Good evening. Welcome back to tonight's service. Hopefully you had a good Mother's Day and you didn't have to cook. Please stand if you're able. We'll start on In the Garden. ♪ I come to the garden alone ♪ ♪ While the dew is still on the roses ♪ ♪ And the voice I hear falling on my ear ♪ ♪ The Son of God disclosed the truth ♪ He walks with me and He talks with me And He tells me I am His own And the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known ♪ He speaks and the sound of His voice is so sweet. ♪ ♪ The birds hush their singing. ♪ ♪ And the melody that He gave to me within my heart is real. ♪ And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known. I'd stay in the garden with Him Though the night around me be falling But He bids me go through the voice of woe To me, His calling and he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever Good to see you back. Let's go to the Lord in word of prayer. Father, we ask for your help on the service this night. We ask you to speak through Nick to us. Lord, we ask you to be with Judith as she has surgery tomorrow morning, that you'd guide the doctor's hands and give them wisdom to make the right moves. And Father, that you'd help her to get back on her feet and get back here at church. Meet with us tonight, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. Tell mother I'll be there. When I was but a little child, how well I recollect How I would grieve my mother, wife, folly, and neglect And now that she has gone to head, I miss her tender care ♪ Tell my mother I'll be there. ♪ ♪ Tell mother I'll be there. ♪ ♪ In answer to her prayer, ♪ ♪ this message, blessed Savior, to her bear. ♪ ♪ Tell mother I'll be there. ♪ Heaven's joys with her to share Yes, tell my darling mother I'll be there Though I was often wayward She was always kind and good So patient, gentle, loving I acted rough and rude. My childhood griefs and trials she would gladly with me share. O Savior, tell my ♪ In answer to her prayer ♪ This message, blessed Savior, to her bear ♪ Tell mother I'll be there ♪ Heaven's joys with her to share ♪ Yes, tell my darling mother I'll be there If you were out in either the nursery or children's church or someplace else and did not receive a potted plant this morning for Mother's Day, would you please hold your hand up for a second? We don't want to miss anyone, anyone that was out in other places. Okay, we have Mrs. Glett over here. Anyone else? We always want to, we appreciate the mother so much, so thank you, ladies. Mrs. Hamm is having, I mentioned she's having surgery tomorrow in the morning. As it gets closer, then the 19th through the 22nd of October where the Corps will be with us. He always comes about that time of year and speaks for us. He'll be with us Sunday all day, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 730. So make sure you mark that on your calendar and plan on being there. Stephen, can you go to the office and round us up a bottle of water for Brother Nick? Please stand if you're able. We sing our God, O God, our help. I need your space. Received her frame from everlasting Thou art God to endless years the same And you can be seated, and we'll get ready for the next song. I'm sorry, our friend's at the end, so get right back up, sir. Sounds good. Precious Lord. Let my way grow with dreams. Precious Lord, linger near When my life is almost gone Hear my cry, hear my call Hold my hand, lest I fall Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home Take my hand, precious Lord Lead me on, let me stand I'm tired, I'm weak, I'm worn Through the storm, through the night Lead me on, light the light Take my hand, precious Lord ♪ When the shadows appear ♪ ♪ And the night draweth near ♪ ♪ And the day is old and gone ♪ ♪ At the river I stand ♪ ♪ Guide my feet, hold my hand ♪ ♪ Take my hand, precious Lord ♪ Take my hand, precious Lord Lead me on, let me stand I'm tired, I'm weak, I'm cold Through the storm, through the night Lead me on, but not Take my hand, precious Lord Precious Lord Maybe I have a friendship that some others make. But I have a mother who knows how to break. And maybe there are some things I've missed in my youth. I have a good day heritage, and I know a lot of things you can't see. I have a good day heritage, and my history I have a Godly heritage. I have a Godly heritage. And a vision far more to me. How many of you grew up in a home where your mom and dad were saved? You had Christian parents? Keep your hand up if your grandparents were also Christians in the family. A few of you. Timothy had that. And by the way, if you didn't have that, then you should be the one that starts that. We got folks here that mom and dad were not saved, but they got saved. So some of you started that godly heritage or that goodly heritage. It is always a blessing to know you got saved family. And again, It's good to have Brother Nick. We had him this morning. He was in Sunday school. If you missed Sunday school, you missed a blessing. Then he preached for us for the morning service. He's going to be back tonight. Again, we're going to get to see the girls in a week, right? Yes, sir. A little over a week, the girls will both be here. We've been praying for Natalie for quite some time. You'll also get to see Sis as well. I mentioned we have some of our college kids in town, so it's always a blessing to have our college kids. One or two of them are out of school for the time, and then I think you still have some school, Sean, or you finished with grade? So Sean, I know I talked to the ladies earlier, and they were out of school. I didn't know if Sean had finished or if he had to go back. But again, good to have any time our college kids come back. It's always a blessing to have them visiting with us. Grab your King James Bibles, pay attention, and sit up. Stay awake. Make sure your phone is off. Don't need phones going off. I don't look around because it just draws attention, but I know this morning someone forgot to shut their phones off because I heard two or three, and it wasn't just one person. For those of you that can't hear, good news is you didn't know that because they weren't real loud, but that's why I always mention that it's good to shut your phones off. And as Douglas says, it'd be nice if you stayed awake too, so grab your Bibles, pay attention, Nick's got something for us. I had to shut mine off. We're an hour behind in Mexico, so people are texting me. I'm like, I'm going to be in trouble if I don't shut this thing off. But what a blessing to be here. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms that are here. And Sean, that was a real blessing when you played the piano. I was like, Whoa, what happened here, amen? It means he's been working hard, and that's a blessing to see that. What a blessing, and to see the big smile on your mom's face that you're over here, that you came to see her for Mother's Day, what a blessing. We wanna say thank you to everyone who's praying for Natalie. Just keep on praying, amen? God is so good, and she's, We're seeing some improvement there and we're seeing some advancement there. And they're changing up the medicines, they're working on her and things. So just please continue to pray for her. We're very thankful for your prayers. Our church there in Mexico, they're doing great down there. We're growing and that's a real blessing. And so God is good. And Brother Block, he was down there. We told him, we said, now this can't be the last time you come down. So it was a real blessing to have Brother Block there with us. And he was like a kid in a candy store at Brother Wynn's. He was just all over the place there. And it was so much fun just to sit with him and translate for him whenever we were in the services. Some of the services were just pure Spanish. And it was just a blessing to have Brother Block there. And we want to say thank you for all your faithful prayers and support to us and your faithfulness here at Liberty Baptist Church. What a faithful church. What a faithful family. And we just keep going forward for the Lord. Amen? Well, someone had talked to me today, asked me about one of the stories that I have. The Lord knew I was going to be a preacher. I had no idea, but the Lord knew it. So he gave me, throughout my life, several good stories that are pretty funny. But anyway, someone had asked me about one of the stories that I told, and it was duress at gate one. How many people remember that story, duress at gate one? Have you ever, is anybody there? People, okay. Just a couple of people. Okay, I told it at Brother Moss' house. We were sitting there eating pie and Mrs. Moss, and I mean, Brother and Mrs. Moss, they just got the biggest kick out of that and everyone that was there. So, I'm sorry, but it's not going to fit into this message tonight, but I promise. I promise the next chance I get, I've got a message that goes right along with it. So I promise the next time I preach, I will preach that one. But God is good, amen? God is good. But we're gonna go in a little bit different direction here with this message today. Ezekiel chapter number 22, if you would, please in your Bibles, Ezekiel 22, Now it's not, that story is not good if you just came out of surgery or something like that, or you're trying to recover from a surgery. Ezekiel chapter number 22, verse number 25. And if you would please stand for the reading of God's word. I just wanna say thank you. I counted a great honor and privilege to be able to preach tonight. It's not easy to give up your pulpit for Sunday night, Sunday morning. but thank you brother Nichols and a real joy and blessing to be here the Bible says here there is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof like a roaring like a roaring lion raving the ravening, the prey. They have devoured souls. They have taken the treasures and precious things. They have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law and have profaned mine holy things. They have put no difference between holy and profane. Neither have they showed difference between the unclean and and the clean, and have hid their eyes from thy sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy, Yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. 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. Verse number 31 is the result of not having someone standing in the gap, therefore, I have poured out mine indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your goodness and blessings. I pray and ask that you would be with us this evening. Thank you for all the people that we have on our prayer list, Lord, that we can bring before you With joy in our hearts, knowing that you're in control of each one of these situations and knowing, Lord, that you can move mountains for them. And I just pray that we'll be faithful to intercede for each one of these prayer requests. Oh, Lord, I pray that you'd be with us tonight. Give us something here that we can work on in our lives, that we can change in our lives, something that might bring about fire in our hearts. Oh, Heavenly Father, I pray that you would use me tonight, that let your words proceed out of my mouth, Heavenly Father, and that your goodness and blessings would be over us. Thank you for everyone that's here, in your precious name we pray, amen. You may be seated. The Bible says here, "'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, 30 is what I used, and the Lord used this verse to call me, to help me to surrender to God. to be a missionary in Mexico. This verse right here. I was singing a song and it's, I was singing a song, we were gonna sing a special in church, me and a couple of guys in the church, we were gonna sing a special. And the special was, the song was, I sought for a man. And tonight's message, I'm gonna have it titled, standing in the gap, standing in the gap. And I want to talk about family tonight. I want to give something here for our homes and our marriages and our homes and give us something that will be a help to us. I know this was a help to me and I believe it'll be a help. So here I was singing this song and it says, I sought for a man after my own heart who would stand in the gap and do his part to preach my word throughout the land, give me a man of God. Something like that. I don't remember it exactly how it goes. So what's very interesting here, I'll just give you a little history here. When I was, I just had started living for the Lord when I was singing this song. I mean, I just turned my life over to the Lord. I said, Lord, whatever you say, I'm just going to do