to John chapter number 15. John chapter number 15. On Sunday nights here at Calvary, we have been learning about the abiding life, what it means to abide in in Christ. And boy, if you're a Christian, if you know the Lord today, that's where you ought to be. You ought to be a person who every day of your life is abiding in the Lord. And many times we have the idea that the abiding life is just that few minutes that I take to read the Bible and pray, but that's not it. No, the abiding life is every moment of every day. I need to be abiding in Him. And I'm going to talk to you a little bit about what that is, and then we're going to look at the key verse today about the abiding life, a product, a blessing of it, if you please. John chapter 15, you should be there in your Bible by now. Let's look in verse number 11 this morning, and I trust you'll leave your Bible open as we'll delve into this entire passage today. Look at verse number 11. Notice he said, these things. I like those two words. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. What a wonderful verse. Let's look at it again. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." What a wonderful passage. Now, I want you to notice two words. These things. Did you see that right there? We're going to ask the question, what things? I mean, the Lord's talking about these things. Well, what in the world is He talking about? Well, I believe He's talking about the parable that He began. Of course, I believe the whole discourse that began in the upper room way back in chapter 13 and 14, and then He's making His way through the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane. He's passing by the vineyards there, and the caretakers have been working on the vineyards. It's the nighttime hours as He's making His way with His disciples, and He gives them one of the most powerful parables in Scripture. It's called the vine and the branches. It begins back up in verse number one, and he's going to talk about being the true vine. He's going to talk about verse one, his father being the husbandman. He said, I am. Boy, that's the divine name of the Lord. That links him to heaven. He's the great I am. And he said, I am the true vine. And he said, my husbandman's the father. And then he talks about the branches in verse number two that are in him. and to abide in Him. Now, here, the true vine is the Lord Jesus. Can I just tell you, friend, you have anything else that you're connected to that's not Jesus, and can I tell you, it's a counterfeit. He alone is the true vine. He's the only one that can get you to heaven. He's the only one that can get you through life. Friend, can I tell you, He is the true vine, and you need to be connected to Him. And then the husbandman is God the Father. He's the heavenly caretaker of the vine. This spiritual vine. And you, Christian, you and me, we are the branches in the vine. And the purpose of a branch is to bring forth fruit. That's what a branch does. And that's the imagery here. And what God's saying is, that you and I as Christians, as branches in the Lord, the true vine, are to bring forth fruit. We're to be fruitful. And he mentions this fruitfulness when you read this parable. He's going to talk about bearing fruit, and more fruit, and much fruit. Then all the way down in verse number 16, he's going to talk about fruit that remains. I mean, I believe that's rewarded fruit. And God's going to bless that. And the key to it all is abiding. It is. Do you realize that this little word, abide, is going to be used twelve times in this passage? Twelve times. It means to dwell or continue, like dwelling in a house or dwelling in this or that or continuing. It has the idea of remaining in fellowship with. And so the idea of the abiding life is that every moment of every day, I'm to be remaining in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, my true vine. I'm not just connected to Him, I'm close to Him and I'm in fellowship with Him. Now, there's a difference between your relationship to God and your fellowship with God. Your relationship to God has to do with salvation. That's our entrance into the family of God. We receive Jesus Christ as Savior. We know Him by faith. Our sins have been forgiven. And that is a secure relationship. My relationship to the Lord never changes. Once I am in Him, thanks God, thanks be to heaven, friend, I can never be removed. I can never be taken out of Him. I remain in Him. When you say, preacher, in verse number 2 it said something about a branch not bearing fruit and taketh away, that literally means taking away usefulness. It doesn't mean loss of salvation, but our usefulness for the Lord. Relationship is secure. But then fellowship, listen, that's our enjoyment in the family of God. What we're going to talk about today, our enjoyment in the family of God. And that can change. You know you can enjoy the family and being saved one moment and then get out of fellowship with the Lord and you're not abiding and you lose your joy. Did you know that? And you don't enjoy the family at that moment. Do you realize the abiding life, this remaining in fellowship with the Savior, being close to Him, the closeness of our walk and our relationship and all of that. Friend, can I tell you that is the key to what I'm going to be talking about today. Because the most miserable