I speak this morning, God enabling
me, on the subject of happiness. Happiness. I'm sure this morning
that you're interested in that subject. Let me tell you a little
story to begin with. An infidel was once addressing
a crowd of people in the open air, and he was trying to persuade
the people that there was no God and no devil, that there
was no heaven, there was no hell, there was no resurrection, there
was no judgment, and no life to come. And he advised them
all to throw away their Bibles, and he recommended them to think
as he did and to be like him. And he talked boldly, and the
crowd seemed to be listening to what he had to say. And as
he was coming to the end of his address, an old woman suddenly
pushed her way through the crowd to the place where he was standing. And she stood before him and
she looked him in the face. Sir, she said in a loud voice,
are you happy? He looked scornfully at her and
gave her no answer. Sir, answer my question. Are you happy? You want us to
throw away our Bibles and be like you. Now before we take
your advice, we have a right to know. Are you happy? He stammered and stuttered and
fidgeted and tried to change the subject. Finally, said he
had not come there to preach about happiness. But it was of no use. The old woman stuck to her point,
and the crowd seemed to take her part. At last, he had to
sneak off in confusion. because he could not reply to
the question. His conscience would not let
him. He dared not say that he was
happy. Now, the true test of a man's
faith, the true test of a man's religion, is does it make him
joyful? Does it make him glad? Does it
make him happy? Now, happiness is what seems
to be all mankind is looking for. The desire for it is deeply
planted in the human heart. All men naturally hunger and
thirst after happiness, just as the sick man longs for help
and the prisoner of war longs for liberty, just as a tired
traveler longs to get home. Just in the same way does poor
mortal man long to be happy. Well, the question comes to me,
do we know happiness when we see it. If we were to see happiness,
would we know it for what it is? We think when we look at
some people that they're indeed a happy person, when in reality
they are miserable. We look at others who seem sad
and gloomy, who in reality are truly happy. Let me try to throw
a little light on this subject this morning. Notice, and I want
you to hear me, True happiness is not perfect freedom from sorrow
and discomfort. Now you get that. Perfect happiness
is not perfect freedom from sorrow and discomfort. If it were so,
there would be no such thing as happiness in this world. Such
happiness would be for angels who have never fallen, not for
the fallen sons of Adam. The happiness I'm talking about
today is such as a poor, dying, sinful creature may hope to attain
in this life. The Bible teaches that our whole
nature is defiled by sin. Romans 3 and 23 says all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 5 and 12
says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. And you might ask the question,
well, why are we so unhappy by nature? Why are we unhappy people? The Bible says that the disposition
of sin entered into all the sons of Adam through Adam. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."
The disposition of sin has affected all the sons of Adam. What is
this disposition to sin? It is my claim to my right to
myself. This disposition of sin is not
immorality and wrongdoing, but the disposition of self-realization. I am my own God. I want to be
my own God. I don't want any God telling
me what to do. I don't want to be placed under
any restriction. I don't want the Lord to tell
me anything. You know, the Bible says, the
fool saith in his heart, there is no God. And what that means
is, the fool saith in his heart, there is no God for me. No God
for me. So the disposition of sin is
self-realization, I am my own God. This disposition may work
out in wrongdoing and immorality, but it has this one basis, my
claim to right to myself. I want to do, I want to be my
own, the master of my own ship. Now, this disposition is something
that we all have to deal with, and sin is a thing that I'm born
with and that you're born with, and we cannot handle it ourselves. There isn't anything we can do
about it. Jesus Christ, our elder brother, he's the only one that
can handle sin. Now, when Adam's sin was imputed
to us, we all died, and we are dead in sin until we are quickened
and regenerated by God's Holy Spirit. When our sin was imputed
to Christ, He died. And when His righteousness is
imputed to us, we live. Where there is no sin, there
is no guilt. Where there is no guilt, there
is no condemnation. We who believe are in Christ
and we live because we are in Christ. In Christ shall all who
are in him be made alive. So, beloved world, we're one
of two places. We're either still in sin and
we have no basis for any happiness if we're outside of Christ. John
Calvin said, when a man separates himself from Christ, he has no
basis whatever for happiness. Now, beloved, the whole world
