I'm short of breath this morning
and feeling kind of poorly, but I trust I'll be able to bring
this message. I think it's kind of ironic that
I'm preaching on zeal when I feel this way, but Lord can bless
that anyway, can't he? Notice the last phrase of verse
2. He says, Your zeal, your zeal hath provoked, and
this is a good kind of provocation. It doesn't mean irritated, but
inspired others by your example. Your personal zeal hath provoked. Now, shouldn't this be the characteristic
of every believer? Zeal. White, hot passion. Born of a love to Christ and
a zeal for His glory. Now this same word, zeal, is
also translated jealous and envious. When you're jealous, you're intolerant
of rivals. It is also translated by the
word fervent in spirit, desire, covet, and even indignation. An indignation against anything
that's not for what you feel zealous about. You see, where
there's a true zeal, you're for something. You're for something
altogether. And you're against that which
is contrary to it. Where there's zeal, you're going
to be for something and you're going to be against something. Now, I repeat, zeal ought to
be the characteristic of every believer. Zealous. Zealous for
Christ. Zealous for the glory of God.
Zealous to make Him known. Zealous to see men bow the knee
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Zeal. Now, we get a better view
of what zeal is by seeing what its counterpart is. Turn with
me to Revelation chapter 3. The Lord says in verse 19 to
the church at Laodicea, As many as I love, everybody
that I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Now, he says, be zealous. Here's
what your problem is. You haven't been zealous. Be
zealous and repent. Well, where was this group of
people at? Look in verse 15. He says, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor
hot. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. Now, you know what it is to be
cold. When you're cold, you're unfeeling. And you're miserable
feeling that way. When you're cold, you hear the
gospel and it's not ringing your bell. And you feel a coldness
in the things of God, and you feel guilty, you feel wrong,
you're miserable in that coldness. Now, he says to this church at
Laodicea, you're not cold, you're not hot, you're not zealous,
you're not passionate. But what were they? He says in
verse 16, so then, because thou art lukewarm. Lukewarm. Neither cold or hot. When's the last time you had
a cup of lukewarm coffee? What do you want to do with it?
You want to spit it out. And what the Lord says to these
people, so then, because you're lukewarm and neither cold nor
hot, I will spew thee, I will vomit thee out of my mouth. Now
that's strong language, isn't it? And the Lord is saying this
to this church that had got into this state of lukewarmness. I
think you can see a progression through the seven churches in
Revelation, started out with their first love in Ephesus. And then you got to the place
where Pergamos tolerated that which was contrary to the gospel.
So did Thyatira. But here's what this state of
lukewarmness is. Because thou sayest, verse 17,
I'm rich and increased with goods. I'm OK. I'm fine. Everything's
fine. And I have need of nothing. And
you know not that thou art wretched and miserable. and poor, and
blind, and naked. Now I counsel thee to buy of
me gold dried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white
raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eyeshad
that thou mayest see." You're blind right now in this state
of lukewarmness. Now, as many as I love, well,
I want to be one of those people, don't you? As many as I love,
I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous. Get out of this state
of lukewarmness. Be zealous and repent. You know, to think about this,
to be lukewarm about Christ. To be lukewarm about the grace
of God. To say, well, true, but it's
not important enough to be passionate about. That's what we are when
we are lukewarm. I'm okay, you're okay. And this
deplorable state is the opposite of zeal. May the Lord deliver
us from this state of lukewarmness. He says, be zealous, therefore,
and repent. Now, what I'd like to do is look
at a couple of examples of what true zeal is that the Bible tells
us. Turn with me to Numbers chapter
25. Numbers chapter 25. And before
I read this passage of scripture, I can't help but think that some
of us will have a reaction to this. Well, this seems cruel.