person on planet earth, do you know that? The most miserable person on planet earth is a Christian out of fellowship with God. Friend, listen, if you're saved and you're not in fellowship, you're not abiding, there's no joy in your heart. You're a miserable human being. It's just a fact. Oh, you might have some fleeting happiness here and there, but deep down in your heart, there isn't any joy there because the joy bells can't ring because you're not in fellowship with God. And here's what we learned in our first message is that an abiding Christian is a fruitful Christian. But when you come to verse number 11, because we're in the greater, grander context, it's a continuation of this parable, you're going to find that an abiding Christian is a joyful Christian. He's going to move from fruit to joyfulness. And you're going to find that a joyful Christian is a fruitful Christian, and a fruitful Christian is a joyful Christian. And this verse is the key to a joy-filled life. It is. Let's pray together, and we're going to dive into this matter of a joyful life, because an abiding life is a joyful life. Let's pray. Lord, bless Your Word today. Give us understanding. I pray Your Holy Spirit would be our teacher. And Lord, it should open our eyes that we might behold wondrous things out of Your law. But Lord, help us not just to see Your Word and understand Your Word, but Lord, help us to be doers of the Word today. Help us to know Your joy in our hearts as we abide in the Savior. And Lord, if there's someone here today and they've never been saved, I pray they'd come to know You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Well, you know, somebody has aptly written that the corners of our mouth, the corners of our mouth will determine the kind of day that we have. I can just tell you if the corners of your mouth are turned down, you're not going to have a very joyful day. Did you know that? You're going to have a different kind of day than what God wants you to have. And you know what? There's times that we just need to turn the corners of our mouth up that we might have the kind of day that God wants us to have. Joy in the Lord. Now, can I tell you, you cannot be happy and yet have joy. Happiness is what the world's searching for, but joy is what sustains the child of God. And you're going to see that, that joy is different from just being happy. Listen, I like to be happy. You like to be happy. I like to laugh. You like to laugh. But friend, can I tell you, while joy is on the outside, Happiness is on the outside. The joy of Jesus is on the inside. And happiness has to do with how my day's going. Friend, can I tell you that joy has to do with my walk with the Lord and my fellowship with Him. And friend, it's an inside job and the joy in my heart can come out in my life even in the most difficult circumstances of life. Do you know one of the indictments, I believe, of Christians in our day right now is they have no joy? Let me ask you a question, Christian. How's your joy meter today? Is it high? Are you letting the circumstances of life and the situations and where we've been the last while to get you down? And you're down in the mouth and nothing's ever good. And I tell you, you're just singing the blues. Can I tell you, dear friend, listen, you don't have to live there. That's not where God wants you to live. It is your birthright to be a joyful person. You can have the joy that's in Jesus Christ. I don't want to go through life with no joy. I want to go through life with fullness of joy because that's what the Lord wants us to have. And so a joyless Christian is a fruitless Christian, and a joyful Christian is a fruitful Christian. So let's talk about this joy this morning. First thing that I want you to notice out of our passage, the first truth, is that it is an available joy. It's an available joy. What I mean is you can have it. Listen, look at verse number 11. He says, "...these things have I spoken unto you." Now, can I tell you, the Lord is getting ready to face a difficult time. He's going to be betrayed. The disciples are going to forsake Him. I mean, there are worlds going to come crashing down around them. He's going to go to the cross and bleed and die. And I can tell you, friend, there's no happiness, so to speak, so far as what we understand happiness and laughing and gaiety and all that, and dying on a cross. There's not, friend. That's a hard thing. But in the midst of it, the Bible said, "...who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross. Can I tell you, Jesus on the cross had joy. And listen, the disciples in this down moment in their life, the Lord spoke to them about joy. And in the brokenness of your life, you can have His joy. I'm glad, friend, that His joy isn't just good on the mountaintop. I'm glad His joy is good in the valley. What about you? And he says, he speaks here, he said, these things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you. Jesus wants you to have His joy. My joy. Did you see that? It's not just any kind of joy. No, it's the Lord's joy. It's a supernatural joy. It transcends anything this world has to offer. It's a joy that comes from God Himself. And he said, I want it to be in you and that your joy, Do you notice that connection right there? His joy, our joy, my joy, your joy? Did you see that? Friend, listen, the