Living In The Gap: Job 22:26-30 Sermon

Understanding the concept of standing in the gap for others and for God

Exploring the importance of humility and faith in prayer

Discussing the role of Elijah as an example of standing in the gap

Emphasizing the power of prayer and the importance of trusting in God's will

You know, in Ezekiel, in the book of Ezekiel chapter 22 and 30, it says something very interesting. The Lord says, I looked for someone amongst them who would build up a wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. I read those words, and I've read those words many times, but I read those words, and it made me think about us as the church of the living God in this day and age right now in 2023, and I sit and I think, how many of us of God followers are willing to stand in the gap for our family, for our friends, for our church, and for our country? I say this simple question today, are you willing to stand in the gap? God looks for someone to stand in the gap. Are we willing? Or are we saying, you know what, that's just too much, Lord. That's just too much for me, Lord. I can't do it. I can't stand in the gap. Are we willing? Are we willing to live in the gap? Are we willing to be that? In Job chapter 22 and verse 26, we begin our reading and it says, For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. I love that. the almighty is our only hope my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness we dare not trust the sweetest frame but we wholly lean on Jesus name on Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand see the almighty is our only hope and he says I will lift up my face unto God I love what it says in Psalm chapter 121 in verse 1 when he says, I will lift up mine eyes into the hills. From whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord. That is so true. See, the Almighty is the only one that's going to bring us help. The Almighty is the only one that's going to bring us hope. The Almighty is the only one that can bring us healing. The Almighty is the only one that can save our soul. The Almighty is the only one that can build our churches. The Almighty is the only one that can fix what is wrong in this world. The Almighty is our hope. Hallelujah. I love it. Verse 27 says, Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him. Jehovah is the only one that can answer those prayers. Speaking of gap, people in the gap, I think of Elijah. Elijah was one that stood in the gap. You remember the amazing account of Elijah? I love it. his people, the people of God, the people of Israel were all falling for Baal. They all began to look at Baal and they began to say, look at the followers of Baal. They can at least see their God. Why can't we do that? And Elijah stood in the gap for God's people. And he said unto his people, he said, listen, there is but one God and it is Jehovah. And I'll tell you what, we'll go up against the prophets of Baal. We're going to build two altars. They're going to build an altar. We're going to build an altar. And we're going to both pray. They'll pray and we'll pray. And the God that answers by fire will be the God that you will serve. And they said, that sounds like a good idea to us. So they built the altars. And Elijah, being a fair man, he said, Alright, prophets of Baal, go ahead and go first. They began to pray and plead. and cut themselves and begging to God, Baal, to answer by fire. Yet nothing happened. Elijah was standing in the gap for God and for his people. And after they had their chance, Elijah said, Okay, enough's enough. Now it's my turn. Now it's God's turn. Now it's Jehovah's turn. And Elijah, standing in the gap for God's people and for God, He began to pray a very, very simple prayer of humbleness. And God answered by fire. Because Elijah was willing to stand in the gap. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee. I love that. Isaiah 65 and 24 says, Before they call, I will answer, and while they're yet speaking, I will hear. because God always hears. Sometimes we feel like God's not listening, but I'm here to tell you today, God always hears. God always answers. Now the problem is, a lot of times God's answer is not what we want to hear. Ain't that right? That's true. Sometimes God tells us the answer and it's sometimes no. And we don't want to hear that. We want the answer to always be yes. But God knows what's best for us. And sometimes God has to say no. But He always hears and answers our prayer. Hallelujah. I love that. He shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. If God was willing to pay all for us, shouldn't we be willing to pay a little bit for God by our service? I mean, that's the truth. I love what it says here. Sometimes we make a vow to God. Vow, Lord, I will be your follower. And then we don't follow through on the vow. Ecclesiastes 5 tells us it better not to vow than to vow and not pay See, God will always pay those vows. And we had better do our part as well. Verse 28 tells us something very interesting here. I love this. It says, Thou shalt also decree a thing. And it shall be established unto thee. It shall be established unto thee. I love what the Bible says. You know the verse as well as I do. Whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. That's the point. Whatever we decree, if you will, by the name of Jesus, it will be done by God in heaven. That's what it comes down to. Whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. We want to bind the idea of victory for our family and friends and churches. We want to bind the fact that, hey, we are going to have victory over Satan and people are going to be healed. Whatever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. I want what it continues here. It says, and the light shall shine upon thy ways. The light. Jesus said I am the way the truth and the light see he lights our way he is truth to our path and he is life to our immortal souls see some people don't realize that some day this world, this life is going to end. You'll have people sit there and say, oh, well, you know what? This is all there is. And as nice as life is, and sometimes it can be very nice and very beautiful, if this was all there was, that's pretty sad. But I'm here to tell you today there is another life. This is just a dress rehearsal. There is something greater on the horizon. There is something better on the horizon. Now the thing is, it is a better life on the horizon if you have Jesus. But if you have that thought that this is all there is, what you're going to live life after this life is not something you want. You will wish that this was all there was. Maybe I'm speaking to somebody watching the video today and they're sitting here and they're saying, you know what? I believe that, that there isn't nothing beyond this life, but I'm going to tell you something. You're going to wake up and you're going to look back and you're going to go, why didn't I listen? Why didn't I listen? There is something better. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by Him. He is the one that will light our way. He is the one that is the light to our souls. He's the one that will shine in the darkness that can sometimes be the hardships of life. Verse 29 says this When men are cast down They shall say There is lifting up And he shall save the humble person I love those words He shall save The humble person Why? Because prideful people cannot be saved Why can prideful people not be saved? Because they're too prideful The Bible literally says that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Meaning that a prideful person cannot be saved. Because they think they've got it all figured out right here. Right here. I was that person. I ran from the Lord. I was away from God because I was prideful. I thought I could figure it all out myself. And I tried. I tried in my own strength to do it on my own strength, to do it on my own. And I failed so completely miserably that there came a point where I had no other choice but to fall on my knees before God in humbleness. And that's when God reached down and lifted me up. But a prideful person cannot be saved. It's just not possible. Oh, but the humble The humble person that believes in God They will see God I love what it says When people When this person Sees me cast down There is a lifting up He lifts us up Out of the minery clay And sits our feet on a solid rock to stay I love it Many Now this is interesting When people see that what God has done for so many people, many people will be in awe and humble themselves before Him. Now, not the whole world. That's not going to happen. But many shall. I love it. We've just got to be those ones standing in the gap showing what God can do. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Verse 30 says, He shall deliver the island of the innocent. Jehovah shall deliver help to those that love Him. So often I'm amazed at people because you'll have people that never come to church. Never darken a church doorway. They never open God's Word. they never say a prayer to God oh but when trouble comes they get on the phone to someone that does and they begin to say oh please pray for me oh please have God do something for me oh please you know they do it they know where to come when there's trouble but they don't want to do it And I will say this And I not saying that God can touch people because of God people right God can do that But I will tell you this, God has no obligation to anyone that doesn't follow Him. He doesn't really have any obligation to any of us, but when we're children of the King, He loves us and He'll pour out the blessing upon us. But if we don't care about God, if we're not concerned about God, if we don't give two cents about God, don't never come to church, don't never read the Bible, don't never pray, don't never do nothing. Why do we honestly think these ones that do this think that they're going to get a blessing from God? God has no obligation. They're not children of the king. that's why I want to make sure I'm a child of the king that when I do have a trouble when there is a problem when there is a trial I can call on his name and he will hear and answer my prayers because he will deliver the island of the innocent I love that the island of the innocent Matthew 22 and verse 37 tells us you shall live the Lord your God or love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and all your mind. That's what we should do. We must love God more than we love ourselves. And that can be difficult sometimes. Because we know we love us. You know? We want to make sure we're taken care of. We want to make sure we got what we need. but we must put God before us you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind that's the way a Christian's mindset should be God first everything else afterwards he shall deliver the island of the innocent and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hand. He is the pure Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. And because of that pureness, that pure precious blood that flowed down Calvary's cross, It cleanses our hearts from sin and makes us pure. And Jesus said in Matthew 5 and verse 8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. See, that's what we need to do as Christians. We must stand in the gap. We must be pure in the heart to stand in the gap. Now when I thought about standing in the gap, there's so many people in the Bible that stood in the gap. And I could be here for days just talking about people that stood in the gap. But I didn't want to do all that because I'd be here forever. But I picked out four that really made me think about people that were willing to go above and beyond and stand in the gap. number one I thought of was Esther. See, we think about how horrible the Holocaust was, right? And it was a horrible event. Hitler destroying millions upon millions of Jewish people, taking them out of this world, right? Trying to exterminate the Jewish race. And we go, oh, how horrible an event it was. But it wasn't the first time that was ever thought of. When Esther became queen, there was a plot to kill all of the Jewish people, to exterminate them off of the face of the earth. She became queen, as it's said, for such a