The following "Question" was asked by a member of the congregation at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California, and "Answered" by their pastor, John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the tape, GC 70-5, titled "Bible Questions and Answers."  A copy of the tape can be obtained by writing, Word of Grace, P.O. Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412 or by dialing toll free 1-800-55-GRACE.  Copyright John MacArthur Jr., All Rights Reserved.

Question

I am very concerned because as Christians we are supposed to have a smile on our face; we are supposed to be happy and we are also supposed to show the world how beautiful it is to be accepted by the Lord, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in a way that we should be happy.  Yet, I've always been, recently especially, I am walking around like I am sad and I am always thinking about what I can do to possibly help these people.

Answer

Well, I really identify with that.  To be real honest with you, when you become a Christian there is a tremendous sense of personal joy, but you do take on an instant sadness.  You really do; for the first time you understand.  I mean, before you went on in the drunken bliss of the typical person in the world who didn't know what was going on anyway.  And it was just party-time basically; you lived for the next fun thing and try to milk every moment you can for everything that's in it.  All of a sudden when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ and your life is transformed, and your eyes are opened, as you so well put it, now you begin to see the reality of people and their eternal destiny, and their lostness, and their sinfulness, and the mess that the world is in. 

I confess to you that it is the legacy of a Christian to have a sense of overwhelming sadness, that's part of it.  Paul confessed to having continual sorrow and tears, didn't he?  And to being constantly burdened and constantly distressed, but he also said, "Rejoice always, and again I say rejoice!" 

So we live in that very strange tension of having a consuming joy. . . .I think the best illustration of that, that I can think of, just coming to mind standing here, is found in the 10th chapter of Revelation, where in verse 8, John hears the voice, and the voice from heaven says, "go and take the scroll," and the little scroll is presentative of the title deed of the earth, which Christ is going to come and take the title deed and conquer the earth.  And that means that He is going to reward the righteous and punish the wicked, you know, in the Second Coming when He sets up His kingdom. 

So he says, "take the little scroll open in the hand of the angel, standing on the sea and the earth.  So I went to the angel and said to him, 'Give me the little scroll.'  And he said, 'Take and eat it.'"  This is a symbolic picture and so he eats it.  "And it will make thy belly bitter, but shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.  And I took the little scroll out of the angel's hand, and ate it up, and it was in my mouth sweet as honey, and as soon as I had eaten it my belly was bitter."

Now, what is he saying here?  What he is saying here is, thinking about Christ coming to conquer the world is both, what?  Sweet and bitter, isn't it?  It's sweet because we say, "You deserve the glory, You deserve the honor, You deserve the praise, You deserve the rejoicing, You shouldn't continue to be dishonored the way you are dishonored," like Henry Martine (sp.) who rushed out of the pagan temple in India, when he went there, and said, "I cannot endure existence if Jesus is to be so dishonored."

You cry out that Christ should be exalted, and that is a sweet thing the day that Jesus comes, and we sang about it tonight, didn't we?  We sing songs of the Second Coming, and songs of being with Christ, but at the same time we know our own joy; we know the terrifying bitterness of the unredeemed in the judgment.

So all I can say to you is, that is a tension that you will always have as a Christian, and I believe that it is the unique work of the Spirit of God to bring balance to that.  You will find in your Christian life things that will sadden you more profoundly than anything that you ever experienced before.  You will also find things that will bring you greater joy than any joy that you have known before, because they are ultimate things, and ultimate things have the potentiality to bring ultimate sadness and ultimate joy.