Joy, Heavenly and Earthly—Compared – Charles Spurgeon
THE wine pressed from the grapes of Sodom may sparkle and foam, but it is bitterness in the end, and the dregs thereof are death; only that which comes from the clusters of Eshcol is the true wine of the kingdom, making glad the heart of God and man. Holy joy is the joy of Heaven, and that, be you sure, is the very cream of joy. The joy of sin is a fire-fountain, having its source in the burning soil of Hell, maddening and consuming those who drink its fire-water; of such delights we desire not to drink. It were to be worse than damned to be happy in sin, since it is the beginning of grace to be wretched in sin, and the consummation of grace to be wholly escaped from sin, and to shudder even at the thought of it. It is Hell to live in sin and misery, it is a deep lower still when men could fashion a joy in sin. God save us from unholy peace and unholy joy!