Three cups

Matthew 26 and verse 36. Then cometh Jesus with them onto a place called Gethsemane, or the oil press, and saith unto the disciples, Stand ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here and watch with me. And they went a little farther, and fell on his face and prayed, saying, O my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.

Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

He went away again the second time and prayed, saying, O my father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy, and he left them, and went away again and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Then cometh he to his disciples and saith unto them, Sleep on now and take your rest, for behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

And you know the rest of the story. Now look at 1st Corinthians for a brief reading and chapter 11, verse 23. We were reminded this morning in the Bible reading by our brother that Paul had received the message to be evangelized to the world, the gospel.

Now he says in verse 23, I have received of the Lord, that's the same word, that which also I delivered unto you, that the same, the Lord Jesus, the same night in which you were betrayed, took bread. You know that the reading is, it's while he was being betrayed, he took bread. And when he'd given thanks, he broke and said, Take ye, this is my body, which is broken for you.

Luke tells us in his gospel it was given. This is my body, this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood.

This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. You notice that we're remembering him this morning. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.

Now one final verse, I think it's Psalm 75. The 75th Psalm, yes, verse 8. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red, it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same. But the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them.

And God will bless what we have read, what I say often. It's of more value, the reading of the Scriptures, than anything we may attempt to say about it. I want to note simply three cups that we have read of from Matthew 26.

Gethsemane in all its shame and sufferings and sorrow, it's a cup of suffering. Then we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, if we had read in chapter 10, Paul says, it's a cup of blessing. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? Then in Psalm 75, it's a cup of wrath.

In the hand of the Lord, Jehovah, there is a cup, and the wine is red, and he poureth out of the same. And the psalmist says, the day is coming when the wicked of the earth will drain it out. They'll know the unmitigated wrath of God of their rejection of the Savior.

But I'll tell you what I've enjoyed all throughout the meeting this morning, right from my brother's first hymn, because of the cup of suffering in Matthew 26, we'll never know the cup of wrath that the psalmist reminds us of. We read in Matthew 26 of that occasion in the garden, being very heavy, distressed, in sorrow, in anticipation of Calvary, he said to his father three times over, if it be possible, but you know in order for you and I to be here this morning, it had to be possible, that bitter cup, love drank it up, now blessings draw for me. He must drain that bitter cup of suffering and shame, in order that we might be here this morning.

The disciples, they were sleeping. I've often wondered how that was possible. He had told them he was going to the cross, over and over again he tells them, and now he's in the garden, and he's weeping, and they're asleep.

But then we read in 1st Corinthians 11, Paul reiterates what he had taught these believers earlier. He says, I delivered unto you that which I also received. You see, Paul wasn't there that night when this remembrance was instituted.

He received by divine revelation what the Lord tells us, and he took the bread. Some of the Gospels said he blessed. Dear brethren, he didn't bless the bread, he blessed God.

And then he break it. That loaf was broken this morning for convenience. We partake of that loaf.

That's when we break bread. And all over this world today, in Roman Catholicism, the doctrine of transubstantiation, as they partake of that wafer, they're told they're partaking of the literal body and blood of Christ. That's blasphemy.

Nothing has ever changed when the priest says the mass. And in many places of Protestantism, it's very similar. It's not transubstantiation, but it's close to it.

They're taught that it's not the literal in the blood and body, but it becomes that when they assimilate it. That's just as wrong. You see, the bread and the wine are just symbolic.

Some years ago when I was in the West Indies for a number of months for the late Jack Noble, we broke bread in a little tin hut, about 15 or 20 believers on a gravel floor. And when the meeting was over, I saw two little girls. When the brethren were counting the change that was on the plate, they went up to the table and they took what was left of the bread and they divided it up and ate it.

Nothing wrong with that. That was likely their breakfast. You see, it's only bread.

I don't know what you brethren do with it here. When the meeting is over, some feed it to the birds, some eliminate it in other ways, but it's just a memorial. He says it's in remembrance.

Did you ever think you can't remember someone that you've never met? Long time since I first came to Blue River, about 60 years ago the first time. Came up here with Oliver Smith. And when I see brethren, I remember the first time we met.

It's a remembrance. We remember him. The Lord knew we would be prone to forget.

And that's why he says, this do, this do. Then I was thinking too, not only is it a remembrance, it's a proclamation. He says, you do show the Lord's death.

That's one of the most often misquoted verses in the Bible. It doesn't say you show forth the Lord's death. You show.

And the word is proclaim. Who do we proclaim it to? Those that are looking on, unbelievers. I would venture to say in the neighborhood of Highland, there are some that know that this Sunday there's a company of people there, and they're having what they would refer to as communion.

We're proclaiming. And then there's angelic hosts looking on. We proclaim his death.

One more thing I want you to think of. It's a forget-me-not. It's just till he come.

Years ago when I was more active in gospel work and be away at times for six or eight weeks at a time, I carried a picture in my wallet of my wife and my five children. And I would often look at it. It reminded me of then.

But when I got home, you can be sure that wallet didn't come out of my, that picture didn't come out of my wallet. Because you see, when you have the reality, you don't need the remembrance. This is a remembrance.

One day, brethren, we'll be with him. We won't need the bread and the wine. This could have been our last time.

And because he suffered, and because he has made this provision for us, we'll never know that cup of wrath that will be poured out on this godless world. Thank God. The Lord bless his word and remember us throughout the rest of the day for his namesake.