasn't put here justly. So in verse 9...

Oh, it's 41 verse 9. Please, I knew what I was looking for, and it wasn't there. Chapter 41 verse 9.

The butler or cupbearer doesn't remember Joseph at first, but later on he has occasion that he would. He spoke to Pharaoh, saying, I remember my faults this day. When Pharaoh was angry with his servants and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the chief baker, we each had a dream in one night. He and I, each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of our own dream. And there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us. Each man he interpreted according to his own dream, and it came to pass. Just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office. He hanged him. So Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.

And here's where we see, intimately, that the cupbearer is such a close position, he knows about Pharaoh having this dream and being troubled. And he's trusted enough that when he says, hey, I know someone who can interpret a dream, Pharaoh immediately calls for that person. So I said, it's a close relationship.

Now, this story doesn't tell us a lot about the character of this particular Egyptian cupbearer, but there is one other cupbearer that we see in Scripture who was a fairly industrious and righteous and courageous man. That's Nehemiah.

I want to turn to the book of Nehemiah, and once again, see that relationship of the cupbearer with the king.

Now, we're going to pick up the story near the end of the first chapter, and I'll summarize, but I'll remind you of the historical context. This is after the nation of Judah had been conquered by Babylon.

And then, several years later, when Babylon had been conquered by the Medes and Persians, and had allowed the Jews who wanted to, to go back to rebuild their city, rebuild Jerusalem. But not all the Jews went back. Actually, history shows most of them did not. Some remained there in the Persian Empire, and Nehemiah was one of them, and he had a very important position.

But before we mention his position, I'll add that he'd gotten news from Jerusalem that things there weren't so good, and it upset him. The cities and ruins the people are doing poorly. So in chapter 1, verse 11, Nehemiah is praying to God. He says, Oh Lord, I pray, please let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who desire to fear your name. Let your servant prosper this day, I pray. Grant him mercy in the sight of this man, for I was the king's cupbearer.

Now, as with the Egyptian cupbearer, we'll see that Nehemiah has a close and a trusting relationship with the monarch. Moving on into chapter 2, it came to pass in the month of Nice and I want to say, I always want to say, Nissan, and that's a car. And Nice, and in the 20th year of the King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took the wine, probably giving a taste first, and it's okay, so I gave it to the king.

Now, I'd never been sad in his presence before.

And the king said to me, Why is your face so sad, since you're not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.

I became dreadfully afraid. I said to the king, May the king live forever? Why shouldn't my face be sad, when the city, the place of my father's tomb, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?

The king said to me, Well, what's your request? It could be translated, What are you asking me for? So I prayed to the God of heaven. I imagine this a quick, silent prayer, asking for guidance. And I said to the king, If it pleases the king, and if your servant, meaning Nehemiah himself, has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's tomb, that I may build it.

I wonder if there was a pause, and the king said, Hmm...

Well, Nehemiah is maybe a little nervous, but then the response, the king said, and the queen sitting beside him, Well, how long will your journey be? When will you return?

So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.

Now, as I said, I'm not going to continue reading Nehemiah's story, even though it's a really good story. It's one of my favorites in the Bible, where he goes and he leads the people of Jerusalem to rebuild those city walls.

But the point here is to show that the cupbearer was not just a menial servant, it was a position of great importance, of great trust and responsibility.

The cupbearer was frequently in the presence of the king, and tended to participate in whatever the king was doing, and literally drinking from his cup.

And that phrase, drinking of the cup, because of that, came to symbolize sharing consequences, sharing experiences, and the consequences of what's in that cup, whether good or bad, means accepting whatever the king would deal out.

With that in mind, I want to read some scriptures that use that phrase and what it means in some other ways. If you'll turn to the book of Psalms, Psalms 16, or I should say the 16th Psalm, and we'll read verse 5.

Psalm 16, verse 5.

This is one of David's hymns, and he says, O Lord, O Eternal, you are the portion of my inheritance, and my cup, you maintain my lot.

David is basically saying he wants to have the same relationship with God as a cupbearer to the king.

If we turn back a few pages to Psalm 11, Psalm 11, beginning in verse 5, we'll see that partaking of the cup can be positive or negative.

