Former Blackout Artist

(If you have not read the Intro to Christian Zeal, click HERE)

I. First of all, I want us to consider this question. What is zeal in Christianity?

Zeal in Christianity is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire, which is not natural to men or women. It is a desire which the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when they are converted to Christ, however, a desire which some believers feel so much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called “zealous” men and women.

This desire is so strong, when it really reigns in a person, that it impels them to make any sacrifice to go through; any trouble to deny themselves; anything to suffer; to work, to labor, to toil, to spend themselves and be spent, and even to die, if only they can please God and honor Christ.

A zealous person in Christianity is preeminently a person of one thing. It is not enough to say that they are earnest, strong, uncompromising, meticulous, wholehearted, and fervent in spirit. They only see one thing, they care for one thing, they live for one thing, they are swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether they live, or whether they die; whether they are healthy, or whether they are sick; whether they are rich, or whether they are poor; whether they please man, or whether they give offense; whether the are thought wise, or whether they are thought foolish; whether they are accused, or whether they are praised; whether they get honor, or whether they get shame; for all this the zealous person cares nothing at all. They have a passion for one thing, and that one thing is to please God and to advance God’s glory.

If they are consumed in the very burning of their passion for God, they don’t care; they are content. They feel that, like a candle, they were made to burn; and if they are consumed in the burning, then they have only done the work for which God has appointed them. Such a person will always find a sphere for their zeal. If they cannot work, or give money, or a man cannot preach, then they will cry out and sigh, and pray. Yes: if they are extremely poor, on a perpetual bed of sickness, they will make the activity of sin around him slow to a standstill, by continually interceding against it. If they cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, they will do the work of Moses, Aaron, and Hur, on the hill. (Exodus 17:9-13) If they are cut off from working themselves, they will give the Lord no rest until help is raised up from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I speak of zeal in Christianity.

We all know the habit of mind that makes men great in this world – that makes such men as Alexander the Great, or Julius Caesar, or Oliver Cromwell, or Peter the Great, or Napoleon. We know that with all their faults they were all men of one thing. They threw themselves into one grand pursuit. They cared for nothing else. They put everything else aside. They counted everything else as second-rate and of subordinate importance, compared to the one thing that they put before their eyes every day they lived. I say that the same habit of mind applied to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ becomes Christian zeal.

We know the habit of mind that makes men great in the sciences of this world – that makes such men as Archimedes, or Sir Isaac Newton, or Galileo, or James Watt. All these were men of one thing. They brought the powers of their minds into one single focus. They cared for nothing else. And this was the secret of their success. I say that this same habit consecrated to the service of God becomes Christian zeal.

We know the habit of mind that makes men rich that makes men amass mighty fortunes, and leave millions behind them. What kind of people were the bankers, and merchants, and tradesmen, who have left a name behind them, as men who acquired immense wealth and became rich although they may have been born in poverty? They were all men that threw themselves entirely into their business, and neglected everything else for the sake of that business. They gave their first attention, their first thoughts, the best of their time, and the best part of their mind, to pushing forward the transactions in which they were engaged. They were men of one thing. Their hearts were not divided. They devoted themselves, body, soul and mind to their business. They seemed to live for nothing else. I say that if you turn that habit of mind to the service of God and His Christ it produces Christian zeal.

(a) Now this habit of mind – this zeal was the characteristic of all the Apostles.

Look at the example of the Apostle Paul. Hear him when he speaks to the Ephesian elders for the last time: “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24). Hear him again, when he writes to the Philippians: “One thing I do: I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). See him from the day of his conversion, giving up his brilliant prospects; forsaking all for Christ’s sake and going forth to preach that very Jesus whom he had once despised. See him going back and forth throughout the world from that time; through persecution; through oppression; through opposition; through prisons; through chains; through afflictions; through things next to death itself, up to the very day when he sealed his faith with his blood and died at Rome, a martyr for that Gospel which he had so long proclaimed. This was true Christian zeal.

(b) This again was “the characteristic of the early Christians.”

