The Lost Virtue of Christian Zeal (Romans 12:11)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:05.360 Fear able to remain standing. Please do as we hear God's word now from 2 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.029 Romans. This is the portion I'm going to be preaching on this morning. 3 00:00:09.070 --> 00:00:15.789 Romans Chapter Twelve, verse eleven. Romans twelve, verse eleven. But, 4 00:00:15.869 --> 00:00:18.469 as I've been doing over the past a few weeks, I'm going to be 5 00:00:18.589 --> 00:00:25.219 reading this larger section. If you've been here for all of that and are 6 00:00:25.579 --> 00:00:30.260 starting to get used to these words, perhaps you can start committing them to 7 00:00:30.339 --> 00:00:35.659 memory. Even now. Let's pay attention and really hear, amaze, even 8 00:00:36.049 --> 00:00:40.329 for the first time, God's word. I'll start in Romans twelve, verse 9 00:00:40.409 --> 00:00:47.890 nine. Let love be genuine a phoor what is evil, hold fast to 10 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:54.000 what is good, love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in 11 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:59.479 showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, 12 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:06.709 serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant 13 00:01:06.829 --> 00:01:11.150 in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 14 00:01:12.109 --> 00:01:17.510 Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice 15 00:01:17.590 --> 00:01:22.019 with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with 16 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:26.379 one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never 17 00:01:26.459 --> 00:01:30.459 be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but 18 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:34.969 give thought to do what is honorable in the side of all. If possible, 19 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:40.810 so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all beloved. 20 00:01:40.930 --> 00:01:44.250 Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it 21 00:01:44.370 --> 00:01:48.719 is written, vengeance is mine. I will repace as the Lord. To 22 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:52.000 the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is 23 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:56.680 thirsty, give him something to drink, for by so doing you will heep 24 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:01.709 burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome 25 00:02:01.870 --> 00:02:24.699 evil with good. You may be seated. So as we come to consider 26 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:30.090 verse eleven this morning, and we'll read it once again here, do not 27 00:02:30.210 --> 00:02:35.009 be slothful and zeal, be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. So 28 00:02:35.090 --> 00:02:40.449 you consider verse eleven and the contents and instructions of all this, these surrounding 29 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:46.360 verses, remember that these stand on everything that has come before. Here in 30 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:51.000 Romans, we've been taught over and over again, in many different ways, 31 00:02:51.520 --> 00:02:55.360 of who Jesus is, of what he's done and of how nothing that we 32 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:02.069 can do can establish us as justified before God. How even our sanctification is 33 00:03:02.150 --> 00:03:07.990 a required work of God's spirit. But once God begins that work in us, 34 00:03:08.229 --> 00:03:14.819 is a work that he brings to completion, we are justified, sanctified 35 00:03:15.419 --> 00:03:21.699 and will one day also be glorified. It's in light of that Good News 36 00:03:23.139 --> 00:03:27.650 Gospel that comes to us, apart from anything that we've done, but merely 37 00:03:27.689 --> 00:03:34.689 by God's love and pleasure, that he then speaks to us about these commandments 38 00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:38.090 and he calls us, in light of all that he's given to us, 39 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:46.639 to be zealous. Do not be slothful in zeal, which, of course, 40 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:51.960 they very opposite of zeal. Right. Lazy zeal doesn't go together right. 41 00:03:52.759 --> 00:03:55.110 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in the spirit, serve 42 00:03:55.270 --> 00:04:00.509 the Lord. This is what we have been brought into. We have been 43 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:08.830 made a people save to be a people that are of good works. But 44 00:04:08.949 --> 00:04:14.939 what is zeal exactly? What is a fervency in the spirit? Well, 45 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:18.459 the best place to learn about any virtue, or to see any virtue at 46 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:27.089 work is to think about Jesus. Always remember that when you're wanting to understand 47 00:04:27.250 --> 00:04:31.449 something more, some attribute and good thing that God has given us, start 48 00:04:31.529 --> 00:04:38.129 by thinking about Jesus when? What do we learn when we think about zeal 49 00:04:38.329 --> 00:04:43.759 and in Jesus's life? Well, we see that zeal is a kind of 50 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:49.360 single mindedness that causes us to give even the best parts, not even to 51 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:55.149 give the best parts, of ourselves to the thing that we're zealous for. 52 00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:00.149 Zeal is kind of a single mindedness, a burning passion, a drive to 53 00:05:00.430 --> 00:05:06.860 complete a mission. Psalm sixty nine nine says that Jesus was clad with his 54 00:05:06.899 --> 00:05:15.259 zeal as with a cloak. Remember that when Jesus drove out the money changers, 55 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:21.009 that zeal for the Lord's House consumed him or, in some traces translations, 56 00:05:21.529 --> 00:05:27.850 devoured him. Those are strong words. You cannot, at least I 57 00:05:27.930 --> 00:05:30.850 hope, not get to the end of this sermon and think that zeal is 58 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:35.120 not a strong word. It is, by definition. That's what it means. 59 00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:44.279 It's it's a strength of passion. Zeal is this single minded determination to 60 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:48.360 do the things of the Lord, at least Christian zeal is that way. 61 00:05:49.629 --> 00:05:54.829 For Jesus, that meant doing the will of the father, which meant completing 62 00:05:54.949 --> 00:06:01.470 with perfect faithfulness his mission to bring salvation to the world. It's like a 63 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:06.579 fire and an engine. That causes the whole thing to move forward. Zeal 64 00:06:06.779 --> 00:06:13.100 is like that. When zeal burns within a person, it gives fire and 65 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:16.740 power and energy to every single part of them, their mind, their emotions, 66 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:23.410 their feet, their hands, and so from zeal we have strength of 67 00:06:23.529 --> 00:06:30.689 will, endurance in the face of obstacles, courage in the heart to overcome 68 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:35.680 fear. And you see that in Zo in Jesus, zealous, drops of 69 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:44.680 blood dripping from him as he would prayed, being completely and totally committed to 70 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:49.029 going to the cross, to going to his own death, to going to 71 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:55.389 betrayal and unfairness and injustice, to go and take all the sins of the 72 00:06:55.550 --> 00:07:01.939 world, to take your sins on his shoulders and in his body. That 73 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:08.819 was zeal. Zeal was so essential to Jesus life that he called it his 74 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:12.660 food. That is God's will, he said. My food is to do 75 00:07:12.899 --> 00:07:20.970 the father's will and to finish his work. Jesus said man does not live 76 00:07:21.129 --> 00:07:27.009 by bread alone, even the most basic things that you might be zealous for. 77 00:07:27.089 --> 00:07:32.639 Jesus said there are more basic things, more essential things even than eating. 78 00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:39.399 What does this mean for us? I know that I'm not on a 79 00:07:39.519 --> 00:07:44.240 mission to save the entire world. From their sins, at least not in 80 00:07:44.389 --> 00:07:47.829 and of myself, but certainly to preach the one who does. But our 81 00:07:47.870 --> 00:07:53.629 mission is in some ways different than Jesus. We have different callings in our 82 00:07:53.670 --> 00:07:57.269 lives, different things that God has given us to do. But in another 83 00:07:57.350 --> 00:08:01.699 way it's exactly the same when we consider it broadly, which is to do 84 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:09.060 the will of God. Our mission, as our catechism puts it, is 85 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:13.569 to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That is our chief end, our 86 00:08:13.730 --> 00:08:18.490 primary goal. When we wake up in the morning, that's the thing we 87 00:08:18.569 --> 00:08:24.290 should be thinking about. How can I glorify God and how can I enjoy 88 00:08:24.329 --> 00:08:28.959 him today? That's what God designed us for, that's what he made us 89 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.480 for and as zealous heart feels that, thinks about it, reflects on it 90 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:41.230 and then moves forward with Gusto and speed and energy. That means being zealous 91 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:46.629 