Happy
by Charles Spurgeon

Observe, the apostle adds, “To present us faultless before his presence, WITH EXCEEDING GREAT JOY.”

Who will have the joy? My brethren, you will have it. Have you ever mused upon the parable of the Prodigal Son? I know you have. No one can have diligently read the Bible without staying to think over, again and again, of that most tender and instructive of our Lord’s parables. Now, I ask who was happy at that feast? Was not the prodigal, think you? What was the character of those thoughts filling his heart and making it heave as if it would burst?

How overjoyed he must have been. How utterly crushed down with his father’s love, and all the unexpected marks of kindness and affection. He had had his days of feasting and sinful merriment, but no songs could ever have been as sweet as those which rung round the old roof-tree to welcome him home. No viands had ever tasted so delicious as that fatted calf. And no voice of boon companion or witching charmer at his guilty feasts had ever sounded such melodious notes in his ears as those words of his father, “Let us eat and be merry.”

So will it be with us when we have been restored to ourselves, when wearied of the world, and hungering and thirsting after righteousness, we shall have been led to the Father’s house by the cords of love which the Spirit shall cast around us. When safely brought through all the weary pilgrimage from the far-off country, we shall tread the golden streets, and be safe inside the pearly gates, and have the past all gone forever amongst the things we never shall meet again.

What rapture will be ours. This will be heaven indeed. When sin shall be gone, Satan shut out, temptation gone forever, you shall have a joy of which you cannot now conceive. Rivers of pleasure shall flow into your soul. You shall drink such draughts of bliss as your soul has never known this side the grave. Oh, be joyful now with an antepast of the joy which is to be revealed. And afterwards you shall have the fullness of divine bliss forever and ever.

Who shall be happy? Why, the minister will be happy. What pleasure was there in the heart of the shepherd youth David, the son of Jesse, when he had gone forth to do battle with the lion and bear, in order to rescue the lamb out of their jaws, and when God had delivered him and made him successful in his attempt. How gladly he must have watched the little lamb run to the side of its dam, and in the mutual pleasure of these poor dumb animals I am sure he found a joy.

And so all the shepherds in heaven, all who have been faithful pastors, who have cared for and tended their flocks, shall find a bliss unspeakable in welcoming to glory those darling ones preserved from the power of the devil, “who goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” Yes, ministers will be sharers in this happiness.

I think we shall have a special joy in bringing our sheaves with us. If it may please God to keep me from falling, if I just get inside the door of heaven, with some of the many thousands that God has given to me as my spiritual children, I will fall prostrate before His feet, the greatest debtor to His mercy that ever lived, and one who has more cause than any other of His creatures to thank Him, and ascribe to Him glory and honor, dominion and power, forever and ever. Here I am, and the children whom You have given me. Unto You be praise.

And what will be the joy of angels too? How exceeding great their bliss will be. If there be joy among the angels over one sinner that repents, what will there be over ten thousands times ten thousands, not of repenting, but of perfected sinners, cleansed from every stain, set free from every flaw. Oh, you cherubim and seraphim, how loud will be your music! How you will tune your harps anew, how shall every string wake up to the sweetest music in praise of God. “Let the sea roar and the fulness thereof” at the thought of the glorious joy at God’s right hand.

Who will have joy, I ask again. Why Christ will have the most joy of all. Angels and ministers, and you yourselves will scarcely know such joy as He will have—all His sheep safely folded, every stone of the building placed in its proper position. All the blood-bought and blood-washed ones, all whom the Father gave Him, delivered out of the jaw of the lion. All whom He covenanted to redeem effectually saved—His counsel all fulfilled, His stipulations all carried out, the covenant not only ratified, but fulfilled in all its jots and tittles. Verily, none will be as happy as the great Surety in that day.

As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall Christ rejoice over you. You know it is written that, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame.” And also, “He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be abundantly satisfied.” Now this satisfaction and joy will be our Lord’s, when the whole church is faultless and complete in the presence of His glory. But not till then.

In that hour, when all His jewels are reckoned up and none found missing, He shall rejoice anew in spirit, and shall thank God with yet more of joy than He did when here on earth, and thought of this day in prospect, and by that thought nerved Himself for cruel suffering and a death of shame. Yes, Christ will be glad. Our Head will have His share of joy with all the members, and happily He will be able to bear more, as He most certainly deserves and will have more.

Who will have joy? Why, God Himself will have joy. It is no blasphemy to say that the joy of God on that occasion will be infinite. It is always infinite. But it will be then infinitely displayed before His creatures’ gaze. Listen to these words—you cannot fathom them, but you may look at them. It is written, “The LORD your God will rejoice over thee with joy; he will joy over thee with singing.”

As I have said on this platform before, I think that is the most wonderful text in the Bible in some respects—God Himself singing! I can imagine, when the world was made, the morning stars shouting for joy. But God did not sing. He said it was “very good,” and that was all. There was no song. But oh, to think of it, that when all the chosen race shall meet around the throne, the joy of the Eternal Father shall swell so high, that God, who fills all in all, shall burst out into an infinite, godlike song.

I will only put in this one more thought, that all this, beloved, is about YOU. All this you have a share in, the least in the church, the poorest in the family, the most humble believer—this is all true of you, He will keep you from falling, and present you spotless before His presence with exceeding great joy. Oh, cannot you join the song and sing with me, “To the only wise God and Saviour be glory and honor, dominion and majesty for ever. Amen.”

For my part I feel like that good old saint, who said that if she got to heaven, Jesus Christ should never hear the last of it. Truly He never shall.

“I’ll praise my Saviour with my breath; And when my voice is last in death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers: My days of praise shall ne’er be past, While life and thought and being last, Or immortality endures.”

I want you to go away with a sense of your own weakness and yet a belief in your own safety. I want you to know that you cannot stand a minute, that you will be damned within another second unless grace keep you out of hell, and yet I want you to feel that since you are in the hand of Christ you cannot perish, neither can any pluck you out thence.