Four Cups, Week 1: The Cup of Sanctification

THE CUP OF SANCTIFICATION   1.  Help you identify where you are on the journey   2. Help you move to you next step on the journey   The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 (NLT)   When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable.   We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us… Hebrews 6:17-20(MSG)   A life of fulfillment is not based entirely what YOU do, but what GOD promised.    ...If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31 (NIV)   God is not a man, so he does not lie.  He is not human, so he does not change his mind.  Has he ever spoken and failed to act?  Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19 (NLT)   For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NLT)   “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God…” Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV)   The Four Cups – God’s PROMISES for your life.   1. I Will Bring You Out.    The Cup of Sanctification – SALVATION   “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God…” Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV)   2. I Will Free You.    The Cup of Deliverance – FREEDOM   “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God…” Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV)   3. I Will Redeem you.    The Cup of Redemption – RESTORATION   “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.  I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God…” Exodus 6:6-7 (NIV)   4. I Will Take You As My Own People.   The Cup of Praise – FULFILLMENT   By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. 2 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT)   The Cup of Sanctification   Sanctification = to be set aside   “At some point we’ve all found ourselves in bondage to something, living common lives with no purpose.  We’ve settled for less, resigned ourselves to mediocrity, and started to believe we’re nothing special.  This path always leads to slavery – which is a life we were never intended to live.” – Pastor Chris Hodges   Slavery = submission to a dominating influence   It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this. Titus 3:3-11 (MSG)   The desire to set people free is central to God’s heart.   For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:10 (NLT)   If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. Romans 10:8-10 (NLT)   1. Make the Move    But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 (NLT)   2. Let it Go    “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? Mark 8:34-37 (MSG)   3. Commit Your Life    But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!  Romans 8:10-11 (MSG)   Big Idea: God’s plan for your life has never changed… He wants to rescue you.  He wants to exchange your old life for a new one!   “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)