This seems mean, and this is called zeal. Well, let's read
and find out. Verse one, And Israel abode in
Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters
of Moab. And they called the people unto
the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat, and bowed
down to their gods, and Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor. And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Israel, because they had left him, they had forsaken
him, and gone after Baal. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord
against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned
away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges
of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto
Baal-peor, kill every one of them. And behold, after this,
behold, one of the children of Israel, after seeing all this,
came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight
of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children
of Israel. How brazen after what had taken place. who were weeping
before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when
Phineas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest,
saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and he took
a javelin in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel
into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel
and the woman, through their belly, so that the plague would
stay from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague
were twenty and four thousand, and the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Phinehas, in this seemingly barbaric act, he went in with
a javelin and thrust it through the man and the woman. Look what
the Lord says about it. Phinehas, the son of Eliezer,
the son of Aaron, the priest, hath turned my rag away from
the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake. among them, that I consume not
the children of Israel in my jealousy." Now turn to John chapter
2. I love this. John chapter 2, verse 13. 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. Now remember what these people
were doing. They were trying to make worship easier and more
convenient. Now you come in here You give
me the money for the silver, just a small profit. I'll give
you the silver atonement, the shekel of the sanctuary. That's
what you pay for atonement. And you don't have to bring doves
all the way from home. I'm going to make it easier for
you for just a small profit. I'll sell you these doves and
everything will be fine. Now, they were trying to make
worship easier and making it more convenient. Sounds like
what's going on in our day, doesn't it? Make worship easy. and convenient. I despise that kind of attitude.
Verse 15. And when he had made a scourge
of small court, he made a whip. He made a whip. And he drove
them out all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen, and
he poured out the changers money and overthrew the tables. Where
is he getting off on this? Who gives him the authority to
do something like this while we're trying to help? He said in verse 16, And he said
unto them that Saul does take these things hence, make not
my father's house a house of merchandise. And his disciples
remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up." Now that is what brought this on. He was eaten
up with the zeal of his father's house. Now God's name is jealous. Zealous, jealous, Exodus 34,
14. He's jealous of his glory. And
he's jealous of the affections of his people. God's name is
jealous. Zealous and jealous are the same
word. God is zealous of the affections of his people. Now, it's true
that zeal can have a wrong object. And zeal can be a very bad thing.
You've seen political zealots. uncompromising partisans who
can't even be reasoned with. They're standing for what they
think and they won't listen to anything else. And really, being
around somebody like that, I find to be irritating. I mean, I'm
all for political convictions, but don't have that kind of attitude. We've seen people with a zeal
and a thirst for knowledge. And they'll do everything to
acquire this knowledge. We see people with a zeal for
making money. That's probably the biggest zeal factor in our
society right now. Make money, make money, be zealous
about making money, making things better for yourself. And then
there's religious zeal. Turn with me to Romans chapter
10. Paul says, Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. Now, one thing we can conclude
from that is that they were not saved. He says, this is my desire
for them, that they might be saved. And he says, I bear them
record That they have a zeal of God. They're very zealous.
They're very religious. They have a zeal for God. A sincere zeal. I mean, they
want to promote what they believe and what they stand for. They
have a zeal for God, but it's not according to knowledge. It's actually self-promotion. Kind of like Jehu, who said,
Come see my zeal for the Lord. They had a zeal, but it wasn't
for the Lord. The zeal actually was for themselves, not a zeal
for God. Now, this kind of zeal is always
ignorant. Paul said it's not according
to knowledge. It's not according to the knowledge of the truth
of the gospel. You see, here's what they do. Verse three, for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness. Now, before I
go on, you know what every believer is zealous about? God's righteousness. I want His righteousness. I want His righteousness clothing
me. I want His righteousness to be my righteousness. I'm zealous
about this. And this is the message I want
to preach. His righteousness. Now, these people were ignorant
of God's righteousness. They were ignorant of His righteous
character. They were ignorant of His righteousness that He's
provided in the Gospel, the righteousness of Christ. They were ignorant
of his righteousness in their own damnation. They were just
ignorant of God's righteousness. And so what they do, verse three,
they go back to establish their own righteousness, thinking that
the Lord will be obligated because I've done this. He's got to save
me because I've done this. And in having that kind of attitude,
they've not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. And I tell you what, every believer
is zealous for this. Christ is the end of the law,
the goal of the law, the purpose of the law, determination of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Now, false religions zeal persecutes
because of their insecurity. Paul said concerning zeal, before
I was saved, concerning zeal, I persecuted the church. And
if you're not really confident in your position, you're going
to try to persecute those who are contrary. That's what he
demonstrated in that. But that being said, just because
their zeal is a bad zeal, that doesn't mean there's not a good
zeal as well. Paul said in Galatians 4 18,
it's good. to be zealously affected always
in a good thing. Romans 12, 11 says, not slothful
in spirit, but fervent, zealous in spirit, serving the Lord. Is there any way? Is there any
other way to serve him than zealously? He's God. He is the truth. He's the Savior. It is by the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we are saved, and to be
anything short of zealous for Him. You know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet, for your sakes,
He became poor that you through His poverty might be rich. And
be anything less than zealous about that. Let me tell you a
few things about this zeal. That Paul is talking about when
he says to this church, your zeal have provoked many zeal,
the zeal I'm talking about, the zeal the Bibles are talking about.
