Cup of Discipleship!
(Mat 20:20 KJV) Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. (Mat 20:21 KJV) And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. (Mat 20:22 KJV) But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. (Mat 20:23 KJV) And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. (Mat 20:24 KJV) And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. (Mat 20:25 KJV) But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. (Mat 20:26 KJV) But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; (Mat 20:27 KJV) And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: (Mat 20:28 KJV) Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
In this sermon outline we point out the suffering of Jesus in accepting the PERFECT WILL OF THE FATHER. In this, we also can see what it takes to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. All disciples are believers but not all believers are disciples. There is a Believer's Cup, a Baptism that yields our will to God's Will for our lives. We list what five of those ingredients are that make us a disciple.
I. Go back 2,000 years to the Garden where Jesus prayed. Note HE how prayed.
A. He was faced with a Cup. We do not see it but He did.
1. What there was in the Cup was not easy to drink. (Accept)
2. It caused Him great agony of Spirit.
3. His flesh did not want to drink (accept) it.
B. We can thank God that He did accept it, by doing so He accepted Calvary.
C. He took the Cross for you and I.
1. He took our sins on Himself.
2. He shed His blood for our sins.
3. He died in our place.
4. Praise God He rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father.
II. When He drank the Cup, He accepted the Father's Will for Him.
A. When we are willing to drink the Cup we then will accept God's Will for our lives.
III. What if we had a time machine and could go back 2,000 years to the garden.
If we could look over the shoulder of Jesus into the cup and see what He saw in that spiritual cup?
A. However, first remember it was James and John's mother who requested that her two boys would set on His right and left in the Kingdom.
1. It surprised Jesus.
2. He asked if they could drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism He would be baptized with.
3. They said yes.
4. He said they would be, but the positions of seats were not His to give, but the Father in heaven.
IV. Five Ingredients that were in the cup that make a disciple if we are willing to drink it.
A. Intercessory prayer.
1. Jesus is our example of a person of prayer. Often He withdrew Himself to pray.
2. In the Garden He prayed so fervently that He swept drops of blood.
3. If we are going to be more than just a believer and be a disciple, we must also have a life of intercessory prayer.
B. A life of compassion.
1. Jesus lived a life of compassion.
2. Pity is not compassion.
a. Pity just feels bad.
b. Compassion does something.
c. Jesus moved with compassion and did something about it.
(Mat 14:14 KJV) And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
(Mat 15:32 KJV) Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.
C. Life of giving.
1. Jesus gave His all.
2. A disciple is willing to give even his life.
D. Bear the shame and reproach of the cross.
(Heb 13:13 KJV) Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
Galatians 3:13 (KJV) Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
1. Some believers are ashamed to pray over their food in a café.
a. One old preacher once said, "A dog wags his tell over his food, a pig grunts, but what does man do?"
E. The actual suffering of Christ.
1. He paid the supreme price for us.
2. Disciples in many lands today are suffering for the cause of Christ because they have accepted the cup of discipleship.
3. To drink the cup is to seek and accept the Perfect Will of God.
4. The perfect Will of God is not always what we want.
(Rom 7:19 KJV) For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
V. In conclusion: If we will drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism of discipleship we must be willing to seek God, find His Will and be willing to follow it.
A. He did not tell the early disciples that they could not but that they would and they did.
B. May God help all of us to drink the cup and follow Jesus with all our hearts. This baptism is not water baptism, Spirit baptism or baptism into the Body of Christ. (Church). It is the WILL of GOD!
God bless you and yours!
