Cup of Wrath

 Part Three of The CupBearer & The Cups

    Revelation 14:9,10

And another, a third angel, followed them, saying in a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the anger of God, having been mixed undiluted in The Cup of His Wrath; and he will be tormented in fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before The Lamb."

    Such is the dreadful future of the unbelieving soul, the unrepentant heart. In Sodom and Gomorrah fire fell from heaven and utterly destroyed both cities for their wicked evil ways (Genesis 1924). 

    Psalm 75:8 tells us: For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and He pours out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them. 

    Jeremiah 25:15,16 For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go out of their minds, because of the Sword that I will send among them.”

    What is in the wine of God's fury, God's anger? Well, Jeremiah 25:16 says there is a Sword in God's wine; a Sword of ruin (vs 17). In this Cup is a Sword of judgment against Jerusalem and Judah and all the nations around them; against all the kingdoms on the face of the earth (vs 18-26). Isaiah 66:16 says many will be slain by The Sword of The LORD. 

    It is the Sword of war: destruction and desolation lay in its path. Whomever it touches dies and their bodies lay untouched, unmourned, unburied. Where they drop they remain until the birds of prey and wild animals devour their remains. 

    Jeremiah also tells us this Sword will first be poured out on Jerusalem (The City of Peace) and Judah (People of Praise). Judgment, The Word tells us in 1 Peter 4:17, begins in the house of God. Many who claim to be Christians, will receive their reward, their punishment, for the wickedness they brought into God's house. 

    Those who have set up carved images, idols, will be judged for their impudence against God and disregard for His Word. They who turn their hearts against God's Word and do not believe The TRUTH, who insist on listening to lies and fables, whose lives are guided by demonic spirits, will find the sword in their midst, destroying and tearing down everything it touches. 

    Witches, both "good" and evil, astrologers and they who follow them, occultists will be killed. The sexually immoral: fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, etc. will find that what they believed to be "good enough" is not even close to being good in God's eyes. Liars, thieves and braggards (the proud) will see that they were wrong. The Sword of The LORD will slay even these if they remain unrepentant and unchanged. 

   

    What is this Sword which is in the wine of God's Wrath? Ephesians 6:17 "And take the helmet of salvation and the Sword of the Spirit, which is The Word of God." And Zechariah 4:6 "Then he said to me, “This is The Word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says The LORD of Hosts."

    The SWORD OF THE SPIRIT is THE WORD OF THE LORD. From the passage in Revelation 19:11-16 we find Revelation 19:15 "And out of His mouth goes forth a sharp Sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations; and He will shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the press of the wine of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty."

    The Sword of The LORD is fluid but not flexible. It is alive and capable of separating soul from spirit; it discerns our thoughts and knows our intents (Hebrews 4:12). It is a double-edged Sword (Revelation 2:12). It is sharp (Revelation 19:15). It is capable of dividing families: believers from unbelievers (Luke 12:51-53). All who war against God will be killed by The Sword (Revelation 19:21).

    While the believer lives and dies by The Sword of The LORD (Philippians 1:20; Romans 14:8), it is the unbeliever who will suffer most in the hands of The Living God Who wields The Sword.   

Blessed Be The Name of The LORD.

    In this Cup is wine made from rotten fruit (Joel 3:12,13), which will be poured out on all nations. Revelation 14:18,19 "Still another angel, with authority over the fire, came from the altar and called out in a loud voice to the angel with the sharp sickle, "Swing your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vine of the earth, because its grapes are ripe." So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and gathered the grapes of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath."

    This Cup is not for me. I drink from the Cup of Blessing. Here am I to warn you, "Don't drink from the Cup of Wrath. Now is the time to take stock of your life and your soul. Today is the day to give your heart to God and believe that His only begotten Son Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. Today is your day to repent of all your wickedness and pray The Spirit to show you in The Word of God how to turn your life around. Today is all we have for tomorrow is not a given. 

     Hebrews 3:7 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are His house, if we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope of which we boast. 

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,

do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness."

    Hebrews 3:12,13 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; But encourage one another every day, while it is called today, so that not one of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

CUP OF WRATH (songs I listened to while I studied)

    

The Cup of Blessing

 

The Cup of Blessing

PS 16:5

LORD, You are my Portion and my Cup of Blessing; You hold my future.

