the baptism of Christ's death. So with that, let's open up our Bibles. Let's open up our Bibles to Matthew chapter number 20. Matthew chapter number 20. Keep in mind, we just talked about Jesus' baptism last week by water in Matthew 3, and so now, In our minds, we are going to fast forward about three years. And we're going to end up in Matthew 20. And watch what the Bible says in verse 18. Matthew 20, verse 18. I'd like us all to read together that verse. Ready? Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death." Jesus now is going to be condemned to death. And now watch what it says in verse 19. Let's read that together. and shall deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify Him, and the third day He shall rise again." This mocking and delivering Him and scourging Him and crucifying Him is all about Christ's what? Right, His death. He's condemned to death. And His condemnation to death is going to include an awful time of Suffering. Suffering. And it's leading up now to verse 20. And we'll read to verse 23. 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? But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto Him, We are able." Now let's stop right there. See how He brings in a baptism. He's talking about a baptism that He's going to go through. Now let's keep reading in verse, well let's just read verse 23. And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." This baptism of Christ's death has nothing to do with water whatsoever. we hear the word baptism, we tend to think of water. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of false groups that every time the word baptism comes up in the Bible, all they see is water. But it's clearly not water here. It's Christ's death that is being made It's His coming death that He's talking about. Now, a couple of things to bring our thoughts together on why this is important as we go through the baptisms. The baptism of Moses, the children of Israel left where? Egypt. When they left Egypt, they passed through what? The Red Sea. When they got to the other side of the Red Sea, what did they pursue? It wasn't God. Right? But God brought them through that, and they end up following after other gods. Now, remember we talked about John's baptism, that last book in Malachi. God's silent for how many years before He speaks to the nation again? 400 years there's silence. Now it's John's baptism. He comes onto the scene, and John John's presented to the nation of Israel. And he preaches this baptism of repentance. Come and get right. Confess that you're a sinner. As a matter of fact, confess all your sins. And get right, get ready, because the Messiah is coming on the scene. And so they did. And then on the other side of that baptism, what did they end up doing? Not only did they go after other gods, after Moses' baptism, but now they take the Son of God and do what to Him? They crucify Him. They put Him on the cross. So now we are in looking at Christ's baptism. And so He dies. Jesus dies. His soul leaves His physical body. On the other side of that, when He comes up out of the grave, we have a resurrected body or a glorified body. So on the other side of Jesus' baptism, we have something that is immortal. We have something that is incorruptible. We have something that is something we can look forward to. It's a glorified body. Go to Philippians 3, and we'll wrap that thought up here, but I think it's important to note in Philippians 3. Philippians 3. Jesus dies. His soul leaves His physical body. His body is in the tomb. And on the other side of His resurrection, He has a glorified body. Look at Philippians 3, verse 21. Let's read this together. "...who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His..." Like unto His what? That's right. "...according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." It is Jesus' baptism of death. It signifies a turn from one form to another form. Vile, not vile. A body full of... I mean, Jesus took His sin upon His own body. Or took our sin, rather. Let me make sure I say that right. That's blasphemy. He took our sin upon His own body. When he comes up, now he has a glorified body. That's really hard to comprehend. You think about Jesus walking this earth. He never sinned. You think about a body that doesn't have sin in it. That's really the essence of a glorified body. In that upper room, after Jesus rose from the dead, the doors were locked and all of a sudden there's Jesus. Then also you see that, look, you can touch my feet, you can touch my hands. It's not a spirit here, it's a body that has substance to it. But somehow Jesus got into that room and the doors were locked. Now you figure that one out. How is our bodies going to be changed from vile to not vile? We're going to be caught up. I mean, you couldn't go up into the clouds without having your body just disintegrate from the pressure. I'd imagine you get so high up, it's just like you can't do it. Well, that's a body with sin in it. That's how we are now. But when our body's changed, now we are going to have a body like His body. So Jesus' baptism of death represents something much better on the other side of it. One form to another form. He defeated death, folks. Amen and amen. One little side note. I forget when we were talking about this, but look at verse 20. Let's have everybody read that together. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I forget when we were talking about this. The big deal isn't that we're going to heaven. The big deal is that we get to be with the Savior. And we see this again in this verse. We are looking for the Savior more than we're looking to go to heaven. Look, I'm looking forward to the street of gold and the mansion and all that. Don't get me wrong. We'll be there. But it's not where we're going to be. It's who is going to be there when we get there. So we see that in Philippians as well. Alright, now go back to Matthew 20. When Jesus answered, what did He say? The first sentence that He said in v. 22. Read that first sentence. But Jesus answered and said, now what did He say? You have no idea what you are asking Me. The question was brought to Jesus Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping Him." That's a good thing. "...and desiring a certain thing of Him." Not a bad thing. "...And He said unto her, What wilt thou? She said unto Him, Grant that these My two sons may sit, the one on the right hand and the one on the left, in Thy kingdom." Jesus says, you don't even know what you're asking. You have no idea what you're asking. You think this is a good thing, My baptism, but My baptism is not about a good thing, it's about a suffering thing. And the cup, when we see this cup, he says, are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? He's trying to get her to understand this isn't a baptism about honor. This is a baptism that is about suffering and death. And they missed it. And the cup, we think of Psalm 23, my cup runneth over. And we think of, man, the abundant blessings of God. And we think of, man, count your blessings, name them one by one, right? I mean, that preaches really good out of Psalm 23. You think about God's providence and all that He has provided. And that's all right, and that's all true. But we're not in Psalm 23, are we? We're talking about a different cup. And so this cup in Matthew 20 is not symbolic of good. When you have a gathering, especially the feasts that they had in Jewish tradition, when you had a gathering, it was an honorable thing to sit at the right hand or the left hand. And we still see this in cultures, you know, who's going to sit at the head of the table, right? Usually dad does. It's a cultural thing that's been passed down and it's representative of honor, right? It's representative of something that is good. Well, the disciples, everybody missed it. Everybody missed it. How many times did Jesus tell them, look, I'm going to the cross? They didn't believe Him. And now He's talking about the cup. And they don't even understand the cup. And I love preaching on the cup. I think that the cup, if people understand the cup, man, they can get a whole lot more out of what Jesus did. But this cup isn't a cup of blessing. It's a cup of suffering. And it's a cup of death. Now with that said, I think that's enough information for now. All you young people get all that? Okay. Alright, so here's what I want you to do. You'll probably need some help from some of the parents. But kids, I need you to come up here around this table. Come on up here. How many kids we got? Okay. Gather around. Come on up here, Melanie, Dominic. Come on up here. Why don't you come over here? Everybody needs a cup. This is your cup, okay? cup. Give one to Hannah, so you got it. Alright, now put some water, put some water into your cups. Honey, you want to come up and help me with getting some of this stuff passed out? We'll get some of this. Give them, just fill your cup about halfway with water. Bring all that in the middle of the table and everybody will get a spoon. Okay, just halfway with the water. You don't want it too full. Okay. The cup is you. It's your cup. You're born and your cup now is, I mean you got water, but you know the body is how much percent water? I don't know a lot, right? But that's you. It's you and your cup. And you gotta ask Brother Will that. He knows all that medical stuff. How much, sir? Alright, two-thirds water, amen. So there you are! Alright, now. You were born this way. You hear that saying. Every time somebody, you bring up their sin, well, I was just born this way. They don't like to hear sin. So somebody says, yeah, I was born this way. And I always respond by saying, yeah, I was born this way too, the same way you were born, as a sinner. As a sinner. We were all born sinners. Let's say that word again. I know it's hard to get out. Sinners. Sinners. Yeah, point to your neighbor and say, you're a sinner. You're a sinner, buddy. Yeah, we can do it. You're a sinner. Come on, point to me and tell me. Yeah, right, we sin, amen. Now do something a little bit harder. Point to yourself and say, I am a sinner. Alright, so here's what we're going to do. We're going to take some, there's a bunch of stuff here. There's a bunch of sins. All this stuff is sins. Just go ahead and put some sin in your cup there. Go ahead. Just a little few. Yeah, well you're a big sinner. You've got a lot in there. All right, yeah, okay. Open those up, and maybe you want to help open those up. Yeah, there's your cup, sure. And have them use some, take a spoon. There's all types of sin, yeah, go ahead. Put some sin in there. You drop it right in there, yeah. There you go. You didn't even realize you had that sin. Yeah, go ahead and put that in there. We all know it's in you, you just didn't figure it out yet. Keep putting some sin in there. Okay, good job. There you go. Get as much sin as you can in there. Man, that's great. All right, now take your spoon and stir it up. Stir it up. Let me see here. Let's see what we've got. Stir it up real good. You've got the sin of lying, the sin of stealing, the sin of fornication, the sin of hatred. There's all types of sin up here. Oh yeah, it's all in there. Yeah. Yeah. Stir it up. Stir it up. Now take your cup. Keep the spoon in there. Take the cup and walk over to your parents without having all your sins spill over on the seats. Just show your parents that that's you. Look at yourself. Look at that. Look at that. Oh, my, my, my. All right. Now come on back here. Stand right here in the middle. Stand right here in the middle. All us dads, we're fine. It's the parents, it's the mamas that are like, oh no, it's gonna... Now, come on out here girls, don't try to hide behind your sin. Come on, get up in front here. Now, oh boy, they're just cute, cute precious children. Oh, they're just, aren't they just lovely? Just snuggle bunnies. No, you're all sinners. And look in that cup. You're full of sin. And you know what Jesus hates? Sin. So that means Jesus hates you because you're full of sin. Yet Jesus loves you because John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. God commendeth His love while we are yet sinners. God can love and hate at the same time. He loves you. He died for you. He wants you to be with Him forever. But he also hates sin. And look down at your cup. You are full of sin. Now, this might not be as exciting as bringing Pretzels the Clown in to do a bunch of balloon sculpturing and tell you how wonderful you are. But the fact of the matter is, you're really not all that wonderful. You're a sinner before God, and God is going to pour His wrath upon sin. Yet He loved you enough to die for you. Well, by this point, I think we're all ready for a drink. Go ahead and drink your cup. Well, wait. They don't want to drink it. I wonder why. Why don't you want to drink from your cup? It's disgusting. That's you. Before God. Your sin before God. All the little children, Jesus loves them. They're precious in His sight. He loves you and He wants you to be with Him. But there's a sin problem, and the problem is that God hates sin. What are we going to do? Oh! I've got a grand idea! I know what we'll do! Who's ready for this one? I've got an idea! Okay, put your cups back on the table. I've got a great idea. All right. I got a great idea. I got a great idea. Here. I got some soap. All we have to do is get you cleaned up. Go ahead and take some soap and put it in your cup. Make a little spray in there. Yeah. Okay. Pass it on to the next sinner and the next sinner. Now take your spoon, get yourself cleaned up. Clean yourself up. You did some good works. you know, like a good sinner would do, you try to hide your sin with good works and try to make everybody think you're really so great and you're really just wretched and undone and unclean. Now go ahead, yeah, clean yourself up. You might have to stir a little harder than that, it still seems to be a little dirty. Okay, very good, very good. Now, present your cups to, show your parents your cups and now, you ready to drink it now? Go ahead and drink your cup. Good. Drink your cup. Show your parents you did some good works. You cleaned yourself up. Well, I don't know. The mamas are looking at that. The mamas are saying, no, that's not clean. And some of the ladies are thinking, well, this is because there's a guy that's in charge of this. And guys just don't know how to clean. At least that's what my wife tells me. So she says, you know what? You don't know how to clean. So come on back up here. Come on back up here. If I were to try to clean myself up with soap, she said, no, you need something stronger than that. So what we have is I brought this goof off because I think this will do the job. They say this can take, you know, varnish right off of the floor and all that. And so, go ahead, put a few drops of this goof off. And see what you can do there. I think that'll help clean you up. We'll do, this is some humanitarian efforts. You're gonna give your money and help. Yeah, stir it up. Get it all cleaned. Show everybody how good you are. Get yourself cleaned. Keep it in the cup. Keep it in the cup. Oh boy. Okay, I think that's enough, Lily Branch. Go ahead and see what we can do here. Man, you must really be an awful sinner. I don't see anything changing in your cup. Stir it up real good. Stir it up. Yeah, man. Oh boy. I don't know, it still doesn't seem to be working. Still doesn't seem to be working. Did all that good works, all the good works that you tried to put in your cup of sin, did it clean it up? No. Are you ready to drink it? No. I had this stuff laying around in the garage. I bet you this will do the job. This is called Purple Power. Industrial strength cleaner and degreaser. I mean this is for, you can use this around the farm, down at the marina. This will take anything out. Let's see. Let me give you a few. Let's see. That should do it. Let's see. Boom. Boom. Let me see your cup. Boom. Let me see yours. Boom. All right. Stir it up real good. That should do the job. Okay. Now, come and stand right here in the middle, right here in the middle, right where you are. Come in front of the table. Boys, why don't you step forward so the girls can slide through without spilling something. Now, as cute as these young'uns are, the fact remains that because they came from us, they're sinners. Because we're sinners. And our cup is just as filthy and just as dirty and just as vile. And when children grow up always being told that they're so cute and