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STANDING IN THE GAP

THE SUBSTANCE OF A MESSAGE PREACHED BY THE REV. FRANCIS W.
DIXON AT LANSDOWNE BAPTIST CHURCH, BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND, ON
THE NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 6 JULY 1947

“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 KJV)

It would appear that the main aspect of Ezekiel’s ministry was that of exposing the sins and
social injustices and moral wrongs of the people amongst whom he lived – not a very
enviable task for a servant of the Lord! But we need an Ezekiel in these days. We need a
man of God who will cry aloud about sin in our day and generation. Ezekiel was called a
pessimist! They said he only looked on the dark side of things. But Ezekiel was a realist. He
saw things as they really were; he faced facts, and that is a thing that you and I must learn to
do.

My friends, God is doing something – He is doing it now. Do you know what God is doing?
He is seeking. You know what that means. A shepherd had a hundred sheep and he lost one,
and what do we find him doing? Why, seeking for it. A woman had ten pieces of silver and
she lost one piece, and what do we see her doing? Seeking for it. God is doing that –
seeking. But what is He seeking? He is seeking man, a woman – one who will stand for
Him, one who will take sides with Him; one who will represent Him – in fact, God is
seeking you. Do you believe that? You must! Look at the text again! And sometimes when
God seeks a man he finds just the man He wants, just the man who is ready and willing. But
sometimes He does not.

The prophet depicts the city of Jerusalem as a city whose walls are gapped and broken. An
ancient city’s defences were its walls; but the defences of Jerusalem were broken and
battered down in parts and there were great gaps in the walls, and thus the city was in danger.
The prophet, however, is not thinking of the material defences of the city, the walls of stone
and the gates of iron, he is thinking of the real defences of the nation, and the real defences of
any nation are its morals, its justice, its righteousness, its purity. “Righteousness exalteth a
nation” … and you might add “protects” and “defends” too! A nation may have great
material wealth, but unless there are men and women who are pure in heart and clean in life,
and who fear God, that nation’s defences are gapped, and she is in great danger. It is men of
spiritual perception and vision, and men of moral integrity that are the invincible bulwarks of
a nation’s life.

Now, let me begin at once by saying that there are gaps in the defences of our national life
today. These gaps are exactly the same as they were all those years ago! Human nature has not changed much! – it is still rotten at the core. The heart of man is still “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked”. These gaps are mentioned in detail in this 22nd chapter of Ezekiel. In verse 2 they are called “abominations”, i.e. things that are detestable in the eyes of God. In verses 4 and 5 these gaps are said to be “a reproach to the heathen, and a mocking
to all countries.” Think of it! Jerusalem, the holy city, a reproach to the other nations! But
what of our own land? She is a reproach to the whole world today with her lack of
spirituality and her forgetfulness of God.

What are these gaps in the walls of our civilisation? The first gap is idolatry (verse 4) –
“thine idols which thou hast made.” It is not only the heathen who “bow down to wood and
stone”, who may be said to worship idols. Oh! The things we allow to take the place of God!

The second gap is that of despising holy things (verse 8). “Thou hast despised mine holy
things, and hast profaned my Sabbaths.” One of the greatest gaps in the defences of this land
today is our desecration of God’s holy day. Through this gap in the wall a whole host of
good things have passed out, and a vile torrent of iniquity has poured in – and through this
very gap the judgment of God has come. And what about the despising of God’s holy Word?
Surely, Ezekiel was writing for our day!

But look at the next gap – lewdness (verse 9). “In the midst of thee they commit lewdness…”
and look at verse 11. These plain words point to the lack of morality, to the low standards
that exist in our land today – indecency, immodesty, sensuality, a filthy brazenness that comes
from hell; these things are the perils of the hour. This spirit of lewdness is to be found on the
street, in our newspapers and magazines, and it is everywhere. The trouble is, it has come so
slowly and in such a subtle way that we have grown accustomed to it, and we hardly realise
its peril.

Another gap is the love of money (verse 12). This has always been the besetting sin of the
Jew, but it is one of our national sins today. It is also a sin in the church. Think of
missionary societies being in debt at such an hour when if only Christian people gave a
portion of what God requires of them to the Lord’s treasury, there would be more than
sufficient funds. Shame on us, brethren, for our meanness and tightness!

Another gap is forgetfulness of God (verse 12). “Thou hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord
God.” Is that true of you? In the midst of your busy life with its cares and responsibilities,
have you forgotten God? You used to think of Him, pray to Him, worship Him, but for these
past years you have forgotten Him. You could write these words over our nation’s life today.
We have forgotten God. We have got out of fellowship with Him. Oh the folly, the tragedy
of it! Yet the wonderful think is that God has not forgotten us!

One more gap is that caused by false prophets (verses 25, 26 and 28). What a description of
the modernists and the false teachers of ‘another gospel’, who have doped the people of our
land during the past fifty years. Modernism is a conspiracy. It is devil-like, “like a roaring
lion”. It is destructive “they have devoured souls.” It is hopeless – without hope – “they have
made many widows…” (verse 25). In verse 28 we see that modernism, destructive higher
criticism, false religion, is deceitful – “her prophets have daubed them with untempered
mortar, seeing vanity and divining lies.”

These are only a few of the gaps that constitute a grave peril to our nation, and that God calls
“abominations”. These are only a few of the things going on in our land that make us a
reproach to the other nations of the world and give them cause to mock us.

But the burden of our text is that God is seeking men; not machinery, but men – “I sought for
a man.” God always reaches and teaches men through men. That is a settled principle. In
Isaiah’s time, God’s man was Isaiah. In Jeremiah’s time, God’s man was Jeremiah. In the
time of which our text speaks, God’s man was Ezekiel. And when God wanted to reach man
with salvation He sent His own dear Son, a Man – “the Man Christ Jesus”. He became a man
that we, through Him, might be eternally saved. In later times we think of Wesley and
Whitfield, and of men who have influenced whole nations like Moody and Finney. But
where are our Ezekiels and Daniels and Moodys today? Listen! God is seeking for a man, a
woman. Will you, like Moody, say, “By God’s grace, I’ll be that man …”?

The man God is seeking is a separate man. “I sought for a man among them.” The man God
wanted was one who was willing to come out from among the idolaters, and forgetters-of-
God, and lovers of money etc., and be separate from these things and people. Listen! “Come
ye out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord; and touch not the unclean thing”
(2 Corinthians 6:17). God wants a man (or woman) who will separate himself from all the
evil and sin and looseness around, and live for Him alone, separated unto Him.

The man God wants is a man who will stand. “I sought for a man … that should stand.” God
give us men and women here who will stand in the gap when others are denying Him! We
cannot all preach; we cannot all play the instruments; we cannot all come to services
regularly; but, by the grace of God, we can all stand. God wants young people who will
stand while the world rushes madly on. Will you be one?

Then God wants men and women who will fill the gaps and make up the hedges. Standing
may be passive, but here is something that is active. God wants men and women who will
spread righteousness and truth, and counteract the forces of evil that are rampant in the world.
When Charles T. Studd went to the heart of Africa he met nothing but sin and vice and
immorality. He lived among a community of cannibals. He stood in the gap and he made up
the hedges, and he built up where Satan and his hosts had broken down. What was the result?
When they laid his broken body to rest in the soil of the African jungle there were present not
dozens, not hundreds, but thousands of born again transformed Africans, with tears running
down their dark faces. And what C. T. Studd did in Africa you can do in your home, office
or factory.

And note this important fact, God is seeking for a man who will stand before Him.

Look at the text again. God wants a man who will stand in the gap for the land. What is the
greatest service any one of us can do for our country at this or any time? Think about it. It is
to live a pure, Christ-like life; to be a man or woman of prayer and spirituality; to stand for
the right and against all that is evil and wrong.

And notice the last thing – “that I should not destroy it.” Why should God destroy the land?
Because it was so utterly corrupt. God cannot overlook sin. God cannot condone wrong. He
must judge it, and unless someone will stand in those gaps for Him, He will come pouring in
through those very gaps, in judgment and punishment! But listen, I cannot explain it, but we can prevent God’s judgments, in some measure at any rate. Did not God say He would save Sodom for the sake of ten righteous men?

My friends, our nation is in grave peril – yet you and I can save the situation. Are we willing
now to honour God by accepting His Son as our personal Saviour, and by letting Him be
Lord of all our life? Would you stand for Him, for the One who stood for you while they spat
upon Him, mocked Him and crucified Him?