Happiness by J.C. Ryle

"Blessed [Happy] are the people whose God is the LORD." Psalm 144:15 An atheist was once addressing a crowd of people in the open air. He was trying to persuade them that there was no God and no devil, no heaven, and no hell, no resurrection, no judgment, and no life to come. He advised them to throw away their Bibles, and not to pay attention to what preachers said. He recommended them to think as he did, and to be like him. He talked boldly. The crowd listened eagerly. It was "the blind leading the blind." Both were falling into the pit (Matthew 15:14). In the middle of his address a poor old woman suddenly pushed her way through the crowd, to the place where he was standing. She stood before him. She looked him full in the face. "Sir," she said, in a loud voice, "Are you happy?" The atheist looked scornfully at her, and gave her no answer. "Sir," she said again, "I ask you to answer my question. Are you happy? You want us to throw away our Bibles. You tell us not to believe what preachers say about Christ. You advise us to think as you do, and be like you. Now before we take your advice we have a right to know what good we will gain by it. Do your fine new ideas give you a lot of comfort? Do you yourself really feel happy?" The atheist stopped, and attempted to answer the old woman's question. He stammered, and shuffled, and fidgeted, and endeavored to explain his meaning. He tried hard to return to the subject. He said, he "had not come to preach about happiness." But it was of no use. The old woman stuck to her point. She insisted on her question being answered, and the crowd took her side. She pressed him hard with her inquiry, and would take no excuse. And at last the atheist was obliged to leave, and sneak off in the confusion. His conscience would not let him stay: he dared not say that he was happy. The old woman showed great wisdom in asking the question that she did. The argument she used may seem very simple, but in reality it is one of the most powerful that can be employed. It is a weapon that has more effect on some minds than the most elaborate reasoning by some of our great apologists. Whenever a man begins to speak against and despise old Bible Christianity, thrust home at his conscience the old woman's question. Ask him whether his new views make him feel comfortable within himself. Ask Him whether he can say, with honesty and sincerity, that he is happy. The grand test of a man's faith and religion is, "Does it make him happy?" Let me now warmly invite every reader to consider the subject of this paper. Let me warn you to remember that the salvation of your soul, and nothing less, is closely bound up with the subject. The heart cannot be right in the sight of God which knows nothing of happiness. That man or woman cannot be in a safe state of soul who feels nothing of peace within. There are three things which I purpose to do, in order to clear up the subject of happiness. I ask special attention to each one of them. And I pray the Spirit of God will apply it to all the souls of those who read this paper. I. Let me point out some things which are absolutely essential to happiness. II. Let me expose some common mistakes about the way to be happy. III. Let me show the way to be truly happy. I. First of all I have to "point out some things which are absolutely essential to true happiness." Happiness is what all mankind wants to obtain: the desire of it is deeply planted in the human heart. All men naturally dislike pain, sorrow, and discomfort. All men naturally like ease, comfort, and bliss. All men naturally hunger and thirst after happiness. Just as the sick man longs for health, and the prisoner of war for liberty--just as the parched traveler in hot countries longs to see the cooling fountain, or the ice-bound polar voyager the sun rising above the horizon--just in the same way does poor mortal man long to be happy. But how few consider what they really mean when they talk of happiness! How vague and indistinct and undefined the ideas of most men are on the subject! They think some are happy who in reality are miserable: they think some are gloomy and sad who in reality are truly happy. They dream of a happiness which in reality would never satisfy their nature's wants. Let me try this day to throw a little light on the subject. True happiness "is not perfect freedom from sorrow and discomfort." Let that never be forgotten. If it were so there would be no such thing as happiness in the world. Such happiness is for angels who have never fallen, and not for man. The happiness I am inquiring about is the kind that a poor, dying, sinful creature may hope to attain. Our whole nature is defiled by sin. Evil abounds in the world. Sickness, and death, and change are daily doing their sad work on every side. In such a state of things the highest happiness man can attain to on earth must necessarily be a mixed thing. If we expect to find any literally perfect happiness on this side of the grave, we expect what we will not find. True happiness "does not consist in laughter and smiles." The face is very often a poor index of the inward man. There are