Welcome to today's inspiration. We are so excited that we get to come into your living room to bring you truth and the Word of God to help you, to guide you, to lead you, but more importantly, to help you come into a place of peace and love and joy and that there be an impartation that takes you from where you were to where you're going. Amen, amen. Let's open up in prayer.
Lord God, I thank You Lord Jesus for today, Lord God. I thank You Lord God for everyone that is watching and everyone that is not able to watch, Lord God. I thank You Lord God for them, Lord God. I pray, Lord God, that what we say today, Lord God, will go out through the airways and the bioways and the highways Lord God, I pray that it will be received.
Lord God, I pray that someone out there will hear this and it will maybe change their mind. In the direction that they're going, Lord God, I pray Lord God that You will use us and speak to us and pray Lord God that we say, Lord God, we come to You, Lord God, and we only hear what You say to us, do what You ask us to do and we obey Your voice. In Jesus name I pray, amen. Amen, amen.
What do you have for us today, Apostle? My message today and it actually is something that sometimes can be difficult for someone to accept. But I want to take and go to the text in Matthew 26, starting verse 36, and it says, Matthew 26, starting verse 36, then Jesus came with them to a place called Yosemite and said to disciples, sit here while I'll go and pray over there. So setting the table and setting the picture so you understand that as they went into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray.
And Jesus then instructed disciples to sit here and we're going to, and I'm going to go over there and pray. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. So He didn't just go by Himself, but He took with Him three people. So before I go any further, make sure that you have a inner core which would be at least three people.
Sometimes that's difficult to find, but Jesus had three people that He confided in, not just the whole 12, but He had the 12, but He had three in that He took apart from the 12 to create an inner core. So He took with Him further into the garden to pray. And He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Now if you understand the story as we're at now, He is facing the most difficult time of His life.
Understand that the Garden of Gethsemane is actually a olive garden. And in the midst of this garden was in olive press. And the olive press, if you understand how oil is extracted out of olives, it goes, has to be crushed and has to be pressed. And that is actually where they're at right now, is in the garden, a place of crushing and a place of pressing.
Have you ever felt like you've been crushed and pressed? And sometimes an old saying that I've often said before, do you ever feel like you're between a rock and a hard place? Well actually that's where Jesus found Himself at this moment between a rock and a hard place. And He goes only in verse 38 says, and He said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorryful.
Even to death, stay here and watch with me. Let me encourage you, if you're part of an inner circle to your pastor, to your shepherd, wherever you may be going to church, I encourage you to stay awake, stay watchful, stay prayerful, stay alert, keep your eye. Don't just allow the pastor to be the only guy that's praying or woman, woman or man, that they're the only ones that's praying over the church. You pick up that and pray with Him.
Keep Him girded up. See that's what these men were supposed to be doing, not just the whole 12, but when He pulled the three out, He says my soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death, stay here and watch with me. What He's asking them to do is be alert, keep your eyes open, be in prayer with me. Then He says He went a little further and fell on His face praying, saying, oh my Father, if it is possible, let this cup, oh this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as your will.
Now my message today is about the cup. I didn't bring, I have a cup right here, I didn't bring, I was going to bring a little red solo cup, but that's okay, but I got cup, in fact, I got two cups sitting right here. This is the cup that's been served to me. In fact, it's actually got cold refreshing water in it.
And actually it refreshes me when I drink that. But in this storyline that we're reading, there's a different cup and it's filled with something else. In the cup that Jesus is presented, that He has to partake of, now I'm not talking about the Kool-Aid that you're down the road, I'm not talking about the communion that we take of. I'm talking about a different cup, the cup that was presented to Jesus.
And then He goes on to say, then He came, He prayed for a while, and then He turned and went back to His disciples and said, then He came to disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, now before I go any further, have you ever found yourself struggling to stay awake, maybe you're driving down the road, maybe you're in church and you're listening to the preacher and you find yourself drifting off the sleep, you're not as alert anymore. Well, that could be one of two things. It could be either the preacher's boring you, or it could be that you didn't get enough sleep last night, or it could be that your spirit man is not where it should be. Make, you want to say something?
