^ Napoleon, when sent to Elba, adopted, in proud defiance of his fate, the motto, " Uhicunque felix." It was not true in his case ; but the Christian may be truly " happy everywhere " and always.^
III.
The Duty of Eejoicing.
The joy of the Lord is a duty. It is so because it is the natural effect of faith, because we can do much to regulate our emotions directly, and much more to determine them by deter- mining what set of thoughts shall engage us. A wise and strong
*J. F. Ewing, Unsearchable niches 0/ Chrisf, 120. * C. H. SpurgeoQ,
4i6 CHRISTIAN JOY
faith is our duty. To keep our emotional nature well under control of reason and will is our duty. To lose thoughts of ourselves in God's truth about Himself is our duty. If w 5 do these things, we cannot fail to have Christ's joy remaining in us, and making ours full. This is a truth which we have great need to lay to heart. It is of no great consequence that we should practically confute the impotent old sneer about religion as being a gloomy thing. One does not need to mind much what some people say on that matter. The world would call " the joy of the Lord " gloom, just as much as it calls " godly sorrow " gloom. But we are losing for ourselves a power and an energy of which we have no conception, unless we feel that joy is a duty, and that not to be joyful is more than a misfortune, it is a fault.
There is always a sunny side to the house of our life — a chamber where brightness is, and the door of this chamber is never locked against us, though it sometimes requires some art and patience to open the door. And it is because joy is a possibility that it becomes more than a possibility, viz., a duty. We do our best work when we are joyous ; we ought to be joyous that we may do our best work. And when we are inclined on our own account to be grave and gloomy, let us strive to be joyous on Christ's account, and on account of others. We cannot dispel the world's shadows unless there is some sunshine in our own hearts. We cannot heal and cheer and strengthen the men and women around us unless there is some joy in our face and soul.
^ It had been well for Euskin's health if he could have husbanded all his gradually recovered strength for the studies which brought him peace of mind. His friends, as he says in " Fors," often counselled him to avoid controversial and painful subjects. Cardinal Manning, for one, had written to him : " Joy is one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Ghost. There is before you and about you a world of beauty, sweetness, stillness, peace, and light. You have only to open your whole soul to it." But his eager spirit made such peaceful preoccupation and such economy of power impossible to him.^
" Joy is a duty " — so with golden lore The Hebrew Eabbis taught in days of yore. And happy human hearts heard in their speech Almost the highest wisdom man can reach.
1 E. T. Cook, The Life of Euskin, ii. 435.
PHILIPPIANS IV. 4 417
But one bright peak still rises far above,
And there the Master stands whose name is Love,
. Saying to those whom heavy tasks employ,
J *' Life is divine when duty is a joy." ^
1. Joy is strength. — All gladness has something to do with efficiency ; for it is the prerogative of man that his force comes from his mind, and not from his body. The old song about a sad heart tiring in a mile is as true in regard to the gospel, and the works of Christian people, as in any other case. If we have hearts full of light, and souls at rest in Christ, and the rest and blessedness of a tranquil gladness lying there and filling our being, work will be easy, endurance will be easy, sorrow will be bearable, and trials will not be so very hard.
Just as joy in ourselves for the time being softens, elevates and purifies, so the influence we exercise on others while we are joyous is more or less strong in helping them to be good instead of evil, soft and kind instead of harsh and cruel. The cheerful master makes gentle, willing and happy servants. The cheerful mate makes work pleasant and keeps off strife. The cheerful husband lightens the burdens of his wife's cares, and thus soothes her temper. The cheerful father makes it easier for his children to obey him, helps them over their moments of ill-temper and discontent, and by joy alone dispels many a gathering storm of anger and strife. The cheerful teacher keeps better order in his class than a surly one, and the cheerful boy is ever so much more teachable and tractable than a sulky one. A morbid, melancholy and discontented person makes it tenfold more difficult to dis- charge our duties towards him. To say nothing of the elements of domestic discord which are involved in depression of spirits, it leads imperceptibly to estrangement and consequent neglect.