It's good to have a testimony to give and to proclaim. And we're going to ask our sister now, Maneksha Inan, who is a second year college student. She's going to come now and tell that personal word of testimony. Our sister is from, originally from the Bridlington congregation, but has strong ties now with our Ballygown congregation. So we're going to ask her to come now and testify to us, please. Thank you. Please turn this morning with me to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. This is a psalm about the psalmist's faith, which is sustained by the power of God. And this psalm is a psalm that has been of great comfort to me through my walk with the Lord. So I'd like to pick a few verses and just tell you my testimony as I read the verses to you. So Psalm 27 verse 1 reads, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Since I became a Christian, it is through the Lord Jesus Christ that I live and move. He is the strength of my life, and he is my light and my salvation. Before I came to know him, I was in the darkness of sin, and it's only through him that I have come into the light and that I know him. He is the true light, and it's now that I can say that he is my light and my salvation. I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my own and personal savior in September 1998 at the foot of my mother's bed in Istanbul. It was the end of the summer holidays and we'd been visiting with my Turkish grandmother. My dad is originally from Istanbul in Turkey and he is a Muslim. We spent the summers of my childhood in Istanbul visiting with our relatives over there and my mom was faithful in our readings and family devotions, despite being resident in a Muslim household at that time. She was faithful to teach my brother and I our need of salvation. And it was during our morning devotions in September, just before we came home, that I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. And I'm thankful for a faithful mother who taught me my need of salvation from a young age and took me faithfully to a church that taught the gospel and taught the scriptures. We read down the psalm to verse 4, where we read, One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. And as a believer now, this is the prayer of my heart, that I will seek after the Lord and that I will dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold his beauty and to inquire in his temple. We move down to verses 8 and 9 where we read, Hide not thy face far from me. Put not thy servant away in anger. Thou hast been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. From the age of about 11 until I was about 16, I sadly grew cold from the Lord. My brother and I were home educated, and we were part of a very small church in the mainland. We were the only young people, and the next youngest in the congregation was my mom. So that was difficult to grow up, not having any fellowship with believers of the same age. Although I know you're personally responsible for your walk with the Lord but it is a great blessing and encouragement to have friends and peers who are going on with the Lord and who can encourage you in your walk with Him and people with whom you can fellowship. So I spent about five years far from the Lord and although I was going to church every week I wasn't really bothered and I didn't listen to the sermons and I didn't really take very much notice. through a series of messages that I heard in a conference in London by Dr Clarence Sexton from the United States. The Lord really convicted me of the way that I was living. His messages spoke emphatically towards young people about service to the Lord and giving your life over to him and it was from August I really started to feel started to feel under conviction and in December 2006 I gave my life back over to the Lord and I realized how empty my life had become and how pointless everything was if my sole aim and goal in life was not something other than seeking after the Lord Jesus Christ and desiring that all I did would glorify and honor the Lord. I'm thankful that the Lord didn't put his servant away in anger and he has been my help and he will never leave me and he will not forsake me and he is the God of my salvation. As we move on to verses 10 and 11, these verses I feel are quite applicable to my call to college. We read, When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. As I've mentioned, my father is Muslim and when I discussed Bible college with him and my call before the Lord, I did face very real possibility of him saying that he didn't want anything else to do with me. We know a lot of children who are children of a Muslim father and a Christian mother and their fathers have disowned them completely when they've professed Christ. But I'm thankful that despite my father's religion he has been very supportive and that his answered prayer and the prayer of my heart is that through my years at college he has seen me grow in the Lord and grow in my love for the Lord and that he will even come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his own and personal saviour through that. As I came to college, the Lord has been teaching me his way through his word and that's a promise that every child of God can cling on to. The Lord will teach us his way