for the worship of God. It means that being zealous for the church, 92 00:08:48.029 --> 00:08:52.029 his people. It means being zealous for things like the spread of the Gospel, 93 00:08:52.629 --> 00:08:58.100 for salvation of souls, for holiness in our own lives and in the 94 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:03.259 lives of others. It means doing this and thinking of all of these things 95 00:09:03.340 --> 00:09:09.860 in the particular callings that God has called us into. That's what being zealous 96 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:13.210 is, and so I think it's right to ask right off the bat. 97 00:09:15.730 --> 00:09:20.529 Are you zealous for that? Are you zealous to glorify God and enjoy him 98 00:09:20.570 --> 00:09:26.559 forever? Is that the thing that you want most do? Frame all your 99 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:35.120 thoughts in your works and your words and your schedule and your friendships and your 100 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:43.029 reading and everything else? Is Everything framed in this way? You may be 101 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:50.830 a sincere Christian, in earnest Christian, a dutiful Christian, but are you 102 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:58.340 as zealous one? Do you have what William is, William Ames the called 103 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:05.740 an intensive quality of obedience? Is your obedience something that happens when it's convenient 104 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:11.210 or merely sort of moving you in a direction because, well, you've been 105 00:10:11.289 --> 00:10:15.970 there for a while, or is there an intensive quality to it, as 106 00:10:16.009 --> 00:10:20.519 zealousness to it? Do you have what JC ryle described as a burn, 107 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:26.759 a burning desire to please God, to do his will and to advance his 108 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:35.509 glory in the world in every possible way? We hear stories about zeal in 109 00:10:35.669 --> 00:10:43.950 the world, non Christian zeal, and they're inspiring. About a person who 110 00:10:43.990 --> 00:10:48.950 starts saving a thousand dollars every week when they're twenty five, dutifully never straying 111 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:54.820 from that, and then all of a sudden they're multi millionaires when they get 112 00:10:54.820 --> 00:10:58.700 older and we say wow, that is impressive, that kind of diligence and 113 00:10:58.899 --> 00:11:03.620 saving. Or the inventor who tries again and again and again and again and 114 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:07.769 again and again and again, and goes through all kinds of iterations and fails 115 00:11:07.809 --> 00:11:11.929 over and over and over, but then finally, decades later, after everyone 116 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:16.129 said Stop, stop trying, you're wasting your time, does the thing he 117 00:11:16.330 --> 00:11:22.080 set out to do and we all say, wow, I want to be 118 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:26.679 like that, I want to be zealous and in these kinds of things. 119 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:33.149 or The woman who waits for her one true love year after years, spurning 120 00:11:33.190 --> 00:11:39.350 after spurning, and then finally gets him, and we say that was zealous, 121 00:11:41.190 --> 00:11:43.909 that was amazing. I don't know if I could do that. There's 122 00:11:43.909 --> 00:11:48.419 a kind of admiration we have for these things. But then, strangely, 123 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:52.899 when it comes to religion, when it comes to zeal and religion, when 124 00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:58.220 we see people that are zealous, even our own friends, our own family 125 00:11:58.299 --> 00:12:01.299 members, people that we know and love and trust, when we see them 126 00:12:01.340 --> 00:12:05.450 as zealous. All of a sudden we become a little nervous, little restless, 127 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:11.929 a little cautious. One of the first friends I met in college, 128 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:16.519 one of the best friends I've ever had, had a hat, black hat. 129 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:22.799 It said I love Jesus and giant letters and he were all the time, 130 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:26.399 everywhere he went. And I'll be honest, I'd always bothered me a 131 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:35.990 little bit. Clayton, if you're listening, I love you. It bothered 132 00:12:35.149 --> 00:12:41.509 me because I was this way and in some ways still am. I hate 133 00:12:41.590 --> 00:12:48.460 that about myself. Why should we ever be cautious or nervous about people expressing 134 00:12:48.539 --> 00:12:54.379 their love for Christ? He wasn't doing it in an offensive way. I 135 00:12:54.500 --> 00:12:58.929 never heard anybody get mad at him. I only heard a thousand conversations start. 