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Two sets of cups!
from Spurgeon's sermon, FROM SORROW TO JOY
"Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." (John 16:20.)
The people of the world have the laughter
today, and we Christians have the sighing.
They shall have the sighing by and bye,
and we shall then have the laughter.
God is like a certain great man who had in his house
two sets of cups. These cups were for his
friends,
and those others were for his enemies. They might
take which ever they desired. He knew his friends
were wise; and his enemies were fools.
Now, those cups which were for his foes were very
sweet; they sparkled on the brim; they flashed.
The wine was red, and it moved itself aright.
But they were warned that whoever drank those
cups would find that the dregs were full of death.
And his foes came in and drank and drank and
laughed, and said the good man of the house loved
them best, for he had given them the sweetest wines.
But on the other table stood the cups that were ready
for his friends, and his friends were wise, and went
to these, and the cups were very bitter; very bitter!
Ah, how they set their teeth on edge and filled their
mouths with wormwood! But they knew that these
were health-cups that would purge them of all
disease and fill their frames with a vitality and force
which magic could not give; and therefore these
friends of his drank the cups with joy and thankfulness,
for they knew that he had prepared them in love;
and while they heard his enemies laughing at them
they bore the laughter with composure, for they
knew what the end would be!
"Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." (John 16:20.)
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