“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this
day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a
sign unto you: You shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a
manger.” Luke 2:10, 11, 12. (NKJV)
“First,
then, THE JOY, which is mentioned in our text: from where comes it, and what is
it? We have already said it is a “great joy”—“good tidings of
great joy.” Earth’s joy is small, her mirth is trivial, but heaven has sent us
immeasurable joy, fit for immortal minds. Inasmuch as no note of time is
appended, and no intimation is given that the message will ever be reversed, we
may say that it is a lasting joy; a joy which will ring all down the
ages, the echoes of which shall be heard until the trumpet brings the
resurrection. Yes, and onward forever and forever, for when God sent forth the
angel in his brightness to say, “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people,” He did as much as say, “From this time forth it shall
be joy to the sons of men. There shall be peace to the human race and goodwill
towards men forever and forever, as long as there is glory to God in the
highest.” O blessed thought! The Star of Bethlehem shall never set! Jesus, the
fairest among ten thousand, the loveliest among the beautiful, is a joy
forever!
Since
this joy is expressly associated with the glory of God, by the words, “Glory to
God in the highest,” we may be quite clear that it is a pure and holy joy.
No other would an angel have proclaimed, and indeed, no other joy is joy. The
wine pressed from the grapes of Sodom may sparkle and foam, but it is
bitterness in the end, and the dregs thereof are death. Only that which comes
from the clusters of Eschol is the true wine of the kingdom, making glad the
heart of God and man. Holy joy is the joy of heaven, and that you can be sure,
is the very cream of joy; the joy of sin is a fire-fountain, having its source
in the burning soil of hell, maddening and consuming those who drink its
firewater. Of such delights we desire not to drink. It would be worse than
damned to be happy in sin, since it is the beginning of divine grace to
be wretched in sin, and the consummation of grace to be wholly escaped
from sin, and to shudder even at the thought of it. It is hell to live in sin
and misery; it is a lower deep still when men could fashion a joy in sin. God
save us from unholy peace and from unholy joy! The joy announced by the angel
of the Nativity is as pure as it is lasting, as holy as it is great; let us, then,
always believe concerning the Christian religion that it has its joy within
itself, and holds its feasts within its own pure precincts—a feast whose food
all grows on holy ground.”
-C.H.
Spurgeon British Prince of
Preachers 1834-1892
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