136 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:03.049 Many people see him and say, boy, that guy is committed, 137 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:07.330 he sure loves people, and he did. It wasn't just a hat that 138 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:13.320 he wore, but he lived it in his life. But for some reason, 139 00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:18.039 despite the examples we have around us, our Lord and Savior people called 140 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:24.840 and praised for being zealous and scripture. And then right here in Romans Eleven, 141 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.509 it says do not be slothful and zeal be fervent in spirit, serve 142 00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:35.909 the Lord. We say well, yeah, I don't know. We shy 143 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:46.179 away from people who do this. We avoid situations that require boldness. We 144 00:13:46.620 --> 00:13:50.379 give it and this virtue. We relegate it to others in other times, 145 00:13:50.500 --> 00:13:58.009 other places, people who have giftings that are different than our own. But 146 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:01.769 I have to be honest with myself, and I think you do too. 147 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:07.570 If we want to please the Lord, we can't ignore what he says and 148 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:13.000 we can't change the definition of zeal. It is what it is, and 149 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:20.639 so I want to resurrect this virtue among us. I really want you to 150 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:26.830 see this morning. It's goodness and it's greatness, it's benefits. Why? 151 00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:35.429 Because here it's commanded of us. Our good and Holy God has given us 152 00:14:35.549 --> 00:14:39.419 his good word and has called us to it. It's to be a mark 153 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:46.539 of the church. It is to be a mark of our church. So 154 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:52.289 let's clear away some objections before we go any further. One objection that we 155 00:14:52.409 --> 00:14:58.129 have sometimes to zeal is that what we're supposed to live peaceably with other people? 156 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:01.169 Well, first of all, let me remind you that Paul himself knows 157 00:15:01.210 --> 00:15:07.129 this. He says it in verse eighteen. Live peaceably withal right. Paul 158 00:15:07.200 --> 00:15:13.039 does not see living peaceably and being zealous as two things that cannot go together. 159 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:18.879 They can, they must. Yes, we are to find the right 160 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:24.470 time and the right place to say the things we say, the right mode 161 00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:30.230 and method which to say them. We are to speak seasonably. This is 162 00:15:30.309 --> 00:15:39.580 all true, but let me ask you honestly. Do does living peaceably keep 163 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:43.620 you from saying the things you shouldn't, or does the command to leave live 164 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:50.129 peaceably keep you from saying the things that you know you should? In other 165 00:15:50.169 --> 00:15:54.409 words, are you using God's word as it's intended, or are you using 166 00:15:54.490 --> 00:15:58.889 it as an excuse? As we see, peaceableness and zeal will are here 167 00:15:58.970 --> 00:16:03.720 compatible. And you know what the fact is is that a lot of times 168 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:11.440 were much too cautious, much too cautious. There was a study a few 169 00:16:11.480 --> 00:16:15.440 years ago of various people that were not Christians, that were unchurched, had 170 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:22.190 never experienced much time in the church, and they were asked various questions about 171 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:26.309 how would you feel if someone invited you to church? I think was one 172 00:16:26.350 --> 00:16:32.269 of the questions. The vast majority of it in the middle said either yeah, 173 00:16:32.309 --> 00:16:36.620 I might consider it, or probably not. And then there were a 174 00:16:36.700 --> 00:16:41.259 few people on the very top who said of a small percentage on the top 175 00:16:41.379 --> 00:16:44.740 who are basically begging for someone to ask them for church, to come, 176 00:16:44.899 --> 00:16:48.409 to be invited to church, and then there was a small percentage on the 177 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:52.370 bottom that we're going to be really, really mad if you invited them to 178 00:16:52.409 --> 00:16:56.370 church. These