1 COR 10:16

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?

What is in the Cup of Blessing that we should desire to drink of it? What was in Christ’s Cup? 

PS 116:13

I will lift the Cup of Salvation and call on the name of the LORD.

PS 23:5

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my Cup overflows.

The first sip we take is BETRAYAL. Betrayal is bitter when tasted. It dissolves loyalties and gives a false empowerment to the ones who have prepared to betray another person for whatever reason. People who have been with us will turn us into the authorities. Plus betrayal always involves some kind of reward. Judas Iscariot, the treasurer of Jesus’ following, was given thirty pieces of silver to betray The Teacher he followed. Money was more dear to him than people and greed won out over loyalty. 

Judas made the decision to betray Jesus before the Last Supper took place. But it was during the Last Supper that he followed through on his volunteering to betray Jesus. This wasn’t a random amount of money. It was an insulting value of services rendered for a prophet’s work. Zechariah 11:12,13; Matthew 27:9. 

The second portion of blessing in our cups is COMMUNION with Christ. Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:14-20; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30. COMMUNION is joint partnership, a sharing in of the work that is to be done. COMMUNION is fellowship with Christ, with God and with other saints. We cannot have communion with the world and the world’s many beliefs and gods. Nor can we have communion with unbelievers. 

COMMUNION requires steadfast loyalty: no matter how tough it gets we remain in Christ and He has promised to remain in us. John 15:4. 

COMMUNION with Christ demands Faithfulness on our part. Not just blind loyalty - following because we are compelled to do so - but eyes and ears open to the hearing of The Word of God and the receiving thereof. Job 42:5; Romans 10:17. 

COMMUNION demands holy living, a righteous lifestyle in Christ through The Holy Spirit on us. 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 1:15. 

COMMUNION demands loving obedience to The Truth. 1 Peter 1:22; 2 John 1:6; Deuteronomy 10:12,13. 

As we see the bottom of our cup, we are aware there are dregs in this cup. Dregs are the bitterest to swallow. They are the sediments or grounds left in the cup. In a societal sense dregs refers to some people as “worthless, the worst kind of people, the ‘undesirables’. This is our drink. 

We have been deemed UNDESIRABLE. For our insolence in rejecting the demands of this world, we will be hated: some of us will be arrested, judged, punished and even killed. Matthew 24:9-13; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:10-19. 

Jesus was an UNDESIRABLE to Israel’s religious leaders and council leaders. Isaiah 53:1-8; Matthew 26:57-68; Mark 14:53-65; John 18:19-24; 1 Peter 2:21-25. 

We will remain silent, as Christ before us remained silent in the presence of His accusers. The Lord’s Silence: Isaiah 53:7; Mark 14:61. Our Silence: Hebrews 12:3; 1 Peter 2:23; 1 Peter 3:9.   

And, yet, it is brought to our remembrance by The Holy Spirit of God that the Cup of Blessing is ours to drink by choice and affiliation. We choose to believe God. We choose to believe and obey God’s Word. We choose to follow Christ Jesus wherever He leads us. We choose to love one another the way Christ loves us: unswervingly, unconditionally, unchangingly. We choose to drink this Cup. 

For in this Cup is our salvation: Psalm 116:13. In this Cup is our redemption. In this Cup is eternal life. For in this Cup is Christ: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26. Having drunk this Cup, though our bodies cease to exist, our soul lives forever; we will not taste death. “When we draw our last breath here, we draw our first breath in heaven.” ~ Rev. Billy Graham. 

And when we drink from our cup faithfully, our cup overflows into the lives of those around us. With whomever we come into contact with the contents of our cup is made known to them. Psalm 23:5. 

It is a Joy to drink from our Cup of Blessing. For the rewards of following Christ are to be enjoyed and shared. But woe to the people who drink of this Cup unworthily! For they will be punished for their arrogance and judged by God for their unfaithfulness. 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. 

Are you ready to take hold of your Cup, lift it to your mouth and drink of your Cup of Blessing? You know your own heart. Only you can know if you are ready to drink of it. 

These songs went through me as I studied this morning:

 FILL MY CUP - Andrew Ripp (I've been singing this one since it came out)

WE ARE BLESSED - All Sons & Daughters (this one was on mental repeat)

MY PORTION - Isla Vista Worship (You must know by now how much I love this song)

 

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)