I thought Pauline was playing my introduction for a song there, but maybe again sometime. Good morning, and it's good to see you here in the body of the church. You're very welcome. For those of you over in the hall, good to see you. Give me a wave. I'm sure I can't see you. And if you're listening online, watching online, then we just trust that you'll feel very much in our service this morning. We have our pastor preaching this morning and again at five o'clock. Can I just remind you that today is our 10th Sunday. And the money this week goes to the Christian Institute and Kids for School. The Christian Institute, as you know, are doing a lot of legal work to uphold biblical values. And they're challenging at the minute the closure of churches. So that's the Christian Institute. And then Kids for School work with children in Tanzania. So anything that comes in today and then this week will be going to those two causes. We have our church prayer meeting on Wednesday at 7.30 in the church hall. You don't need to book for that, so do come along and pray for the work of the church at this time. Now, the Northern Ireland Executive have, as you know, they are implementing lockdown again next week, next weekend. So what we're doing is next Sunday at 11 o'clock there is a drive-in church up in Nortel car park in Monkstown which is where we started off our drive-ins way all those months ago. So the 11 o'clock service is at drive-in in Nortel and then we will be live streaming the evening service at five o'clock. So obviously you don't need to book for next week. That gives those of our deacons who are looking after the booking system a bit of a rest. So next week, and for the, as far as we know at the minute, for the next two Sundays, drive in 11 o'clock in Nortale and the five o'clock service will be live streamed. Also next Sunday at our evening service, Cherith Bell will be singing from the church here. Today is the deadline for those of you who want senior citizens dinners on the 12th of December. Now, if you want the dinner, please put your name in the box along with your address and diary requirements. This is the last Sunday the box will be out. We hope to go ahead with the dinners. We're not sure yet, but at the minute we're planning to go ahead with the dinners. Then can I remind you that I need to know fairly promptly any nominations for new Deakins. Then finally, can I express our sympathy to the Logan family, to Pat on the death of Hugh. Hugh went to be with the Lord during the week. And so we are very mindful of the family circle, and we express our sympathy to Richard, Janet, Claire, Rebecca, and Amy. And we extend that to the family circle as well. The funeral will be at 11 o'clock on Tuesday here in the church, but obviously that's limited to 25 people, but we are live streaming the service. So that's Hugh's funeral at 11 a.m. on Tuesday here in the church. These are all the announcements and they're all made God willing. Many thanks, Billy, for those announcements. I'm sure it is with great disappointment that you hear that churches are being closed down for the next two weeks. I must say that it was with great disappointment on my own behalf, on my own part, I'm sure, and yours as well. But the Lord knew all about it. And I'm a firm believer in forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. And so the standard Nortel had offered us the car park if and anytime we ever needed it again. to not be afraid to get in touch with them. And so as soon as we got in touch with them, they said that we could use the car park. Now you're under absolutely no obligation to come to us at 11 o'clock. If you feel cold, well, it's cold when you're out shopping. Oh, it's cold when you're doing window shopping. But if you feel cold, bring a little rug and put it around your knees. I think you can actually keep the car switched on. The cars don't make so much noise unless there's no exhaust on it. Otherwise, you may get kicked out. But nevertheless, I'm a firm believer in forsaking not the assembling of yourselves. And so we will God willing and weather permitting, weather permitting. How will you know if it's on or not? Well, most of you are on the prayer WhatsApp group and you'll find a confirmation on that at about nine o'clock every Sunday morning, giving you opportunity then to make proper plans. God knows our hearts, doesn't he? And he knows we're greatly grieving for the fact that we have to close again, because as they say, as the executive said, because of perhaps the reckless of a few, we are all having to suffer. So let's redouble our efforts, let's seek to worship God and honor him, and let's let God move in. Maybe God is saying to us again, we need to redouble our efforts in prayer, and maybe we need to really consider our own standing with the Lord, and let's get serious and urgent about our desire for Him in these days. So let's bow together in prayer. Let's pray before we go any further. Father, we want to thank you for the opportunity of going together in your house, Lord, for those in the church building, those over in the hall, and perhaps those listening online. We pray, dear God, that you will manifest yourself with us here this morning, we pray. May our worship and our time of praise be truly from hearts that reflect our appreciation of all that the Lord has done for us. For your mercies, which are new every morning, your grace, which is sufficient, Lord, your blessings, which you pour out upon us, on a daily basis. We want, Lord, just to return thanks and praise to our God. And we ask, Lord, that in our land in these days we will get an idea, we'll get an inclination, we'll get a hunger, a desire, a thirst once again for God. And we pray that, O God, in this gathering here this morning and over in the hall and online, we pray that, God, you will truly be worshipped from all our hearts. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to enter into a little time of worship. The first song we're going to sing is 356, Christ is the answer. It's just a little chorus. We want you to remain seated and sing just through twice, please, Pauline. And Pauline has taken it down a couple of notches, because it's usually very high, so we're not shouting our heads off. Christ is the answer. Sing it through twice, and we're singing it on to the Lord. This is the answer, the answer that we need This is the answer, the answer that we need What is the answer we're looking for? What is the answer we're looking for? What is the answer we're looking for? What is the answer we're looking for? What is the answer we're looking for? What is the answer we're looking for? Not only is He the answer to our need, He's the answer to the world's need. Christ is the answer. We're staring Him straight in the face and right in the eye. and I wish that the world will waken up and see that Christ is the answer. The next one is very much centered in what we're thinking, in Christ alone my hope is found. And that is our hope, isn't it? Our hope is not for, in times of flesh or sense, or even that we'll even get to celebrate and do all the things that we do at Christmas. That's only secondary. No, it's Christ. Christ in me, the hope of glory. In Christ alone my hope is found. Remaining seated, again singing. Thank you very much. Christ the Lord, my hope is found. He is my life, my strength, my song. He's forest land, he's snow and ground. Earth he gives his life and song. He's Christ the Lord, the King of all praise, the wisdom of Him and of His grace, the strength of love and righteousness, the stronghold of faith in His name. Here in the ground His body laid Why, O Lord, why can't this stay? And as He died, the Lord is came Up from the dead He rose again And as He stands in victory Walk with me, precious mother of mine. Built in wine, here and there, a place for our pride to be. For the first time, I know the way. Jesus, you have my name. We've been looking and speaking on the gates of Jerusalem and the various gates that need to be re-established, re-hung and repaired and we are taking the likening of those as to the gates of our own hearts and the various avenues that they lead to. And this song says, I will enter his gates. Well, it goes well. Not only gate, it doesn't say gate, it says gates. And every one of these gates, we're welcomed and we're invited to enter in with joy and celebration. So let's again remain seated. We'll just sing this one through the once. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. He has made me glad, He has made me glad And just as we were announcing that song, in walks Raymond and Rebecca and little baby Charlotte. Charlotte, you're welcome in church for the very first time. And I'm sure your parents will remind you of this, that we were here with masks on our face, all locked down, but we were singing, He Has Made Me Glad. So it's lovely to see you brought a little ray of sunshine into the service already. Thank you so much. The next song, and this is our last song before we get into the word, is number 54, Be Still for the Presence of the Lord, the Holy One. is here and that's what's important is that he's here. Let's remain seated and sing it together please. Be still for the presence of the Lord Oh Oh have a The power of the Lord is guiding in this place. He comes to your place, my friend, to make your service great. Well I can see from your expressions or at least those expressions that I can see that you're enjoying Something is that worship and praise of our God. It lifts our hearts. And it's His presence that lifts us in times like this. Nothing else will do. We've discovered that, that nothing else will do but His presence in our lives, moment by moment. That's what gets us through the dreary and the weary ways. Now, I have quite a lot that I just want to mention to you now as we go into a time of prayer. As a collective body of God's people, it's good to gather together and pray for those that are already on the prayer WhatsApp group, but not everyone. I want you to remember the Logan family who've lost a very dear man, part of their lives, Hugh, who went home to be with the Lord. He was in this church last Sunday morning and he's in heaven this morning. So that's wonderful, isn't it? And what a joy, and what an exit he had, because I tell you. I went to see him on Monday and it was something else just to chat to him as if he was sitting here in church knowing he had only a few hours left. So please remember the family as we prepare for the funeral service, Thanksgiving service or celebration, whichever way you want to term it, which is on Tuesday at 11 o'clock. Louis Orr is still battling in hospital. Charlie Turner has been moved to a care home in Kirkstown, no less. And so I don't know how the family will manage that. Catherine Campbell is recovering from recent shoulder surgery, and we want to pray for Michelle Brown's mum, Virginia, who has cancer and she desperately needs prayer. And also, those affected by COVID-19, there are some known to us within the church, connected with families here who have contracted COVID-19, and we want to remember them. Some battling with fatigue. and so that's one of the long COVID consequences. Eva Shilliday, they're going to try and save her toe. They're not sure yet, but they're doing that procedure before that. Doreen Quinn is just over recent surgery. She's still battling. And it's good to see Patricia here. Are you down here, Patricia? But it's good to see you here again. And Pat Ritchie. Is Pat home? She's home. So let's continue to remember these families in prayer. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you that we can pray for one another and so fulfill the law of God. And Father, this list that we have, and there are many others we could include in this list, but it grows every day. And Lord, we just see that so many of your people and so many loved ones belonging to your people are affected with sickness. And Lord, what a difficult time to be sick. What a difficult time to be needing a treatment and what a difficult time to be facing life-changing and life-challenging circumstances. Yet we know our God is able. We know that Christ is the answer to our every need. Christ is the answer. He is a friend indeed. Thank you, Lord, that you can come to each one of those that we've mentioned. And Lord, you can give them grace. Lord, we remember what Paul said. He said he had a thorn in the flesh. He had a messenger of Satan and he besought the Lord three times. But yet you said to Paul, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in your weakness. And Lord, many of us feel so weak, so feeble when it comes to all the circumstances that come to us in life. But we thank you, Lord, that when we are weak, then are we strong. We're strong in the Lord. We thank you that your grace meets us at the very point of our need. We thank you, Lord, for your love that never deserts us. We thank you for your grace that never fails. We thank you for your mercies which renew every morning. Thank you that you're a tender, loving, merciful God. And those that we mentioned, Lord, we thank you that God is there to bring the comfort and the help and the healing that each and every one needs. We give you praise, Lord, for how many times we can recount in our own lives, Lord, back in our own time, Lord, how events and issues have concerned us. And you've come to us, Lord, and you've helped us, you've lifted us. When we felt weary and felt lonely and felt alone, we felt as if we were beaten. And yet God steps in at the last moment. Thank you for these things, Lord. Father, for all that we've mentioned, we pray, dear God, that you will be unto them all that you have promised in your word, all that you have promised to be, and all that Calvary witnesses to us, a God who loves us, a God who gave his son to die for us, a God who will go to any lengths, any lengths, to bring us into a relationship and to reconcile us to himself. Thank you, Lord, that you're a loving God. You're not a tyrant. You're not a dictator. We thank you that you're a God who loves your people. And Lord, you're perhaps, you're looking down on us, Lord, with compassion. And Lord, just as you look down on the children of Israel, and there they were, they were in bondage and in slavery, and they wept and they cried by reason of their captivity and their burden. And Lord, you were moved because of what you saw. You were moved because of what you saw. And Lord, you're moved by what you see in our world today, and in the church today, and in our hearts today. You are moved. We have a God who is emotional. We have a God who, as the scriptures say, is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was on all points tempted like as we are, yet he didn't feel, and he didn't go into sin, and he didn't go into criticism, but he did something about it. And we pray, Father, that we, as your people, might know what God is doing in our lives, in our homes, and in our families. Come to those, Lord, who feel like throwing in the towel and giving up. Come to those, Lord, who feel as if their burden is just too large. Come to those, Lord, who are mentally under strain because of the many circumstances that are coming at them with finance and jobs and, Lord, they just don't know what's around the corner. Yet, God, you know, you know. You know the end from the beginning. You're the God who wrote the diary. and to Lord we believe that our God is able to carry out and fulfill all his purposes. I know the plans that I have for you, saith the Lord. Plans of peace and of hope and grace. We pray, Father, will you cover our land today? Will you cover our community? Will you cover our homes and our lives and our families? with something of the hope, the peace, the protection, that grace that transcends all other emotions and all other things that men have bought into. Lord, thank you for grace that's sufficient, amazing grace. We pray, Father, that we might indeed know that God has been with us in these days, and we know his touch upon our homes and our families. He'll revive us, restore us, renew us, and re-send us out into a world to be those lights that the world is desperately dying to see in our day. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. If you've got a Bible, we're going to continue our message on the gates of Jerusalem under the title, The Hand of God and Nehemiah. I want you to turn with me, please, to John chapter four. And then we will go to Nehemiah chapter six. I remember preaching on John chapter four and verse seven and following in this church, one of the first Sundays that I'd ever preached in the church before I came as pastor. And this, if you want to know how to win lost and to win someone who's going cold in their faith, this is a tremendous passage. It's a document, this is a manual for how to restore someone to God. And a backslider or whatever, just look at how Jesus maneuvered the situation. John chapter four and verse seven, down to verse 18. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the whale and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? Jesus answered and said to her, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. but the water that I shall give him will be come in him, a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water, because I need it. Give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw. Jesus said to her, go, call your husband and come here. husband. The woman answered him and said, I have no husband. This is a very interesting passage. You should take a look at it sometime. Jesus, the woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, you have well said, I have no husband. For you've had five husbands. And the one who the one whom you now have is not your Then go over there to Nehemiah chapter six and the verses 15 and 16 of our little base text for what was supposed to be a short series. But I don't always keep my word when it comes to short series. Verse 15 and 16, so the wall was finished on the 25th day of Elul in 52 days. And it happened when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations around us saw these things, that they were very disheartened in their own eyes, for they perceived that this work was done by our God. Amen. May God help us to hear and to speak what God would have on mind for our hearts this morning. If you ever struggle for something to thank God for, then you should thank God for the gates which speak to us in Jerusalem. The gates of Jerusalem which speak to us of the route into blessing for many of God's people. If you ever want to thank him for something that will excite you and inspire you, then take a survey of the gates into the citadel of God. Remember we're traveling anti-clockwise around Jerusalem. The gates speak of the full gospel of Jesus Christ. They speak of the blessed provision, salvation is to all who call on his name. Every gate points to Christ. Every gate speaks of a provision we have in Christ. And that's why we sang, Christ is the answer to my every need. Whenever Jesus said, I am the door, the literal Greek word is I am the gate. When he said that I am the way, he was meaning he's the route, the avenue into that blessing that we so seek. When he said that I am the truth, you can depend on his word. And when he said I am the life, he was saying all of those things are centered around where you and I may enter into all that he has provided for us in his person. The sheep gate is the access into the fold and the family of God. That was the first gate that you started with, and it was the first gate that Nehemiah, under the hand of God, bringing an army of people to build this wall and these gates in 52 days. That was where he started. You can only start at the sheep gate. and then they moved to the fish gate. What a wonderful privilege to speak of what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought since Jesus came into my heart. The fish gate speaks of becoming fishers of men. Jesus said, follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men. The old gate speaks of embracing discipleship. A grievously neglected element of the church's decisions. Not decisions. Anyone can make a decision. And in two months, three months, two days, two weeks, and and it's interesting that the the same fact is following marriage, isn't it? That they walk up the aisle and they make a decision. I love you and in two weeks, they say, I don't love you anymore. It's almost as if what's happening in love. By the way, love is not a feeling. It's a choice. It's a decision. I choose to love. And so to make disciples is much more important than making decisions. And that's why this church emphasizes greatly the discipleship of all believers. Go into all the world. Then we came to the valley gate. Every one of us go through trials and Isn't it wonderful to know that there's a place that we can bring our burdens? Was it Mary McKee in Genesis? Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there. Do you remember singing it? Take your burdens to the Lord. Where would we be if we didn't have the Lord to bring our burdens? Now I know that we're trying other means and other facilities and we're trying other issues and other things to try and lift our burden. The world is running around in circles trying to get this burden of life lifted off and they try this and they try that and they try the other. I was trying to sell a few gadgets and gum tree and not that I Just to tell you, you ever see on Bargain Hunt they're trying to declutter? And the little thing that wouldn't even be the size of your thumbnail. And they're trying to declutter, it must have an awful small house. And I've been trying to declutter some of the bigger stuff in our house and I got one sold yesterday and somebody wanted to come and collect something this morning but I put them off. But you want to see all the stuff that's up for sale? People that spent fortune on stuff and now they're selling it for a pittance. It didn't work. It didn't work. The valley gate. I can bring my burdens to the Lord. You can bring your burdens to the Lord because he wouldn't tell us that he's a burden bearer if he wasn't the burden bearer. The valley gate. The dung gate. Who of us hasn't committed an offense to the Lord? Who of us hasn't on By the way you have an awful dim view of the holiness of God if you think you have never offended the Lord. But God didn't save us to be a continuous deliberately sinning against the Lord and often times when we become aware of that sin what we have to do because the Holy Spirit is faithful to the character and nature of God. and is also faithful to the character and nature of the child of God. And when I step out of line and when I sin, I will be convicted of my sin. Made uncomfortable. And so it's good to have a place where we confess our sins and faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And it cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Well, today we want to thank God for the fountain gate. I feel that this gate for today is a very special gate. Remember, as I said, all of these gates are avenues into blessing. The gates themselves are not blessing. As you enter through the gate to that particular aspect, then you receive the blessing. You never need be lost. You never need feel useless. What nobler thing than to share the gospel. You never need feel aimless. You're a follower of Jesus. You never need feel overwhelmed. Take your burdens to the Lord. You never need feel guilty or ashamed. We confess our sins. The fountain gate is the gate, the route to such blessings that are too good for you and I to miss out on, though I believe many of the church of today are missing out on what the fountain has in store for each one of us. So I'm gonna deliberately break my word to you today, and I'm just gonna park at the fountain gate. And I might finish the whole message next Sunday on the rest of the gates. But I'm going to park at the fountain gate because at one point in my study when I was preparing, I became overwhelmed with what this conveys to you and I. And if we grab hold of and get hold of and enter into and tap into the resources that are at the fountain gate, which God has provided for his people, then we need never feel empty, we never should feel dry again, and we should never ever feel as if we are continually thirsting. Although it says, blessed is he that thirsts after righteousness, but there's the key, after righteousness, for they shall be filled. May our Heavenly Father give us the light and the liberty and the life that he wishes to impart to us today as we look at this fountain gate. So please consider with me as we go through this message. I want you to notice the position of this gate. If you know anything about North, South, East, and West, then there's North, North, East, East, South, East, and all of that. Well, the gate was South, South, East. Just a wee bit to the right of the bottom corner, a wee bit to the right of the bottom corner of Israel. They started out in great celebration. They came to the Sheik gate. Then traveled on on their journey, this traveler traveled on on his journey, and then came to the fish gate. And then he came to the old gate. And then he came to the valley gate. At the first gate, telling him the word about Jesus. At the old gate, discovering who he is in Christ and his responsibilities as he follows Christ. Now the poor weary traveler comes to the fountain gate, weary, tired, drained, faint, numb. But he knows that just inside this gate, There's a provision for the weary, worn traveler. Here's what Hezekiah did in 2 Kings 20 in verse 20, as he established the aqueduct, which was a secret entrance to this gate, because he knew the significance of the importance, and you'll read about it in Psalm number 46. Now, the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, all his might and all he made up and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city. Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? The fountain gate was the only access to the Gihon Springs, Jerusalem's sole perennial source of water for the city. All other pools inside of Jerusalem were fed from this particular spring. By the way, the pool of Siloam was nearby. The symbolism is very clear and quite delivered. God wants every one of his children to know that there is a place, a source, a fountain where we may come. Having been wearied by the things in this life, that drain us of the very resources of spiritual energy and strength, and to make us rise up again with renewed life and vigor. There's a source, and there's a resource of daily refreshing for the child of God. And I'm sure you, like myself, in this past nine months, almost an hour, certainly he's getting there, of pandemic, that you feel, because of the various avenues whereby we might be restored and renewed in fellowship with one another, and there is an element by which we are renewed as we meet one with the other, but we find the resources in God and our spiritual energy and enthusiasm waning. There's a source And there's a resource. There's a gate for everyone to enter in through. That they might find. Refreshing. We'll look at that in a few moments. Let me I was going to actually sing it to you but I don't think I will. But let me if I can. Quote to you a wee song. Which I think the Gaithers made quite popular although others had. If you want to sing it that flows from deep within. There is a fountain that frees the soul from sin. Come to these waters, there is a vast supply. There is a river that never shall run dry. There came a sound from heaven like a rushing mighty wind. It filled their hearts with singing and gave them peace within. The prophet gave this promise. He said the spirit will descend and from our inner being a river with no end. There came a thirsty woman. She was drawing from a well. You see, her life was ruined and wasted and her soul was bound for hell. But oh, then she met the master who told her of her great sin. He said, if you'll just drink of this water, you'll never thirst again. Well, we know something, the scriptures teach us, of that great, great provision. Psalm 46, in which we spoke of early in the pandemic, it speaks, yes, there is a river. The streams whereof shall make glad the city of God. Speaking of that same river. The water source is a clear representation of the Holy Spirit. by virtue of our relationship with Jesus Christ. And because of the world we live in, we will become weary, saddened, and needy. But there is a provision to be found in him. Colin Peckham, our college lecturer, used to say, we are needy souls, but we're also leaky souls. We need the constant resources to come to so that we may be lifted up and that we might be renewed in our strength Let me tell you what the amplified, sorry, I'll read to you the Ephesians 5, 18 to 20, what the scriptures say. Do not be drunk with wine, which is excess. but be filled with the spirit, speaking one to another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to the God, the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me read that to you in the amplified version. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness, corruption, and stupidity, but be constantly filled, gated, and under the influence and control of the Holy Spirit which will cause you then to speak in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Don't lose hope and don't lose despair. God has made provision. He has not told you of a resource without providing a means to gain access to that resource. Here's what Peter said as he preached on the day of Pentecost. Repent there and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. And that he may send Jesus Christ who was preached to you before. Am I speaking to anyone who has yet has not tapped into Christ? And today you feel that life is empty. Why are there so many who are self-harming today or looking for some other avenue whereby they might somehow be noticed or become notable? There is a resource, and his name is the Holy Spirit who comes through Christ. Have you tapped in? Child of God, have you been drained of the spiritual life you once enjoyed? Have you lost enthusiasm, excitement, and exhilaration of what it was and what it is to be overflowing with God? Are you merely stumbling along in your walk at the end of yourself? Well, notice this, at the end of yourself there, you'll find Jesus, the position of this gate. But notice, very quickly, the properties of this gate. When I speak of the properties of this gate, I've already mentioned to you that they speak of the Holy Spirit. There's not one of us but needs to come to this gate. Anyone who would say that they don't need to come, then they're denying and they're actually disobeying. Come to the waters. Be ye filled. We come for refreshing. The heat of the day, the dryness of the atmosphere, the roughness of the road led the weary soul, left the weary soul thirsty. Imagine the traveler coming all that way, maybe meeting unexpected hazards, maybe coming across some accident or having an accident or an unexpected turn in the road. Now they find themselves drained. not to mention the fact that they're covered from the sand of the desert, and there's a discomfort, and there's a sense in which they wish they had never started out on the journey. Well, why were they coming to Jerusalem? They were coming to worship. They were coming to the citadel of God. They were coming to bring their tributes of praise and thanksgiving. They were coming for fellowship. They were coming to meet with those of like faith, but the road got weary and worrisome. Now they come for this refreshing. Your journey at this point, over this last number of months, like myself, I'm sure you felt it to be extreme and difficult. Unexpected situations. sickness, accident, wrong turn, a storm, a particular challenge, whatever the case. And you've been dry now for part of that journey. Many of you will not have had the privilege that I had. What I mean by that is to have been brought up on a farm. In our time, way back then, and I'm not going back any more than 55 years or a wee bit more, We didn't have much by way of farm machinery, but what we did, we helped out other farmers and they helped us out. We also helped out each other with manpower. You didn't have to go around the neighbors asking them to come and help you. If you went out to cut hay or to turn hay, you wouldn't know anything about this. There's a pitchfork. I'm not even going to try and describe to you. You can look it up on Google if you want. How do you turn hay with a pitchfork? All I can tell you is a lot of sweat and tears. You didn't have to go around the neighbours asking them to help you. All you did was you went out into the field, and the neighbour would say, oh, the Galanders are making hay, or they're gathering spuds. And the next thing you'd have several of the neighbours just coming in. They wouldn't even come up and talk to you, they'd just start working. Of course, there was an agreement that once you had yours done, then theirs was to start, and you went and you helped them. It was an unspoken habit in the community. And it didn't matter whether they were Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Greek. They were neighbours. But one of the blessings that in that day, whenever there was probably a very hot summer day, there'd be a bucket or two of water down at the gap. You wouldn't know what the gap is, but the gate. And I tell you, whenever you worked up a thirst, you made a glutton of yourself for a drink of water. You went there to that bucket of water so weariful, so as if, I can't continue another step in this work, because it was laborious work. and just take a drink and you felt revived, refreshed. I say this because there's a lot of God's people are living on empty, weary, worn. And the scriptures do say that we will meet times of weariness. Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not. So God recognizes that there will become times and there are times and there will be times when we will be weary because of the work and because of our warfare and because of our walk. But you come for refreshing. Have you received anything of the refreshing touch of the Holy Spirit today? yesterday, last week, last month. Has the Spirit of God met with you in the quiet place and you've been able to, I'm not talking about physically drinking anything, but where he comes with his power, with his personality, and he revives that old fatigued, that old dry spirit. Why are we so dry spirited? I have to say this, that unless we somehow tap into this life that the Spirit of God has for us, we'll become traditional, ritualistic. And because we don't know the leading, we'll see this in a moment, we don't know the leading of the Spirit of God because we've gone dry. And so we just have to rely on the things in the past. Having a form of godliness. but denying the power thereof. You come for refreshing. You come for restoration. This is interesting. If you go to Nehemiah chapter three and verse 15, look at the man that built this wall. Nehemiah chapter three and verse 15. These are things that we didn't uncover when we were doing the Bible study or in the very first series that I did on the gates about seven, eight years ago. Do you know it's almost nine full years since I came here? You've stuck me rightly. You say maybe I mightn't stick you much longer. But anyway, Nehemiah chapter three and the verse 15. Shalom, the son of Colchazeth, leader of the district of Mizpah. That's all we need to read. Do you know that Shalom, son of Colchazeth, means retribution? Now, it doesn't mean that by which of punishment. It is better understood as one of restoration. One of remaking, renewing. His work was a work of correction, restoring. Or as I was talking to the Logan family, Hugh always said, because he had a heart condition, he says, he has fixed my heart. Fixed my heart. Now Hugh knew what he was talking about there. He would always say, that verse is my verse for my heart condition, but he knew what it meant. He fixed my heart. My heart is fixed eternal God, fixed on thee. I know what, we all know what that means. This is the supernatural fixer upper. we come for restoration. I want to tell you folks, I don't know what kind of a week you've had, but I'm human, and so is Esther, and I'm sure as you are. And there are things that happen within families and in the wider family, and there are things that take place, and doesn't it just pull us apart? Doesn't it? Emotionally, spiritually, things going on within your children's lives, things going on within your siblings' lives, things going on within your family lives. And if the world knew what you were going through, then the world would know that you're being pulled apart. And as I said not too long ago, don't we all need a wee bit of supernatural spiritual surgery? You go through this gate, you get to the Gihon Spring, You bow low before the Lord and you tell him how your heart is broken. You tell him how your heart is breaking. You tell him of the circumstances that have caused you so much pain and hurt and bitterness and resentment and your heart is mutilated and open wide to the sores of this old world. What sore, what hurt are you dealing with? Why do we fail to allow the balm of Gilead? The ancient physician, oh, I know, we can go to our prayer meetings and we can claim, God, you're the great ancient physician. God's not only about healing bodies, my dear friend. God's about healing souls, spirits. I've said this before about eight and a half years ago. I have a powerful memory. I know when I preach a sermon, About eight and a half years ago, I said this. Now I forgot what I was going to say. We are three-dimensional. You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you? Thank you, Lord. We are three-dimensional body, soul, and spirit. You can go to the physician, you can go to the doctor and get medicine, tablets. You can go to the doctor or go to the psychiatrist or go to a counsellor and they'll help you with the soul issues of your life. Who do you go to for your spirit? What divine, what divine, what human teacher can give you that only the Spirit of God can give you? Can do for you only what God can do for you. But Christ is the answer. Come where you're broken, like the woman at the well. In fact, we're going to look at her in a moment. We read through it in John chapter 4, verse 13. He says, Jesus answered and said, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. He was truly ministering into her spirit. Now, how do we know that she was spiritually injured? She had five husbands and the man that she was with was not her husband. She was looking for something that wasn't working. She was a homewrecker because she herself was wrecked. See, that's where sin and its unchecked thirsts and its unquenched desires will lead you. It'll lead you in a merry dance, making you promises, as Ezekiel says, or Jeremiah says, the broken cisterns. As John Wesley or Charles Wesley wrote, I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but ah, the waters failed. But do you see what he did with this woman? In fact, it was so significant that when she went into Sychar and she told the people, the fields were waiting to harvest. I want to meet this man that healed not only the emotional and the physical, but I want to meet this man that turned this woman around. This home wrecker. I want to see the man that gave her something worth talking about. I want to see the man that gave her something worth singing about. And so Jesus says this wonderful text that he says, lift up your eyes unto the fields for they're white already. What were they white with? They were white with people coming from Sychar to here to meet the man who had turned this woman around, who had turned her from being a destructive tool in the hand of the devil to being a constructive tool in the hand of God. Oh. Have you discovered it? Have you read books like Life in the Spirit, Walk in the Spirit? Not only that, but look at, notice chapter three, Nehemiah chapter three, verse 15, reviving of the vision. Reviving of the vision, chapter three and verse 15. Leader of the district of Misbah repaired the fountain gate. He built it, covered it, hung it to its doors and its bolts and bars, and repaired the wall of the pool of Shelah by the king's garden. As far as the stairs go, the king's garden. Now we see through it last darkly. The word fountain there in chapter three and verse 15 is the Hebrew word ayin, A-Y-I-N, ayin, and it means eye. It means seeing. Or in Christian evangelical speak, it means vision. Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. An interesting event happened in John chapter nine, I haven't time to go into it, but you remember when the blind man was sitting by the pool of Siloam? You've read it? Jesus takes some divine DNA, spittle, a wee bit of earth, makes a paste, puts it in the man's eyes, and what does he tell him to do? What's he telling to do? Wash in the pool of Siloam. And the man could see. Vision. Vision. It may well be that our vision has been blurred. Jesus did say in Revelation 3, he would anoint our eyes with eyesalves that we might see. We, folks here in Abbots Cross, those over in the hall, you listening online or to recordings later on, we need our vision renewed. We need the Holy Spirit to repair our vision, who Christ is, what our calling is, and what our challenges really are. And listen, the last couple of moments. Notice not only the properties of this provision, the place of this provision, but notice the problem with this vision. Notice Nehemiah 2, verse 14. Nehemiah 2, verse 14. Here's what we read. We read from verse 13. And I went out by night through the valley gate to the serpent wall, and the refuge gate and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down as gates which were burned with fire. Then I went on to the eye gate or the fountain gate into the king's pool, but there was no room for the animal under me to pass." Why was there no room? Rubble. Why was there rubble? It was the most attacked gate in all of Jerusalem. That's as far as you could get. What is the most attacked aspect of the Christian church today? It's the work of the Spirit. Colin Peckham used to tell us that this pendulum would swing from the extreme to the extreme, from extreme orthodoxy, and then he said it would swing to the other side of extreme Pentecostalism. I think we've come through about 50 years of extreme Pentecostalism. where you see boys barking like dogs, and you hear people mewling like cats, and you see all sorts of people making all sorts of claims as to the work of the Spirit and what the Spirit of God has said to them. And because of that, the church has flung to the far side of orthodoxy. We don't want any of that. We don't want any of that. What we want is reality. We want truth. We want what the Word of God teaches us. We want the gifts of the Spirit as God teaches us. We want the blessings of God that God says He has for us. But the enemy, if he can't hold you back, he'll drive you too far. The enemy had struck a deathly blow by denying the reviving, the refreshing, and the restoring fountains that were the privilege and the blessing of the children of Israel to possess. confusion, controversy, cautiousness. There has been abuse of the work of the Holy Spirit since the Holy Spirit came in Pentecost. Paul tried to deal with it in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. There's no doubt we need the daily filling. God's people need to clear away the rubble. We as a church, perhaps we need to take a good long look at our own behavior. As individuals, we need to look and address our hurts, and we need to once again restore and return to those waters of refreshing. I have only given to you what God gave to me, and I trust that whatever God has given to you, that you will take and go through that gate, that fountain gate. Actually, Zechariah 14 speaks about a gate and a fountain for cleansing, not only of blood, but of the spirit of water. Let's pray together. Father, we pray that you will communicate to our spirits what it is that you're saying to us as a church this morning. We pray, Father, that we will allow the rubble to be cleared out of our lives and that the Spirit of God have freedom and free course in each one of us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 6, 5, 7, we're going to sing together, O Breath of Life come sweeping through us. Again, keeping very much in the theme that we've been speaking about. Oh. Oh Divine the stories we are making, my Lord, the spirits are biased and blind. Divine the story the world is making, May I say, please do remember to wait on a deacon who will show you when you may leave your seat. And also, can I say, try and remember to stay a proper distance out in the church car park. Sometimes we tend to forget that. And so please remember to stay your proper distance. And at least in that way, we will not be accused of ever flaunting the advice given to us by government. And let's pray that we will next Sunday and very soon be back again in this building on a Sunday morning. But until then, I raise you unto the Lord. Let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you for your mercies which are you every morning. We pray your blessing upon us as we exit the church, as we go to our homes. For those who will come back again this evening, we pray that we may be conscious of the hand of God on us. Lord, bless your people. Bless them really well, we pray. May they hear and heed what God is saying in our day. May we be true lights, fountain of blessing to others around. And may Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rest and abide and remain with each one. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.