Jealous of his glory, jealous of his honor. You're jealous
of yourself in the sense that you don't want to bring wrong
views of him through your conduct. And that's why you're so scared
about that. You're you're you're zealous of his glory. Now this
zeal is born out of love to the Lord Jesus Christ. We love Him
because He first loved us. And because He loved us, we love
Him and what glory resides in Him. You know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what glory resides in Him. He's the one that God has appointed
heir of all things. He's the one by whom God has
made the world. He's the one who is the brightness
of his father's glory and the express image of his person.
He's the one who upholds all things by the word of his power.
We're zealous regarding him. He's the altogether lovely one. Now, regarding this thing of
zeal. First, it begins on the inside. If it's just on the outside for
show, it's not real. It's phony. Like Jehu. There's
a passage in the Old Testament. Jehu said, come see my zeal for
the Lord. And he goes to kill a bunch of
people to show how zealous he is for the Lord. He ended up
being bad apple. It wasn't real. And zeal is uniform. Now listen
to this very carefully. What if I was zealous? about
accurate doctrine, but I was indifferent about my conduct
in this world. You know what that would make
my zeal? Phony. Phony. Nothing more. What if I was zealous
about my testimony, so to speak, the way I conduct myself in this
world? I'm very careful. And yet I was
loose. and tolerant of that which is
contrary to the gospel of Christ. What would that say about my
zeal? Phony. Phony. Not real. You see, zeal
is uniform. You can't be zealous in one thing.
You're zealous in everything if you're truly zealous for the
glory of the Lord. Now, because our doctrine is
the doctrine of Christ, we're very zealous regarding it. It's
the doctrine of Christ. It's not just doctrine. It's
His person, the doctrine of Christ. And when someone tries to loosen
that up, well, this is a person we love and we take it personally.
Now, a lack of zeal just says, well, you know, it's OK. It's
OK. No use in being so zealous like that. No, we can't
have that attitude. We tolerate no changes, no modifying,
no less emphasis, no remaining silent, no compromise. And here's
what results with regard to every believer. First. I'm zealous. About the scriptures. The scriptures are the word of
God. We look to the scriptures alone. And we're zealous about that.
I'm not interested in what men say. I'm not interested in human
religion. We're zealous for the Scriptures alone. The Bible is
our only rule of faith and practice. We're zealous for the Scriptures
alone. And we're zealous in this, Christ
alone. I'm zealous about this, that
Christ alone is everything in my salvation, that all that God
requires of me, He looks to His Son for. And He doesn't look
for a thing out of me, and that's just, I'm zealous about that.
That's my only hope, that everything God requires of me is found in
His Son. And I will not tolerate anything
contrary to that. If you say it's Christ and No,
no, it's Christ. Only as everything, nothing more,
nothing less, and nothing else. Now, what do I mean by Christ
alone? Turn to 1 John chapter 3. Before I read that passage of
scripture, Christ alone. I'm saved. I'm saved. Lord saved me. And there's only one reason.
Christ alone. Are you zealous for that? If
it's your only hope, you're zealous for it. And if it's really not
your only hope, you can loosen up there. But if it's your only
hope, you'll be zealous for this. Look here in 1 John chapter 3. Verse 4, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And
you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in
him is no sin. That means if I'm in him, This
is all that's required. If I'm in Him, I have no sin. And I tell you this, I'm not
going to give up an inch on that. That's the only hope I've got.
Christ alone. And we're zealous for grace alone. Salvation by grace. And we're
zealous for this. We won't tolerate compromise
in salvation being utterly of the Lord. Now, what is meant
by grace alone? Would you please listen real
carefully? I know you've heard this, but I hope you'll hear
this in the power of the Holy Spirit. Grace alone means it comes from
God only. The sovereign God. dispenses
this grace. And grace is not an attempt to
save. Grace saves. Men are dead in sins. And you know what that means? That means there's nothing you
can do to save yourself. That completely negates the idea
of free will. Well, I can be saved when I decide
to be saved. No, you can't. No, you can't.