thousands who laugh loud and are merry in the company of others, but are wretched and miserable in private, and almost afraid to be alone. There are hundreds who are solemn and serious in their demeanor, whose hearts are full of solid peace. A poet once wrote that our smiles are not worth very much, he said, "A man may smile and smile and be a villain." And the eternal Word of God teaches us that "Even in laughter the heart may ache" (Proverbs 14:13). Don't tell me of smiling and laughing faces: I want to hear of something more than that when I ask whether a man is happy. A truly happy man no doubt will often show his happiness in his face; but a man may have a very merry face and yet not be happy at all. Of all deceptive things on earth nothing is so deceptive as mere fun and cheerfulness. It is a hollow empty show, utterly devoid of substance and reality. Listen to the brilliant talker in society, and mark the applause which he receives from an company: follow him to his own private room, and you will very likely find him plunged in sad despondency. I know a man who confessed that even when he was thought to be most happy he often wished that he were dead. Look at the smiling beauty at the party, and you might suppose she never knew what it was like to be unhappy; see her the next day at her own home, and you may probably find her angry at herself and everybody else besides. No, worldly fun is not real happiness! There is a certain pleasure about it, I do not deny. There is an animal excitement about it, I make no question. There is a temporary elevation of spirits about it, I freely concede. But don't call it by the sacred name of happiness. The most beautiful cut flowers stuck in the ground do not make a garden. When ordinary glass is called diamond, and tinsel is called gold, then, and not till then can people who can laugh and smile be called happy men. Once there was a man who consulted a physician about his depression. The physician advised him to keep up his spirits by going to hear the great comic actor of the day. "You should go and hear Matthews. He will make you good." "Sorry to say, sir," was the reply, "I am Matthews himself!" To be truly happy "the highest wants of a man's nature must be met and satisfied." The requirements of his curiously wrought constitution must be all met. There must be nothing about him that cries, "Give, give," but cries in vain and gets no answer. Animals are happy as long as they are warm and fed. The little infant looks happy when it is clothed, and fed, and well, and in its mother's arms. And why? Because it is satisfied. And just so it is with man. His highest wants must be met and satisfied before he can be truly happy. All needs must be met. There must be no void, no empty places, no unsupplied cravings. Till then he is never truly happy. And what are "man's principal wants?" Does he only have a body? No: he has something more! He has a soul. Does he only have the five senses? Can he do nothing but hear, and see, and smell, and taste, and feel? No: he has a thinking mind and a conscience! Does he have any consciousness of any world but that in which he lives and moves? He has. There is still a small voice within him which often makes itself heard: "That this is not all there is to life! There is world unseen: there is a life beyond the grave." Yes! it is true. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. All men know it: all men feel it, if they would only speak the truth. It is utter nonsense to pretend that food and clothing and earthly material wealth alone can make men happy. The soul has needs. There are needs of the conscience. There can be no true happiness until these wants are satisfied. To be truly happy "a man must have sources of happiness which are not dependent on anything in this world." There is nothing on earth which is not stamped with the mark of instability and uncertainty. All the good things that money can buy are but for a moment: they either leave us or we are obliged to leave them. All the sweetest relationships in life are liable to come to an end: death may come any day and cut them off. The man whose happiness depends entirely on things here below is like him who builds his house on sand. Don't tell me of your happiness if it daily depends on the uncertainties of the earth. Your home may be rich in comforts; your wife and children may be all you could desire; your incomes may be amply sufficient to meet all your wants. But oh, remember, if you have nothing more than this to look to, that you are standing on the edge of a cliff! You joy may be deep and earnest, but it is fearfully short-lived. It has no root. It is not true happiness. To be really happy "a man must be able to look at every part of his life without uncomfortable feelings." He must be able to look at the past without guilty fears; he must be able to look around him without discontent; he must be able to look forward without anxious dread. He must be able to sit down and think calmly about things past, present, and to come, and feel prepared. The man who has a weak side in his condition--a side that he does not like looking at or considering--that man is not really happy. Do not talk to me of your happiness, if you are unable to look steadily either before or behind you. Your present position may be easy and pleasant. You may find many sources of joy and gladness in your profession, your dwelling-place, your family, and your friends. Your health may be good, your spirits may be cheerful. But stop and think quietly over your past life. Can you reflect calmly on all the omissions and commissions of by- gone years? How will they bear God's inspection? How will you answer for them at the last judgment? And then look forward and think on the years yet to come. Think of the certain end towards which you are heading; think of death; think of judgment; think of the hour when you will meet God face to face. Are you ready for it? Are you prepared? Can you look forward to these things without alarm? Oh, be very sure if you cannot look comfortably at any time in your life but the present, then your boasted happiness is a poor unreal thing! It is but a fancy and decorated coffin--fair and beautiful on the outside, but nothing but bones and decay within. It is a mere thing of a day, like Jonah's gourd. It is not real happiness. I ask my readers to fix in their minds the account of things essential to happiness, which I have attempted to give. Dismiss from your thoughts the many mistaken notions on this subject, they are like counterfeit money. To be truly happy, the wants of your soul and conscience must be satisfied; to be truly happy, your joy must be founded on something more than this world can give you; to be truly happy, you must be able to look on every side--above, below, behind, before--and feel that all is right. This is real, genuine happiness: this is the happiness I have in view when I urge your attention to the subject of this paper. II. In the next place, "let me expose some common mistakes about the way to be happy." There are several roads which are thought by many to lead to happiness. In each of these roads thousands and tens of thousands of men and women are continually traveling. Each fancies that if he could only attain all he wants he would be happy. Each fancies, if he does not succeed, that the fault is not in his road, but in his own lack of luck and good fortune. And everyone seems ignorant of the fact that they are chasing after shadows. They have started in a wrong direction: they are seeking that which can never be found in the place where they seek it. I will mention by name some of the principal delusions about happiness. I do it in love, and kindness, and compassion to men's souls. I believe it to be a public duty to warn people against cheats, quacks, and impostors. Oh how much trouble and sorrow it might save my readers, if they would only believe what I am going to say! It is an utter mistake to suppose the "position and fame alone" can give happiness. The kings, presidents, and rulers of this world are not necessarily happy men. They have troubles and crosses, which none know but themselves; they see a thousand evils, which they are unable to remedy; they are slaves working in golden chains, and have less real liberty than any in the world; they have burdens and responsibilities laid upon them, which are a daily weight on their hearts. The Roman Emperor Antonine often said, that "the imperial power was an ocean of miseries." Queen Elizabeth, when she heard a milk-maid singing, wished that she had been born to a lot like her's. Never did the poet write a truer word than when he said, "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." It is an utter mistake to suppose that "riches alone" can give happiness. They can enable a man to command and possess everything but inward peace. They cannot buy a cheerful spirit and a light heart. There is anxiety in the getting of them, and anxiety in the keeping of them, anxiety in the using of them, and anxiety in the disposing of them, anxiety in the gathering, and anxiety in the scattering of them. He is a wise man who said that "money" was only another name for "trouble." It is an utter mistake to suppose that "learning and science alone" can give happiness. They may occupy a man's time and attention, but they cannot really make him happy. They that increase knowledge often "increase sorrow:" the more they learn, the more they discover their own ignorance (Ecclesiastes 1:18). The heart wants something as well as the head: the conscience needs food as well as the intellect. All the secular knowledge in the world will not give a man joy and gladness, when he thinks about sickness, and death, and the grave. They that have climbed the highest, have often found themselves solitary, dissatisfied, and empty of peace. The learned Selden, at the close of his life, confessed that all his learning did not give him such comfort as four verses of Titus (2:11-14): For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. It is an utter mistake to suppose that "idleness alone" can give happiness. The laborer who gets up at five in the morning, and goes out to work all day in a cold clay ditch, often thinks, as he walks past the rich man's house, "What a fine thing it must