Standing in the Gap: A Call to Leadership in Faith

Again this afternoon.

It's good to have Brother Danny Morrow, the pastor of the Fundamental

Baptist Church in Springtown, Texas.

Brother Danny and Ms.

Claudia were again charter members here at the church.

Brother Morrow, if I remember right, I believe I do.

Taught our first, well, adult class.

He taught the main class when we first started in the storefront

and fulfilled many other roles as well as Ms.

Claudia did as well.

And appreciate them and their family.

What a blessing, an amazing blessing their family has been to

our family.

And lots of stories I could tell.

And if he decides to say anything, he can.

But, Brother Mara, you come on, you preach to us this afternoon.

Thank you, my man.

Well, I want to just say thank you for allowing me to be here today.

Brother Crawford said something while ago, about 24 years.

Honey, I don't want to break your heart or anything, but I've

got socks older than that now.

Thank you so much again for the opportunity to be here today.

Being out here brings back so many different memories.

Memories of when this was just a plot of land.

Big dreams and even bigger prayer brings all of this to this.

It was a lot of work.

And that work has maintained and this church, this service has

maintained and kept.

Kept that location, kept that word and had God and had the Lord

Jesus Christ and had a man that was set to have a wonderful

church, which he has developed.

You know, we have known the Crawfords for What, close to 30 years?

It's hard to believe, but back then I was younger than him, so he's

grown up a little bit.

I am reminded of Joseph when he said, fear not, for am I in the

place of God.

But as for you, ye sought evil against me, but God meant God meant

it to be good, to bring to pass.

And it is this day that he saved much people alive.

Genesis 50, verses 19 and 20.

Genesis 50:19

Now, this is not my message in any way.

This is just kind of a starter.

I am reminded of Joseph and what he has accomplished.

It is exciting to see how God has used Brother Crawford and has

blessed him and in turn, has blessed this church.

I love.

I love this man.

First time I ever saw him, I thought, oh, no, just another kid.

But he proved me wrong.

I love this man, and I'm honored that he would even bother

to call.

But I'm glad he did.

Now, if you'll open your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel

22.

We will pray before we read God's word.

Our Heavenly Father, we do come to you this morning, and we're

so grateful and thankful for the many things that you've given

unto us this as a church.

It is a wonderful thing to see and to see so much of something that

has developed over a period of time because of a man that had an

ambition, because of a man that knew what needed to be done,

and he did it.

And I'm so grateful that he would even bother to call me, but.

But I'm so elated, so happy that he did.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Let's look at Ezekiel 22, verses 23 through 30.

Ezekiel 22:23–30

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, son of man, say

unto her, thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained

upon it in the day of indignation.

There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like

a roaring lion ravaging the prey, they have devoured souls.

They have taken the treasure and opened things that they made

that they had.

They have made her many widows in the midst thereof.

Her priests are violent my law, and have profaned mine Holy

things.

They have put no difference between the holy and the profane.

Neither have they showed difference between the unclean and

the clean.

Have laid their eyes from the Sabbath, and I am profaned among

them.

Her princes.

Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravaging

for ravaging, for ravaging the prey.

Excuse me, I'm a little.

I'm a little nervous, but I'm going to do my best here.

All right.

Like wolves ravaging the prey to shed blood and to destroy souls

to get honest gain.

And her prophets have dubbed them with untempered mortar, seeing

vanity and divining lies with them, saying, thus saith the Lord

God, when the Lord hath not spoken the pekal, the people of the

land, have used oppression and wrongfully.

And I sought of a man among them that should make up the hedge

and stand in the gap before me for the land, and I should not destroy

it.

But I found none.

God makes a stunning statement in these verses.

There is one left to stand in the gap, one more to stand in the

gap of Israel.

Just one.

That's what God is saying here.

What does this passage tell us about the shortcoming of the people,

the people of God and the prophets of God.

In that day, the corruption within Jerusalem made judgment inevitable.

If we read the whole chapter, we would see specific sins that are

mentioned.

Sins such as idolatry, misuse of power, a lack of respect, neglect

of widows and orphans, destination of the sabbath, incest,

bribery.

There's sins everywhere you look any direction, whichever turn

you make there's sin there.

Throughout the chapter that we've just read, there is reference

to the violence that filled the city.

The violence and the shedding of innocent blood.

Let's look at verse 26 and 28 one more time.

Her priests have violated my law and have profaned mine holy things.

They have put no difference between the holy and the profane.

Neither have they showed differences between the unclean and

the clean, and have hid their eyes from my Sabbath, and I am profaned

among them.

And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing

vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, thus saith the Lord,

when the Lord hath not spoken.

Hmm.

Put words in somebody's mouth.

And God didn't say that these priests fell to instruct the people

in the law and how they showed no difference between the holy and

the profane.

Definition of profane is disrespect toward sacred things.