You're in the hands of a sovereign God, you're dead in sins, and
you can't do anything to save yourself. But thank God. You can't preach grace and not
preach this. Thank God. God, before time began,
elected, selected, chose a people to be saved. And those people
will be saved. God's determined it. Now you
can't believe in grace and not believe in election. You can
just write that down. Somebody doesn't believe in election,
does not believe grace. And we will not budge an inch
in that. We're zealous for His grace. You see, election gives
Christ all the glory. It tells us what He was doing
on the cross. He wasn't simply making salvation available for
me if I do my part. He was saving everybody He died
for. He saved. And we can't Judge
on that? Grace alone says that when Christ
died, he died for his people. He died for the elect. Now understand,
Jesus Christ, when he died on Calvary's tree, he did not die
for every son of Adam. And if I say that he died for
every son of Adam, I'm not preaching grace. I'm not making his death
because of salvation. What we do would be what saves
us. Now, can't fudge. Grace alone
in redemption where he, oh, when he said it is finished, Todd
Norbert's salvation was accomplished. And the salvation of everybody
he died for was accomplished. Grace alone is the grace of the
Holy Spirit. Irresistible, invincible grace
that I can't resist. Don't you love irresistible grace?
I do, because if it could be resisted, I know I'd resist it.
But thank God for irresistible, invincible grace. Can't budge
there. Grace alone. We persevere by His grace. Now,
To be lukewarm about this, and I want you to listen to the statement
real carefully when we talk about the doctrine of grace. God is
sovereign in salvation. Men are totally depraved. God
elected the people. Christ died to the elect. God, the Holy Spirit,
invincibly and irresistibly calls them. They persevere by the grace
of God. Lukewarmness in this would say, well, I see that's
true, but it's okay if somebody believes it, doesn't believe
it. That's called a lukewarm attitude. That's all it is. That's
that's no zeal for God's glory, because grace gives God all the
glory. And that's why we're so zealous about it. This gives
God all the glory and none the man. And we're zealous for this.
Faith alone. I love what turned to John, chapter
six. John, chapter six. Verse 25, And when they found him on the
other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest
thou hither? Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were
filled. You're not seeking me because
of a conviction of who I am. You just want to get your belly
filled. Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for the meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall
give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Then said
they unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works
of God? Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God. This is the work of God, that
ye believe on him whom he hath sent." You know what comes after
that? A period. That's God's work. That's faith alone. And the glory of God Scriptures
alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and the glory of
God alone. That's the reason he saves. We're saved to the
praise of the glory of his grace. And listen to this. Any motive,
except this motive, his glory in whatever we do, is a wrong
motive. You believe that? You really believe that? Any
motive other than his glory in whatever we do is a wrong motive. We're zealous of his gospel,
and we're zealous of his glory in our conduct. Would you turn
with me to 1 Corinthians 10? Here's the rule of our life. Let's begin with verse 23. All things are lawful for me.
But all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me,
but all things edify not. Let no man seek his own, but
every man another's wealth. Whatever is sold in the shambles,
that eat, asking no question for conscience's sake. Don't
ask yourself, well, was it sacrificed to an idol? I better not eat
it. Don't say that, for the earth is the Lord's in the fullness
thereof. If any of them that believe not, bid you to a feast,
and you be disposed to go. Whatsoever said before you, eat,
asking no question for conscience's sake. But if any man say unto
thee, this is a sacrifice offered unto idols, eat not for his conscience's
sake that showed it. Even if it looks like it would
taste good and you'd really enjoy eating it, don't eat it. For the earth is the Lord's,
and the fullness thereof. He says, conscience I say not thine own,
but of the other. For why is my liberty judged
of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker,
why am I evil spoken of? For that which I give thanks
wherefore. Now here's the rule of our life.
Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do
all to the glory of God. Give none offense, neither to
the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God, even
as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but
the profit of many, that they may be saved." We want our lives. We want our conduct. We want
our nonjudgmental, humble, gracious, merciful, generous, forgiving
spirit to actually glorify His grace, don't we? That's what
we want. I want my life. I want the way
I treat you to glorify. That's our only rule of action. Well, as the Lord will overrule my
preaching for his glory and our good, I'm just weak right now. But may the Lord cause this to be
said of me and you. Your zeal. Your zeal has provoked, inspired
very many. I want to be zealous, don't you?
I don't want to be lukewarm. I don't want to be apathetic. I don't want to be indifferent.
I want to be zealous for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. May this be the description of
our life. Your zeal. have provoked many. Let's pray together.