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All right, we're in Matthew chapter number 20 look down at your Bibles at verse number 20 it says here then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons worshipping him and Desiring a certain thing of him and he said unto her what wilt thou she sayeth unto him Grant that these my two sons may sit the one in that right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom But Jesus answered and said ye know not what you ask Are you 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 and the title of the sermon this morning is can you handle it? Can you handle it now? What is taking place here in Matthew chapter number 20 in this portion of Scripture the story that we see here We see that James and John's mother come to Jesus to basically ask a petition That her two sons may be able to have this prominent position in the kingdom of heaven Okay, we can liken this unto obviously this may be referring to the millennial reign that when they are ruling and reigning with Christ that they would have these prominent positions on the right hand and on the left and Jesus doesn't rebuke him for it because I believe this is a good aspiration to have this is a good goal To shoot for right to be able to be honored and glorified You know in the millennial reign to have these prominent positions to attain this goal This is a righteous desire that they have and he specifically tells them in verse 22, you know, he basically says hey Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? So in other words, he's saying in order for you to attain to such positions in the kingdom of heaven and the millennial reign You have to drink of that same cup that I'm gonna drink up and you have to be baptized with the same baptism that I'm Gonna be baptized with now, what is he specifically referring to there? Well, he's referring to his sufferings. Okay In other words, he's saying are you willing to suffer and go through the sufferings that I'm gonna go through? And are you willing to basically be baptized with that suffering drink of the cup of that suffering? So on and so forth and in fact go to Matthew chapter number five if you would Matthew chapter number five I'm gonna read to you from 2nd Timothy 2 12 It says if we suffer we shall also reign with him if we deny him He will also deny us. We often think that in order to be rewarded in the coming Life, whether it's in the millennial reign or in heaven when we're gonna be rewarded by God that we only have to win souls and by the way, that's a big part of it right a big part of the reward that we're gonna receive when we Get to heaven or when we go to the millennial reign that we're gonna be winning people the people we went to Christ now That's how we're gonna our rewards are gonna be based off of but that's not the only thing Okay, you know obviously Soul-winning plays a major role in that receiving of those rewards But there's other things that we can do obviously to win the rewards as well. Look at verse number 10 This is blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are ye when men shall revile you and Persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad For great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted a the prophets which were before you So we see here that it's not just a matter of sowing that you can attain these rewards And in fact when you revile when you are persecuted when you are suffering when you are being afflicted by this world The Bible says that great is your reward in heaven, by the way, it has to be for righteousness sake, right? The Bible tells us that yea all that will live in godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution So in other words anytime you seek to live a godly life you seek to obey the Word of God To walk in the steps that Jesus walked you will receive a level of persecution in this lifetime And it doesn't necessarily have to be for the gospel sake now yesterday brother Marcos and some of the guys were in Ontario and they received Some persecution they got the cops called on them, you know for going out soul-winning and stuff like that And they're gonna receive rewards for that. Amen But here's the thing that's not the only rewards that people will receive in this lifetime What even if it's not for persecution for the gospel sake what if it's just persecution because you just believe the Bible Or you you're living like a Christian people don't like that It goes against the grain of our culture and people begin to persecute you and revile you because of that So he's specifically referring to the sufferings that he's going to experience and look James and John We're not going to experience those same sufferings to that extent You know, Jesus Christ was forsaken of his father when he was on the crowd on the cross, right? He not only that but he was baptized with fire. What does that mean? The Bible tells us what is it that he ascended but that he first descended into the lower parts of the earth He said as Jonas was three days and three nights in the well's belly So shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth And what is he referring to? He's referring to the fact that when he died on the cross his soul descended to hell to pay for our sins Now the Bible tells us that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption But he suffered that penalty. He suffered those afflictions for us now They were not gonna experience those same sufferings But you know what anybody who follows Christ will experience a level of affliction and suffering that is close to that Obviously not held but they will experience some sort of sufferings in that regard. They're gonna pay a price for following the Lord Let me say this there's always a price for following Christ, right, you know, it's not like you know Soon as you become a Christian and start living for the Lord, you know The Christian life is just a bed of roses where you're just gonna enjoy every single thing You know, there's always gonna be happiness and roses and daisies It doesn't work that way when you seek to live a godly life You will receive a level of affliction and there is a price that you have to pay The Bible says to deny yourself and to take up your cross, you know, the cross is not necessarily an instrument of joy It's an instrument of affliction. It's the instrument of death. Okay The price would be persecution reproaches and hatred towards them and he's basically telling them. Hey, can you handle it? Can you handle it right? Oh, you want a prominent position in the millennial reign great Can you handle it though handle what the persecution and the suffering that you're gonna have to experience in order to attain? That position in order to gain that reward. Are you able to handle those things? You know what they said we are able That's great. That's a great attitude, right? They counted the cost they saw what they were gonna have to go through and they said we are able Now one thing you will notice is that Jesus will often liken afflictions to drinking out of a cup And I'm not gonna get into the baptism of suffering that he experienced I'm gonna more focus on what he said in the first part of the statement, which is drink of the cup that I shall drink up and He will often or in the Bible drinking out of a cup is often referred to or like and unto the wrath of God For example, you know you see in the Old Testament when you read through the book of Jeremiah That he will give his people gall to drink right which is basically bitterness. It's the judgment It's affliction that's gonna come upon them And in fact even in job 2120 says his eyes Shall see his destruction and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty in Revelation