time as this, to help stand in the gap for the Israeli people to save their lives. What if she would have said, I can't do it? all the Jewish people would have been destroyed, including her. And then the Jewish race would have been exterminated. But she was willing to stand in the gap and do what she had to do. Talk about bravery. Brave lady. Willing to stand in the gap. number two I thought about was one we don't talk about a lot Barnabas now you probably look and you say Barnabas, now how did Barnabas stand in the gap well let's be honest here okay there was a young convert his name was Paul now Paul had a very checkered past okay Paul before he got saved he was Saul persecuting the church And when he came in and he said, I'm a Christian, people kind of had a little bit of doubts about him. They thought maybe this is a ploy. Maybe this is something that, you know, maybe he's trying to get in so that he can destroy us. Maybe we shouldn't believe him. But Barnabas took him under his wing. He stood in the gap and said, I'll take him along. I'll help. We'll work together. Barnabas saw in Paul A true change And said I'm going to stand in the gap I'm going to stand in the gap with Paul And we're going to be a blessing to the church Barnabas was willing to stand in the gap Number three One of my favorites Gideon I love the story of Gideon Gideon was told by God you're going to help destroy that humongous army and he gathered a bunch of people a good bunch of people they've still outnumbered but he got a good bunch of soldiers and God said to Gideon you got too many now let's be honest no soldier is going to sit there and say I got too many soldiers but God told Gideon you got too many you need to weed them down and he got them down to 300 men And he said now you got the right number Now Gideon could have said well you know what now, Lord, now that's just the numbers don't add up. And I can't do it. I can't go in against that humongous army with just 300 men because that number doesn't add up. With God, The numbers don't always add up, but it always adds up to victory. Amen. Somebody say amen. I'm telling you, that's the truth. And the numbers may not always add up, but with God, it always equals victory. Hallelujah. And that's exactly what happened. Gideon took his 300 men up against the humongous army. They never had to lift up a sword and they never had to fight at all. God fought on their behalf. Hallelujah. And God brought a victory because Gideon was willing to stand in the gap. Hallelujah. Then the final one I thought about was a woman named Deborah. Now Deborah was very interesting. See, because in a time when there were very, it was very, very bad for a woman to be a leader. Okay. And the church world, you know, in the early church and in the beginning of the Bible and through the early church, women were not saw as leaders. More or less, I mean, it's a horrible thing to even say, but it's true. More or less, it was women were more or less to be seen and not heard. And that's horrible, but that's true. but God called Deborah to be a prophet of the Lord. And she heard the answer of the call and she answered the call. She stood in the gap to God for God, to His people. She taught the word. She led the people and she stood in the gap to bring the people what they needed to hear from the Lord. But she was willing to look past the naysayers saying, women should be seen and not heard. And say, you know what, but God has asked me and I'm going to do what God asks me. Hallelujah. See, these men and women stood in the gap. And so many more are found in the Bible. Men and women that stood in the gap to see the blessing of God. today we need to stand in the gap we see so many in our church that need the blessing there are so many in our church that need a blessing there is a world filled with people that need the blessing of God and it is up to the church of the living God to stand in the gap and see the blessing of God but the thing is today Are we willing to be those ones that will stand in the gap? Now it's not going to be easy. Let's be honest. It's not going to be easy to stand in the gap. Maybe there will be battles like Gideon had to face. Maybe there will be naysayers like Deborah had to face. Maybe there will be people that will be saying, Well, I don't know about that one. like Barnabas. Or maybe it will even be a horrible, horrible type of event. Something like Esther had to face. But the point is, we must be strong Christians that stand in the gap and say, we will not give up, we will not give in, we are lifting up the hands of those that need a blessing and we will not quit until we see the blessing of God. This is our goal. This is our purpose as the church of the living God to be those ones that stand in the gap for our family, our friends, our church, and our country. But it is up to us. It is up to us. We must be willing. And I say today, I'm not going to ask you to call it out loud, but I want you to think in your mind and in your heart today. Are you willing to be the one that stands in the gap for your family, your friends, for your church, and for your country? Are you willing to be the one that goes on their behalf, the country, the church, family and friends' behalf, and pray for them and plead to God for them until they see the blessing? Are you willing or are you a little weak? Would you sit there and say, well, I'll do it for a little bit. and if you say I'll do it for a little bit that's not enough it's not enough because we cannot get weary in what? well doing that's what the Bible says let's not be weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not. If we are willing to be the gap, be those ones standing in the gap. I'm willing to stand in the gap for my church. I'm willing to stand in the gap for my family and friends. I'm willing to stand in the gap for those that need healing. I'm willing to stand in the gap for my country. I'm willing to stand in the gap and pray. Are you willing to stand in the gap today? Amen, if you're willing you'll see the blessing Thank you. you

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