Turn with me in your Bibles, please, to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And we'll read verses 1 through 11. Here now, the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God. For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore, we labor, that whether we be present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord. We persuade men. But we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also. are made manifest in your consciences. May God add His blessing to the reading and to the hearing of His most holy word. In this passage, I want you to especially focus your attention on that statement of the Apostle there in verse 9, whether we labor that, whether present, oh sorry, wherefore we labor that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him. How does the Apostle Paul describe his labors on behalf of the Lord there. Well, that they may be accepted of him and that there is a, we might say, a strong desire that he makes known a little bit later in verses 9 and 10. I'm sorry, 10 and 11. So we're continuing our study on Christian zeal. The quotation today is from Samuel Ward. This is a quotation you've heard before, Samuel Ward preached a sermon, oh, I don't know, a few hundred years ago. And it was called, A Coal from the Altar to Kindle the Holy Fire of Zeal. That's the name of the sermon. Here's what he says. Speaking of zeal, it is a spiritual heat wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Ghost, improving the good affections of love, joy, hope, etc. for the best service and furtherance of God's glory with all the appurtenances thereof, his word, his house, his saints, salvation of souls, using the contrary of hatred, anger, grief, et cetera, as so many mastiffs to fly upon the throat of God's enemies, the devil, his angels, sin, and the world with its lusts. Mastiffs, attack dogs, right? Although we don't think of mastiffs as attack dogs, to the English, mastiffs were used as protection dogs. So we have been discussing zeal. We've worked through a working definition of zeal. We've seen zeal as a duty commanded to all Christians, that it's an imperative in scripture. We have looked at several things regarding zeal. What I'd like to do now is embark upon probably a two-week study. talking about the marks of Christian zeal, putting them in particular contexts, and then showing how that works out, what we ought to look for in our own lives. But before that, I would like to speak with you a little bit more about zeal and its definition. I'd like for us to think of zeal in our analogy as the warmth that is transmitted by the light of the sun. And here's what I mean by that. The sun shines upon an object and as the object basks in the sun's light, it is heated, it is warm. There's a transfer of energy there. The solar energy heats the object so that it becomes warm. It's not warm of itself, it is not some strange fire that warms it, but it is the warmth with which the sun has heated it. Now there may be many ways to heat something. with fire, with microwave, with electric oven, even by standing close to your sweetie. You may be heated or warm, right? But in all of those we want to retain a particular understanding of zeal in that it is the fire, the heat which warms our affections toward God that comes from God. It's not heated from another source. It is a zeal that comes down from heaven upon us and it warms those affections, whether they would be positive or negative, right? I mean, we've seen zeal in its opposites, have we not? And so, whatever the affection is, whatever the activity is, that it is warmed by the light of God's Word, by the shining forth of His Spirit. And so it will truly and holily warm all of our opposites, so that they might be used in their proper proportions. Okay? Think of zeal like this. In saying this about zeal, we acknowledge that there are many other heat sources that may warm us and fire our passions and make us zealous. Several times in Scripture we see a false zeal, a hypocritical zeal, a violent zeal, all kinds of zeal. A zeal without knowledge, right? That's the famous one in Romans chapter 10. I confess, the Apostle Paul says about his fellow countrymen, the Jews, that they have a zeal for God. but not after knowledge. It's an ignorant zeal. So it is possible to be fired up in the wrong way. Probably the most effective statement of that would be in John chapter 16. What it means to have a false zeal. Although no less vehement These things have I spoken unto you that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues, yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." Spoken to his apostles, right? And it just takes a cursory reading through the book of Acts to realize that's exactly what did go on. That they were chased from Hitheron and they were They were threatened, and they were imprisoned, and they came under threat, and finally, they met a martyr's end. History tells us that every one of the apostles met a martyr's end, with the exception of John, who did live to a ripe old age, having survived an attempt at his martyrdom. And the folks that did that, the Jews that pursued them and so on, they believed that they were doing God's service. They were very zealous, right? So we need to be careful then that while there may be many different heat sources that our zeal is fired from the Word of God by the Spirit of God. All right, in so doing then I want to take a look at three areas of Christian zeal this week. I