The Eternal tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence, his soul hates. Upon the wicked he'll rain coals, fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.

So, as I said, the contents of the cup can be positive or negative.

Let's note one more scripture on that regard. Isaiah 51 and verse 17.

Isaiah 51 and verse 17 says, Awake! Awake! Stand up, O Jerusalem! You who have drunk at the hand of the Eternal, the cup of his fury, you've drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling and drained it out.

That's, again, taking the consequences of what's in the cup. Now, that's symbolic. God hasn't been going around handing out a cup, but it pictures something that was very meaningful to those in the society where cup bearers were in every court with every ruler.

And these scriptures begin to show, though, that we could also consider partaking of the cup in a larger sense than one individual with another individual.

And it can apply to whole peoples or societies and what they get from God. And that's the most important thing, is the relationship with God.

Let's think of society and its relationship with God.

God calls this present evil world Babylon, because so much of the civilization's religious and moral practices can be tracked directly back or indirectly to ancient Babylon.

And we see that title being applied at the end of the Bible in Revelation. You'll turn to Revelation 17.

I probably should have warned you to warm up your fingers. I do have a number of scriptures today.

Revelation 17 will begin in verse 1.

So I said, remember, this Babylon is going to represent society and religion, and of course, not the society and religion that God wants.

Revelation 17 in verse 1, it says, Think of in that cup. It's a wine, but we're speaking symbolically. That wine pictures the ideas, the beliefs, the doctrines of this pagan system that we could call Mystery Babylon the Great.

This is describing that last world-ruling empire that will be controlled by what's called a woman, actually a church.

We could say, spiritual Babylon.

We've all seen artist's renditions of this. We've had someone booklets the covers of booklets that we've printed over the years, and usually it shows a woman holding a golden chalice in her hand. I wanted to find one that I could use as a prop, and I never did.

But it has that, and who drinks of it?

The whole world. The whole world drinks of Babylon's cup.

So it's not just a relationship with God. There are other cups that we could be partakers of, or that people could be.

And in the last days, this entire world is pictured as being drunk from that wine. Those beliefs, philosophies, doctrines that are in that cup.

This image of a woman on the beast, it seems to go all the way back to ancient Babylon, to Semiramis. And there are actually etchings, I've been told, that have been unearthed, that show Semiramis holding up a golden cup. So it's fitting that the artist's renditions show that.

And it seems here that God is using that to symbolize the world partaking in Satan's way.

The Babylonian mystery religion. The mystery religion. That's the contents of Satan's cup.

And remember, the term drinking of the cup symbolizes sharing the consequences of what's in that cup.

Accepting whatever is appointed for that experience, whether good or bad.

We can read that all who drink of Babylon's cup will share in her future.

And it's not good. Turning a page over to Revelation 18, I want to read a couple of scriptures here in Revelation. Revelation 18 starting in verse 1.

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. The earth was illuminated with his glory, and he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornications. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and this is referring to false religion and improper alliances. And the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven. God has remembered her iniquities.

Render to her just as she rendered to you. Repay her double according to her works. In the cup which she's mixed, mix double for her.

So she's going to reap consequences for the contents of that cup. And those who participate, those who partake of the cup, share in the consequences.

This is referenced a little earlier in Revelation. It's interesting how often it appears. If you want to back up to chapter 14.

Revelation 14 and verse 8.

We see a similar scenario. Another angel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. That great city, because she made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Skipping to verse 10, He himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels in the presence of the Lamb. Again, turning over to chapter 16. Revelation 16 and verse 9.

Oh, 19. Revelation 16 and verse 19. The great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. So, it's showing the consequences of taking of the wrong consequences.

So, it's showing the consequences of taking of the wrong cup. Those who are taking of Babylon's cup, God will turn it around so that they're taking the wine of his wrath. And this was actually prophesied long before John wrote in the book of Revelation. If you want to turn back to Jeremiah, I'll look at just a couple more scriptures back here to make this point. Jeremiah 51 and verse 6.

Jeremiah 51 and verse 6.

It's one of the things I've noted. It's funny, I thought I already had an appreciation for it, but as I've been teaching at ABC, how much you see these themes throughout the Bible that the unity is there. It's so obvious there's one author who worked through many writers over many centuries. Jeremiah 51 and verse 6. It says, It says, So it goes to show that, in a sense, God takes control of that cup, but for ill consequences to those who have been drinking of it. One more scripture along that line in Psalm 75. Psalm 75 and verse 8.

It reminds me, I think in our old purple hymnal, we had a hymn that was based on this, that had this line. I didn't have a chance to pull it out. Of course, you don't want me to sing it for you anyways, but... Psalm 75 and verse 8. It says, It is fully mixed and He pours it out. Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.

Okay, God has called us out of the world so that we won't partake of that particular cup. If we're following God and want to partake of His cup, we won't have to drink of Babylon's cup. And drain these awful dregs that have been described in all the punishment and the struggle that goes with it. Rather, we've been invited to drink of a different cup. I want to go a little further back in Psalms to Psalm 116.

To make a reference here, as we turn a corner, to consider the other cup that we do want to partake of.

Psalm 116 and verse 13. This is a lot briefer, but that's okay. I don't think I have to work hard to convince us that we want to take this cup. Psalm 116 and verse 13 says, I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the eternal.

The cup of salvation.

The contents of that cup sound appealing.

That cup has a far better meaning for us than those curses boiling within the cup that's been described in Revelation and other places. The cup of salvation contains all the blessings of God, first and foremost, eternal life in the kingdom of God.

And there's where we think we've read about two different cups, two different ways of life, culminating in entirely different results.

And of course, we're among the few who at this time have the opportunity to see and recognize the difference. Other people will eventually, and we know God's plan is for everyone to be able to make a free and open, informed choice.

We have that before us now. And the contrast is described before us very well. If you'll turn with me to 1 John chapter 2, let's look again at what we want to resist from the wrong cup.

1 John 2, starting in verse 15, we're advised, Do not love the world or the things of the world. We could say the contents of that cup of Babylon. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. That's not of the Father. It's of the world.

And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof it. But he who does the will of God abides forever.

So we want to be among those who do the will of God, which we can contrast if we turn back to Matthew. I want to read a couple of scriptures there, starting with Matthew 6.

Actually, you might not need to turn there. Most of us have memorized Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33.

So I'll read that, but I'm going to read also from Matthew chapter 5. But Matthew 6.33, the opposite of the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes. Matthew 6.33 says simply, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all those other things. All the things we'll need, it references earlier. What are we going to eat? Where? Where are we going to live? All those things will be taken care of if you seek God's kingdom first.

Backing up in Matthew 5 and verse 6.

This is part of the Sermon on the Mountain, what we call the Beatitudes. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

So we want to be thirsting for what's in the cup of salvation.

And what's in it is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Now, you might be thinking already ahead, when we're going to partake of a certain cup. In a few days, we'll be gathering for the Passover. And we'll take the bread representing Christ's body, and we'll be drinking that red wine. Actually, let's turn over to Matthew 26.

Rather than me just say it in my words, let's read Christ's words.

Matthew 26, beginning in verse 27. Speaking of Jesus, it says, We know that it pictures Christ's blood. And when we meet here on Thursday evening, of course, we won't pass around one cup. I guess that would be an option. But it's more convenient and probably sanitary that we have a lot of little separate cups. But, there's still the principles the same. What's in those cups comes from one source. We ask one prayer, asking God to bless it and to let it symbolize Christ's blood. And I emphasize symbolize. I know that the Catholics have a doctrine of transubstantiation, which is even easier to write than it is to say.

We don't believe that wine literally becomes blood, but we are symbolically partaking of Christ's cup. The Apostle Paul wrote some very important words that we need to consider at this time. If you'll turn to 1 Corinthians 11, I imagine for most of us, this is far from the first time we've considered this passage in these weeks leading up to this day. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 23. Before we literally drink the wine from the cup, Paul's writing to the church, the congregation at Corinth. And he says, And in the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This dew, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. And we know he was doing this as part of the annual Passover. So how often we do it is once a year on that night. For therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Paul must have written this about this time of year and sometime in the spring in advance of the Passover. And there are a number of things we consider about that phrase, let a man examine himself. As we examine our lives, we might have to ask, In the last year has my life reflected what I'm about to partake of? Have I been drinking from the Master's cup, or have I been partaking of the cup of the world?