and he will lead us in a plain path. Joshua 1 verse 9 says, Have not I commanded thee, be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, with us wherever thou goest. And I can cling to the promise that the Lord my God is with me whether I'm at home in England with my family or whether I'm in Northern Ireland studying or whatever, he may lead me in the future, he will be with me. And we read verses 12 and 13 say, deliver me not over to unto the will of mine enemies for false witnesses have risen up against me and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Now the Christian life isn't easy and there have been many trials. And there's been a lot of family difficulties over the past few years. But the Lord has been constantly faithful throughout. And even when I first came to college, I really did face the attack of the enemy a lot. Things were said and accusations were made that I'd only come to college to get myself a husband, which wasn't true. But that was a very difficult time. But the Lord really was faithful and whatever sufferings and trials we experience, it shouldn't come as a surprise to us because Jesus has told us in his word that we should expect them if he was tormented and tortured and people held abuse at him and he was perfect. and he was the son of God, so how much more can we expect with all our sinfulness and how much we annoy people and things. We can expect to have sufferings and trials, but the Lord has taken all of the burdens on himself. and he has put them to death and it is through his resurrection and his victory and the knowledge of that that his children can have hope for the future. And we read in Revelation 21 verse 4, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. So as a child of the Lord we can look forward to eternity with him. And finally, I'd just like to close with verse 14. This verse has been a constant source of comfort to me, whether times are good or times are bad. We serve a faithful God who will never leave us and who will never forsake us. We read, wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. He shall strengthen thine heart. He might not strengthen your heart, he shall strengthen it. And we are to wait on him. It's so often We hear the words that God will never leave us nor forsake us, that they can lose some of their wonder, but he is faithful and he will never leave us and never forsake us, and that is a promise that you can cling on to. I just ask you this morning, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your own and personal saviour, Why? What's stopping you? He is the most wonderful saviour and we serve an almighty God. All through his word we read precious promises of his glory and majesty and power and I just ask you this morning to consider your state before the Lord Jesus Christ and before almighty and eternal God. Our sister Grace Beattie, who is a first-year college student from our Portadown congregation, is going to come now and read the scriptures to us. And immediately after Grace reads the scriptures, our brother David Stewart, who is a second-year theological student from our Mackerfelt congregation, I'm sure he is no stranger to you here, is going to come and preach the Lord's message to us this morning. Thank you. Turn with me, please, to Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah chapter 66, and we'll start the reading at the first verse. Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build unto me, and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord. But to this man will I look. even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that sacrificeth a lamb as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation as if he offered swine's blood He that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol, yea, they have chosen their ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them, because when I called, none did answer. When I spake, they did not hear, but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word. Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, let the Lord be glorified. But he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth. Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth, saith the Lord? Shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb, saith thy God? Amen. Let me encourage you to keep the Word of God open. In Isaiah chapter 66, we are going to cast anchor at the verse number 8. Let me read our text this morning. Who hath heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Let me thank our brother Calvin Strip for leading. He's in his fourth year, his final year, so he is hoping to come out this year. He's from our Ballygown congregation. He's led the meeting for us this morning. It's lovely to be with you. I thought that I wouldn't be preaching here this morning because of a conflict of interest. But that just didn't be that's not just the way this morning whenever your name goes up in the list Well, that means that you have to preach so I'm here to preach to you this morning But I trust that above my voice we hear the voice of the Lord. We believe that we have the Lord's message That's not always the case. Sometimes we preach God's truth. God's truth is not always God's message. But this morning we have God's message and we