Transcript

Well, good morning. So good to see all who are here this morning. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 27 says that it is appointed for man to die once, but after this comes the judgment. And the Hebrew writer is really just telling us the truism there. That's the way the world works, with the exception of when the Lord comes again, that we're all going to die.

And after that death comes the judgment. And though we know that, and though we affirm that to be true, There are those people in our lives, aren't there? The people who seem like they're just going to live forever. And in a good way, not in a bad way. They just seem like they're gonna live forever. Two such people in my life have been Frank Shipley and Ted Langford.

Just seemed like they were gonna live forever. For some of the same reasons, because they were both tough, because they were both stubborn, because they both had this kind of will to live and a love for life. And a purpose in what it is that they were doing and the reason why they were living. And then for some different reasons also, Frank seemed like he was going to live forever because he already kind of had, right?

He was 96 years old and had lived such a good and full life. With Ted, it was almost the opposite in some ways. You know, he had been on death's door so many times and had come back and been strong again so many times. You know, we joked about him having nine lives. It just seemed like he was going to live forever.

And so in some ways it's, it's fitting, I guess, that they, they died in, in the same week last week. But it's also surprising, isn't it? They were friends, they were brothers, they had breakfast many Sunday mornings together for years, and at services they were almost mirror images of one another. I mean, it was great as the local evangelist to know if I'm up here in the pulpit and I see visitors over here, well, Brother Frank's gonna get those visitors.

I know that he's gonna talk to them, and if I see visitors over here, I know, well, Brother Ted's gonna get the visitors over here, so they were like those mirror images, right? That I knew that at least somebody was gonna talk to those visitors because they were on each side of the auditorium. And we don't know exactly what the spiritual realm is going to be like when we pass from this earth.

We have glimpses explained to us in terms that we can understand with physical images, but we don't really know what it's gonna be like. But someone suggested to me this week that Frank and Ted would probably be greeting one another in paradise. Because that's what they did. They greeted people, right?

You can almost imagine. Hey, Ted. Hey, Frank. How long you been here? Right? And that's wonderful to think about. But what does it mean them being in paradise? What does that mean for us? Among other things, it means that they are not here anymore. And that has ramifications for the rest of us and what might be required of us in our lives.

So would you please consider with me for just a few minutes this morning the need to step into the gap. If you have your Bible with you, take it out please and turn to Ezekiel chapter 22. Ezekiel chapter 22, we're going to read from Ezekiel chapter 22 in verse 30. We'll give you some context here in just a moment.

We'll turn to another chapter and try and explain a couple of things in that verse, but. If you'll make the effort to turn to Ezekiel 22 and verse 30, that's where the entire outline for the lesson this morning is going to be found. And I'm going to put it up on the screen behind me as well, but I think there's something powerful about seeing it and reading it for yourself in your own Bible.

So Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30. We're grateful for the presence of all, grateful for those who are visiting with us especially. We're so glad that you've come our way. So that terminology of, of stepping in the gap, of standing in the gap comes from Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30, which says, God says, so I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy yet.

In ancient battles, the defending army of any sort of secured, fortified location that had walls, There might be a breach in the wall, a breaking through of the wall, or a weak place in the wall, and so soldiers would come and fill that gap, and if the soldier in front of you fell in battle, then you would have to step forward and fill the gap that was left by that soldier.

Those of you, we have native Texans in here, lots of native Texans, right? Texas history tells us that the Battle of the Alamo, who was placed in the weak point in the wall, where there was a A gap in the wall. Do you remember? It was Davy Crockett and the Tennessee volunteers that were put there.

Your best soldiers go in this weak spot in the wall as the Tennessee folks, you know, my wife's from Tennessee, is the Tennessee folks remind me all the time when we go up there, there'd be no Texas without Tennessee. Well, maybe so. Those best soldiers were placed there in the weak spot in the wall.

And that image, that metaphor, is not difficult for us to understand and apply to all sorts of different things. The same thing can happen metaphorically with generations, right? Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and verse 4 talks about the vanity of life in all sorts of different ways, but right there at the beginning of the book, the wise man talks about the vanity of one generation that passes away, And another generation comes.

And he goes on to talk about how a lot of times the previous generation is forgotten by the next generation. But the question for us, as we make spiritual application to these things, is will the next generation stand in the spiritual gap or not? Yes, the spiritual gap left by Frank and Ted, but also the spiritual gap left by all those who have passed on to their reward.

We see some of this happening, and I think we Asking the question in no way implies that it's not happening, and not happening already. I think about when I came here first, and the elders, the shepherds that were serving at that time. We have been so incredibly blessed in this congregation, haven't we?

With the leadership, with the elders, the shepherds that have led this congregation. And I think there was really some trepidation, I guess, in my own mind of saying, Okay, we've got these men who are getting older, and they're getting older, and who's going to come in behind them? And a couple of years ago, we appointed additional elders, many of whom were from a totally different generation, and they've done amazing as they've stepped into that gap of leadership to lead in that way.

And so we see that happening. With young people, a generation might be one year, right? There is that stepping in the gap that has to take place when a group of seniors graduates. And most or maybe even all of them go off to work or school in different places and they're not here anymore. That's happening right now this summer, right?

So who is it that's going to step up among the younger of that group in order to be the leaders, in order to show the right way to live, in order to show that it is possible to live as a Christian Even in this world where there is so much sin and temptation. So we see this happening, don't we? This standing in the gap.

This filling the gap. But I think it's helpful for us to be reminded of the necessity of this. That this is what God has always looked for. This is what God has all, always expected. So consider the text of Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30 with me. Again, this is our outline for the lesson this morning.

Ezekiel is preaching in the middle of the Babylonian captivity. So God's people have been judged, the temple has been destroyed, and now they find themselves as slaves in Babylon. And Ezekiel himself was taken during the second deportation, and he's now preaching well after the destruction of Jerusalem, kind of looking back and explaining why this happened to begin with.

And Ezekiel's point really is not about the justice and the judgment of the Lord. There's plenty of that in there. But, but really Ezekiel's point as he's receiving this message from God is that God never wanted to destroy His people. God never wants to do that. Now God is righteous, God is just, and He will act in accordance with His nature, but God's desire is to be gracious and long suffering and merciful and to save.

And God wanted to do that with His people in the Old Testament. He wants to do that with people now. And so Ezekiel is saying to the people who are in captivity, look, this is not what God wanted. God wanted to spare you. God wanted you to be obedient and to be his people and remain in Jerusalem. But you, you refused to stop sinning.

You were unwilling to be saved by God because of your sin. And Judah ultimately was punished by God because of her history of rebellion and idolatry, as is laid out in really clear terms in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 2. But God would have stopped judgment. If Judah had repented, he'd done that a couple of times before with Hezekiah and Josiah and their reforms, but God was looking for a leader in those days.

Someone who would give him a reason not to destroy Judah, to save her, but sadly he found no one. What would God find today? Because make no mistake, beloved, God is looking. Notice four things with me from the text. Number one, God says, so I sought for a man. God is looking for people to stand in the gap.

And I don't know about you, but I kind of feel the weight of that just a little bit, don't you? Especially the older I get, the more I feel that, that weight that God is looking for people to step up and to do what it is he's called them to do. I look at my daughters as they get older, and I ask myself, what can I stem the tide of all of this influence, of all of this wickedness in the world around them?

You know, what can I do to stand in the gap against that? I look at the world at large, and I ask myself, Is God going to judge our nation where we have enjoyed so much peace and enjoyed so much prosperity and we've enjoyed being able to worship Him without fear of, of great persecution? What can I do to stand in the gap so that God doesn't destroy our nation?

Are there things that I can do? From a spiritual perspective, I, I look at, I look at all of the churches and all of the compromise and the pseudo Christianity and I say, sometimes despondently, who am I? To share the whisper of truth against the deafening roar of error. And I think it is important to note, to see God's stated expectation of what it was that He was looking for.

Of what the minimum standard, of what the lowest amount necessary was for God to fulfill His purposes in not destroying His people. Have you ever been going to look for something, you know, you're shopping and you're looking for something and maybe when you first start shopping you have this expectation of what it is you're going to find and before long you decide, you know what, maybe I have to lower my expectations.

I have to set the right expectations going into that. A lot of times I do that. You know, I've got some weird idiosyncrasies, you know that about me, and one of those is about greeting cards for holidays. I, I really take my time, I want to get a good greeting card for, you know, Mother's Day, or anniversary, or whatever it is.

But I'm also a procrastinator, so sometimes those two things work against one another. And so it's the day before Mother's Day, and I go in there and I'm like, where are all the Mother's Day cards? You know, and so. I've got to set some expectations here, you know. I'm not going to have 17 great cards to choose from.

I might only have one or two good ones, but when it gets right down to it, how many do I need? I need one. One good one that I can give to Stephanie. Right? What was it that God was looking for in this verse? Do you see that? So, I sought for many men and women from everywhere in the No. I sought for a

God said if I can find one leader, one person among the ruling class, among the family of David, among the kings, if I can find that one man to stand in the gap, I will not destroy my people. I will save them. And that doesn't mean that God wouldn't have been happy to find lots and lots of people, to find more than one.

It just tells us, I think, the influence of one person and how powerful that influence can be. In the home, in the community. In the country, in the state and even in our world, all by shining One light by having the example and voice of one person God can accomplish much God can use you Even if you have to stand alone God is looking for you to stand in the gap and and how many examples do we have in the Bible of that over and over and over we have examples of Singular people standing up and saying I'm gonna do what's right and it has all of these powerful impacts for generations to come.

Noah and Abraham and Moses and Joshua and Phineas and Deborah and Ruth and Esther and Mary and Hezekiah and Josiah that we talked about earlier and Isaiah and Paul and most of all if we think about one person standing in the gap to save the people Jesus is the example of the one who stood in the gap for us.

By one man's perfect sacrifice, we can be saved. We can be made pure and holy. This is what God is looking for. And so don't become discouraged. You can be the one that God is looking for. The one who can make a wall and stand in the gap. That's what God is looking for. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall.

And stand in the gap, God says. God is searching for those individuals who will take a stand. But my two questions are, a wall of what? Who would make a wall? What kind of wall are we talking about here in terms of the context of Ezekiel? And then number two, make a stand before whom? Who are we standing up to?

Who is the one coming through the gap that we need to address? So let's answer those two questions. Number one, what is the wall? We're talking about here. It's not a physical wall obviously. So what kind of wall is it? In my judgment, in the book of Ezekiel, the wall that God is talking about here is representative of the moral fiber of Judah, the morality of the people and like that physical wall in Jerusalem, it stood broken by sin, broken by a lack of truth.

If you turn back to Ezekiel chapter 13 for just a moment, Ezekiel chapter 13. I think we see this really clearly in Ezekiel chapter 13 beginning in verse 1. Ezekiel chapter 13 beginning in verse 1.

I love hearing those pages turn. Let's read it together. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their own heart, that is instead of from God, hear the word of the Lord. Amen. Amen. Thus says the Lord God.

Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. They're making it up. It's coming from them. It's not coming from God. Oh Israel. Your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have gone not, you have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall. You've not gone into the breaches.

Maybe your translation says those holes in the wall. The gaps in the wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord. They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, Thus says the Lord, that the Lord has not sent them, yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. A bunch of people who said, Hey, this is what we want to happen.

So this is what we're going to say and do. It's not what the Lord says. It's not what the truth is. But this is what we want. And it's that kind of attitude. Does that sound familiar at all? We don't care what the Lord says. We don't care what the Lord does. I want to do what I want to do. And I'm going to have my own truth instead of the Lord's truth.

Does that sound familiar at all in our culture? That's the wall that has been broken down. That wall of morality, that wall of an objective standard of what is right and true and good because it is defined as good by God. And that is the wall into which we need to step. As it's being broken down around us, we step into it and say, No, this is what God's Word says.

This is what is right. This is what is true. And on this, I will make my stand,

even if I have to stand in the gap alone. But look around. You're not standing alone. You're not a solitary soldier fighting with no one behind you. Look around at others who are trying to make that same stand for what is right and true and good and godly and gracious. And so we fight side by side, not in a physical battle, not against flesh and blood, but in this spiritual battle for what is right, for what is godly.

We stand in the breach together. What is described here are the walls of moral fiber that have been broken down all around us. And we must all make the decision, the choice. Do we hide that truth and act like everyone and everything is okay? It's all good. You're good, I'm good, we're all good. Or are we willing to share that truth even when it is difficult?

even when it condemns. Now, please understand me very clearly who is doing the condemning here. It is not us that condemns the behavior of other people. It is the Word of God that does or doesn't. And we do this not because we want to take up our swords and cut off Malchus's ear. We do this for the sake of those who are separated from God, because we want them to come into the safety of God's city.

They should have built the wall for the house of Israel. And in other places in Ezekiel, the priests and the ruling class, they should have built a wall for the house of Israel of morality and truth, but they didn't. And we have the same call today. To build God's wall. Well, I don't think Ezekiel is mixing metaphors, but it is interesting.

Who is it that is coming through that wall? Who is, who is it that we need to stand up against in that sense? Well keep reading. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it. Who is attacking It's God. And so we think of those times where God is coming in judgment, like Moses on Mount Sinai.

We talked about that recently, remember? And Moses was the one who stood in the gap and said, God, remember your promises that you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Don't destroy your people. Don't start over with me. Continue with this people. I know they're rebellious, but remember your promises. Moses stood in the gap before God, and he saved the people!

because of his leadership, because he was willing to do that. And God, in the passage here in Ezekiel, is preparing to come through the gap in his wrath and judgment. But God would rather the gap be filled. He would rather be long suffering. He would rather give more time. And my question is, are we giving God good reason to wait?

Here's the way I would ask the question. Now, you look around, it's not all on you, it's not all on me, we know that. Ultimately, it's on Jesus, we know that too. But what if, for sake of argument, all that stood between mankind and the final judgment were my efforts in the kingdom of God? Would God wait?

Would I be in the gap where God would look at me and my life and what I'm trying to do in service to him and say, you know what? I was going to come in just in judgment, but I'm going to give Reagan a little more time to work. I'm going to give Reagan a few more opportunities to bring lost souls to me.

I'm going to give Reagan just a little bit more time to be salt and light in this world. What if all that stood between God and the judgment was you? Would you be standing in the gap? And would God say, okay, I'll wait just a little bit longer because my faithful servant is working. Raise your hand if you remember James Adams, James Adams.

Thank you. All right, raise your hand if you're under the age of 17 and remember James Adams. Generation comes, generation goes. There was a time when perhaps James Adams was the most well known name, at least among a portion of of our brotherhood. A generation comes, a generation goes. But James was another one who seemed like he was going to live forever.

Lived into his late 90s, in fact. He didn't hit 100, did he, Mike? I don't think he did. I think it was late 90s. And toward the end of his life, I had the opportunity to spend some time with him and go and talk to him at the assisted living where he was and kind of form a relationship as a very young preacher with a very old preacher.

I think he was old enough we can just go ahead and call him old instead of older, right? And I remember in some of those conversations, he would look at me, his mind was so sharp, but his body was just falling apart around him. He was stuck in this chair, he couldn't get out of it. His body's just falling apart, but his mind is sharp.

And he'd look at me and he'd say, Reagan, why am I here? Why am, why has the Lord not taken me yet? You remember this, Harold? Why am I still here? I'm ready to go.

And my response was, Brother Adams, I've just known you a couple of years. I'm getting a lot out of this. Can you just stay a little longer for me? Right? If we're still here, maybe it's time and chance. I know that's at work also. I know the devil's at work, but when we talk about the working of God and we're still here, it's for one of two reasons.

Number one, so that we can repent and we can grow and we can become more like God. And so I'm still here to do that, to repent, to grow, to be more like God. Or, and or, I'm still here so that I can have an influence on other people. And if I ever ask myself the question, why am I still here? I need to be, I need to take solace in the reality of those two things must be true.

I'm still here for my own growth or benefit, or I'm here for the benefit of others, to be an influence on others, to make an impact on their life. And maybe God's going to use me in some sort of passive way. Even if I'm just laying up in some bed somewhere, God can still use me in a way to be an influence on other people.