lies in the lap of the wicked one, the Bible says. Sickness
and death and change are daily doing its sad work on every side. We see it all around us. If we
expect to find any literally perfect happiness on this side
of the grave, we expect what we shall never find. We shall
never find it. This rebellious nature of ours
will not permit it. We want to call the shots. We want to be the master, and
we want to tell God what we're going to do. Now, beloved, we
know that Adam was placed in the garden, and he had no bias
to sin when he was placed in the garden. But still, he wrecked
his environment. He wrecked his environment. And
we know that you and I, placed in the very best situation that
life could possibly afford, we would still ruin it because of
our nature, our fallen nature. Now, notice, if you will, true
happiness does not consist in laughter and smiles. The face
is very often a poor index, I think, of the inward man. There are
thousands who laugh loud and seem as happy as if they were
in their right mind when they're around other people, but are
wretched and miserable and private. and are almost afraid to be alone. Proverbs 14 and 13 says, even
in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of that mirth is
heaviness. There are many of the true people
of God who are brave and serious in their demeanor, whose hearts
are full of solid peace and happiness. And I'm interested more than
smiling and laughing faces as being the evidence of a man being
biblically happy. True, a man may often show his
happiness in his countenance, but a man may smile and smile
and be a villain, too. Remember that. Of all deceptive
things on earth, this ranks, I believe, at the top. the ability
to cover up misery by smiling and laughter. It is hollow, empty,
utterly devoid of substance and reality. A stranger went to the
doctor about his health. I believe the doctor's name was
Dr. Abernathy. And the doctor checked
him out and told him to, he was very melancholy, the patient
was, and so the doctor said, keep your chin up. And I want
you to go hear a comedian called Grimaldi, and he will make you
well. Just listen to him. He'll cheer
you up. And the patient said, Sir, I
am Grimaldi himself. To be truly happy, the highest
wants of a man's soul must be met. The highest wants of a man's
soul must be met. Remember that. The requirements
of his soul, which was made and designed by God, must be filled
up by God. The horse and the cattle are
happy as long as they have plenty to eat and are warm. But man is a living soul. He has more than a body. He can do more than hear and
see and smell and taste and feel. He has a never-dying soul. This
life, my friend, is not all. There is a world unseen. There's
a life beyond the grave. We're fearfully and wonderfully
made, the Bible says, and all men, I believe, sense that. All
men, I believe, know that really. All men feel it if they would
only speak the truth. It is utter nonsense to pretend
that human relationships and that things material, that good
food and nice clothes and beautiful houses can make men who have
an ever-dying soul really, basically, biblically happy. There are soul
wants, and there can be no true happiness until these wants are
met. To be truly happy, a man must
have a source of gladness which is dependent upon- he cannot
have a source of gladness which is dependent upon anything in
this world. If that's the source of it, then
it'll soon fade away. There's nothing upon earth which
is not stamped with the mark of instability and uncertainty. All the good things this world
has to offer to mortals are but for a moment, just for a moment. They're all temporary. They leave
us or we are obliged soon to leave them. Death may come today
and cut off the very sweetest relationship that you have in
your life. No man can truly be happy who
depends entirely on things here below. He is like the man who
built his house on the sand, and the storms came, the rains
came down, and washed away his home, it having no foundation. Your rivers of pleasure may any
day be dried up, my friend. Your present joy may be deep
and earnest, but it is fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness if it
be derived from earthly things. To be really happy, a man must
be able to look in every direction without uncomfortable feelings. He must be able to look back
to the past without guilty fears. He must be able to look forward
without dread. He must be able to sit down and
think calmly about things past, present, and to come, and feel
like that he's prepared to deal with them. The man who has a
side that he does not like looking at or considering, that man is
not happy in his soul. What about your past? Is it under
the blood? Think of your death. Think of
meeting God face to face. Are you prepared? Prepare, the
Bible says, to meet your God. You're going to die. So prepare
to meet the Lord. Can you look forward to these
things without alarm? If you cannot look with comfort
to any time but the present, your boasted happiness is unreal,
my friend. Say, I'm happy this morning.