If you flip back a chapter to 1 Corinthians 10, we see very clearly we can't drink of both cups, at least not consistently. 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 21, Paul says, You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can't partake of the Lord's table and the table of demons.

The contents of the two cups are incompatible. Now, when we pray and we examine ourselves, we'll always come to the conclusion that we are unworthy to take the Passover. Face it, we know we're not, and yet we see our great need. And we realize, at least often we will, at some time in the past year, since the last time I took of it, I've drunk of the cup of the world. We tell ourselves we are seeking God's kingdom and His righteousness, and I believe we are. But we might later realize that sometimes when we thought we were doing that, we might have sipped from that other cup.

Even though we want to do what it said in Matthew 5, we want to be hungering, thirsting for righteousness. If you'll turn to James 1, there's an apt contrast between us wanting to do one thing and yet being tempted to do others, and we need to realize where that temptation is coming from. James 1 and verse 12, With that in mind, again, as I said, most of us will tend to feel a little guilty when we read it and examine ourselves, although hopefully it's less and less.

As I said, I know I'm not the oldest person in the room, so I'm hoping many of you will say, Yeah, I used to have that happen a lot more often, but it's a lot less now as you grow spiritually more mature. And I can say with confidence, I guess it's a lot less for me now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. But we want to reach 100%. I've heard so many say, and I believe, we'll reach 100% when we're no longer in the flesh.

When Christ comes and we have the body of spirit that, you know, incorruptible, when this mortal puts on immortality, but still we want to be moving in that direction. And so we want to consciously reject the cup of the world, because Satan's always trying to give it to us. He's trying to put it in our hands, symbolically speaking. But we want to reject that and accept the cup of salvation that Christ also holds out. Choose one, reject the other. And that's what Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

And we know that needs to become our choice on a consistent basis. You know, day by day, month by month, year by year. We must always, and without condition, reject that cup that Satan keeps shoving at us. Even though the appearance can look good, but spiritual maturity starts showing that it's just an appearance.

You know, okay, it's shiny on the outside, but inside, it's like when Christ was describing the whitewashed tombs. Inside is just filth and degradation. So we might take it from Satan's hand and dump it out. As I said, thinking in our minds, I know it's a symbol. But instead, we want to drink from the cup of blessing, the cup of eternal life. And God not only offers it to us, think of what Jesus told the disciples as a command for us.

Drink from the cup, every one of you. That's why we said, Paul said, okay, examine yourself, and then take of the Passover. He didn't say, examine yourself, and say, oh, well, can't do it this year. No, when you see where you're unworthy, of course, then we repent. We ask God to help us do better.

We know it took the blood of the Son of God that's symbolized by that red wine to cover our sins. And when we drink of that wine, we're personally accepting His blood in place of ours paying for our sin. The fact that we can be forgiven, and the fact that we are forgiven, is why? We want to be here and take of that cup. And I don't want to overlook the bread. Sorry, my analogy focuses on the cup, but they're one part of that ritual. Christ's body and blood were both given. As we used to talk about it being a complete and total sacrifice, and it certainly was.

Even though we've drunk of the cup of the world at times, as I said, we repent. God allows repentance, and we accept that and continue living God's way. If you'll turn to 1 Corinthians 10, verse 16, or I'll just read it for you. It's a short one. 1 Corinthians 10. It's not going to be short if I can't get there.

1 Corinthians 10. 16. Paul said, 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. We're participating. We're developing a close relationship with Jesus Christ. Vines dictionary under the article, cup, cites the scripture. 1 Corinthians 10. 16. And he says that actually calling it the cup of blessing comes from the Jewish Passover feast. Now, I'm not certain because I think Paul's writing preceded some of what modern Judaism does, but in the way they keep the Passover, which doesn't understand Christ's role, they had several cups of wine, and one of those cups was called the cup of blessing, thanks and praise from God. And Paul could be using that as an analogy for our participation in that. To think of a different analogy, a tradition in Jewish history says that a Hebrew man and Hebrew woman, when they wanted to become engaged, they had the tradition, and I wonder if it was there with the family or private, maybe different ways in different times, but said he would pour some wine into a cup and offer it to her. And this was, I'm sure, done with understanding. It couldn't have been at a restaurant without her. What's he doing? No, no. She knows that he's asking her to marry him. Pour some wine in the cup. He hands it to her. If she takes it and takes a drink, they're engaged. Now, if she hands it back without taking a drink, well, no wedding is going to happen, not that one. But with that in mind, turn to the next chapter, 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 2. No, my pardon, 2 Corinthians 11 verse 2. That's what happens once I put my glasses on.

