HOW S YOUR ZEAL? Romans 12:11 Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your SPIRITUAL FERVOR, serving the Lord. Objective: To encourage people to desire and acquire, or rekindle a zeal for God and the things of God. Introduction Susan and I went to see the new movie, Les Miserables the other night. I love that story, mostly because of the radical change that took place in the life of the main character, Jean Valjean. He went from being a man full of hate, to a man full of love. What brought about the change? He had been shown mercy and grace by a stranger who was appropriately a priest, reflecting the mercy and grace of God. As I ve reflected on the story which has become quite familiar to me (having read the book and having seen two or three movie versions) I m impressed especially by the passion in the lives of the main characters. Jean Valjean passion for hate, then a passion to love Inspector Javier passion for the law & justice Fantine passion for her daughter Cossette passion for Maurice Maurice passion for Cossette Maruice s friends passion for revolution Cosette s guardians passion for wealth & material possessions Passion is an important, even essential element for life. Another one of my favorite movies is The Never-Ending Story, about a young boy on a quest to discover a power that was destroying the world a power that was called nothing. In other words, people s passion and interest were being destroyed; apathy was taking over the world and destroying it. Let me ask you a question. How many of you would say you are passionate for something? How many of you are passionate for God and the things of God? How do we measure such a passion? We re exhorted in Romans 12:11 to Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your SPIRITUAL FERVOR, serving the Lord. Most of us would probably say we re not as zealous for God as we should be, that we re not as fervent in our service for Him as we should be.
Now zeal is one of those things that is more caught than taught. We can talk about zeal define it, analyze it, illustrate it but zeal is more contagious than it is merely communicated. And yet Jesus was able to inspire a zeal or a passion, when He explained the Scriptures to two of His disciples as He walked with them on their way to the town of Emmaus after His resurrection. After Jesus left them we read, They asked each other, "Were not our hearts BURNING within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Lk. 24:32) It was both Jesus explanation of the Scriptures and the conviction they felt in themselves that ignited (or perhaps reignited) a passion in the disciple s hearts. But what exactly is this passion or zeal and fervor Paul speaks of? I. Zeal & Fervor Defined A. Original Language The Hebrew and Greek words translated zeal and fervency refer to intense emotion and action, even an obsession and compulsion. For example, David spoke prophetically of Jesus when he wrote in Psalms 69:9 zeal for your house CONSUMES me. Passion (or zeal) can be consuming! It can consume all our attention and energy. Hebrew adrazda (correctly, exactly), qanah (to be jealous or zealous), qinah (ardor, zeal, jealousy; anger, envy, passion, rivalry) Greek zelos, zeo (zeal, jealousy, fury; to boil, be hot) B. Synonyms & Antonyms We don t often use the words zeal and fervent, but we do use words like passion and intense, especially as the energy that motivates us to be and do what we should and want. And we re quite familiar with such words or conditions as apathy, stagnation, paralysis, even death all of which can be the consequences of a lack of passion and intensity. Now life can t be lived in a constant state of heightened passion. David (or possibly Ezra) wrote in Psalms 119:139 My zeal wears me out... Passion must be tempered by faith and discipline, otherwise passion devolves into obsession and compulsion.
But we are exhorted to never be lacking in zeal (Rom. 12:11). How do we realize or acquire such passion? II. Zeal & Fervor Acquired A. The Analogy of Fire Fervancy Gr. Zeo to boil, be hot Consider the analogy of fire and its three essential elements: heat, oxygen, and fuel. B. God s Zeal for Us It s important to understand that passion, zeal or fervency is not something we can produce on our own. We can provide the oxygen (e.g. our lives, our attention) and the fuel (e.g. our efforts and actions), but only God can produce the heat (e.g. the truth and conviction). Such heat comes from the knowledge and conviction of the truth of God s zeal for us! During the Christmas season, Isaiah 9:6-7 is often quoted: 6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. But it s the last phrase of this passage I want us to especially see: THE ZEAL OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS. And we read in 2 Kings 19:31 and Isaiah 37:32, For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. THE ZEAL OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS. God is zealous for His plan and purpose; He s zealous for us! The disciples, whose hearts burned within them after being with Jesus and hearing Him explain the Scriptures, realized a new or renewed passion a passion that ultimately came from the Lord. They realized a conviction of the truth of God s Word that was fulfilled in Christ.
Do you know, do you believe that God is passionate for you!? God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, and each one of us is included in the world God so loved. God loves each one of us enough to give His one and only Son for us. And it s not our goodness or our loveable-ness that has prompted God to give His one and only Son. It is the zeal of the Lord Almighty for us that will accomplish His saving, redeeming purpose in each of our lives. Some of us hopefully all of us have realized that, and it has produced a passion for God and the things of God in us. But some of us hopefully not all of us have lost that passion, that zeal and fervency, or at least it has has cooled off. How does this happened? III. Extinguishing the Fire I believe two of Satan s most effective devices or schemes for extinguishing our passion for God are deception and what I like to call dissipation. Deception usually takes the forms of temptation, which results in sin, and false teaching, which results in false beliefs. Dissipation is the leaking of our passion through distractions. Think of air-cooled motors. Heat is dissipated through devices, such as the structure of the motor, which usually has long, thin pieces of metal surrounded by air. Our zeal, fervency or passion for God can be dissipated through sin, of course, but also through activities that may not be sinful in themselves, but which crowd out our devotion to God (e.g. family, jobs, hobbies, etc.). When prayer, Bible reading and Christian fellowship are crowded out by other things, our zeal, fervency and passion for God and the things of God cool off. And particularly if we ve experienced the joy and the power of God in our lives, and our passion for Him has cooled, we re left with a sense of guilt as well as an emptiness that nothing else can satisfy. IV. Rekindling the Fire If we find ourselves in such a state, how do we rekindle that zeal and passion? After his sin with Bathsheba, David prayed, Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalms 51:12)
The first thing we need to do is admit and confess our lack of zeal and fervency whatever the cause. And then ask God to restore to us the joy of our salvation. If we go back to our analogy of fire and the three essential elements, if God represents heat, we need to know that God hasn t left us, we left Him. If our lives represent oxygen, we need to re-offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God as our spiritual act of worship. (Rom. 12:1). And if our actions are the fuel, we need to remember the height from which we have fallen, repent and do the things we did at first. (Rev. 2:5) If we ll do these things, we ll realize the presence of God the essential element of heat that will reignite our zeal, fervency and passion for Him. Conclusion Never be lacking in ZEAL, but keep your SPIRITUAL FERVOR, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11) At a time when we often make New Year s resolutions, what greater resolution than to acquire or rekindle our zeal for God and our spiritual fervor in serving the Lord. And I can t help but think that this time and our world is the perfect time and environment for developing a passion for God and the things of God. When we compare the course of this world with the promises of God, how can we not want to be zealous for Him and fervent in serving Him!?