don't know if we'll get to all three of them and maybe one or two next week and show what I believe to be the right marks, the signs that this zeal is a right zeal. It's a Christian zeal, a sacred zeal. We'll look at the positives. Then in the weeks following, we'll look at the negatives. And then finally, we will look at ways to cultivate and maintain zeal. So that's the next few weeks in prospectus. So in the first instance of practicing sacred zeal, the zealous Christian number one will always be mindful about promoting the glory of God and not his own glory. This is the first mark of Christian zeal. That this zeal will always be about promoting the glory of God and not his own glory. And to start out with, remember Proverbs 25, 26? This is one of those verses where you read it and you think, well of course that's true, and yet it may be It may be unexpected to have it stated in such stark, such bold terms. Proverbs chapter 25, verse 26. I'm sorry, it's 27. It is not good to eat much honey, so for men to search their own glory is not glory. Well, that's pretty obvious, right? It's something that we that we see, we understand, you know, if you're the first to promote your own cause, that's not glory. Right? And yet often a misguided kind of zeal tends to promote one's own glory. Christian zeal, sacred zeal, always maintains an eye for the glory of God. In the Gospel of John, chapter 5 and verse 44, Jesus says this, how can ye believe which seek honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from God only? So not only can faith not obtain when one seeks his own glory, certainly if faith cannot obtain, zeal cannot obtain either, at least the right kind of zeal. And so in thinking on this and meditating upon it, let me give you several things here that speak to sacred zeal as it has an eye to the glory of God. The first is this man who has sacred zeal is patient regarding his own wants but impatient for the interests of the Lord. Patient regarding his own wants but impatient toward the interests of the Lord. Now we see this in several occasions. In the life of Moses it's an interesting portion, isn't it, in Numbers chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, where Moses is married an Ethiopian eunuch. And what happened there? Well, Miriam... I'm sorry, not a eunuch, an Ethiopian woman. That would be terrible, wouldn't it? Yeah. So, Moses has married an Ethiopian woman, not an Ethiopian eunuch. We get to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter 8, long after Moses. Okay. Alright. So, you know, certain phrases and patterns, they just come popping out. Moses marries an Ethiopian woman. I'm really glad I caught that. You know, as soon as I caught it, I looked up and there's like four or five people going... Alright. Okay. That's enough at my expense. So, we have Moses marrying this woman and Miriam and Aaron, well, they're not real happy about that, are they? As a matter of fact, They get so unhappy about it that they start to doubt Moses' office. Not only is it on what you've done, but who you are generally. And so they say something like, well, you know, the Lord's spoken to us too. We got something to say about this. Moses isn't the only one who's right all the time. And what does Moses do in the midst of all this? Where is his zeal for his own glory? That's right. It's not there. Moses, it says in that passage, is the meekest man. upon the face of the earth will not rise to his own defense." Who rises to Moses' defense that day? The Lord Himself, right? And so the cloud comes down upon the tabernacle and you hear this voice, Moses, Miriam, Aaron, to the tabernacle, now! And so that's, you know, and we have that passage there. So Moses here, again, a man zealous for the things of God, is very patient concerning his own desires, but very impatient concerning the desires of God. And on the side of impatience and zeal for the things of God, we see Moses on the way down the mountain in Exodus chapter 32. And what does he do with the tables? He throws them. And what some would call a fit of anger, it's not a fit of anger at all. It's a fit of sacred zeal, not a fit at all, but a calculated, a considered act of sacred zeal, throwing the two tables of stone upon the ground in the presence of all of the people so that they break in pieces indicative to the people that they had broken covenant with their God by erecting a golden calf and saying they're going to worship God, Yahweh, by worshiping this golden calf, or by means of the golden calf. Obviously the people knew that this golden calf did not lead them out of Egypt. Obviously they knew that. But they sought to worship the God who led them out of Egypt by means of this worship form, this co-opted worship form that they learned in Egypt. And Moses, being very zealous for the things of God, breaks the tables. And so Moses here is that great example of one who is patient with regard to his own wants and desires. but very impatient and zealous with regard to the glory of God. In verses 7 through 14 of Exodus chapter 32, when Moses is negotiating with the Lord, he shows that God's name is more important than his own. The Lord had told him, I'm going to make a nation from you they will bear your name and Moses says Lord your name is more important than that and your name will be will be disrespected if you slay these people so we see that that Moses is this kind of example that we're talking about he is possessed of holy zeal as a man