2 Corinthians 11. The apostle Paul says, I'm jealous for you, meaning members of the church, with godly jealousy, for I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. When the bride drank of the cup, she was drinking into a marriage covenant or contract. She was committing to marry this person. Well, that symbolism, in a way, could apply to us. Christ told his disciples, this blood is the new covenant, and it's shed for many for the remission of sins. That covenant is also symbolized as a marriage covenant. So we take of the cup, and we're joining a marriage covenant with Christ. That analogy plays out also near the end of Revelation. Revelation 19 is one of the happy occasions in the Bible. Well, it gets happier towards the end. Revelation 19, starting in the first verse. After these things, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! Salvation, glory, and honor and power belong to the eternal our God, or the Lord our God. True and righteous are his judgments, because he judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornications. He's avenged on her the blood of his servant, shed by her.

So there's the results of that wrong cup. If you drop down to verse 7.

This is like coming to the epitome of a beautiful love story. It had its beginning a long time ago. We know Christ is going to marry spiritual Israel, and we want to be part of the bride partaking of that cup. You could make the analogy shows that he was married earlier and put that bride away because physical Israel never had a heart to obey and be faithful. Although the happy news is all of those people, the physical people, have a chance to join in the new covenant.

We don't have to become part of physical Israel, but physical Israel can become part of the true church, as all mankind will have that opportunity.

As Paul said, I betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

Now that leads back to that. As we look at our lives and examine ourselves, we know we've all sinned.

We've fallen short of God's righteousness, so we might think, well, how could I possibly be considered chaste? How could I be part of the bride that's dressed in that fine linen, clean and white?

Well, of course, it's a symbol. Not that there's anything wrong with wearing white, but...

Well, actually, it's very good at certain times. But God's plan has a way all along for us to be considered chaste and white. And here in Revelation, we see that explained within that same analogy. Revelation 7 and verse 14.

I've played this out in sermons before, but I just love the analogy.

And of course, I like the irony of the way it's described here.

In Revelation 7 and verse 14, because John has been having a discussion with one of these angels about who these people are wearing white robes.

And the angels, do you know who these are? John says, sir, you know. He said, well, these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Okay, your robe isn't white because you keep it that way, or because we're so righteous. Of course not.

But our robes symbolically are made white by Christ's blood. That's where we know it's a symbol.

Anybody who takes care of clothing knows you don't get anything white by putting blood on it. I'm not sure how it was. I wasn't at this verse, but I was talking about this with the students at ABC.

It came to mind that I've had a number of white shirts that I put on after shaving and ended up with that blood on the collar that you can never get off.

But Christ's blood works differently. It makes the garment completely white.

And one of the reasons we take the Passover every year is to remind us that it's only by Christ's sacrifice. Only by His blood that we can be considered clean and chaste.

And also to remind us that that's not some future event. The sacrifice has taken place.

We don't want to necessitate it again, but He's paid the price. He wants us to accept that sacrifice and give ourselves to Him.

Realize that it's been done.

We need to be the bride who does accept the cup and takes a drink, accepting betrothal. And that puts us in a special relationship with Jesus Christ, as we see described in Ephesians 5.

Ephesians 5 and verse 23.

As I was putting this in, I realize that we often look at this to discuss how Christ's relationship with the Church can help us in our relationships with our marriage.

But it's also good to realize it works the other way. Supposedly, hopefully, we have a pretty good marriage, and that helps us understand what our relationship with Jesus Christ should be.

And Ephesians 5, 23, and for those of you that aren't married yet, I'll just say, imagine your ideal of what it's supposed to be.

Because I remember doing that back in the old days.

So the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the Church. He's the Savior of the body.

