Standing in the Gap
by Dr. Ken Matto
(Ezek 22:30 KJV) 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 lies at the end of a chapter where God is revealing the fact that the priests and the prophets of Judah had become so corrupt that there was not one in the group that was of the truth. Whenever politics and religion meld, the only thing that comes out of it is more corruption. We see this situation in today’s evangelical world where many of the more famous dispensational preachers have consistently endorsed the serial wars of the New World Order crowd. Billy Graham has consistently blessed the wars which America had gotten into simply because there was someone in the White House who claimed to be a Christian. We also see that because of the Zionist/Dispensational heresy which is being forced on non-thinking Christians in 98% of all the churches, many churches bless the war mongering and destruction policy of Israel when dealing with Palestinians. The Zionist controlled media will NEVER give both sides of the story.
The same situation exists today as it did in the time of Ezekiel. Is there anyone who will stand in the gap and bring the truth of God without adding any political overtones to it? Is there anyone in today’s society that will bring the Gospel in an unadulterated manner? That is the person that God still seeks in each generation. During the time of the Reformation, there were many Christians who refused to kowtow to the Roman Catholic political machine and their faithfulness to God cost many of them their lives. That was a time when torture and the confiscation of goods were allowed without accountability on the part of the Roman Catholic institution. Through the ages there were very few who stood in the gap. It was Martin Luther who stood in the gap in 1517 when he posted his 95 theses to the door of the cathedral at Wittenburg. It was John Wycliffe who antedated Martin Luther and in 1383 stood in the gap and produced his Bible for the English speaking world. He was called “The Morningstar of the Reformation.”
In the early 1740’s in the USA, Jonathan Edwards stood in the gap and through his ministry started the second great awakening. I just mention these three men as an example. What did all three of these men have in common? Each of them were concerned about the publishing of the truth of God. These men did not seek the “so called” gospel of the day. Their desire was to bring the truth of God to the people, no matter what the cost was. That is the essence of standing in the gap. A person that chooses to stand in the gap must realize there will be serious consequences in proclaiming the truth of God without apology or embellishments. God gave us the Bible to proclaim without adding our own ideas to it. Every unredeemed human being on earth is going to stand before the Lord on the last day and give an account of their life. This is something that is very difficult for the candy coater to teach so new methods and teachings must be invented to steer people away from these truths. The candy coaters also do not like to teach that salvation is all of grace and that a person cannot even ask the Lord for salvation since the Bible teaches that no one seeks after God, and that means no one.
(Rom 3:11 KJV) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Standing in the gap is no place for the fainthearted Christian, because by the examples I gave, we can see the caliber of the type of Christian that stands in the gap.There is a vast difference between being a bridge over troubled water and facing the troubled water. A bridge goes over the waters and those who ride on the bridge, will never know the raging of the water below. How many have ridden over bridges of false comfort only to die unsaved?
(Isa 17:12-13 KJV) Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! {13} The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. The world is as rushing waters and the multitude of people is like the noise of the seas. The noise that they cry is “no way out.” The only hope this world has is the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As many souls perish each day, we must be willing to stand in the gap with the truth of the Gospel. As we saw what Luther, Wycliffe, and Edwards did, they stood in the gap and faced the mighty rushing waters of the people of this earth. Because they stood on the truth of God and brought the truth of God, many are still benefiting from their efforts today. If you stand in the gap with God’s truth today, who will benefit from it tomorrow? (Mat 20:6 KJV) And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? Why? (10/24/03)