possessed of holy zeal this is manifested in that he is patient in his own causes and impatient in the things of God This is the running of David toward Goliath in 1st Samuel 1748. Notice that David isn't hanging back. David rushes toward the giant. In the Apostle Paul, we see the same thing. Turn with me to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20 verse 24, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And he's speaking to the Ephesian elders here, and now behold, I know that ye all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Again, the apostle Paul is, uh, quite forward to finish his ministry, even if it means the demise of his own life in 21, eight acts, 21, eight. And the next day we, that were of Paul's company departed and came under Caesarea. And we entered into the house of Philip, the evangelist, which was one of the seven and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which didn't prophesy. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agamas. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. And then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased saying, The will of the Lord be done." So this is the heart of the Apostle Paul as well, isn't it? That he is very impatient, I'm sorry, very patient, unconcerned about his own things, his own desires. but very impatient and forward in the things of God. In Colossians chapter 1 and verse 24, speaking to the Colossian church about his suffering, notice what the Apostle Paul says there. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church whereof I made a minister, a servant in other words. So, this is nothing short of what we hear in the book of Revelation, chapter 14, verse 4, where we hear about the followers of Christ, that they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. That if Christ takes His people into a place of difficulty and straightness, they follow Him there. If He takes them into a place of largeness and comfort, we follow Him there. Unconcerned, our primary concerns are not having to do with our own things, our own comforts. We are very patient with regard to our own desires, but very impatient when it comes to God's glory. So that's the first mark of Christian zeal. Impatient regarding the interest of the Lord and patient regarding our own wants. So when you find yourself, your affection is being raised up about something, Is it sacred zeal or not? Examine it. Is it because you were offended? Is it because you have been put to the worst? Is it because you were mistreated? If those things have been the cause of you rising up, that's not sacred zeal. But if it is indeed for the cause of the name of God, the blasphemy of His name, somehow denigrating His glory, somehow insulting or assaulting the goodness and the grace and the mercy of God. If that is what has turned you up, then that is sacred zeal. Secondly, the man possessed of holy zeal is not moved by the opinions and standards of the world. Right? The man who is moved by a holy zeal with regard to the glory of God, he is not moved by the standards of the world. His eye is on the Lord and what he has commanded. The world, even worldly Christians, tell him that he's too severe, too exact, he needs to get out more, he needs to have more fun. But for his part, he is contented with the things of the Lord, working his calling before the Lord, living modestly by the world's standards, but zealously for Christ and his kingdom. So he's not moved by the opinions and standards of the world. We see the joy of David here in 2 Samuel chapter 26 and that it is a joy, a zeal for God that is against the common opinions and standards of the world such that he is drawn into dispute with his own wife, right? You remember that in 2 Samuel chapter 6? Verse 20, Then David returned to bless his household. Now this is after he's brought the ark of God into Jerusalem. He stripped himself down to his tunic. I know the King James says naked. That's what happens when you take off your outer coat in the King James. They call you naked. It's not naked like skin. It's naked like without your outer coat. That's what the word naked means. And so David is in his tunic, which was a thick t-shirt affair that went from the shoulder to the ankle. So don't think naked. It's not like that. And so he danced before the Lord, right? He danced, it says, with all his might. An act of zeal, right? And so then he returns to bless his house in verse 20. And Michal, the daughter of Saul, who is his wife, came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself in the eyes of the handmaidens of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. And David said to Michal, it was before the Lord which chose me before thy father and before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel. Therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will be yet more vile than thus and will be base in my own sight and of the maid servants which thou has spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. Therefore, Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death. We're not told the means of her having no children. We're simply told that she was denied children because she insulted the king for his zeal before the Lord against the standards of men. Right? Sometimes our zeal for the Lord will work against the standards of propriety. but the man who is zealous for the glory of God will sometimes work against those things in his zeal for God's name, for