Yeah. Okay, tag your in. Tag your in. Tag your in.
Another thing that we have to, if you're staying alert and you're being watchful, but if you find yourself in that slumber, it also could be an attack from the enemy to keep you from getting your deliverance of what you've needed from the word that the pastor is preaching at that moment, or that place of, you know, if the enemy can rob you from your blessing, well, guess what? The word is the blessing that sets you free. Because scripture says the truth shall set you free. So here they are.
They have grown slumber. He's told them to stay alert. They're disobeying God. I mean, think about this.
He gave them one command. To watch and pray. To watch and pray. And what happened?
That old enemy caused a slumber, a spirit of slumber. It isn't always the fact that you've not had enough sleep. It isn't always the fact that you're not ready to go in and hear the word of God or even tune into this program. And I speak awake, sleepy giants awake right now because this word's about to set you free.
Amen, go ahead, Apostle. Amen. And those on to say in verse 40, what could you not watch? And this is what Jesus is saying to the disciples.
What? And he didn't just walk in and go, what? You mean, you know. I don't think he was passive.
Pay attention to the punctuation in the scripture. It has an exclamation point. And I believe that that exclamation point means it's emphasized. So he walks in and goes, what?
Are you kidding me? See, a lot of times I'm looking at things and goes, you've got to be kidding me. Oh my goodness. See, well, Jesus says, what?
What could you not watch with me one hour? So Jesus was only, and you know what? I know these shows are, I forget exactly how long these shows are. But sometimes when you're on this side, it seems a little long.
But if you're not paying attention, it seems rather short. And so I know that sometimes an hour long service can be, oh my goodness, if you're not, if your spirit man is sleeping and slumbering, yes, you're going to want to fall asleep. But it says, but Jesus says, what could you not watch just for one hour? Then he goes on to say, watch and pray lest you enter into temptation.
Remember, I spoke about temptation before. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. So understand my flesh is weak, my spirit is willing.
So if I need to sleep a little, maybe an hour longer at home, make sure my rest is, my flesh is rested. Make sure that there is nothing that's going to hinder my spirit from receiving what God has brought to the table. And then he says in verse 42, again, a second time he went away and prayed saying, oh my Father, see he's praying to the Father. If this cup, see, here's this cup again.
What is the deal with the cup? Can I pass away from me unless I drink it, you will be done. And he came and found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy. So now he's went back to the Father and he's prayed with him and asked about, and mentioned about the cup.
And then he comes back and he says, ah, you're still sleeping and resting. Behold, the hour is at hand and the son of man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise and let us be going, see my betrayer is at hand. So that is the end of that section about the Garden of Gethsemane.
Then he goes on into the betrayal and the arrest that's in the Garden. But what about the cup? The cup, what was in the cup? See, Jesus made mention about the cup twice.
And the second time he says that to oh my Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, you, your will be done. So now I have a cup that's set before me. And now Jesus has to drink it, just like I'm drinking this. What happens when I drink what's in that cup?
It comes inside of me and I have to deal with it. It actually becomes a part of me and it's something that I have to walk through. See, understand that the cup that he's referring to is not a cup of something to drink. It's not a refreshing Mountain Dew Coca-Cola, diet coat, whatever your drink is.
It is a cup of a trial that he's having to walk through. It is something that he has to endure. Now I know that in life the enemy is bringing stuff to us. And I'm going to be honest with you, do you think that this was good?
I mean, I know that God said his son, that the Father sent his son to do this, but understand that it wasn't the Father that actually took that nail scarred hand and hammered that nail into his hand. It wasn't the Father that actually stuck him in the side. It wasn't the Father that actually put. It was man.
In fact, if I want to step even further, excuse me, in there, it was the enemy that was using man to do all this, to inflict all of this pain and sorrow onto our Savior. So understand that Jesus knew this. He knew ahead of time what he was walking through. And that was his cup that he had to endure.
