Worldly mirth and Christian joy


Mirth comes from external things which tickle the senses and please the appetite; but joy comes from the happy spirit within us. If this be so, a poor sickly man may not be full of mirth, but he may be full of joy; while a rich man may be sinful and mirthful, and yet have no joy. Mirth comes from outward things, and it therefore lasts only for a short time; but joy springs from an inward eternal force of blessedness. The other day, in London, a kind friend called at my hotel and left me a bouquet of beautiful flowers. I had them put in water, and I said, “I will take these flowers home with me”; but they faded, and the sweet perfume was gone; they were beautiful and fragrant only for a time. So mirth is pleasant while it lasts, but very soon it is gone like a dream; but the joy that comes from trusting God and doing His will has no end; it is an increasing eternal delight. What is more beautiful than a balloon rising in the sky? but what is more unsightly than the beautiful thing emptied and lying, an unshapely mass, upon the ground? Mirth may well be compared to fireworks. How grand they are! why, they put out the light of the stars! but, then, you know, when the fireworks have finished their explosive din, the stars keep on shining forever. Equally enduring shall be the joy of the believer and doer of God’s will; he shall be like a light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Let me remind you of the martyr, John Bradford. When the morning dawned on which he was to be put to death, he had such peace within him that he swung upon the rail of the bedstead in his dungeon, and while he swung he cried, “Oh, I am so happy! We shall light a fire today that will never be put out!” Then he went forth, Smiling and joyful, to the stake in Smithfield, glorifying God; and so he died. Can you find anything in sinful pleasure to give a joy like that? Will you find it in the intoxicating cup? In gambling? In any of the sinful indulgencies of life? No, no; they are not solid; they let you down at the critical moment when they ought to sustain you. You find that they give no help, and you are left alone like a boy on the ice when it gives way, and he cries for a friend and deliverer, and there is none

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