CUPS (1)

1. What does a cup or cups mean in the Bible?

a) Our Lord used a lot of the common things to explain things to us in the New Testament and, you know, God has always done that even back in the Old Testament. He used many examples of everyday things that we would all understand, nothing complicated about it, and one of those things is "the cup", or "cups".

b) The "drinking cup" is often used in scripture to represent something. There seemed to be an importance attached to one's own personal cup.

c) In Genesis, Pharaoh had his own cup, he even had his own cup bearer, and it was that man's duty to bring him his coffee, or whatever he drank. Joseph had a silver cup, and he had his servant slip it in the grain sack of Benjamin, his younger brother, when they came to Egypt to buy grain. That caused quite a furor. So, obviously, your own personal cup was an important item.

d) The "cup" is symbolic of many things, particularly in the Old Testament. It's also mentioned many times in the New Testament.

e) When Nebuchardnezzar of Babylon took the people of Judah captive, Jerusalem is spoken of as having "drunken of the dregs of the cup of trembling."

f) Jeremiah pictured God's wrath as the "pouring out of a cup." There is also the "cup of consolation" and the "cup of overflowing joy".

g) In the New Testament, Jesus compared His Own suffering at the cross to "a cup". The judgment of man's sins is "the cup" He came into the world to drink.

2. The Cup of Suffering (Judgment)

a) The "cup of Suffering". This is concerning the night our Lord was arrested and was falsely accused and falsely tried and falsely punished. Nevertheless, He accepted it, He knew this was what He came for. In the process of His arrest, Peter is trying to defend Him with a sword. They are across the Kidron valley from Jerusalem in the Garden of Gethsemene. The soldiers came by dark and they had to have torches to tell who was who, and in the process, Peter took out his sword and cut off Malcius' ear.

i) 11Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (John 18:11 NIV)

b) This is "the cup" that would be the judgment of the world's sins. It was "the cup" that the Lord was to drink. It was given Him by the Father, and it was a dreadful thing. The sins of all time of all mankind were laid on Him, the only innocent One. The original sin of Adam and Eve was in "this cup". The sins you did today and I did today were in "that cup". The Lord must have thought how terrible can it be. He was completely innocent. We, as sinners wouldn't have had too much to complain about because we know we are sinners, but He was sinless.

c) About 200 BC, Anticious Ephippines, a descendant of one of Alexander the Great's generals who took over his kingdom when he died, cut out the tongues of seven Jewish brothers in front of their mother and fried these men alive on a big iron griddle because they wouldn't cease to worship God at the Temple in Jerusalem. All those sins were there in that cup and our innocent Lord Jesus took the blame.

i) 36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” 39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:36-39 NIV)

ii) 42He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42 NIV)

iii) 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. (Matthew 26:44 NIV)

d) When Jesus said "If it be possible, may this cup be taken from Me," "that cup" was the "cup of judgment" that He bore there on the cross for me. Now, everyone who turns their back on Jesus will drink "that cup of judgment" for themselves. Jesus drank it and although it was very repulsive to Him, He drank it. He was sinless, He was perfect humanity, and yet He drank that awful cup for our sins. He did that to pay the debt of our sins to God that we couldn't pay ourselves. We were unable to do that so He took our place. That's "the cup of judgment of the world".

e) Remember back in John 18:11, the Lord said, "Shall I not drink it?" There was simply no doubt that He would drink it. In Hebrews it speaks of it as a joy for Him to endure the cross. Our resulting salvation is that joy. He wanted to save us. Isn't it wonderful, that the cup He accepted on our behalf leads to our salvation if we only repent and trust in Him to forgive our sins? Because we believed Him, our salvation is that joy.

3. The Cup of Salvation

a) Then we see the "cup of Salvation". That just pictures trust in the Lord. Lets go to the Old Testament for that.

i) 13I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord . (Psalm 116:13 NIV)

b) To take the "cup" or "lift up the cup of salvation", just means to express thanksgiving to the Lord for saving us. Calling on the Name of the Lord means to make a sincere act of devotion in recognition of the greatness of His salvation.

i) 5Lord , you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. (Psalm 16:5 NIV)

c) This pictures Christ's life, and His chosen portion which was what God had given Him. In the Old Testament we do well to remember that the name "Lord" is usually used in reference to God the Father.

d) So God is His portion, His inheritance, and the One who guarded and planned His life in every detail for our Lord Jesus Christ when He was here on earth. When you think how wisely God planned every detail of Christ's life, isn't it wonderful to think that if we become His children and maintain our daily fellowship with Him, He'll do the same for us. When we complain, we show a lack of confidence in God's love and His wisdom and His power. If we knew the end from the beginning, as God does, we'd do the same things that God does in our lives.

e) Sometimes we wonder "why did this happen to me?" "Why was I chosen for this?" If we want an explanation of some of it, or a good share of it, read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4:

i) 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 NIV)

f) When we do, we'll find out why many things come to us. It's not because He's punishing us, in fact, he's actually blessing us.

g) Sometimes in our lives, we had a hard time thinking some things were a blessing, but when we look at it from the other end and understand it all, just like the hymn says, "We'll understand it all, bye and bye." If it comes up in heaven, God will explain it to us. We think that the things of this earth will be all passed away and we won't even think about them, when we get to Heaven. But if we do, God will explain it to us. Nevertheless, it takes a brave person to give thanks to God for all things.

4. The Cup of Joy

a) Next is the "cup of joy". Now in Psalms let's look at Psalm 23. This will tell us the believer's lot. What a wonderful position we're in.

i) 5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:5 NIV)

b) There again this is a symbolic "cup". Faith, in God's promise of heaven and also to care for us here on earth, that's how our cup is filled. God is a gracious host. He provides all that we need. He prepares a table of safety and blessings right here among our enemy which is Satan.

c) The world at present belongs to Satan and is controlled by Satan. God sets us apart as honoured guests and anoints our heads symbolically with oil. That was the way they distinguished who was the guest of honour in Bible times, their head was anointed by the host. Think about it. That is what God is doing for us today. Pointing us out to the angels. "Look, that one's Mine. I've anointed him."

d) When we think what Christ did for us, can any believer say that his or her cup doesn't run over? Certainly ours do. Sometimes we get to wondering about that, but then when we really think about it, the Lord has supplied more than enough. Turn to Ephesians 3. None of us avail ourselves of all that is available from God. We don't take all that God has offered us.

i) 3Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20, 21 NIV)

e) King James says this: "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21: Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." In verse 20, leave out the word "exceeding". "Now unto Him that is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think."

f) It's so much we can't comprehend it. It says abundantly, more than you can handle, and then it is exceeding, or exceeds abundance. Imagine what He's got for us. And then what did He say? "Above all that we ask or think." There are things up there that we haven't asked for yet. Now, that doesn't mean necessarily material things but certainly the spiritual blessings are the ones we fall short on.

g) Don't we sometimes come across a passage in the Bible that maybe we've read time and again and then all at once it has a real precious meaning that we didn't see before? Don't we sometimes hear a scripture and before long it will come up again a couple more times?

h) None of us exhaust God's possibilities. The Lord certainly gives us those we ask for. We are talking things like peace of mind and direction for our lives. He does, however, supply all our needs in a physical way, from our breath to our bread to our bank account to our bed.

i) Sometimes we even pray yo-yo fashion. That's when we pray for the Lord to take care of our troubles and then we just go on worrying about them. When you go to bed at night, turn your troubles over to God. He's going to be awake all night anyway!