A man to stand in the gap!

Notes from a sermon on 13 November 2011

Ezekiel 22 verse 23 – 31

“And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.” Ezekiel 22 verse 30

One of the most famous faces and one that is most distinguished and well known is Lord Kitchener during the term of World War I. On many posters he was depicted looking out with his army cap and finger pointing out. The caption on the poster said “your country needs you”. Those were years of crisis and many answered the call and went forth and fought for freedom. The freedom of future generations. What a call that was – to secure our future to lift up the word of God, to read and study it, to come together and worship and pray. What a tremendous blessing that is and if you haven’t experienced that for yourself ask God to make it real to you today.

In this chapter God sees the condition of the nation in Ezekiel’s time. The nation was in crisis. It is the God of heaven who sends out a call in verse 30. There have been many men who have gone out to fight in wars down through the years, to fight against dictators and tyrants. In this chapter we see a call from God to send out someone. That call is the same today. God is calling for a man or woman to do battle against the powers of darkness. God is reaching down into fellowships and putting his finger on individuals and is saying “I need you, will you go forth, will you do battle for me?” There will be a great sacrifice. What are the qualifications God requires from the person God wants to use today?

That man or woman needs to be firstly sensitive. What to? To the voice of God. You going to have to be listening, to get beyond the sacred page, beyond the voice of the preacher. Just like Elijah as he listened in the cave so long ago. He heard the thunder, saw the lightning and fire but God wasn’t in any of these. God was in the still small voice. Sometimes we believe God comes in the emotional rising of a meeting yet God comes in the still small voice. Have you heard that still small voice today? We have to be sensitive. This was a dark hour for the nation. Israel was beginning to break up. Ephraim had gone into captivity and now Judah was on the brink of disaster. Can God get our attention today? Are we in the position that we might hear the voice of God today? A man in touch with God through these troubled times. Listening to God, sensitive to all that is happening around us? Someone who will lift up his voice to God for the nation and turn the tide. In chapter 22 we see a nation turned from God right from the top to the bottom. The kings, prophets, priests, landowners and rich men had turned away from God. They wanted nothing more to do with God. They had turned their backs on God. They had gone through a time of prosperity and didn’t need God any longer. Verse 12 speaks of the greed and deception in the nation. Verses 3 and 4 speaks of turning to idols. Verses 10 and 11 speaks of sexual immorality. This was the God who had taken them out of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the land of Canaan. It was a land of great riches and prosperity. Israel grew rich day by day, year by year and they forgot about God. That could happen in our lives today. We could go through a time of ease, prosperity, a time of good things, a time when we find we don’t need God. Hezekiah was a young man who became king at 16 years of age. God strengthened him through his years but in old age his head was lifted up to pride and his heart was turned from the God of heaven. When God took his people into the promised land he gave them a warning – be careful in case you forget your God (Joshua 24 verse 20). There was a false message going out. The priests said everything was alright. The princes were causing wars here there and everywhere. The rich were gathering in a harvest but refusing to pay the wages of the people who worked for them. The people were spiritually dead to Christ. The answer lay in only one person if could find him. A man who could pray. God is still looking for that man today, who will get before God in honest prayer. An intercessor who will pray for the needs of the people, to see God moving in a meeting with reviving power. God wants to open our eyes today that we might have a realisation of what is happening in our nation. Habakkuk was spoken to by God. He had opened his eyes but needed to bring his needs to God in prayer. God wants a sensitive man or woman just to listen to God’s voice today. There is a spiritual battle going on today. The god of this world has blinded the eyes of people to the things of God.

Got wants a separated man or woman. The appeal during World War 1 was for young people to step out as their country needed them. For them to leave their family, nation, land and go to foreign fields to do battle. They had to be separated. God is seeking for a separated man to do battle to stand against the enemy of this day. A man like Isaiah the prophet. One day as he stood in the temple he saw the Lord as never seen before. He described it this way “I saw the Lord high and lifted up and his train filled the temple.” The doorposts shook in Isaiah’s temple. Isaiah heard God’s voice and knew he was being asked to do something. “Whom shall I send and who will go for me?”(verse 8) what did Isaiah say “woe is me for I am undone.”(verse 5) God was showing him his heart. That is what has to happen. He also shows Isaiah the Lord and his sacrifice. We must be saved, have sins forgiven at the cross of Calvary. There is no other way. Isaiah had that experience. He went on to say “I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” He went on to say “here am I send me.” Isaiah had to be separated, enlightened to everything that would stop him from serving the God of heaven. Isaiah asked to put his own future in the hands of God. Remember the widow woman Elijah visited. She hadn’t anything left in her barrel but a small portion for her and her son. God told her to sustain the prophet Elijah and she said yes to the Lord. She had to put her next day in the hands of God. Maybe it is not like that for us, we know what will be on our table tomorrow and the next day. This woman didn’t – she baked a cake and before feeding herself she gave to Elijah first. That is what God is asking us to do. Lay our all on the altar for the Lord. There was only one widow who God could use although there were many widows living in Elijah’s land. Are we willing to be separated for the work of God?

The man or woman needs to be sympathetic to the needs of others. The verse clearly asks for one to “stand in the gap before me for the land.” The man needs to feel for the needs of others. Jonah heard the call of God and surrendered to his call. He was separated by God to go to Nineveh. He wasn’t sympathetic to their needs, rather he was willing to stand back and let them be lost. The person God is choosing needs to bring everything to God. John Knox was a mighty man of prayer. Mary Queen of Scots said of him that she didn’t fear the armies of Europe as much as she feared John Knox on his knees before God. In his last hours on earth John Knox spent his time on his knees in prayer. He told his friends “I am going to battle for the church.” Battles start when we get on our knees before God. Are we sympathetic to the needs of others? In Daniel 10 we read that Daniel spent 3 weeks on his knees before God. Nehemiah went down to the people of Jerusalem to build the walls again. Daniel preferred to stay in Babylon while this was happening. Why did he stay there? “I ate no pleasant bread neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” At the end of the time an angel came to him and said “Fear not, Daniel for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God thy words were heard …” The angel went on to tell Daniel however that he had a great battle in heaven to get to Daniel and tell him this. Nehemiah had to go forth and build but needed Daniel to pray. The church of God goes out to reach men and women but they need the prayers of others. The price of prayer is to drive forth the mighty battle. It takes a Daniel to pray like this.

God needs a steadfast and a strong man or woman. Paul talks about putting on the whole armour of God “having done all to stand, stand therefore …”(Ephesians 6 verses 13 and 14)

We will need to stand steadfast knowing what God has called us to. Jeremiah was put in prison, accused, lied about, criticised but he stood his ground.

The scarcity of the man of God. God was looking for one man but he found none. Will we answer the call of God to step out, to do his biding? Don’t underestimate your decision today.