And I'll ask you, I propose a question, what is in your cup? What is the cup that you have to endure? What is that cup? Now before I go any further, let's go back to Exodus 716.
And I said this once before in another message, but in Exodus 716, it says, and you shall say to him, this is God saying to Moses, the Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me to you saying, let my people go for they may serve me in the wilderness. But indeed, until now you shall, you would not hear. Understand this, that while the children of Israel was in Egypt, they were made to serve the Egyptians. They were made to serve them with vigor.
If you don't know the story, go back and read what the story says. What all of that says in Exodus and what the children of Israel had to endure. Now was that their wilderness? Well, you could say it was, but Jesus, God, when he spoke to Moses, what did he say?
His scripture says, let them go so that they may serve me in the wilderness. The children of Israel was not able to serve God while they were in Egypt. They had to be taken out of Egypt into a wilderness. So you may say, well, I feel like I'm in a wilderness.
That's the time to serve God. That's the time to serve. That may be your cup. See, Jesus had a cup that he had to endure and walk through.
And me, I have a cup. My wife has a cup. In fact, we have a cup together that way. I have my own cup, my personal cup, but my wife has her personal cup.
But we have a cup together because we're married. So understand that the children of Israel had to go into a wilderness state, a place to be able to serve God. Now understand the Philippians 4, 12, and 13, it says, I know how to be a basis. This is Paul talking and I know how to be a bounds.
See, Paul knows when he has everything and when he doesn't have nothing. He says everywhere and all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry. Have you ever been in a hungry state, maybe just after fasting, maybe in a diet, whatever the case, maybe you're short of food in the house or short of money. I know what the most important case is, but Paul is saying, I have been full and I have been hungry, both to abound and to suffer, to be in health and to be hurting and sickness.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Understand that no matter what your wilderness, no matter what cup has been presented to you in your life, that you encourage you to know that scripture says you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Christ who strengthens you, not your strength on your own, but the strength of God. I've said this before about God's grace is all that you need, all that you need.
You've got something to throw in here? I want to say to you that maybe you're not recognizing that you're trying to do it on your own. Maybe you're not recognizing the fact that you've literally taken situations out of God's hand who will give you an escape, who will go before you to make a way. And I implore you today to take that time to search your heart and say, what have I pushed God out of?
I mean, look at the Egyptians. Look how long they had an escape. But they sit there and they went around that over and over and over again. Did they not recognize that they are limited?
They pushed God away. I've said this many, many times that God will not leave us nor forsake us. And if we invite him into every situation that he will go before us to always give us an escape even when we mess up. Amen.
You know, there are many times that we make decisions without asking the Father. I was doing a Facebook Live message last night and I was talking about how, you know, there are battles and there are assignments that if we are not given the permission from God to take on. There'll be no anointing on it. I truly believe with all of my heart that if we allow God into every single situation, even when we mess up, they'll not only be an escape, but an anointing strength and power that coming out of that, that his mercy and grace then covers us.
You know, you can think about a man or woman who has been arrested and they're taken to jail and we all know that what we saw was what we read. Well, their cup was they've done something wrong. And while they're in jail in captivity, were the Egyptians in captivity? I would say yes, they were enslaved.
So here, here is a person sitting in jail. You may have someone sitting in jail right now and you're praying for them to have that experience with God to get right. And let's say they've just done a really, really heinous crime. Okay.
That's their cup at that moment. But then all of a sudden because of that praying grandma, praying mother, praying father of praying that they will finally invite God into the situation. So they now finally have, they have dropped to their knees in their cell in a corner next to a brick wall. I don't know why this is so heavy on me right now.
So whoever is watching this, I know this is for you or for someone you know that's in this situation. And that prayer is finally answered and they're given an escape. I'm not talking about an escape to break out of jail. I'm talking about an escape out of a spiritual jail and out of a spiritual bondage.