God's glory. Thirdly, he looks more to his duty than to his reward. He learns to find his joy and his zeal in the business of the true religion rather than to his own desires. Many Christians treat their faith with a very limited scope and then take in all the world before them as outside it. For instance, it may be common for many to think being a Christian doesn't preclude having a good time doing this or that. We've recently heard from Elder Betch, well, kind of recently, in a sermon by Thomas Watson called, what, Making Religion Our Business. Why business? Why does that Puritan father of ours use the term making religion our business? That is making it our daily pursuit, in other words. I think it's a grievous thing that there are many professing Christians today, and of course we all struggle with this temptation, I don't mean to put it outside these walls, who make it their business, all kinds of pursuits are their business rather than the religion, the true religion, that sacred zeal recognizes the importance of making religion our business. It is indeed that we live for the glory of God. And so we hear things like, well, you know, being a Christian doesn't preclude taking a ski trip. Of course it doesn't. Of course it doesn't. It's not what we're talking about. We're not talking about the occasional vacation. You know what a vacation is, right? You know what recreation is. Just think of the word itself. Re-creation. What is recreation? What is it? It is a setting of things back in order. The Lord recognizes He's created us. He recognizes that we need time off to set things back in array so that we can be effective once again in our duties. We can be effective in our callings. We can be effective in our business. Our business. What is our business? The true religion is our business. And so the man possessed of sacred zeal will not say things like, well, you can be a Christian and still... The man who is zealous for the glory of God begins with, how can I glorify God in, and then fill in the blank. Right? It's not, okay, well, I can be a Christian, but that doesn't prevent me from. It's, I'm a Christian, and the true religion is my business. And if I'm going to do this or that or this or that. How can I bring that all to the bar of evaluating that as a part of my true business? And so he looks more then to his duty then to the reward. He learns to find his joy and his zeal in the true religion and that truly is the joy in rejoicing his heart. The zealous Christian looks to the love of this world and the things of this world as a potential competitor to the love he ought to have for the things of God, and he uses them only as they serve that end. And that's 1 John 2.15, isn't it? What does John say to us in 1 John 2.15? It's just one of those watershed passages. It doesn't admit of a middle way. It says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And the world is passing away. Well, I'm sorry, he goes on to say, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, are not of the Father. They're worldly things, and the world's passing away. And all of its lusts, all that's going away. But he who doeth the will of God abides. This next point of Christian zeal is that he looks to the love of this world, this Christian zealot if you will, and I mean zealot in the good sense in that case. He looks to the love of this world and the things of this world as a potential competitor to the love you ought to have for the things of God. And he uses them only as they serve that end. In 1 Corinthians 7.31, he rightly reckons that the things of this world are passing away and refuses the pleasures of this world when they move him from the primary concern to glorify God, even in his eating and drinking. Remember that the man who is zealous for the glory of God learns how to eat and drink to God's glory, 1 Corinthians 10.31. And I don't know, why do you think Paul uses eating and drinking in 1 Corinthians 10.31? If in such ordinary activities there, whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, do all in the glory of God, we are indeed zealous for God's glory, then what about the rest of our lives? If in necessary things we learn to glorify God, like our daily food, what about unnecessary things? We have a zeal for God's glory. So the zealous Christian then looks to the love of the world as a potential competitor to his zeal for God's glory. The fifth thing is that the business of the true religion excites a twofold commitment for the zealous Christian. I like Thomas Manton here. He says some really, really interesting things. The first thing he says is, in making religion his business, this works in opposition to sloth, inattention, and support of earnest industry and prayer. scripture study, meditation, attendance upon ordinances, 2nd Timothy 4.13. What did Paul do in 2nd Timothy 4.13? First of all, when in Paul's ministry is 2nd Timothy written? Probably his last letter. The last chapter of the last letter, near to the last verse of the last chapter of the last letter, what does he say to Timothy? When you come, bring the parchments. I'm not done studying here. I'm not done with my labors. Yeah, I'm in jail. I probably will never get out. I'll probably be taken here and beheaded. But make sure you bring the parchments when you come. Bring those parchments because as long as I have breath, I'm about doing what I'm supposed to be doing before God. His last letter, the last chapter of the last letter, near