The Secret of Christian Joy by Vance Havner

The church suffers today from a saddening lack of old-fashioned, simple-hearted, overflowing, Christian joy. We have plenty of knowledge, plenty of enthusiasm and denominational zeal, but Christians and churches that started out in revival fires are living in the smoke, and the “amens” and “hallelujahs” have gone from most assemblies of the saints.

When one recalls that we are to rejoice in the Lord always – and then looks in on the average Sunday congregation, he realizes that something has happened to us since Pentecost. We meet on the Lord’s day more as though we had assembled to mourn a defeat than to celebrate a victory.

Although the New Testament centers in a cross and is bathed in the blood of martyrs and blackened by the fires of persecution, its note from beginning to end is one of triumphant joy.

In John 20:20 we read: “Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.” Here we have the secret of Christian joy: it turns upon those two words, “then” and “when.” We are glad when we see the Lord. It does not read, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw themselves.” Our verse does not say, “Then were the disciples glad when they saw each other.” Nor were these disciples glad when they saw their circumstances. We do not even read that the disciples were glad when they saw a particular doctrine about the Lord. It is the supreme need of the hour that believers should look away from all else, much of which may be good, and see only the Lord. Then shall we have fresh assurance and joy!

Read a selection from Chapter 12: If Any Man Thirst

Vance Havner (1901-1986) was a unique servant of God whose spoken ministry spanned over seventy years and whose written ministry extended to almost forty books. Michael Catt, Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, says of him: "There was no one like Vance Havner. His preaching style was unique, powerful, and pointed. He was a master at turning a phrase, using humor to set up a point, and then driving the point home like a sharp, two-edged sword. Every Christian should read Vance Havner… If you love A. W. Tozer, you'll love Vance Havner. He was one of God's gifts to the church in the 20th century. His ministry and his preaching needs to be heard in the 21st century."