I got my way this morning. I'm doing what I want to do,
and so I'm happy this morning. But my friend, can you look back,
and can you look forward? Can you look to eternity? Can
you face eternity? Your joy must be found on something
more than this world, that this world can give you. The Bible
says, Godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing
into this world, and it's certain we can take nothing out. You
must be able to look behind and before and know and feel that
all is right. Well, how can all this be possible? Where is the path? Where is the
road to real happiness? There is but one way, and it
is the only path. All that have ever been happy
since the days of Adam have journeyed on this path. The way to be happy
is to be a true-hearted believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
the Bible here said, happy is that people whose God is the
Lord. Now, the way to be happy, then,
is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and commit one's soul,
lock, stock, and barrel, to Him and to believe Him and to believe
the promises of the Word of God concerning His all-sufficient
work on the behalf of the soul. The converted man, the believer
in Christ, the child of God, he and he alone has the basis
of being happy because his past is forgiven. His present is promised,
and His future, God, through Jesus Christ, has built a mansion
over in glory, and God has prepared the place for His soul to live
eternally. What do I mean when I speak of
a true Christian? Do I mean everybody who goes
to church? No, I don't mean that. Do I mean
everybody who has made a profession or a decision? No, I don't mean
that. Do I mean everybody who professes
to love God? No, indeed. All are not Christians
who call themselves Christians. I remember a little boy one time,
his father was talking to him and reading to him out of the
Bible what a Christian was. And the little boy asked his
father, said, Father, have I ever saw a Christian? Have I ever
seen one? Well, my friend, I wonder sometimes,
have you ever really seen a Christian? Saw somebody that was a true
believer? We hope there's some here. But
sometimes we ain't a whole lot to look at either. But a true
Christian is one who believes wholeheartedly in the finished
work of our Lord Jesus Christ. All are not Christians who call
themselves Christians. Those who I'm talking about are
those who are truly in the Lord Jesus Christ. They have a living,
loving, lasting union with Christ. They're truly in Christ through
faith. They're able to rest all their
hope on Christ and His glorious person, and as we said, His perfect
work, because the believer is perfect and complete only in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what do I mean when I say
they're happy? They are happy. Believers, true
believers are happy. Have they no doubts or fears?
Do they not have worries and troubles? Have they no sorrows
and cares or bereavements or disappointments? Do they have
no pain? Do they shed no tears? Have they
no anxious moments, whatever, in this world? Far be it from
me to say anything of the kind. I'm not saying that. The believer
has a body, and sometimes it's weak, sometimes it's frail, like
other men. He has affections and passions
like every one born of a woman. He lives in a changing world,
just like everybody around him, and he earns his living by the
sweat of his brow, just like everybody else must. But deep
down in his heart he has a mind of solid peace and substantial
joy based on the promises of God in the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now the psalmist said we have
been made glad through the works of his hands. We have been made
glad through the works of his hands. not our own works. Now, sometimes a man, if he sets
his hand to a task and he's able to complete it and he admires
it and it looks good, well, he would have a degree of gladness.
But, beloved, the true believer knows that he is That the origin
of his faith and the origin of his hope and his future is based
upon the work of God and the work of God alone. The Bible
says we're his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We're his workmanship. And so we need to remember that
and we're made glad through the works of his hands. Has God done
anything in your life? Has the Spirit of God, has the
divine power of God come upon you? Has heaven came down and
filled your soul as Brother Pat sang about it a while ago? Has
there been anything ever happen in your heart? Have you been
regenerated by the Spirit of God? Is your faith truly in Christ
and in Christ alone? Are all believers equally happy? No. There are babes in Christ. in the family of God as well
as old men. They are weak and they are strong
members in the body of Christ, but the promises that belong
to the strong belong also to the weak. And if the bridge of
faith fails the weak, it will fail the strong. There are degrees
of grace and degrees of faith among those who are in the family
of God. Those who have most faith and
grace, we would judge would be the most happy of the lot. But
all, even the weakest believer, compared to the lost sons of
Adam, are happy. The weakest believer in Jesus
Christ has got to be content, he's got to be happy, because
he's built upon the foundation of Christ and he's on that rock,
that solid rock. And I heard one man say one time
that he's trembled on the rock, but the rock never trembled under
him. And so he is firmly fixed on
that rock. Now, we all have ebbs and flows
of comfort, do we not? There are days when we feel overwhelmingly
the presence of God, the blessing of God, and we're just blessed
and strengthened greatly. And then there are other times
when the stream of comfort doesn't flow quite so deeply. And we
all experience that. David said something about our
cup runneth over. And we know there are seasons
of special anxiety. Did you ever have one of them?
A season of special anxiety when you were all fretful and worrying
about things? Well, believers are not exempt
from the common problems that the people of the world have.
John Bunyan talked about being born into double trouble. We have the trouble that men
have in the flesh, and then we have the trouble that comes to
believers by their walk in this life, and by their faithfulness
to Christ, and by their service unto the Lord. Now there are
times when we are overtaken in faults. I'm talking about true
believers. Did you ever know anyone that
fell into a sin or that was overtaken with a fault? The Bible talks
about them which are spiritual, restoring those who have been
overtaken in a fault. And then sometimes we give way,
do we not, to inconsistencies and besetting sins and lose our
sense of pardon and acceptance with God. I believe that much
of this happiness depends upon a constant faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ. Not believing just today, but
believing tomorrow. Believing in the morning, believing
at the noon hour, and believing in the evening, and it's walking
in consistency and faithfulness unto God. And there are times
when a man gets his eyes off the Lord, and he doesn't feel
like he's been pardoned, and he doesn't feel like he's accepted
by God in the Beloved One, because he gets his eyes off Christ.
