And it cannot be denied that there are passages in the Bible, not a few, which seem to encourage rather than condemn such an estimate of our condition here, and such feelings with respect to it. First, sorrow and trouble are spoken of as our birthright; "Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward." Next, the blessing which our LORD assigns to them that "mourn and weep now, " and the woe which he denounces on them which "laugh now," would seem highly to favour such a view; and, again, the very strong things which are said in the New Testament of poverty, and sorrow, and distress, as states in themselves preferable to the contrary estates of riches, and joy, and prosperity. And even the blessed Gospel itself, which is emphatically the "good tidings of great joy," is at the same time so holy in its precepts, so awful in its warnings, so uncompromising in its requirements, so mysterious and terrible as being sealed with blood, the Blood of the beloved and only-begotten SoN of GOD, that it would appear as though it were meant to be " good tidings" only, and as if all realization of its joyfulness was to be postponed for the world to come. The very decoration and emblazonry which it bears in this world is the emblazonry of the Cross. And then, again, when we think of the Judgment Day, and think of ourselves in connection with it, of the glorious, but most appalling things which we read in GoD's Word, of that day when CHRIST shall re-appear, and “all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of HIM;" and of the vile, and wicked, and most miserable things which we know and read of ourselves in our own hearts, as our minds pass backwards and forwards from the one subject of contemplation to the other, we feel

1 Job v. 7.

2 St. Matt. v. 4.

H

3

Rev. i. 7.

as if we should never smile again; there seems to be no proper place in our thoughts but for gloom and anguish; "fearfulness and trembling come upon us," and we hail them as the only natural atmosphere in which we can live and respire freely, "and an horrible dread overwhelmeth us."

There is much, very much, I say, to be said in favour of feelings such as these; nor can it be doubted for a moment that, however faulty and excessive in one direction, they lie much nearer to the truth than those which run into the opposite extreme, the extreme, that is, of regarding this life as a state, in which a Christian, if he be but a religious man in his own way, may look to find continual enjoyment; may discover in himself, i. e. in the peculiar habit and turn of his own mind towards GOD, much ground for satisfaction and complacency; has little or no occasion to distress himself with doubts and scruples, no need to go on painfully learning one by one the harder and more severe lessons of the Gospel, to work out his salvation (as the Apostle teaches we must all do) with fear and trembling, or to think frequently and anxiously of the Judgment Day : this latter, I repeat, is the more grievous error of the two, and far more likely to lead to the perdition of souls. And yet the former is unquestionably a very unsafe, or at least a very unchristian and defective frame of mind; and one reason among others why it is so, is this: it utterly disobeys one of the direct precepts of the Word of GOD. In the Bible we are taught, as among the plain duties which we owe to GOD, to rejoice; even as we are taught to pray and to give thanks. St. Paul in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians puts the three precepts together thus: " Rejoice evermore, pray

1 Psalm lv. 5.

without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is the will of GOD in CHRIST JESUS concerning you." But then, no doubt, an important qualification is here implied, which the Apostle has expressed elsewhere. As in the Epistle to the Philippians, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the LORD." "Rejoice in the LORD alway; and again I say, rejoice." And then again, we are sure it is not every one who can do this. The precept, indeed, is given generally as applicable to all, i. e. to all true Christians, and to us, therefore, so far as we are such, but to no others. And, therefore, the Psalmist says in the text, "Blessed is the people, O LORD, that can rejoice in Thee." There are some, then, who cannot rejoice. They may be joyful, indeed, in a worldly sense. They may take their fill, eat, drink, and be merry. But they have no blessing, no warrant from God to give them comfort in so doing. On the other hand, there are some who have this warrantthe righteous, they who love God, they who seek Him, they who put their trust in HIM, they who are true of heart; all these are expressly invited by GoD to rejoice, to rejoice in HIM. "Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous.' "Let all them that put their trust in THEE rejoice." "Let all those that seek THEE be joyful and glad in Thee." "They that love Thy Name shall be joyful in THEE." "Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the LORD; and be joyful, all ye that are true of heart."

' 1 Thess. v. 16; see also 2 Cor. xiii. 11, in Greek xaípere.

994

* Psalm lxviii. 3, "Let the righteous be glad and rejoice before GOD," &c. Psalm xxxi. 1, "Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous," &c. Psalm cv. 3, "Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the 9 Psalm xxxii. 12, xcvii. 1.

LORD.

"The righteous shall rejoice in the LORD, and all they that be true of heart shall be glad."" "There is sprung up a light for the righteous and joyful gladness for such as are true hearted." And not only they who have maintained their uprightness, who have never fallen into grievous sins, and whose heart has been true to GoD from their youth up; but the unrighteous and disobedient, if they repent them truly of their past sins, and confess and abhor them, and have the witness in themselves that they have verily and indeed turned to GOD, and are now bringing forth fruits meet for repentance; these, too, have the same gracious warrant to rejoice, to rejoice with godly joy. Provided they have indeed felt the burden of their offences, provided they have sown in tears, provided their hearts are humbled and broken at the remembrance of their misdeeds; then a light is sprung up for them too, no less than for the righteous: "Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy-laden, and I will refresh you.' They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." "He that now goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth good seed, shall doubtless come again with joy." So David testified, and that which he testified he had himself known. On the humble confession of his sins, in the fifty-first Psalm, he had felt assured that GOD would pardon him. "THOU shalt make me hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which THOU hast broken may rejoice." And when he thus cried unto the LORD, and God had healed him,3 how was he satisfied and cheered by the Divine mercy! As it is written in the thirtieth Psalm: "Thou hast turned my heaviness into joy; Thou hast put off my

993

1 Psalm lxiv. 10.

4 Psalm cxxvi. 6, 7.

sackcloth, and girded me with gladness." And again, in the thirty-first Psalm: "I will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy, for THOU hast considered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities."

2

We see then, my Brethren, that so far as we are Christians, we have all a right to rejoice even in this life; nay, more, we are all bidden and bound to do so. And, for the causes of our joy, we are to rejoice in the LORD. We are to rejoice, that is, in the salvation which CHRIST has wrought for us; we are to rejoice in the grace and mercy of GOD assured to us in our Baptism; we are to rejoice because our names are written in heaven.' But, then, further, we have seen, our being able to rejoice as GOD would have us, must depend upon two things: a conscientious, upright, true-hearted performance of our duty, and an earnest, penitential sorrow and deprecation of God's wrath, whensoever the performance has been defective. And inasmuch as these our shortcomings and defects of duty will at all times be many and grievous in the sight of GOD, we shall, on the one hand, take heed that our joy be sobered and restrained by the remembrance of them; "we shall" still "serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice unto HIM with reverence;"" and, on the other hand, with this remembrance ever present to our minds, we shall be less on the look out for occasions of rejoicing, than of humiliation and repentance. And in this, as in all other particulars of our duty, we have the teaching of the Church to guide us in the right path, if we would but follow it. It is, indeed, no easy lesson of the Christian life either to sorrow or rejoice as we ought; so to rejoice that we may have no occasion to sorrow, to sorrow so that we may be able to 2 See Gal. vi. 4. 3 Psalm ii. 11.

Luke x. 20.