to the last verse of the last letter, he tells Timothy, bring the parchments. making religion his business in opposition to sloth and inattention and in support of earnest industry, right? If it's a business, how do we work in our business? We want to work against sloth on behalf of industry with diligence, with expertise, and so on. So with all of that then, Thomas Manton says, the zealous Christian, when he considers his life as a Christian From that business perspective, that means industry, diligence, excellence, against sloth, and so on. But then he turns that card over and he says this, making religion his recreation in anticipation, preparation, and in opposition to weariness and tediousness. Isn't that interesting? So he looks at both sides of it, right? So from the first side, We learned that when we're about our business in the right way, we're doing things, but what are the dangers that could possibly crop up? Well, our business to us could become tedious, right? Boring. Not just boring or tedious, but, you know, it could be a weariness to us. And so he says, so some of what we do when we're a zealous Christian is we treat our relationship to our Christian religion like a business with sloth, without sloth, with industry and diligence, but then let's consider it also like recreation, so that we prepare for it, and so it works against tediousness, and it stirs up some excitement to it as well, like other recreations would. I think that's really astute. I think that's a great look at it. And so when Mr. Manton would help us with that, Notice then with regard to business, we saw Paul in 2nd Timothy 4.13, we saw Colossians 4.2 and 12, we see earnest laboring in prayers, diligent labor on the part of Paul and on the part of Epaphras. But then when we think of it on the recreation side, in anticipation, preparation, and in opposition to weariness and tediousness, we think of Psalm 42.4, Psalm 122.1, Zechariah 21 through 23, where we hear of what? Where we hear of the joy and gladness with which people go to the public worship. We hear of the preparation, the anticipation, and all of those other things. You see, true Christian zeal involves all of that. When we think about glorifying the Lord, and this is the main topic that we're under here, We're talking about glorifying God with a holy zeal. Well, part of our glorifying of Him is being about the business of our religion in preparation to come worship Him, that we might do so with our hearts, that we might do so as zealous Christians, that there would be no tedium to it, that we would not be like those priests in Malachi 1 that said, what? Oh, what a weariness is it, right? Or those worshipers in Amos chapter 8 verse 5 and they said what? When will the Sabbath be over that we can go and buy and sell? You see that's just the opposite of the attitude that we ought to have and and that's you know those are the marks not of Christian zeal but of something else. And so in Psalm 42.4, 122.1 we have those those anticipations of joy Turn to Psalm 42. It's both a recollection and an anticipation, right? Do you remember that psalm? That's the companion with Psalm 43. It begins with, as the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Now, you know, that's a zealous statement, is it not? And what is the panting that the psalmist is panting after here? My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Verse four, when I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me, for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God with the voice and joy, voice of joy and praise with the multitude that kept holy day. What is the psalmist arguing for here? He's arguing for a past experience of his that has now formed a a mindset of anticipation where he might go yet again. There is some providential hindering that the psalmist is under at the present time. He's not able to go to worship God. Commentators are divided. That's right, they are. As to what this providential hindering is, maybe some kind of bondage or captivity. Maybe he is somewhere else. It's a psalm for the sons of Korah, so it's not Davidic in that sense. So it's not David when he is in Gath or something like that, but it is something similar to that. And notice that he is refreshing himself in what? In anticipation. So this is a mark of zeal. This is what the psalmist means when he declares, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. That is a heart purified by faith that no longer has a taste for the things of this world. but the things of the next is that which excites the passions." This is not to say that there is no enjoyment in this world. There is. The Lord says through his Apostle Paul in that passage that we read earlier in 1 Timothy 6 that the Lord has given us all things richly to enjoy. But that enjoyment must be tempered, informed by a holy zeal or else it is some other carnal enjoyment. I dare say, my dear brothers and sisters, that the Lord has not given us these things for that. Not for the enjoyment of a carnal joy. Okay, so that's the fifth point. The business of the true religion has a two-fold commitment in business and recreation. And then number six, he thinks of himself humbly, reckoning that he has served the Lord not very much at all or not soon enough. It's an interesting point. that the man possessed of Christian zeal for the glory of God will not ever congratulate himself that he's done much for God. He will look upon his contribution as meager. He'll