Therefore, as the Church is subject to Christ, okay? I'm not worried about so wives subject to their husbands and everything. That's good. But we want to know that the Church is subject to Christ and everything. Husbands love your wives because Christ loves the Church. Christ does love the Church every single day. He gave Himself for her, and He is giving Himself for us. He's living in us through His Holy Spirit every minute, every day. So He's continuing to give Himself in that sense. He gave Himself for her, also in the sacrifice, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the Word.

That He might present her to Himself, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But that she should be holy and without blemish. Like that, husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves Himself. But I could stop there, though, because think, we can be considered holy and without blemish because Christ makes us that way. We need to try our own best, of course. Do all that we can to live a life without sin. And I've been focusing on the Passover, but of course, many of you have probably been spending that time with the vacuum, like I have, working on getting those crumbs out that represent sin.

We do all we can to remove the sin from our lives, from our homes, everything. Now, I'm crossing my analogies. The same way we work to get crumbs and leaven out of our homes, our cars, our shops. We work to get sin out of every aspect of our lives, and we want to rely on Jesus Christ to help us to do that, help us to truly get sin out. As we drink of His cup, and symbolically at the Passover, we do that in a very overt way, we're accepting Christ's invitation to be betrothed to Him.

And being betrothed to Christ means being forgiven. It means being considered spotless and sinless. It means making us that chaste virgin that will be at the wedding supper. And that's something we can all look forward to, whether we're alive at Christ's return or resurrected, because all who are His will meet Him in the air. And I know people have discussed whether the wedding supper happens somewhere here or you go back.

I'm not concerned where it is as long as I get to be there. And that's my main goal. There is another thing, though, to consider about drinking of His cup. There's another aspect that's important because it continues with us all of our life. Remember, drinking of the cup meant to accept whatever the consequences of the cup were, whether good or bad. That was the case for every cup bearer to a king.

And that reminds me of an interesting discussion that Christ had with a couple of His disciples, who were somewhat naive at the time. But later on, I'm sure they understood what they'd committed to. If you want to go to Matthew, Chapter 20, I'll start setting the stage. Of course, this is the time when James and John, who were called the sons of thunder, came to Christ.

You know, I've always thought that might be a comment. We think of that describing their personalities. And I've heard some people say, maybe it's describing their dad. But then again, sons also have mothers, considering that she's the foremost here. Because James and John came to Christ with their mother to ask Him a small favor. A kind of inconsequential thing. Just, when you're on the throne of your kingdom, let us sit on your right hand and your left hand.

Can we have the two top jobs? And Jesus Christ answered that question with a question of His own. In Matthew 20, verse 22, He said, You don't know what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I'm about to drink? To be baptized with the baptism that I'm about to be baptized with? Sure, we're able! I put the sure in there because Connor started using that word a lot. I'll tell him, you can't do that.

He'll say, sure I can! And it's something ridiculous, like, jump over the moon. Sure I can do that. I picture them the same way. Sure we're able to drink of that cup. Well, and the next verse, if we continue, matter of fact, in verse 23, He said, You will indeed drink of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with.

But to sit on my right and left hand isn't mine to give. It's for those for whom it's prepared by the Father. We know when it comes down to it, James was actually the first of the Apostles to be martyred. Maybe it's an interesting coincidence, or ironic. John would be the last. And some traditions say that John did die of old age. Some say that later he was boiled in oil and martyred.

But whether he was martyred or not, he had to live to see so many friends and relatives who were dead. He lived long enough to see the beginning of the subversion of the true Church. He was persecuted, exiled the Isle of Patmos, and perhaps eventually martyred himself. And the point is, James and John and all the Apostles did indeed drink of that cup that Christ was about to drink. And so we need to ask ourselves, are we able to drink of it today? And the answer is, by our own strength, no. But we don't have to rely on our own strength.

But we do want to keep in mind, part of what Christ's cup includes is suffering. When we drink of his cup, when we take that symbolic land passover, we're saying that we're willing to suffer with him. We're willing to experience whatever it is he has in store for us. And I guess some of us in this room could already look back to times of suffering. Be it physical or emotional, sometimes intense suffering. We don't want that type of suffering. Nobody says you have to like it when it comes. But when we suffer for being a Christian, that's part of taking the cup of Jesus Christ. I want to turn to 1 Peter 2 to remind us a bit.