want to consider and focus our attention on the final clause of the verse number eight. For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. We're going to unite in prayer. Let's pray. Almighty God, we bless Thee and thank Thee for the opportunity of preaching Thy precious and infallible book. We thank Thee for the Word of God that stands forever. Rejoice, O God, Father, for the call of God to each of our hearts, Father, to be preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We cry, Lord, this morning that Thou would give us the authority of a God-sent man. There came a man from God. We cry, dear Father, that thou wilt cause us to be man sent from God with a message burning within our souls for our day and for our generation. So, Lord, come and fill this sanctuary. With thy presence and with thy power, we humble ourselves at thy feet, desiring that none would be seen. Save Jesus only. Fill us with the Holy Ghost and with power, and glorify thy Son, because we ask this in Jesus' precious and worthy name. Amen and amen. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you. One of those statements that we all learn as a child that seems to stick with us throughout our entire lifetime. Another statement that we learn in our early years is honesty is the best policy. Honesty is the best policy. It is honesty that I believe is lacking and missing in the church of Jesus Christ today. Honesty about the true spiritual state of the church of Jesus Christ. Now, if we were to be honest, we would have to admit that the church is making very little advancement into or impact upon this generation. Honestly, inquiry rooms are pretty much empty. Honestly, prayer meetings have by and large deteriorated into awkward silences. Honestly, the house of God, and in the house of God there is little conscious sense of God's presence and awe. Honesty, holiness and spiritual growth amongst the people of God is at a low ebb. Honestly, if sinners even bother to come into the house of God are unaffected and unmoved by our preaching. Honestly, conviction of sin is little heard of on the whole and those who do make profession of faith are soon found back in the world. The cry goes up. What's to be done? Now there are some, and they've come up with some ideas and a few suggestions about how to revive the church of Jesus Christ. Some have suggested installing a few plasma television screens and X-boxes or erect a snooker table in the church hall in order to attract and keep interest amongst the young people. Others have suggested a drum kit and a few guitars to liven up the praise a bit in order to attract the modern worshipper. Others, while looking at the failing and falling income of the church, they don't believe in the tithe and offering anymore, no, they believe that we should have a car wash, a hat seal, a coffee morning, in order to bring in finances for the work of God. Honestly. The church of Jesus Christ in Ulster is at a crisis point. This is not pessimism. This is realism. This is reality. God ever intended the church of Jesus Christ to be a birthplace for the bringing forth of spiritual children, and he ordained the way by which that should be done through the preaching of God's precious word. Yet it would be true to say, honestly, that the spiritual womb of the church of Christ is sterile, barren, unproductive, infertile, and unfruitful on the whole. We must ask ourselves the question, is there any hope Is there any remedy for such a sad state of affairs? Is there any way that the barrenness that we're now experiencing in the church can be replaced with spiritual vitality and fruitfulness? Well, praise God, I believe that the Word of God reveals to us that there is a remedy. The problem is that although our forefathers knew much about this remedy, our generation knows little, if nothing. about the remedy. What is the remedy? What is the remedy for the failing church of Jesus Christ? I believe the remedy can be summed up in just one word, trivial. Trivial. With this in our mind and considering our text in verse number eight, I want to speak to you this morning on trivial, God's antidote. for spiritual barrenness. Travial, God's antidote for spiritual barrenness. The first thing that I would like us to notice together is the picture portrayed. There is a picture portrayed. Our text this morning says in the verse 8, For as soon as Zion Now whenever the Bible reader reads of the city of Jerusalem here, typified and named as Zion or the city of David, whenever the Bible reader reads in the Old Testament that word Zion, the Holy Spirit intends that reader to automatically think within his mind that this is a picture, a representation, a shadow, a type of the true church of Jesus Christ. The city of Jerusalem is a picture of the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the New Testament, Zion is portrayed in this way. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 12, and we'll see the picture of the church and Zion being brought together. Hebrews chapter 12, verse number 22, the Word of God says, But ye are come unto Mount Zion. It's the same word, only spelled with an S here. Unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. to the General Assembly, the Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven. Here we see Zion and Jerusalem and the Church combined together to represent, as it were, the true Church of Jesus Christ. So whenever we come to Isaiah chapter 66 and we read of Zion, we're to take it as a representation of the Church of Christ. Now the picture that is portrayed is that the church is like an expectant mother about to give birth to spiritual children. It is from the picture portrayed that I believe that we can draw some lessons whenever we consider the similarities between the natural giving birth of children and that of the bringing forth of spiritual children in the world. I just want to point out two of those lessons. The first lesson from the picture portrayed, I believe we can draw from the passages, that the womb of the mother must first be able to carry the offspring. The womb of a mother must first be able to carry the fruits and the offspring. There is no heavier cross in life for a woman than for that woman to be unable to bear naturally children and to have an infertile womb, no heavier cross for a woman to bear. But there is a greater tragedy in the spiritual realm. And that is whenever an individual, whenever a church and whenever a denomination possesses an infertile spiritual womb. They possess a womb that is incapable of bearing spiritual children, seeing men and women brought to new birth, brought to new life in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the question arises, what brings spiritual infertility into an individual or a church's or a denomination's life? What causes spiritual infertility? Quite simply, sin. Sin in its various guises and sin in its various forms, whether that is bitterness, bitterness of heart towards an individual in the congregation, bitterness to God because of providential and sovereign workings in their life that they cannot understand. Bitterness can cause an individual to become unfruitful in the work of God. Disunity, disunity amongst the people of God can cause barrenness. We all know Psalm 133, that great text about the brethren dwelling together in unity. It goes on to say in the verse number three that it's there where the brethren dwell together in unity, there God commands the blessing, even life forevermore. Worldliness and carnality within an individual's life can cause that person's spiritual womb to become barren and infertile. Compromise with the world. Unbelief amongst the people of God. It was said of that city that Jesus Christ went to that he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Murmuring. murmuring amongst the saints of God. Prayerlessness, jealousy, pride, envy, dishonesty, an unforgiving spirit can all lead for an individual to possess a spiritual womb that is barren. Now we must ask ourselves this question this morning. How long has it been since the Lord used you? and used me to be the means of bringing to birth spiritual children. I know that a man is born of God. Salvation is off the Lord from beginning to end, but I believe that God would have so to use us to carry the message by which the Spirit of God would take and bring that individual to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me ask you, when was the last time God ever used you to point someone to the Lord Jesus Christ. Could it be the reason why it's been so long is because there's some sin in your heart, some unconfessed sin that God therefore then cannot bless you? If that be the case, and if you're in this house this morning and there's pride, an unforgiving spirit, murmuring bitterness, worldliness, carnality, some sin hidden from view from your pastor, from the spiritual oversight of this church, if that is your case this morning, then I pray God that you would pray like David the Psalmist in Psalm 51, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew your right spirit within me, then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." That's the first lesson. The womb must be conjucive to the carrying of the offspring. Second lesson, there are months of burden that precede the bringing forth of a child. There are months of burden that precede the bringing forth of any child. A mother will carry the fetus of a child inside her womb for up to 40 weeks, nine months in total before that little child is brought into the world. And oftentimes before the birthing of spiritual children within a church, months of burden, months of intercession, months of travail and prayer precede God stepping in and God's Spirit moving into a community and into a church and into a denomination, months precede God ever stepping in. In every revival, in every revival that we read in history, That has been the case. Months of travailing prayer before the throne of God. Let me give you a few illustrations. It was autumn 1857 when four young men would go and make their way to the old schoolhouse in Kales. It wouldn't be until New Year's Day 1858 that they would see their first convert from that prayer meeting. And then it would be another full year until they saw God move in power in the 1859 revival in Ulster. It would take at least 16 months of travailing prayer before God stepped in and God moved in his sovereign and providential plan, bringing revival to the land. Months preceded the bringing forth of the children. Six months prior to the outpouring of God's Spirit in Lowestoft in 1921, it is recorded that for six months prior to that, 60 members of the London Road Baptist Church met every Monday evening to pray for nothing but revival. God answered their prayers. God moved into Lowestoft and then started to make, as it were, ripple effects out towards the whole of East Anglia. The revival would spread northwards towards Great Yarmouth. And there in that fishing port, Scottish fishermen had made their way, coming down the east coast of England, following the herring season, they heard the gospel, were converted to Jesus Christ, they started to make their way back up the east coast of England and it's recorded that in every fishing port that those men docked in revival broke out. God moved in power, but remember, six months of earnest intercessory prayer preceded God stepping forth. In 1903, The year before revival swept through that nation of wheels, there was a church in that principality that experienced church revival. It came about whenever four young men took to the mountains every night, all under the age of 18 years of age. These young men went and sought God every night for their church. whenever their secret was revealed to the church to which they belonged, that church was so convicted by those young men seeking God every night for God to come in power that that church was revived in their prayer meetings. And it tells us in history that very soon, in an incredibly short period of time, that whole neighborhood, and I quote, was ablaze with divine fire. but months of travail preceded the bringing forth of children. You might be in this meeting house this morning and God has placed a burden upon your heart, something that you're carrying like a mother carries a child. And you're carrying it and it seems to be that months of and periods of peeing and travail have proceeded and still there's no bringing forth of any children. Maybe you're praying for a precious loved one. Maybe it's a wayward son. Maybe it's an unconverted daughter. Maybe it's an unsympathetic wife. Maybe it's someone in your household. Maybe it's a stubborn husband. Maybe it's a workmate, maybe it's a schoolmate, maybe it's someone in the sanctuary and you're praying to God and it seems to be that the burden is growing heavier and heavier and heavier as the weeks go on. Let me encourage you. Their birthday may just be on the horizon. Their birth day may just be on the horizon. You may just be at the birth or at the verge of their birth date. Keep on praying. Keep on praying. Something that I want us to see, not only to see this picture that is portrayed, let's notice secondly the pain experienced. The pain that is experienced. Our text in the verse number eight says, for as soon as Zion traveled, she brought forth her children. Now the Hebrew word is kol. I don't know if that means anything to you, but I'm supposed to tell you that that's what it is because that makes me look more intelligent than what I actually am. All it takes is a strong concordance in looking up the word. It doesn't take a genius. That's what I'm told to tell you, so I've told you and I'm sure you're all enlightened. But hear this word, maybe it'll help you in the English. Let me translate it to you from the English. It means to writhe in pain. It means to be sore pain. That's what the word travail is. The Encyclopedia Britannica defines the word trivial as strenuous mental or physical exertion. It means labor, toil, tribulation, agony, anguish. And so we see in this word trivial, we have these thoughts wrapped up in this little word. We have the idea of pain and anguish, and sorrow. Now we find that this idea is borne out in verses within God's Word. If you have a pen, you can note them down. Let me quote them for you. Psalm 48, verse number 6. Let me quote Psalm 48, verse 6. Fear took hold upon thee there, and pain, as of a woman in travail. There we see the idea of pain. Jeremiah 6 verse 24, anguish hath taken hold of us and pain as of a woman in travail. There we see anguish and pain connected with this idea of travail. Jeremiah 13 verse 21, shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail. Now if I was to go into the maternity unit of Coleraine Hospital, if it has one, I'm not too sure if it has. And there was a woman that was giving birth to a child just at this moment of time. And I asked that woman, are you experiencing any pain at this moment of time? I don't think I would get an answer, I think I would maybe get a fist of thighs because it would be very true and we would know from even the expression on her face that that woman is presently experiencing travail, pain, anguish and sorrow as she brings to birth a natural child. Now look what it says in the verse number 7. Before she travailed, she brought forth. Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing? Isaiah the prophet is saying, what has been said in verse number seven is ludicrous. It doesn't stand to sense. A woman cannot bring forth a child without pain, and she cannot bring forth children without travail. It is natural that with birth there must come pain. They go hand in hand together. It was Oswald J. Smith that asked this question. Can children, natural children, be born without pain? Can there be birth without travail? These are rhetorical questions. We know that the answer is no on both cases. No children cannot be born without pain and no children cannot be brought to birth without travail. He goes on to say, yet how many expect in the spiritual realm that which is not possible in the natural. He went on to say, oh my brethren, nothing Absolutely nothing short of soul travail will bring forth spiritual children. There is another expression that we learn as children and it seems to stick with us in our mind. It is the expression, no pain, no gain. And how true the saying is, an athlete that is to win gold, he must expect late nights and early mornings of pain if he is ever to win the prize. So then why would it be any different in the spiritual realm? Why would it be any different? Why would there be no pain and yet gain the prize? It doesn't stand to sense. Now there are many scriptures in the Word of God that points us to individuals that, as it were, went through pain before they won the prize. I want to give them briefly to you this morning. If you're still awake, you can turn to 1 Samuel 1. And there we read of a dear lady, a godly woman by the name of Hannah. Hannah had a womb that could not bear natural offspring. She was incapable of producing any children for her husband. And yet this woman believed in Almighty God. You see, God wraths at impossibilities. And God was going to laugh at this impossibility. She took her need before God's throne in prayer. And God was going to answer her prayer. God was going to step into her situation. Though impossible to her, God was going to break through. But before God broke through, there was travail. We can mark her trivial by certain words and phrases throughout this passage of God's word. Look what it says in the verse number eight, her husband said unto her, why weepest thou? There we have sorrow. He goes on to say, and why eatest thou not? There we have fasting. And he goes on to say, and why is thy heart grieved? There we have pain. Verse number 10, it says, and she was in bitterness of soul and she prayed unto the Lord and she wept soul. Mark the words, mark the words in her prayer in the verse number 11. The affliction of thine handmaid. Mark the word affliction. Mark the words in verse 15. I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have poured out my soul before the Lord. Verse number 16. For out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. What anguish, what pain, what travail, what sorrow. But her travail was going to be replaced with joy when she held a little boy in her arms and she called his name Samuel, because I have asked him off the Lord. But there was travail before the prize. I think about the apostle Paul. Paul was a man that knew what soul travail was. He would write affectionately to the Galatian believers in Galatians chapter 4 in the verse number 19. He said, my little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. He would write to the saints in Corinth, there in 1 Corinthians 4, in the verse number 15, he said, in Christ Jesus I have begotten you, I have brought you to birth through the gospel. He would again speak of this travail whenever he would write to the Thessalonian Christians in his first letter in the chapter 2 and 9, and in the second letter in the chapter 3 in the verse number 8. Whenever he said in that passage, in those passages of God's word, he said about his labor and he spoke about his travail. Paul was a man, a man of soul travail. I wish that I myself were accursed from God that my kinsman would know Christ. So trivial. Trivial before God in prayer. But there was no trivial in the Word of God than the trivial of Jesus Christ Himself. He is the greatest example. His travail of soul would be prophesied in Isaiah 53 in the verse number 11, whenever it says, he shall see off the travail of his soul and be satisfied. John Gill would say concerning this verse, the travail of his soul was the toil and labor that he endured in working out the salvation of his people, his obedience and death, his sorrows and sufferings, particularly those birth throes of his soul under a sense of divine wrath. And all the agonies and pains of his death that he went through. Was there any trivial like my Savior's trivial? None. None, I say. Behold and see if there be like any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Matthew would record a little of the travail of the Savior's soul in the Garden of Gethsemane. There he would record in Matthew 26-38, recording the words of our great Redeemer, our great High Priest, the travail that he went through in order to bring many sons on to glory. He said, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death, the travail of Christ. In view of Gethsemane, do we know anything about this soul travail? Do we know anything about this agony, this pain, this sorrow, this weeping before God's throne in prayer? Do we know anything about this anguish of heart that is broken for men and women that are outside the confines of these walls, that are untouched and unaffected by our gospel preaching and our gospel worship? And there we get before God and we seek God and God so breaks our hearts. Do we know anything about it, child of God? I think not. if we were honest. I think not. And yet this is the remedy. This is the