Disrespect toward sacred things.

These false prophets also proclaimed lies in the name of the

Lord.

False prophets, and they were telling, teaching, speaking things

that just weren't true.

Lies in the name of the Lord.

Sound familiar?

Doesn't sounds a lot like what is going on in many of the churches

in our country today.

What Ezekiel tells us here is that religious knowledge and authority,

that's no guarantee of faithfulness.

This definitely includes some of today's pastors, ministers, and

those in religious authority in some way or another.

There's lots that's going in in different directions.

That's not following God's word, but they're working in the

middle of it anyway.

A couple of examples of this kind of leader are the fact that

many of our pastors and ministers, they are more concerned

with pleasing people than they are pleasing God.

We think, we sit here, stand here, and we think, well, why do

we need to have God?

Why do we need to please God?

God pleases everything.

He is the pleaser, and he wants us to be a pleaser too.

If we avoid God, we want to stay away from those decisions about

making people pleasers or not.

I'll always say, be on God's side.

Do what God says.

God's word that he has given unto us.

We look upon a lot of times with, what does that say?

Well, it says a lot if you'll just listen to it or read it.

It's a good thing.

Many religious leaders, they're more capable, more willing

to please people than to please God.

I said that twice because it needed to be said.

God's people needs to be holding hands, hand in hand, and

wanting to please God more than pleasing people.

It may be that the pastor feels his job is in jeopardy, or

one of these pastors that may be in need of treading lightly or

certain truths, or congregations that may get angry

at him, with him.

Don't worry about the people so much.

Of course we want to love them, care for them, care for you,

provide for you in any means that we can.

But God says, first, take care, don't get angry.

And these pastors, they were people pleasers.

And also I think they were, could be titled king pleasers.

Now, another example of this is that in our nation, people, people

in our nation, we don't have a king.

We don't.

We don't have a king.

But the principle of the fact is the same.

Back in Ezekiel's day, the priest might have wanted to say whatever

was going to make the king happy.

It didn't mean, didn't seem to mean to the people of the world that

they wasn't so concerned about what God wanted.

They were more concerned about what the king wanted.

The king is not going to save you.

The king is not going to take you into heaven.

And we don't even have a king, but we certainly don't need him.

So when, you know, the king wants a certain thing, they want

to prove that God will just happen and it will be the same as

the king.

Instead of looking and seeing and having God's word at your fingertips

and not reading and looking and being a part of it, they have

their eyes on wanting to please the king.

And they're not so, you know, they're not so compared with what

God wants them to do.

Well, again, I say America needs a God.

America does not lead.

A king does not need a king.

But thanks be unto God, we have a God.

And as we follow him and things develop, good, good things

will start.

I can remember years ago we used to have on Halloween some games

and candies and all of that that was taking place, I think probably

on this piece of ground right here.

It wasn't too far away.

And we brought our grandkids over here and our kids, and it was

a ball.

It was fun.

But that being as it is, greater things prevailed, greater

things worked, more people appeared and more of God and more

of God's word and more of God's authority set in place and

all took well.

If they see that certain things gets approval from powerful

people, they figure out ways to make that God's will so that it

elevates them.

This is again the leaders, the so called kings.

They want to build themselves up and the people below him.

He just loves to hear people pat him on the back and praise him

and tell him about what wonderful things that he's accomplished

when he hasn't accomplished anything.

It's God's word.

It is God's word.

It is God's way.

And it's our, our work to be able to share what God has given

unto us.

Let's don't hide it.

Let's let somebody else hear it.

Let's let somebody else know what it looks like, what it feels

like.

This is what God has done for us.

These people convince themselves that anything that brings

in more people and more tithes, that's got to be God's will.

I don't think God's cared much about money.

He cares about those people.

But tithes and offerings are good to support the church.

But God don't care.

He don't need it.

And he's all there for us.

We care.

We care for ourselves.

I walked in that lunch room just a little bit ago and the first

thing that caught my eye was these babies and the moms and the

dads that were holding those babies.

I was flabbergasted because that mama and dad that was holding

that baby, I was holding them back in the day, you know it.

And they look so much like their mom and dad.

You thought I was gonna say something ugly.

No, they were beautiful.

Just like their parents were and like their parents still are.

And God bless them.

One has his headquarters right down the road.

One of these persons, one of these people, one of these churches

that gain and have headquarters and the things that

they teach and the way that they teach it.

One has a headquarters just right down the road in Newark.

And then there's a mega church in Houston that seem to work along

that same pattern.

More concerned with what unfolds for the people.

And they kind of forget God, remember what God is, Remember what,

where God is, what we can do, what we need to have for him.

That makes a totally different deliverance in a church.

Trying to be nice now, whenever we feel uncertain, do we

go to a human being, somebody that we just happen to meet and try

to talk to them and let them help you.

Why don't you try just one or two times when it gets time to go

to bed, get down on your knees and pray and see how much which one

works the best.

And got this little habit that I've used for several years.

We've got a Cement patio out there and a table and nice soft chairs,

and it's my.

I love.

Whenever I get out of bed, the first thing I do is I'll get my Bible

and the.

Well, I'll go outside and I'll pray.

I pray for our church.

I pray for those that are members of our church that are having

struggles and problems.

And I just take whatever time it takes for me to listen, to pray

to God.

And then as time goes on, I make it a habit.

I pray unto the Lord God on a daily basis on the patio with the

light on, with just me and Gus.

Gus is my dog.

He.

He begs a lot, but he's okay.

But I love going out on the patio.

Sun's not up.

It's still dark.

I turned that light on, and I do a lot of talking, and God does

a lot of listening, and he's got room for it, and he hears us.

Ezekiel 22:30 is kind of the main point of my message tonight,

Ezekiel 22:30

this evening, whatever it is.

And I sought for a man among them that should make.

That should make up the hedge and stand in the gap.

They're looking for a man that will stand in the gap.

The gap is the point between two walls.

It's like a door.

And who's going to be there to tend it?

Nobody.

I sought a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand

in the gap to be the one that says, no, you don't need to go this

way.

Go that way before me for the land that I should not destroy it.

But I found none.

Ezekiel was looking.

He sought to find a man, but he couldn't find one.

There wasn't one available.

He says here at the end of that verse 30.

But I found none.

There wasn't anybody that he could find that would work in that

position.

We've got too many churches that don't have men that will fill

up that gap.

The average American church is far from what it should be and not

able to stand in the gap.

They want to be here.

They want to be part of it.

They want to have a good lunch.

They want to have all of that.

But first off, fill the gap.

Take what God has given unto us, and let God take control.

I wish.

I wish, wish.

I pray.

I pray more and more and more that people would take what God has

extended instead of doing it and having it for their own selves.

We see many religious leaders in America saying that the current

goal of the American church should be to regain political power

instead of influence.

Which would you rather have Political power or influence?

Ha.

You know the answer to that question.

That is not and never was supposed to be the purpose of the

church.

The church wasn't here for that.

The church was here on behalf of God.

Our sole purpose should be focused on winning souls.

To take what God has given unto us and share it with somebody

else.

That's the best thing you could ever be able to do.

You will receive rewards when you reach heaven for what we have

followed, for what we have done.

Who will be the one to stand in the gap for Israel and point them

back toward God?

The answer is a sad one.

There was no one.

There was no one to fill the gap.

The wall was in despair because there was no one who could

lead the people back to God.

It's shameful that they even left God.

But it is even worse whenever we come to the point that we want

to find somebody that would return.

The wall was in despair because there was no one who would

lead the people back to God.

That's our number one goal.

Lead these people in this community, in this world, in this

country.

Let them have that beautiful gift that I'm sure most everybody

in here obtains that they have.

The fact that they have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as

their savior.

That is valuable.

It's a horrible place to be when you're not even ready and you

don't even want to fill the gap.

Somebody's got to do the work.

There are.

There's a few pastors like the one you've got in a church like this.

This church has stood faithfully for 24 years, and it stands

here and it stands in the gap to lead others to Christ.

That's the purpose.

This is the work that we have taken, is to take that task that

God has presented unto us and fill in that gap so that others can

know about Christ.

Standing in the gap is not easy.

As a matter of fact, it can be hard and it can be unpopular.

But God needs someone to do it.

There's somebody somewhere that's got enough gumption to get

up and do that job.

By the way.

You got one.

Just take that for what it's worth.

And it's worth quite a deal.

Just as Moses stood in the gap of Israel, Jesus stands in the gap

for us.

All we have to do is trust him.

Him being God.

That's who we're referring to.

Just like in Ezekiel's day, God is looking for individuals to

stand in the gap today, someone who can lead others to him.

That is very important.

The only way we can truly do.

That is if we have accepted Christ as our Savior and that we

live a life that is pleasing to him.

Pleasing not to somebody else, but pleasing to God.

Please, God, with all your heart and mind.

And your life will be so different and so good.

Our time is getting short, so let me here today during the invitation.

If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, today would

be a perfect time.

We've got people sitting here in these chairs that would love to

be able to open God's word and present unto you that special gift

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And why and what would we do if we should do that?

Well, you could just live forever.

That might help you along.

Don't delay.

That important decision to where you will spend eternity is

based upon the decision that you make today.

You can accept God, you can accept the Lord Jesus Christ, or

you can walk away.

I want to live for an eternity and I want everybody else to go with

me.

Buckle up, tighten up, fill up the gap, and let's go to heaven.

I'll close.

My time is over.

And I'm going to turn the service over to Mr.

Crawford.

But I'm going to pray before I leave.

Let's pray, please.