Thank you for speaking in the quietness of this
place. We want to hear your voice. Help us to
know how we can partner with you and stand in
the gap to win a lost world to your cause. In
Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The year was 509 B
.C. The Etruscan army was bearing down upon the
city of Rome. This was in the days of Rome's
infancy. before they became the mighty nation,
the empire we read about in history books. The
Etruscans numbered in the tens of thousands.
Their swords and their spears gleamed in the
afternoon sun. On the other hand, the Roman army
was just a little ragtag team. They retreated
inside the city walls, locked the gates like
a dog with its tail between its legs. There was
only one thing. that stood between the Etruscans
and sure victory. They had to pass over the Tiber
River that was made out of stout beams. There
was only one ghost of a chance the Romans had
to save their city, and that was to cut away
the bridge before the Etruscan army got to it.
So it was a race against time. The Etruscans
coming closer and closer to the foot of that
bridge. The Roman soldiers had their axes out.
Chips flying, trying to cut away the bridge before
the Etruscans reached the foot of that bridge.
Soon it was apparent there would not be enough
time to complete their task. And a young Roman
soldier by the name of Horatius, he stood in
the gap between the oncoming Etruscans and the
foot of that bridge. And he unsheathed his sword.
and began to swing left and right, manfully cutting
down soldier after soldier, fighting for what
seemed like hours. His muscles ached. He felt
the sting of the sword as he tried to glance
those swords off. He did not retreat. He did
not give up. He kept fighting, defending the
foot of that bridge until finally he heard the
creak and groan of that bridge as it swept into
the river. Rome was saved that day because of
one man who stood in the gap. I want to talk
about standing in the gap today. We're going
to talk about intercessory prayer. And this will
lead into what each of us can do to prepare for
the evangelistic meeting starting on October
24th. This morning I'd like for us to look at
our key passage, Ezekiel. Ezekiel, we're going
to be looking at several passages this morning,
but if you would begin in Ezekiel chapter 22.
Ezekiel is one of those heavyweight prophets.
Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 30. Please look
at your Bible. I want you to see this powerful
passage about standing in the gap. How many of
you have heard that expression, standing in the
gap? Well, you know that's a biblical term. It's
right here in Ezekiel 22, verse 30. Before we
get there, I want us to glance just quickly at
the first 16 verses. God has an indictment against
His people. Rather than being faithful, rather
than exercising fidelity to the covenant relationship,
they have broken every one of the Ten Commandments.
If you just flow through the first 16 verses,
I've actually written, Pastor Greg, in the margin
of my Bible, here's number six that they broke.
They were a bloodthirsty city. Then on and on,
they cursed God's name. Rather than honoring
their parents, they defamed their parents. In
verse 8 there, it says they profaned the Sabbath.
And on and on, they broke every one of these
Ten Commandments. And God was having to... Remove
his hedge of protection and allow the Babylonian
army to come in and decimate the city and for
the people, the citizens, to be carted off into
Babylonian exile. But before allowing such stringent
measures to take place, God first looked across
the land looking for someone who would stand
in the gap so that his judgment could be averted.
So let's look at verse 30 now. Verse 30. God
speaking, so I sought for a man among them who
would make a wall and stand in the gap. There's
that phrase before me on behalf of the land that
I should not destroy it, but I found how many.
Isn't that a sad commentary? No one. Out of the
hundreds and thousands, of Israelites, God could
not find a single person who was standing in
the gap and interceding in behalf of a wayward
nation. And so God had to allow judgment to fall.
Standing in the gap, standing in the gap, I believe
that the enemy comes in today like a flood. It
says that in... Isaiah chapter 59, verse 16.
Have you seen it? The enemy comes in after your
roommate. The enemy comes in after your family,
after your spouse, after your work associate,
after your neighbor. There's all kinds of heartache
and woe. We live in an age of uncertainty. Just
this past week, Wednesday, we had an individual,
Charlie Kirk, that was assassined by an assassin's
bullet. We live in a crazy age, and the devil
is trying to take this generation down, and God
is looking for individuals who will stand in
the gap. What does that mean, stand in the gap?
Do you know in antiquity, their cities were much
different than today, obviously. But the cities
were not like Atlanta, Nashville, Chattanooga.