it. I made one decision. Every time the doors are open at church, I'm going to be there. And so that's how it worked out. I mean, I just said, whatever you say, God, I'm just gonna do it. And if I don't understand it, help me to understand. And if it's something that I don't do or I don't wanna do, help me to do that thing that might be difficult for me to do, to change in my life so that I can please you. Anyway, as I got busy for the Lord, the Lord made it stronger in my heart, that desire in my heart that I felt in my heart that I needed to be in Mexico. And I knew that's where God wanted me to be. And I felt that desire in my heart and the urgency to get there. And so I was just, I had a job, I had my career ahead of me. I got recruited to the secret service. I was headed in that direction. And I was like, no, this can't be, you know, that's gonna be the low road. But I'm gonna tell you this, serving the Lord is always the high road. When you're faithful to the Lord, when you serve the Lord, whatever it is, that's the high road. OK. And so anyway, I got to this part singing in that song and the Lord showed me what in the world it was. And it says that we'll do his part. And all God wants us to do is our part, and he just does the rest. So Patty and I, we were talking a few years ago, several years ago, and we were talking and she said, you know, I had a hand in helping with that song. And I hope I'm saying it right and everything. But she said, yeah, I helped with a few things in that song. And I said, well, what part was it? Oh, just a couple of words. And I said, well, what were they? And she said, well, do his part. That was part of what she contributed to that song. And you know how they make songs and they get things to, you know, for the words to flow and things like that. And I was just like, wow, I had no idea she existed in this world. But you see, God used my wife before I even knew her. to be a blessing in my life to help me to surrender to God's perfect will before I even knew her. And I mean, that was just something else to me. I mean, how good God is. And nobody could put something like that together other than God, amen? So honestly, I had no idea what the meaning of this word was, what the meaning of this phrase was. Even in our prayer letter, it says, standing in the gap. I mean, it just sounds good too. and for a theme for us that we're there in Mexico. And I had no idea what standing in the gap really meant. And the word gap in the Hebrew, I have the number here, Hebrew's number, it's the 6556, and it's Perez. And it's brokenness is what it is. I had no idea what that, really what that word was. I just figured it's a void, and we're just standing in that void right there, standing in that gap, a void. And so, here recently, not too long ago, I was studying this word, this verse, these words, and I'm gonna show you something tonight, and I hope it'll be a blessing and a help to our homes. 1 Chronicles chapter number 13, 1 Chronicles. chapter number 13, if you would, in your Bibles. And I wanna read a few verses here, 1 Chronicles chapter number 13, and we'll start in verse number three. The Bible says here, let us bring Let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul. And all the congregation said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So David gathered all Israel together from Shior of Egypt, even unto entering into Hemath to bring the ark of God from Kermah Jethreum. And David went up and all Israel to to Bala, that is, in Kirjathirim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God, the Lord, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called Oned. And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abednibbadab, And Oosa. and Ahiula drove the cart. And David, now, first of all, they didn't handle the ark correctly. It's supposed to be carried, not put on a cart. But they didn't follow God's word, and I don't even really know if they really understand that that's how it was supposed to be, but however it was, they put the ark of God on that cart, And it shouldn't have been there. It should have been carried. It should have been followed. The God's law should have been followed. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might and with singing and with harps, with psalteries and with trembles and with cymbals and with trumpets. And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark. And there he died before God. And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. And that word breach is the same word that we read about, gap, in Ezekiel 22-30. That word breach is that same word. and it means broken. And it says here, wherefore the place, wherefore that place is called Perez, Usa, to this day. And David was afraid of God that day, saying, how shall I bring the ark of God home to me? So David brought not the ark home to himself, to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obedidam, the Gideite, okay? These words in Spanish are different and I'm trying to make this transition to English, how to say them right here. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obedeodom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obedeodom and all that he had. Anytime you have the presence of God in your home, God's gonna bless it, amen? And this right here, the word is piresousa. And the word that's piresousa is from that same word that we were talking about, which is perets, which is brokenness. Right here, this breach that happened there, what happened was Uzzah touched the ark, and no man is supposed to touch the ark. And by the way, God doesn't need our help, amen? He'll take care of himself. He can take care of himself. We don't need to help him along. But he put his hand up there. And what it was, this place that it was, was a threshing floor. And in 2 Chronicles 13 here, Perez, Usa, the threshing floor of Chidon, a place of testing where the wheat was shaken and beaten to extract the grains of wheat. It's a picture of God's judgment and testing. What happened here in this incident was God's testing, God's judgment here. And so the difference between, I'm just gonna give you something here, this is kind of interesting. The difference between a tare and wheat. I saw an illustration of this where this farmer had a tare in