only remedy. So trivial. Brian H. Edwards in his book, Revival of People Saturated by God, good book, Unfortunately he uses another version of the scriptures, but you can chew the meat and spit out the bones. Good book to get. Revival of people saturated by God. He said this concerning wheels. He said that it was said of wheels in 1904 that you knew, you knew when revival was on its way. When? When the sanctuaries were filled? No. When the tithe and offering had increased? No. How did you know that revival was on its way? He said you knew revival was on its way whenever you heard the O in the prayers of God's people. You heard the O. The O of desperation. The O of urgency. Oh, that thy wouldest rend the heavens, that thy wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. Whenever you heard the O, revival was on its way. When's the last time you heard people crying to God with an O? I don't want you to come to the meeting tonight and go to the prayer meeting beforehand and start going, oh, oh, oh. It doesn't work. It's whenever God comes. And whenever you think that it's His glory and His kingdom and His name, that that becomes the all-consuming passion of our souls. When we cry, O God, come, revive the church, set thy people on fire. No pain, no gain. There is one final thing I need to finish. I'm over my time. The prosperity that's promised. For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. There's a precondition here that's found in one word, soon. As soon as she traveled. It's as if God is waiting on us. It's as if God is waiting on this church. as soon as it reveals, then children will be brought forth. Similar language is used in that great text that we all love to quote, but we don't love to conform to. A great revival text in Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 7, 14, if my people, which are called by my shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then and only then will I hear from heaven, I will forgive their sin and I'll heal their land. There is a precondition, but there is a plurality of the prosperity promised. Notice that our text says, for as soon as Zion's revealed, she brought forth her children. Notice that the text does not say that she brought forth a child. There's more than one child brought forth here. There's children. Children. Many children. Let me say to you, Church of Jesus Christ, that's what the church needs. Children. Spirit-born children. Newborns. You see, God never intended this church to be a museum. God intended the Church of Jesus Christ to be a maternity ward, not a museum. It should be the longing of every blood-washed child of God that they would be in such a place where God could so use them, that God would entrust them to the bringing forth of spiritual children. Whenever Esau was reunited with his estranged brother Jacob, and he sends out the two bands and they meet, They meet Esau and then there is that great reunion between Esau and Jacob. Esau asked his brother the question, who are those with thee? Jacob replied, these are the children which God hath graciously given thy servant. There's going to come a day whenever we're going to be united to our elder brother, Jesus Christ. And I trust on that day that the Lord Jesus Christ on that final day will be able to ask me this question, who are these? Who are these with thee? And with a humble heart, In the thankful spirit, I'll be able to look into the eyes of my Redeemer, and I'll be able to say, these, these are the children. These are the children that you give me. These are the ones that I travail for in prayer. And these are the ones for whom thou didst travail for at the cross of Calvary. These are your children. But in some way, I was used to, as it were, bring them to the cross. And in the shadow of the cross, they became your children. Here's your children. And thank God, I was used to bring them to thee. What is the remedy? It's something that I know nothing of. And I'm not embarrassed to stand here and admit that to you. It's trivial. If we know nothing about it, Here's a prayer that you could pray. It was a prayer that Rachel prayed to her husband. She had a barren womb. And you know what she said to her husband? She said, give me children or else I die. John Knox changed that a little. He said, give me Scotland or I die. It's a prayer that we could all pray just as we lift and we move out of the sanctuary. that we would seek God in the quietness of our souls and say, Lord, give me children or else I die. For as soon as Zion traveled, she brought forth her children. May the womb of this church become fruitful, fertile, productive. And may this be a maternity unit where the cries of newborn babes ascend to the throne of grace, and boys and girls and teenagers and mums and dads are brought into the very family of God. May that be the case. Let's pray. Our Father, as we leave the sanctuary, help us to know the Spirit of God taking what has been sown by God, taking it and causing it to bring forth life and fruit to the glory and to the praise of our God. Salvation is off the Lord. Well, we know it. Blessed Father, use us in some small way in pointing men and women off to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Answer prayer. We ask this in Christ's holy name. Amen and amen.