they're so precious, and God just loves you, you're just a big teddy bear. Look, there's some truth to that, but truth is also removed from that. Truth has to be balanced. And the fact remains is, as cute as you are, and as much as we all love you, You all are dirty, unclean, filthy sinners. And when you play all day out in the dirt and you come in and mama says you're going to get yourself a bath before bedtime, you can get your outside cleaned. But look inside. Go ahead, look in that cup. What does that represent? You. You, associate yourself with the sin. We think sin's out there. You guys hold your cup in one hand and point out there. Yeah, sin's out there. Now take your finger and point inside the cup. No, sin's inside. Now point to yourself. You, you are a sinner. You're a sinner. Now all you gotta do is drink that cup. All you gotta do is drink the cup. You're not gonna drink it, are you? Because you can't drink it. You know why you can't drink it? You can't drink it because it hasn't been appointed to you to drink. And if your parents have guests over, The father of the home will usually appoint who the cup is going to go to. You can have this to drink. It's a feasting time. It's a good time. It's an honorable time. It's a time for celebration. But you have not been appointed to drink that cup. And Jesus is trying to explain this. It's My cup to drink. Now, go ahead and put the cups down. And you guys have a seat. You did a great job. And proud of you. Proud of you. Go to John 18. Go to John 18. I'm not looking for trouble when I go out and do public evangelism. I'm not. I keep saying to myself the same thing every time I go out. I don't want trouble. I want to be as nice as I know how to be. And I know my wife is with me and my children, and I want to set an example for them. But when a guy tells me that Jesus is his homeboy and we should be buddy-buddy with Jesus, I just can't not tell him that that's not the Jesus of the Bible. Jesus isn't our buddy-buddy. Yeah, he's a friend of sinners, but you have to realize that your cup is full of sin, and it has to be dealt with and paid for. I have to get my glasses. I can't hardly see. Here they are. John 18, I think it's verse 11. John 18, verse number 11. I'd like all of us to read this together. John 18, verse number 11. Watch this. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath. The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Peter's all excited. He cuts off somebody's ear. Goes for the head, I think, and he ended up getting his ear. Jesus said, he starts mentioning cup. Peter said, I got my sword out. What are you talking about cups for? Because they didn't get it. He said, you can't do that. I have a cup to drink. I have a cup to drink. And you don't get it, Peter. Peter was following what he wanted. He never stopped and considered the bitter cup that the Savior would have to drink. And this is right before our Savior, He is going to be plunged into suffering and He's going to be plunged into death. So in Matthew 22, let's go back there. Matthew 22. And Matthew 20, verse 22. Okay, right in the middle, he says, let's read it together. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of? and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with." Again, a reference to his suffering, and we don't have time to run these verses, but we see through the Psalms, for example, Psalm 42 talks about waves of sorrow. Psalm 124 talks about being overwhelmed with suffering. Isaiah 43, you're consumed. Lamentations 3, you're covered in sorrow. There's these references of this deep affliction and this sorrow coming over you like waves or like water, and it isn't literal water. It's a picture, and sorrow just overwhelms someone. We can all understand that because we've been in deep valleys in our lives. But look at the last three words. I would like the young people to read this out loud. Matthew 20, verse 22. They say unto Him, and what's their response to Jesus? We are able. What was the phrase? Jesus told them something that's for Him. And what did they say? And they're not. They're not able. That's my cup. You're not able to do it. You can't clean yourself up. It's for me. And they thought it was for them. If they tried, they'd just sink right into the depths of hell because none of us God the Father appointed who would drink of the cup. And it would be God the Son. Look at verse 23. And He saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with. But to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give. but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father." The disciples were blind and they had earthly pride or ambition in mind. It'd be cool to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus. Man, you get invited over to someone's house and you get to sit on the right hand and the left hand of the of the high up magistrate or whatever it is, right? Wouldn't that be an honor? They missed it. They're thinking different cup, worldly stuff, and Jesus is trying to get them to see differently. Go to Matthew 26. Matthew 26. Look at verse 39. Matthew 26, verse 39. Oh. Let's read v. 39 together, And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Look at v. 42, And he went again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, Thy will be done. Jesus is in agony. Just thinking about it is causing Him a lot of anguish. He's going to have to drink a cup. It's the cup, folks. It's the cup. Go to Matthew 27. Look at verse 34. The Bible says, let's