Turn to Isaiah 55. We'll read the first seven verses of Isaiah 55. And your labor for that which does not satisfy Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food Incline your ear and come to me here that your soul may live And I'll make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." There's one thing that's true of all of us, myself, you, and everyone here. If you're saved or lost, there's one thing that we cannot help but do. We long for We seek it every moment of the day, and we can't turn it off. We can't say, I don't want this. We all seek happiness. We all seek joy, satisfaction, contentment, peace, rest for our soul. How could you not? You're longing for it. You're looking for it. In fact, it's the drive of your life. It's what gets you out of bed. It's what motivates you. It's what drives you. It's what gets you to work. It's what gets you through the hard, difficult days. It's the desire for happiness and the hope that you'll find happiness. And though you may not be happy for the moment, you think, well, happiness is around the corner. If I can just get through this, maybe good days are coming. And so you live on the hope that you're going to find joy and rest for your soul. The unconverted are seeking this with all their mights. You may not be seeking the Lord, but you're seeking for that which only the Lord can provide. You're looking for joy, deep-seated joy, not temporal pleasures for a moment. You know, cocaine can give you a high. Cocaine can give you a joy. It can distract you, but it can't satisfy you. The things of this world that you're seeking may temporarily distract you from your misery, but it only creates a deeper and bigger hole in your heart. It makes you long more and more for that which you do not have. But in this text, we see where happiness is found, where joy can be obtained. True, lasting joy, a joy of satisfaction and contentment, where you can thirst and not ever thirst again. That's what we're looking for. And here I have good news for you. I have the solution. I have the promise of happiness today. All of us can leave with joy in our hearts. We can leave this place satisfied and contented. We can leave rested. Do you believe that? Do you want that? Sometimes us Christians need to be reminded of that because we get distracted and we don't realize it But we can be recovered we can recover our joy The joy of our salvation can be renewed once again And it is my prayer that I pray for myself that that joy Feels my whole my heart my life my heart And I pray that all of us will be leaving this place. None of us would leave miserable. Especially the unconverted. But there's seven steps, according to this passage, seven steps to take. Seven steps to the path of happiness. The first step is found in verse one. And this is one that comes easy. We all have this one. Step number one, you gotta be miserable. You gotta be unhappy. Before you can find it, you gotta, we're all unhappy. We just may not know it. That is, if we don't have the Lord, we all are dissatisfied. We're discontented. But we don't realize it. But the first step of finding true happiness is to see your misery. To come to terms with it. To recognize it in your heart. to see the dissatisfaction within. The verse says, it doesn't say to those who are hungry, it doesn't say to those who are full and those who are satisfied come, it says come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. That is, you first have to be thirsty. You first have to see that you are lacking something. You need to be hungry before you go find something to eat. You need to be thirsty before you look for the living waters. This hunger or this thirst is depicted as a physical thirst, but he's speaking more than just being physically thirsty. He's speaking about the longings of the soul, the cravings of the heart. Often we mistake the cravings of the body with the cravings of the soul. Your body craves things. You want to eat things and drink things and smell things and touch things. But your soul has deeper longings. Satisfaction, contentment, meaning, purpose, freedom. There's so many things that your soul longs for. You can't help but long for them. Your soul aches for these things. And often, we're trying to fill the soul with physical satisfactions. We're trying to eat and drink satisfaction into the soul. But no matter how many steaks you eat, you're not going to be satisfied in the soul. You see, we need to realize that There is a longing inside of us. There is a craving that we have for happiness and for joy, for meaning and purpose. All these things we're looking for. But we've got to see that we're hungry. We've got to see that we're thirsty. Even us Christians, sometimes we forget that. Revelation 3, 17 talking about the church that had become lukewarm. It says, for you say I am rich, I have prospered and need nothing, not realizing that you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. We get distracted because we have a full pantry and our bank account seems okay. We're going through a moment of ease and prosperity and we forget that we're We're a long way from the Lord or we have slidden away from Christ. And often when we're miserable, we don't know it because we're hiding or disguising or distracting ourselves. I knew one guy who was going through a divorce. He says, only way I can get away from the misery is to keep going to the movie theaters. And he would just sit there at the movie theaters all day watching one show after another. And because once he was out of the theaters and there wasn't something distracting his heart, he would go into this deep seed of depression. And often that's the way the world works. Maybe you're here today and you're looking for happiness and you don't really realize you're miserable because you're in the moment of pursuing some earthly pleasure. and you think you're about to get it. You got this hope that if I could just get this raise, if I could just buy this new car, if I could just get some new clothes, or if I could just get this promotion and you got it on the edge and you think that you're almost coming and so it's distracting you because hope is in this world. and you just need a little bit more of it, then you'll be satisfied. But you've got to understand the fact that you keep going after that which you've been going after your whole life should tell you that this world is not satisfying. You see, your longings of the body, your fleshly desires, the lust of the flesh are insensational. That means the more you feed them, the more you crave, the more you are able to crave more. It's like putting wood on a fire. The more wood you put on a fire, the fire grows bigger. How much firewood does the fire need? It will always want more. You will always want more of this world. If you cannot be content with what you already have, you'll never be content if you had the whole world. But you just need a little bit more of it. I don't want the whole world. I don't need to be Elon Musk. I don't need to be a billionaire. I just need to have more than I have. I just need a little bit more. I need the promotion. And it's the love of money and the pursuit of riches, the pursuit of this world that is causing you to be all the more miserable. It's causing you to be all the more dissatisfied and discontent. You see, it's when you see that you're hungry and you don't have what you're looking for that you're in a good position. When you see your misery If you're here and you say, I am unhappy here, I got good news for you. If you're lost and you think that you're okay, then I don't know what to tell you. But you're blind and you'll find out sooner or later this world is empty. You see, the gospel is good news for those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Jesus said it this way, if any one of you thirst, Let them come to me for drink." God has an open invitation for those who are miserable. Remember that as saints. Remember that. You may be here as a Christian, but you don't know why you're miserable. Come back to the living waters. Come back. Step number one, see your misery. Step number two, this is good news. I love preaching this because I'm like, Well, how much is it gonna cost me? How much is it gonna cost me? I mean, everybody's trying to buy happiness. That's why they love money, because they think it takes money to buy happiness. That's the lie of the world. Is that not true? I need money to buy things, because I need things to be happy. I envy those who have more than I have, because I think they're happy, and I'm miserable. Therefore, if I had more, I can buy more, then I can show off what I have, and I can feel good about myself, All the while thinking that you can buy happiness is the big lie of Satan. Here's the good news. You want happiness? Come empty-handed. You don't need a dollar. You don't need money. You don't need wealth. You just need to see that you're poor and impoverished. You need to see that you have nothing, that you're bankrupt. You see, lasting joy and satisfaction of the soul cannot be purchased. Look at verse 1, come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has no money, that's me, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. You need to see that you're in debt, you're broke. The prodigal son didn't come to the father seeking seeking happiness until he realized he was miserable, until he spent all that he had. The best news in the world is that salvation, eternal life, eternal joy. The best news in the world that it's completely free. The only thing that qualifies us for salvation is our sins. not your righteousness, not your prayer life, not your religious pursuits, not your church attendance, not your good deeds. The only thing that qualifies you to be happy is that you're miserable. You're not going to find happiness within. It's not there. God didn't make you Complete he didn't make you self-sufficient. He didn't make you to find a happy, you know this lie If you're gonna be happy, you just need to love yourself more if you won't be happy you need to you need to find it within Just search your heart and you'll find what you're looking for. No, it's not there Eternity is in your heart, but happiness is not Happiness is in God joy is in the Lord and it's not in you Therefore you can't find it by searching within or searching within this world But it is free Revelation 21, he says, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the springs of the water of life. Revelation 22, 17, the Spirit and the bride say, come, come, let the one who hears say come, let the one who is thirsty come, let the one who wishes to take the free gift of the water of life. If you're thirsty here today and you're hungry and you're dissatisfied and you're miserable, then come without money, without any form of ability to pay. You need to be broke and see that you're broke because salvation will be given to you only when you realize that you have nothing to offer God. It's a free thing. You say, well, I have to do something first. I have to clean myself up. Some of you, you feel so wretched, you feel so miserable under the weight of your sins. You're like, well, I need to go do something first. I need to purify myself with some holy water or something. I need to pray for two hours or I need to get away and clean myself up and turn away from all these things. And once I can do something good, then I can come to the Lord. Don't you realize? that all your righteousness and good deeds are as filthy rags before God, that you have nothing to offer Him. To come for happiness, for salvation, for glory, for majesty, for eternal life and all that God promises us, all you have to come with empty hand and say, I have nothing. The invitation is to come and feast and eat. without worrying about what it's gonna cost you. Let us not forget this. And I'm reminding myself and Christians of this as well. You know, restore the joy of my salvation. How that salvation will be restored? By just coming back to Christ for grace, for mercy. Salvation is free, it remains free. It will always be free. That's the second step. Well, third step. In order to run to Christ, you have to let go of this world. That is, you've got to be dissatisfied with this world and realize this world has nothing to offer you. Look at verse 2. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? One thing Solomon determined, King Solomon, is that happiness, I'm talking about joy, true joy of the heart, is not to be found under the sun. Ecclesiastes, this is the message of Ecclesiastes. chapter 1 verse 2 vanity of vanity says the preacher vanity of vanities all is vanity verse 13 he says i applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven it is an unhappy business that god has given to the children of man to be busy with i have seen everything that is done under the sun and behold all is vanity and striving after the wind First of all, he says there's no joy to be found in earthly pleasures. These temporary pleasures like cocaine will give you a high but won't satisfy you, leave you more miserable after the fact. Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon says, I set my heart, come now, I will test you with pleasures. Enjoy yourself. Behold, this also was vanity. Said of laughter it is mad and a pleasure. What use is it? I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine. I made great works I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees I made myself pools from which to water the force growing trees I brought male and female slaves and had slaves who were born in my house I also had great possessions of herds and flocks more than any Who had been before me also gathered for myself silver and gold and treasures of kings and provinces I got singers both man and women and meaning concubines the delight of the sons of men and Whatever my eyes desired. I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure I mean, this is a guy who had the money to go after everything he wanted. He didn't say no to himself. I Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toll I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and striving after the wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun. After all my pursuit of joy and pleasures in this world, delighting in all types of things, buying things, collecting things, enjoying things, I come to the conclusion that there's no happiness buying things on Amazon. Amen? I've come to myself that I've realized no matter how many pleasures I go after, I leave empty. It's all vanity. Well, maybe there's meaning and purpose and joy and happiness and education. No, it's the, you know, the crazy kids that just go after this world, but I'm going to go after education. I'm going to advance myself. I'm going to seek wisdom and knowledge. I'm going to seek to be smart. Well, Solomon tried that as well. He said in chapter 1 verse 16, I said in my heart, I've acquired great wisdom surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me and my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after the wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." I mean, so many people say, I just need a good education or just go and pursue, and they're pursuing happiness. They're pursuing an advancement of self for the wrong reasons. But that's not going to bring happiness. Well, maybe you think you can find joy in your careers. How many are seeking to find meaning in what they do? Find meaning in their jobs, advancing themselves, being great at what they do. Oh, Solomon thought that as well. Ecclesiastes 1.3, what does man gain by all the toll in which he tolls under the sun? Chapter 2 verse 20 says, I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toll of my labors under the sun. This also is vanity in a great evil. What has a man from all the toll and striving of heart for which he tolls beneath the sun? For all his days are full of sorrow and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest. This is also vanity. So you can seek happiness in all these things and the world seeks it. This is how the world is seeking glory. They're seeking it through fame and through riches and through what they do. Advancing themselves, thinking that they're going to be satisfied just around the corner. But the question that Isaiah asked us, why do you spend money for that which is not bread? Why are you laboring for that which does not satisfy? Why do we vex ourselves over empty treasures? It's like trying to eat rocks. and thinking the rocks are going to fulfill us. It just doesn't make sense. I mean, especially for us believers, we know better. We know better. We've already turned away from this world, but here comes Satan with the lures and the temptations to come back after it. Be happy here. Look for meaning here. And then we get deceived. And what happens when that happens? I can tell you what happens in your heart because it happens to my heart. I become a little dissatisfied. My joy starts to leave. Once I begin looking for joy in the wrong places, that's when I become unjoyful. Why are we spending our time and resources on the things that cannot and will not satisfy us? Ecclesiastes 6 says, God gives some people wealth, possessions, and honor. Everything that we want everything that the world wants well possessions and honor and glory all these things So they lack nothing their hearts desire They can have everything they want but it goes to say but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy it You can rest assure the people that we envy who have money who have pleasures who have glory They're not happy. You can rest assure that It's a vain empty pursuit Remember the woman at the well? She was living a pretty reckless life. She had six or seven husbands by this time. And she was living with a man that wasn't her husband. She wasn't a godly woman. And Jesus knew that she was unhappy. He said, if you knew who I was, you would ask me for water. He says, anyone who drinks of the water that he has will never thirst again. But if you're seeking happiness in this world, Ecclesiastes 1.8 says, all things are full of weariness. A man cannot utter it. The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor the ear satisfied with hearing. You're not going to fulfill the heart by feeding the body. It's not going to happen. You're not going to find what you're looking for within by taking care of the lust of the flesh. Even if we get what we're looking for, we'll find that it didn't bring what we thought it would bring. The bread will not satisfy us. Jeremiah 12, 13 says, they will sow wheat but reap thorns. They will wear themselves out but gain nothing. Think of how much effort people put into their careers and their advancements and obtaining this world. And not only are they going to leave it all behind and take nothing out with them. and know that everything they did was a waste. In the process of learning that everything they gave themselves to was a waste, they also realized they were never happy through the process. This is why Jesus says, do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. So joy is not found in this world. Joy is found only in God. This is why Jesus said in John 4, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. That's step three. Forsake this world. Just know, realize, come to the end of yourself. This is not going to do it. Fourth step. Come. Come and delight in Christ. Come feast on Christ. Come feast on the glory of Christ. Look at verse two. Listen diligently to me and eat what is good. And here's a command. Delight. yourself in rich food. This is a command to come and feast without money. A command to see that there is a feast to be enjoyed. In Christ there is life, salvation, forgiveness, joy, riches, treasures, wisdom, power, resurrection. Heaven itself is in Him. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 1-3 that all things, all blessings, every blessings in heavenly places are to be found in Jesus Christ. If you find Christ, you found everything. You find life and you find salvation and justification. You find the resurrection of the dead. You find joy, for the joy is in Him and in Him alone. And this is a command to come and feast yourself. One time, that was about 10 years ago, I'll never forget it. Someone, I guess I forgot who gave it to me, but someone gave Leith and I a large gift card to Red Lobster. Especially 10 years ago when we were as broke as we could be. I mean, we were struggling financially We didn't eat out much, but when we did, when we did eat out, we'd go and order from the cheap side of the menu. I don't know if anybody has remembered those days where when you do eat out, there's, you know, there's one side that you don't look at. And there's the other side that you're still trying to think, can I cover this? And that's the hamburger side. And we went to Red Lobster, and I love, that's my favorite food, and sometimes, in fact, at the time, I couldn't determine if I liked crab legs or lobster tails better. I didn't know. They were both, I mean, my goodness. And someone gave us this gift card, and I took Letha, and I said, Letha, we are not going skimpy. We're not going to order on the cheap side of the menu tonight. This is for you and me, and we're gonna get what we want. And it was glorious. I mean, no joke. I remember 10 years ago, I still remember that because I'll tell you why it was so great. I didn't, I said, Letha, you're not eating off my plate. You know, we're not trying to save money by, you know, we can save money. I'll get this and you should take that. And maybe we'll get an extra entree and we can make this work. I said, no, you get what you want. You leave my food alone. I'm getting what I want. And so I wanted, I wanted to try everything. You know, they bring out those rolls and those were good. And I said, and so when it come to ordering, I couldn't make up my mind and I wanted crab legs and lobster. And I wanted that all you can eat type, get all, you know, the tour of Italy. That's the tour of red lobster or something. I wanted that, but they didn't have lobster and crab legs. So what did I do? I've never done it since. I'll probably never do it again. I ordered two plates. Two plates on the expensive side of the menu. Plus Letha's plate. I mean, when they brought that food out, and it was just two of us, you know, they brought all that food out. You're talking about a feast. You're talking about just diving in and enjoying it. This is a meal to remember. This is a meal to delight in. This is a meal to go, wow, look at the goodness of God. And it was completely free. What was I to do? I was to smile and dig in. Do you realize that God has opened up a buffet for you and I? He has opened up riches that we cannot compare. And you don't have to worry about ordering off the cheap menu. You don't have to worry if you can afford it. You don't have to go, well, that's just too much. I'm a humble person. I can't take that and that and that and that. No, I'll just take a little piece. I'll be happy with the dregs. I'll be, no, come. This is the command. This is the invitation. I don't care if you have no money. In fact, you don't need money. Come, come and enjoy the Lord. Come and feast. Fill your heart with the things that are good. Eat the goodness of God. Be happy in the Lord. He's opened up so many things for you. Let me tell you, He's forgiven all of your sins. Every one of the ones you feel guilty about, just don't worry about that. That's taken care of. Now think of the righteousness that you need. You've been given that. Think of the mercies of Christ and the goodness of God. Just go through all the attributes of Jesus and go, wow, I can marvel. I can consider these things are mine. All things belong to me if he did not spare his own son, but delivered them up for us all. How shall he not freely give us all things? The whole menu is yours. Order everything. Delight in this. Don't look at what you don't have. Don't go, well, I just need one more item. I need to buy this or my house is in disarray. Don't think that way. You have heaven. You have glory. You'll never die. You're going to have one day all your tears wiped away. Everything about your life has meaning and purpose. Christ has redeemed you and he's giving you fat things to feast upon. This is the command. Rejoice in the Lord, Paul tells us. Again, I say rejoice. Take joy in the God of your salvation. Jesus said, these things I have spoken to you that your joy may be in you and your joy may be full. There's no reason for us to be sad. Now, we might be going through hardships and difficulties and griefs, but you can have the joy of the Lord in the middle of all these things. You can have satisfaction and a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. God wants you to be happy. And I know that's not Joe Osteen speaking. He said, there's a difference between happiness and joy. I don't want to hear that today. There's joy, real joy, a happiness of the soul, and it's yours freely. You don't have to be miserable. You don't have to be gloomy. You can just look at Christ and go, that's mine? That's mine? He gives me him? He gives me his son? Who am I to? I get that too? And that? In fact, eye has not seen or ear heard the things that God has in store for you and I. You're so wealthy. You're so blessed. You see, the gospel invites us to delight ourselves in the Lord. Eat what is good. Delight yourself in rich food. Stop ordering from the cheap side of the menu. Go ahead and splurge. Splurge on the very best things. If we listen and believe Christ, we shall be satisfied. First Peter 1.8 says this, though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. The Bible says, delight yourselves in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart. Jesus says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Psalms 22 tells us the poor will eat and be satisfied. Those who seek the Lord will praise him. Matthew 11 28, come to me all you that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Psalm 36 8, they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of your house. They shall make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. Look at verse 3, incline your ear come to me, hear that your soul may live. You who are unconverted, you're dead, and you're lost, and you're wandering around. You don't know what you don't have, but here's an invitation for life, not just eternal life, but abundant life, a life that is real life. In this world, those who are dead are miserable, but those who are alive in Christ have real joy in their hearts. It goes on to talk about, in verse 3 through 5, the covenant that God will make with you. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I will make him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. In the context, Isaiah is telling the Israelites that they're about to go into captivity. So they're leading into captivity, but he says, don't go miserable. You can be joyful. Remember the covenant, the promise of Major Father David. I am going to fulfill that. I am going to bring that about. And that fulfillment we see in verse 5. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you. That is, He's going to bring the nations, the Gentiles to you. And this was fulfilled in Christ, for Christ has made us a covenant. And thus, if we look to Christ and trust His promise, we do not have to be disappointed. And here's the sixth step. And this is for all of us. We need to seek Christ right now, right away. Look at verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Day is the day of salvation. The Bible says, Jesus says, those who seek me with all their heart shall find me. We should be as the psalmist who says, as the deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Seek the Lord. Don't look back to this world. It's empty. Come to the banquet. Come without money, without a price. Come and buy. But it says, while He is near, while He may be found, How near is God to you? This is the good news I have for you. You can leave this place saved. You can be saved today. Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins so that you may be forgiven. And you don't have to live under the weight of your guilt. You don't have to feel condemned anymore. You don't have to be ashamed of your sins. All that can be removed from you and then replaced with nothing but joy and happiness. Romans 10 tells us, the word is near you. That is, Christ is near you today. The word is near to you. Christ has come to you today in this message. And Romans 10 tells us, the word is near you. How near to you? It's in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. Before that, he says, you don't have to climb your way to heaven to be saved. You don't have to climb your way down into the abyss to look for God. When seeking the Lord, you don't have to go far. You don't have to take a pilgrim to Jerusalem. You don't have to leave this place. You don't have to come to the altar. There's no physical place you have to go because Christ has come to you today. He has come to you. How close is he to you? This is as close as he can get. If you just believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, you will be saved. Matthew Henry says, here's a gracious offer of pardon, peace, and all happiness. It shall not be in vain to seek God. Now His Word is calling to us and the Spirit is striving with us. But there is a day coming when He will not be found. There may come such a time. This is the day of salvation. Do not resist the Spirit today. Don't harden your heart today. Don't run from the Lord today. He is coming to you. He is inviting you. He is beseeching you. Come, come, buy food without price. Come to me and I'll give you living waters. Don't run. But today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart, but come and you will be saved. That's the promise of God. My last step, the last step, what must you do to find happiness? Well, believe in Jesus and repent of your sins. Look at verse 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him, to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Here we're to acknowledge our sins before God. We prayed for you this morning. We prayed for the lost children this morning earnestly, fervently. What must you do to be saved? Well, you don't have to do anything other than say, I'm a sinner. Confess them before God. Acknowledge them before God. Don't hide your sins. The Bible says those who hide their sins shall not prosper. He knows what you've already done. Just confess them. Acknowledge them to the Lord. Say, my name is Jeff Johnson, and I'm a sinner and unworthy of your grace. I come to you without money. I have nothing to offer you. Please have mercy upon me, a poor sinner. Confess your sins to God and return to Him. Be like the prodigal son who'd come to the end of himself and realized he was naked and miserable, had nothing, and he didn't come back to his father and say, hey, listen, I can do this for you. He said, just, I'm a wretched sinner. Have mercy upon me. Here's the promise of God's Word. For all of us, if we're saved or lost, if you're miserable, come to the Lord. and He will forgive you every time. Look at verse 7, that He may have compassion on him and to our God for He will abundantly pardon. Isaiah also said in chapter 1 verse 18, Come now, let us settle the matter, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, though they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. God will take your iniquities, your sins, your guilt, and throw them into the sea and forget them. And He'll do that because He'll place it upon the person of Jesus Christ who covered and paid for them in full. And then He'll take the righteousness of Christ and give it to you as a free gift. that you may be forgiven and pardoned of your sins. Now, if we can understand, and sometimes we do for a moment, and I'm watching my time, but I'll tell you my own story very quickly. The fast version is I had a gun loaded, ready to kill myself. because I was extremely miserable and depressed and I saw no way out. This is, I was 20 years old and I didn't have a way out of my dilemma. Everything was dark and miserable, depressed. I was suicidal for months. And finally I called my dad to say goodbye. And my dad says, Jeff, there's only one thing you can do. There's only one hope that you have. I thought he was giving me permission to kill myself. But before he got off the phone, he says, the only thing you can do is go to the Lord until he hears you seek the Lord. And he gave me just enough hope, just enough hope that there's maybe another way out of suicide. Maybe there's a way out because I'm miserable, wretched, unhappy. And I began to pray. It was three o'clock in the morning. I prayed and prayed. No, it was 12 o'clock. I prayed for three hours, from 12 to three o'clock. And around three o'clock, I remember my alarm clock distinctly. God granted me repentance. I began to go, Lord, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me for this, forgive me for that. And when my mind ran out of things to ask God to forgive me, all of a sudden I was filled with such joy and such peace. that I was overtaken and for the next two weeks I was skipping around and singing. I was rejoicing. I could not believe that all my sins, every one of them, you got to see how wicked I actually was. You don't know what weight I was carrying. and to know that all of it, every bit of it was taken off of me. I was like born again. I was like a new kid. I saw life totally different and the joy of God filled me and I could not believe salvation. May we have that restored in our life. May we live in that. Let's pray. Dear God, it is my prayer that I live in the joy of the Lord. In your presence, there's fullness of joy. I don't want to wander off from you anymore. I don't want to be tricked, thinking I can buy happiness, or obtain it through works, or my career, or jobs, or anything like that, dear God. Lord, come to me. Help me come to you. This we pray in your son's name.