Rejoice And Be Exceedingly Glad!

He died a real death, but now he lives a real life, he did lie in the tomb, and it was no fiction that the breath had departed from him: it is equally no fiction that our Redeemer liveth. The Lord is risen indeed. He hath survived the death struggle and the agony, and he lives unhurt: he has come out of the furnace without so much as the smell of fire upon him. He is not injured in any faculty; whether human or divine. He is not robbed of any glory, but his name is now surrounded with brighter lustre than ever. He has lost no dominion, he claims superior rights and rules over a new empire. He is a gainer by his losses, he has risen by his descent. All along the line he is victorious at every point.

Never yet was there a victory won but what it was in some respects a loss as well as a gain, but our Lord’s triumph is unmingled glory – to himself a gain as well as to us who share in it. Shall we not then rejoice? What, would ye sit and weep by a mother as she exultingly shows her new-born child? Would you call together a company of mourners to lament and to bewail when the heir is born into the household? This were to mock the mother’s gladness. And so to-day shall we use dreary music and sing dolorous hymns when the Lord is risen, and is not only unhurt, unharmed, and unconquered, but is far more glorified and exalted than before his death?

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Sorrow At The Cross Turned Into Joy," delivered November 3, 1878. Image by StephaniePetraPhoto on Flickr under Creative Commons License, without alteration.

He Carries Us With Joy

It is said that he carries them [as a shepherd does]; this is mercy; but this is not all, for he carries them in his bosom, this is tender mercy. To carry is kindness, but to carry in the bosom is loving-kindness. The shoulders are for power, and the back for force, but the bosom is the seat of love. Jesus would warm, cheer, comfort, and make them happy. The Lord wishes all his people to be happy; “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.” It is a worthy object to try and make any Christian happy, but especially a young believer, whose weakness needs great gentleness. To clothe religion with gloom is to slander the name of Christ. We should always be most eager to prevent young believers from imagining that to follow Christ is to walk in darkness, for, indeed, it is not so. Hath he not himself said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness”? Did not the wise man say concerning wisdom, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace”?

The good Shepherd looks to the comfort, peace, and enjoyment of his lambs, and he carries them where they will be most happy. If you are to be like your Master you will try to take away from young believers’ hearts all temptation to despondency; you will set before them the richness and freeness of the gospel, the “exceeding great and precious promises,” the oath and covenant, and the stability of the engagements of God; yea, you will try to let them see the preciousness of Christ, and tell them how exceeding faithful and true you have found him to be in your own experience.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "A Sabbath-School Sermon," delivered October 28, 1877. Image by AlicePopkorn on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

Worship is our privilege

The genius of the Christian religion is joy, its proper spirit is delight, and its highest exercise is praise. “They shall praise the Lord that seek him.” Now we go up to the house of the Lord with the congregation of the faithful with songs of holy joy: now we draw near to the feast of communion at the Lord’s table with delight, and ere we depart we sing a hymn; now we go forth to the good fight of faith, and our battle song is a jubilant psalm; now do we even go to our beds of painful sickness and sing the Lord’s high praises there.

Since Jesus died our heaviness is dead; our murmuring is buried in his tomb. Since Jesus endured the wrath of God, which was due to us, that wrath has passed away for ever, and it is now the privilege, nay, the duty of every Christian to rejoice in the Lord. Let all the people praise him, and let the redeemed of the Lord be foremost in the joy.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Good News For Seekers," delivered September 3, 1876. Image by Brian Kelly; used by permission.

Keep sowing!

“They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” [Psalm 126:5]

Hence, present distress must not be viewed as if it would last for ever: it is not the end, by any means, but only a means to the end. Sorrow is our sowing, rejoicing shall be our reaping. If there were no sowing in tears there would be no reaping in joy. If we were never captives we could never lead our captivity captive. Our mouth had never been filled with holy laughter if it had not been first filled with the bitterness of grief. We must sow: we may have to sow in the wet weather of sorrow; but we shall reap, and reap in the bright summer season of joy. Let us keep to the work of this present sowing time, and find strength in the promise which is here so positively given us. Here is one of the Lord's shalls and wills; it is freely given both to workers, waiters, and weepers, and they may rest assured that it will not fail: “in due season they shall reap.”

From The Treasury of David, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, exposition of Psalm 126. Image by Taylor Mcbride on Flickr under Creative Commons License.

What makes my soul dance...

There was nothing in the character of Jupiter, or any of the pretended gods of the heathen, to make glad a pure and holy spirit, but there is everything in the character of Jehovah both to purify the heart and to make it thrill with delight. How sweet is it to think over all the Lord has done; how he has revealed himself of old, and especially how he has displayed his glory in the covenant of grace, and in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. How charming is the thought that he has revealed himself to me personally, and made me to see in him my Father, my friend, my helper, my God.

Oh, if there be one word out of heaven that cannot be excelled, even by the brightness of heaven itself, it is this word, “My God, my Father,” and that sweet promise, “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” There is no richer consolation to be found: even the Spirit of God can bring nothing home to the heart of the Christian more fraught with delight than that blessed consideration. When the child of God, after admiring the character and wondering at the acts of God, can all the while feel “he is my God; I have taken him to be mine; he has taken me to be his; he has grasped me with the hand of his powerful love; having loved me with an everlasting love, with the bands of lovingkindness has he drawn me to himself; my beloved is mine and I am his;” why, then, his soul would fain dance like David before the ark of the Lord, rejoicing in the Lord with all its might.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Joy of the Lord, The Strength of His People" delivered December 31, 1871. Image by Bill Harrison under Creative Commons License.

Occupied with the worship of God

I would not speak falsely even for God, but I bear my testimony that the happiest moments I have ever spent have been occupied with the worship of God. I have never been so near heaven as when adoring before the eternal throne. I think every Christian will bear like witness.

Among all the joys of earth, and I shall not depreciate them, there is no joy comparable to that of praise. The innocent mirth of the fireside, the chaste happinesses of household love, even these are not to be mentioned side by side with the joy of worship, the rapture of drawing near to the Most High. Earth, at her best, yields but water, but this divine occupation is as the wine of Cana’s marriage feast. The purest and most exhilarating joy is the delight of glorifying God, and so anticipating the time when we shall enjoy him for ever.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "More And More," delivered July 2, 1871. Image by Maks Karochkin under Creative Commons License.

Holy Joy

Whenever the assemblies of God’s people meet, there should be much of holy joy. Some people are so afraid of joy, that one might suppose them to labor under the delusion that all who are devout must also be unhappy. If we worshipped Baal, to lance ourselves with knives were most fitting, if

we were worshippers of Juggernaut or Kalee, self-inflicted tortures might be acceptable; if we adored the pope, it might be proper for us to wear a hair shirt and practice flagellation; but as we worship the ever blessed God, whose delight is to make his creatures happy, holy happiness is a part of worship, and joy in the Lord one of the accepted graces of the Holy Spirit. Brethren, let us be happy when we praise God.

From a sermon entitled "Method And Music, Or The Art Of Holy And Happy Living," delivered January 30, 1870. Image by George Lu under Creative Commons License.

A simple faith in Christ

[L]et me notice that some Christians appear to try to live by experience. If they feel happy today, they say they are saved, but if they feel unhappy tomorrow, they conclude that they are lost. If they feel at one moment a deep and profound calm overspreading their spirits, then are they greatly elevated; but it the winds blow and the waves beat high, then they suppose that they are none of the Lord’s people.

Ah, miserable state of suspense! To live by feeling is a dying life; you know not where you are, nor what you are, if your feelings are to be the barometer of your spiritual condition. Beloved, a simple faith in Christ will enable you to remain calm even when your feelings are the reverse of happy, to remain confident when your emotions are far from ecstatic. If, indeed, we be saved
by Jesus Christ, then the foundation of our salvation does not lie within us, but in that crucified Man who now reigns in glory. When he changes, ah, then what changes must occur to us! But since he is the same yesterday, today, and forever, why need we be so soon removed from our
steadfastness?

From a sermon entitled "Life By Faith," delivered June 7, 1868. Image by Joel Bedford under Creative Commons License.

Away from Jesus, away from joy

The most healthy state for a Christian is that of unbroken and intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. From such a state of heart he should never decline. “Abide in me, and I in you,” is the loving precept of our ever loving Lord. But, alas! my brethren, as in this world our bodies are subject to many sicknesses, so our souls also, by reason of the body of this death with which we are encompassed, are often sorely afflicted with sin, sickness, and an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Lord. We are not what we might be, we are not what we should be, we are not what we shall be, we are not what we wish to be.

I fear that many of us are not walking in the light of God’s countenance, are not resting with our heads upon the Savior’s bosom, nor sitting with Mary at the Master’s feet; we dwell in Kedar rather than Zion, and sojourn in Mesech rather than Jerusalem. Spiritual sickness is very common in the church of God, and the root of the mischief lies in distance from Jesus, following Christ afar off, and yielding to a drowsy temperament. Away from Jesus, away from joy. Without the sun the flowers pine; without Jesus our hearts faint.

From a sermon entitled "Nearer and Dearer," delivered February 2, 1868. Image by Brian Leon under Creative Commons License.