He can use me in life, He can use me in death, but He will use me. If I am a fateful servant of His. There is work to be done. So let us build up the wall of morality and truth. Let us stand in the gap before God to withhold His wrath. And may it not be said in our time what was said in the days of the destruction of Jerusalem, but I found no one.

That's number four in our outline. But I found no one, God says. God's search was in vain in Judah. My question is, would it be in vain in our nation today? Would it be in vain in our city today? Would it be in vain in our church today? May it never be. And we look at men like Frank and Ted and other men and women who have passed in our own families and in our church family who seemed absolutely irreplaceable, right?

How in the world are we going to replace this person as, as wonderful as they are, as good as they are? All the good that they do, all of the work that they do, they are irreplaceable. That's what we say in our mind. And I would remind that that's not the case, that all of us are replaceable by others who might come and stand in the gap behind us.

How do I know? Well, there's lots of scriptures that speak to that, but I want you to turn to Joshua chapter 1. If you would, Joshua chapter 1.

So think about the great leaders of Israel, perhaps none greater, certainly the first as a nation. was Moses, Moses, who was a prince in Egypt, Moses, who went to Pharaoh and the 10 plagues were rained down by God. Moses, who led the people out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Moses, who struck the rock.

Moses, who went up on the mountain and saw the back of God and, and wrote on these tablets. Moses, who led them for 40 years in the wilderness. Moses, Surely Moses was irreplaceable. But what does Joshua chapter 1 and verse 1 say? After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses assistant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Now arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving them, the children of Israel. Moses is dead. Okay, let's keep moving forward. If that was the case with Moses, surely that's the case with all of us too. And I think that is, in some ways, a burden lifted. I do what I can. I work as best I can in God's service and in His kingdom.

But God is working through me, and He is working through others. And when my time comes to pass from this life, I do pray that He will say, Well done, good and faithful servant. But I also pray that He'll bring someone else behind me, that another leader will arise. That another worker will arise. That someone else will stand in the gap.

This might be one of the most humbling Bible verses in all the Bible. As great as Moses was, he wasn't irreplaceable. And we shouldn't think too highly or too lowly of ourselves, but strive to just fulfill our God given role. If ever there was a passage that communicated our dispensability, it is this one.

No person, no matter how great, is indispensable to God's work. Moses was the greatest leader in the history of Israel, and God kept his work moving. As they say in sports, next man up, next woman up, fill the gap. Only God and the Holy Spirit Only the Godhead is indispensable to their worth. But when the seemingly indispensable die off, well, others must fill the gap that they have left.

I love the song that we just sang just before the lesson. But from the ranks young men appear to lead their first crusade. Maybe that's a little too war y in the image, but that's kind of the image that we find here in Ezekiel chapter 22, isn't it? I think I made that word up too. War y? Is that an adjective?

From the ranks, younger must appear to do what they can in service to God. And when Moses died, God had prepared someone, a servant. Moses servant, Joshua, to stand in the gap in the void left by this great man. I And He did so admirably, and God fulfilled His purposes through Joshua, and God can do the same with you, if you will allow Him.

Where do you need to step up? Where do you need to fulfill God's purpose? Where do you need to step into the gap? God says to His servant Ezekiel, So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

What a sad commentary, but it doesn't have to be that way. And what is required in order to be one who would stand in the gap in this way is you must be one who is among them. You must be one of God's people to stand in the gap. And so if you're not yet a Christian, you have the opportunity this morning to come and join the army of the Lord.

Not a physical army, a spiritual army. that battles against principalities and powers and might and dominion, not only in this age, but in the one that is to come, not only in this physical world, but also in the spiritual. And yes, you have brothers and sisters in Christ who are fighting side by side with you, but most importantly, it is Christ, your captain, who calls you, who calls you to join him,

who says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my Yoke upon me, O you, and learn of me. There's something that I require. And if you know what it is that God requires of you this morning, whether that's to put Christ on in baptism, to rise and walk in newness of life, or whether you need to come confessing sin so that we might pray for you and pray with you, we'll do anything that we can to help you this morning.

And nothing would make God and the angels in heaven happier than for you to come. And we encourage you to do so while together we stand and while we sing.

Some say you'll end at the bar.