one hand and wheat in the other and they put it up to each other. Now someone who's a farmer, they can tell the difference. But I mean it looks identical. It looks identical. The difference is when you have a tare and the farmer put his hand in there and just rubbed it like this, that piece of it looked like a piece of wheat but he put that tear in there and he took his hand away and all it was was dust and he just like this and dust went all over the place and there was no fruit but he said the difference is he put a piece of wheat there and he rubbed it in his hand and then he blew And there was fruit. There was seed that came out of that wheat. And there was grain that was there. Fruit. You see, the only thing that tares are, is they just have an appearance. Be careful that you're not a tare. Amen? That you just have an appearance of being a good Christian and all that. No, we need to be the wheat, amen? And that means you need to trust Christ as your personal Savior. Be the real thing, amen? That's gonna be the first part of it all. If you don't know Christ as your personal Savior, you need to trust Him today. Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to forgive you and to come into your heart. Trust Him as your personal Savior. The Bible says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall There's no doubt that you'll be saved if you'll pray that. Pray a prayer to ask Jesus into your heart. Forgive you, and he'll forgive you of your sins and give you a life, a new life to live again here on earth. And the Bible says, and if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Behold, all things are passed away. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. You see, when you trust Christ as your Savior, you're a new creature. And here, in these threshing floors, tares were in the wheat, with the wheat. And so, all it created was dust. But in a threshing floor, that wheat is pounded on. They also have instruments, a big heavy rock that they would roll across this, like a roller looking rock, that they would roll across the wheat that was there and it would crush it and the seeds would fall through the nets in that threshing floor. And they would pick up with these special rakes, they would pick it up and throw out the wheat there and the grains would fall from there. from the wheat. And look what it says over here in Luke chapter number 22. Luke chapter number 22. Just want to give you a little something here. The Bible says in Luke chapter number 22, when Jesus is talking to Peter, Luke 22, and verse number 31. The Bible said, the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. You see, Satan wants to try us. He wants to put us to the test. He did it with Job, he did it with all, anybody in the Bible who's worth their weight in salt, they were all tested, great men, Moses was tested, Joseph was tested, all these great men were tested in the Bible and they came forth out of that testing with fruit in their lives, amen? Great men. And the Bible says, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And it goes on to say, Oh, Lord, I'll be. I won't even, not just go to jail, I'll go to, I'll die for you. And then the Lord said, hey, Peter, be careful there. Because he said, the crow will not cry until you deny that thou knowest me three times, amen. So here is Peter, and the Lord is telling him, Peter, Satan hath desire to sift thee as wheat. What it's saying is, Satan wants to put you to the test. He wants to see if you're the real deal. And by the way, Satan wants to do that with all of us as well. You see, he wants to... Satan wants to break you and I. He wants to break us. Not just that there will be fruit from us, that there will be a grain coming from our wheat. No, but he wants to destroy everyone. And Satan wants to devour us. But God wants us to make up the hedge and stand. The Bible says right here, if we'll go back to Ezekiel, the Bible says here, but we have to stand. And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap. This word to stand means literally, what it really means is to, make up the hedge there and stand. What it's saying is the attitude of standing up for right. 100% voluntary against evil. You stand for right. In this text, where we're reading here, we're talking about conspiracies, we're talking about even the priest and all these pastors and all these TV evangelists and all this, taking advantage of people instead of guiding them to the Lord. They said, the Lord said this, and the Lord hadn't even spoken. They were robbing the people, they were stealing. Doesn't it sound a lot like our day that we're living in today? Sounds a lot like that. And God says, I want someone that would stand up against that. I want someone to go against the system, that corrupt, broken down system, amen? If you kind of see it, that's where Trump is today. He's a lone man standing in the gap. Well, I don't think he's alone, but I mean, he used to be alone. But going against evil, going against this wicked, wicked machine. And by the way, Christian, you and I, we're supposed to take a stand for right in our homes, in our jobs, and wherever we are. Before I got saved, what got my attention was when we were training, we were doing firearms training at the base range, and I was telling a dirty joke. We were on a break with four hours of intense firearms training. techniques, learning techniques, and all this to perfect shooting and shooting skills and all this for our SWAT team that I was on. So anyway, we were in a break, and I told a dirty joke. And man, I saw the guy, our CADM guy, our combat arms instructor, he got mad and just stormed out. And I thought, oh man, I better go and fix that because, I mean, this is political. He could decide he doesn't want us around, And then that's it for our training out there. So I went out there to kind of smooth things out. And I said, hey, listen, if I said something to offend you, I'm sorry. And he said, yeah. He said, I'm a Christian. And he said, I don't want to hear that kind of stuff around here again. And I thought, wow. I had never heard a Christian stand up like that. You see what he was doing? He was standing in the gap right there. Are you with me? He was standing in the gap. Whether he was going to suffer persecution for