Serving the Lord with gladness

The worldly religionists’ service has no gladness in it. “Serve the Lord with gladness” seems to the carnal mind to be a perfect monstrosity; and yet, mark you, this is the test between the genuine and the hypocritical professor - by this one thing shall you know who it is that feareth God, and who it is that does but offer him the empty tribute of his lips.

There is an old legend, that when the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon, she posed him with many difficulties, and, among the rest, placed before him a vase of artificial flowers, which were so skillfully made that for awhile Solomon could not tell which of two bouquets of flowers were the handiwork of man, until he bade them open the window wide, and watched to see to which the bees would fly. No bees or flies would lodge upon the artificial, but only upon the genuine ones, for there alone they discerned the mystic sweetness which dwells in the secret aroma of the living bloom. Even so, observe the worldling’s religion: it is beautifully constructed, well put together, it is everything to the eye that could be expected; but no winged delights ever alight thereon, no joyous thoughts find honey there. As for the true believer in Jesus, he serves his God because he loves to serve him; he assembles with the great congregation because it is his delight to worship the Most High.

From a sermon entitled "Serving The Lord With Gladness," delivered September 8, 1867. Image by Stefan Bungart under Creative Commons License.

A Deep Well Of Joy

This is the day of Zion’s trouble: at this hour the Church expects to walk in sympathy with her Lord along a thorny road. She is without the camp; through much tribulation she is forcing her way to the crown. She expects to meet with reproaches. To bear the cross is her office, and to be scorned and counted an alien by her mother’s children is her lot. And yet the Church has a deep well of joy, of which none can drink but her own children. There are stores of wine, and oil, and corn, hidden in the midst of our Jerusalem, upon which the saints of God are evermore sustained and nurtured; and sometimes, as in our Savior’s case, we have our seasons of intense delight, for “there is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of our God.” Exiles though we be, we rejoice in our King, yea in him we exceedingly rejoice: while in his name we set up our banners.

From a sermon entitled "Praise Thy God, O Zion," delivered. Image by Paulo Brandão under Creative Commons License.

A joy that doesn't depend on circumstances

“There is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of God.” Believers drink of that river and thirst not for carnal delights. They are made “to lie down in green pastures,” and are led “beside the still waters.” Now this solid, lasting joy and peace of mind sets the Christian so on high above all others, that I boldly testify that there are no people in the world to compare with him for happiness. But do not suppose that our joy never rises above this settled calm; for let me tell you, and I speak experimentally, we have our seasons of rapturous delight and overflowing bliss. There are times with us when no music could equal the melody of our heart’s sweet hymn of joy. It would empty earth’s coffers of every farthing of her joy to buy a single ounce of our delight. Do not fancy Paul was the only man who could say, “Whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell; God knoweth,” for these ecstasies are usual with believers; and on their sunshiny days when their unbelief is shaken off and their faith is strong, they have all but walked the golden streets; and they can say, “If we have not entered within the pearly gate, we have been only just this side of it; and it we have not yet come to the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven, if we have not joined the great congregation of the perfect in actual body, yet still-

“E’en now by faith we join our hands
With those that went before,
And greet the blood-besprinkled bands
On the eternal shore.”

I would not change one five minutes of the excessive joy my soul has sometimes felt for a thousand years of the best mirth that the children of this world could give me. O friends, there is a happiness which can make the eye sparkle and the heart beat high, and the whole man as full of bounding speed of life as the chariots of Amminadib. There are raptures and high ecstasies, which on festival days such as the Lord allotteth to his people, the saints are permitted to enjoy. I must not fail to remind you that the Christian is the happiest of men for this reason, that his joy does not depend upon circumstances.

From a sermon entitled "Alas For Us, If Thou Wert All, And Nought Beyond, O Earth,” delivered March 27, 1864. Flickr photo by Patrick Emerson; some rights reserved.

The Christian's joy

The Christian has joy as other men have in the common mercies of life. For him there are charms in music, excellence in painting, and beauty in sculpture; for him the hills have sermons of majesty, the rocks hymns of sublimity, and the valleys lessons of love. He can look upon all things with an eye as clear and joyous as another man’s; he can be glad both in God’s gifts and God’s works. He is not dead to the happiness of the household: around his hearth he finds
happy associations, without which life were drear indeed. His children fill his home with glee, his wife is his solace and delight, his friends are his comfort and refreshment. He accepts the comforts which soul and body can yield him according as God seeth it wise to afford them unto him; but he will tell you that in all these separately, yea, and in all of them added together, he doth not find such substantial delight as he doth in the person of his Lord Jesus. Brethren, there is a wine which no vineyard on earth ever yielded; there is a bread which even the corn-fields of Egypt could never bring forth. You and I have said, when we have beheld others finding their god in earthly comforts, “You may boast in gold, and silver, and raiment, but I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”

From a sermon entitled "A Bundle Of Myrrh," delivered March 6, 1864. Flickr photo by Vic Brincat; some rights reserved.

Joy cometh in the morning

A man who knows that his trials will not last long, can be cheerful under them. If he sees a Father’s hand in the midst of every adversity, and believes that when he is tried he shall come forth like gold from the furnace; if he knows with the Psalmist that “weeping may endure for the night, but that joy cometh in the morning,” why then grief has lost its weight, and sorrow has lost its sting; and while the man weeps he yet rejoices, seeing the rainbow of the covenant painted on the cloud. Happy man, who, under bereavement, under crosses, and losses, can still cast his burden upon God, and can say, “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation!”

The Christian man is bound to live above his sorrows; he weeps, for “Jesus wept;” he may mourn, for the faithful have been mourners often, but he must not so mourn and weep as to be eaten up with grief; over the tops of the rolling waves he must see the haven of peace, and rejoice evermore.

From a sermon entitled "A Drama In Five Acts," delivered November 23, 1862. Flickr photo by Louise Docker; some rights reserved.

Jesus' High Priestly Prayer

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundations of the world.” John 17:24.

In our Saviour’s prayer heaven’s greatest privilege is also included. Mark, we are not only to be with Christ and to behold his glory, but we are to be like Christ and to be glorified with him. Is he bright? So shall you be. Is he enthroned? So shall you be. Does he wear a crown? So shall you. Is he a priest? So shall you be a priest and a king to offer acceptable sacrifices for ever. Mark, that in all Christ has, a believer has a share. This seems to me to be the sum total, and the crowning of it all — to reign with Christ, to ride in his triumphal chariot, and have a portion of his joy; to be honored with him, to be accepted in him, to be glorified with him. This is heaven, this is heaven indeed.

And now, how many of you are there here who have any hope that this shall be your lot? Well said Chrysostom, “The pains of hell are not the greatest part of hell; the loss of heaven is the weightiest woe of hell;” to lose the sight of Christ, the company of Christ, to lose the beholding of his glories, this must be the greatest part of the damnation of the lost. Oh, you that have not this bright hope, how is it that you can live? You are going through a dark world, to a darker eternity. I beseech you stop and pause. Consider for a moment whether it is worth while to lose heaven for this poor earth. What! Pawn eternal glories for the pitiful pence of a few moments of the world’s enjoyments! No, stop I beseech you; weigh the bargain before you accept it. What shall it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul, and lose such a heaven as this?

From a sermon entitled "The Redeemer's Prayer," delivered April 18, 1858.

Flickr photo by Eric Hill; some rights reserved.

He will rejoice over thee with joy!

Think of this! Jehovah, the living God, is described as brooding over his church with pleasure. He looks upon souls redeemed by the blood of his dear Son, quickened by his Holy Spirit, and his heart is glad. Even the infinite heart of God is filled with an extraordinary joy at the sight of his chosen. His delight is in his church, his Hephzibah. I can understand a minister rejoicing over a soul that he has brought to Christ; I can also understand believers rejoicing to see others saved from sin and hell; but what shall I say of the infinitely-happy and eternally-blessed God finding, as it were, a new joy in souls redeemed? This is another of those great wonders which cluster around the work of divine grace!

"He will rejoice over thee with joy." Oh, you are trembling for the ark of the Lord; the Lord is not trembling, but rejoicing. Faulty as the church is, the Lord rejoices in her. While we mourn, as well we may, yet we do not sorrow as those that are without hope; for God does not sorrow, his heart is glad, and he is said to rejoice with joy—a highly emphatic expression. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, imperfect though they be. He sees them as they are to be, and so he rejoices over them, even when they cannot rejoice in themselves. When your face is blurred with tears, your eyes red with weeping, and your heart heavy with sorrow for sin, the great Father is rejoicing over you. The prodigal son wept in his Father's bosom, but the Father rejoiced over his son. We are questioning, doubting, sorrowing, trembling; and all the while he who sees the end from the beginning knows what will come out of the present disquietude, and therefore rejoices.

Let us rise in faith to share the joy of God. Let no man's heart fail him because of the taunts of the enemy. Rather let the chosen of God rouse themselves to courage, and participate in that joy of God which never ceaseth, even though the solemn assembly has become a reproach. Shall we not rejoice in him when he, in his boundless condescension, deigns to rejoice in us? Whoever despairs for the cause, he does not; wherefore let us be of good courage.

From a sermon entitled "A Sermon For The Time Present," delivered October 30, 1887.