For the preacher. This is a series outline, not a sermon manuscript. Each sermon listed below has a primary text, key cross-references, an introduction frame, four expository movements, an application, and a Big Idea. Adapt to your congregation.
A note on tone. The argument of this site is intellectually rigorous but pastorally direct. Do not preach it academically. The cross is real; the cup is real; the wrath is real; the gift is real. Preach with both sober reverence and hopeful confidence.
Sermon I — Four cups, one supper
Primary text: Mark 14:22–25
Cross-references: 1 Cor 10:16; 11:23–26 · Westminster Confession ch. 29 · Heidelberg Catechism Q. 75
Introduction. Open with the meal and the Reformed framework. The four cups — Blessing, Wrath, Reservation, Consummation — are a teaching device drawn from Calvin, Owen, Edwards, and the Reformed confessions. They hold together what Scripture teaches about Christ's table, his garden, his cross, and his kingdom.
Movements.
- Cup of Blessing — what Christ gives at the Last Supper (1 Cor 10:16).
- Cup of Wrath — what Christ asks the Father to remove in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36).
- Cup of Reservation — what Christ vows not to drink until the kingdom comes (Mark 14:25).
- Cup of Consummation — the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9).
Application. When we approach the Lord's Supper, we are stepping into a Reformed tradition that has been holding these four cups together for five centuries. We are not innovating; we are receiving.
Big Idea. The four cups are a Reformed teaching framework: Christ blessed the cup of blessing, drank the cup of wrath, reserved the cup of consummation, and will drink it with us in the kingdom.
Sermon II — This cup is the new covenant
Primary text: Luke 22:14–20 (esp. v. 20)
Cross-references: Exod 24:8 · Jer 31:31–34 · Heb 9:11–15 · 1 Cor 10:16
Introduction. Move from where the cup is in liturgy (Sermon I) to what the cup means in covenant theology (Sermon II). The hinge is Jeremiah 31:31–34: the new covenant is forensic — 'I will remember their sin no more.'
Movements.
- Exodus 24:8 — Moses ratifies the Mosaic covenant by the blood of bulls. Jesus, naming his blood as 'the blood of the covenant,' echoes Moses and surpasses him.
- Jeremiah 31:31–34 — what the new covenant is: heart-knowledge, forgiveness, divine remembrance of sin no more.
- Hebrews 9:11–15 — Christ is the mediator of a new covenant by means of his death. The cup at the table is the seal of the cross.
- 1 Corinthians 10:16–17 — the cup of blessing is participation (κοινωνία) in the blood of Christ. Sacramental presence, not sacrificial repetition.
Application. If you are estranged from the Body, do not approach the cup without seeking peace. If you are weary in faith, the cup of blessing is given to weak faith for the strengthening of weak faith.
Big Idea. The cup of blessing is the sign and seal of the new covenant — forgiveness, heart-knowledge, eschatological inheritance — sealed in the blood of the Mediator.
Sermon III — The cup of wrath in Gethsemane
Primary text: Mark 14:32–42
Cross-references: Ps 75:8 · Isa 51:17–22 · Jer 25:15–16 · Heb 5:7–9
Introduction. Many sermons on Gethsemane stop at 'the suffering of crucifixion.' Calvin will not. The cup is divine wrath. Let the prophets do the heavy lifting.
Movements.
- The articular 'this cup' (Mark 14:36) — Jesus is naming a specific theological category.
- Psalm 75:8 — the cup is in God's hand and is poured for the wicked.
- Isaiah 51:17–22 — the cup of staggering is taken from one hand and placed into another's. The prophetic foundation of substitution.
- The Father does not remove the cup. If there had been any other way to save the elect, omnipotence would have provided it (Mark 14:36, 'all things are possible for you').
Application. There is no longer a cup of wrath waiting for those who are in Christ. He drank it. To the dregs. So that we will never face what he faced. Preach this kindly. Some hearer this morning is afraid of dying.
Big Idea. What Jesus dreaded in Gethsemane was not crucifixion as such; it was bearing the wrath of a holy God under the cup the prophets had been pouring for centuries.
Sermon IV — Tetelestai
Primary text: John 19:28–30
Cross-references: Ps 69:21 · Exod 12:21–23 · Col 2:14 · Heb 10:14
Introduction. The most concentrated three verses in the New Testament. Three keyword: τετέλεσται, ὄξος, ὕσσωπος. Walk them in order.
Movements.
- Tetelestai — perfect passive. It stands finished. Retire the 'paid in full receipt' illustration; preach the tense itself. The believer's redemption is not in process; it is complete.
- Oxos — sour wine, the soldier's posca. Distinct from the οἶνος ἐσμυρνισμένος Jesus refused. The Lord drinks the cheap wine to fulfill Psalm 69:21.
- Hyssop — the Passover applicator (Exod 12:22). The soldiers, without knowing it, apply the blood of the true Lamb to the door of the world.
- What is finished: the law fulfilled, the cup of wrath drained, the new covenant sealed, the Passover consummated, the record of debt canceled.
Application. *It stands finished.* You do not finish it. Preach this verb to weary saints, to perfectionists, to legalists, and to the unbeliever in the back row.
Big Idea. Tetelestai is the perfect-passive announcement that the work of redemption is complete. The verb tense alone refuses every form of works-righteousness.
Sermon V — Engaging the critics honestly
Primary text: 1 Peter 3:15
Cross-references: Acts 17:11 · Prov 18:13 · 2 Tim 2:15
Introduction. A pastoral sermon on intellectual honesty. The Reformed exegete engages dissenting voices — the Arminian, the Roman-Catholic, the Lutheran, the New Perspective — with kindness and clarity. Bluster is not faith. Modeling this is part of the pastor's office.
Movements.
- Concede what should be conceded — the Arminian objector raises real pastoral questions about assurance and the free offer.
- Hold what is decisive — the cup of wrath is divine wrath, definite atonement is biblical, the Lord's Supper is sign and seal of the new covenant.
- Let your congregation see the manuscript evidence (𝔓⁷⁵, ℵ, B, D) on Luke 22:19b–20. Confessional confidence is not afraid of evidence.
- Distinguish the Reformed reading from Roman, Lutheran, and Arminian alternatives with respect, not contempt.
Application. Train your congregation to hold their reading with both confidence and openness. Modeling this is part of the pastor's office.
Big Idea. The Reformed-confessional posture is to concede what should be conceded, defend what is decisive, and never confuse rhetorical bluster with faith.
Sermon VI — Until I drink it new
Primary text: Mark 14:25; Revelation 19:6–9
Cross-references: Isa 25:6–9 · Matt 26:29 · Rev 22:17
Introduction. Close the series with eschatology. The cup of consummation has not yet been drunk. The Bridegroom is coming. The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' Until then, the Church gathers around the Cup of Blessing he gave us.
Movements.
- The reservation: 'I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.'
- The wedding feast on Mount Zion (Isa 25:6–9) — the eschatological banquet imagery long predates the New Testament.
- The marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:6–9) — the consummation of the cup-pattern.
- Sursum corda — between the cups, the Church lifts up its heart.
Application. Close with the invitation: come and drink. To the believer in dryness, to the unbeliever weighing the gospel, to the saint near the end of life. The cup that meets you is the cup of blessing now and the cup of consummation then.
Big Idea. The cup of wrath has been drunk. The cup of blessing is set on the table. The cup of consummation awaits the Bridegroom's return. There is no other gospel.