Lecture XVIII · Joy in the Lord

EVANGELICAL religion, my brethren, is often charged with making men gloomy and morose,—averse to sharing in the innocent pleasures of life, and prone to frown on the enjoyments of others, simply because they are enjoyments. Beyond doubt, this accusation is very widely entertained by the carnal heart, as a plausible ground for resistance to the claims of the gospel. To the young especially, who feel themselves impelled by the warmth and buoyancy of their nature to every form of delight, Christianity thus misconceived cannot but be in the highest degree repulsive. This charge against religion finds some seeming support in the demeanour of a considerable number of Christians, in whom, from defective views of duty, the gospel is not permitted freely to exert its sweetening and beautifying power on a naturally ungenial temper. But such persons grievously misrepresent the spirit of the religion they profess. Many of us, I trust, know from our own experience that the truth as it is in Jesus, cordially and intelligently received, is a perennial spring of joy for the believer himself, and of sympathy with all true and innocent happiness in others. Jesus, in His humiliation, was a ‘ Man of sorrows,’ because He bore the weight of the world’s guilt, and ‘it pleased the Lord to put Him to grief ;’ but when the bitter work of expiation was finished, then He was ‘anointed with ‘the oil of gladness.’ Christians, His brethren, are ‘ quickened together with Him.’ They are sharers in this new life of

have entered into ‘glorious liberty.’ They know, indeed, the — seriousness of life, and thus their happiness is tinged with © gravity ; but for that very reason it is deep, and broad, and lasting. In a world like this, where death is the one great © certainty, any joy which is not tempered with seriousness can be only like the crackling of a fire of thorns, where speedily again all is cold and dark.

The verse before us is one of many passages of Scripture which proclaim happiness to be the regular and becoming tone of the believing heart. Nothing in the language employed by the apostle needs lengthened explanation. The introductory word ‘ /inza//y’ leads us to expect the close of the Epistle to be near. Asa matter of fact, we have nearly the half yet before us. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that some circumstance led Paul to write more than he had intended. At this point we shall have occasion to look a little more closely when we come to the consideration of the next verse, which introduces a new subject.

Our idiomatic use of the phrase ‘ rejoice in’ leads us naturally to take the apostle’s precept here, ‘ Rejoice in the Lord, as meaning, ‘ Rejoice in the contemplation and experience of His excellences.’ In reality, the sense is somewhat more general than this. “725: the Lord’ exhibits the thought of vital union to the Saviour,—dearest of all thoughts to the Christian, and which by this phrase Paul, as you know, delights to set forth — in regard to every department of the believer’s inner and outer life. He had urged the Philippians, two verses before, to — receive Epaphroditus ‘in the Lord,—‘with the spirit which — union to the Saviour produces and sustains.’ So here ‘ Rejoice as Christians. ‘ Being in the Lord, be full of gladness, for a Christian ought to be happy; but see to it always that your — sources of joy ave in the Lord,—such as become saints.’

In the course of the Epistle, the apostle has again and again expressed his desire that his readers might have spiritual — joy ;’ but a sense of its importance so impresses him that he returns to the subject here,—as we shall find him doing once more in the 4th verse of the next chapter,—‘ for,’ says he, “20 write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe The natural tendency of a mind so energetic and Originative as Paul’s was to expatiate ever in fresh fields ; but he knew it to be in many cases ‘ safe’—-eminently salutary—for his readers, that he should keep certain truths much before their minds, and therefore Christian love made it “ποῦ grievous’ ‘to him to do this. The apostle here indirectly gives a hint not unneeded in our time, I think, by both ministers and congregations. The greater the freshness with which divine truth can be illustrated, the better always, because thus interest is maintained ; but it must never be forgotten that the same truth, substantially, which nourished our souls last year—the same truth, substantially, which nourished the souls of Paul -and the Philippians—must sustain us this year also, and on to death, and through death. However much a Christian may be interested in various lines of religious speculation, yet he /lives spiritually through the loving, believing contemplation of those grand central verities which have become the commonplaces of our religious knowledge. ‘To say the same things’ to their hearers, then, unaltered essentially, whatever variety and newness there be in form, will not be ‘grievous’ to earnest ministers of Jesus Christ, because for their hearers it is ‘ safe.’ The craving for novelty and originality, which is particularly apt to beset both preachers and hearers in an age like ours, so full of sensationalism in life and in literature, passes very easily from the innocent into the morbid ; and is often, really, one cannot but fear, the outcome of repugnance to the soulhumbling ‘faith once delivered to the saints.’ It was not a sign of health or of wisdom, when the Israelites said of the manna which they had been eating for forty years, ‘ Our soul loatheth this light bread.’ 1

Generally, in chap. i. 25, 26 ; in special connections, ii. 18, 28.

Having thus glanced at the meaning of the verse generally, we shall go on now to consider the force of the apostle’s precept somewhat more in detail.

To an unregenerate man the happiness of Christians is unintelligible. It belongs to a sphere with which he has no acquaintance. He sees, to a certain extent, the restraints which religion imposes ; but of its blessed communion with God he sees and can apprehend nothing. Its hopes appear to him visionary; and point to a kind of future life for which he has no desire. His heart knows that the pleasures of the: world do not yield him full satisfaction, and cries out more or less articulately for some nobler and better happiness ; but the mists which natural alienation from God has gathered around him prevent him from seeing that the cup of salvation, offered him by Jesus, holds the water of life which can slake_ his soul’s thirst. He cannot think the ‘ yoke’ of Jesus to be ‘easy,’ and His ‘burden’ to be ‘light,’ and that to bear this. ‘yoke’ and ‘burden’ is, in truth, rest. ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’

But the man who, through faith, is ‘in the Lord,’ and thus, taught by His indwelling Spirit, has true wisdom, sees ever more clearly, if there be in him any approach to vigorous religious vitality, the reasonableness of his being happy. Even if at times he is not happy, still he feels that a Christian ought to be happy. Nothing in God’s universe certainly is so fitted to produce and sustain gladness of spirit as the boundless, unwearying, tender love of the Saviour. Out in the world we found that the springs and streams might be named ‘ Marah,’ because the water was bitter; but in Christ our hearts are satisfied with blessing. ‘With joy we draw water out of the wells of salvation.’ Gently and tenderly, not harshly reminding us of our rebellion and folly, but cheering our hearts with looks and tones of comfort, He has led us home,—away from the OE EE ΨΨΨΨΟΝ ee a — « ὦ δέ, «ep a

wilderness of our wanderings and woe to the city that He has built for our security. And the citizens of the spiritual Zion may well ‘ be joyful in their King.’ What city, dear friends, is like unto our city? ‘ Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion.’ ‘Glorious things are spoken of the city of God.’ ‘He hath called her walls Salvation, and her gates Praise.’ From her towers Christ’s people can see the billows of Satan’s warfare rushing on in wild fury, but broken on the walls and scattered into thin foam. Within the walls is peace, and ‘prosperity within her palaces.’ Through the midst of the city flows the river of life; and on either side of the river are seen the far-stretching branches of the tree of life, whose fragrance is wafted through every street, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. The Saviour King Himself abides among us. You have seen His face and heard His voice, have you not, Christian brethren? In His relations to us He shows matchless tenderness and condescension. He mingles kindly with His people. To all our petitions His ear is open ; to all our wants His bounteous hand. We find His law to be a simple one,—that we should desire and strive after all that is noble and beautiful and good—that we should be pure, and loving, and patient, and godly. Love for Him makes the law pleasant to us ; and we learn every day to love it more and more for its own excellence. Thus ‘ His yoke is easy, and His burden light.’ His service is ‘ glorious liberty.’ In the sorrows of life we never look in vain to Him for sympathy, tender and brotherly,—for He remembers the old time when He Himself dwelt out in the wilderness, and when He wept at the grave of His friend. When the weakness and folly of our days of wandering come back upon us for a time, and we sin,—we find Him no hard, avenging taskmaster, but a gracious Lord. ‘The people that dwell in Zion are forgiven their iniquity.’ Our gracious Redeemer, as ye know, dear brethren, is to us in all things a light, a glory, and a defence. In every danger, and perplexity, and sorrow, here rests our

confidence, that ‘ The Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Law- — 3 giver, the Lord is our King,—He will save us.’ It is certainly — reasonable, my friends, that all who are ‘in the Lord’ should © rejoice in His goodness. ὌΝ

We have perfect security, too, that His kindness will be continued to us. No power can pluck us out of our Saviour’s

hand ; for, in Him, with ineffable goodness is conjoined an Fe belie greatness—a power, and wealth, and wisdom, which pass knowledge. This is ‘the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord — mighty if battle.’ ‘His name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.’ τὸ In Him, to the truest and tenderest sympathy of a man who ~ has struggled and suffered as we have, are united all the perfections of supreme Godhead. We have many and bitter spiritual enemies; but if we be ‘in the Lord,’ we cannot by possibility be permanently vanquished. The plan of defence — is conceived by His wisdom ‘whose understanding is infinite ;? all the details are carried out, and the human and other instrumentalities controlled, by Him ‘whose eyes run to and ~ fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the ἢ behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him ;’ and the ends _ are certainly and gloriously secured by His power who ‘doeth _ according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. ‘Have we not. known, have we ~ not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator — of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary;’? and — that He, this everlasting God—who ‘was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth,’—that He is the Saviour in whom we are called to trust? ‘ Beautiful exceedingly are the feet of them who say unto Zion, * Thy _ ν reigneth.”’

Your security is perfect, Christian ;—and for ever. Thelawo death throws a shadow over all mere earthly friendship ané¢ 1 protection and joy; but they that are ‘in the Lord’ may rejoice Σ in the knowledge of unending love and care. Jesus died

for

sin once ; but having, by His glorious resurrection, proved Himself the Prince of Life, He is now ‘alive for evermore,’— alive for evermore as the God-man, our Kinsman Redeemer. His immortality is the immortality of His goodness and of His greatness. There will be no change throughout eternity in His full desert of the warmest love and gratitude and devotion of His people. Whom He loveth, He ‘loveth 20 the end.’ And through this undying love, ‘ because He liveth,’ all who are in Him ‘live also,’ in holiness and joy kindred to His,—and this for evermore. We must leave the Zion below indeed, but the gracious Saviour has built for us a far more glorious Zion above. Thither ‘shall come the ransomed of the Lord, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.’ The joys which we find so sweet in Zion here, are but faint foretastes of those which are provided for us there. Here ‘we know in part ;’ there ‘we shall know even as also we are known.’ Here we see but dimly, through faith, Him whom our souls love ; there, face to face, we shall ‘ behold the King in His beauty,’ we shall be ravished with the ‘open vision’ of ‘the Altogether Lovely.’ Here on earth, even in Zion, are found sin and its constant shadows, death and sorrow ; but by the river of life yonder there is ‘ nothing that defileth,’ and, consequently, ‘ no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither any more pain.’ The King’s servants there ‘serve Him day and night in His temple;’ and He ‘ wipes away = tears from their eyes.’

Certainly, my brethren, a Christian has good grounds for a happiness infinitely transcending all the pleasure which can be yielded by any advantages of the world—‘a joy unspeakable and full of glory.” He may well say, ‘I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.’

The intelligent believer finds every day new sustenance for spiritual happiness in the view of God’s doings without, as well as in his growing experimental acquaintance with saving grace. ‘In the Lord,’ we know His Father as our Father. The divine dealings toward us, therefore, of every kind, we recognise as Fatherly dealings. ‘Thus, in the contemplation of providence, there is for us an unfailing source of joy. In the days before our spiritual enlightenment, when,

‘In blindness, we remained unconscious of the guiding, And things provided came without the sweet sense of providing,’

—the pleasure which prosperity brought us was of a low character, belonging largely indeed, in many cases, to the mere animal nature. It ‘perished with the using.’ Now, the natural satisfaction which outward comforts bring is pervaded and glorified by the thankfulness of hearts rejoicing in their Father’s goodness. This joy tends to become ever deeper and richer, with growing spiritual wisdom and experience. The voice of praise in the new man becomes ever more distinct and ringing, —‘ Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits ; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies.’ But adversity may come. Clouds may gather, and hide the sun. Anxiety, pain, bereavement, may be appointed to us. True; but the fact that a Father has appointed the trouble, that the clouds have been gathered by a Father’s word, will prevent despondency, and maintain peace. He has sent the affliction to us for the purposes of wise and gracious discipline ; and He makes ‘all things to work together for good to them that love Him.’ Joy, in the sense of buoyant delight, may scarce be possible, seeing that ‘no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Eminently lofty faith can reach even to this point. Paul speaks of himself in one place as ‘ sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing ;’ and in another, as ‘ filled with comfort, exceeding joyful in all his tribulation.’ But, though such a sublime height as this may be rarely attained by the children Se ee, OEE μμμμνννδ ἡμνυ ,πμ μεθ. ὧν OO EOE EE —<_ —

of God, when in sore trial, yet the heart of every believer who is in spiritual health will ‘ lives¢ in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.’ It is with the Christian soul as with the ocean,— the wildest tempests ruffle only the surface; the depths are tranquil.

The ordinary innocent enjoyments of life obtain ‘in the Lord’ a new charm. He who began His miracles by contributing to social pleasure, does, in truth, for His people, everywhere and at all times, change the water into wine—the common into the noble, refreshing, brightening. To think of our capacities of joy, and the means of gratifying those capacities, as given by Him who ‘ gave Himself for us,’ and whom the faith of a simple, loving, Christian heart can see looking down with a smile of love on all really innocent pleasure,—this glorifies even the delights of earth. Friendship has an added sweetness,—nature a new and glorious beauty, as when ona landscape which lay in gloom the sunlight breaks forth,—study a satisfaction altogether peculiar, in that now all intellectual improvement is felt to be polishing a shaft for the Master’s quiver.

But the Christian has a source of joy all his own, immeasurably deeper and more satisfying than any which are only of the earth,—in the service of Christ, and in seeing the progress of His kingdom. Next to the ineffable delight of seeing Jesus as our own Saviour, is the delight which fills the believer’s heart in helping others to see Him as theirs. ‘ What is our joy; or crown of rejoicing ?’ says Paul to His converts in Thessalonica, —‘Are not even ye?’ To be permitted to take part in the Saviour’s great work of overthrowing the sin and wretchedness of the world, and preparing a people for His praise and for eternal blessedness,—to guide a wanderer into the way of peace,—to hear a prodigal, for whom we have prayed and with whom we have pleaded, cry, ‘I will arise and go to my Father,’ —Oh, my brethren, how sublime an honour this is,—how exquisite a privilege! The news, too, of the progress of the

gospel, through the efforts of other labourers, is ‘ good tidings of great joy’ to the earnest servant of Christ. It gladdens his heart to look abroad and see the name of his Saviour magnified. All praise to Him, my brethren, that this joy is given to us so largely in these days,—that in so many lands, and in so many languages, the heralds of the cross are making their proclamation of grace,—that the trumpet call rings so loudly in the ear of the church, ‘Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, —that even now sanguine hope sees the strongholds of Satan tottering to their fall !

The reasons for the indisputable fact that many Christians have but little experience of spiritual joy, are various. In some, the defect is in a great measure due to temperament. Of this class the Apostle Thomas may be taken as a type,—a man evidently by natural constitution moody, prone to look on the worst side of things, unable often to see springs of happiness which God had opened very near him. In many, as all our lunatic asylums bear witness, this nervous tendency to religious melancholy developes into positive insanity. There occurs at once to every mind the case of Cowper,—a Christian not merely signally gifted, but whose walk was eminently ‘ close with God,’ yet much of whose life, and in particular its closing years, were spent in the darkness of utter despair. The care of a wise physician, and the watchful love of friends, may be of some service to this class of joyless Christians. But with some, as with Cowper, the darkness remains unbroken, till death, the final and perfect cloud-dispeller for all who love Christ, brings relief. Oh, how kind a friend he whom nature calls ‘ the last’ enemy’ approved himself, when

‘Woke the poet from the dream his life’s long fever gave him, Beneath those deep pathetic Eyes, which closed in death to save him !

No type of earth can image that awaking, — Wherein he scarcely heard the chant of seraphs, round him breaking, Or felt the new immortal throb of soul from body parted, But felt those Eyes alone, and knew, ‘‘ A/y Saviour! ot deserted! ”’

In other believers, again, spiritual gloom is caused by de- ΠΣ ᾿ ‘ 7 Mgt Pert gent oe BOS ~ ory Στ μῖν Δ. Δ “ ἄχ, “).»-ὦ

pit fective apprehension of the fulness and freeness of the gospel. ‘The ‘glorious liberty of the children of God’ is by these but partially understood, so that, whilst at times rejoicing in the air of freedom, they ever and anon fall back under ‘the spirit of bondage, again to fear.’ If in Christians thus imperfectly enlightened there be a lively imagination, which brings with vividness before them ‘the terrors of God, setting themselves in array against them,’ the distress of soul is often very terrible. The experiences of Luther and of Bunyan, in the earlier years of their religious life, afford illustrations. In cases of this kind, where the nature is at all really healthy, growing knowledge of God and of His gospel gives emancipation.

But yet again,—in a lamentably large number of instances, the want of joy in religion is due to feeble spirituality, and indulgence in sin. Worldliness, perhaps, like a killing parasite on the trees of the wood, has wreathed itself round the energies of the soul, stifling and deadening. Or the pleasures of social life have stolen away the time once given to communion with God in prayer, and to kindly visits, ‘in the behalf of Christ,’ to the sick and poor. Desire of self-gratification in some form has for a time gained dominion; and the result is the loss of joy. Mists inevitably rise from a soul which is cherishing sinful desire, and hide the face of God. We all know the circumstances under which David had to pray, ‘ Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.’ It is well for a believer who has thus forgotten himself and his Saviour, when positive gloom takes possession of him. There is reason to hope that repentance, and the opening of his heart again to the cheering beams of the Sun of Righteousness, are at hand. In the sadness there is evidence that the Spirit is resuming the discharge of His mission as the Comforter, by ‘convincing of sin.’ Far more really melancholy is the condition of those who have allowed themselves to come down into a state of simple indifference,—the heart lacking alike

‘the joy of the Lord,’ and pain, through the sense that this joy is lacking.

The verse now before us represents it as a duty of believers to be happy. Here, as in other places of his writings, the apostle gives ‘Rejoice in the Lord’ distinctly as an injunction. In such a connection, the word ‘duty’ or ‘injunction’ sounds strangely to us. We ask, ‘Is this, then, a matter οὔ the will?’ The case of joy in this respect is closely analogous, I apprehend, to that of faith and love, neither of which is immediately dependent on the will, but both of which are expressly enjoined as duties. ‘This is God’s commandment,’ says the Apostle John, ‘that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ,—and love one another, as He gave us commandment.’ The zmmediate practical force of these words of John is, no doubt, this,—‘God commands us to examine, with seriousness and candour, the evidence that Jesus is His Son, and the Saviour of the world. Examined in such a spirit, the evidence will certainly produce conviction; and one fruit of the truth believed will certainly be a sincere and strong affection to the Christian brotherhood.’ Similarly the precept, ‘ Rejoice in the Lord,’ means practically, ‘ Have your thoughts much occupied with the blessedness, and glory, and security, of the relations into which faith has brought you with the Lord; try, by thoughtfulness and prayer, to live in an atmosphere of childlike trustfulness in your heavenly Father ; in seasons of peculiarly strong temptation to gloom, direct your minds with peculiar intensity to the “ exceeding great and precious promises ” of the Divine Word. Thus your ~ souls will be filled with joy.’ The injunction, like all God’s injunctions, is a most reasonable one.

The duty is an important one, too. The tone of the apostle here and elsewhere brings this out very clearly. Nothing is more calculated to commend the gospel to those around us, than proof that its influence on the hearts which receive it is to make them bright and happy. This commendation is, of ~ »υ σι,» «ον… Fe Re oe ραν»… ae

ours specially impressive, where outward ireumibeena are on a bed of pain, a Christian is contented, calm, joyous ; ‘its testimony to the reality and potency of divine grace. _ Where the lights of this world have been in so large a meacan come only through a beam of sunshine straight from _ liever himself, too, it is of very much moment that he ‘rejoice in the Lord.’ Nehemiah’s statement holds true for all time: i e joy of the Lord is your strength.’ We know the power of happiness, of a genial, buoyant spirit, in carrying forward the ordinary work of life. In the work of the spiritual life— _ there is no sustaining power to be compared with joy. Walk- _ stumble, fall. In the sunshine, we press forward with bounding _ step in the way of God’s commandments, ‘running, and not weary ;’—wherefore, ‘O house of Jacob, come ye and let us alk in the light of the Lord.’ there is here ‘an epistle of Christ’ written in letters so large and fair, that even careless observers can hardly help reading ‘resistance to temptation, and earnest labour for the Master— ing in darkness, enveloped in spiritual gloom, we move slowly,

ofa kind naturally tending to sadden. When, in deep poverty, © ‘sure withdrawn, it must be plain that such brightness of heart — heaven to that heart. For the spiritual progress of the be- —