were sort of the spread. I think, if we're honest 179 00:16:56.409 --> 00:17:03.240 with ourselves, this is probably resonates with our own experience. Most of us, 180 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:07.319 when we talk to people about Jesus, when we asked him to come 181 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:11.559 to church with us, when we think about them or think with them about 182 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:18.349 godly things in our lives, usually they're in that metal portion. They're thoughtful, 183 00:17:18.470 --> 00:17:22.630 they're considerate, they're listening. They might be a little more encouraged a 184 00:17:22.670 --> 00:17:26.309 little less encouraged depending on how things go, but very rarely do we have 185 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:30.740 people that scream at us and yell at US and draw us out of their 186 00:17:30.859 --> 00:17:37.539 presence. And yet we're so afraid of it. We're so afraid of being 187 00:17:37.619 --> 00:17:42.740 hurt, we're so afraid of someone being mean when, at least statistically, 188 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:48.650 it's probably not even going to happen, and even if it did, wouldn't 189 00:17:48.690 --> 00:17:55.609 it be worth it? We've been given the most wonderful things that could ever 190 00:17:55.690 --> 00:18:02.559 be given a people. We've been given the salvation of our souls. That's 191 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:07.920 worth a little conflict, isn't it? Jesus certainly endured a lot of conflict 192 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:12.509 to obtain it. Jesus is zeal, in other words, is part of 193 00:18:12.630 --> 00:18:22.509 what saved you. It's right for us to follow in his footsteps. Piece 194 00:18:22.710 --> 00:18:26.140 is important, and so is being winsome and loving and seasonable and cunning in 195 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:30.500 the way that we speak and the act about the things of God. But 196 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:34.859 these things do not equal silence. This is a way of talking that we 197 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:41.420 are commanded to in scripture, not a refusal to talk. We are the 198 00:18:41.450 --> 00:18:48.769 ambassadors of the Lord and Ambassadors require a message to be proclaimed, and honestly, 199 00:18:49.569 --> 00:18:55.450 just from a very practical standpoint, if we're trying to serve the Lord 200 00:18:55.450 --> 00:19:00.880 and we're trying to be zealous, we might make some mistakes, we might 201 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.000 good things up or say things in our wrong way or overstep our bounds from 202 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:11.109 time to time. Zeal made me may need directing, it may need instructing, 203 00:19:12.910 --> 00:19:17.509 but I think for most of us we're airing far too much. On 204 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:22.630 the other side, a second objection that people have is that it's only for 205 00:19:22.789 --> 00:19:26.299 particular Christians, and I hope I've already put this one down of a little 206 00:19:26.339 --> 00:19:30.420 bit. We see it here in the text. Let me give you just 207 00:19:30.500 --> 00:19:33.940 a little bit more exposition to show you that this really does apply to you, 208 00:19:33.740 --> 00:19:38.049 by reminding you that before person nine, Paul spent some time talking about 209 00:19:38.329 --> 00:19:42.769 the particular gifts of grace that are given to each of us. Not all 210 00:19:42.849 --> 00:19:48.609 of us are given exactly the same gifts and same functions, and but when 211 00:19:48.609 --> 00:19:53.200 he comes to verse nine through Twenty One, he's now addressing us all in 212 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:59.519 all the things that we share. These Zeil, in other words, is 213 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:03.880 not a special gift that is given to the few. It is not. 214 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:07.349 It is a common gift that is given to us all. Now, sure, 215 00:20:07.549 --> 00:20:12.269 some people are going to have perhaps more of this or have grown and 216 00:20:12.390 --> 00:20:18.589 matured more of it others of us, but nevertheless it's all there, and 217 00:20:18.789 --> 00:20:22.180 call commands all of us, it's not a few of us, to stir 218 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:30.339 it up in ourselves to be fervent in the spirit. So what I want 219 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:33.900 you to do here at the very beginning, as we hear this clear command, 220 00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:40.809 brothers and sisters, is to let your heart be sensitive to it. 221 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:45.809 I know that oftentimes, when we hear things that we don't want to hear, 222 00:20:45.650 --> 00:20:48.849 one way of dealing with that is by callousing up a little bit. 223 00:20:49.720 --> 00:20:55.720 This doesn't apply to me, or I'm trying hard enough. Whatever those feelings 224 00:20:55.880 --> 00:21:00.279 of guilt and paying those pangs of guilt that we have, we try to 225 00:21:00.359 --> 00:21:04.029 push them away, but that's not how we are to deal with our consciences. 