read it together, Matthew 27, verse 34, "...they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, and when he had tasted thereof, he would not..." What? He wouldn't drink. That wasn't his cup to drink. That wasn't his cup to drink. Prophecy was fulfilled. He said, you know what? This is also a signal to my Father that the cup is coming. The cup that I've been appointed to drink, Jesus is saying He knows now. Oh, it's about here. This one's not mine. This one's not mine. He couldn't drink that cup. You were crucified, they'd give you almost an intoxicating drink to relieve suffering. Jesus was not there to drink that cup. Oh no, He was there to drink a different cup. No suffering relieved. He was going to take it all upon Himself. And so He refused to drink that cup because that was not appointed to Him. And He was 100% obedient to the Father. And I was speaking with someone yesterday, and they said how God loves them, and He went to the cross just for them. And I said, oh, that's great, and I love that, and that is true 100%. But I said, even before us, it was God the Son desiring to be 100% obedient to God the Father. We're not first, folks. 100% obedience to the Father. He's doing the will of His Father. The Gospel isn't us as the central point. The Gospel is Christ as the center and the cross as the focal point. And we are a recipient of that. The Lord is the initiator. We are the recipients of His grace. So without any aid, Christ drank the cup of God's wrath. And parents, we'll have to do this as a sermon one time, because it's really a great truth. If you have to chastise your child, it's something between the parent and the child. It's not between the parent, the child, and Walmart. We don't do it out in the public place. It has to be dealt with. It can't be let go. But it's a private moment. And that private moment happened on the cross. Because God turned the lights out. And He poured His wrath upon the Son of God. As the Son drank. your sin, and your iniquity, and your filth, and your vileness, and your unholiness, and your unrighteousness, and your ungodliness, and all of our sins. You know what He was able to drink of? That cup. He's the only one that could have drank that cup. He drank your sin. Because I'm not. And you're not. And it doesn't matter how much soap you put in it, you can't clean it up. So that's the baptism of Christ's death. One more thought. Go to Luke 12 and we'll close with this thought. Luke chapter 12. Verse number 50. You remember the text we read when we started off. It's Zebedee's children's mom that's there, right? I believe that's right. And so she desires something for her children. But she missed it. She missed it. And watch what it says here in Luke chapter 12. Look at verse number 50. But I have a baptism to be baptized with. Jesus is saying this. And how am I straightened till it be accomplished? The emotions and the anxiousness. How am I straightened till it be accomplished? Parents have this in their hearts. How is my child going to live for God? How is my child going to come to know the Lord? Well, Christ had that emotion as He's looking forward to the cross. until it be straightened." The baptism I'm going to be baptized with. Oh Father, if it be Your will, let this cup pass. It wasn't His will that it passed. But you have this mother here, and this mother is coming to Jesus and she has some expectations in her head on what it's going to be like. And her expectations were all wrong. I want to say this to the moms and the dads, we can make some application too. Before you think it's a good idea for your son or your daughter to be a pastor, or a pastor's wife, or a missionary, or a missionary's wife. Before you think that your prayer is going to be, I just want my little girl to grow up and be a missionary's wife. Before you start thinking about that, and before you start praying about that, you better know this. You don't know what you're praying. because the life is going to be a life of trial and suffering and dealing with things that you never thought you had to deal with. So you better think long and hard what you want to pray about for your child. Now, I'm not saying I don't want to do anything else than what I'm doing right now. But I'm just telling you, before you start praying, you better think, How Zebedee's, the wife of Zebedee, coming to Jesus about her kids, she didn't know what she was asking. Are you a Christian? You're going to have to go through some suffering. Thankfully, not on the cross. It's finished. Thankfully, He's paid it all. Our sins are forgiven. We're going to heaven. Amen. Praise God. That's a joyful thing. But down here on this earth, we are going to be persecuted for His namesake. You are going to be tried. You are going to be tested. I'm talking about you two. Satan's going to try to get in there. I'm talking about you getting separated out. Satan's going to try to get in there and wedge you out. That's what I'm talking about. Now you tell me that's not suffering for a parent. You tell me that's not suffering for a child who's saved and knows their parents aren't. And vice versa. Don't tell me this Christian life I'm not trying to ruin the day. I'm not. I'm not trying to ruin the morning. I'm just trying to bring to light that Christ's baptism and what He suffered and died for was for you and I. Don't ever lose sight of the cup that He drank. And it was your sin that He drank. And the wrath that was owed you and I, God the Father, poured out on the Son. you