look upon his advancement as meager. He'll be seeking at all times to improve and to increase. He will never say, like the Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter three, not that we've attained, that will be his constant affirmation, not that I have attained, but that I press." This is what Christian zeal is about. And so Christian zeal always reckons itself to have done very little. It's like those men in Matthew chapter 25 that stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgment when Jesus in that parable says, there's going to be a time when I come and I'm going to separate the sheep from the goats. Goats on the left, sheep on the right. I'm going to say, come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was. And then he's going to go through all of these things. Hungry, you fed me. Naked, you clothed me. thirsty you gave me drink, in prison you visited me, and so on. And they're gonna say what? When did we do any of those things? I don't recognize any of that. That's going to be their witness of what they have done. I don't know when I did any of that for you, Lord. And he's going to say to them, in that you've done it to the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto me. They're not reckoning themselves as having ever been a, you know, some kind of great servants for the Lord. That's not what Christian zeal is about. And unholy zeal reckons that way, right? Isn't that what those men say in Matthew chapter 7? When they stand before the Lord, He says, Depart from me, ye cursed ones, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. I never knew you. And they say, What? Well, you know, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. And then they say to Him, Oh, but we've done many mighty works. We've done a lot of things. And He says, No. They haven't. And so the one possessed of Christian zeal, another mark of zeal, is that it's a humble zeal. It doesn't recognize itself as having accomplished much for the cause of Christ, for the glory of God. In Zechariah chapter 4 verse 10, turn with me there, Zechariah, the second Z, the big one. Remember, there's Zephaniah, little one, three chapters. Zephaniah, three chapters. Zechariah, 14 chapters. Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 10. Who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven They are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth. And so the man who is zealous for the glory of God, although he sees his contribution as little, it is not despised. It does not thereby discourage him. He presses forward. All right, then the seventh thing regarding zeal for the glory of God is that it is difficulties that rise against acquiring the blessings and the cause of God's glory are only that which further motivates the zealous Christian rather than discourages and cuts off the effort. If it's difficult, he bears down, in other words. He's not discouraged and he doesn't give up the fight. If he is discouraged and gives up because it's difficult, that's a sign of some other zeal. But the sign of sacred zeal Well, that's like the Syrophoenician woman who comes to Christ concerning her daughter. Right? And she says to Him, Lord, my daughter is sick. Can you come and heal her? And Christ says something to her that would have discouraged most. He says to her, you know, it's not fit to take the children's bread and give it to dogs. Most people... Not a very seeker-friendly response on the part of Christ. What does she say? Yea, Lord. I agree. It's not. Dog I am. But even dogs get the crumbs that fall from the children's table. I'll take a crumb, if that's what you've got. O woman, he says, great is thy faith. Be it unto your daughter as you have asked. she was possessed of a sacred zeal would not be turned back by the difficulty or the discouraging remark. Zeal for the glory of God is not deterred by difficulties and obstacles rather zeal for the glory of God is fired up by those same obstacles and difficulties. It's like the men who wanted their friend to be healed, the paralytic man, and so they tore the roof off the house. They had an obstacle. What was the obstacle? There's all these people in the way. We have no way to carry him in to Christ. So what did they do? They took the thatching off of the roof and lowered him down through the roof. Mark 2, 1-4. The prior passage, Matthew 15, 21-28. And then they're also like Zacchaeus. You remember Zacchaeus. In Luke chapter 19, one through nine, the zealous man is like Zacchaeus, who, being a man of short stature, couldn't get up high enough to see Christ. So what did he do? Well, he climbed a tree. He climbed a sycamore tree to get up to catch a glimpse of Christ. He would not be held back from his vision of Christ, his gaze upon Christ. And Christ, for his part, when he came underneath Zacchaeus in that tree, he said, come on down. I'm dining at your house today." You see, proper Christian zeal is not deterred by obstacles and difficulties. Rather, it's fired up by them. So all of these particulars and many more might rise from our own meditations and self-examination to reveal a holy zeal. And it's just, you know, what is a zeal but it is an abandon to the glory of God. and against seeking our own glory. The second point then in sacred zeal is that it is a zeal that is ruled, ruled lock, stock, and barrel by God speaking in His Word. It is a zeal that is ruled by God speaking in His Word and a zeal that is outside of the Word of God is no