Christian Gladness Not a Mood

Gladness is not a mere privilege for a Christian, a quality which he may have in his life or may not have, according to his particular mood. It is not a matter merely of temperament . Some Christian people try to excuse themselves for being unhappy so much of the time, so easily cast down and discouraged, by pleading their natural disposition ; they were not born with a sunny temper as was this or that friend they name.

Others plead depressing ill health; they are sufferers, or they have a disease which keeps them low-spirited. But neither of these excuses will avail, for it is not nature, but grace with which we have to do.

If one is naturally cheerless or gloomy, the sad mood is to be converted into Christian joy. Christian gladness is ofttimes conquered sadness . The Spirit of God changes our nature. We are not to follow out our natural impulses — to be glad or sad as we feel at the time. We are to be always glad. If we find ourselves lacking in this element, we are not to be content to remain thus lacking in such a vital quality of Christlikeness, but are to set about the filling up of what is missing in our character, until we shine like our Master.

One of the most remarkable incidents in the Bible is the story of Paul and one of his friends, who were heard once singing in a dungeon at midnight. We cannot say in explanation that these men were of a naturally mirthful mood — that they could not help singing. Mirthfulness of mood would scarcely account for such an unusual experience. Nor can we say that on that particular night they were experiencing an ecstasy of some kind; there was nothing in their condition to inspire ecstasy or rapture.

We read the story in full, and we learn that they were prisoners — that they had been beaten with a scourge the day before until their backs were terribly gashed, that they had then been dragged down to the foulest dungeon of an ancient Roman prison and cast into it, and that to add to their torture, their feet had then been screwed in wooden stocks.

This was their condition when the prisoners in the upper wards of the prison heard them singing. That was Christian gladness. It was not human nature. They had something in their heart which overcame human nature, and turned their cries of pain, into songs. It was the joy of Christ which was in them, and triumphed over all their pain and suffering. "God my Maker, who gives songs in the night! " Job 35:10

This is the kind of gladness which we should seek to have — something which will shine all the more brightly in the darkness, and sing all the more sweetly in pain or trial. This type of gladness is particularly a Christian experience — unbelievers know nothing of it.

We must not suppose that it was only apostles who could rejoice in such pain. Thousands of believers in Christ in every age, in our own age, have a joy which nothing can break or disturb. They experience earthly losses, but they know that their real possessions are laid up in Heaven, where no moth can corrupt, and no robber steal; and they rejoice in this security of their inheritance.

They have sorrows which well-near break their hearts; but they sing in their chamber of grief, because they have the comforts of divine love and grace , which, make them strong to endure. They suffer affliction in manifold forms, but no pain smothers their Christian gladness.

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