[A well is a fountain where God blesses us with abundant life.]

“Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelations 21:2)

If we continue to read this chapter, we will realise that God wants to guide His people. If we read from Psalm 50:7 onwards, we see that God was telling them what their spiritual problems were. If today someone tells us that we have a spiritual problem we may say, “Really? Do I have a spiritual problem?” Because in our minds, if we have a spiritual problem, we may commit adultery or do some very strange thing. Obviously, the Pharisees had spiritual problems. That was why Jesus said to be careful of the leaven of the Pharisees. Why did Jesus tell His disciples? Because the spiritual problems in the heart of the Pharisees could also be in the heart of the disciples. Because every heart is the same, isn’t it?

God called Elijah to speak to the wicked King Ahab, saying that if Elijah did not pray, there would be no rain for three years. Elijah was very bold to speak before the king, even risking his lives. When the Bible describes John the Baptist being like Elijah, it is in this aspect. After Elijah did this work, God hid Elijah. King Ahab had not kept Elijah’s warning in his heart. But after a few months, it truly did not rain. King Ahab was furious and sent people to capture Elijah. But God’s protection began even before these wicked men sought after Elijah. God hid Elijah by the brook and sent ravens to feed him. Later, God also used the widow of Zarephath to sustain Elijah. There is a spiritual significance behind this but the speaker says he does not have time to share it here.

There was a time of 3.5 years that God hid Elijah away. Afterwards, God called Elijah to speak to King Ahab, because God wanted to send the rain. Without fear, Elijah went to meet King Ahab. Queen Jezebel prepared hundreds of prophets of Baal to meet Elijah too.

When Jezebel wanted to kill Elijah, Elijah also believed that he alone was the prophet of the Lord; that was Elijah’s belief then. Elijah called upon all who were there, urging anyone who believed in the Lord to call down fire from heaven. But none of them believed that God was the real God. The false prophets tried to call out to their gods but nothing happened. When Elijah prayed, God sent fire from heaven. Then the Israelites fell on their faces and admitted, “The Lord, He is God!”

This teaches us that we need to have power, especially to bring people’s hearts back to God. Through Elijah’s faith, he brought the people’s hearts back to God. Elijah also had the false prophets executed, signifying that the problems of the kingdom had ended. And now, God’s promise to send rain would be fulfilled. This was why even before Elijah prayed, he asked King Ahab to go, for God would send rain.

“Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ” Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.” (1 Kings 18:41-46)

Our church’s theme for our Spiritual and Evangelical Service going on now is “Out of Zion”, which is part of an Old Testament prophecy. The prophecy is about how God will cause someone to come out of Zion to forgive the sins of mankind. That person is Jesus. The speaker will be introducing to us who Jesus is: Jesus is the Saviour.

As those who live on earth, we understand the problems of life. We know how to reflect. We are unlike most animals. We do not just eat and drink, and just take that as life. How we come and go, we do not even know. Yet we have wisdom because we know how to reflect. We think about the problems we encounter in our lives. But how do we solve these problems? We can categorise the problems of life in two ways. One is the problems of daily life, the other is the problems of life. In the first category, some problems we have include what to eat or drink when we wake up. We actually realise that people spend 90% of their time deciding what to eat or drink. We realise that man has improved in this aspect. Years ago, our elders here may have first come to the UK by boat, and they may have taken months to reach the UK. For the speaker, when he came over to Taiwan, he took a plane that was maybe over 10 hours. In the past, when we missed our hometown, we had to write a letter. If you send the letter, it may take many days to alive. If you want to tell them some news, by the time it reaches to them, it may be old news. But now it is different, because nowadays you can use your phone or computer; you press a button and they can receive the message straightaway. You can even press a button and see someone else on video call. This arises from the changes in our daily lives. Even though the materialistic things in our lives have changed a lot, we are actually much more well-off than people before. But if we reflect, we may realise that we are not living as well as people who have had to labour harder. We have neglected what we think inside our hearts. People today may have many spiritual problems and they may be walking on this journey of life with many burdens. If we can change our spiritual problems in the heart, we can change our problems in our daily lives and we can be blessed.

“The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)