longer to be considered a sacred zeal. Let's look at a few passages of Scripture to introduce this topic, and we'll not go very long. I've already kept you a little bit here. So, Psalm 119, 162 is the first one. I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil. Spoil. Largesse. Treasure. I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil." We could indeed rightly bring in all of those passages where our Lord in a series of parables talks about the value of the kingdom of God. Here we might transmit that value to the Word of God. You know, the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field. What did the man do? Well, he's out plowing one day. He's on someone else's land. He's plowing away and KINK! He takes the plow out and digs around a little bit. And he finds treasure. Buried treasure. It doesn't say how the treasure got there. It just says that there was so much there that he looked this way and he looked that way. And he covered it all up. And then he went out and he sold every penny. He sold every dime. He went to every length he could. And he gathered up enough money to do what? To buy that field. Had to have it. It's like a merchant who's going forth and he's looking after pearls. Goodly pearls. Goodly, handsome, well-formed. And he finds one pearl of great price. And so he goes and he sells all he has so that he can get that pearl. The one who is zealous with regard to the Word of God or this Christian zeal being ruled by the Word of God is a zeal that is given to the Word of God and the Word of God itself is that object of great desire that the Christian zealot would in no way ever violate. So I rejoice at thy word as one that findeth great spoil. In John chapter 14, the Gospel of John chapter 14 verse 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words. And my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. Remember that love to God and love for his word in scripture are always together and they're never separated. We might, for application with regard to our own study here, say that a zeal for God and zeal for his word are never separated, but are always together. In 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13, Paul commends the Thessalonians for this. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe. And then in Acts chapter 10 and verse 33, We use that passage around here sometimes when we have a guest speaker. Do you remember what that passage says? That's when Cornelius has one desire. What is Cornelius' one desire? He wants to hear the gospel. He wants to hear the word of God. And so there's an angel that appears to him and says, wait right here, I'll get you a man to preach the gospel to you. And so finally, through a few movements, Peter shows up. And Cornelius looks at him and he says, it's really good that you're here. Let me tell you what's happened. So he tells them all that's going on. And then he says, now we are all assembled here to hear what God has said so that you can tell us, please tell us what God has said. Right? We're assembled to hear the word of God. And so the one who is a partaker of Christian zeal, recognizes that his zeal must always be ruled, is always governed by the Word of God itself. Westminster Confession of Faith, 1-4. The authority of Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man or church, but wholly upon God who is truth itself, the author thereof. And therefore, it is to be received because it is the Word of God. Period. No qualification. It's received because it's the Word of God. Secondly, 1-7, all things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor alike clear unto all. Yet those things which are necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation are so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary means, what are the ordinary means? Reading it and studying it, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them, and then number nine, the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is the scripture itself, and therefore, when there's a question about the true and full sense of any scripture, which is not manifold but one, and it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly." What a grand and excellent hermeneutic set forth by the Confession of Faith there. So then, the zealous Christian gives up himself to an understanding of the whole counsel of God as it is brought together to form a unified teaching and ethic. The zealous Christian does not lift up one standard over here that suits him more than another standard over here in scripture but he draws them all together to hear the voice of God speaking in the scripture throughout all 66 books of the Bible. This is why the Apostle Paul spoke about teaching and preaching the whole counsel of God. So the zealous Christian then is not a partisan in the sense of any loyalty except for that he wants to be found on the Lord's side. You remember when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and he found the people dancing in front of the golden calf, what did Moses say? Who is on the Lord's side? Let him come to me. That's the only side that the zealous Christian desires to take, the Lord's side. So in this sense then, the man possessed of sacred zeal will honor the word of God to his own party's expense. When the truth of the word of God is defended, from an irreverent motive, he will take note and repent. He will not defend his church, his friend, his pastor, his denomination when these