Back in that day, their cities had high... fortress
walls around them to keep the enemy out, right?
And so watchmen would stand on the wall. They
would look out and see if there was an encroaching
enemy. And if there were, they would have to
give the trumpet a distinctive sound. And all
the individuals that lived out in the rural,
they would scurry their families into the city,
close the wall, close the gates, lock those gates.
so that they could be safe from the enemy. The
enemy would often besiege the city. They would
cut off the supply line. They would cut off the
water source. But they would also come with their
battering rams and pound, pound after pound,
those city walls. And sometimes they would penetrate
the wall and make a breach, a hole, a gap in
the wall. In that instance, the defenders of
the city, A brave soldier would have to stand
in that gap, draw his sword, and say over my
dead body, are you going to come in and take
out my family and my fellow citizens? Over my
dead body. You see the visual, standing in the
gap. I believe God is calling us to stand in
the gap in prayer. There are many illustrations
in the Bible. of individuals that were intercessory
prayer warriors. Now here's where a little bit
of the professor comes out in me. I want you
to turn to your seatmate. Turn to someone next
to you. Who is an example in the Bible of an
intercessory prayer warrior? I'm going to give
you 20 seconds, 20 seconds to share with your
neighbor. Who is an example? of an intercessory
prayer warrior. Okay. Time's up. I wear hearing
aids. You're going to really have to yell this
out. Raise your hand. I'll kind of look at where
your hand is. Who is an example of an intercessory
prayer warrior? Yes. Abraham. Who else? Over
here. Daniel. Job. In the back, right behind
Maria first. Yes. Paul. Maria. David. Okay. Over
here. Moses. Man, you are getting all the ones
I'm thinking of. Way in the corner. Hannah. I
love that. I'm glad you mentioned a lady. Yes,
one more. Jesus. Oh, my. All the examples that
I thought of this morning. You got every one
of those. So let's just take a look. I want to
start with Moses. Let's start with Moses. Didn't
we just talk about Moses this morning in Sabbath
School lesson? This goes right along with what
Cindy was teaching this morning in our Sabbath
School class. Turn to, rather than the Exodus
32 story, I want you to turn to Psalms. Psalms
106. Psalms 106, the psalmist makes a reference
to this incident where Moses stood in the gap.
Psalms 106, and let's begin reading with verse
19. Are you ready? They, the Israelites, made
a calf in Horeb and worshipped the molded image.
Now, when Moses went up to the top of Sinai,
he was gone for 40 days, 40 nights. He went there
to get the sacred tablet, the ultimate expression
of God's covenant with humanity. And while he
was gone, the Israelites were fasting and praying,
right? Right? No, they weren't. They were dancing
around, having a sexual orgy, dancing around
in nudity around this golden calf with... The
music blaring. In fact, it was so loud, the music,
that when Moses and Joshua stepped off the summit,
Joshua said, I hear the sound of battle. That's
how powerful and loud the beat was in this music
that was going on. And God had a conversation
with Moses. Verse 23. Therefore he, God, said
that he would do what? Destroy them had not Moses,
his chosen one, stood before him in the what?
In the breach or the gap. That word in the Hebrew
is paretz. It's the same exact word used back
in Ezekiel 22, verse 30. God looked for someone,
someone who would stand in the gap. And right
here we have an example, a biblical example of
Moses who said, God, God, think about what the
nations, the surrounding nations will think if
you take your people out. I want your name to
be honored, not shamed. And if you're going to
take them out, take my name out too. Take my
name out too. Now let's quickly digress. God
is not a God. of anger and wrath. But you know,
he is the life giver. And just like a little
growing embryo fetus in the mother's womb has
to be attached with that umbilical cord to stay
alive, if we separate ourselves from the life
giver, what are the consequences? Death. And
so by their very actions, they were breaking
the covenant. They were chasing after the Canaanite
idols. They were worshiping this golden calf
rather than connecting themselves with God. And
the consequence is death. And Moses stood in
the gap and said, God, please let me die in their
place. A direct type of what Jesus would later
do. I praise God for that. Someone mentioned
Abraham. When the three angels, the pre -incarnate
Christ and his two angelic hosts came down to
Abraham's tent, they were on their way on a mission,
right? They were going to Sodom and Gomorrah.
