Zeal (2-21-12)

Revelation 3:19 - "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."

In Revelation chapters two and three the Lord Jesus Christ is giving seven letters to seven churches, the last of which is the Laodicean church. This church is described by Jesus as being lukewarm, it makes Him sick. This is what He says in verses 15-19 - "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." In verse 19 He instructs them to "be zealous and repent." He connects zeal and repentance. The apostle Paul does the same thing in his second letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 7 Paul talks about how his first letter to them, rebuking them, produced in them godly sorrow, and godly sorrow led to repentance, and he says that that godly sorrow and repentance produced in them zeal.
Zeal is an essential quality that is largely lacking in the church today. I love J. C. Ryles description of zeal for God - "A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives, or whether he dies - whether he has health, or whether he has sickness - whether he is rich, or whether he is poor - whether he pleases man, or whether he gives offense - whether he is thought wise, or whether thought foolish - whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise - whether he gets honor, or whether he gets shame - for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God's glory. If he is consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it - he is content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which God appointed him. Such a one will always find a sphere for his zeal. If he cannot preach, work, and give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray. . . . If he cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses, Aaron, and Hur, on the hill. If he is cut off from working himself, he will give the Lord no rest till help is raised up from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I speak of 'zeal' in religion." What a great description! This is what the Laodicean church was lacking, and this is what many believers today are lacking, this zeal. The Laodicean church didn't have this single-minded focus on pleasing God, this consuming love for Him. They were not consumed with one thing, they weren't consumed in God's holy fire, dwelling on His holy hill, they stayed away from the fire so that they wouldn't be consumed, and as a result lukewarmness set in.
So many Christians don't have a zeal for God, and if they're honest with themselves they don't really want it. Zeal for God is uncomfortable. Being consumed isn't comfortable but it's what we're called for. This is the very reason Christ died. We're told in Titus 2:14, speaking of Christ - "who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds."
Christ's life was a marvelous example of this zeal for God. His life was solely focused on pleasing the Father, He was consumed with this one thing. In John chapter 4 Jesus' disciples were offering Him something to eat, this was right after His conversation with the woman at the well, and we're told in John 4:34 - "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work."" This is what zeal looks like. He was so consumed with pleasing the Father and doing His will that He said it was food for Him. He was only satisfied, He was only sustained and strengthened when He was doing the Fathers will. If you want to see what zeal looks like study the life of the Lord Jesus. Every word He spoke, every deed He did, every miracle He performed, every blessing He gave, every curse or woe He pronounced, His life was completely consumed with one thing, one purpose, pleasing God. Everything was grounded in a consuming love for the Father. In John 2:13-17 we read - "The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR Thy HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”" Zeal does some pretty radical stuff, and it's not comfortable. We don't like to be called 'religious fanatics' or 'zealots', but that's what we're called to be. Sure it's uncomfortable, but Christ didn't call us so that we could be lukewarm, He called us to be consumed in His fire on His holy hill, "for our God is a consuming fire."

Revelation 3:19 - "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent."