Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – The Cup That He Drank │ ...

Transcript

Pastor Chuck Swindoll | Insight for Living – The Cup That He Drank │ ... · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

0:02
Speaker 1: On the cross. He sealed my pardon, paid the debt,
0:07
Speaker 1: and made me free. Isn't it great to be at
0:09
Speaker 1: a place where someone else pays your debts? And as
0:14
Speaker 1: a debt you could not and would not have ever
0:18
Speaker 1: been able to pay for yourself, an eternal debt against
0:24
Speaker 1: you and me because of our sin. That is what
0:30
Speaker 1: makes the cross so significant. We don't worship the cross
0:36
Speaker 1: anymore than we worship the Bible. These are magnificent messages
0:43
Speaker 1: that tell us of the one to worship the cross,
0:47
Speaker 1: for the sacrifice was made on our behalf in the
0:50
Speaker 1: Bible that reveals the truth to us. Whatever was written
0:56
Speaker 1: in earlier times, writes Paul to the Romans, was written
1:00
Speaker 1: for our learning. That we threw patients and comfort from
1:05
Speaker 1: the scriptures might have hope Romans fifteen four. God's word
1:12
Speaker 1: gives us hope. You'll find in your worship folder and outline.
1:17
Speaker 1: On the other side of the outline is a chart.
1:20
Speaker 1: We'll look at both later. Put that at Luke chapter nine.
1:25
Speaker 1: Please just tuck it there in the margin in the
1:28
Speaker 1: crease of your bible at Luke nine, and then turned
1:32
Speaker 1: to John eighteen. John eighteen is a very moving account
1:41
Speaker 1: of the arrest of Jesus in the garden just after
1:47
Speaker 1: the Last Supper and just before the torture related to
1:54
Speaker 1: the cross, followed by, of course, his death as he
2:00
Speaker 1: hung there for us. John eighteen is just in between
2:05
Speaker 1: those two segments. In time, may we stand together for
2:08
Speaker 1: the reading of God's word. When Jesus had spoken these words,
2:15
Speaker 1: he went forth with his disciples over the ravine of
2:18
Speaker 1: the Kidron, where there was a garden into which he
2:21
Speaker 1: himself entered and his disciples. Now Judas also, who was
2:26
Speaker 1: betraying him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met
2:31
Speaker 1: there with his disciples Verse four. Jesus, therefore, knowing all
2:37
Speaker 1: the things that were coming upon him, went forth and
2:40
Speaker 1: said to them, whom do you seek? They answered him,
2:43
Speaker 1: Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, I am he.
2:49
Speaker 1: Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with him.
2:53
Speaker 1: When therefore he said to them, I am he. They
2:55
Speaker 1: drew back and fell to the ground. Therefore he asked
3:00
Speaker 1: him whom do you seek, And they said, Jesus the Nazarene.
3:06
Speaker 1: Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. If
3:11
Speaker 1: therefore you seek me, let these go their way. That
3:17
Speaker 1: the word might be fulfilled which he spoke, of those
3:20
Speaker 1: whom thou hast given me, I lost not one simon. Peter, therefore,
3:26
Speaker 1: having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest
3:31
Speaker 1: slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name
3:36
Speaker 1: was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter, put the sword
3:43
Speaker 1: into the sheath the cup which the Father has given me,
3:50
Speaker 1: Shall I not drink it? Searching question that every disciple
3:59
Speaker 1: must ask herself or himself, you may be seated. Our
4:19
Speaker 1: world is in a world of hurt. Days are dark
4:23
Speaker 1: and places of great importance in the eyes of people.
4:31
Speaker 1: But there's nothing more significant happening today than what is
4:34
Speaker 1: happening in this room, where we meet with the one
4:37
Speaker 1: who has exalted over all, above all, and his plan
4:42
Speaker 1: is working through all. The great temptation in this hour
4:47
Speaker 1: is to panic. Believers in Christ have no need to
4:54
Speaker 1: do such. Nothing is out of control, because whatever happens
4:59
Speaker 1: to us first through the Father's hand. When we doubt
5:04
Speaker 1: that sovereign work of God, panic replaces trust. We pray
5:10
Speaker 1: today so that there might be a renewal and refreshment,
5:14
Speaker 1: a reminder that our times are in his hand. They're
5:20
Speaker 1: not in the hands of the United States government. They're
5:24
Speaker 1: not in the hands of the particular few who make decisions.
5:29
Speaker 1: Are in the hands of our God. And by the way,
5:34
Speaker 1: he loves us. Remember say that with me he loves me.
5:42
Speaker 1: Do it again, he loves me. Father, Thank you for
5:46
Speaker 1: that divine love that pervades and encompasses and envelops us.
5:55
Speaker 1: Thank you that it invaded this earth in the person
5:59
Speaker 1: of your son, and for the first time love was
6:04
Speaker 1: personified in a perfect model of life. Thank you for
6:13
Speaker 1: your son's willingness to leave all the glories of heaven
6:17
Speaker 1: and to set aside temporarily his divine attributes, so that
6:23
Speaker 1: when they were exercised, they were exercised only in obedience
6:27
Speaker 1: to your will and plan. May that mark our lives
6:33
Speaker 1: find in us, Father, that kind of commitment. Hear us,
6:38
Speaker 1: Lord today when we say, whatever the cup, we will
6:42
Speaker 1: drink it, whatever the cross, we will bear it.
6:49
Speaker 2: Whatever your will.
6:51
Speaker 1: Is, we want to be in it and walk through it.
7:00
Speaker 1: Regardless of the times in which we live, They're all
7:03
Speaker 1: in your hands. And thank you for that reassurance me
7:09
Speaker 1: that comes true clearly today, our Father, is we focus
7:12
Speaker 1: our attention on the one who took our place at
7:17
Speaker 1: the most tortuous means of death known to humanity. And
7:23
Speaker 1: he did it for us because he loved us. And
7:30
Speaker 1: we love you, Father, and that's why we are giving you.
7:34
Speaker 3: Our gifts in Jesus' name. Everyone said, Amen.
7:43
Speaker 1: When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes
7:46
Speaker 1: an impossible person and crushes him. You've heard me give
7:53
Speaker 1: you that quotation before. It isn't original with me. It
7:58
Speaker 1: has come from the teaching of the late doctor Alan Redpath.
8:03
Speaker 1: When I was a first year student at Dallas Seminary.
8:05
Speaker 1: Doctor Redpath came from Moody Memorial Church to bring a
8:10
Speaker 1: lectureship at our school. I was first year there in
8:15
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine, almost fifty years ago. I'd forgotten much
8:20
Speaker 1: of what doctor Redpath taught, but a few lines like
8:24
Speaker 1: that one I will never forget. Let me repeat it.
8:28
Speaker 1: When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes
8:31
Speaker 1: an impossible person and crushes him. Now, at first, that
8:36
Speaker 1: sounds brutal, if not altogether cruel, until you understand that
8:42
Speaker 1: becoming like Christ is a very painful process. In fact,
8:48
Speaker 1: it takes a long time for many people to get
8:52
Speaker 1: really serious about their walk with Christ. And that lengthy
8:56
Speaker 1: period of time is marked by crushing experiences, which brings
9:03
Speaker 1: me to another line that doctor Redpath gave. The conversion
9:08
Speaker 1: of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but
9:11
Speaker 1: the making of a saint is the task of a lifetime.
9:16
Speaker 1: Think about that. Now, understand the word saint is used
9:23
Speaker 1: in the broad sense, not in the sense of a
9:26
Speaker 1: figure that stands in the wall there that is made
9:29
Speaker 1: out of stone, or someone who's called a saint.
9:32
Speaker 2: We're talking about a disciple of Jesus.
9:36
Speaker 1: Coming to No Christ is in a point of time,
9:39
Speaker 1: a decision made for the Savior. Where we receive the
9:43
Speaker 1: gift of eternal life by faith, because of God's grace,
9:48
Speaker 1: and we come to Christ alone, by faith alone. That's
9:51
Speaker 1: called conversion. It's the miracle of a moment. However, the
9:56
Speaker 1: process of becoming disciples is a journey, as Redpath calls it,
10:03
Speaker 1: it's the task of a lifetime. Turn if you will
10:07
Speaker 1: to Luke chapter nine in your Bibles, and as you do,
10:11
Speaker 1: open your outline to the opposite side, would you just
10:16
Speaker 1: turn it on the reverse side. Sometimes there's a chart
10:19
Speaker 1: that helps us see something a little more clearly. And
10:22
Speaker 1: I hope this simple horizontal chart will do that for you.
10:26
Speaker 1: Start at the far left and work your way to
10:28
Speaker 1: the right. On the left you will see an example
10:32
Speaker 1: or illustrations of words used in the scriptures regarding those
10:37
Speaker 1: who do not know Jesus Christ. We are called in
10:40
Speaker 1: Romans two to one people without excuse. We are or
10:45
Speaker 1: we were enemies. Romans five ten tells us we were
10:49
Speaker 1: dead in trespasses and sins, says the first verse of
10:52
Speaker 1: Ephesians two. Furthermore, we are told he who does not
10:57
Speaker 1: have the sun does not have the life section out
11:00
Speaker 1: of First John, chapter five. All of this describes those
11:05
Speaker 1: who do not know the Savior. And we were all
11:07
Speaker 1: in that situation at one time in our existence. We
11:10
Speaker 1: were what the scripture calls lost, unsaved, without hope, without
11:18
Speaker 1: a future with God. We were away from God. And
11:22
Speaker 1: then you will notice my grace through faith. And that
11:25
Speaker 1: is all set forth in the New Testament. We come
11:29
Speaker 1: through the Cross of Christ Romans five to eight, where
11:31
Speaker 1: God proves his love to us, and that while we
11:34
Speaker 1: were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So we come
11:38
Speaker 1: through the cross to faith in Christ. Notice that is
11:42
Speaker 1: called in today's terms, conversion. That's called being born anew
11:49
Speaker 1: or born from above conversion. This is the miracle of
11:54
Speaker 1: a moment. Now, notice the arrow takes you into the
11:57
Speaker 1: circle that is on your right here, and it's a
12:00
Speaker 1: large circle where we enter into the family of God.
12:04
Speaker 1: We become believers in Christ. That is, in a moment
12:08
Speaker 1: of time, we trust in Jesus and we become believers
12:12
Speaker 1: in Christ. Notice around that circle are words describing that
12:16
Speaker 1: event or that experience, that decision. We are delivered from darkness,
12:23
Speaker 1: we are protected by God's power, We are sealed in Christ.
12:27
Speaker 1: We become children of God. And on and on. That
12:29
Speaker 1: list could go around that major circle. Let me say
12:33
Speaker 1: to all of you who know Christ, you are in
12:36
Speaker 1: that circle. You may not feel like it some days,
12:39
Speaker 1: and truth be told, we may not act like it
12:43
Speaker 1: some days. But we are in Christ. And because of that,
12:47
Speaker 1: we are in the family of God. And that is
12:50
Speaker 1: a sealed and secure position to be. You will never
12:54
Speaker 1: be out of Christ once you have been accepted into
12:58
Speaker 1: the family, just as you will never have someone else's
13:01
Speaker 1: family blood flowing through your system having been born into
13:06
Speaker 1: your family. No matter how you act, no matter how
13:09
Speaker 1: you feel, you will always bear the nature, the blood
13:13
Speaker 1: of your family heritage. The same in Christ. We are believers.
13:18
Speaker 1: Now look closer into the circle. There is a smaller group.
13:22
Speaker 1: And we put that in dotted lines because it is
13:26
Speaker 1: a process of It is a period of time we
13:29
Speaker 1: go through as we experience the beginning stages of discipleship,
13:36
Speaker 1: where we trust deeply in our Savior, where we are
13:40
Speaker 1: willing to give up our wills for his will, where
13:44
Speaker 1: we decide that the future is really in God's hands,
13:49
Speaker 1: not our own. Selfishness is thrown out the window, and
13:53
Speaker 1: in its place is a Christ's likeness that becomes the
13:56
Speaker 1: driving force of our lives. Let me add here this
14:00
Speaker 1: is when the crushing takes place. It isn't crushing to
14:04
Speaker 1: come to know Christ. It becomes a crushing experience, a
14:09
Speaker 1: painful journey. As you learn, and I learned, to give
14:12
Speaker 1: up our wills for the Father's will. It is called
14:18
Speaker 1: as Jesus put it, taking his cross and following him. Now,
14:25
Speaker 1: let me give you, if I may, in simple terms,
14:27
Speaker 1: a definition of being a believer in Christ. A Christian
14:31
Speaker 1: is a person who is rightly related to God through
14:35
Speaker 1: faith in Jesus Christ. If you have come by faith
14:40
Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ, you are a Christian. You have taken
14:44
Speaker 1: the gift of eternal life. You have become a believer
14:48
Speaker 1: in Christ, Acts sixteen, verse thirty one. Believe on the
14:54
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved one John
14:59
Speaker 1: five eleven. God has given us eternal life, and this
15:04
Speaker 1: life is in his Son. Listen to this. He who
15:07
Speaker 1: has the Son has the life. He who does not
15:10
Speaker 1: have the Son does not have the life. So we
15:14
Speaker 1: enter into this relationship with God through faith in his Son. However,
15:18
Speaker 1: it doesn't mean we've become automatically a disciple. It doesn't
15:23
Speaker 1: mean that Christ is lord over every phase of our lives,
15:27
Speaker 1: or even many phases of our lives. That's the task
15:30
Speaker 1: of a lifetime. That's a journey that we must take
15:34
Speaker 1: faithfully and painfully as we grow and mature in Christ.
15:40
Speaker 1: I rejected the statement Redpath made when I was a
15:42
Speaker 1: first year student in Dallas Seminary. I'd known very little
15:46
Speaker 1: of crushing, to be frank about it, I thought that
15:50
Speaker 1: sounded very brutal, and then came across Tozer's words, It's
15:56
Speaker 1: doubtful God can use anyone greatly till he's hurt him deeply.
16:01
Speaker 1: Hu rt not hard until he has hurt him deeply.
16:09
Speaker 1: None I began to be Christ, and for whatever it's worth,
16:13
Speaker 1: you could say the same. I'm sure my crushing continues
16:16
Speaker 1: to go on. The last couple of years of my
16:20
Speaker 1: life and ministry have been some of the most crushing
16:22
Speaker 1: of my entire Christian life. I have a friend who's
16:27
Speaker 1: close to me, and he said, I thought, when you
16:29
Speaker 1: reach your age, the hard times stop and the good
16:32
Speaker 1: times enter. I said, well, I haven't gotten there yet,
16:35
Speaker 1: but I keep hoping. I don't think they ever come,
16:37
Speaker 1: not on this earth. Why, because being transformed into the
16:43
Speaker 1: likeness of Christ is a painful journey. Now, what is
16:48
Speaker 1: becoming a disciple mean? It means becoming a close follower
16:53
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. It's a process. Listen to the process.
16:58
Speaker 1: When I'd denounce all less or loyalties. I become a
17:04
Speaker 1: disciple of Christ. When my love for Christ is greater
17:08
Speaker 1: than my love for my wife and for my children.
17:13
Speaker 1: I become a disciple of Christ when my goal is
17:15
Speaker 1: to please Him more than to please my parents or
17:19
Speaker 1: my parents' best wishes are someone else who has high
17:24
Speaker 1: expectations of me. It's the transfer of that drive. It
17:30
Speaker 1: includes the submission of my will to His will. It
17:35
Speaker 1: involves self denial and unwillingness to pursue my own way
17:41
Speaker 1: and to go God's way to please him. Now you
17:46
Speaker 1: have your bible open to Luke nine, I want you
17:49
Speaker 1: to look in verse twenty two down through. We'll go
17:53
Speaker 1: down to verse twenty four. I know of no more
17:56
Speaker 1: clear and concise section of scripture on disciple pullship in
18:00
Speaker 1: few words than Luke nine twenty two through twenty four.
18:05
Speaker 1: The son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected
18:08
Speaker 1: by the elders, and cheap priests and scribes, be killed,
18:12
Speaker 1: and be raised up on the third day. Look closely,
18:17
Speaker 1: he was saying to them all. Remember last time we
18:20
Speaker 1: were together, I said, context matters. Never never pull verses
18:26
Speaker 1: out of context and make them walk on their own,
18:30
Speaker 1: so to speak. See them in the context. In the context,
18:35
Speaker 1: Jesus is with his own followers, So he says to
18:40
Speaker 1: all of his followers. It's a small man, but he
18:44
Speaker 1: says to all of them. Verse twenty three. He says
18:48
Speaker 1: to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me,
18:54
Speaker 1: He's now introducing discipleship to people who are already believers.
19:01
Speaker 1: These men believe in him, but they have a long
19:04
Speaker 1: ways to go in becoming close disciples. So he says,
19:10
Speaker 1: if anyone wishes to come after me, there are three
19:15
Speaker 1: count them three requirements. Number one, let him deny himself.
19:22
Speaker 1: Number two, let him take up his cross daily. And
19:28
Speaker 1: number three he must follow me. Let me go back
19:35
Speaker 1: to that definition of a disciple, and let me get
19:37
Speaker 1: even more specific. A disciple is a believer whose commitment
19:43
Speaker 1: to Christ has grown into a deep desire to obey,
19:48
Speaker 1: regardless of the consequences, sacrifice or cost. In this case,
19:58
Speaker 1: three specifics. Let's break them down. Number one, deny herself
20:02
Speaker 1: or himself. Let him deny himself. The idea is to
20:07
Speaker 1: say no to what you want as you say yes
20:11
Speaker 1: to what Christ wants. It's to refuse. To acknowledge is
20:16
Speaker 1: to disown. If you will, we have the words today
20:19
Speaker 1: to dethrone self and to enthrone Christ, to make Christ
20:26
Speaker 1: the ruling passion of our existence. You say that again,
20:32
Speaker 1: I deny myself when I make Christ the ruling passion
20:37
Speaker 1: of my existence. I want to hear from him. I
20:42
Speaker 1: want to spend time with him. I want to learn
20:45
Speaker 1: what his will is from my life. I want to
20:47
Speaker 1: say yes to it. I want to go where He
20:50
Speaker 1: leads me to go. I want to live where He
20:52
Speaker 1: has guided me to live.
20:55
Speaker 2: I want to serve in areas where He would have
20:58
Speaker 2: me serve.
20:59
Speaker 1: You get the picture. I'm denying what I want, which
21:03
Speaker 1: I lived with for many years of my life, and
21:07
Speaker 1: some of you are still there. Your will, to quote
21:11
Speaker 1: the way my mother used to put it, your will
21:13
Speaker 1: has never been broken. You've never been Christ and God
21:21
Speaker 1: hammers away on that will in all kinds of ways
21:24
Speaker 1: and experiences to teach you the value of denying yourself,
21:28
Speaker 1: giving up your will for his. You deny, you say
21:34
Speaker 1: no to what will please you or necessarily bring you comfort.
21:40
Speaker 1: Here's the second. You must take up your cross daily.
21:45
Speaker 1: Remember our previous study on the cross, where we learned
21:48
Speaker 1: that it was it is a symbol of death, including
21:52
Speaker 1: all the suffering and the pain leading up to it.
21:57
Speaker 1: The cross, spiritually speak, this word cross represents one's deliberate
22:04
Speaker 1: decision to abandon his own preferences and plans and to
22:11
Speaker 1: live with the pain of all that that entails. It
22:15
Speaker 1: means there will be a number of friends you won't
22:17
Speaker 1: please any longer. It doesn't mean you work hard to
22:21
Speaker 1: be obnoxious. It's not like that. It means that you're
22:24
Speaker 1: following Christ is so firm and sure that you no
22:27
Speaker 1: longer care that your friend is not being pleased. You're
22:34
Speaker 1: not trying to be offensive. You're just wanting to be obedient.
22:37
Speaker 1: Because sometimes our friends don't want what is best for us,
22:42
Speaker 1: They want what will make them happy. And so when
22:46
Speaker 1: I take up my cross, I am willing to be
22:51
Speaker 1: to go back to our word to be crushed. Yeah.
22:57
Speaker 1: I could just go on and on in this sort
22:59
Speaker 1: of talk, but I have to pause here and if necessary,
23:05
Speaker 1: urge you force you to enter into the realm of
23:08
Speaker 1: your own will. Right now? Are you still stubborn, strong willed?
23:15
Speaker 1: Are you still determined no matter what, to get your way.
23:19
Speaker 1: You're not a disciple of Christ. You're pleasing yourself. Furthermore,
23:25
Speaker 1: you're making others around you miserable who want to be
23:28
Speaker 1: disciples of Christ. It isn't something to brag about. I've
23:33
Speaker 1: heard people say, Oh, that's just the way I am.
23:35
Speaker 1: That's the problem. That's the problem. It's called depravity. And
23:42
Speaker 1: if we keep living like that, we cause all kinds
23:46
Speaker 1: of problems for ourselves and others. When Christ said I'm
23:52
Speaker 1: going to the cross, can you imagine the shock that
23:55
Speaker 1: those faithful eleven felt at this time? All twelve of
23:59
Speaker 1: them felt. This is I think one of the turning
24:01
Speaker 1: points for Judas, because he was a follower from a distance,
24:06
Speaker 1: thinking someday there'd be a big place for him in
24:10
Speaker 1: the administration of the kingdom. Suddenly he finds out he's
24:14
Speaker 1: going to go to a cross. In fact, Peter on
24:18
Speaker 1: one occasion stood against that thought, and Jesus said to him,
24:24
Speaker 1: you get behind me, Satan. Send it to one of
24:28
Speaker 1: the lead disciples. You get behind me, Satan. I am
24:34
Speaker 1: going to the cross. So we take up our cross.
24:41
Speaker 1: And please don't overlook that word daily. It's a daily decision.
24:51
Speaker 1: Trust me, it'll happen tomorrow. You're going to want your way,
24:58
Speaker 1: and you're going to run up again against his way,
25:02
Speaker 1: and you'll come again to the moment whether you want
25:05
Speaker 1: to be one who takes up his cross. And Third
25:11
Speaker 1: is the word follow me. It means to obey. To
25:15
Speaker 1: emulate includes all the suffering, all the pain leading up
25:21
Speaker 1: to that point. Spiritually speaking, that's what it includes. Remember
25:24
Speaker 1: when you were a kid, you played follow the leader.
25:27
Speaker 1: The kids play follow the leader anymore. I remember, years ago,
25:31
Speaker 1: way back, when the Earth's crust was cooling, I was
25:33
Speaker 1: small and I had a lot of.
25:35
Speaker 2: Buddies around, and we were one guy would be the leader,
25:37
Speaker 2: and I.
25:38
Speaker 1: Mean he would stake us into the most unbelievable he
25:41
Speaker 1: jump off places.
25:42
Speaker 2: I'd say, no, wait, God, then you're out. So I
25:45
Speaker 2: had to jump off because I'm a follow the leader.
25:48
Speaker 1: That was back when I was following Klutzes who did
25:51
Speaker 1: all kinds of crazy things. But you could trust him.
25:57
Speaker 1: But you can be sure there'll be risk involved. You
26:01
Speaker 1: can be certain that as your decision to move from
26:04
Speaker 1: the outer circle to the inner circle and become one
26:08
Speaker 1: of those close followers. And by the way, the ranks
26:10
Speaker 1: are still thin, always will be, always will be many
26:16
Speaker 1: more believers than there are close followers because we don't
26:20
Speaker 1: want to obey anyone else.
26:23
Speaker 3: We want our own way.
26:28
Speaker 1: Gon R. W. Stott writes this, Jesus gave no encouragement
26:32
Speaker 1: whatever to thoughtless applicants for discipleship. Thousands of men and
26:38
Speaker 1: women every year are still undertaking to follow Christ without
26:42
Speaker 1: ever pausing to reflect on the cost of that enterprise.
26:48
Speaker 1: They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to
26:53
Speaker 1: be respectable, but not enough to be uncomfortable. I'll get specific.
27:02
Speaker 1: You have a fine career, You are middle age you
27:05
Speaker 1: and your family. Let's put you in a situation where
27:09
Speaker 1: you're married, and you've got two or three kiddos, and
27:11
Speaker 1: you're on your way to another promotion and yet another promotion.
27:15
Speaker 1: You're moving into the realm of financial security you've thought
27:19
Speaker 1: about and wanted to have, and your dad and certainly
27:22
Speaker 1: your father in law wanted you to have. And as
27:25
Speaker 1: time passed, the future looks brighter. And then you get
27:29
Speaker 1: serious about spiritual things. I am only imagining this, I
27:32
Speaker 1: have no one in mind. So listen closely, but relax.
27:39
Speaker 1: In the process of growing and learning and hurting and discovering,
27:42
Speaker 1: you realize your place is ministry. You're to be in
27:48
Speaker 1: vocational Christian service. You're no longer to be in the
27:53
Speaker 1: realm of those who watch ministry transpire. You realize you
27:58
Speaker 1: really sense a peace peace that you need to be
28:04
Speaker 1: returning to school, get further education, go to seminary and
28:11
Speaker 1: get that graduate degree so that you are then for
28:14
Speaker 1: the rest of your life equipped to help others grow deeply.
28:20
Speaker 1: But what does that mean? Do the math. It means
28:27
Speaker 1: you leave a very secure position. Probably means you move
28:30
Speaker 1: to another part of the country. It means you live
28:33
Speaker 1: in a situation that is not the kind of comfort
28:37
Speaker 1: you have enjoyed before. It means your income is reduced considerably.
28:42
Speaker 1: It means your partner may have to go to work
28:45
Speaker 1: to make that happen. It means you will now enter
28:48
Speaker 1: the ranks of the unfamiliar. You will now be exposed
28:53
Speaker 1: to information you have never heard before or studied, and
29:00
Speaker 1: are following Christ. That happened in my life, It's happened
29:08
Speaker 1: in the lives of a number of people listening right now. Now.
29:13
Speaker 1: Ideally your partner is with you in that journey. One
29:17
Speaker 1: of my favorite questions when I meet brand new seminary
29:19
Speaker 1: students and they come to the church to visit, and
29:23
Speaker 1: they'll say, Hi, we're first year students, and they always
29:25
Speaker 1: have that look about them, little bit bewildered. So invariably
29:30
Speaker 1: we'll look in case this is a man that introduces himself,
29:32
Speaker 1: I'll look at his wife and I'll say, what do
29:35
Speaker 1: you think about that? I get some very interesting answers
29:39
Speaker 1: these days, very interesting. Sometimes it's just like out of
29:45
Speaker 1: the textbook, Oh, this is the fulfillment of our dream.
29:49
Speaker 1: Other times I'll hear I'm not so sure, and that
29:53
Speaker 1: makes for a very difficult process. Of years. Maybe the
29:59
Speaker 1: man acted too quickly in his decision, and perhaps wisdom
30:02
Speaker 1: would say, let's spend some time working this through with
30:06
Speaker 1: your wife so that she's on board with you. Having
30:13
Speaker 1: partners where one is a disciple and one is not
30:15
Speaker 1: is a pretty difficult way to live. Pretty difficult. That's
30:20
Speaker 1: just one application that comes to mind. You see, God
30:25
Speaker 1: specializes in this sort of thing, as he brings us
30:29
Speaker 1: from the ranks of general believers, those who know Christ.
30:34
Speaker 1: When they die, we're going to go to Heaven. We're
30:37
Speaker 1: sure of that. We know Sunday comes. We want to
30:40
Speaker 1: be a part of the worship service. We understand that.
30:46
Speaker 1: But just don't let it get in my way. When
30:50
Speaker 1: you become a disciple, it gets in your way. Suddenly
30:57
Speaker 1: you move from the ranks of the complacent to the committed.
31:06
Speaker 1: Turn to John chapter eighteen. Will you do that? John eighteen?
31:13
Speaker 1: Just a few thoughts here, and we're on our way.
31:17
Speaker 1: Remember the context. Remember the context. The Last Supper is
31:25
Speaker 1: over all. The teaching in the upper room has passed.
31:30
Speaker 1: The prayer on the way to geth Semone has been
31:33
Speaker 1: asked by Jesus to the Father. He has not yet
31:38
Speaker 1: been arrested, but he's gone through the pain of geth semone.
