Hunting for that chalice has been an absorbing past-time for many.
Initially the Holy Grail was regarded to be the cup which Jesus Christ used at the Passover meal, the night in which He was betrayed by a friend, and arrested, before being led away to be crucified. At the table, He gave a totally new significance to the bread and wine, as He showed His disciples how they should focus upon what was central.
Then a story arose that the blood Jesus shed on the Cross was caught in this cup, diverting men from that which was and is vital.
Recently, we have been subjected to this lie regarding Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Why do people prefer to be more interested in a lie, than the truth?
Why do men search for the cup rather than the forgiveness, security and blessing which flow from receiving and embracing the One who lifted the cup?
The cup does make you consider the importance of the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other way whereby a man can be rescued, redeemed and forgiven but through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
That man who comes to believe in Jesus Christ is justified by His blood. It is “just if I’d” never sinned – a most helpful insight.
It is through His blood, shed on the Cross, that people are made holy, which means they are set apart, different, sanctified. When we walk in the light and have fellowship with one another His blood purifies us from all sin. If we stray away from the light and remain out of fellowship, we risk no longer being kept clean.
All this is so different from chasing after a chalice. Leaders must point this out and make things very clear, in a day when there is much confusion and sloppy thinking.
There are standards and priorities and choices which have to be made. Consider this in the light of spending time chasing after a chalice.
God normally gives a prophet time for preparation. John had 30 years, as did Jesus Christ, whereas Paul had only around three. There is usually a very distinct call upon a man’s life.
God goes out and apprehends someone – by the Lakeside – at his tax-collecting booth – or knocks him off his horse and blinds him for three days. God has His own way of attracting our attention. No man just decides to take up this ministry.
There has to be a response. Often it can take the form of, “I can’t do that” – “I’m only a child” – “I cannot speak” – or even, “You have come to the wrong man”.
These are good signs because men of God are invariably reluctant to take up the task at the start, but the person is won around to following Jesus Christ.
To many people Jesus was a phony, but to as many as received Him, He gave power.
Some could not receive Paul’s ministry, but when people accepted that he was sent by the risen living Jesus, they drew from him something of the life and love of God.
In every prophetic ministry we witness moral uprightness. We see a simplicity of worship and spiritual directness. Each prophetic ministry displays high standards of inter-personal relationships. It is all there in the Sermon on the Mount.
Some plead that biblical standards are too high, too narrow and too limiting. Not so. Leader need courage and boldness to proclaim and teach this.
The train is free to make its way to its destination safely, as long as it remains on the rails.
One message which flows from the lives of the prophets is the utter faithfulness of God.
Dwelling on that can melt you to tears.
Sandy Shaw