Three cups
By
Andy Zoppelt
for
those who desire to go all the way with Him
As Christians, there are some hard things for us to
understand and therefore to deal with. Most of this understanding is related to
our leaning on our understanding, our preferences and not being mature enough
to where we have learned to fully entrust and leave everything in His hands. understanding suffering and rejection
while being a Christian at the same time is difficult for the immature. When
most of us think of being a Christian, we think of peace, joy and happiness. We
are expecting God to give us jobs, cars, a mate, ministry, money and prestige;
but God doesn't necessarily always do that. God is interested in conforming us into His image, maturing us and making us His
spotless bride.
The
tale of the eagle
A
farmer one day came upon an eagle's egg, he took it
home and put it with his hens. As time went by, the hen sat on the egg and it
hatched with the other eggs. As time went by, the hens would go out into the
barnyard and the peeps would follow. The little eaglet didn't know any better,
so he also followed the hens. He just went along with the crowd, because that
is all he knew. Growing up in an environment with the other chickens did not
support or prepare him for what he was created for. His latent potential was
hindered by the behavior of the other chicks. He found himself scratching for
food and pretty much acting like an earthbound chicken.
One day a storm began to move in from the north. the wind began to kick up and the dust
began to stir and swirl on the ground. The mother hens spread out their wings
for their little chicks to gather under. She ran her chicks into the barn for
protection with all the other chicks. But as our eaglet became a full grown
eagle, he felt something different into his spirit in response to the storm. Something strange was moving in our eagle's
heart. Why wasn't he afraid and run into the safety of the barn? what was keeping him into the strong
winds of the storm? Instinctively, he spread his long mature wings. the wind began to increase and caught
his wings and lifted him into the air. He found himself rising higher and
higher. His heart began to feel the freedom of flight for which God had created
him. Deep in his heart he knew he was made for a higher way of living. He never was
comfortable with the scratching in the barnyard. The heart of an eagle will
never be content in the barnyard. His heart yearns for higher places. His wings
were designed to be lifted by the wind. The wind is his friend. To force an
eagle to live in captivity is a great injustice to such a majestic bird.
True, hungry and humble Christians cannot live in a
pew scratching through sermons. They cannot live nor be satisfied with the
status quo of the modern churchgoer. Something beats in his heart when the wind
begins to blow and the storm begins to churn. Oh, sure he cries and feels the
pain when the winds of trials and conflict come, but something leads him upward
and onward. Something empowers him beyond the forces of earth's gravity. His
beauty and majesty are seen in the high places of the heavens. His nest is
built on high and his flight carries him to even greater heights.
To
be seated in heavenly places takes a special saint with a vision beyond the
gravity bound chickens of our day.
Ps 11:1, “How dare you tell
me, ‘Flee to the mountains for safety,’ when I am trusting in the Lord?”
TLB
Saints, the wind of God's Spirit is beginning to blow,
and those that are chickens will head for shelter and hid from trials,
rejection and storm, and those with a heavenly calling will begin to soar to
the skies. If we thirst for higher places, we will never be satisfied with
scratching through the traditions of men who flee every trial to find a “place”
of peace, but they will stand in the Spirit and let God deal with them until
they find the peace that comes from God alone.
There is a price for this revelation and place
with Christ in heavenly places. God doesn't let chickens into His kingdom; he
is looking for sons.
Isaiah 40:31, "but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength. They will soar on
wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they
will walk and not be faint." NIV
True eagles do not have their hope in land, cars,
jobs, wife or husband…. Though these may have their place, their hope is in the
lord and all the rest is secured in their faith in Him who sits on high.
Hebrews 6:19-20, "We have this hope as an anchor
for the soul, firm and secure. It enters
the inner sanctuary behind the curtain (Heavenly
calling), where Jesus, who went before us,
has entered on our behalf." NIV
I want to talk to you about eagle saints, about the
purpose of suffering, rejection, isolation, conflict, persecution, abandonment
and hindered prayers. I want to talk to you about those things that you will
not find scratching among the chickens on this earth.
Do you want to be a man or woman of God? I want to
talk to you about three cups mentioned in scripture and the sequence we find
them.
