The Cup That He Drank

In this challenging message regarding the cost of discipleship, Chuck Swindoll draws a sharp distinction between being a believer and being a disciple. While conversion is the “miracle of a moment,” becoming a saint is the “task of a lifetime” that involves a painful but necessary process of crushing [11–12]. Swindoll explains that while many are in the large circle of God’s family, fewer choose to enter the “inner circle” of discipleship, where one learns to denounce lesser loyalties and submit entirely to the Father’s will.

The sermon anchors this teaching in Luke 9 and John 18, contrasting the way Peter handled pressure with the way Jesus handled it. When the mob arrived to arrest Jesus, Peter reacted in the flesh, drawing his sword to fight. Jesus, however, commanded him to put the sword away, asking, “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”. Swindoll uses this imagery to ask listeners if they are still “cutting off ears” in their stubbornness or if they are willing to accept the cup—the specific, often difficult, will of God for their lives.

Swindoll concludes by outlining four principles for the disciple: for every disciple, there is a purpose; with every purpose, there is a cup (often bitter); in every cup, there is pain; and through every pain, there is a victory to claim. He urges believers to stop running from the cross and to embrace the “robing room of royalty,” which is found in humble submission to God’s plan [57–66].

Message Key Facts:

• The “Impossible” Person: Swindoll opens with a quote from Dr. Alan Redpath: “When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes an impossible person and crushes him.” This crushing is necessary because becoming like Christ is a painful process of breaking the human will [10–11].
• Believer vs. Disciple:
  • Believer: A person rightly related to God through faith. This is a secure, sealed position that cannot be lost [17–18, 20].
  • Disciple: A believer whose commitment has grown into a deep desire to obey regardless of consequences, sacrifice, or cost.
• Three Requirements of Discipleship (Luke 9):

1. Deny Self: Dethroning selfishness to make Christ the ruling passion of existence.
2. Take Up the Cross Daily: A deliberate decision to abandon personal preferences and live with the pain that obedience entails.
3. Follow Him: To emulate Jesus and obey Him, even when it involves risk or the unfamiliar [27–30, 35].

• The Sword vs. The Cup: In John 18, Peter represents the natural human reaction: fighting back to get one’s way (the sword). Jesus represents divine submission: accepting the difficult circumstance because it comes from the Father (the cup). Swindoll notes that many Christians spend their lives “taking the sword out of the sheath” to defend their own space [48–51].
• The Traffic Illustration: Swindoll humorously illustrates the “sword” mentality using traffic. When a driver refuses to let another car merge because “that’s my space,” they are acting out of depravity and self-will, illustrating how difficult it is to yield rights in daily life [49–50].
• Swindoll’s Personal “Cups”: He shares personal examples of drinking the “cup,” including the resistance he felt moving his family to California and later back to Dallas, as well as the tragic loss of a stillborn daughter during his seminary years [52–56, 61].
• George Matheson: Swindoll closes with the example of George Matheson, a blind preacher and hymn writer who ministered for 40 years in darkness. Matheson taught that the “place of thy prostration… has ever been the robing room of royalty,” proving that God’s greatest victories often come from the “cold ground” of suffering [63–66].

Message References:

• Luke 9:22–24: The call to discipleship: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
• John 18:1–11: The narrative of Jesus’ arrest in the garden, Peter striking Malchus, and Jesus accepting the cup.
• John 18:11: The central question of the sermon: “The cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”
• Romans 5:8: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
• Romans 15:4: “Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort from the scriptures might have hope.”
• 1 John 5:11–12: “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
• Acts 16:31: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”

Message Speaker:

Pastor Chuck Swindoll