The Cup and the Fire - Part 2 — T. Austin-Sparks

The Cup, Baptism, and the Spreading of the Fire

The word out of which our consideration is taken at this time are those in the 12th chapter of the Gospel of my Luke, verses 49 and 50, I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I? Oh, that it were already kindled, that I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I sweetened till it be accomplished?

We spent our time this afternoon upon the top end of the consequent scattering of the fire, mainly with a view to taking fresh accounts of the relationship between those two things. There is no scattering of the fire, all that that means in progress of the gospel, growth of the church, only in so far as the meaning of the cup is established as the basis, the foundation of everything, right in the very heart of the life of the people of God.

Having sought to re-indicate and emphasize that great law, this evening I am taking you to this 12th chapter of the Book of the End. This, you have heard, read, this chapter, is a microcosm of the history of the cup and the fire.

That, of course, is true of the whole of this book. It is the cup, undoubtedly, the church offering relationship with the Lord. But it is the book of the scattered fire. This chapter, as I have said, is a miniature of that whole great truth.

Indeed, a miniature of the struggle of the ages between the powers of evil and the invisible spiritual forces which eventually triumph. A tremendous amount of history and truth packed into this chapter, which never fails to move and stir us when we read it.

I wonder if there is a chapter in the Bible so pregnant with phrases and clauses piled one upon another, every one of which could, without exaggeration, occupy our whole time. Take some of these clauses, only a few of the many, now about that cup.

What a key that is, and what a lock that key opens. You stay with it. We shall, in a few minutes, use it a little. Herod the king, far more in depth than perhaps you recognize, to vex Satan of the church.

The vexation of the church, or the attempted vexation of the church. Till James, he pointed out this afternoon, it was this James, John, who came to the Lord requesting places on the right hand and on the left in glory.

To whom the Lord immediately uttered the challenge, are you able to drink of the cup I drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism with I am baptized. They said we are able, you shall, and he killed James with the thought.

When he saw that it pleased the Lord in them, he proceeded further. And so we might go on. I say the whole chapter is full of phrases and clauses like that, which are just packed with meaning. Let us look at it, and at perhaps one or two of them, but really at the message of this chapter.

Herod, Esau, and the Antagonism Between Flesh and Spirit

We begin then, now, about that, about that time. What significance? You can put your finger on that, and note that time. The answer is a very large one. It has two main features. There is the answer that is in Herod, and there is the answer which lies behind Herod, much more deeply, the answer of Satan.

Let us look at it. The answer in Herod. It says here, Herod the king. I suppose you know that there were three disciples. All of them were Idumean in origin. That is, they were descendants of Esau. They gathered under the symbolic name of Eden.

Descendants of Esau, not of Israel. All that is very significant. And at last you come to this man, who is the first, and the last of them to hold properly, hold this title king. None of them after him has officially held that title.

And this was the last one to properly hold it. The title of king was taken away after him. You see, this whole thing has headed up. A long history. You want to read the prophecies of Obadiah, really just the substance of it.

This historic antagonism between the flesh and the spirit. Between heaven and hell. Between Esau and Israel. A long history here, headed right up to this man who now takes the title of king. I think there is a certain irony in the fact that the Jews should come to be ruled by a descendant of Esau.

And not of Israel. And that that ruler should be appointed by pagan Rome. You think about this. You are in the presence of a tremendous drama here. Perfectly fascinating. But oh, how deeply instructive.

I hope we will be able to get out the essence of it as we go on this evening. That time Herod, the king, put forth his hands to afflict the Sultan of the Church. And then he saw that it pleased the Jews.

Famine, Political Expediency, and Herod’s Persecution

Now why should Herod do this Jew-pleasing thing at that time? It looks just like a human story. It might seem to be a very simple thing. But we are in the unfolding of this much deeper thing. You know, Satan is very deep, but God is deeper still.