Because I wonder, sometimes we are like James and John a little naive. And we say, sure, we can drink the same cup as you. And we don't realize perhaps what we've committed to. Even though every one of us that's baptized at one point had a minister turn to Luke 16. If I remember, I'm doing it at the top of my head, but we talked about counting the cost. Count the cost. Are you willing to put Jesus Christ before mother, father, sister, brother? Your own life also. But of course, partaking in that cup of it includes suffering, includes what comes afterwards. We'll get to that in a moment. Let's read 1 Peter 2 and verse 19.

For to this you are called. Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his footsteps.

But live to righteousness, by whose stripes you're healed. We remember that often. Let's, if you will, turn ahead to chapter 4 in the same book, 1 Peter 4 and verse 12.

As Paul wrote in Romans 8, Romans 8 and verse 16.

This is another one of those verses that I feel like I've been turning to constantly lately, but Paul said something of such importance. Romans 8 verse 16.

I consider the sufferings of this present time aren't worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Now, I don't hope or wish for it, but sometime in the future intense persecution could be part of the cup that we partake. We could be a little like James and John, that once it's past we'll say, boy, I had no idea what was coming, even though I was warned.

Revelation 17, again, I'm not going to turn there, but that woman with the golden cup, it says that she was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and the nations are drunk with her wine. Drunk people do irrational things. This is speaking symbolically, but that could include a lot of hurt and suffering for God's people.

But again, as I said, I don't want to dwell on that. I prefer to dwell on the glory that comes afterwards. But I'd also like to add, it's okay to not look forward to it or to want it. Even Christ set an example on that. Let's turn to Matthew 26. Matthew 26, we'll start in verse 37, shortly before Christ would suffer. You could say, mentally and emotionally, he was suffering already as the sweat turned into blood coming down as he prayed to the Father. And one of the things he prayed for, we see beginning in verse 37, when it says, Oh, Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. So he's saying, this is a cup I don't really want to drink from. If it's possible, let this cup pass from me. But nevertheless, not as you will, or not as I will, but as you will. So he wasn't eager for taking of that cup, but he wanted what was most important. Dropping down to verse 42, again, a second time he went and prayed, saying, If this cup can't pass away from me unless I drink it, your will be done. And we know Christ prayed about this three different times in the Garden of Gethsemane. And there was a slight change in the wording. It seems to indicate that there was an increasing acceptance on his part of the need to drink of that cup. And we'll see that more fully as we turn, I want to turn to John's account, this time, John, chapter 18, verse 11.

This isn't when he's praying to the Father, but when he's concluding and he's settled in his mind. And of course, the crowd had come to apprehend him, and Peter pulled out a sword, thinking it would defend Jesus, and hacked off the ear of the high priest's servant, which Jesus quickly healed. And then Peter turned to Jesus, John 18, verse 11. Jesus said to Peter, Put your sword in its sheath. Shall I not drink of the cup that my Father has given me? I wanted to come to that because that's a question we all should ask ourselves. Should we not drink of the cup that the Father has given? He's offering that cup to each of us. It's, first and foremost, the cup of salvation. The cup might include some suffering along the way, but it always includes the glory at the end.

And soon we'll be meeting together for Passover. That's why I wanted to address it. And hopefully, in a symbolic way, help us to cement some of these things in our mind. It's an honor for us to symbolically eat of the bread of life, and to drink of His cup. And that command still holds. Drink from it, all of you. We do want to drink, and we want to understand what a different kind of cup He offers us from that of Babylon.

And from the one that God will pour out for spiritual Babylon. The cup that we want to take of is one of forgiveness. A cup of blessing. A cup of salvation. And as we take of that, then you and I are indeed cup bearers. Cup bearers to the King of Kings, standing before Him and laying down our lives daily. Now, you don't necessarily need to turn there. Let's turn to Psalm 23 for a closing passage, because it sums much of this up. It sums up what's contained in the cup of salvation that He freely offers us. And I'm reminded of it. This doesn't refer to a cup, but remember what we read earlier, where Paul talked about the table of the Lord, contrasting that with other tables. And Psalm 23, beginning in verse 5, says,