A Sober Mind is Serious

You must be grave and serious, and not frothy and vain. This meaning we commonly give to the word here used. He that is serious, we call a sober man; and I put this as the last of the ingredients of this sober-mindedness because it will have a very great influence upon all the rest; we would gain our point entirely with young people if we could but prevail with them to be serious. It is serious piety we would bring them to, and to live in good earnest.

Not that we would oblige young people never to be merry, or have any ill-natured design upon them to make them melancholy; no, religion allows them to be cheerful; it is your time, make your best of it; evil days will come, of which you will say you have no pleasure in them, when the cares and sorrows of this world increase upon you, and we would not have you to anticipate those evil days. It is mentioned as an instance of the promised prosperity and flourishing state of Jerusalem, that “the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof” (Zech. 8:5).

Nay, religion prescribes cheerfulness to all those who are sincere and hearty in it: “Co thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works” (Eccl. 9:7); God expects to be served by us “with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things” (Deut. 28:47). And it is certain that none have such good reason to be cheerful as godly people have, none can be so upon better grounds or with a better grace; so justly or so safely. I have often said — and I must take all occasions to repeat it — that a holy, heavenly life, spent in the service of God, and in communion with Him, is without doubt the most pleasant, comfortable life any one can live in this world.

But that which I would caution you against under this head, is vain and carnal mirth — that mirth — that laughter of the fool — of which Solomon says, “it is mad, and what doth it?” Innocent mirth is of good use in its time and place; it will revive the spirit, and fit you for business; “a merry heart doth good like medicine”; but then it must be used like a medicine — must be taken physically, only when there is occasion for it, and not constantly like our daily bread; and like medicine, it must be then not too often, also not too much at a time, like opiates which are taken by drops and with great caution. When you make use of these medicines, it must be with due correctives, and you must take great care of yourselves, lest that which was intended for your health and welfare turn to your prejudice and become a snare and a trap.

Allow yourselves mirth, as far as will be consistent with sobermindedness, and no further; be merry and wise; never let your mirth transgress the laws of piety, charity, or modesty,nor intrench upon your time for devotion and the service of God. Wise men will always reckon him to be over fond of his mirth who will rather lose his friend than his jest; much more may he be reckoned so, who will rather lose his God and a good conscience.

Never make sport with the Scripture and sacred things, but let that which is serious always be spoken of with seriousness, for it is ill to jest with these things. Take heed lest your mirth exceed due bounds and transport you into any indecencies; that you give not yourselves too great a liberty, and then think to excuse it by saying, “Am not I in sport?” (Prov. 26:19). Set a double guard at such a time before the door of your lips lest you offend with your tongues; and especially keep your hearts with all diligence.

Let the inward thought still be serious; and in the midst of your greatest mirth, retain a disposition habitually serious, a reigning affection to spiritual and divine things, such as will make you indifferent to all vain mirth and pleasure, and set you above it, enabling you to look upon that with a holy contempt which so many spend so much of their time in, with so great a complacency.

A serious Christian, though to relax himself and entertain his friends he may allow himself a little mirth and recreation, yet he will make it to appear he is not in that as in his element, but he knows better pleasures and has given them the preference. A believing foretaste of the milk and honey of Canaan is enough to put the mouth quite out of taste to the garlic and onions of Egypt.

But while I am pressing you who are young to be always serious, habitually so, always well-affected to serious work, what shall we think of those who are never serious, who are always jesting, always bantering, so that you never know when they speak in earnest; those who are always in pursuit of some sensual pleasure or other and never know what it is to be one quarter of an hour serious, from the beginning of the year to the end of it? Certainly they forget that “for all these things, God shall bring them into judgment,” and they know not how soon.

Oh, that this laughter might be turned into the mourning of true penitents, and this joy into the heaviness of sincere converts; that it may not be turned, as otherwise it certainly will be, into the weepingand wailing of damned sinners! The same Jesus who said, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” hath said also, “Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep” (Luke 6:25).

Rev. Matthew Henry (1662–1714) pastured a Presbyterian congregation at Chester, England, for twenty-five years. He is best known and loved for his Bible commentary (1708–10). This series of articles is taken from his The Young Christian.

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