That's what we've got here. Well, if you look back to the chapter before this, you will find that there was a great famine. Verse 27. Now in those days. Now note, in those days. Now about that time. In those days there came down prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

And there stood up one of them named Agabus. And signified by the spirit that there should be a great famine over all the world. It came to pass in the days of Gloria. Now about that time. The simple answer is this.

The Jews were a very difficult people to rule. That is perfectly clear of course. We know that. They were a very difficult people to rule. And to the normal, usual, common difficulty, a famine. And you know there is nothing, nothing that leads to revolution more quickly than famine.

Than hunger. You notice later in the story. These people got fed from his province. The question of food you see. And it's become very acute. And there's a seizing and a surging and a rising. And Herod must do something to get these people diverted from their troubles.

Preoccupied. There must be some diversion. There must be something done for them. He can't provide the food and avoid the famine. It has come. It's a fact. And if he is going to hold his position. And hold these people.

And keep them in check. He must do something to please them. There's your answer. Sounds like human story. A bit of trickery. Politics. Whatever you like to call it. But that's one part of the answer.

Now about that time you see. Why must he please the Jews? Well that's the answer. How will he please the Jews? Well he knows their hatred for the Christians. That's a long story too. The Jews' hatred for the Christians.

And that's why he stretched forth his hand to afflict certain of the church. The Christians were being used to box us out. This ramshackle false kingdom of Herod. Keep his throne intact. He's using them for his own ends.

Well that's only part of the answer. It's a very simple one. But that's Herod's part of the answer. But let us get behind Herod. Because Herod is not acting alone. There's something more. Something deeper.

The Satanic Power Behind Human Opposition

The answer is really found in that realm. The satanic behind the man. The deeper and the more real answer to the question. Well let's look at chapter 11 again. Verse 19. They therefore that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch speaking the word to none save only to Jews.

They that were scattered abroad upon the tribulation that arose about Stephen. That's a tremendously inclusive word. Something happening. Oh what a lot has been happening. You see that takes you back to chapter 7.

Chapter 7 is the martyrdom of Stephen. That's the cup. That's the cup Stephen is toasting. It looks like a tremendous triumph of the day. Stephen was a mighty man. Tremendous hopes for the church bound up for the life of that young man.

I've said after reading his discourse and studying it that he was the equal of Saul of Tartus at least. And there he is. Looks as though Satan has really triumphed. But what after that? From that very point scattering of the believers far and wide and everywhere they went justified.

Saul of Tartus is converted. What a tremendous thing that is. Peter is led to the house of Cornelius way up there in the north and we know what happens there. Door is open to the Gentiles. Tremendous things all coming out of the cup.

The cup of the Lord. The baptism of passion into which the church has been baptized. All this is happening. If you read the account there was more added to the church. About 5 ,000. About 3 ,000. See it's growing.

That's the answer. The king of a Satan turned to his death. Something must be done about it. Very spreading. Firstly put it. The men that have turned the world upside down. That's the explanation about that time.

Out of this baptism of the passion of the Lord into which the church has been brought. It's spreading. The enemy is deeply moved. He puts forth his hand. And the hand behind that had to vex Satan of the church.

And he killed Jesus. And when he thought that it pleased the Lord he proceeded further. I'd like to say with all those fragments because there's a message in every one of them. He's carried on by his own momentum.

Have a little success and see what it will do for you. However, let's return to this. Turn away from that for the moment to the other side. The aspect of this that we may call a drama indeed of the sovereign kingship of the Lord.

The Sovereign Kingship of God Over Herod

Summed up in three things. Herod put forth his hand. And an angel of the Lord spoke him. And the word of God flew among them. That's tremendous, isn't it? Begin the story with Herod putting forth his hand.

You end the story with Herod eaten of worms and giving up the guilt. You begin the story with a church of victors and martyrs. You end the story with the word of God. And what's the story of another king?

It's the story of two kings pitting themselves against each other. I said at the beginning it's the nitrocosm of this long history of the conflict between the forces of evil and those invincible forces of the spirit which always in the long run.

Why God Permits the Suffering of His Servants

But here a pressing question arises. When you think the beginning that he killed James with a sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded further to take Peter also. The question that slammers for an answer is why must God allow this kind of thing?