Those cities, those degenerate cities of the
plain were about to be incinerated. And the pre
-incarnate Christ talked with his friend Abraham
and said, this is what I'm about to do. Please,
if there's 50 righteous, won't you spare it?
Lord, if there's 45, 40, 30, 20, 10, if there's
just 10 righteous in that great sinful metroplex,
won't you spare it? There were not 10 righteous
in that big urban center. That's a sad commentary.
Some of you mentioned Daniel. He recognized by
the prophecy of Jeremiah, a colleague of his,
that the days of exile were about completed.
Seventy years you will go into Babylonian exile.
It was year 68. And in Daniel chapter 9, he looks
at the prophetic time clock and he says, Wow,
we're about to be released, but that was conditional
upon repentance. And Daniel looked around. He
didn't see any repentance and obedience. So he
stood in the gap and said, God, we have transgressed.
We have sinned. And because Daniel stood in the
gap, I believe, on the fact of his repentance
and his obedience, the Israelites were released.
He stood in the gap. Praise God for that. Another
example I don't think was mentioned, but was
Elijah. Elijah. Did anyone mention Elijah? All
right. It says in James chapter 5 that an Old
Testament example of an effective, fervent prayer
warrior is Elijah who prayed and it stopped raining.
He prayed again and rain resumed. But look back
at 1 Kings quickly. 1 Kings chapter 17. There's
a remarkable story of Elijah standing in the
gap and praying. Do you remember when he stayed
with the widow of Zarephath? And she willingly
gave up her bread and so forth. This woman had
a son, and this son became deathly ill and died.
We read the story there in 1 Corinthians 17.
And it's amazing. It's amazing what happened.
Look at verse 19. He said to her, Give me your
son. So he took him out of her arms and carried
him where? The upper room. Let that sink in.
Can you picture Elijah scooping up that ashen
white boy, that limp son, dead, carrying him
up the steps to the upper room, and he laid that
little boy out on the little cot. And he prayed,
God, restore the life of this boy. Nothing. God,
please restore the life of this boy. Nothing.
A third time. God, please restore his life. And
that little boy opened his eyes, coughed, sat
up. And that little boy went dead into the upper
room. He came down alive. It hit me the other
day that we can carry our dead loved ones in
our arms to the upper room of prayer. Father,
would you please revive the soul of my brother?
He's dead. He's dead. He's been dead for 38 years.
He's been away from you. Lord, would you please
revive the soul of my neighbor, my work colleague?
You put my roommate. You put that name in that
slot. God, would you please restore their life?
And I believe our loved ones go dead in the upper
room. They came out alive. This gives me courage
to pray. The prayer of one. The prayer of one.
Ladies and gentlemen, the prayer of one makes
an eternal difference. Yes, there's power in
collective prayer. There's power in corporate
prayer. There's power when we come together,
assemble together as a united family of God and
intercede together. But in these examples, every
one of them, the prayer of one person makes an
eternal difference. And I believe that God is
asking us to pray. As these meetings are coming,
October 24th, we can lift up the people around
us and say, God, please do something. in their
lives. Use me as an instrument. Use me as a vessel
to reach out and invite them to come. Now, I
believe the most powerful example. Who said Jesus?
Someone said Jesus. Yes. Jesus is the most, the
greatest example of an intercessory prayer warrior.
What does it say in Hebrews 7 .25? He ever lives
to make what? Intercession. And when we pray,
we're not praying alone. We're not praying in
isolation like we used to have to hovel in COVID,
you know, being socially isolated. But when we
pray, we are joining Jesus, the most powerful
prayer warrior there's ever been. Look at Isaiah
59. Isaiah 59. This is a powerful reference to
Jesus, our mighty prayer warrior. Isaiah chapter
59. This is a stark chapter. Wow, just the context.
Look at Isaiah 59, verse 2. Are you guys there?
I want you to see this in your Bible. Boy, when
we get to verse 16, this will blow you away.
All right, but starting chapter 59, verse 2,
it talks about the deplorable condition we find
ourselves in. Verse 2 says, but your iniquities
have separated you from your God. Your sins have
hidden his face from you. It says down in verse
10, we stumble as dead people. It says in verse
11, the end of the verse, salvation is what?
Far from us because our sins, our transgressions,
our iniquities have separated us from him. So
seeing this damnable situation, Jesus... The
incarnate Jesus steps up to the Father and has
a conversation. Look at verse 16. This is amazing.
Verse 16. He, Jesus, saw that there was no man.
Now, does that sound like Ezekiel 2230? God looked.
He looked. He looked across the land to see if
there was anyone who would stand in the gap.
He found no man. Jesus saw the same situation,
verse 16. He saw that there was no man and wondered
that there was no intercessor. So then it keeps
saying there, he stepped forward. Jesus stepped
forward. He said, Father, I'll become that man.
And Jesus became the incarnate, God in the flesh.
He walked in our shoes. He healed and touched
in our cities. He walked in our streets. And
eventually, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he began
to assume the collective weight of the sins of
the world. My sin, your sin, was pressed upon
his frame. And Luke 22, 44 says, it was so oppressive
and so heavy, he sweat as it were, dropped the
blood. Jesus took on the helmet of salvation
and the sword and the shield and he became the
heavenly Horatius who stood in the gap, who stood
in the gap between a holy God and an imperfect
people. Not that he had to beg God to save this
people. But God the Father, God the Son, God
the Holy Spirit all joined forces together to
fight the evil Etruscan army. The devil and all
his evil hosts. And on Calvary's cross, it says
in Isaiah 53, verse 6, he bore our iniquity on
his own body. In 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 24,
he took on sin for us. And because of that, we
live. We live. I love the point, Cindy, you made
this morning, that what is forgiveness? Forgiveness
is asking Jesus to assume our sin and to pay
the price in our behalf. Good news for us, heavy
consequential for him, yet he was willing. Praise
God. I am so thankful. When I discovered... At
the age of 19, the age of many of you SALT students,
when I discovered that beautiful reality at the
age of 19, back as a student at Southern Adventist
University, it broke my heart. And I said, God,
I want to be yours for the rest of my life. If
you're willing to do that for me, I want to give
my life, my future, my all, everything I have.
Lord, it belongs to you. You are so good. He
is the one who stands in the gap. Praise God
for that. Now, that was biblical characters.
I want to fast forward, come a little closer
to our day. When I was a Southern student, salt
student, I used to be a student as well. 1978,
I stumbled on campus. I was confused about my
faith, confused about my calling, confused about
my life mate. I was confused. And that year I
found Jesus. I had several teachers that stood
in the gap. And one was the name of Manon Hamm.
She wasn't in the religion department. She was
an English teacher. But she used to come in before
class. I took honors comp. I took biblical lit
from her every class period. She came in early.
She would walk. around the room, put her hands
on those desks, and she would pray over her students.
She knew us by name. And that year, I found Jesus.
That year is when I came to the end of my goodness,
my righteousness, and I said, God, if there's
anything that's going to get me into heaven,
it's you, your righteousness alone. And I surrendered,
and I praise God for that. I'm thankful I left
Southern with a clear... A clear understanding
of my faith, my calling, and my life made. Got
married right after Southern. Southern's a good
place. God has called me back to Southern to
teach now. Wonderful, wonderful. And you know
what? As I come back, I feel impressed. God,
you have asked me to pass it forward. And so,
students, I pray for each of you every day. And
I see students making decisions for Jesus. Okay,
so I need to go back to my story. I left Southern
determined to set the world on fire. I was an
intern, did a ministerial internship in Birmingham,
Alabama before going up to seminary. I told my
conference official, can I please do my internship
first because I'm burnt out on studies and I
just want to get out into the real work. And
so I landed in Birmingham. I was determined to
have record baptisms and just be all in for Jesus.
And about six months through that experience,
I was giving about 20 Bible studies all over
the place. I was doing youth ministry. I was
the Pathfinder director. It seems like nothing
was happening. And I got discouraged. And midway
through that year, I went down to Sylacauga,
Alabama. I was having a study with a lady there.
