Biblical ABC’s: Z is
for – Zeal
This is the last installment of our Biblical ABC’s, and I
must say that it makes me a bit sad. We
started with A is for “All Things” back on February 8, 2011! Can you believe
that?? It’s taken us three years, but I have found it a challenging and
interesting study through the alphabet and through God’s Word!! I have often
read through my past lessons and still find gems of truth that I find useful
and applicable to my life!
And so tonight, let’s see what the Bible has to say about,
“Z is for Zeal!” Are you zealous about anything? Do you have zeal? Zeal is a noun that is defined as, “fervor
for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic
diligence; ardor.” We would more likely say, “intensity,” or “passion.” What
are you passionate about?? Do you have
zeal for anything? According to the Bible, God has zeal. You can have the right kind of zeal, but did
you know that you can be zealous for the wrong things, and have a wrong kind of
zeal? Let’s open our Bibles tonight and see what God’s Word says!
There is an interesting phrase in the Bible that I want to
draw your attention to. Remember Pastor
has been teaching us about the times of the Kings of Israel and Judah? In his recent message, “Yo, Jehu, What Up,
Man?” Pastor was telling us how Jehu had been the one whom the Lord used to
remove Ahab’s family from power. But I want to specifically draw your attention
to what the Bible says in 2 Kings 10:16, “And he[Jehu] said, Come with me, and
see my zeal for the Lord…” Can we say
that tonight? Can people see our zeal for the Lord?
I. God’s
Zeal
Let’s begin by looking at God’s zeal. About what does God have zeal or
passion? Isn’t it fascinating to know
that there are things for which our God is zealous?
A. His
People
You know when we take prayer requests on Wednesday night,
someone nearly always adds on our prayer sheet, the nation of Israel – why is
that? Well, we read in 2 Kings 19:30,31:
“And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take
root downward, and bear fruit upward…. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a
remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts
shall do this.” God has a zeal, a
passion, for the children of Israel. We
read in Isaiah 37:32, “For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they
that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do
this.” This is because God has not
forgotten Israel, nor should we. I am
reminded of what I read in Psalm 122:6-8 -- “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
they shall prosper that love thee…. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity
within thy palaces…. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say,
Peace be within thee.” God is zealous
for His people.
B. His
House
Do you remember when Jesus was on the earth, early in His
ministry He came to Jerusalem and found the moneychangers selling oxen and
sheep and doves in the temple? Look with me in John 2:13-17 where the Bible
says, And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep
and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove
them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers'
money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things
hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The
zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
What they were doing had nothing to do with worshipping God
and everything to do with selfish gain, so Christ rebuked them. And the disciples were reminded of this verse
from Psalm 69:9 -- “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the
reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” The Lord is
zealous of the house of worship and expects that we will be, too. Are we zealous about going to worship in
God’s house?
C. His Word
God also has a zeal for His Word! We can’t get away from it – nor should we!!
Look with me in the book of Isaiah, chapter 59, and we’ll reading
verses 15-21 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil
maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there
was no judgment. And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there
was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his
righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an
helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for
clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury
to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay
recompence. So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a
flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that
turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD;
My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall
not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the
mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.
What does this passage remind you of? That’s right! The
passage in Ephesians 6:13-17 which talks about the “whole armor of God”: Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God:
The excerpt from Isaiah says that He was “clad with zeal!”
God is passionate about His Word, and He wants us, too, to be that way! We are
to be armoured with the Word of God. We
will not be able to face the “fiery darts of the wicked” unless we have God’s
Word hidden in our hearts, covering us like armour, protecting us! I pray we’ll
see the importance, tonight, of becoming zealous about the Bible as much as God
is!
II. A Wrong
Zeal
You know I told you that zeal is defined as a “fervor for a
person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence;
ardor.” But the Bible tells us that we can have a misguided, or wrong zeal. By
that, I mean, it is possible to place our fervor, our eager passion towards the
wrong person or object. Look with me
first of all at 2 Samuel 21: 1 & 2 – Then there was a famine in the days of David three years,
year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is
for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them;
(now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of
the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought
to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.)
Here is an example from the Old Testament of misguided
zeal. David, as King, is experiencing
famine in his kingdom. It has persisted
now for three years and he knows this is not right. So, he prays and asks God. Here is a king who is close to the Lord! What a testimony!! And God shows him that
there is a reason – the former king had committed an injustice to a group of
people, the Gibeonites. In Saul’s zeal
for his nation, the Bible says, in his desire as King, he tried to commit
genocide. But it was an unnecessary,
misguided zeal. And God wanted David to
make reparations.
Now in the New Testament, Paul shares about his own
misguided zeal in the form of religious fervor.
Look with me in Philippians 3:4-9 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any
other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the
righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for
Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith:
And, again, he said in Galatians 1:13,14 – “For ye have
heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews religion, how that beyond
measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:…And profited in the Jews
religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly
zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”
So it is that care must be taken. Yes, we are to have zeal. God, himself, is a zealous God! But it is
with much care that we must have zeal.
We must not, like King Saul, become so zealous that we commit an
injustice in patriotic fervor towards people and think we are righteous in our actions. We must not, like the apostle Paul, while he
was the “religious man Saul” be religiously zealous and harm others “in the
name of God” all the while doing them an injustice. Paul wrote in Romans 10:1,2 – “Brethren, my
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved….For I
bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge.” God expects us to know and
understand why we have zeal!
III. A Right ZealWhat, then, should be the right kind of zeal for us?
A. God’s
Word
We are once again about to begin a new year. A fresh
beginning. A time when we think about starting over. We turn over the thought in our minds, “I
could read through the Bible this year.” Are we zealous about reading God’s
Word? How much time of our day do we set
aside for God? Is it something we’re passionate about? There’s a familiar verse
in Revelation that is often used as a tool in witnessing, but I wonder if we
don’t miss the full meaning of the context of that verse. Let’s look at Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I
stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I
will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Do we “open the door” – open the Word, and
let Jesus come in and sup with us? Look
back at the verse before, verse 19 – “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be zealous therefore, and repent.” Do we need to be rebuked and chastened about
reading God’s Word? Let’s be zealous and
change our minds! Let’s repent and be zealous!!! If I could encourage you to read one passage
to bring the fire into your soul, to make us more zealous for God’s Word, it
would be to read as often as you can the 119th Psalm. Notice in this small portion I share here
what it says,
Psalm 119:137-144 – Righteous
art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments. Thy
testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. My zeal
hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is
very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. I am small
and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts. Thy
righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Trouble and
anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. The
righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I
shall live.
B. God’s
People
Now turn with me to 2 Corinthians 9:1,2 – “For as touching
the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:…For I
know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of
Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very
many.” Paul was remarking on the
intensity of passion that the Corinthians had for their fellow believers. It was
well-known and it was now influencing others. That is the kind of zeal we are
to have – it is positive. It is a
ministering zeal!
Paul spoke of a similar zeal in Colossians 4:12,13 --
“Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always
labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete
in all the will of God….For I bear him record, that he hath a great zeal for
you, and them that are in Laodicea, and them in Hierapolis.” That was a prayerful zeal, again, for
others!! We, too, can have and should have that kind of zeal! Wouldn’t it be a blessing to know you had
someone like that in your corner, on your behalf, zealous for your sake,
bringing your cause before God’s throne? We can commit to be that zealous
someone for each other!
C. God’s
Will
Finally, we should be zealous to do God’s will! Paul says in Titus 2:13-15 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all
authority. Let no man despise thee.
In these short verses, we are reminded – to look for the
eminent return of Christ who died to redeem our souls. For this reason, we should be passionate
about doing His will! 
No comments:
Post a Comment