Hence she is said to be clothed in sackcloth, to mourn, to weep, to cry out, and to be in pain as a woman in travail. Since the church in the wilderness has been so persecuted, so distressed, so oppressed, and made the seat of so much war, so much blood, and so many murders of her children within her, can it be imagined that she drank of more of these cups? Yes, yes, she has drunk the red wine at the Lord's hand, even the cup of blood, of fury, of trembling, and of astonishment; witness her own cries, sighs, tears, and tremblings, with the cries of the widows, children, and orphans within her.
But all these cups are of pure gold. They are of God's ordaining, appointing, filling; and also sanctified by him for good to those of his that drink them. Hence Moses chose rather to drink a brimmer of these, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
The sourness, bitterness, and wormwood of them, therefore, is only to the flesh, that loveth neither God, nor Christ, nor grace. The afflictions, therefore, that the church in the wilderness hath met with, these cups of gold, are of more worth than are all the treasures of Egypt; they are needful and profitable, and praiseworthy also, and tend to the augmenting of our glory when the next world shall come.
Besides, they are signs, tokens, and golden-marks of love, and jewels that set off the beauty of the church in the sight of God the more. They are also a means by which men are proved to be sound, honest, faithful, and true lovers of God; to be those whose graces are not counterfeit, feigned, or unsound, but true, and such as will be found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
And this has been the cause that the men of our church in the wilderness have gloried in tribulation, taking pleasure in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ's sake. Yea, this is the reason why they have bade one another rejoice, when they fell into divers temptations, saying, "Happy is the man that endureth temptations;" and, "Behold, we count them happy that endure." And again, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye."
These, therefore, are vessels of pure gold, though they contain such bitter draughts, at which we make so many wry faces before we can get them down.
Do you think that a Christian, having even this cup in his hand to drink, would change it for a draught of that which is in the hand of the woman that sits on the back of the scarlet-colored beast? No, verily; for he knows that her sweet is poison; and that his bitter is to purge his soul, body, life, and religion, of death.
God sends his love-tokens to his church two ways; sometimes by her friends, sometimes by her enemies. When they come by the hand of a friend, as by a minister, a brother, or by the Holy Ghost, then they come smoothly, sweetly, and are taken, and go down like honey. But when these love-tokens come to them by the hand of an enemy, then they are handed to them roughly. Pharaoh handed love-tokens to them roughly; the king of Babylon handed these love-tokens to them roughly. They bring them of malice; God sends them of love. They bring them and give them to us, hoping they will be our death; they give them therefore with many a foul curse; but God blesses them still.
Nor is this cup so bitter but that our Lord himself drank deep of it, before it was handed to his church. He did, as loving mothers do, drink thereof himself, to show us it is not poison, also to encourage us to drink it for his sake, and for our endless health. Therefore the cup is called Christ's cup: "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink of? Ye shall indeed drink of my cup." Here you see they are joined in a communion in this cup of affliction.
But these are not all the cups that belong to the church in the wilderness. There is also a cup, out of which, at times, is drunk what is exceeding sweet. It is called the cup of consolation, the cup of salvation; a cup in which God himself is, as David said, "The Lord is the portion of my cup."