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If you have your bible with you, would you take it out please and turn to Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy chapter 34. Deuteronomy chapter 34, and we'll begin reading in verse one here in just a moment. Deuteronomy 34 starting in verse one. Thank you for your presence in person and perhaps online.

We're grateful that you've chosen spiritual things this evening and that you've chosen those spiritual things here with us as we seek to be who God has called us to be, to fulfill the words that we've sung, to fulfill the words that we've prayed, that God and Christ might be glorified in what we're doing. I've been thinking about eulogies for obvious reasons. And the term eulogy comes from the Greek word eulogia, meaning good words. You speak well of the dead and honor them for what they've done. Perhaps even you leave out some of those negative things that have happened so that you might speak well of them.

And there's such a eulogy at the end of Deuteronomy, a eulogy for Moses and who he was and what he did for the people of God. And I want you to turn there if you would and read with me beginning in verse one. Now we know the reasons why Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land and all those sorts of things, but none of that found in these verses. Instead, Moses is spoken of in his best terms as we see there in chapter 34 in verse one, likely written by a scribe describing Moses and bringing this, book of Moses to a close. Then Moses went up from the Plains Of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho.

And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali in the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the South, and the plain of the Valley Of Jericho, the city of palm trees as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to him, this is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob saying, I will give it to your descendants. I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab according to the word of the Lord. And he, God, buried him, Moses, in a valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor.

No one knows his grave to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the Plains Of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended.

Verse 10. But since then, there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face and all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. That's quite a eulogy, isn't it? Maybe it would be said of someone here. There was not an optometrist in all the lands like Keith.

There was not someone who worked for DPS in all the lands, like pick your poison. Right? There was not a road man in all the land like Jesse Cisco. To be the greatest among the leaders of the people of God, what a wonderful thing to say of someone. And it's true, perhaps, certainly to this point in time, there had not been a leader like Moses among God's people.

He was the only leader that all the people alive at this time among the people of God had ever known, and so we see these awesome things written about him. But here's what I want you to do. I want you to turn the page, and I want you to read with me verses one and two of Joshua chapter one. 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. Coincidentally, he had been an assistant for forty years.

He was at least 61 years old at this time, but he's Moses' assistant still saying, Moses, my servant is dead, period. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all these people, the land which I am giving them, the children of Israel. Some translations say Moses is dead now then, and that might be one of the most humbling bible verses in all the bible. As great as Moses was, the page was turned, and someone had to step up in his place. And I think there's something for us to learn certainly from that, that we should not take think too highly or too lowly of ourselves, but strive simply to fulfill God's role for us, whatever that role might be in the church or in the home or in the community.

And if there was ever a passage that communicated our maybe it's negative, but dispensability, it is this one, that no person, no matter how great, is indispensable to God's work. Moses was the greatest leader in the history of Israel, and God just keeps the work moving. The next man up, one to fill the gap that is left by Moses. Because only God is indispensable to his work. But when the seemingly indispensable die, others must fill the gap that they have left, which brings me to Joe Penn.

There was a time when I could not imagine I felt weird all day. I felt weird all day. I got I almost cried three times this morning, and I changed what I was gonna preach on tonight because I felt so weird about it, and Stephanie told me to. There was a time when I could not imagine the work at Timberland. We're the Penn family without Joe Penn.

What what does that look like? What does the church look like? And I saw Harold preach this morning, and then Mike got up and made some comments. And I started thinking to myself, the day is coming. The Lord doesn't come again.

That there will be a Timberland Drive without Harold Hancock. A Timberland Drive without my pen. What does that look like, loved ones? Are they indispensable to the work? Am I?

Are you? The lord says no. As great and as faithful as some of his servants are, the work must go on. When Moses died, Joshua had to stand in the gap in the void left by this great man, and he did so admirably. And God fulfilled his purposes through him in giving the land of Canaan, the promised land through Joshua, Moses' assistant.

And God can do the same with you and with me if we will allow him to. So where do we need to step up? Will you turn the page? Because that's what's required to stand in the gap. And that terminology, as you're probably familiar with, comes from Ezekiel chapter 22.

Would you turn over there with me, please? Ezekiel chapter 22. We're very familiar with verse 30 where these where this phrase comes from, standing in the gap, Ezekiel 22 and verse 30. But I want us to go back to verse 23 this evening. Ezekiel is preaching in the middle of Babylonian captivity.

He was taken during the second deportation, and he is now preaching well after the destruction of Jerusalem. He is explaining why the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity happened, that God did not want to destroy his people. He wanted to spare his people, but they were stubborn and rebellious, and we're not obedient to him. They refused to stop sinning. They were unwilling, we might say, to be saved by God.

God says, I wanna save you, and they say, no. Thanks. We've got it. And Judah ultimately was punished by God because of her long history of rebellion and idolatry. In chapter two in verse three, God calls them a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me.

But God, at any point, would have stopped judgment if Judah had repented. He had done that many times before, and he had done that with other nations, including Nineveh and others. But what God was looking for was a leader, someone to give him a reason not to destroy Judah as is described in Ezekiel 22 starting in verse 23. Ezekiel says, and the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, say to her, you are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation. The conspiracy of her prophets in the midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey.

They have devoured people. They have taken treasure and precious things. They have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have violated my law and profaned my holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and the unholy nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean.

They have hidden their eyes from my Sabbath so that I am profaned among them. Her officials in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions and divining lies for them saying, thus says the lord god, when the lord had not spoken. The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and the needy. They have wrongfully oppressed the stranger.

So we get down to verse 29, and he's gone through the princes and the priests and the officials, the prophets, and all the people. And he's talked about how nobody has stepped up to do what is right. And so in verse 30, in the midst of all of that, that's where this phrase come is then. 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. Therefore, here's why, I have poured out my indignation on them.

I have consumed them with fire of my wrath, and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God. He says to Ezekiel, you wanna know why the people went into captivity? Here's the reason why. I couldn't find someone who would step up and fill the gap. In ancient battles, the defending army might have to hold an opening in the wall.

And if a man falls, the man behind him had to step in his place, stand in the gap that was left by his fallen companion. And the same thing metaphorically happens with generations. Ecclesiastes chapter one and verse four talks about the vanity of generations. One generation passes and another generation comes. And the question is, that's going to happen.

I mean, let's be honest. That is going to happen as long as the world keeps turning. But the question is, will the next generation stand in the gap or not? And my thoughts tonight are not not new, but they are appropriate, I believe, for the occasion. What would God find today?

What would God find here? Because make no mistake, loved ones, God is looking. What will he see? Well, there are four realities of the gap that I want us to think about, first of all, and then we'll make some applications. So first of all, God is seeking in this passage a man.

He says, so I sought for a man. God is looking for people to stand in the gap, and I feel the weight of that a little. Don't you? I mean, I think about, am I gonna stand against anything? How can I stem the tide against all of this influence, all of this wickedness?

I think about myself as a father, and I'm like, my girls have all of this other stuff that's coming at them all the time. Can I stand in the gap against all of that wickedness that is trying to get through? I look at our world, and I ask myself, will God judge our nation for the sins that we have committed? And what can I do to keep that from happening? I look at all of the churches and all of the compromise and all of the pseudo Christianity, all of the easy believeism that is out there.

And I say, who am I to share a whisper of truth against the deafening noise of error? And maybe you say, Reagan, you've never whispered a day in your life, but we can shout. I can shout from the mountaintops, yet I am still but one voice. And I think as we feel overwhelmed with all of those things, what can I possibly do? It is important to note that God is not searching for men, plural, but a man, singular.

And that doesn't mean God wouldn't be happy if he found hundreds or thousands of millions. It just tells us the influence that one person can have, that one person standing for what's right can achieve in the home, in our community, in this country, and in this world, all by shining the light and the example of the voice of one person. And we know this to be true, don't we? How many examples do we have of that in the Bible of a person making all of the difference? Abraham was one person, and yet through Abraham, all the families of the earth have been blessed.

Moses was one person as was Joshua and Philemon and Deborah and Ruth and Esther and Mary and Hezekiah and Josiah and Isaiah and Paul and Luke. And most of all, Jesus is the example of one person who stood in the gap for us. And by that one man's perfect sacrifice, we are made pure. Loved ones, God is looking for you, and he is looking for the influence and the impact that you can make. And not all of us will be Joe Penn, but all of us can wear the name of Christian and wear it in such a way that we are the people God is looking for, the ones who love him and serve him.

God was looking for a man. So I sought for a man who would make a wall and stand in the gap. So God is seeking a man to take a stand of leadership. God is searching for those individuals who will make that stand. But my question is, but a wall of what?

Make a stand before whom? What is the wall that he is talking about here? Well, the wall, as I understand it in Ezekiel, is representative of the moral fiber of Judah. Like the physical wall in Jerusalem, it stood broken by sin, stood broken by a lack of truth. Go back to Ezekiel chapter 13, if you would.

Ezekiel chapter 13. Ezekiel chapter 13 and verse one. 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, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing. They act as though this is the will of God and these are the words of God, but it's not coming from the spirit of God.

It's coming from their own spirit, their own heart, their own thoughts. Oh, Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the desert. Clever, but not clever enough. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a 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, but the Lord has not sent them, yet they hope that the word may be confirmed.

They say this. This is the way I want it. I hope it comes true, but it won't because it's not God's will. Now did you catch what he says there in verse five? You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to say, this is not the truth, but this, God's will and God's word from true prophets, that is the truth.

These were the people who had the word of God, and instead of sharing the word of God, they hid it. They shared lies and hoped against hope that the lies would come true. And as we talked about this morning, we have the truth too, and the walls of moral fiber are broken down all around us. Do we hide that truth? Do we act like everyone and everything is okay, or are we willing to share that truth even when it is difficult, even when it condemns?

Not not us condemning, but the word condemning. For the sake of those who are separated from God, they should have built a wall around the house of Israel, and we must build that same wall of truth today. But the second question, I think, is even more important in some ways, who is the one attacking? Against whom does this wall need to be built? Who would make a wall and stand in the gap, the text says, before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it.

It is God before him. And the reality of the gap is that God is seeking a person, people, to take a stand of leadership before him, not in opposition to God, but like Moses on Mount Sinai, God is preparing to come through the gap in his wrath and in his judgment, and that's exactly what happened in the judgment that led to captivity. But God's desire, what he would rather happen is that that gap be filled. He would rather be long suffering. He would rather give more time.

Are we giving God good reason to wait? Here's a question that I asked myself with some regularity. If all that stood between mankind and the final judgment were my efforts, would God wait? Would I be in the gap? Would God look at me and say, you know what?

I'll give Reagan more time to work. Now I've thought about that question individually for many years, but in recent days, I've thought about that more generationally. If my generation, so the generations older than me, which are getting fewer and more sparsely populated, if all of those were gone together and it gone at one time and it was my generation, would God look at my generation and say, I'll give them more time to work. I'll give them more time to grow. I'll give them more time because I see their hearts.

I see their works. I see their working. I see their love for truth. I see their love for the lost. I see their love for the next generation, and I will allow them to work on my behalf.

I will give them more time. I've thought about it more in a family way. Would God say, I'll give the McLennie family more time to work because of the way the next generation is being brought up in that family? I want that generation to come to a place of leadership for them to have an influence. Is it the same in yours that those children, those grandchildren, they're gonna step into the gap, and so I will give them more time.

There is work to be done to build up the wall of morality and truth, to 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 direct destruction of Jerusalem where God says, I sought for a man to stand before me, to make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none. It is becoming easier and easier for me to echo the words of John at the end of the book of Revelation. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Ask Christ to come quickly.

But when is it that Christ is going to come? I've often thought how beautiful it would be to be there. I don't know what it's gonna be like, but I imagine call me Mike Penn for a second. Think about this. That that roof just peels open, and there is a trumpet that sounds like none that's ever been heard before.