They were persons “that people everywhere were talking against” (Acts 28:22). They were driven to worship God in dens and caves of the earth. They often lost everything in the world for their religion’s sake. They generally gained nothing but the cross, persecution, shame, and reproach. But they seldom, very seldom, went back. If they could not debate, at least they could suffer. If they could not convince their adversaries by argument, at any rate they could die and prove that they themselves were very serious. Look at Ignatius cheerfully traveling to the place where he was to be devoured by lions, and saying as he went, “Now do I begin to be a disciple of my Master, Christ.” Hear old Polycarp before the Roman Governor, saying boldly, when called upon to deny Christ, “I have served Christ for 86 years and He has never offended me in anything, and how can I then insult my King?” This was true zeal.

(c) This again was the characteristic of Martin Luther.

He boldly defied the most powerful hierarchy that the world has ever seen. He unveiled their corruptions with an unflinching hand. He preached the long-neglected truth of justification by faith, in spite of curses and excommunications that were thickly poured on him. See him pleading his cause before the Emperor, and a host of the children of this world. Hear him saying, when men were persuading him from going, and reminding him of the fate of John Huss, “Even if there was a devil under every tile on the roofs of this building, in the name of the Lord I shall go forward.” This was true zeal.

(d) This again was the characteristic of our own English Reformers.

You have it in our first Reformer, Wickliffe, when he rose up on his sick bed and said to the Friars who wanted him to retract all he had said against the Pope, “I shall not die, but live to declare the wickedness of the Friars.”

You have it in Cranmer, dying at the stake rather than deny Christ’s Gospel, holding out that hand to be first burned which, in a moment of weakness, had signed a recantation and saying as he held it in the flames, “This unworthy hand!”

You have it in old Latimer, standing boldly on his kindling wood for the fire, at the age of seventy years, and saying to Ridley, “Courage, brother Ridley! We shall light such a candle this day that, by God’s grace, shall never be put out.” This was zeal.

(e) This again has been the characteristic of all the greatest Missionaries.

You see it in Dr. Judson, in Carey, in Morrison, in Schwartz, in Williams, in Brainerd, in Elliott. You see it in none more brightly than in Henry Martyn. Here was a man who had reached the highest scholastic honors that Cambridge could bestow. Whatever profession he chose to follow, he had the most dazzling prospects of success. He turned his back on it all. He chose to preach the Gospel to poor unreasonable heathen. He went forth to an early grave, in a foreign land. He said when he got there and saw the condition of the people, “I would be willing to be torn in pieces, if I could only hear the sobs of repentance; if I could see the eyes of faith directed to the Redeemer!” This was zeal.

(f) But let us look away from all earthly examples and remember that zeal was preeminently the characteristic of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself.

Of Him it was written hundreds of years before He came upon the earth that He “wrapped Himself in zeal as in a cloak, and “the zeal for your house consumes me.” And His own words were “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” (Psalm 69:9; Isaiah 59:17; John 4:34).

Where shall we begin, if we try to give examples of His zeal? Where should we end, if we should begin? Trace all the narratives of His life in the four Gospels. Read all the history of what He was from the beginning of His ministry to the end. Surely if there ever was one who was all zeal, it was our great Example-our Head-our High Priest-the great Shepherd of our profession, the Lord Jesus Christ.

If these things are true, we should not only beware of running down zeal, but we should also beware of allowing zeal to be run down in our presence. It may be badly directed, and then it becomes a curse; but it may be turned to the highest and best ends, and then it is a mighty blessing. Like fire, it is one of the best of servants but, also like fire, if not well directed, it may be the worst of masters. Do not listen to those people who talk of zeal as weakness and enthusiasm. Do not listen to those who see no beauty in missions, who laugh at all attempts at the conversion of souls-who call Agencies for sending the Gospel to the world useless, and who look upon City Missions, Visitations, and Open Air Preaching as nothing but foolishness and fanaticism. Beware, lest in joining a cry of that kind you condemn the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Beware lest you speak against Him who has “left us an example, that we should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

Yes! I fear there are many professing Christians who, if they had lived in the days when our Lord and His Apostles walked on the earth, would have called Him and all His followers zealots and fanatics. There are many, I fear, who have more in common with Annas and Caiaphas, with Pilate and Herod, with Festus and Agrippa, with Felix and Gallio, than with Paul and the Lord Jesus Christ.

For Part 2 of Christian Zeal, click HERE.