226 00:21:06.390 --> 00:21:10.829 If you've pricked, we turn to the Lord. We don't push it 227 00:21:10.910 --> 00:21:15.470 away and say never mind. Instead we ask for forgiveness and strength and grace, 228 00:21:15.549 --> 00:21:21.579 and of course the Lord gives us these things. And so if you 229 00:21:21.700 --> 00:21:25.380 find yourself lacking in the zeal or any of these other things that have been 230 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:30.900 commanded to us here in Romans twelve and other places in God's word, if 231 00:21:30.940 --> 00:21:37.250 you find yourself lacking, begin to start asking that the Lord would forgive you 232 00:21:37.569 --> 00:21:45.650 strengthen you, because he most certainly will. Well, having defined zeal and 233 00:21:45.849 --> 00:21:52.480 cleared away some ob actions to it, let's consider a couple things. First, 234 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:56.559 where does it come from and how can we get it? If zeal 235 00:21:56.680 --> 00:22:00.470 is something you want, if you want to please the Lord and walk in 236 00:22:00.589 --> 00:22:11.269 his steps and be strengthened and passionate about the work that God has done and 237 00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:15.390 is doing in you and in the world. How can you get it? 238 00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:22.940 Where does it come from? Well, when we think about the first of 239 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:29.180 these things, where we find Zevil, in one sense you already have it. 240 00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:33.930 You already know it. Zeal is in all of us from our birth. 241 00:22:33.890 --> 00:22:38.329 Babies, by nature, are vary zealous to nurse. Their mother's single 242 00:22:38.450 --> 00:22:45.039 minded, devoted completely to this one thing. Even other activities, as young 243 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:49.640 moms know, like sleep, often play second fiddle to a baby that wants 244 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:55.920 to eat. It will cry, it will call out, it will do 245 00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:00.670 whatever it needs to do. There's a sense of in all of us, 246 00:23:00.230 --> 00:23:06.069 things that we get fired up about, and as we grow older this applies 247 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:10.589 to more and more things. Kids, perhaps you've been zealous about a toy 248 00:23:10.630 --> 00:23:15.619 or a game, something that you just keep thinking about. You take get 249 00:23:15.619 --> 00:23:18.420 out of the closet and you want to play it again and again and again 250 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.779 and you think about it and you play with it and you draw it and 251 00:23:21.859 --> 00:23:25.019 you ask others to play with you and you talk to people about it. 252 00:23:25.619 --> 00:23:30.690 That's zeal. As you get older, these things will transfer to other things, 253 00:23:30.809 --> 00:23:36.130 perhaps learning a particular skill or making money or finding a spouse or getting 254 00:23:36.250 --> 00:23:41.680 healthy or advancing your career. If you're not sure what zeal is, all 255 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:45.880 you have to do is look to some area in your life, maybe in 256 00:23:45.920 --> 00:23:48.920 the past or maybe in the present, where you've seen this at work, 257 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:52.559 and then you'll know. Oh, okay, now I know what zeal is. 258 00:23:55.559 --> 00:24:02.150 Sadly, however, this kind of single mindedness also applies to sin. 259 00:24:03.109 --> 00:24:11.299 Some of US have experienced the strongest aspects of zeal in our anger, in 260 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:18.299 our lust or in our selfishness, unable to let go of this one thing 261 00:24:18.539 --> 00:24:27.730 that just drives us and pushes us staying angry or having the desert, the 262 00:24:29.009 --> 00:24:33.970 sinful desires of our heart, doing crazy things like we read about in proverbs, 263 00:24:33.250 --> 00:24:38.880 to get the thing that we want. That's zeal too. And so 264 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:41.359 when I ask where does it come from, and as way, I'm saying 265 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:49.160 it's kind of built into you already, because the problem is is that bear 266 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:57.309 zeal isn't good enough. Just having passion, just having a desire and movement 267 00:24:57.509 --> 00:25:06.230 and energy and single mindedness towards something isn't enough, especially when it's moving towards 268 00:25:06.349 --> 00:25:15.900 sin. That kind of zeal consumes people, destroys people and frankly damns them 269 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:23.690 to hell. That kind of zeal and intensity that fights against God is not 270 00:25:25.009 --> 00:25:29.970 the kind of zeal that you want. But if you can take that and 271 00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:34.250 recognize your feelings in it and begin, perhaps even in part, to understand 272 00:25:34.289 --> 00:25:38.119 that this is the kind of feeling that the Lord wants attached to him, 273 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:45.000 that that kind of zeal and single mindedness and energy is what he wants for 274 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:49.109 us and his things, now we're starting to get on the right track. 