Bishop R.C. Ryles
Zeal in religion 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 no man feels by nature-which the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when he is converted-but which some believers feel so much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called "zealous" men.
A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough just to be whole-hearted and fervent in spirit. He 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 is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish-whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise-whether he gets honour, 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 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, 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 hilld. 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. I have this essay framed and matted in my study and I look at it almost every day. Whenever I look at it invariably my mind races to all the men in the Bible who had this kind of zeal; Moses, Caleb, Enoch, Peter, Paul ... and especially Jesus. But what I most associate with it, and the reason it hangs on my wall is the line of Scripture found in Hebrews 12:1 that bookends chapter 11 and what many call the Hall of Faith, with a panopoly of bibilical heroes rich in zeal and faith. Hebrews 12:1 reads :
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us"
This forceful, spiritually inspired appeal indicates that the zeal of those witnesses that we are surrounded by in biblical history is a zeal that God wants us to have. That a zealous race is possible for us to run as well, or He would not command us to run it. Man
I can remember one of the first sermons I ever heard John Piper preach called "Will You Burn". He was preaching at his alma mater Wheaton College and early in the sermon he looked the young and eager students in the eye and said plainly " The Question is not whether someone will burn with zeal for the spread of the gospel; God clearly has ordained that it will be so in Matthew 24:14 "And this Gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughtout the whole world as a testimony to all nation, and the end will come." then he said "My Question to you students today is: Will You Burn?" When I heard that sermon years ago, I felt the spirit grab me and ask that same question. That is the same question I believe God is posing to all of us in these neediest of times. "Will You Burn? " Is zeal for your Father's household eating you up? Clearly John Piper believes we can have this zeal . Martin Lloyd Jones was convinced we could. We ourselves must realize that this kind of zeal is not for the spiritually elite, it is a zeal we can aspire to and that we should earnestly pray and perhaps even fast for. " Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy Name" "Oh, Jesus give me a fiery spirit but a humble grace. Strike a flame in me, and give me a Gospel focus. Please, Please Oh God don't let me waste my life quenched and flickering. I beg you, through your Spirit, make me a white hot flame! Make me a Zealous
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