And for the third week in a row, she either didn't
show up or didn't have her study done. And I
was so discouraged. That was the straw that broke
the camel's back. So I drove over to the parking
lot, the gravel parking lot of Sylacauga, Alabama
Church, the Adventist church there. And I sat
there, and I just cried. God, what's wrong? What's
wrong? How come I'm putting in so much time,
effort, energy, and nothing is happening? God,
what is wrong? And that's where 1 Timothy chapter
2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. Turn there, church. 1
Timothy chapter 2. This is where 1 Timothy. I
was begging God to show me what was lacking in
my life and ministry, and I opened my Bible.
This is where it opened to. I began reading.
Paul, a seasoned pastor, talking to young Timothy
how to have a successful ministry. Here is what
he said. 1 Timothy 2, verse 1. Therefore, Paul
said, I exhort, I beg, I urge, I plead, first
of all. That caught my attention. First. First,
first of all, what am I supposed to do first
of all to have a successful ministry? That word
is protos, protos in the Greek. Same word used
in Matthew 6, 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness, and all these things
will be added unto you. First of all, Paul said,
before giving out glow tracks, before giving
Bible studies, before conducting evangelistic
meetings, before directing Pathfinder clubs,
first of all, what did Paul say? tell Timothy
to do? Pray. Pray. Why should prayer be our first
order of business as Adventist Christians? Notice
verse 4. Speaking of God who desires some people
to be saved, all people to be saved and to come
to a knowledge of the truth. Man, it hit me like
a dagger in the chest. Lord, I've been doing
all this stuff, spinning wheels, giving studies,
doing this, this, this, and I haven't, I've been
praying, but I haven't been praying. There's
a difference between prayer and prayer. You know
what I mean, church? You pray, Lord, thank you
for this food, amen. Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep. We pray. But
do we pray? And I really felt impressed that
God wanted me to make out a 10 most wanted list,
people that he was laying on my heart, and to
really pray. And so I began to do that, and I
began to see miracles happen. Not so much out
here at first, but here. I began to change, change
my attitude to wanting souls for my glory versus...
Lord, you died for these people. You love these
people. You want all people to be saved and come
to a knowledge of the truth. God gave me a shepherd's
heart, a compassion for people, and then I began
to see results happen. I began to see baptisms
happen. We're starting meetings October 24. We're
doing lots of preparatory work. Pastor Greg,
thank you. Church, thank you. Salt students,
thank you for all that you're doing. But I really
hear Jesus whispering to us, first of all, first
of all, first of all, what are we supposed to
be doing? Not just pray, but pray. Pray. I believe
that when we work, little happens. But when we
pray, God goes to work and miracles happen. When
we pray, I'm sorry, when we work, little happens.
But when we pray, God goes to work and miracles
happen. And I believe that is the case. So, I
want to tell two closing stories. Who closing
stories? First of all, before I get into those
two last stories, I went to a conference in spring
of 2011, a discipleship conference. Melvin Santos
taught it, and he talked about having a three
-ring binder. This is a prayer list on steroids,
folks, a three -ring binder where you have five
tabs, and you pray for your personal, your family.
The second tab, you pray for your church, your
school, your conference. Third tab, you pray
for outreach, the harvest, the people around
you. I'm praying for my neighbor Jerry next door
and Larry and Teresa around the corner. I'm praying
for my neighbors. And then the fourth tab is
special needs. There are marital needs and there
are financial needs and there are health needs
of people around, my students, so forth. I'm
praying for that. The final tab is the daily
tab. In those first four tabs, I just list prayer
requests. And every day I take a different tab
and I just scan through that. And, Lord, who
do you want me to labor for today? Then under
the daily tab, I will write out paragraph prayers.
P1, P2, P3. Go to the end of the year. P365,
whatever. And just labor with God. Labor. Labor
for your brother. Labor for your co -worker.
Labor. And you know, God brought that to me in
the nick of time because in June of that year,
I learned about the prayer journal in March.
Two months later, three months later, whatever
that is, in June, my daughter got into a serious
dating relationship with someone we had major
concerns about. Those of you who are parents,
grandparents, you know exactly what I'm talking
about. I won't go into detail. We had major concerns,
and I would share. Beth, he's a nice guy, but
he's not the best for you. He's not the best
for you, and the more we brought up, the more
pushback we got. Dad, don't run my life. Don't
tell me what to do. Now, we as parents have every
right to express concern, but... Nagging does
not work. Okay? Express your concern, parrot,
but nagging does not work. So God impressed me.