Christian's joy is Christ's joy in the Christian. It is. It's His joy in us. It is available. Friend, you can have it. It's yours in Him. Do you realize at the moment you trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, if you're saved, that Jesus gave you His joy? He did. It's yours. It's your birthright. It belongs to you. Joy, somebody said, is the flag flown high over the castle of our hearts because the King is in residence there. Friend, can I tell you, if you have Jesus Christ in your heart today, you need never be joyless. There is a joy that's deep within us that our sins are forgiven, that heaven's our home, that our God is in control. Friend, can I tell you, friend, I can rejoice today Because the Lord is in residence in my heart. I have His joy. And joy is what we have, and rejoicing is what we can do. It is an available joy. You will say, well, preacher, what if somebody doesn't know the Lord? Friend, they can come to know Him and have His joy. The Lord is saying to the disciples in a very difficult, dark, hard moment in their lives, I want my joy to remain in you. I want you to experience it even when life goes south, even when life goes sour, even when things aren't going your way. I don't want to just have it in the mountaintops of life. I want you to experience my joy in the valleys of life. The source of our joy is the Lord. Our fellowship, it flows out of our relationship and our fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, in whose presence is fullness of joy. Do you realize that, friend, heaven is It's filled with joy. It is. It's filled with joy. And you can have a little taste of heaven on earth when you let the Lord's joy flow through your life into the lives of other people. So the first truth I learned in this passage, it's an available joy. I have it. It's mine. And I need to let it out. That's what God's saying. All right? Then notice not only is it an available joy, it is an abundant joy. Look at verse number 11. He said, middle part, He said that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. Full. Boy, what an important word that is. Your joy might be full. Have you ever noticed the Lord does all things well? He doesn't just want you to have joy, He wants to give you fullness of joy. He didn't just give us life, friend, He gave us abundant life. And He wants us to know the fullness of His joy. That word full means to fill up. It means a liberal supply. It means to be filled to the brim. It has the idea of being overflowing with joy. I believe that there ought to be a joy in the Lord that can flow out of our lives into the lives of other people. And the Lord Jesus wants to fill you with His joy this morning that it might spill over into your family, your friends, your co-workers out in the community. There's just something different about you because the King is in your heart and you're showing forth His joy in your life. He said, I want you to know the fullness of joy. The Bible describes this joy in Acts 8, verse 8, as great joy. In 2 Corinthians 8, verse 2, it's abundant joy. In Matthew 2, verse 10, the wise men experienced exceeding joy. And in 1 Peter 1, 8, dear friend, there's joy unspeakable and full of glory. What a passage! What of ours? Joy unspeakable. We can't even explain it. We can't even tell what it is. It's indescribable. Words cannot describe and define the joy that can flow through our lives. It cannot be explained, only experienced. You know, that's why the psalmist said in Psalm 34 and verse 8, "'Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.'" I'm glad, friend, that the Lord is good this morning and you can taste of Him. I remember a number of years ago as a young preacher, I went to the produce stand and I got a big, great, big, red, juicy apple, and I sat it on the pulpit while I was preaching. And I didn't say a word about that apple. The whole service, I guarantee you, everybody in that room was wondering, what's the preacher going to say about that apple? And at the invitation time, I grabbed that apple. I picked that apple up. I talked about how red it was and shiny it was and how wonderful it looked and how delicious it probably was. And then I bit into that apple and let the juice run down my cheeks. And when I did that, I said, boy, what a wonderful apple. And here's what I told him. I said, you know what? I can tell you that apple's good, but you don't know it's good until you taste it. And friend, can I tell you today? I can tell you about how wonderful it is to be a Christian. I can tell you about how wonderful the Lord is, how good He is, how great He is, how grand He is, but you won't know. until you taste of Him. And dear Christian, let me tell you something. If you're not abiding in Him, you're not tasting Him like you ought to taste Him. You're not experiencing His joy and knowing His goodness the way God wants you to. That's why you need to be an abiding Christian, to abide in fellowship with Him that His joy, His goodness might flow into your life and out of your life into the lives of others. It is an available joy. It is an abiding joy. Excuse me, an abundant joy. And then the third truth I want you to see, it is an abiding joy. Look at the middle part of the verse. He said that, might remain in you. Remain in you. Do you know that word remain right there is the same word abide. It is. It