31:43
Speaker 1: Let the cup pass from me. If it's possible, Lord,
31:47
Speaker 1: let it be another way. It's obvious that it was
31:51
Speaker 1: the Father's plan for him to be Christ, and so Jesus,
31:57
Speaker 1: having spoken these words, went forth with his disciple over
32:00
Speaker 1: the ravine. Judas, who was betraying him, knew the place
32:04
Speaker 1: where they went, that had often been there. Judas was
32:07
Speaker 1: now with the Roman cohort and the officers who came
32:10
Speaker 1: with lanterns and torches and weapons verse three. All of
32:14
Speaker 1: this is a threatening setting. To the surprise of the
32:19
Speaker 1: mob who came to arrest him, there was no fight.
32:23
Speaker 1: You know what, Let me use the words I've been using,
32:27
Speaker 1: because they met up with the Ultimate Disciple. They were
32:33
Speaker 1: just they didn't know it, but they were emissaries carrying
32:36
Speaker 1: out the Father's will. So they come ready for a fight,
32:40
Speaker 1: ready to chase him. That's why they brought the torches.
32:44
Speaker 1: And he says to them in verse four, of whom
32:46
Speaker 1: do you seek? Don't you love it? Ever had a
32:50
Speaker 1: thief in your home and you walk up on him?
32:52
Speaker 1: He says, Hey, who are you looking for? It's me?
32:56
Speaker 1: Caught me, except in this case he's no thief, the
33:00
Speaker 1: only perfect man who ever lived. But they want to
33:02
Speaker 1: kill him, which they don't know it's the Father's plan.
33:05
Speaker 1: It's all jumbled up in their mind. They just think
33:08
Speaker 1: he's he's a phony, he's a fraud. They're going to
33:12
Speaker 1: put an end to it. But he's doing the Father's will.
33:16
Speaker 1: So he says, who are you looking for? And they said,
33:18
Speaker 1: Jesus a Nazarene. He said, that's me. I'm he and
33:24
Speaker 1: it blows them away. In fact, the scripture reads so carefully,
33:29
Speaker 1: they drew back and fell to the ground, you know,
33:33
Speaker 1: I mean they were down and out. I couldn't believe it.
33:36
Speaker 1: And so he helps them back up again. Now, who
33:39
Speaker 1: again are you seeking? Jesus a Nazarene told you that
33:42
Speaker 1: I'm the one. Why don't you let these others go?
33:45
Speaker 1: Because you really want me? And he of course did
33:49
Speaker 1: that so the word would be fulfilled. Now look at Simon. Peter,
33:52
Speaker 1: who is not yet a real deep disciple, pulls out
33:58
Speaker 1: a sword.
34:00
Speaker 3: It's a little sword.
34:05
Speaker 1: You let me get him. Well, some ear drops off,
34:08
Speaker 1: and Jesus has been working with Peter for years to
34:15
Speaker 1: keep the sword in the sheath. Don't take the sword
34:20
Speaker 1: out Peter Peter. But see, that's what we do, that's
34:26
Speaker 1: our nature. It's like you know me. The story is
34:29
Speaker 1: about the traffic. Traffic's heavy. You're on the tollway. Somebody
34:33
Speaker 1: wants in. Are you kidding? I was here before you were.
34:39
Speaker 1: Well you think you think, you think you own this road. No,
34:43
Speaker 1: there's no way. And he puts this little bumper up
34:46
Speaker 1: in front. You go with, okay, as soon as you
34:52
Speaker 1: get a chance, you get a run in front of him.
34:54
Speaker 2: Why because you're depraved, You're.
34:56
Speaker 1: A rotten center and you want you want your lane.
35:01
Speaker 1: I mean, after all, you owned a road. That's your spot.
35:05
Speaker 1: Ever thought about that that goes on in the traffic.
35:07
Speaker 1: I mean a comedian could go crazy with it. One
35:09
Speaker 1: little space, no way, man, that's my space. I'm leable
35:14
Speaker 1: to be late. How late maybe he split second, I
35:18
Speaker 1: don't know. We spend most of our life taking our
35:23
Speaker 1: sword out of its sheath and slugging somebody with it.
35:28
Speaker 1: Had a man say to me following the first service today,
35:31
Speaker 1: for the first time and as long as I can remember,
35:33
Speaker 1: I'm putting the sword in the sheath, and he cried.
35:41
Speaker 1: He described his life very briefly, just succinctly, as he
35:44
Speaker 1: described a self willed life. I'm tired of cutting off ears.
35:52
Speaker 1: Look at Jesus' words. Put the sword in the sheep,
35:57
Speaker 1: the cup and the sheath, the cup which the Au
36:00
Speaker 1: has given me. Shall I not drink it? The cup
36:09
Speaker 1: the Father's will. It means one thing to one person,
36:14
Speaker 1: something all together different to someone else. For me, it
36:17
Speaker 1: meant where I wound up doing what I'm doing. For you,
36:20
Speaker 1: it means something altogether different, you know what. All the
36:25
Speaker 1: way through our ministry lives, Cynthia and I have had
36:27
Speaker 1: people telling us, as we were getting ready to make
36:30
Speaker 1: a move to go somewhere else, that we shouldn't be
36:32
Speaker 1: doing it. People are just loaded with misinformation, and they
36:36
Speaker 1: can be so logical. I remember when we were leaving
36:40
Speaker 1: Irving to move to California, California. I mean, are you
36:46
Speaker 1: ready for that? There are no good families in California.
36:50
Speaker 1: There are no deep roots in California. In fact, the
36:53
Speaker 1: last words we heard the lady put our elbows on
36:56
Speaker 1: the window beside my wife as we're getting ready to
36:59
Speaker 1: back out of our driveway, and she said, you know,
37:01
Speaker 1: the Lord gets blamed for a lot of stuff he
37:03
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with. How's that for a farewell,
37:07
Speaker 1: have a great ministry. And we got there and we
37:12
Speaker 1: didn't plan it. I went kicking and screaming, that's exactly
37:18
Speaker 1: where we ought to have been for as long as
37:21
Speaker 1: we should have been there. In fact, we were there
37:22
Speaker 1: so long. I was a part of the woodwork. This
37:25
Speaker 1: is great, this is wonderful, this is easy.
