The CupBearer & The Cups

 

The CupBearer is God. In His hands are two cups. One cup contains His wrath and one cup contains His blessing. Which cup do you want Him to pour out on you? 

THE CUP OF WRATH

    In the cup of wrath is the wine of God's fury (Revelation 14:10). As told against the nations in Jeremiah's time (Jeremiah 25:15-38), this cup is dreadful and has horrific consequences for those destined to drink it. 

    This cup is the sword of The Lord (Jeremiah 25:16); it brings destruction and madness to the people whom it touches. This sword is blood-bathed in heaven (Isaiah 34:5,6) and brings death with it. It is a devouring sword, this cup of wrath (Deuteronomy 32:42), on God's enemies. 

    Who will drink this cup? The wicked (Job 21:20; Psalm 75:8;) will drink of the cup of wrath. Babylon (Revelation 16:19) and all who participated in Babylon's wickedness (Revelation 18:3). Those who burn incense to idols (Jeremiah 44:8). They who are called by The LORD but refuse to answer Him (Isaiah 65:11,12).

    What is the awful wine they will drink? Destruction, sulfur, fire; drunkenness and vomiting; death. Yet it will taste sweet on the tongue (Psalm 75:8), for it is a fermented intoxicating beverage mixed with spices. But its result is far worse than a hangover and no bloody Mary or hair of the dog will take away the pain of having drunk from this cup. 

    Do you really want to be one of those people who will have to drink from that cup because you rejected The Word of God and refused to believe on The Name of The Only Begotten Son of God? 

THE CUP OF BLESSING

    In the cup of blessing is Life Eternal. In 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul tells us, "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?". This is the cup from which we should want to drink. 

    In this cup is fellowship with Christ, a commitment to follow Him all the way (Matthew 26:26,27). Jesus has said that all who follow Him must take up their cross. (Don't worry about what your cross is: it will be revealed to you when you really need to know.) We will have many burdens to bear in this life, but we must lay them all down at the feet of Jesus, and let Him take care of them. Let us drink together  this cup of blessing and sacrificial love which The LORD God has prepared for them that love Him and obey His commandments, which are not burdensome (1 John 5:3,4). 

    The psalmist had a few words to speak regarding The LORD's cup. Psalm 16:5 "The LORD is My Chosen Portion and My Cup; You have made my lot secure." and again in 

Psalm 23:5 "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." And here in 

Psalm 104:15 "Wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart." 

    Wine that makes the heart happy. Oil that causes our faces to shine. Bread which sustains us. The wine of God's love, His grace and lovingkindness expressed through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ, is what makes the heart happy. 

    The wine is the sacrifice we make when we choose to leave everything we have loved and follow Jesus Christ wherever He leads us. It is bittersweet and costly. Yet it is a greater loss to not drink this wine. John wrote, "He must increase, but I must decrease." It's not about me and what I want: it's about Him and what God wants. 

    The anointing of His Holy Spirit shines the reflection of God's love from within the born again believer that the whole world cannot help but notice, there's something different about that person. And we know that the difference noted is the indwelling of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through the power of The Holy Spirit. That's what you see when you see a real Christian. 

    Bread to sustain, strengthen, the heart. Not just any bread, but the Bread of Heaven, taken in daily when we read and study and pray over it, asking The Holy Spirit to apply it to our hearts and help us to live it the way God wants us to live it. 

    That's what's in the cup of blessing. I'm drinking from that cup. And I'm holding on to it with all my strength, no matter how much I struggle daily, because that's my blessing. And I'm not letting go. 

WHICH CUP WILL YOU CHOOSE?

    We can't drink from both cups, we have to choose one or the other. 

Paul writes in the letter to the church in Corinth:

    1 Corinthians 10:21 "You cannot drink of the cup of The Lord, and the cup of demons: you cannot be partakers of The Lord's table, and of the table of demons."

    And Joshua told the people they had to choose which god to serve and which God he chose to serve:

    Joshua told the people in his time (Joshua 24:15), "If it seems evil to you to serve The LORD, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve The LORD." 

    Paul reminds the church in Corinth (and us) in his second letter to them that unequal partnerships will fail and cannot intermingle. Where light is darkness cannot remain. 

  2 Corinthians 6:14-16 reminds us to be equal partners in righteousness and communion. That we are the temple of God: He lives in us, walks in us: The LORD is our God and we are His people. 

THE CUPBEARER & THE CUP

Behold The Lamb - Stuart Townend

My Portion - Isla Vista Worship

Fill My Cup - Andrew Ripp

Drinking From My Saucer - Michael Combs

Fill My Cup, Lord - (Hymns of Faith)

Where You Go, I Go - Jesus Culture

Lay It All Down - Will Reagan, United Pursuit

Just As I Am - (Hymns of Faith)

God's Wrath & God's Salvation

 

1 Thessalonians 5:9

For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

GOD'S WRATH

(Strong's No. 3709)

 ("settled anger") proceeds from an internal disposition which steadfastly opposes someone or something based on extended personal exposure, i.e. solidifying what the beholder considers wrong (unjust, evil);

not a sudden outburst, but rather (referring to God's) fixed, controlled, passionate feeling against sin . . . a settled indignation

 Wrath of God On The Unbeliever

John 3:36

He that believes on the Son has everlasting life: and he that believes not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abides on him.

Eternal Punishment

Matthew 25:45, 46

Then the King will answer, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.'

Shame & Everlasting Contempt

Daniel 12:2

And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.

Everlasting Fire

Matthew 25:41

Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Unquenchable Fire

Matthew 3:12

Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Lake of Fire

Revelation 20:15

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

GOD'S SALVATION

(Strong's No. 4991) welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, salvation, safety. God's rescue which delivers believers out of destruction and into His safety. 

Eternal Life, Everlasting Life

John 3:14-16

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Christ Died For Our Sins

Hebrews 9:27, 28

Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,  so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him. 

Isaiah 53:5

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 

I Corinthians 15:3-

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.

Christ Risen From The Dead

1 Corinthians 15:20

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Acts 2:24

But God raised Him from the dead, releasing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in its clutches.

Acts 26:23

"That the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Christ Our Resurrection

John 11:25-27

Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

Christ Our Life, Our Light

John 14:6

Jesus answered, "I am The Way and The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Colossians 3:4

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

John 1:4

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

John 5:26

For as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. 

John 8:12

Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, "I am The Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have The Light of Life."

As Jesus said to Martha, I say to you, "DO YOU BELIEVE?"