doesn't take long to discover how quickly the happiness, the fleeting happiness of today can become sadness of tomorrow. Just a phone call, just a doctor visit, just a circumstance, sometimes just a blawness that can come over our lives. But friend, listen, can I tell you the joy that the Lord gives us is a constant companion. It's a continual outflow of His joy that flows out of our walk with Him into our lives. And He said, I don't want you to just have My joy, I want it to remain in you. I want you to know the fullness of it and the continuance of it. that it will abide in you. See, as I abide in Him, His joy abides in me." That's what he's saying. And the joy that Jesus is speaking of is complete and constant and continuing and abiding at all times in every circumstance. We can have gladness of heart even in times of crisis and sorrow and difficulty. Do you know joy and sorrow is one of the paradoxes of the Christian life? God never promised us joy without tears. Let me give you some verses. You can just jot them down. 2 Corinthians 6, verse number 10. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 10. As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing. Romans 5, verse 3. We glory. That word glory is the same word joy. We glory or joy in tribulation also. He said, listen, we don't just joy when times are good. We joy when we hit the rough patches of life, when we're on the rough side of the mountain. James 1, verse 2 talks about trials and says, count it all joy when you encounter or fall into divers temptations or trials. 1 Peter 4 verse 4 said, if you be reproached, if somebody reproaches you or persecutes you or mocks you for the name of Christ, happy are ye. He's talking about that inward joy again. God has not promised you and me perpetual happiness. He hadn't promised that through life we're all the time going to be happy and on the upside and laughing. He didn't say that. The heavy times are going to come. The burdensome times are going to come. He didn't promise us perpetual happiness, but He did promise us eternal joy. He did. Somebody said that when times get tough and hot in our lives, we ought to be like the teapot. When it's neck deep in boiling water, we need to sing. Aren't you glad we can do that? I thought about Acts chapter 16. Paul and Silas had been thrown in prison for the crime of preaching the gospel. Their backs were beaten bloody, their arms and legs. shackles, and the Bible says, and when you look at the passage, they weren't griping, they weren't complaining, they weren't talking about how hard it was to live for God, how unfair God was for them to be in that prison. They didn't look at each other and say, you got some time all here, I can't believe God's letting me go through this. They weren't angry at God, they weren't mad at God, they weren't upset at God, they weren't lashing out at God. No, the Bible said at midnight, friend listen, can I tell you, In the midnight hour, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. And the prisoners heard them. For in there was a joy in that jail cell that night that flowed out of their fellowship with the Lord. And they began to be happy, so to speak, and joyful in the Lord Jesus. And they prayed. I believe they abided in Him. And they sang praises. They were abiding in the Lord. For in God began to cultivate His joy in their heart. And out it came in their lives. The Bible said the prisoners heard them. Can I tell you, somebody else heard them and it was an old, old calloused jailer who was an old soldier that no doubt had seen many a battle and many a scar and was hardened and calloused in life. And friend, can I tell you, the joy of the Lord broke down that old hard-hearted soldier and he'd come springing in and he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? I want what you have. Friend, let me tell you something, Christian. If all the time you're doing is walking around complaining and lashing out how bad life is and how hard life is and how tough it is to be a Christian, why in the world would anybody want what you have? Frank, can I tell you, when the joy of the Lord flows out of your life, even some of the most difficult times of life, it'll stir those around you who don't have what you have, and they'll say, I want some of that. I want some of that. Somebody said that joy is the seasoning that tickles the taste buds of the unsaved. Friend, can I tell you, when we act like they act, when things go bad in our lives or the burdens come, they don't see any difference in us. But when you can have the joy of the Lord and the tear may be flowing down your face, but you talk about the goodness of God in your life and how He's met every need and how He's come on the scene and loved you and cared for you and been there for you. Friend, can I tell you, it's at that moment they're saying there's something different about them. I want that in my life. I don't have any of that. Where can I find that? What must I do to be saved? Oh friend, let God use your joy. His joy in your life. I believe the hymn writer got it right when he said, There's never a day so dreary, there's never a night so long, but the soul that is trusting Jesus will somewhere find a song. Somebody said that joy can swim The stormy waters of suffering long after happiness has drowned." Oh, what a statement. Job said, he'd give us songs in the night. Nehemiah said, the joy of the Lord is your strength. His joy will take you. up the rough side of the mountain. His joy will take you through the tough times of life. His joy will enable you to bear the burdens of life. Look over just one chapter, chapter 16, and look if you would, find verse number 33. He said, these things have I spoken. And here's the Lord talking over in chapter 16, verse 33. Same night, same time. Notice what He said. These things. There's our two words. I've spoken unto you that in Me you might have peace. You might have rest. In the world ye shall have tribulation." There's going to be tough times. There's going to be burdens to carry. There's going to be hardship to face. There's going to be difficult times to navigate and traverse and stormy waters to swim through. But be of good cheer. There it is. Be joyful. I've overcome the world. Thank God. Friend, you're an overcomer in Him. What a blessing. Oh, what a blessing. Now, we've talked about back in chapter 15 verse 11 that the Lord's joy is an available joy. It is an abundant joy. It is an abiding joy. And now finally, I want to give you the last truth. It is an accepted joy. An accepted joy. You say, preacher, what do you mean by that? Well, friend, it's yours. You just have to accept it and let it out. You see, instead of smothering His joy, we need to let His joy out. We say, preacher, how do I accept His joy that's available to me and it's abundant and abiding and I want that? Preacher, how can I have that? First of all, by knowing the Lord is Savior. You can't have His joy if you don't have Him. You can't. Do you know that joy and grace, joy and grace come from the same root word? The grace of God always produces the joy of God, it does. Grace is the root of salvation, for by grace are you saved through faith. That not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Friend, you can't work your way to heaven. You can't earn your way to glory. You can't work off your sin, Dad. You can't do that. Friend, listen, you're a sinner. I'm a sinner. We need a Savior. And you can't be religious enough. You can't be good enough. No, friend, it's only by receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and salvation and joy are linked together. Friend, you can bow your head right now and admit you're a sinner. Believe Jesus died for your sins and rose again. Paid the penalty, friend, that you ought to pay. Suffered the hell that you ought to go to. that He died for you, was buried, rose again, and you put your faith in Him and Him alone for salvation. Lord, I can't save me. Lord, I want you to do it. Lord, save me. Friend, why don't you pray and call on Him right now and know His joy. The Bible says that you can't have one without the other, but friend, if you have Him, you have His joy. And the Bible said, therefore with joy, Isaiah chapter 12 and verse 3, therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. Wow, what a blessing that is. Friend, there's joy in Jesus, and joy comes when He comes to live in your heart. He said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. He's knocking at your heart or somebody's heart right now. He is. Friend, why don't you open the door and let Him in by faith and ask Him to save you? Somebody else says, Well, preacher, I'm saved. I know I'm saved, but I don't have that joy. Why don't you accept His joy by being filled with the Holy Spirit? That's what these passages are all about. He talked about the filling of the Spirit and the Comforter that will come. and how it's through the Spirit of God that His joy flows through our lives. You remember Galatians 5.22, the Bible talks about this matter that the fruit, one of the elements in that cluster of fruit is joy, love, joy, peace. Friend, can I tell you, when you know His love, you can have His joy. The Bible said the kingdom of God, Romans 14, 17, is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Friend, when you are in fellowship with the Lord, you are then filled with the Spirit of God. And when I'm filled with the Spirit of God, His joy can flow through my life. And so being filled with the Spirit, being controlled by Him, By being obedient to Him, it's in that moment that He can begin to produce that fruit of joy. I'm His branch. I'm the branch in the vine. The sap is the Holy Spirit that flows through and gives us the ability to be joyful and to show forth His joy in our lives. You see, it's when we're surrendered to Him. He's in control and we're obedient to Him. The Bible said, Rejoice in the Lord. Do you know that's an action word? That's a verb. Joy is a noun. Rejoice is an action word. It's a verb. God commands us to rejoice. Do you know when I obey that command, God gives me the ability through the Holy Spirit as I abide in the Lord to show forth that joy. Can I tell you, if you're not filled with the Spirit, you don't have any joy in your life. It's just a fact. Let's make sure that we're in tune with the Savior. We're abiding in Him by being filled, yielded to and under the control of the Spirit of God by being obedient to Him and fulfilling His Word in our lives. And then, abiding in the presence of God. Jesus said, "'Abide in Me, and I in you.'" You know, the presence of God is not just the closet. I believe in a prayer time, a prayer closet. And it's not necessarily that