Why did he not intervene before James was killed? Why did he not stop this thing before Peter was thrown into prison? Why did God allow it? And why does God allow that kind of thing? Well that's another key to another large history.

God's permissive will. God allowing his servants, his so useful servants to be killed or cast into prison. Allowing the church to suffer. And I said why does God allow it? The answer dear friends is deep within the cup.

You get down deep enough into the cup and you'll find the answer. I put it another way, it's deep within the cross. In the mystery of his will and his way he uses the church as he used Israel to draw out the evil forces to their own destruction.

God moves in a mysterious way. Is it the church or is it the forces against them that are destroyed eventually? Will you see the answer in history? Here in this chapter in representation. God has done that.

Pharaoh, the Cross, and the Drawing Out of Evil

Here you have Israel in Egypt. What a tremendous extending of Pharaoh. Drawing him out, drawing him out. Drawing him to the limit of his own resources to give an answer through the magician. And then going on and going on.

Drawing him out until Pharaoh has exhausted all his resources. And then God's true token of his whole resources. And God has used the suffering people to draw it all out. And that's the story here. The church, I say in the mystery of God's way suffers.

Its suffering comes from the enemy and God is drawing it out by the church. And drawing it out and extending him when his cup of iniquity is full. God will smash it beyond repair. But the church, it's the sufferings of James and Peter and the church in these days have accomplished that.

But is not that done right in the cross? Look at the cross. Is the cross the extending of all the powers of evil in earth and in hell? No. It is that. You would say, is there anything more that they can do?

When you see him? There? On the cross? Dead? And know how it's brought about and all that went to bring it about? The whole story of human and satanic malice? Is there any more that they can do? No. What's the answer?

The scattered part. That's the answer. You see, it's in the cup, it's in the crown. It's an integral part of this whole matter. The sufferings which abound unto us are working, working, working. Victims undoing.

A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Weight. If you can be patient and be safe. Therein is the patience of faith. Remember that word? Therein is the patience of the faith. If you can win, wrought havoc in the kingdom of Satan.

Brought him to an end. They drew him out. They were the marks of Satan. On the other side, his sufferings have worked for you. Glory. In the meantime, spiritual increase. Spiritual progress. God uses the work of Satan for Satan's undoing.

The Church’s Suffering and the Advance of the Word

The church and it, who are the instruments. It's in their soul that this battle is fought. Now unto the principalities and powers in the heavenlies made known the manifold wisdom of God. I see the something in the unseen.

Progress of the word of God. It's a costly thing. It involves not suffering. It does involve the cup. But that's his way. Here then, we have it. God using Satan's work for his own undoing and for the progress of the word for Satan's overthrow for the church's advance and for the glory of God.

All that is wrapped up in anguish of fellowship with his son. You and I have had a good deal of difficulty in understanding why Paul should long to know the fellowship of his son. One of the most difficult prayers for us to pray.

But Paul knew this secret, you see. He knew this secret. The progress of the gospel. That's the way for the destruction of this that is against us. The fellowship of his suffering. For that is the heart of the cross of the Lord Jesus.

The Cup as a Living Spiritual Reality

And all this you see rests upon the cup. The cup ceases to be an object. It ceases to be just a thing. It becomes something living. Something living. God sees a mighty force in this. Dear friends, when you come to the Lord's table next time may God give you some larger thing in his universe touching every realm.

The representation of something living. Something living. This blood speaks. This blood tells. This blood counts. Blood is mighty. Blood is a terrific force. The cup. Yes, it's true. We accept the baptism.

Peter’s Prison and the Forces Against the Church

I can't help thinking a lot of things as I read and ponder how this might have turned out so differently. On to this next thing. We must see where it was all wrought out. On the one side the prison. The chains on God within and without.

The four quaternions. These are things which symbolize hell. Great, great forces. Difficulties. All the things which are against. They're not just words. They're tremendous things, all of them. Viewed from the natural standpoint.

That's on one side. On the other.