run contrary to the Word of God, either immaterial or means. You know what I mean by material or means? In other words, when there is a material error, bad doctrine, or when the truth is pressed unrighteously, he will not be found on that side. His side is the Lord's side. And so, all of his zeal, all of his effort will be defended from Scripture and a competent look at it. Oh, it's not to say that we're always going to be right. When we're not right, the zealous Christian will do what? He will repent. We'll talk about that in a moment. He will change direction because his zeal is for God and His Word. Alright, so he seeks to understand the Bible as a unified whole without and not conflicting points that serve as opportunity and convenience, right? Have you ever done that? Have you ever maybe stood at the front door of your home and talked to someone that came knocking on your door? And you have said, okay, the Bible says, and you set out some passage of scripture. And then their retort, their response is another passage, and they mean it. to conflict with the passage that you brought up. So now we have, then, our ethic, whether in regard to doctrine or practice, our ethic is now reduced to which particular ethic, which particular practice gets more votes from Scripture. Right? Well, that's not Christian zeal at all. That's a zeal for a party. And when we understand that it is the duty of one who is zealous for the Word of God that we will be zealous to present the Word of God and to understand the Word of God as a unified whole and not as competing scriptures that must be pitted against one another until one pounds the other down into the ground. And yet so often that's how we find the scriptures being used. That must never be our way of handling the Scripture. Our way of handling the Scripture because we are zealous for the whole Word of God as the Word of God means that we learn how to understand the Scriptures as a unified whole and we don't pit Scripture against Scripture, practice against practice. We learn to understand it as a whole so that we might be zealous in our obedience to it. Remember that the Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 3.16 that Scripture twisting is a destructive practice. It leads to destruction. That's what Peter says in 2 Peter 3.16. And remember that those men that were doing so, I think it's implied from the passage that they were wont to put Peter against Paul. Right? Because Peter is speaking there and then he says, now I want to speak to you about my brother Paul and the scripture that he has written, and some of the things that he's written are hard to understand, and the unlearned and the unstable, you know what they do, they twist those scriptures to their own destruction. So, then, the one who is zealous with regard to the Word of God will search the scriptures tirelessly in meditation, in study, seeking to know his duty under God, that he might spend his strength upon that duty. Like the man of Psalm 1, the Word of God is his daily counselor, his daily meditation. Like wisdom in Proverbs 8, 34, the man who is wise is found daily at the gates and at the doorposts of God knocking on the door. And like those that Jesus speaks about John chapter 8 verse 31 there are those who abide or who continue in the Word of Christ. If you abide in my word then ye are my disciples indeed. So we must examine our own use of the Word of God and how we make use of it to see whether or not we possess a kind of Christian zeal toward it or not. Well I have three, no four other points under this kind of zeal under the Word of God. We're going to talk about next week, Lord willing, a consistent ethic. We learn how to change direction because of our zeal for God. And when we learn that our way runs contrary to His Word, obedience and attention to the Word of God is not a grudging obedience. And finally, it is a zeal for true liberty, which only the Lord can give because the truth is what makes us free. And then the third kind of zeal that we'll look at next week, Lord willing, will be we're going to follow Christ in our zeal for the church. So we've seen zeal for the glory of God, zeal for the Word of God, and then we'll see zeal for the Church of God. Okay? So that's where we're heading. Let's stand and call upon the Lord in prayer. Our dear Heavenly Father, as we think over these things, we recognize that our zeal has a long way to go. We recognize that often our zeal is not found where it ought to be found, and that Our zeal for thy things, for thy glory, for thy word, well that we are often found zealous for other things, but that this sacred zeal is not being warmed from on high in us. Forgive us our distraction. Forgive us our inattention. Forgive us our being drawn away to other things. Our Father, we pray that we might recognize the true business and reason that we are indeed here in this world, that our chief end indeed would be to glorify Thee and to enjoy Thee, and we pray, our Father, that Thou wouldst help us then as we examine our own hearts, that we would confess and forsake our sloth and inattention, or lack of preparation. Not only that, but that we would indeed, as thou didst shine thy spirit and thy word upon us, that we would be warmed zealously toward thy things. Our Father, we confess that we ought to come unto thee and seek this zeal, for we confess that we will not find it in ourselves. Help us, we pray. Strengthen us to these ends. In Christ Jesus' name. Amen.