for all My divine Being is pledged to you to bring it about.'
'Verily, verily, I say unto you,' 'You may be as sure of this thing
as you are of Me, for all that I am is pledged to fulfil the words of
My lips.'

So Christ puts His whole truthfulness at stake, as it were; and if
any man who has ever loved Jesus Christ and trusted Him aright has
not found this 'joy unspeakable and full of glory,' then Jesus Christ
has said the thing that is not.

Then why is it that so many professing Christians have such joyless
lives as they have? Simply because they do not keep the conditions.
If we will love Him so as to set our hearts upon Him, if we will
desire Him as our chief good, if we will keep our eyes fixed upon
Him, then, as sure as He is living and is the Truth, He will flood
our hearts with blessedness, and His joy will pour into our souls as
the flashing tide rushes into some muddy and melancholy harbour, and
sets everything dancing that was lying stranded on the slime. If, my
brother, you, a professing Christian, know but little of this joy,
why, then, it is _your_ fault, and not _His_. The joyless lives of so
many who say that they are His disciples cast no shadow of suspicion
upon His veracity, but they do cast a very deep shadow of doubt upon
their profession of faith in Him.

Is your religion joyful? Is your joy religious? The two questions go
together. And if we cannot answer these questions in the light of
God's eye as we ought to do, let these great promises and my text
prick us into holier living, into more consistent Christian
character, and a closer walk with our Master and Lord.