37:28
Speaker 2: And once the Lord heard the word easy, the cup,
37:33
Speaker 2: he's good with cups.
37:34
Speaker 1: It just the right moment. So I got a call
37:36
Speaker 1: from Dallas Seminary, thinking, there's no way, are you kidding?
37:41
Speaker 1: I've been out here so long, man, they're going to
37:43
Speaker 1: name a street after me one of these days. Easy.
37:48
Speaker 1: I don't want you to be easy. I want you
37:50
Speaker 1: to be where I want you to be. I mean
37:53
Speaker 1: back to Dallas. They know me there, but I want
37:58
Speaker 1: to go back to Dallas. You check the weather lately, Lord,
38:03
Speaker 1: So I had people there say, wow on Earth are
38:05
Speaker 1: you going to live? Really? Tell us what's the real reason?
38:10
Speaker 3: Tell us?
38:11
Speaker 1: Yeah, people do that too, till like there's somebody with
38:14
Speaker 1: a gun over here to tell me he's getting ready
38:16
Speaker 1: to shoot you. Why are you going to be That's
38:20
Speaker 1: part of doing the Father's will. So I get here
38:23
Speaker 1: and it begins to come clear, come clear, easy, never once.
38:29
Speaker 1: I don't think there's been an easy day, right.
38:33
Speaker 3: Absolutely.
38:35
Speaker 1: People see this and they see the growth and they think, boy, Chuck,
38:38
Speaker 1: you must be so proud. Are you kidding? I am shocked.
38:44
Speaker 1: I am surprised. I don't worry about empty seats. I'm
38:48
Speaker 1: amazed there are filled seats. Why is this isn't about me?
38:55
Speaker 1: You just happen to be witnessing a cup being drunk.
39:02
Speaker 1: You're seeing a disciple live his life. Forgive the personal reference.
39:07
Speaker 1: It's not meant out of pride. I guarantee you it's not.
39:11
Speaker 1: If you could know the whole story. You know what
39:13
Speaker 1: I'm trying to say. I am in the place of
39:17
Speaker 1: his appointment to do what he wishes. And I've learned
39:22
Speaker 1: the hard way that if I fight it, I.
39:23
Speaker 3: Lose, and I should.
39:28
Speaker 1: But this is again about me. It's about you, you
39:30
Speaker 1: who are fighting it. This message is about drinking the
39:36
Speaker 1: cup the Father has given you. So I got four
39:40
Speaker 1: statements I want you to write down. Okay, get your
39:42
Speaker 1: pen ready, all of you who want to keep your
39:45
Speaker 1: sword in the sheath. Take them in very carefully, write
39:51
Speaker 1: them down, put them where you'll read them later. You'll
39:53
Speaker 1: need them. For every disciple, there is a purpose to
39:58
Speaker 1: be fulfilled. For every disciple, there is a purpose to
40:04
Speaker 1: be fulfilled. That's why he invites you to be a
40:07
Speaker 1: disciple until then you fight the purpose. When you've broken
40:14
Speaker 1: through and you decide, I disclaim all lesser loyalties. I'm
40:19
Speaker 1: not gonna do what my neighbors think I ought to do.
40:21
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do what my church members are confident
40:24
Speaker 1: I ought to do. I'm not gonna do necessarily what
40:27
Speaker 1: my wife is thinking is the best thing to do.
40:29
Speaker 1: I'm counseling, I'm listening to her, but I gotta do
40:32
Speaker 1: what I believe the Father would have me do. That's
40:35
Speaker 1: a lonely place to be. Why there's a purpose there.
40:39
Speaker 1: There's a purpose. And when you've got a mate in
40:42
Speaker 1: life that sees that she or he doesn't resist it,
40:48
Speaker 1: there's a god given mission. There's a divine plan, there's
40:51
Speaker 1: a mandate, there's a heaven sent assignment. Horatio Bonar put
40:58
Speaker 1: it this way, I dare not choose my lot. I
41:02
Speaker 1: would not if I might choose Thou for me, my God.
41:06
Speaker 1: So shall I walk aright? Take now my cup and
41:11
Speaker 1: it with joy or sorrow? Fill is best to thee
41:14
Speaker 1: may seem choose now my good or ill, not mine,
41:19
Speaker 1: not mine the choice in things both great or small.
41:23
Speaker 1: Be thou my guide, my strength, my wisdom, my all.
41:30
Speaker 1: Be that Lord, let your purpose be fulfilled. Second, with
41:35
Speaker 1: every purpose, there is a cup to be drunk. It
41:42
Speaker 1: will be a challenging obstacle. It will be a hindrance
41:47
Speaker 1: along the way. It could be a personal foreign you
41:49
Speaker 1: have to endure. It could be misunderstanding from others. It
41:54
Speaker 1: will require an attitude of acceptance. And with every purpose,
41:58
Speaker 1: there's a cup to be drunk. And that cup will
42:02
Speaker 1: taste bitter to you.
42:04
Speaker 3: It'll taste bitter.
42:08
Speaker 1: At the time. It'll be bitter. I'm not saying when
42:16
Speaker 1: you step into his will from then on it's a
42:18
Speaker 1: downhill slide. I'm saying, when you step into his will,
42:21
Speaker 1: that's when the meaning of the cross takes new dimensions.
42:28
Speaker 1: At seminary, we lose a baby. We lose a baby
42:35
Speaker 1: of all things. We have a miscarriage. We wanted that baby.
42:43
Speaker 1: The loss of the baby was a journey that I
42:47
Speaker 1: have never shared with anyone. It's too personal. Five months
42:53
Speaker 1: a long, that little cord wrapped around her neck, stillborn,
43:04
Speaker 1: there's a cup to be drunk. I could have said,
43:06
Speaker 1: why on the earth am I? Here? Is this the
43:08
Speaker 1: thanks I get for obeying? No, it's not like that.
43:11
Speaker 1: It doesn't work like that. It's not your will is
43:14
Speaker 1: his will. Third, in every cup, there is pain to
43:22
Speaker 1: accept and endure. In every cup, there is pain to
43:28
Speaker 1: accept and endure. There's discomfort. There are the hurts, there
43:34
Speaker 1: are the interferences. There is the affliction that disappointment, sometimes disease,
43:39
Speaker 1: sometimes delay. I love v Raymond Edmund's Little Book On
43:45
Speaker 1: where he mentions delay, the pain of delayed accomplishments part
43:51
Speaker 1: of the cup, part of the pain. We like instant gratification,
43:57
Speaker 1: like instant results, Disciples, there's nothing instant In every cup.
44:05
Speaker 1: There's pain to accept it. Through every pain, there's victory
44:10
Speaker 1: to claim. Through every pain, there's victory to claim. I
44:22
Speaker 1: close with the writings and life of George Matheson, Please listen. M.
44:28
Speaker 1: A thh E. S O N wrote the hymn O
44:31
Speaker 1: Love that Will Not Let Me Go. Almost blind by
44:35
Speaker 1: the time he finished school, completely blind by the time
44:39
Speaker 1: he entered ministry, and for forty years he ministered totally blind.
44:44
Speaker 1: George Matheson he attracted overflowing crowds who came to hear
44:50
Speaker 1: him preach, and especially to hear him pray. For forty years,
44:56
Speaker 1: other fellow ministers were afraid to hear his sermons because,
45:00
Speaker 1: as they put it, they are so great we are
45:03
Speaker 1: tempted to plagiarism. George Matheson Blind not only a preacher
45:11
Speaker 1: and a man of prayer, but a writer a song
45:17
Speaker 1: in his wonderful work, thoughts for life's journey. My soul
45:21
Speaker 1: reject not the place of thy prostration. It has ever
45:26
Speaker 1: been the robing room of royalty, a beautiful wording, robing
45:32
Speaker 1: room of royalty. Ask the great ones of the past
45:37
Speaker 1: what has been the spot of their prosperity? They will
45:39
Speaker 1: say it was the cold ground on which I once
45:43
Speaker 1: was lying. Ask Abraham, he will point you to the
45:47
Speaker 1: sacrifice on Mariah. Ask Joseph, he will direct you to
45:51
Speaker 1: his dungeon in Egypt. Ask Moses, he will date his
45:55
Speaker 1: fortune from his danger in the Nile. Ask Ruth, she
46:00
Speaker 1: will bid you build her monument in the field of
46:02
Speaker 1: her toil. Ask David, he will tell you that his
46:06
Speaker 1: songs came in the night. Ask Job he will remind
46:11
Speaker 1: you that God answered him out of the whirlwind of loss.
46:17
Speaker 1: Ask Paul, he will attribute his inspiration to the light
46:21
Speaker 1: that struck him blind. Ask one more, the son of man,
46:28
Speaker 1: He will answer. From the cold ground on which I
46:31
Speaker 1: was lying, getsemone ground, I receive my scepter. There. This
46:42
Speaker 1: is called the fellowship of His sufferings, and there's everything
46:48
Speaker 1: within us to resist it. Accept the cup. That's the model.
47:03
Speaker 1: That's why the cross continues to be that symbol for us.
47:08
Speaker 3: About with me, will you please?
47:12
Speaker 1: I know that today I've been speaking to a few
47:14
Speaker 1: impossible people. I know because I once was. I don't
47:22
Speaker 1: know how many times my mother would say to me, son,
47:25
Speaker 1: you are impossible. I don't know how many times my
47:29
Speaker 1: wife said to me early in marriage, you are impossible.
47:35
Speaker 1: The shame of it all is how many times God
47:38
Speaker 1: said to me, you think you're impossible.
47:45
Speaker 3: That I have a cup for you.
47:50
Speaker 1: I don't know what your cup is. It may be
47:52
Speaker 1: physical affliction, maybe a loss of a dream, maybe a
47:56
Speaker 1: broken romance, maybe a life of loneliness, feeling forgotten and obscure,
48:03
Speaker 1: and maybe physical pain, maybe a mental breakdown, some heart
48:13
Speaker 1: breaking something that God would use to deepen your commitment
48:24
Speaker 1: to him. If you've never met the Savior. Now's the time.
48:29
Speaker 1: If you have played around with your faith, now's the
48:32
Speaker 1: time to move into the inner circle playground.
48:38
Speaker 3: Days are over.
48:42
Speaker 1: Lord. I pray that you'll use much of this in
48:46
Speaker 1: a deep and abiding and significant way in all our lives.
48:52
Speaker 1: Forgive us our father for resisting the cup, for running
48:57
Speaker 1: from the cross, for pursue doing what we wanted and
49:05
Speaker 1: missing altogether what it was you wanted, and then having
49:10
Speaker 1: stopped us in our tracks. I pray that you will
49:12
Speaker 1: give us sensitive spirits to hear what you're saying, and
49:17
Speaker 1: an open willingness to do where you're leading, to go there,
49:24
Speaker 1: to do it, and to rejoice in the victory of it. Now, Lord,
49:33
Speaker 1: dismiss us in this solemn moment, with the realization that
49:36
Speaker 1: you are the one in charge, and if we've learned
49:40
Speaker 1: nothing else, enable us to learn that.
49:45
Speaker 3: From this message. In the name of our submissive, matchless master,
49:53
Speaker 3: we pray everyone said.
49:57
Speaker 1: Amen.
50:01
Speaker 4: The preceding message, The Cup that He Drank, was copyrighted
50:05
Speaker 4: in two thousand eight, and the sound recording was copyrighted
50:08
Speaker 4: in two thousand nine by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All
50:11
Speaker 4: rights are reserved worldwide.