you have to throw everything out of your closet and crawl into it. It's just talking about a quiet place where I get along with God. Every Christian ought to have a time and a place they get along with God. And you spend time in His Word, you spend time in prayer, you enjoy His presence. But you know what? God's presence is not just confined to that time that I'm spending with Him in the quiet place. No. Friend, He goes with me throughout the whole day. I can abide in His presence on the job, at the grocery store, at the bank, out in the community at a ball game, or whatever, my family get together, I can be abiding in His presence right then because I'm walking with the Lord. I'm in fellowship with Him. Psalm 16, 11, "...Thou wilt show me the path of life, and Thy presence is fullness of joy. At Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." It talks about this matter of communion. Fellowshipping with the Lord. And joy is always present wherever the fellowship is preserved. Friend, if you want to have fellowship and fullness of joy, then keep your fellowship unbroken with the Lord. And sin, listen, sin breaks our fellowship. You're a disobedient Christian. If you're not abiding, having a quiet time with the Lord, if you're not being obedient with Him in your life, if you're not living life on His agenda in an alignment with His will, and you're not doing that that God has commanded us to do, we're going to talk about that in another message because He's going to talk about that obedience in this passage. And it actually comes before verse 11, up in verse 10. He said, if you keep My commandments, For Him keeping His commandments and knowing His joy and abiding in Him, all that goes together. And remaining in fellowship with Him and abiding in Him. And when I do, I abide in the presence of God, His joy can flood my soul. Now I'm going to ask you a question. Are you abiding in Him? How's your abiding life going? How's your walk with God? Christian, are you what you ought to be before the Lord? Are you? I might be talking to a Christian that you're saved, you know the Lord, but you haven't been walking with God. Your spirit's not right. Your life's not right. You know it. The Holy Spirit's been dealing with your heart and you've been resisting. You don't have any joy in your life. You can't be a blessing to anybody. God can't fill you with His joy because you're disobedient. You're not abiding. You're not abiding. Abiding in Christ is an intentional part of our life, every day of our life, every moment of our life. And when the fellowship is broken, when we're disobedient, we're not obeying Him, We're not walking with Him like we ought to. That's the moment, 1 John 1, not as a believer. We need to confess our sins. You need to take it to the Lord, and you need to confess that sin, and accept His forgiveness, and then live in the joy of His blessing in your life. Walk in the light, friend, as He's in the light. Obedience to His Word brings blessing and fellowship with the Lord. There was the founder of Salvation Army back when it was an organization that was a soul-winning gospel organization, not just a social organization. There was a time that in the streets of London and around the world that the Salvation Army not only meant physical need, but boy, it meant spiritual need. The mission was to reach souls, not just to feed the hungry and give people clothes. It was a gospel-oriented, evangelistic outreach. And Dr. William Booth was the leader of that thing. They called him General Booth. And one of them came up to him and said, General Booth, would you please tell us what the secret is of your great joy? And General Booth made this statement. He said, well, it's very simple. I never say no to the Lord. I never say no to the Lord. Right now, can I tell you, if you need to be saved, as long as you keep saying no to the Lord, you'll never know the joy that I'm talking about. You'll never know how good God is. You'll never know what it is to have your sins forgiven. And friend, you'll never live one second after this life in a place called heaven. You'll be forever separated from God in a place called hell and that's not what God wants. I don't believe that's what you want. Why don't you open your heart right now and by faith let Him in and call on Him and believe on Him as Savior. Cry out to Him to save you right now. not to help you be better or do better or make your life better. No, you tell Him you're a sinner. You tell Him you don't know you're going to go to heaven. You tell Him you're not sure and that you can't save yourself. And then tell Him you believe He died for your sins and rose again and ask Him to be your Savior right now. And then let us know that you did so we can help you with your new faith. Christian, are you saying no to the Lord right now? Are there areas of disobedience to your life? Have your attitude not been right? Have you been lashing out rather than looking to the Lord? Have you been complaining about your burden rather than carrying your burden to Jesus? Are you choosing to rejoice? How's the corners of your mouth today? You know, it's a choice. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. You know why I can do that? Because I have His joy inside me, and God wants to let it out. Friend, if you're an abiding Christian, you're a joyful Christian.