2 Cor 8:12, "For if there is first a willing
mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and
not according to what he does not have." NKJV
First
Cup
Are
you willing to drink?
There
is a price to pay, it is not free.
Acts 9:15,16, "But the
Lord said to him (Ananias), "Go, for he (Paul) is a chosen instrument
of
Mine, to bear My name before
the Gentiles and kings and the sons of
how much he must suffer for My name's sake." NAS
Matt 20:20-22, "Then the mother of Zebedee's sons
came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 'What is it you want?' he asked. She said, 'Grant that one
of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in
your kingdom.' 'You don't know what you
are asking,' Jesus said to them. 'Can you drink the cup I am going to
drink?'" NIV
"Grant us to sit…" Oh we seek a position, a
place, and a ministry. "Let me sit at your right hand Lord, use me."
Have those words ever broken through the lips of your mouth? Have you ever
cried to be used of God? He heard that cry and He will answer that prayer, but
first - let me tell you - there is a cost for that seat.
Oh, sit in church and get fat on teaching, don't move
from your pew, don't stir up your family, your friends…. You will never hear
the call. Yes, you are a chicken at heart, you may talk tough, but you hid in
the crowd of nominal, traditional Christianity. Don't worry - you will never
suffer, nor be rejected. You will look like everybody else. Sit and learn,
gather insignificant information, teach unchallenging things…. You will not see
this cup. Take the easy way out, move to the mountains, get away from problems,
maybe God will call you as you milk the cows, away from the pressure of people.
Sit in your lonely abode away from the storms, just passing time until you die.
I am sure, oh Laodicean, you will find protection and still look like you have
courage..
Find a big church to hide in, brag about the teaching,
being fed, the good feelings, and the programs…. you will not have to live on
the edge, nor risk being exposed there. It is what you want - you find safety there. Who wants to be among the "distressed or in debt or
discontented?" (1 Sam 22:2) Who wants to join the ranks of the
hungry that boldly go out to meet Him outside the camp? No,
not you. You love the Lord from a distance, in
your comfort you are squandering your God-created life. Run to the shelter when
the storm comes, hid from the wind and the rain. God will not put a fire under
you, He is a gentleman. You must break the chains of tradition and through that
you will find Him. You promised to give Him your all, and like Ananias and
Sapphira, you held back the best for yourself.
"Let's study the bible for the bible sake and not
apply it to our lives." "Let's look at all the insignificant things
that don't challenge us, so people will think we love God's word."
"Let's talk about the bible, that will make us
think we care about Him."
You cannot hide behind the bible to conceal your life
of sin and indifference. Your teaching will not cover up your lack of
commitment and love for the saints. God's word was meant for you to do it, to
live it, and obey it, and not just learn it.
If you are going to drink this cup, it is going to
cost you your life. You will have to surrender your control over your life and
let Him be in charge.
Jesus told those bible thumping Pharisees in John
5:38-40,
"You diligently study the Scriptures because you
think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about
me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." NIV
Repentance calls you to obey Him, follow Him, abide in
Him, remain in Him, and live in Him.
Stand
for truth, take the radical path….. only
then will you learn to fly, but it will cost you your life.
Are
you willing to drink that first cup? how seriously do
you to want to follow Jesus? We need conviction of sin not conventions for
entertaining information. We need to suffer with Him, not attend
happy-time-entertaining meetings. We don't need jokes and anecdotal stories, we need the fire of the truth to burn up the chaff
of our flesh. "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and
the fellowship of His sufferings, being
conformed to His death." (Phil 3:10, NKJV)
the
second cup,
experiencing pain and abandonment.
Matt 26:37-39, " And he
took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began
to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then he
said to them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, 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." KJV
When the cup finally reached Jesus' lips He began to
experience the pain of the cup. His soul was "exceeding sorrowful, even
unto death." Listen to Paul as the cup was brought to his lips:
"For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren,
of our trouble which came to us in
Listen to Jeremiah as the cup touches his lips.
(read Ps 38 about David's
encounter with this cup)
Lamentation chapter three
1"I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod
of his wrath.
2 He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness
rather than light;
(Stop here! God made him walk in darkness?)
3 indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and
again, all day long.
(Did you ever feel that God was against you, did you
ever think that every way you turned only
seemed to bring devastation and destruction?)
4 He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has
broken my bones.
5 He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness
and hardship.
6 He has made me dwell in darkness like those long
dead.
7 He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has
weighed me down with chains.
(Have you ever been walled in? Have you ever been to
the place where every revelation in the past,
all your experiences were unable to help? Do you fill
walled in? Hold on, let the
content of the cup
burn out the dross. Let it do its work.)
8 Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out
my prayer.
(Have you ever poured out your heart to God with
tears, wept in longing for Him and even
expected Him to show up on the scene in mercy? Yet time and
time again….. silence. Rejection
and guilt fills your heart-broken soul. Sin seems to be
on the rise, temptation seems more attractive
[darkness]. You pray in fear that you will fall. You cry day
and night, but silence. "Where is
God, doesn't He care?" He has shut out your
prayers.)
9 He has barred my way with blocks of stone; he has
made my paths crooked.
(Have you tried every conceivable way out of you
predicament and you can't get out?
Has He shut a door that no one can open?" Is
there no clear straight path before you?)
10 Like a bear lying in wait, like a lion in hiding,
11 he dragged me from the path and mangled me and left
me without help.
12 He drew his bow and made me the target for his
arrows.
13 He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver.
(Have you ever looked at God and He seemed to be your
enemy. You cry for deliverance and
your life falls deeper into the pit. His arrow seems to be
pointed at you, and only you. How could
a Loving God of mercy be so cruel?)
14 I became the laughingstock of all my people; they
mock me in song all day long.
(Have your best friends turned against you, mocked you
for your stand, criticized your beliefs,
condemned your walk and exposed your faults? They ignore all
the good that you have done
and they will never be satisfied until they have brought
you down below them.)
15 He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me
with gall.
(Have you ever been filled with bitterness and wonder
if God would leave you because of it?
Have you ever spoke out of this pain and hated
yourself for the bitterness? You look for a sweet
pleasant spirit and find bitter herbs.)
16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; he has trampled
me in the dust.
17 I have been deprived of peace; I have forgotten
what prosperity is.
(Have you ever been to the place where you could not
find any peace? Where your bills kept stacking
up and you could see no solution in sight? Everything you
would do to bring yourself out of this
mess only ended in more problems.)
18 So I say, "My splendor is gone and all that I
had hoped from the LORD."
(Your ministry, your respect, your friends, and your
revelation… it is all gone. Your life is thrown to the
side and your hope is now consumed in the distress of this
trial.")
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the
bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast
within me."
The
third cup
Seeing the Father's hand holding the cup.
John 18:10, 11, "Then Simon Peter, who had a
sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right
ear. Jesus commanded Peter,
"Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given
me?" NIV
Have you seen the cup in His hand yet? The cup is not
in your hand. Stop trying to control it, it is beyond
your control. The loving Father has a greater joy for you beyond your cross.
You cannot knock the cup out of His hand and you cannot pull it away from you
lips. You cannot spit it out, you must drink it. God is praying that your faith
will not fail. He has brought this cup to you because He knows that you are His
and He is going to use you for something special.
The cup of pain becomes for you a cup of pleasure and
joy.
Heb 12:1-2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith, who forthe joy set
before him endured the cross.." NIV
Jeremiah
sees the Father's hand on the cup.
Lamentations :
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not
consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your
faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to
the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the
LORD…..
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both
calamities and good things come?
39 Why should any living man complain when punished
for his sins?
40 Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us
return to the LORD. NIV
Job
saw the Lord after he had drank his cup.
Job 42:5,6, "I have
heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I
retract, And I repent in dust and ashes." NASU
God does not chasten everyone, only His sons. For
those that He would draw closer to Himself and for those He would use to do
greater works must learn to fly in the storm.
Blessed is the man who doesn’t find a way of escape
from his trials. Many are the Christians who escape the back door during the
time of testing and rejecting.
The Lord is our refuge, our peace, our hope, our
salvation, our strength, our life…. He is our everything.
Find God in your trial and don’t flee it to find peace.