275 00:25:52.869 --> 00:25:56.990 Now, where does that kind of zeal come from? Well, it's a 276 00:25:56.990 --> 00:26:02.230 kind of zeal that can only come from heaven. It's a zeal that can 277 00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:10.140 only come with the knowledge of the Gospel. You can use the apostle all 278 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:14.500 who wrote this, as the perfect example. Here was a man who was 279 00:26:14.819 --> 00:26:18.410 zealous from beginning to end. He pursued his studies, didn't he? He 280 00:26:19.210 --> 00:26:23.369 worked with the best teachers, he followed all the laws, he worked and 281 00:26:23.490 --> 00:26:29.289 he strived and he worked and he strived. He persecuted Christians and the things 282 00:26:29.369 --> 00:26:33.759 of God with zeal. But what he says in chapter ten of Romans is 283 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:41.240 that it was a zeal without knowledge. When the Lord Jesus revealed himself to 284 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:48.509 Paul on that road to Damascus, something changed, that zeal switch got flipped 285 00:26:48.509 --> 00:26:56.269 from bad to good because of something that happened, not from within himself, 286 00:26:56.509 --> 00:27:03.059 that zeal that was already there, but the zeal was transformed and changed from 287 00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:08.940 above. To steal an example, I read somewhere this. It's the difference 288 00:27:08.980 --> 00:27:17.289 between the fire that Nadab and a by who offered this strange and unauthorized fire 289 00:27:17.849 --> 00:27:22.890 that God took their lives for, took the lives of these priests for numbers. 290 00:27:22.930 --> 00:27:26.730 It's the difference between that kind of fire and passion and the fire that 291 00:27:26.769 --> 00:27:33.319 the Lord sends down on Mount Carmel when Elijah is battling it out with the 292 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:40.079 prophets of bail, a fire that consumed this wet offering and they altar and 293 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:45.789 everything. We don't want a fire that's below or from below, but one 294 00:27:45.910 --> 00:27:51.269 that is from above, the fire that comes to us from Jesus, a 295 00:27:51.390 --> 00:28:02.339 Christian zeal that is rooted in his Gospel. What Paul learned when he began 296 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:07.059 to hear about the glory of God that comes to us in Jesus Christ is 297 00:28:07.140 --> 00:28:14.609 that all his striving and all his zeal for even some good things would never 298 00:28:14.690 --> 00:28:18.730 save him. We're what, as long as it was done in his own 299 00:28:18.890 --> 00:28:22.490 self righteousness, as long as it was done with a spirit that was desiring 300 00:28:22.529 --> 00:28:29.960 to save himself, it would be a zeal that was against God. As 301 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.240 long as he is zeal, even if it was a zeal that was seeking 302 00:28:33.319 --> 00:28:37.799 to obey the law, as long as that zeal was a zeal that was 303 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:45.269 not founded and rooted in the Gospel, that rejected Jesus Christ and persecuted him, 304 00:28:45.230 --> 00:28:51.470 it would not be glorifying to God. And this is what we must 305 00:28:51.509 --> 00:28:55.390 remember. This is what Paul is telling us to remember. That zeal that 306 00:28:55.509 --> 00:29:03.259 is turned away from God and turned towards sin is useless, it's worthless, 307 00:29:03.819 --> 00:29:11.769 it's damnable, it brings us nothing. Paul will say that all the good 308 00:29:11.809 --> 00:29:17.809 things that he did, all his zeal, he counts as rubbish for the 309 00:29:17.930 --> 00:29:26.079 sake of knowing Jesus Christ. But in knowing Jesus it changes things. In 310 00:29:26.359 --> 00:29:30.119 having his life and all of his work rooted in God's free grace that comes 311 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:36.759 to us in the Gospel, in Christ, that zeal is purified and made 312 00:29:36.839 --> 00:29:42.390 holy. Instead of striving for our own righteousness, instead of striving to check 313 00:29:42.509 --> 00:29:48.230 off a bunch of commands, knowing that we've been given at all. Now 314 00:29:48.470 --> 00:29:56.059 we have the zealousness of a freed person, someone who