“Blessed [Happy] are the people whose God is the LORD.”
Psalm 144:15
An atheist was once addressing a crowd of people in the open air.
He was trying to persuade them that there was no God and no
devil, no heaven, and no hell, no resurrection, no judgment, and
no life to come. He advised them to throw away their Bibles, and
not to pay attention to what preachers said. He recommended them
to think as he did, and to be like him. He talked boldly. The
crowd listened eagerly. It was “the blind leading the blind.”
Both were falling into the pit (Matthew 15:14).
In the middle of his address a poor old woman suddenly pushed her
way through the crowd, to the place where he was standing. She
stood before him. She looked him full in the face. “Sir,” she
said, in a loud voice, “Are you happy?” The atheist looked
scornfully at her, and gave her no answer. “Sir,” she said
again, “I ask you to answer my question. Are you happy? You
want us to throw away our Bibles. You tell us not to believe
what preachers say about Christ. You advise us to think as you
do, and be like you. Now before we take your advice we have a
right to know what good we will gain by it. Do your fine new
ideas give you a lot of comfort? Do you yourself really feel
happy?”
The atheist stopped, and attempted to answer the old woman’s
question. He stammered, and shuffled, and fidgeted, and
endeavored to explain his meaning. He tried hard to return to
the subject. He said, he “had not come to preach about
happiness.” But it was of no use. The old woman stuck to her
point. She insisted on her question being answered, and the
crowd took her side. She pressed him hard with her inquiry, and
would take no excuse. And at last the atheist was obliged to
leave, and sneak off in the confusion. His conscience would not
let him stay: he dared not say that he was happy.
The old woman showed great wisdom in asking the question that she
did. The argument she used may seem very simple, but in reality
it is one of the most powerful that can be employed. It is a
weapon that has more effect on some minds than the most elaborate
reasoning by some of our great apologists. Whenever a man begins
to speak against and despise old Bible Christianity, thrust home
at his conscience the old woman’s question. Ask him whether his
new views make him feel comfortable within himself. Ask Him
whether he can say, with honesty and sincerity, that he is happy.
The grand test of a man’s faith and religion is, “Does it make
him happy?”
Let me now warmly invite every reader to consider the subject of
this paper. Let me warn you to remember that the salvation of
your soul, and nothing less, is closely bound up with the
subject. The heart cannot be right in the sight of God which
knows nothing of happiness. That man or woman cannot be in a
safe state of soul who feels nothing of peace within.
There are three things which I purpose to do, in order to clear
up the subject of happiness. I ask special attention to each one
of them. And I pray the Spirit of God will apply it to all the
souls of those who read this paper.
I. Let me point out some things which are absolutely essential
to happiness.
II. Let me expose some common mistakes about the way to be
happy.
III. Let me show the way to be truly happy.
I. First of all I have to “point out some things which are
absolutely essential to true happiness.”
Happiness is what all mankind wants to obtain: the desire of it
is deeply planted in the human heart. All men naturally dislike
pain, sorrow, and discomfort. All men naturally like ease,
comfort, and bliss. All men naturally hunger and thirst after
happiness. Just as the sick man longs for health, and the
prisoner of war for liberty–just as the parched traveler in hot
countries longs to see the cooling fountain, or the ice-bound
polar voyager the sun rising above the horizon–just in the same
way does poor mortal man long to be happy. But how few consider
what they really mean when they talk of happiness! How vague and
indistinct and undefined the ideas of most men are on the
subject! They think some are happy who in reality are miserable:
they think some are gloomy and sad who in reality are truly
happy. They dream of a happiness which in reality would never
satisfy their nature’s wants. Let me try this day to throw a
little light on the subject.
True happiness “is not perfect freedom from sorrow and
discomfort.” Let that never be forgotten. If it were so there
would be no such thing as happiness in the world. Such happiness
is for angels who have never fallen, and not for man. The
happiness I am inquiring about is the kind that a poor, dying,
sinful creature may hope to attain. Our whole nature is defiled
by sin. Evil abounds in the world. Sickness, and death, and
change are daily doing their sad work on every side. In such a
state of things the highest happiness man can attain to on earth
must necessarily be a mixed thing. If we expect to find any
literally perfect happiness on this side of the grave, we expect
what we will not find.
True happiness “does not consist in laughter and smiles.” The
face is very often a poor index of the inward man. There are
thousands who laugh loud and are merry in the company of others,
but are wretched and miserable in private, and almost afraid to
be alone. There are hundreds who are solemn and serious in their
demeanor, whose hearts are full of solid peace. A poet once
wrote that our smiles are not worth very much, he said, “A man
may smile and smile and be a villain.”
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