God has that escape for you. But are you willing? Are you willing to take this situation? Oh, there's going to be consequences for your choices.
But when God gives you escape, He gives you the mercy, He gives you grace and He gives you the strength to walk out your escape into your promised land. That is when we've invited God in to break the bondage of what has brought us by our choices oftentimes and putting ourselves into captivity because we pushed Him out instead of trusting that Holy Spirit. There are so many that are sitting in bondage right now that were in a place with God that was a place of peace, a place of joy, a place of love. And because of one wrong decision from deception of the enemy, I've been their saints.
I've been there. I know what it is to be free and I know what it is to go back into bondage. And when I finally dropped to my knees and said, Lord God, I need an escape. I need help.
I need freedom. I've messed this up. I don't want to be a slave no longer. And boy, He just swoops in and gives us what you just said, the strength, the power, the grace that we need to get through that obstacle and bring us out of bondage.
What I had spoken in Philippians 4, 12 and 13, I want to read the Passion Translation because I actually like the Passion Translation. Let me read the new, because I normally read New King James Version and then I like to back it up sometimes with the Passion Translation. It says, I know what it means to lack. Do you know what it means to lack?
And I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. Maybe you don't feel like that you're experiencing abundance. Maybe you feel more like you're experiencing lack. Well, I'm trained in the secret of overcoming all things.
That's something that we all have to learn is how to overcome when we're in lack, how to overcome that. When we're in abundance, how to live with that, whether in fullness or in hunger and find the strength of Christ, explosive power, infuses me to conquer every difficulty. So understand that when you're going through whatever you're going through, and maybe that's your cup that you, just like Jesus had to endure the cross and everything that led up to the cross, he had to endure it. How did he endure it by the grace of God?
He endured it by what? The explosive power infused him to conquer every difficulty. That is the same power that he has given to us to be able to explosively endure whatever we're facing. That may be our cup that we have to deal with.
Now I want to go to 2 Corinthians 12, 7 through 10. It says, unless I should be exalted above measure. So we need to make sure that we stay ourselves in a submissive state, not that we're all that in a bag of chips, but that we are less than because God is greater than and God will make us greater than. He said, and this is Paul, understanding who Paul is.
The guy that was first was running around killing and putting the disciples into Christian folk in the general. He says, above measure by abundance of revelation, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I be exalted above measure. That was his cup, a cup of a thorn that was put into his flesh. Now I say that, I don't believe it was like a rose thorn actually stuck in his flesh.
I believe that it was difficult times. It was something that he had to deal with. But concerning this thing, it says, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, now see, first off the thorn that's in his flesh, the cup that is presented to Paul that he has to walk with all the time.
Now has caused him to plead with the Lord and pray with the Lord. And then it says, God says, my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Understand your weakness. That's when God will come in and strengthen you in your weakness.
That's when the power of God will come in, swoop in and strengthen you. And it says, therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Understand, you may be going through a difficult time right now, but I encourage you to submit yourself to Jesus Christ and his strength will come in in your weakness. And maybe we got to go.
So pray us out of here. Thank you for joining us. We are thankful for you. We pray for you in Jesus' name.
God bless you. We'll see you next week. I appreciate you all watching our show this evening. If there's anything, anything whatsoever that you have heard that has spoken to your heart and you feel the need to either rededicate your life or turn your life over to Jesus.
I encourage you to reach out to us. You would be more than happy to speak with you either on the phone or via email or however you can reach out to us. And it's easy. We can say a prayer for you.
Jesus says to Nicodemus that you must be born again to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. So I encourage you to turn your life over. If you need to rededicate, that is also to turn your life back to repentance is simply turning from the direction that you were going to a new direction. You're no longer the old person that you are.
You become a new person through the gift of salvation. So I encourage you to reach out to us at egowingsfaith.org. You can click on the tab, contact us, and you can put it through the website or you can email us at ewfmchurch at gmail.com. And we look forward to hearing from you.
God bless you and we will see you later.