can go out in 315 00:29:56.140 --> 00:30:00.180 the world knowing that they are entirely protected by God, knowing that their sins 316 00:30:00.220 --> 00:30:06.940 are completely forgiven, knowing that you aren't trying to establish the Kingdom of Heaven, 317 00:30:07.769 --> 00:30:11.930 that it has already come to us in Jesus, and so you can 318 00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:18.329 take a little persecution because it's all right. You can even die a martyr's 319 00:30:18.329 --> 00:30:23.839 death, because heaven belongs to you. Knowing what Jesus Has Accomplished in the 320 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:33.359 Gospel gives you great strength and courage and passion, knowing that what he has 321 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:37.990 done he has done for you, and that it will never fade away or 322 00:30:38.150 --> 00:30:52.019 die or perish. This is what God wants for us, not just to 323 00:30:52.140 --> 00:31:00.859 be zealous, but to be fervent in the spirit, to serve not ourselves 324 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:06.730 but the Lord. We do that by coming to know the Lord, and 325 00:31:06.890 --> 00:31:12.289 that's how we receive it. Where we receive true Christian zeal is well, 326 00:31:12.369 --> 00:31:18.839 unsurprisingly, in Christ, through faith in him, true faith in him, 327 00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:22.440 growing faith in him. And that gets us to the last point, which 328 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:27.200 is how it grows in us. There's no magic, there's no formula. 329 00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:33.390 Godly zeal is given to everyone freely. When we ask for it, God 330 00:31:33.470 --> 00:31:40.109 gives it to us. Jesus accomplished everything on the Cross. There our sinful 331 00:31:40.190 --> 00:31:45.509 zeal is put to death and righteous zeal is brought to life. He simply 332 00:31:45.750 --> 00:31:52.099 gives it to us and we receive it through faith. Does that seem too 333 00:31:52.180 --> 00:31:57.940 easy? Does a zeal that great, that powerful, that strong? That 334 00:31:59.019 --> 00:32:06.650 seemed too easy? Just trusting in Jesus? Well, if it sounds too 335 00:32:06.769 --> 00:32:09.250 easy, maybe it would help to consider not how easy it was or is 336 00:32:09.490 --> 00:32:15.599 for you, but how much it was for him. Grace indeed, does 337 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:22.599 come easily to us, freely to us. We don't work for it, 338 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:25.640 we don't strive for it, we don't pay for it, we simply receive 339 00:32:25.880 --> 00:32:32.309 it as a gift that's offered. But grace did not come easily to Jesus. 340 00:32:34.910 --> 00:32:38.789 Your grace was bought with a price. The righteous zeal that God gives 341 00:32:38.869 --> 00:32:45.940 to us in Jesus is something that cost a very great deal. There was 342 00:32:45.059 --> 00:32:52.140 nothing cheap or easy about it when Jesus went to the cross zealously to pay 343 00:32:52.180 --> 00:32:58.380 for our sins. That's what makes it Christian zeal. Our zeal isn't a 344 00:32:58.380 --> 00:33:02.529 zeal that sort of runs parallel along Christ's zeal. Our zeal is one that 345 00:33:02.769 --> 00:33:08.170 feeds and draws from his evil. That's why it can be go so great 346 00:33:08.250 --> 00:33:14.599 and that's why it comes to us in the way that it does. So 347 00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:20.799 if this is something you desire, to serve God with all your heart and 348 00:33:20.880 --> 00:33:23.799 with all your soul, with all your might and with all your strength, 349 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:30.029 to be Z allous for the Lord and never fearful, then trust him, 350 00:33:31.950 --> 00:33:39.269 believe him, give up on yourself and your fears and your worries and give 351 00:33:39.309 --> 00:33:45.619 yourself to Jesus. You will find everything that you need in him. This 352 00:33:45.859 --> 00:33:52.460 is where our zeal is found in this is where our zeal grows. So 353 00:33:52.700 --> 00:33:58.849 spend time and learn who Jesus is, his love for you, the strength 354 00:33:58.930 --> 00:34:04.809 of his kingdom, his perfect goodness, his awesome glory, his desire for 355 00:34:04.970 --> 00:34:09.440 obedience and his work in you. And, as you learn of him, 356 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:15.519 put your faith in him, trust him and follow him in every step, 357 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:22.360 wherever he would go. Follow Jesus, never lose sight of him, stay 358 00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:28.750 in his word, follow Jesus, be zealous about him, be fervent in 359 00:34:28.829 --> 00:34:37.150 the spirit that he gives you, and he will indeed prosper. You're following 360 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:43.340 in him. He will bless your works and you'll see much benefit from it. 361 00:34:45.380 --> 00:34:50.099 Let's ask God that he would help us to repent and be zealous.