But if you keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, my friend,
this sense of pardon and acceptance, you will have it regardless of
what be your state. But as a general rule, the true
believer has peace, happiness, and gladness in his heart. His
conscience is at peace. His conscience, I say, is at
peace. He can sit down and he can think
about his soul, he can think about eternity, and he can think
about all of his situation that he's presently involved in, and
he can sing, it is well, it is well with my soul, because he
trusts in the Lord. His God is the Lord. who made
heaven and earth, and who dwells in eternity, sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and rules in the events of men, and he
lives to bless and to lead and to guide his people. You know,
I thought about that pillar of fire that led the children of
Israel in the wilderness, and how the Bible says that even
after they were unfaithful and were in rebellion, that that
pillar of fire never, never failed. That pillar of fire was right
there to lead them and to guide them. And so the Lord does not,
he does not take away his blessing from his people. We must remember
that we're to believe God. We're to believe his word. The
Bible says that he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him and those who believe him. Oh, what a blessed privilege
it is to be able to think and not be afraid, to be able to
lay your head down on your pillow at night, and even if all hell's
popping on the pillow and you feel that you're distressed and
you have all kinds of anxiety, it's wonderful to be able just
to rest in the Lord, rest in the Lord, and not be afraid. David said, what time I'm afraid,
I'll trust in the Lord. And he said, I'll trust in the
Lord and not be afraid. And God's people can do that.
And we can face it all, whatever it is. Somebody said, have you
faced reality? My friends, sometimes we talk
like we do not face, we're not facing reality. There are some
people who live and spend and act like that they're not mortals
at all. They do not consider their end,
their latter end, that they soon shall go the way of all flesh,
the way from which they will not return. My friend, it's wonderful. A believer can face it all. He
can face it all, and he doesn't have to be concerned about how
it's all going to come out. It's in the Lord's hand. Let
the devil take his best shot. Let him take his best shot, and
the Lord's people will prevail, because they're in Christ, they're
on this solid rock, and they're trusting, and they're not going
to be afraid. Sickness and death, my friend,
are solemn thoughts. It's a solemn thing to die. It's
a solemn thing to be right on in the vestibule of death. And
if you've never been there, when you get there, my friend, Satan
will do his best to rock the boat. He'll do his best to throw
you off of the plank of the righteousness and imputed merit of the Son
of God. He'll do his best. But it's good
when a child of God can face the best that the devil can throw
at him and say, Christ reigns. He reigns. And I'll trust in
Him. The judgment day is an awful
thing. If you're here this morning,
you're outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says it's appointed
unto men once to die. And after this, the judgment,
the judgment is coming. You're going to be judged by
a holy, a thrice holy God. And think about this righteous
God that is going to judge you, my friend. This righteous God
for the believer has provided a righteousness that His righteousness
demanded of them. And therefore they stand justified. Who is he that justifieth? It is God that justifies. And so those of you that are
outside of Christ, you are in your sin this morning. You're
not justified. You don't have a standing just
as if you had never sinned. The believer does. The true believer
has a standing just as if. He had never committed a sin. And so, my friend, we can face
whatever comes in the future, the judgment, whatever. But having
Christ for us, we have nothing to fear as a believer. Hallelujah. Isn't that wonderful
that we can say, praise the Lord. The believer's happiness is entirely
independent of this world. Now you get that fixed in your
mind. The true believer's happiness is entirely independent of this
world. He has something which cannot
be affected by sickness, death, by losses in crosses, and by
public calamities. Now, you know, the news media
seems that they're out to scare as many people as they can. But
public calamities, my friend, will not shake the true child
of God. Even if the mountains be removed
and be cast into the sea, we'll trust God and we'll depend upon
Him. He is our foundation. The believer
has something which cannot be, as we said, affected by a weak,
frail, decaying body and by crosses and losses. And in this world,
expect to be a loser. Expect to be a loser. What was
it the philosopher said? Blessed is he that expecteth
nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. Be ready to suffer
losses in this world. A true believer oftentimes has
crosses and losses in his life. He may not be able to explain
why it is so, but it is so. Be prepared for them. But your
happiness does not depend upon you always having things your
way and that you being able to retain your possessions all your
life. No, my friend, your happiness
is based upon that which is in your God and His faithfulness
and His steadfastness. The peace of God passeth all
understanding in this world. Say, I can't figure out why things