what he's standing for or not, he was there. He was in that threshing floor and ready, ready to be broken. If it cost him everything, he was going to take a stand. Are you with me? Because we have a righteous God, a holy and righteous God. This world has no idea that God exists. Are you with me? They think that he's some kind of angry man up in heaven just sending down lightning bolts to everybody. And that's the way the devil makes him out to be. Are you with me? Paints God like an evil man. But the real evil man is the one that does all the projection there. Well, anyway, so anyway, he took a stand. And that's what it is to stand in the gap. Stand up against wrong. I don't want to hear that again, amen? That kind of music, I'm not going to put up with that here. Are you with me? And so that's what it is. It's, I'm just going to give you a little brief testimony about when we were in language school and then we went to Mexico. I mean, I almost died in Costa Rica when we were in language school there. the doctor told me that a mosquito saved my life. I had an infection that was eating, literally eating my organs. And I was one of the first cases in eight years in San Jose, Costa Rica that got dengue fever. And the doctor said, This is the first case in eight years that we've had of someone getting dengue fever here in San Jose because of the altitude, the mosquitoes or whatever the virus will not survive in that altitude. But anyway, here we are, and I was in the hospital for a week. And I mean, that was a shocker there. I mean, I thought, whoa, man, that was close. And at the end, when I was getting out, he said, literally, what happened was a mosquito saved your life. I know it was God. He said, if you wouldn't have come in because of the symptoms of the dengue fever, it would have been too late by the time you started realizing that something was wrong on the inside. And he said, really, what happened was that mosquito saved your life. And I said, well, God sent that mosquito, amen? So I knew, I know that it was God. So we got through that, you know, and God, helped us through all that, and I thought it was bad, but hey, God was with us, but it was nothing compared to when we got into Mexico, you know, standing in the gap. Here we are, that's our life verse, that's our theme for getting to Mexico, standing in the gap. Perez Uza, and in Spanish, the word is Perez. In the Spanish Bible, it's Perez Uza. So anyway, we never saw so much corruption in ministry as to when we got to Mexico in our church where we were working with another missionary and his family. And I mean, I'm telling you, it was like a Christian mafia. You know how some people say Christian marijuana, you know, and all that? Oh, you can smoke it because it's Christian. No, it's still marijuana, it's still bad, and don't even get near it, amen? But, oh, it's Christian beer. Oh, okay, well, that makes it okay. No, it's still trash, it's still garbage, and it's gonna ruin your life and stay away from it, amen? So here we are, and it's like a mafia there. I mean, we're talking about lying about numbers and everything. I mean, this souls being saved and all this. I mean, thousands and thousands of souls in this church of this little missionary there that was there. Full-time workers, they didn't tithe. I mean, they were thieves. I mean, it was just something else. We were like, what in the world is happening here? we'd never seen anything like that before and I mean I felt like we would win out of the frying pan into the fire when we went in there and I'm not for any of that stuff I would not go along with it and so so so one time I was doing the attendance And one of the secretaries said, oh, this missionary, he's not going to like that number. So they just erased it and put it on there. And I said, well, next time, next time, I'm not even going to bother doing the attendance. Why don't you just put a number down there? That way I don't waste my time walking around counting everybody. And there wasn't that many people to count, by the way, when we were there. And it was just, it was corruption like you wouldn't, like you could not believe. And now. Here's, here, I mean, we're talking about being tested, being broken. I mean, that was tough. That was, that was tough. We had never seen anything like that. I mean, I talked to Brother Wynn, and I said, Brother Wynn, I mean, what in the world? Is it common here in Mexico that your full-time workers don't tithe? Is that something in Mexico? Because my Bible says everybody, we need to tithe. And he said, no, that's a bunch of thieves that you have there. And I'm like, boy, I'm glad somebody at least agreed with me, man. But I'll tell you this, when you're standing in the gap, there are a few people that'll stand with you. There'll be very few people that'll stand with you. So anyway, here we go. And here is the message. And I hope we get this tonight. In your home, Ezekiel 22, 30, the Bible says here, 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. God wants us to be in the gap. Are you standing in the gap in your home? in your home, mom and dad, husband and wife, son, daughter, and people will tell me in Mexico, oh yes, pastor, we love Jesus, amen. We love the Lord. And then, but you don't spend time on your knees begging God to help your family. You're not standing in the gap. You see, when you get on your knees and you beg God to help you and to guide you and to protect your family for God's blessings over your family, you see, when you get on your knees, you're putting yourself in the threshing floor right there. You're putting yourself in the place where the devil is gonna come and shake you. He's gonna sift you. He's gonna find out if you're the real deal or not. Are you with me? I mean the same thing happened to Job. And Job was in there. I mean it was... Job is probably the worst example of... I mean he's probably the best example of the worst thing that could ever happen to anybody. And if you ever have a bad day, just think about Job. And our days, I mean, I think it was, I don't know, I think it was Brother Hiles that said this years ago, years and years ago. He said, if everybody put all of our problems into one big pile, a big pile of problems, and then we said, okay, go ahead and pick out a problem that you would like for yourself. Everyone would probably go and pick out their own problems that they have and leave someone else's problems to themselves, to them. But I'm gonna tell you, when you take time out to get on your knees and you take time out to read your Bible, you know what you're doing? You're putting yourself in the gap. Are you with me? You're standing for right. This is right. We're getting a hold of God. We're gonna pray to God. We're looking for Him. We are searching for Him. We are seeking God, amen. And dads, you and I, we need to spend time in prayer for our families, praying for our wives and our children and God's provisions and God's blessings over us, God's protection over us. Because we don't know what's going to happen in this world, but we know God knows, amen? And we need to be there in the threshing floor. And by the way, when you get there, that's why people don't like the threshing floor. That's why God couldn't find anybody. Very, very few people will get on the threshing floor and stand for right. People will say, oh yes, pastor, we love the Lord, we're doing good in our home. But you're not being an example of Christ. Are you being Christ-like? You live like the rest of the world. How can you say that you're being Christ-like? You fight with everybody around you and gossip and all this other stuff, and you say, are you being Christ-like? Because when you're Christ-like, when you're Christ-like, you're putting yourself in the gap. You're standing against what's evil and wrong and everything that's wrong in this world. Sin and all that. Standing in the gap. You see, you can't handle when your family and friends say stuff about you being a Christian. Shaken, it shakes you too much. Don't want to get too serious about this, because what's everybody going to say? In our area, okay, people claim to be Catholic. They don't have anything to do with the Catholic Church, but boy, they'll hang on to being Catholic. And in our area, if we have Christians or people that get saved and they're from our area, mom and dad, We're talking about young people, young couples, and things like that. And mom and dad, grandma, they all still live around there. On Sundays, everybody goes to grandma's house. Everybody's there. And where were you? Well, we weren't able to be there, because the pastor talked us into going to church. They don't say which church, you know? And no, we decided we'd go to church. And they'll have a hard time with that. You see, Satan likes to sift us. He likes to sift us, to see what we're made of. Let me say this, we need to take a stand for God, amen? We need to do right. People will say, oh, yes, pastor, but then there's no fire. to teach and to go soul winning and to show this world that there is a God that's true and faithful, that we can put our trust in, one that will save us, one that's merciful to us, a God that's gracious and loves us. You see, this world will not see it unless someone will stand in the gap for them. Are you with me? Between good and evil, taking a stand for what's right in our homes, We need to take a stand for what's right. You don't know why, you don't know why a lot of people don't understand that, why a lot of people just aren't faithful. You see, it's easier not to be faithful. You can just go with the flow. You know, taking time out to pray and all that. Boy, I could just sleep in. I could just enjoy life. I don't have to be there every Sunday at church and all that. You see, it's just easier not to do those things. It's easier not to be in that gap. It's easier not to go against that corrupt machine. Are you with me? It's just easier to do that. But the end result is horrible. Look what the Bible says here in Hebrews about Moses. Hebrews chapter number 11. Now this is the Hebrew chapter, amen? This is the chapter of the heroes of the faith. And here in this verse, 11, 23, the Bible says here, by faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child. and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. You know what happened? Moses' parents put themselves in the gap. they put themselves in the gap. You know, it was gonna risk their lives, it was gonna risk everything to save that child. You know what? I believe that they prayed for that child. They prayed for Moses. Don't let anything happen to him. Don't let the moccasins get to him. Don't let anything happen to our baby. We're protecting him there. And let him grow up so that he won't be killed by Pharaoh and all that. And then the Bible says here, by faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer what? Affliction. What he was saying is, Moses said, I would rather stand in the gap. I would rather be in that threshing floor. I would rather be there than enjoy all the pleasures of Egypt. Look what it says. It says here, by faith, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He was saying, you know what, it would be easier not to be in the gap there. It would be easier not to be on the threshing floor there. But he chose that. It was voluntary. He trusted God. And look what the Bible says, esteeming the reproach of Christ, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. For he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. When you stand in the gap, you're enduring. You're gonna be tested, you're gonna be tried when you stand in the gap, in that threshing floor there. When you stand up for right, and it's a constant thing that we have to be there. just like Moses was. He interceded for the children of Israel many times, standing in the gap. I'm talking about a prayer life, faithfulness to church, reading your Bible every day, soul winning. You see, it costs something. It costs something to give your tithes and offerings to support these missionaries that our church supports. It costs us something. It's a sacrifice. I love my church weekend there when Brother Ross comes. I mean, it takes something from us. Are you with me to be faithful to God? It's called standing in the gap. It's being in that threshing floor and the old devil, he's gonna try to shake you and get you out of there and say, whoa, boy, boy, I don't wanna do that again, boy. You see, it costs us something to live like Christ. It costs something to live for Christ, to have fruit in our lives. It costs something. A walk with God, it costs us something. And by the way, the price that we pay for this is nothing compared to the price that Christ paid for you and I. He willingly stood in the gap to go to the cross for you and I. Are you with me? He willingly suffered the scorning, the beatings, and hanging on that cross, and the mockings. He did that, and you know what he was doing? He was standing in the gap for you and I. Oh, Satan was shaking him like you wouldn't believe, hoping that he would break. But you know what? He stayed and he went to the cross. He gave up his life for you and I. You see, Satan didn't say, now's the time. No, Jesus gave his life. for you and I. And when just before he said, just before he gave up his life, he said, it is finished. He could have called 10,000 angels to come to his side. I mean, we're talking just 10,000 of them. And I mean, just one angel can destroy hundreds of thousands of people. And he could have called 10,000 to destroy the earth, but he didn't do it. He stayed in the gap. he stayed there. Satan was trying to shake him, trying to get him to get out of God's perfect will. When he went up to be tempted of Satan, out in the desert, out in the wilderness, but Satan couldn't shake him. Amen? You know what? You and I, we shouldn't get shaken either. We're going to get shaken, but don't leave. Stand in the gap. Stay in that place where God wants you to be. Amen. On our knees. Live like Christ. Have fruit in our lives. Walk with God. Be the hardest worker at work. Be the hardest working student in school. And don't be lazy. I'm talking about take a stand against evil and wickedness. Are you with me? Take a stand against that. Denying ourselves and taking up our cross. When you take up your cross, when we deny ourselves and we take up the cross daily, you know what it is? Standing in the gap. Because there's gonna be shaking. There's gonna be resistance to you and I taking a stand for God. But you know what? Just keep staying in the gap. Amen. It looks easier. It looks easier not to pray and serve the Lord. Not to be faithful, to be a faithful husband, or to be a faithful wife, or a mom, a faithful dad, or a faithful mom, or a faithful child. But in the end, it's a disaster. And I'm gonna show you an example of that in Genesis chapter number 19. The Bible says here in Genesis chapter number 19, the Bible says in Genesis chapter number 19, This is a tragedy that happened to a Christian home. You see, Lot did not live for God. As a matter of fact, when he was trying to warn his sons-in-laws, when he was trying to warn them, get out of this city, they mocked him. They made fun of him. Why? Because it was just easier not to be in the gap. Oh, imagine if Lot would have stayed in the gap, if he would have stood in the gap there in Sodom and Gomorrah, we wouldn't be reading about this story right now. I don't believe we would. But you see, it was easier just to go with the flow. It was easier just to go, it just sounds easier to go with the flow and the music of this world. It's just so much easier just to dress like the rest of the people in this world. It's just so much easier to go and get a tattoo so we can just fit in with everybody else. Oh, it's just so much easier that whenever someone hands you a beer or alcoholic beverage, it's just so much easier not to say anything and just drink that thing. Are you with me? Oh, it's so much easier. You know whenever that, you know why that stood out so much when my friend Denny said, I'm a Christian, I don't want to hear that stuff. I wasn't looking for anybody perfect, but I said, man, there's something different about this guy. He's got something that I ain't got. And so anyway, because, and this is the thing, other people who said that they were Christians, they laughed at all my jokes. They enjoyed them just as much. But whenever I was laughing, I was laughing at them, saying, you're just like me. We're just the same. Are you with me? And I even considered myself a Christian. I didn't know what a Christian was. I just thought, okay, I believe in Jesus. He died on the cross. He died on the cross for us. He was buried. He rose from the grave. I believed all that, but I had it all here. I didn't believe it from here. I just had it in my head. But you see, when I saw him, when that happened, man, that got my attention. That was different. You know, when people see you and I, when our kids see us, how do they see us? Are we like the rest of the parents? It's a dime a dozen. I mean, they don't care about what their kids do. They don't care where they're at. They don't care about anything else. They don't care about the Lord. You and I, we ought to be standing in the gap. Well, you know, I remember we had, I had some friends in school, and I mean, they never had to ask for permission to have people over to go stay at someone's house. They just said, Mom, I'm going to go stay over at, would that be our, oh yes, go ahead. I mean, and they never had to ask permission. I had to ask for permission a minimum of a week before. And that was tough because a lot of times, Thursday, Friday, start making plans. And I'm like, I can't do it. You know, that's tomorrow. I got to start a week from yesterday, right? And a week from today, I got to start asking. And all that. And I'm like, oh. And they didn't have all those rules. And I would just be like, oh, must be nice. Must be nice. But then the time goes, time goes on, time moves. And here they are, most of them are from job to job, these people that had no rules whenever they were growing up. So parents, you think, ah, these are just way too many rules, figuring out where they are. I mean, we have families in our church that now, praise the Lord, Whenever their kids go to bed, their kids have to turn in their cell phones before they can go to bed. They can't go to their rooms by themselves with their cell phones. Praise the Lord. I mean, good night. That's how the devil gets ahold of a lot of people. And somebody says, whoa, take away the cell phone. All of a sudden, man, you start getting nervous and oh, about to have a heart attack. Oh man, how in the world are we gonna, oh, I was, oh, the battle, oh, the, What you're thinking about is the shaking that's gonna happen when you take a stand for right. Are you with me? That's what it is. That's what it is. But you see, God says, I'm looking for somebody to stand in the gap, to make up the hedge. You see, it looks easier. not to pay, not to pray, not to serve the Lord, not to be faithful to the Lord. It looks easier, but the consequences. Lot lost his family. Look what the Bible says here in verse number 23. The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. And then the Lord reigned upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back, talking about Lot's wife, looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And you see, Abraham was standing in the gap. He had his place where he would go and spend time with God. You see, that's standing in the gap. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out in the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities which Lot dwelt. And then it says here that Lot in verse number 30, and Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him. For he feared to dwell in Zoar and he dwelt in a cave and his two, he and his two daughters. And then it says that the daughters got him drunk. And I mean, it was just a total disaster. because Lot refused. He decided that he was gonna take the easy way and not stand in the gap. You see, it's easier to do that, but the consequences are horrible. You know what? I believe that when Lot was running out of town, I think he had his wine and his precious wine with him because how did they get that wine up in that cave unless they took it out of Sodom and Gomorrah? And I wonder if he didn't have that wine in his hand, he could have been with his wife instead of in front of her and said, no, honey, don't look back. And he had his hands free. I mean, just throwing out a few possibilities there. You see, standing in the gap. We need men and women, teens, and children to stand for right and to live for God. The Bible says over here in 1 Corinthians, I'm almost done here, I'd like to give you this and then we can go get some tacos after this, all right? 1 Corinthians 15. Now, if I was a missionary from Africa, it'd be something else, probably, but tacos sound good, right? I'm from San Antonio, too, so tacos is always good. 1 Corinthians, chapter number 15, the Bible says here. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know, your labor is not in vain in the Lord. You see, standing in the gap, it's not in vain. It is not in vain. God knows exactly where you are. He knows who you are. And he loves us very much. There was a man. He was a POW. His name was Mike Christian. He was a naval officer and he was a POW during the Vietnam War. And Mike Christian He would stand up, whenever they would serve that slop, serve that slop that they had to eat. I mean, it was inedible. They couldn't eat the stuff, but that's all they had. So they would do it. And he would stand up and he would say, say it. And they would say the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. And he would do this night after night after having eaten that slop. And so one of these days, one of the nights, they went into Mike Christian's cell where he was, and they beat him to death. They drug him out and beat him. And then they drug him back in there and left him for dead, literally left him for dead. And the guys that were around there, one of the people that was one of the other POWs, and this story actually came from John McCain when he was one of those prisoners, and he was the one that actually told this story about Mike Christian. And he said, for a couple days, we didn't hear any movement whatsoever. We thought he was dead. But then, and one of the things that happened was they got a package from They got a package and it had all kinds of U.S. postage stamps on it. And those prisoners were very excited about this. And they opened up the box and it was full of communist red and white flags. I mean, just to knock them down again. And so, anyway, that was just before the last time that my Christians stood up and told them to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Well, he was inside that cell, inside of his cell. Those, some of those flags were in there with him. And he started coming to his, all his fingers were busted up. They were all broke. They broke his fingers and his hands. But with the little movement that he had in his hands, the shirts that they gave him were a blue shirt. So the red and white, flags that were in there, he took the strings out and he began to make an American flag, sewed an American flag into the t-shirt that he had on as a prisoner. And then he stood up with all his might He was inside of that cell there and he started to get up and he was pushing himself up against the wall trying to get up and got himself up where he could just barely stand. And he opened up his shirt and he said, say it. And the men that were there, those soldiers stood at attention and saluted the American flag, as they said, the Pledge of Allegiance. You see, we need that kind of dedication as husbands, as wives, because we're in a battle, brother. This is a battlefield. This isn't some joy ride being a Christian. Are you with me? The devil wants to devour us. You see, we need that kind of dedication and that kind of commitment to stand in the gap, to stand for right and against wrong, to go against the current of this world, to go against the things that are evil in this world. Are you with me? God says, 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. Will you have the courage to stand in the gap for your home, for your family? Will you fight for your marriage? Will you fight for your kids? Will you fight for your parents and doing right? Will you fight for your church? Will you fight for the cause of right? Will you, will you stand in the gap? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your love and goodness. Thank you for your blessings here in this place. Thank you that you love us. I pray that you bless in this invitation. I pray that your hand would be with us and that you would really work in our hearts and our lives from this point on. That we'll consider what we've heard tonight and respond to you and what you would have us to do. for good and right, that there will be people here tonight that will decide to stand in the gap.