chapter 14 it says the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God So this is often like in the drinking of a cup can be likened unto judgment affliction Suffering because that's what's being poured out upon a person who's the recipient of it now what I want to look at this morning is We're gonna look at each time. He mentions this towards the end of his life We're talking about our Savior Jesus Christ But I want to look at his disposition in each instance and how we can apply that to our personal lives, okay Now, why do we want to do that? Well because of the fact that we should walk as Jesus walked right and anytime he would make a statement Regarding something obviously there's a primary interpretation of that statement, but there's many applications that we can apply it to our lives This is how we live out these principles that we see in the Bible now Go with me if you went to Matthew chapter 26, Matthew chapter 26 Throughout your life you're going to experience hardships persecutions sufferings afflictions and Sometimes it's not even necessarily obviously for the gospel sake or because you're living a really godly life Maybe it's just because you're just experiencing a difficulty in your personal life You know for whatever reason it's just that season of life and you go through that difficulty and it's important to learn and to Be determined to be determined to be determined to be determined to be determined to be determined to be determined to be determined to overcome those difficulties because Unfortunately trials in our life can often take us out of church it can take us out of the will of God as we would say it can stop you from reading your Bible from praying from Depending on the Lord and it can get you sidetracked So we need to learn how to deal with trials and difficulties and it's appropriate manner so that we remain and we stay on the course Now look this sermon this morning is not gonna be a bombastic sermon So it's gonna take you some discipline to actually pay attention to what we're talking about here But you will use this in the future. I guarantee I promise you you will use these principles Okay, so, you know, we'll talk about fags some other time. We'll talk about you know, reverberate some other time let's get some some practical teaching here to teach you because you're gonna go through a difficult time and What good is it if you know all the right doctrines, but you do have no spiritual fortitude to overcome Difficulties in your personal life so you can stay the course, right? So, how do you handle or can you handle it? Okay, let me let's talk about a couple things here first and foremost Can you handle the drink of submission? Look at Matthew 26 verse 38. The first thing we're gonna look the instance that we're gonna look at It's probably the most popular one This is one that we can all probably quote from from the from heart It says in verse 38 of Matthew 26 then say it here unto them My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death Terry here and watch with me. Now. What is he referring to here? This is the night before his crucifixion and he knows he's gonna be crucified. He's know he's gonna bear the sins of the whole world He's gonna die The following day is gonna be crucified. He's gonna be delivered and His soul is exceeding sorrowful because of it I mean, this is a insurmountable task that Jesus Christ is gonna take upon himself The Bible says that he himself bore our own sins on his own body on the tree So every single sin that every single human being has ever committed from the beginning of time to the end of time he's gonna pay for every single one of those sins the wrath of God is gonna come upon him because he is our substitute and Therefore he's exceeding sorrowful because of it even though he's God He's still man and because of that he feels sorrow in his heart because he knows he's gonna be forsaken of his father Okay In fact when he hung on the cross he said my god my god, why is thou forsaken me? I mean God literally turned his back on Jesus Christ Because he became sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him And it says in verse 39 He went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible Let this cup pass from me and nevertheless not as I will but as thou will this is very powerful and It's a strong proof to show that the Godhead is made up of three different people, right? Why because we see first and foremost we see two wheels We see the will of the Father and we see the will of the Son the will of the Son saying You know that he wants this cup to pass from him He's not necessarily looking forward to the affliction and the sufferings that he's going to experience But what do we see here? We see that Jesus Christ in his? Humanity even in his godliness said this not my will but thine be done. So what do we see we see Jesus Christ? Submitting himself to the will of his father, right? This is the drink of submission and If you study the life of Christ, you will see that it is characterized by submission You know, he submitted to his earthly authorities. Did he not his parents? We see that in Luke chapter 2 when he's when he told his parents, you know I must be about my father's business And then later on he the Bible tells us that he went down with him and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart You see even God himself Jesus Christ God in the flesh was willing to submit to his earthly authorities as parents, right? what is that for it's an example to us as Children who have parents that hey, we need to submit to our parents as well Okay submit to our God-given authority you said well my parents aren't Christian they're not godly they don't read the Bible They don't believe like I believe doesn't matter You know you were supposed to submit to them before you became a Christian You're supposed to submit to them after you became a Christian and before they became Christians and even after they become Christians Right at all times why because that is the order of things we need to have this attitude in this position of Submission to our earthly authorities our parents obey your parents at all things for this is right in the Lord Now he was not only submitted to his earthly authority as parents But even to a certain extent he was he was submissive to his governmental authority If you think about it Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars and render unto God the things which which be God's and even in Matthew 17 verse 27 says notwithstanding lest we should offend them go down to the sea and cast and hook and Take up the fish that first cometh up and when thou has opened its mouth thou shalt find a piece of money Take that and give unto them for me and thee now There's opposite There's extremes to each side of this point is there not you have the anarchists and say well We don't want to be a government authority at all you know They're just we don't believe in governmental authority But here's the thing the powers that be are ordained of God and the Bible does tell us that we need to submit ourselves To these governments as long as these governments don't Institute laws that contradict the Word of God These anarchists want to just even buck that even when it's in working in tandem with the Bible Even when it's not contradicting the Word of God they want to buck that that's not the type of attitude we want to have Okay We want to make sure that we follow his example by submitting to governmental authority now if they tell us we can't preach the gospel Anymore then you know at that point Screw that we're gonna keep preaching the gospel we're gonna keep doing what we're supposed to be doing because of the fact that we're supposed to submit ourselves to the higher power and The highest power in the land the highest power in this world in our lives is the Word of God is Jesus Christ It's God himself so when he commands us to do something and the government says no you can't do that Well, we got to obey God rather than man at that point. Okay. He submitted himself to governmental authority He submitted himself to spiritual authority He came to John the Baptist to be baptized of him and John the Baptist forbade him saying I have need to be baptized The V and cometh out to me and Jesus entering sentence him suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfill All righteousness then he suffered him and go with me if you went to first Peter chapter number two first Peter chapter number two, so we see that Jesus Christ had a disposition of Submission throughout his life which culminated To his submission to the will of his father when he was gonna bear the sins of the whole world upon his own body This is a very difficult task Now The Bible tells us let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Who being in the form of God thought of not robbery to be equal with with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found fashion found in fashion as A man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross So what he's telling us here the Apostle Paul and Philippians he's saying hey Let that mind be in you That same submission and obedience that Jesus Christ had even to the death of the cross is the same submission That you should have in your mind as well. Okay To be obedient unto death you see no Christian should be characterized by rebelliousness or being self-willed, right? We should desire to obey the Word of God, but not just that obey the ordinances that God has set forth We should desire to submit ourselves one to another and even at some time sometimes allow ourselves to be defrauded Right if we're wrong now look at first Peter chapter 2 verse 13 It says submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake Whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers And for the praise of them that do well for so is the will of God What is the will of God to submit right that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as? Free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God, you know there's people out there who claim to believe the Bible and They are so rebellious towards any government they didn't want to come to church You know why because they don't want some pastor telling them what to do They don't want to submit to an authority. They want to join some house church where there's five pastors Right where they they could be a pastor as well where they could be part of the leadership as well Why because they're despisers of governments. That's why they can't handle someone being the authority and I guarantee you these same people don't have jobs Why because in order to have a job you have to have a what a boss Telling you what to do Yelling at you when you don't do it humbling you when you you know, don't fulfill the job I Don't like that. Well, you know, then you don't have you're not willing to drink up a cup of submission Don't tell me you're willing to die for Christ Don't tell me you're willing to go through the Great Tribulation the great, you know The last 70 days of trip of Great Tribulation when you're not even willing to submit to your own boss When you're not even willing to submit to your parents when you're not even willing to drink the cup of submission And just the regular day-to-day tasks and the things that got to set forth in your personal life All of these little things culminate to what you will submit to later on in the future To whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required he that is faithful and little shall be faithful and much But the same goes for the opposite look what it says in verse number 17 honor all men Love the Brotherhood fear God honor the king Servants this is employees Be subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the floor What does that mean? Hey, oh, I don't like my job. You know, my boss is to me. He's not a Christian You know, I just I can't get along with my boss. I can't work here anymore. He's just a reprobate You know, he's just no he's not a reprobate. He just cusses you out because you can't do a good job You're just too soft So you think anybody who cusses you out is a reprobate right and you're just looking for a reason to quit your job That's what it is Here it says that we need to submit ourselves Not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward What does that mean the boss who's just mean and he's just riding you all the time He gets on you the Bible tells us here that we need to be subject unto them You know your boss the one who's paying you the one who's? Putting food on your table by via paying you you need to submit to that and not get all overly sensitive when they get on you, okay With all fear Fear your boss. Amen Don't disrespect them Look at verse 19 for this is thank-worthy if a man for conscience toward God endured grief suffering wrongfully He said look this is this is actually the task. That's very difficult to do. This is thank-worthy This is honorable when you're willing to suffer wrongfully when your boss is getting on you Maybe for something you didn't do he blames you for what some other employee does and you suffer for it But you pay for it and you take it like a man. This is think worthy he says By The way God sees it And you know, God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love He's not unrighteous, you know, and he's not he's gonna reward you even when you suffer wrongfully It says in verse 20 for what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently. This is acceptable with God He's basically saying hey if you can't even handle when your boss gets on you for some little thing What makes you think you're gonna handle when the Antichrist comes for you? You know what I mean when he's persecuting you For righteousness sake if you can if you if that was run with the footmen and they have weirdly How can't thou contend with the horses? If you can't even handle the smallest of sufferings and afflictions, how do you think you're gonna handle the biggest ones? Okay now He's using Christ as an example of this because when we think of Christ suffering, you know We automatically think of persecution But this principle can be applied all across the board because this is talking about jobs Right a boss an employee etc. And look what he says in verse 21 for even here until where he called because Christ Also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps who did no sin neither was guile found in his Mouth who when he was reviled reviled not again when he suffered he threatened not but committed himself to him that judgeth Righteously who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that we being dead to sins Should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed what he's saying take the example of Christ You know when you feel like complaining about your job because your boss is getting on you. He's being unrighteous with you Just keep in mind that Jesus Christ suffered greatly He suffered reviling and persecutions far greater than yourself take him into account Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith when these things happen to you So the sufferings of Christ should allow us to apply this even in a small matter such as our jobs or any type of Persecution that may not even have to do with the Word of God Okay, it's just in our day to day life. But what is this teaching us? It's teaching us that we need to learn how to submit if Jesus Christ was willing to submit to sinners To sinners right to the ordinances of a man who are sinners we can do the same as well Okay, and look there's nothing worse than a self righteous self-willed Christian who will not be who's not willing to take any instructions any Reprovement who can't take any rebuke. These are the kind of people who are despisers of government. Okay The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5 21 submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God Go to 1st Peter chapter 5. I'm gonna read to you from Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17 Can you turn on the AC there? It's getting kind of warm in here It says in verse 17 of Hebrews 13 obey them to have the rule over you and submit yourselves For they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that Is unprofitable for you So he's saying look anybody who has the rule over you you need to submit yourselves unto them and look if you're in this church And you're like man. I just don't know if I can respect you pastor. Hey, I'm okay with that then go somewhere else That's the answer why would you stay in a place? Well, you can't respect the leader There's people out there like that where they literally don't respect the pastor. They don't respect this preaching. They don't like him in Some instances they think he's like unsaved and yet they remain there It's insanity If you don't like me I'm fine with that come and tell me I'll be like look here's another church you can go to It's nice and lukewarm for you. You know, you know Goldilocks principle, right? Where's where's Jordan? He talked about the Goldilocks principle if this is if that church is too cold and this one's too hot We'll get you we'll get one for you. There's nice nice and looking lukewarm Okay, where you can go and you can submit to that weakling of a pastor. He'll do anything you tell him to do You know as long as you keep tithing you give to that church, you know He he'll preach all kinds of sermons you want that you want to hear and all that stuff But you know what at the end of the day if you can't respect the leader, then you can't you shouldn't be here Okay If you are constantly thinking that the leader is unqualified Or you have a problem with the leader go somewhere else because the leadership is not going to change You must change but honestly at the end of the day. It's just a matter of being self-willed It's a matter of not liking authority It's a matter of not being willing to drink of the cup of submission Which is a cup that we need to drink on a daily basis Whether you know when we wake up we submit to the Word of God by reading it we submit by prayer We submit to our parents wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, right? Drink that cup of submission on a daily basis We live in a society where that's not popular where you know feminism is at an all-time high and Feminism is of the devil because it tries to teach people teach ladies to be independent from their husbands from their dads This is wicked The Bible tells us the submission is a godly trait not just of a man but also of a woman if she's willing to submit Herselves unto her own husband. This is right in the sight of the Lord. In fact, look at 1st Peter 5 verse 5 says likewise Ye younger submit yourselves unto the elder Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with Humility for God resisted the proud and giveth grace unto the humble So what does this verse tell us the person who is unwilling to submit is the person who is proud? The person who submits is the person who is humble. They're clothed with humility. They can be told what to do They can be given instructions and is it any coincidence that because Jesus Christ submitted himself Was obedient unto death he has a name above every other name He was exalted to the highest position wife because he was clothed with humility he was the example of what it is to drink of the cup of submission The Bible says in 2nd Peter 2 10 but chiefly them that walk after the flesh and the lust of uncleanness and Despise government presumptuous are they self-willed? They are not afraid to speak evil of Dignities, so what's another character trait of a person who is self-willed they speak evil of dignities they disrespect Authority that just shows that they are self-willed that they don't want to submit They don't want to drink of that cup of submission. This is something we got to work on on a daily basis and Conscientiously make that decision. You know what? I need to submit today. Okay. Hey those of you on teams. Amen When your team leader corrects you don't bucket Right don't say, you know, I don't think you know I'm gonna still do it this way. No matter what anyway, I know I know what I'm talking about It's always worked for me. Why don't you just submit to your authority? Take that correction and actually improve, right? The person who's unwilling to adhere to that instruction You know are not people who are clothed with humility. They're prideful is what they are They're unwilling to admit that they're wrong in a certain area, you know, if we're gonna improve as Christians We always need to be drinking out of that cup of submission go to John chapter 18 if you would John chapter 18 Hey, can you handle it? Can you handle it? When the cup of submission is given to you and On a daily basis when you're when your husband comes to you with the cup of saying hey do this Are you able to drink of that cup or you're like, I can't have this This is this is too much for me You know when your boss comes and he gives you instructions and he just kind of humiliates you in front of the employees because you Did a bad job and he gives you that cup of submission. Can you drink out of that? You know when the pastor comes and rebukes you or instructs you from the pulpit maybe hits on your sin Are you able to drink of that cup? If not, you know, you're not going to succeed in a Christian life If not, you're not gonna have a good ending of your life because our lives should be characterized by submission Okay, can you handle it? The second thing here is we're gonna look at is can you handle the drink of determination? Look what John 18 verse 7 says it says then asked he them again whom seek ye and they said Jesus of Nazareth Jesus answered I have told you that I am he if therefore you seek me let these go their way That the saying might be fulfilled which he spake of them which thou gavest me have I lost none Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear The service name was Malchus Then said Jesus unto Peter put up thy sword into thy sheath the cup which my father hath given me Shall I not drink it then the band and the captain of the offices of the Jews took Jesus and bound him Look, I like Peter. Okay, that's a good man right there That's a man who just like at the drop of a hat just took out a sword and just cut the dude's ear off And look, let me just say this People don't just cut people's ears off They're not precise like that. You said what was he trying to do? He's trying to cut that guy's head off Right. He what he probably did is try to swing for his head the guy ducked and he sliced off his ear Peter's that's the kind of church member with those kind of church members we like Amen Those guys, you know who who will chop a head off, you know but Jesus Tells him. Hey He's by the way. Jesus allows him to do it because he could have stopped him, you know, he's like chops his head. All right, you know The cup which my father has given me shall I not drink it now Obviously this cup is still referring to the suffering that he's going to experience in the coming hours But this shows you that he was determined to fulfill that Because look go to matthew chapter 26. Let's look at a parallel passage to this matthew 26 He says put up thy sword into thy sheath which by the way is a sword that jesus told him to have right He says take two swords when they had to or take a sword and then when he when he when he brought two swords He says it is enough Why is two swords enough because you can only handle one sword per hand, amen Look at matthew 26 verse 51 and behold one of them which were with jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword Instructed a servant of the high priest and smote off his ear Then said jesus unto him put up again thy sword into its place into his place for all they that take the sword Shall perish with the sword thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father And he shall presently give me more than 12 legions of angels But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be what does he say he's like i'm not helpless here right He could literally just call out angels and just destroy everyone He can just one angel Could just smite the entire camp and just kill thousands of people And we're I mean, this is the king, right? Jesus christ the king could easily just call out these angels. They just come down and just destroy them in the worst way possible Right to make an example But he said this Shall I not drink it? In other words i'm determined to fulfill this prophecy no matter what happens no matter how difficult how? Hurtful how painful this experience is going to be i'm just going to be determined just to fulfill it no matter what And it's not because i'm hopeless I can do something about this, but i'm not going to because I want to fulfill The scriptures so what is what is it? He possessed a sense of fortitude is what it is. Okay? And this is something also that characterizes ministry the bible says in john 4 34 Jesus said unto them my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work, right? He's determined to fulfill the will of god no matter how problematic or difficult it was for him now How do we apply this to our lives? Well, you know In the christian life there's going to be a lot of difficulties is there not Maybe you're going to receive opposition from your family because you're living a godly life Maybe you're going to get criticized or reproach Maybe your husband doesn't like the fact that you are a christian or vice versa Your wife doesn't like the fact that you're so all in these are the afflictions that come upon you These are the painful Experiences that you're going to have in this lifetime and you know what those can easily take you out of the will of god Can they not especially when they come from your family from your dad or your mom or your your wife or your husband? And they reproach you they mock you they guilt trip you Right for living a godly life for being a christian and that you could easily just be like, well, you know what? Just forget it all then I'm, just not gonna i'm not gonna go to church. I'm not gonna read my Bible. I'm not gonna go soul-winning I'm not gonna try to live righteously because this affliction is too much for me Well, you know what the bible tells us if thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small Right We need to have the same determination as jesus christ to say hey, you know what? This cup which my father hath given me shall I not drink it? As difficult as the situation may be and by the way, you can probably just get out of church Listen to the sermons on youtube alleviate your conscience read your bible on a daily basis And you probably be fine with that and your husband or your wife will probably be fine with that But you know what? Why don't you just be determined to do that? Which is difficult Even in spite of difficulties, right? Don't take the easy way out take the hard way out drink the cup That life has presented to you drink the cup of difficulties don't have this attitude that you just this quitter mentality right Where you just on the drop of a hat you just quit No, we need to be strong in the lord and in the power of his might, okay We need to make sure that we have a sense of fortitude that when difficulties come by emotional difficulties You know trials come our way that we can just plow through that and look Even receive pain it may not even receive the reward this this side of eternity Because look there's times in marriage Where maybe the spouse one spouse is saved one spouse is not And the spouse never returns or the spouse never gets saved the spouse never supports the other spouse And they may end their life that way You may have to end your life that way There's times when there is no happy ending per se this side of eternity Obviously, there's a happy ending when you go to be with the lord When god shall wipe away all of your tears when god shall reward you for taking those persecutions But you know what just be determined to drink that cup anyways Good the blessing of the lord it maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow to it You may receive sorrow in this life this side of eternity. You might cry yourself to sleep You might feel sorrow and pain, but just remember this is that god will abundantly reward you one day Just be determined say man. This is hard. I hate this. I'm sorry. Why can't I just live a life of joy? I see so many people that are just happy. Well, you know what? Maybe this is your law in life And if it's your law in life just drink the cup This is your grande cup This is your tall cup. This is the cup that god has given to you. This is the cup that you have drink up Can you handle it? Because here's the thing if you choose not to drink the cup if you choose not to go through the afflictions you receive nothing Not only in this lifetime But in the life to come Obviously if you're saved you're saved you get eternal life and that's the best thing but you know These difficulties could have been an avenue for you to receive rewards and blessings and to be honored of god But it requires you To be determined. Okay, and look How does it what can we do to to to to build up determination and fortitude? I'll be honest with you coming to church helps with that I know that sounds basic, but it's true You know, the bible says to exhort one another daily right and it's in the same passage in the same book when it talks about You know forsaking not the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is and so much the more as you see the day approaching so because why because when you come to church, you're just You know, you're you're the weight of the world is on your shoulders You've been going through a tough time this week. You received a lot of persecution But when you come to church you get edified with the fellowship You get your face ripped off in the pulpit who doesn't like a good face ripping every once in a while You get a facial A spiritual facial when you come to church and you leave energized you leave, you know edified You leave and you say, you know, I can make it for one more week And look sometimes that's how it is. Sometimes some people are just hanging by a thread sometimes and they go through a season When they're just hanging by a thread. Well, you know what will keep you on that thread It's just coming to church making sure you apply the preaching making sure you fellowship you sing the hymns you Live as godly as you possibly can and then you know what when this season is over You'll become that much more stronger when you come out of that season. Okay, but you have to be determined. You can't quit don't quit Don't just throw in the towel. Don't be a quitter. Don't be a person where your strength is just small. Okay Go to matthew chapter 27 So we see the drink of submission We see the drink of determination. Hey, can you handle it? Maybe a small cup but you know what there's a lot of pain in this cup Are you able to just drink it? Okay, you know the other couple weeks ago These guys were eating hell peppers or whatever those those are called the hell chili peppers the figure the fingernails of satan And like five of them were here and they all just took it now every single one of them reacted differently But they all took it, right? You know you have i'm not gonna say who who who he is but he's sitting to my right and his name is john You know, he's just like Sweating great as it were great drops of blood And he's just like twitching and just contorting his body and stuff, you know, but he handled it But then you have like damion Damian took those hot chili peppers and he's just like as just look at him right now. That's exactly how he looked So Because it's as high as it gets hot Does it hurt? Yeah, it hurts a little bit. Yeah, it hurts. It's just completely normal, you know By the way, who cares how you take it? Just take it. Amen The cups that god gives to you. Look if you weep that's okay And am I weak because I I I weep over these afflictions. No God gave us tears. Amen And that's a way to deal with difficulties now look I will say this is that you should not be characterized by always weeping He's just like What happened? I spilled something It's just like this emotional roller coaster But it is okay to cry. It's okay to weep And in fact the bible tells us to weep with them that weep right to have empathy towards them That are afflicted that are going through a tough time The drink of submission the drink of determination. Hey, can you handle the drink of temperance? Look at matthew 27 verse 33 And when they were coming to the place called goggatha that is to say a place of a skull They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall And when he had tasted thereof he would not Drink now, this is very interesting We're going to look at the parallel passage in mark mark 15 if you can turn there hold your place there in matthew 27 We're going to go to the parallel passage as well in in mark chapter 15 So it says that they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall And when he tasted thereof, he would not drink now this goes to show us that you can taste something without actually consuming it, right? Now what is the significance of this Well, obviously vinegar is something that's very bitter and gall is like in a synonym of gall would be bitterness You see that throughout the bible, you know The gall of bitterness and it's often something that's described as being bitter, okay now Think about this because death for example is a bitter thing You think of agag the king of the amalekites when he was spared by saul He thought that he he was off the hook, right? And he said oh the the bitterness of death is past And then and then uh, samuel comes and just cues him in pieces after that, right? But he talked about the the the bitterness of death. Why because death has a sting to it That is very difficult. It hurts, right? But I want you to notice in matthew 27 That what did jesus do he tasted thereof? Well, the bible tells us in hebrews 2 9, but we see jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death Crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of god should taste death For every man So just as he took the tasted of the vinegar mingled with gall that bitterness That was symbolic of the death that he was going to experience You know, he tasted death for every man. He died for us, right? But the bible says that he received it not why because though he died the bible tells us knowing that christ being raised from the dead dies no more Neither had death have dominion over him for in that he died he died into sin once but in that he liveth He liveth unto god the bible says so the significance that we see there is that though he tasted it He tasted death for us. He did not remain in the grave. Okay, he resurrected from the grave now How do we apply this to our personal lives? Well, let's look at that parallel passage in mark chapter 15 So remember in in matthew 27, he says the bible said that it gave him vinegar mingled with gall This is the parallel passage in verse 21 says and they compel one simon a sirenian Who passed by coming out of the country the follow father of alexander and rufus to bear his cross And they brought him into the place. Golgotha, which is being interpreted the place of a skull And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh, but he received it not why But he received it not so wine is often synonymous with vinegar because they're both fermented And gall can be characterized or excuse me myrrh can be characterized as being bitter Now what is myrrh? Well, it's a sap-like substance. It's a resin That actually is used in various ways. Okay It can be used for scented reasons you think of frankincense and myrrh Okay um for perfumes and incense But it's also actually even used in certain instances to flavor certain components And also for medicinal purposes to alleviate pain. Actually, it's used like that in modern days. Okay For medicinal purposes as an antiseptic or even just as a pain relief So if you're to ask me, what is it? What is the symbolic meaning of here? I would say that because he did not receive it This is like a temporal fix that they were trying to give to him in his agony in his pain The the vinegar mixed with gall which we know to be myrrh to kind of give him some immediate relief But what do we see he received it not? We could say it was the quick fix right and he received it not the bible says now How do we apply that to ourselves? Well, keep in mind that the bible says that in hebrews 12 2 looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross Despising the shame he didn't take the easy way out He was tempered and was willing to just suffer it at a ton of percent agony Just not taking the quick fix. Okay Now, how do we how do we apply that? Well, you know In our lives we're going to receive difficulties and you know what the temptation is to take the easy way out to look for the quick fix Let's give some examples here. You know, you're going through a difficult time. We're nearing christmas And sometimes during christmas people get a little depressed You know, they don't have family to spend it with or it reminds them of some event that took place in in times past Well, maybe they lost a loved one and they're going through a difficult time, right? And you know for some people the temptation is what drink alcohol Get get that quick fix smoke weed Do some sort of drugs that'll just give them that quick relief Of that emotional pain. Okay, but what does the bible tell us? It tells us this bread of deceit is sweet to a man But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel So, you know what? Yeah, you can have that quick fix of that alcohol Drinking that 40 or that wine or smoking that weed and you may have that temporary relief for that moment of time But afterwards thy mouth shall be filled with gravel So what should I do just drink the cup of temperance? You know when you're going through a difficult time this christmas here here's what you can do come to my house on the 24th Come eat some pumpkin pie with me Right come help me alleviate my conscience Because i'm eating sugar and eating pies and stuff. I need someone to do it with Okay You know, i'll eat it by myself, but it just feels better when someone else is sitting with me. Hey, man I'm, just kidding You know, how else can you do it? Well, sometimes you just got to bear with it Sometimes you just got to say you know what? I'm just not going to do it and there might not even be an alternative sometimes Maybe the alternative is just weeping and praying and reading your bible and just plowing through the season You know Don't take the easy way out don't take the vinegar and myrrh don't take the wine and and the gall Just take the pain sometimes and pain is good for us You know, it's it's it's discomforting It hurts, but you know what pain is good for you pain makes you a better person Pain helps you to get to the next level in your christian life. Okay The bible says to choose rather to suffer the afflictions with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season Well, you know I just during this time. I just want to call my friends because I feel like I ain't got no friends And I want to call my old girlfriend I want to call my old boyfriend and just try to rekindle just try to forget about my problems Why don't you just make friends here? I've got some good friends here. Amen Well, you know, I just you know, don't have anything to do on friday call glenn He'll take you so and he'll he'll find something for you to do Right Well on sunday night, I just I go home and i'm by myself then don't go home. Just stay here for a while We'll go on to eat by the time you get home you'll be so tired you don't have time to sin you just go to sleep right Do what you can But don't give in Don't drink the vinegar. Don't drink the myrrh You know you may taste thereof But don't accept it just say, you know, i'm just gonna take the cup. I'm just gonna drink it Because I know that this will make me a better person in the long run. You see In this life satan has counterfeits for everything. Does he not? You know, jesus said peace. I give I unto you not as the world giveth give I unto you So he's saying look there's two types of pieces in this world the peace that god gives which by the way passes all knowledge and understanding And then there's the piece of satan the piece of this world that is temporal It's the quick fix It's the quick high. It's the quick drunkenness But afterwards there's always a consequence there's always a feeling of guilt and you just come out the worst because of it Take what god gives you Take the trial that you're going through now and look sometimes it feels like well this trial feels like it's never going to end But there is an ending to these things is there not there's always an end to it And even if you suffer for this for the rest of your life you have eternal life So, you know that still has an end when's the end when you die? Can you handle it You know when when the cup comes to you this christmas of wine You know just drink your problems away And just drink your sorrows away Are you able to just say no? You know, this is not worth it. I'd rather just be sorrowful without the alcohol Okay, and by the way, don't people get more sorrowful when they drink Don't they become even worse? You know what I mean, don't they just get even more emotional when they drink, you know, you think of like the country songs and stuff they put on country songs about their dead dog and their barbecue stain and You know, there's their wife their sister left them or something You know or even in hispanic home is just like, you know, they put on this sad music and And it just makes them worse It's weird It's like you're doing this to help yourself But you obviously see that you're actually getting worse because of it Why not just take it soberly? Righteously Knowing that you're suffering for righteous and sake and that god loves you god You know favors you god's hand is upon you his face. His countenance is shining upon you You know, the bible says that jesus christ is acquainted with grief At least you're not alone. Amen Can you handle it so we see the drink of submission the drink of determination the drink of temperance Turn with me if you went to john chapter 19 Can you handle the drink of temporal bitterness temporal bitterness Or we could call it the cup of of cleansing the cup of purging Verse 29 of john chapter 19 parallel passages here says now there was set john 1929 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with the vinegar and put it upon hyssop And put it to his mouth when jesus therefore had received the vinegar He said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost now notice that in john chapter 19 There's a specific detail that's that's disclosed here that was not disclosed maybe in the previous passages is that they put it upon hyssop Now go to psalm 51 if you would psalm 51. What is hyssop? Well, hyssop is a plant And even today is still used for digestive and intestinal problems actually, okay So we could say it's something that actually purges you right And in fact, look at psalm 51 in verse number one. This is the psalm of david Where he is confessing unto the lord. He's getting right with god. He's repenting It says here in verse number one have mercy upon me. Oh god according to thy loving kindness according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me Against thee the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight That thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judges Behold, I will shape it in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me behold Thou desire's truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shall make me to know wisdom purge me with hyssop And I shall be clean wash me and I shall be wider Than snow So what do we see here? Well, jesus said in john 12 24 barely barely I say to you Accept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone But if it died it bringeth forth much fruit So when jesus took the vinegar and it was upon the hyssop, what was it? Dude, it was signifying the fact that the corn was dying But in his resurrection, he came back with power right in his resurrection. He basically Culminated everything and now we have the complete death burial and resurrection of jesus christ. He was raised again for our justification He was delivered for our offenses. Now. How do we apply this to ourselves? Well, when you're going through a difficult time a trial Just remember this it's there to purge you Often god allows a trial in our lives to expose our weaknesses so we can become better Right to purge us with hyssop To make us better to shed away all of the bad habits The bad, you know, uh attitudes that you may have the bad character flaws that god is trying to get rid of he's purging you To make you better You know don't I know you think you're all down in a bag of chips as a christian You know, I got everything under control. I i'm you know, I read my bio. Well, you know, there's still things that you need to work on Amen and god will often allow a trial in your life to show you how weak you really are To show you that you're not all that in a bag of chips, you're actually a bag of hot cheetos And if you think that's good, it's not Not at all It's really bad for you, right? You know You're actually not as good as you think you are You know what trials do they show you that? What is hot water? due to a bag of tea it just releases its It's it what what the bag contains, right? It releases the ingredients. It just shows you what's really inside the bag So when you're under heat, you're under fire. You're going through trials. You know what the trials do it just shows who you really are It just exposes your weaknesses for what they really are You're like, I don't like that. Well, then you're not going to grow You can't be purged with hyssop You can't produce much fruit Because in order to produce much fruit you have to be god has to clip away Those unsavory the the parts of you that he doesn't want in your life The attitudes that you have the bad habits that you have or just the ideologies that you might have in your in your mind You know god wants us to become better christians, but that happens as we shed as we go through the process of sanctification Okay You know the boiling water simply exposes the ingredients found in the tea bag And when you're going through a difficult time, just remember this this is like my hyssop This is like the hyssop that's going to purge me. It's going to make me better And if you're the person like well, how can you get better than this? Can't get any better than this Then this is what's going to be purged pride You know self-righteousness You're going to be shown that you don't know as much as you think you do Okay Because trials humble us is what they do And it helps us to realize god. I need you I need you. I need your comfort. I need your guidance. I need my church You know, i'm not as good as I thought I was and this is showing me, you know, how was How was uh, Nebuchadnezzar sanity brought back to him when he recognized? Who's the one who rules in the kingdom of men? It's when he realized it's god who gives me this kingdom not myself And then god restored him and I believe Nebuchadnezzar got saved obviously But even after that his kingdom was restored into him You know, his glory was returned unto him one like manner when we go through difficulties and trials How does god restore us? Yeah even make us better when we take that cup of purging we just drink it It hurts its difficulty. It's humbling but it's going to make us better in the long run Okay Here's the last one go to mark chapter 14 Mark chapter 14 So when we take all these cups we drink them all throughout our lifetime on a daily basis weekly basis monthly basis It leads to a drink of reward and look Rewards are incentives for us. Okay, they are often the motive why we do what we do. Okay When I was doing my keto diet, okay Throughout those couple of months three four months that I was doing it. I was always looking forward to thanksgiving I was like, I can't wait till thanksgiving And I was like, I can't wait till thanksgiving and christmas, you know, just like the food I was like, you know, i'm gonna abstain From eating specific foods because I know I have a reward i'm not gonna i'm not gonna reward myself with some lame mcdonald's cheeseburger Some lame trashy food i'm not gonna reward myself with gall And mer and vin i'm not gonna take the quick fix. I'm just gonna keep under my body bringing into subjection You know, i'm gonna make sure that I take the cup of temperance. Amen. But why what kept me on that path the reward? the reward Okay And i've been enjoying that reward for the last couple of weeks. Okay I've been pounding those rewards and enjoying it with the clear conscience, by the way You know a lot of people they they eat like that all the time and they're always feeling guilty He's like, oh man shouldn't be eating like this and just like this is bad. This is bad Not me me. I'm just like hey, I deserve this. This is what I work for. Amen And I can eat it with the clear conscience because I have what's called health reserves Okay, what are health reserves when you've been eating a certain way for a certain time and you're you built up this immunity You have this health reserve to be able to kind of splurge a little bit to enjoy Just for a season, okay So you're getting back on keto? Yeah. Yeah You're gonna you say when you'll know when I start like talking about it from the pulpit in january, okay Once it starts coming out You'll know What i'm saying is this we do these things because we want a reward at the end, right? Look at mark 14 verse 23 He says and he took the cup and when he had given things he gave it to them And they all drank of it and he said unto them This is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many verily. I say to you I will know more Of the fruit of the excuse me. I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day That I drink it new in the kingdom of god. He said this is the last cup i'm gonna have right here And what happened after that all the trials and difficulties going to the cross? suffering in hell going through the those those those difficult hours and days of just Burying the sins of the whole world and he says i'm not going to drink any more of this cup Until I drink it a new in the kingdom of god. What is that? That's the millennial reign by the way That's a long time from now, right? I mean millennial reign that's that's a long time But look he's basically saying like this is basically the last cup that i'm gonna have Because there's a reward waiting for me at the end of all these things, you know He he despised the shame and he looked forward to the glory that came when he would suffer You know for the sins of the whole world And that's an example to us that we should not be weary in well-doing for in due season We shall reap if We faint not we will receive a Reward the bible says in romans 8 18 for I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy Not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us So look when you look through all these different cups, you're like man i'm not looking forward to that Well, why don't you look forward to the cup of reward? That one day we will receive and by the way, we will receive it with christ, right? In the millennial reign when he gives us our rewards You're gonna look back and say man. It was worth it I'm glad I drank the cup of submission the cup of temperance the cup of bitterness I'm glad that I suffered and I was in agony and no man cared for my soul I'm glad during the times when I felt all alone and I knew that god had not forsaken me when I went through those difficult nights When I just felt alone Because now i'm drinking the cup of reward And now god has recompensed me For those difficult times, but you know, what's the sad thing is that these cups are given to people They just refuse them. They don't want to drink them and then they get to that millennial reign. They just don't get anything They look upon those who suffered righteously they look upon those who were afflicted enjoying that reward And they're not so what's the sermon today? It's simply this it's a practical sermon on just this Hey, can you drink of the cup? Can you be baptized with the baptism? Are you able can you handle these cups? You're going to be presented with these cups throughout throughout the life and you know what it may come in in the form of death Of a family member, right? Where you lose someone you love You know, are you able to handle it? And even if you feel like you don't just just drink it Just take it just plug your nose right You know, my wife gives my son These garlic drops just to kind of help his immunity and and like she gives it to him. He's just like He just takes it It's okay to take it like that, right? Just take it. You just squint you just ah, this is nasty, but you just you just take it What i'm saying is this that's how we need to take it Take it however, you want to take it, but make sure you drink the cup And when you get discouraged look forward to that cup of reward that you will receive one day. Amen Inspire heads and have a word of prayer father. We thank you for your word And we're thankful for the fortitude of christ That gave us this example I pray god that you'd help us to do so and Lord, i'm sure there's a trial coming around the way Some are going through one right now And I pray god that when that cup is presented to us that we would just drink it And be dependent upon you wait upon you to strengthen us I pray that lord you would um, give us the fortitude we need fill us with your power and your spirit To withstand in the evil day having done all to stand And I just pray that you would make us better because of it purge us remove all the impurities from our lives so we can be Vessels unto honor and meet for the master's use and we love you so much. Lord. We thank you Pray these things in jesus name. Amen