are like they are with me and things are like they are in my
life. The peace of God passeth all understanding. Seek the peace
of God until God floods your soul with that peace. And whether
you can understand or make sense out of all that's going on or
not, you'll have happiness and you'll have peace in your soul. Our hope is laid up in heaven
where rust and moth cannot eat and corrupt. We have a portion
which nothing can get at or hurt. Isn't that good? That nothing
can get at it. Nothing can get out. See, it's
secure. It's laid up. It's that inheritance
that is laid up for the people of God. Someone said the nether
springs of earth may fail, but our upper spring of heaven will
never run dry. And I believe that. This, my
friend, is real happiness. The plain truth is that without
Christ, there is no happiness in this world. Mark it down. I told you what John Calvin said
a little while ago. He said, apart from Christ, he
said, if you're apart from Christ, you're removed from the possibility
of being biblically happy. So you cannot be. And C.S. Lewis
made the statement that we have no right to happiness because
we're fallen sinners, but we're obligated to duty. But what we
have no right to, God is pleased to give us through grace and
through the gospel. And so may the Lord bless you
with that truth. Now, then, He alone, that is,
Jesus Christ, can give the Comforter who abideth forever. It's wonderful
to have somebody alongside, isn't it? It really is. It's wonderful
to have the Comforter. Oh, the blessed Comforter. So
wonderful. And He gives His Spirit to fill
our hearts. And I like the part about He
abides forever. He abides forever. He will not. He said, I'll not leave you as
orphaned children. I'll not leave you comfortless.
I'm not going to forsake you. I will not forsake you, and I
will not leave you comfortless. He is the sun, somebody said
S-U-N, without him men never feel really warm. Did you ever have that? I can't
talk about it. I just can't talk about it. If his son really has ever shown
on your heart, there's a warmth there, never experienced anywhere
else. Just feel your soul becoming
warm inside. But if his son, S-U-N,
has never shown upon you, you've never felt warm yet, friend.
Wait till His sun shines on you. He is the light. Without Him,
men are always in the dark. Always in the dark without Him.
He is the bread. Without Him, you say, I'm a well-fed
preacher, watch it. Without Him, men are always starving. Now, you don't realize that.
You may not know that. You may not feel it at all when
you say, preacher, you're off base. But I'm here to tell you
this morning, I'm going on 72 years old. I've been in the way
for over 53 years. And I'm telling you that until
you've eat the bread of life, you're starving. You're starving. You don't know what it is to
have a good meal until you eat the bread of life. Would all
those who agree with what I'm saying say amen? Amen. Now, did
you hear that? Did you hear that? There's others
here that believe what this preacher's been saying. They believe it. God's people are well-fed. They're well-fed. Spiritually,
they're not starving. They're satisfied. God satisfies
them. He's the living water. Without
Him, men are always what? Thirsty. Exactly. Get right on,
brother. They're always thirsty without
Him. Well, you can place them where
you please and surround them with all the comforts you can
imagine, and it makes no difference. Separate from Christ, the Prince
of Peace, a man cannot be happy. He just cannot. Put Him wherever
you want to. Give Him what you want to. Give
Him the best and the finest. He'll never be happy until he knows Christ. Now the
question would be, don't you think, we come to this place
in the meeting, are you happy, truly, biblically happy? This question, I think, deserves
an answer. You don't have to say nothing
out loud, but in your soul, you answer that question. Am I truly
happy? Can I look back? Can I look forward? Can I deal with the present and
still have contentment? You know, somebody said we all
live in a tent. Some discontent and some content. That's not the word. Contentment. Contentment. So we're all living
in one or the other. Discontentment or contentment. Contentment. Are you content? Are you happy? Really, can you
say, I am happy in the Lord? Well, if your thoughts and planning
have been all for this life, up to this point, about everything
but eternity, then you're not happy. Seek it where it may be
found in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Seek it there.
Seek it there. Now you can go on and you can
do whatever you want to do about this. You can say, well, I'm
going to go ahead and try to be a happy preacher. Well, you
go ahead, you seek it wherever you want to seek it. But I'm
going to tell you, before you die, you're going to have to
come right back where we were here this morning, and you're
going to have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going
to have to trust Him and His saving power and grace. You're going to have to come
to depend upon entirely the Son of God. And may God give you
the victory in your soul this morning. May you look away from
yourself. Look away from all your plans. Look away from all
of your investments and all of those things that you think is
going to give you security in your life. Look away from it
all and look to Christ. Oh, I hope you will. I hope you
will. I hope you'll trust Him to the
salvation of your soul. Let's commit this service to
the Lord.