be to have no work to do." Poor fellow! He doesn't know what he is saying. The most miserable creature on earth is the man who has nothing to do. Work for the hands or work for the mind is absolutely essential to human happiness. Without it the mind feeds upon itself, and the whole inward man becomes diseased. The machinery within "will" work, and without something to work upon, will often wear itself to pieces. There was no idleness in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had to "work it and take care of it." There will be no idleness in heaven: God's "servants will serve Him." Oh, be very sure the idlest man is the man most truly unhappy! (Genesis 2:15; Revelation 22:3) It is an utter mistake to suppose that "pleasure-seeking and amusement alone" can give happiness. Of all roads that men can take in order to be happy, this is the one that is most completely wrong. Of all weary, flat, dull, and unprofitable ways of spending life, this exceeds them all. To think of a dying creature, with an immortal soul, expecting happiness in feasting and reveling--in dancing and singing--in dressing and visiting--in party-going and gambling--in races and fairs--in hunting and shooting--in crowds, in laughter, in noise, in music, in wine! Surely it is a sight that is enough to make the devil laugh and the angels weep. Even a child will not play with its toys all day long. It must have food. But when grown up men and women think to find happiness in a constant round of amusement they sink far below a child. I place before every reader of this paper these common mistakes about the way to be happy. I ask you to mark them well. I warn you plainly against these pretended short cuts to happiness, however popular they may be. I tell you that if you believe that any one of them can lead you to true peace you are entirely deceived. Your conscience will never feel satisfied; your immortal soul will never feel easy: your whole inward man will feel uncomfortable and unhealthy. Take any one of these roads, or take all of them, and if you have nothing besides to look to, you will never find happiness. You may travel on and on and on, and the wished for object will seem far away at the end of each stage of life as when you started. You are like one pouring water into a sieve, or putting money into a bag with holes. You might as well try to make an elephant happy by feeding him with a grain of sand a day, as try to satisfy that heart of yours with position, riches, learning, idleness, or pleasures. Do you doubt the truth of all that I am saying to you? I dare say you do. Then let us turn to the great Book of human experience, and read over a few lines out of its solemn pages. You will have the testimony of a few competent witnesses on the great subject I am calling to your attention. A king will be our first witness: I mean Solomon, King of Israel. We know that he had power, and wisdom, and wealth, far exceeding that of any ruler of his time. We know from his own confession, that he tried the great experiment of seeing how far the good things of this world can make men happy. We know from the record of his own hand, the result of this curious experiment. He writes it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the benefit of the whole world, in the book of Ecclesiastes. Never, surely, was the experiment tried under such favorable circumstances: never was any one so likely to succeed as the Jewish King. Yet what is Solomon's testimony? You have it in his melancholy words: "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after wind" (Ecclesiastes 1:14). A famous French lady will be our next witness: I mean Madam De Pompadour. She was the friend and favorite of Louis the Fifteenth. She had unbounded influence at the Court of France. She had everything that money could buy. Yet what does she have to say? What a situation is that of those who are great! They only live in the future, and are only happy in hope. There is no peace in ambition. I am always gloomy, and so often very unreasonable. The kindness of the King, the respect of the court officials, the devotion of my servants, and the faithfulness of a large number of friends--motives like these, which ought to make me happy, no longer affect me. I no longer have feelings for those things and persons which once pleased me. I have magnificently furnished my house in Paris: well; it pleased me for two days! My residence in the French countryside is charming; and yet I cannot endure being there alone. Kindhearted people relate to me all the news and adventures of Paris: they think I listen, but when they are done I ask them what they said. In a word, I do not live: I am dead before my time. I have no interest in the world. Everything conspires to make my life bitter. My life is a continual death. To such testimony I do not need to add a single word. (Sinclair's Anecdotes and Aphorisms, p. 33) A famous German writer will be our next witness: I mean Goethe.

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Happiness

J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle (1816 - 1900)

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