It sounds too simple to be true: it seems at first sight so
simple a statement that it is not believed. But the greatest
truths are often the simplest. The secret which many of the
wisest on earth have utterly failed to discover, is revealed to
the humblest believer in Christ. I repeat it deliberately, and
defy the world to disprove it: the true Christian is the only
happy man.
What do I mean when I speak of a true Christian? Do I mean
everybody who goes to a church? Do I mean everybody who
professes an orthodox creed, and bows his head at the belief? Do
I mean everybody who professes to love the Gospel? No: indeed!
I mean something very different. All are not Christians who are
called Christians. The man I have in view is “the Christian in
heart and life.” He who has been taught by the Spirit really to
feel his sins–he who really rests all his hopes on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and His payment for man’s sins on the Cross–he who
has been born again and really lives a spiritual, holy life–he
whose religion is not merely a Sunday show, but a mighty
constraining principle governing every day of his life–he is the
man I mean, when I speak of a true Christian.
What do I mean when I say the true Christian is happy? Has he no
doubts and no fears? Has he no anxieties and no troubles? Has
he no sorrows and no cares? Does he never feel pain, and shed no
tears? Far be it from me to say anything of the kind. He has a
body weak and frail like other men; he has affections and
passions like every one born of a woman: he lives in a changing
world. But deep down in his heart he has a mine of solid peace
and substantial joy which is never exhausted. This is true
happiness.
Do I say that all true Christians are equally happy at all times?
No: not for a moment! All have their ebbs and flows of peace,
like the sea. Their bodily health is not always the same; their
earthly circumstances are not always the same; the souls of those
they love fill them at times with special anxiety: they
themselves are sometimes overtaken by a fault, and walk in
darkness. They sometimes give way to inconsistencies and
besetting sins, and lose their sense of forgiveness. But, as a
general rule the true Christian has a deep pool of peace within
him, which even at the lowest is never entirely dry.
I use the words, “as a general rule,” advisedly. When a believer
falls into such a horrible sin as that of David [adultery and
murder], it would be monstrous to talk of his feeling inward
peace. If a man professing to be a true Christian talked to me
of being happy in such a case–before giving any evidence of the
deepest, most heart-abasing repentance–I should feel great
doubts whether he ever had any grace at all.
The true Christian is the only happy man, because “his conscience
is at peace.” That mysterious witness for God, which is so
mercifully placed within us, is fully satisfied and at rest. It
sees in the blood of Christ a complete cleansing away of all its
guilt. It sees in the priesthood and mediation of Christ a
complete answer to all its fears. It sees that through the
sacrifice and death of Christ, God can now be just, and yet be
the justifier of the ungodly. It no longer bites and stings, and
makes its possessor afraid of himself. The Lord Jesus Christ has
amply met all its requirements. Conscience is no longer the
enemy of the true Christian, but his friend and adviser.
Therefore he is happy.
The true Christian is the only happy man, because he can “sit
down quietly and think about his soul.” He can look behind him
and ahead of him, he can look within him and around him, and
feel, “All is well.” He can think calmly on his past life, and
however many and great his sins, take comfort in the thought that
they are all forgiven. The righteousness of Christ covers all,
as Noah’s flood covered the highest mountain. He can think
calmly about things to come, and yet not be afraid. Sickness is
painful; death is solemn; the judgment day is an awful thing: but
having Christ for him, he has nothing to fear. He can think
calmly about the Holy God, whose eyes are on all his ways, and
feel, “He is my Father, my reconciled Father in Christ Jesus. I
am weak; I am unprofitable: yet in Christ He regards me as His
dear child, and is well-pleased.” Oh, what a blessed privilege
it is to be able to “think,” and not be afraid! I can well
understand the mournful complaint of the prisoner in solitary
confinement. He had warmth, and food, and clothing, and work,
but he was not happy. And why? He said, “He was obliged to
think.”
The true Christian is the only happy man, because “he has sources
of happiness entirely independent of this world.” He has
something which cannot be affected by sickness and by deaths, by
private losses and public calamities–he has the “peace of God,
which transcends all understanding.” He has a hope laid up for
him in Heaven; he has a treasure which moth and rust cannot
corrupt; he has a house which can never be torn down. His loving
wife may die, and his heart feel torn in two; his darling
children may be taken from him, and he may be left alone in this
cold world; his earthly plans may be crossed; his health may
fail; but all this time he has a part of him which can never be
hurt. He has a Friend who never dies; he has possessions beyond
the grave, of which nothing can deprive him: his springs of water
on this earth may dry up, but his springs of living water never
run dry. This is real happiness.
“This article originally appeared here at Bible Bulletin Board.”