And they are coming on the clouds is the son of man. And the dead in Christ rise first all around us, all those who have named the name of Christ, and then we too rise and meet them in the air. That'd be cool, wouldn't it? But wouldn't it also be just a little not not in the moment. It'd be too perfect in the moment.

But thinking about it, wouldn't it be just a little bit disappointing that Christ came in judgment in my generation saying, that's it. It's not gonna get any better from here. You ever thought about maybe what's keeping Christ from coming is the work that you're doing? Not in a bad way, in a good way. The work that you're doing that Jesus says, I'm long suffering.

God the father says, I'm long suffering. The holy spirit communicates, I'm long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but all should come to repentance. And so I wait. I wait a little longer so that you might work, so that you might do the work in your family, raising your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord so that you might do the work with your spouse and win them over without a word so that you might do the work among your friends and your family and your acquaintances and your employees and employers and your enemies, that they might know what it is that that a Christian looks like, that they might hear what it is God communicates for them to know the truth and come to it, and that they might have the opportunity to be saved whether they accept it or reject it. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

But I pray, don't come because I've quit working. Come in your perfect timing, but may it may it in some ways not be now so that others might have the opportunity to know the truth. God is seeking a man to take a stand of leadership before him. Will one be found? God's search was in vain in Judah at the end of that nation.

Will it be in vain in our nation, in our city, in the church? The search for righteous leaders who will delay judgment is a theme in the Bible going all the way back to Abraham and Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, what if I found 50 or 45 or 40 or 30 or 20 or 10? Would you spare them for the sake of 10? And God keeps saying yes until Abraham quits asking.

Jeremiah looks for the same thing in Jeremiah chapter five and verse one. Hear how similar these words are. Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem. See now and know and seek in her open places if you can find a man. Ezekiel looks back at this.

Jeremiah is looking forward to this to find a man. If there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the truth, and I will pardon her, God says. Find someone who will lead in this way. I will pardon the nation. Most famously, God looks for a leader in our text in Ezekiel 22, but something similar is found in Micah.

Micah chapter seven. If you'll turn over there for just a moment, Micah chapter seven. Micah, whose name means who is like Yahweh. He is prophesying in the days of the wicked king of Judah, Ahaz. Not a typo.

Same name as the one in Israel. And it seems that Micah has lost hope, certainly in the ruling class. Woe is me, chapter seven and verse one. Woe is me, for I'm like those who gather summer fruits, like those who glean vintage grapes. There is no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit which my soul desires.

Everything's that's pretty negative. Everything's rotten, Micah says. The faithful man I'm not really talking about fruit. I'm talking about people. The faithful man is perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood. Every man hunts his brother with a net that they may successfully do evil with both hands. The prince asks for gifts, the judge seeks a bribe, and the great man utters his evil desire, so they scheme together. The best of them is like a briar. The most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge.

Micah says, I give up. I can't find anybody who is faithful. Does that sound like there's any hope to find a faithful person in Judah? Can I hear your head rattle this way or that way? Does it sound like there's any hope to find a faithful person among the leaders of Judah?

Who is the next king, loved ones? It's Hezekiah. Micah searched, and I can't find anybody. And yet, a man is found. Micah sought a faithful man, and he finds one in Hezekiah.

Hezekiah, who, quite literally, according to the text, delayed the judgment of God on Judah by his faithfulness, by his leadership. So the question is, will you step up like that? Will you be found in the gap? You can make a difference in the church and in your family and in your workplace if you're willing to lead righteously. And the response might be, well, no one wants to follow me in leading righteously.

And my response to that is, respectfully, so what? You're called to lead anyway in service, in example, in sacrifice, in making decisions based on the word of God. As much as depends on you, lead for righteousness. That same one Joshua who replaced Moses at the end of his life, he too makes a similar comment that we all know well in Joshua 24 and verse 15. And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.

Whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua, as great as he was, could only have so much influence. But in that circle of influence, he knew how he was gonna lead. In your family, be that leader, servant, and example of what a Christian should be.

And that applies to the family of Joe Penn. That applies to the family of Lorraine Covets, and it and it applies to your family. Study god's word and encourage others to study with you. I saw that in Joe. He studied.

He taught, and he and Sandy were always asking people into their home. Are you studying? Are you teaching formally and informally? Or are you leaving that for others? And I think so often that's what we do.

We wait until we have to turn the page to step into those roles. May I encourage you to step into those roles now? Don't wait until it's pressed upon you and you have no choice. Do it now. And maybe you say, I'm not comfortable.

I'm not comfortable teaching. Well, you get more comfortable by doing. And furthermore, God has not called us to just do what is comfortable, what is easy, when everybody else is acting the way they should, when everybody else is doing what they should, and then I can do it as well. No. We must stand in the gap, whatever that is against.

Pray yourself and lead others in prayer. Prayer cannot become unintentionally taboo in your home. Take your spouse's hand and pray. Pray with your children in the car before school. Pray with your grandchildren when you pick them up and when you drop them off.

Pray with or at least in front of your friends in the cafeteria. Be a leader in prayer. Be a leader in service by being a servant yourself, starting with your family and your local church. Find ways to get your family focused on how you can serve others. Maybe it's, I'm gonna do one thing to serve each person in my immediate family this week, or I'm gonna pick one person from the prayer list this week, and I'm gonna do something for them, or I'm gonna reach out to someone who's lost a loved one because I know how it feels.

Be a leader in the local church. Stand up for the truth in love. Like Harold preached this morning, know the truth, which means knowing Jesus and imitating him and knowing the word and applying it to our lives. Can it be more simple than that, brethren? That I know Jesus Christ, that he is Lord and Christ, that I serve him and imitate him, and I know him because of the word that he has sent.

And I apply that word, that truth to my life. And expanding beyond our families and the church, be a leader in your job, a servant, and an example for what a Christian should be. Refuse to involve yourself in sinful behavior. Excuse yourself from the situation if necessary or better yet, avoid it the next time. Be the best worker you can possibly be because you work for the Lord.

Be the best boss you can possibly be because you have a master in heaven. And don't be afraid for others to know that you're a Christian, not because you wear it on your sleeve, because you consistently live it every day. And when someone has a spiritual question or spiritual crisis, to whom will they come if not the one who has lived a spiritual life in front of them? And you young people, as you move out and go to school, be a leader. That leader who isn't constantly making compromises with the world, instead, you're the one that others depend upon to stand for what is right, to be involved in the local church, and to check on the spiritual welfare of others.

And that applies this idea of standing in the gap to our collective leadership as people of God in this world too, as salt and light. God often spares the whole for the sake of the remnant, so let us all stand firm in the gap because who knows whether God might spare our nation or this world a little longer for the sake of his faithful people? God is seeking a man to take a stand of leadership before him. May he find one in you. Alright.

You're you're packing up your stuff. Go ahead and pack it up. Pack up the stuff. And then you stop packing up your stuff as soon as I say that. The page is turning from one generation to the next, and that's not new.

It's not unusual. That's the way of the world. Life under the sun and the vanity of physical life. And we must turn the page to stand in the gap as well to say, will be who God has called me to be. I will lead.

I will serve. I will teach, and I will learn. And as I look out across this group of people this evening, I see the people that God and Ezekiel were looking for, people who love the Lord their God, who imitate Jesus Christ, who are willing to stand in the gap. And, of course, that's what happened with Jesus. The page was turned from the law of Moses to that new covenant that he came to establish.

And Jesus stands in the gap before the father, giving us the opportunity to be saved by his blood and by his sacrifice. We have the opportunity to know the Lord our God and to stand before him justified, truly cleansed, forgiven in that great day of judgment when he comes again. And if you're not yet a Christian, we need you. We need you in this time and in this place, and God has called you to come in humble submission, to put Christ on in baptism and rise to walk in newness of life as one who stands in the gap and leads as God has called. And if we can help you with that, even tonight, won't you come while together we stand and while we sing?

There is coming a day