David, stop talking to Beth and start talking
to me. So driving around the conference, I was
ministerial director, evangelism coordinator,
Kentucky 10 at this time, driving around the
conference, 110 churches. I'm praying, Lord,
please save my daughter. Save my daughter. Show
her. Open her eyes. You know, about five, six
months went by. Thanksgiving rolled around. They
were still dating. Judy said, it's over, David.
I said, as long as there's a God in heaven, it's
not over, Judy. Let's keep praying. So around
Thanksgiving, she broke up with this guy. It
wasn't because of the concerns we saw, but her
roommate said, Beth. You're going downhill. You
need to break up with this guy. She saw the light,
did that. A couple months later, she met Ben,
her current husband. They've been married for
16, will be 13 years now. Wonderful guy. And
what happens if they marry the wrong one? Parents,
you keep praying even harder. You keep praying.
Never give up praying. Now, one final story.
One final story, and that is just a short time
after that. This was July 6th of 2013. It was
a Saturday night. My brother that's been out
of the church and away from God for about 35
years, he went to a convenience store Saturday
night late off of Tazewell Pike, Knoxville. And
on his way, he crossed the double yellow, plowed
into another pickup. A major accident, and they
had to cut him out with the jaws of life, and
they had to life flight him to UTC Medical Center,
where he was in a coma for two and a half weeks.
Just about every bone in his body was crushed.
Just about every organ in his body was bruised
or lacerated. He lingered between life and death.
And that next morning, I'm at his bedside, listening
to him gurgle through a breathing tube and a
zillion wires coming out of him. And I said,
God, it's over. It's over. And I felt impressed.
God was telling me, David, it's not over. He
reminded me of Ezekiel 37, the valley of dry
bones. David, if I can put a valley of dismantled,
crushed, broken, brittle bones together and make
them whole, I can piece your brother together
and heal him physically. And if I can breathe
my spirit, my life into those corpses and they
rise up an exceedingly great army. I can revive
your brother spiritually. So I began to pray,
God, heal him physically, heal him spiritually.
Two and a half weeks later, he came out of the
coma. Seven weeks later, he left the hospital.
He'll never be able to work again a day in his
life. In fact, I just got word on my ride here
this morning, his wife Harriet, my sister -in
-law, said, David, we put him on hospice. He
just broke his hip, and he only has three to
four weeks to live. So my brother's time is coming
to a close. But I began to see God work miracles.
He got to where he could walk. Their marriage
was restored. And he called me one day, David,
I want to read my Bible again. What translation
would you recommend? Is that my brother? I was
doing evangelistic meetings in Bowling Green,
Kentucky. David, you're doing meetings. I'd like
a set of those sermons. Is that my brother? I
have watched God do miracles in John's life.
He still hasn't been back in church, but he's
a long way from where he used to be. And I'm
so thankful, I'm so thankful that God kept him
alive another 12 years to give him a second chance.
So I want to ask you, I want to ask you, who
do you know who is in the spiritual ICU unit?
Who do you know who is in the spiritual ICU unit?
And what are you going to do about it? Ezekiel
chapter 22 verse 30 says, I looked across the
land. I looked across Ringgold, Chattanooga.
I looked for someone to stand in the gap. Will
you be that someone? Will you be that someone
to make an eternal difference in your neighbor,
your loved one, your family, your co -workers?
Make an eternal difference in their life. Let's
pray. Lord, we are so thankful that you ever...
live to make intercession for us. Today, you
bid us, you call us, you invite us to join you
in this intercessory role. We're thankful that
you are the heavenly Horatius. You are one greater
than Abraham, greater than Daniel, greater than
Elijah. We thank you that you paid the ultimate
price giving your life so that we could live.
Lord, we just want to share this good news with
this community. Please do whatever needs to be
done to prepare all of us and the hearts of this
community to receive you this next several weeks.
Thank you. Use us. Use us. May we make out this
prayer list in this little trifold. May we respond
with kindness and friendship, and may we give
human invitations for people to come October
24. Thank you. In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen.