Lesson 18

To grow in zeal, we need to take the following steps:

When we have zeal and the knowledge of God's word, we are ready to obey God and fulfill His righteousness in our lives.

However, at this point, we must be led by God through the Holy Spirit or other means of guidance from God as to the place, the timing and the method, and type of our ministry.
Only God can tell us the place, the timing and the way we are to put our obedience into action.
In this way, we will build God's kingdom with the power and wisdom of God.
Otherwise, we may get into unnecessary difficulties and troubles, and what we do may not bear fruit for God's kingdom.

E.g. Every believer is commissioned by Jesus to preach the Good News to all creation (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:18-20).

However, we must be led by the Lord as to the nation, the people group and the persons tat we are to preach to, and the time when we are to do it.

When Philip was preaching in Samaria and having a mighty harvest of souls, God told told him, through an angel, to leave Samaria and go to the desert road that leads to Gaza.
As Philip obeyed the Lord, he was used by God to bring salvation to the official in charge of the treasure of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:4-40).

If we go by human reasoning, we would have told Philip not to leave Samaria, where a great revival was going on.
We would have reasoned that it would not be fruitful to go into a desert road, where there is no crowd. However, God knows best, and we must obey.

About 10 years after the Jerusalem church was founded, God spoke to Peter in a vision, directing him by the Spirit to go to the household of Cornelius, who was a Greek (Acts 10:1-48).
As Peter obeyed God, despite the cultural barriers between Jews and Gentiles, God was able to use Peter to bring salvation to Cornelius' household.
This was highly significant because for about 10 years, the followers of Jesus only preached the Gospel to the Jews and the Samaritans, and not to Gentiles.

On his second missionary journey, Paul and his companions traveled throughout the "region of Phrygia and Galatia" (Acts 16:6-10).
However, they were kept by the Holy Spirit from going south-west to Ephesus (the province of Asia) and from going northwards into Bithynia.

They  thus traveled west till they reached the port of Troas.
It was here that God gave Paul a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him to help the Macedonians.
This was now the Gospel was brought to Greece at that time.
Paul was sensitive to the leading of God in his apostolic ministry, preaching according to the schedule and timetable of the Holy Spirit.

E.g. At the age of  forty, Moses tried to deliver the people of Israel from Egypt, and failed miserably. Even though he was God's choice, he did it at his own timing, in his own strength and wisdom.
Moses had the zeal, but he was not ready in terms of maturity.
It was only after another forty years had passed, when he has grown in humility tending sheet in the wilderness of Midian, that God sent him to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, in God's ways, strength and timing (Exodus 2:1-4:31).

If a believer is young but zealous, he needs to submit himself to the counsel and wisdom of those who are more mature in the Lord.
Zeal without knowledge is not good; and such spiritual knowledge is available from mature, God-fearing believers.

If we are young in the Lord, it is thus always advisable to seek counsel and confirmation from more mature believers concerning major decisions in our ministry, family and personal life.
This will keep us from committing foolish and unnecessary mistakes.

Proverbs 12:15 NKJ declares that
     "He who heeds counsel is wise."

Likewise Proverbs 11:14 NKJ teaches that
     "Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety."

E.g. After Paul encountered the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was full of zeal and began to preach Christ to the Jews in Damascus, who conspired to kill him.
After he escaped from Damascus and went to Jerusalem, he also preached the Gospel fearlessly in the city in the name of Jesus.
However, he talked and debated with the Greek-speaking Jews, who were so aroused that they tried to kill him (Acts 9:20-29).

At this point, the brothers in Jerusalem took him down to Caesarea and then sent him off to Tarsus, his home-town (Acts 9:30).
The brothers here in Jerusalem had been in the Lord longer than Paul.
At this point, it was obvious to them that Paul's message was not accepted by the Jews in Jerusalem.
Moreover, his life was in great danger.

Praise the Lord that Paul, although a zealous and learned believer, was willing to submit to the counsel of believers who were older in the Lord than him.
This kept his life from unnecessary danger, allowing him later to fulfill God's calling upon his life as an apostle to the nation 17 years later.

Also, after Paul left Jerusalem, the church in Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace.
The church was strengthened and grew in number (Acts 9:31).
This proved that the decision of the believers in sending Saul to Tarsus was a wise one.

In our zeal, we must not brush off the counsel of older, God-fearing believers by taking the attitude that older believers are too traditional, too cautious, too complacent, too old or too self-satisfied.
These is no correlation between age and lukewarmness, i.e., the older you are, the more lukewarm you become.
In fact, many older believers are still full of zeal of God's righteousness.

God needs both the zeal of the young and the wisdom of the older believers.
We need one another in the body of Christ.
We are all members of one body (1 Corinthians 12:21-26).

God desires us to seek His righteousness in EVERY AREA of life.
We are commanded to pray that His kingdom come onto this earth, that His will be done on earth as in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10).

There must be no area of life where we willfully neglect to establish the righteousness of God through our prayer and obedience.
If we are not walking rightly in any area of our life, our testimony for God is put to shame, even though we may be showing outstanding zeal in certain areas.

E.g. Even though we may be fervent choir members and counselors in the church, our testimony for Christ damaged if we like to curse our husband/wife at home and neglect our children as well.

We must therefore be zealous for God's righteousness in

We must not compromise our faith in any area of life.

E.g. We must not be believers who go on mission with zeal, but take bribes at our place of work.
We must not be smiling ushers in the morning worship but curse our children and wife at home in the evening.
Our compromise will please neither God nor man.
No one respects a fence-sitter, a lukewarm follower.
God will spit such a person out of His mouth.

When we are led by the Spirit of God to obey God in a specific area, at a specific time, to serve in a specific way, then we must do it with zeal.
Whether we are serving God or man, whether it be public or hidden ministry, let us labor with all that we have, with great earnestness, fire and fervor.
This is because all our service is seen by God.
All our service is a service to Christ ultimately (Colossians 3:24).

Therefore, whatever we do, we must do it in the name of the Lord and as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:17; 23-24).

And WHATEVER YOU DO, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
(Colossians 3:17)

Whatever you do, work at it with ALL YOUR HEART, as working FOR THE LORD, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
(Colossians 3:23-24)

Zeal is expressed differently in different areas of ministry, whether ministry to God or man.
Nonetheless, when our ministry is done in zeal, it is always qualified superlatively, where the qualifying words used are ALL, DAY & NIGHT, WITHOUT CEASING, GENEROUSLY, etc.
Some of these areas of ministry where God demands zeal are as follows:

E.g. God commands us to love Him with "all our heart, soul, mind and strength" (Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27).
We are not to love God half-heartedly.
Neither are we to show love with our lips only, or by our rituals and traditional acts only, and not with our heart (Matthew 15:1-9).
This would make us hypocrites.

E.g. Jesus loved His disciples "to the end" (John 13:1).
He loved us all the way.
He did not stop loving when the price was costly and painful.
His love took him "all the way to the cross" (John 3:16; 15:13).

Likewise, we have been commanded by our Lord to "Love one another, as I have loved you" (John 13:34).
In other words, we should love one another also "to the very end," even when it is inconvenient or costly, following Jesus' example.
This is to be zealous in love.

God wants us to worship Him with "all our heart, soul, mind and strength" (Matthew 22:37; Luke 10:27).
Like David, a man after God's heart, who danced with "all his might, shouting, leading and dancing before the Lord" we are likewise to put all our energy and heart into our worship (2 Samuel 6:14-16).

Half-hearted worship reflects our lack of the knowledge of God's glory - His goodness, His greatness and His holiness.
It reflects our attitude of indifference to His commands to love Him totally.
It reflects our lack of awe in God's presence.
It reflects our lack of gratefulness to God's amazing grace and mercy towards each one of us.
It also reflects the fact that we fear man more than we fear God.

God wants us to put His kingdom FIRST in our lives.
In every area of life, He wants us to hunger and thirst for His righteousness to be established.
Kingdom business must always come first for a zealous follower of Jesus.

When we put leisure, business, things, toys, popularity, money, position, and pain before God and His righteousness, we have compromised our zeal.
We no longer have God's interest at heart.
We have become cozy, compromising, complacent, convenient Christians.

God wants us to live on "EVERY WORD that comes from His mouth" (Matthew 4:4).
We are not to be self-satisfied by just knowing a few favorite passage, just enough to receive God's salvation and blessings.
God also wants to share with us His burden and plans for all nations.
We must take the time to feed on God's word, even ALL his word.

God also wants His children to feed on His word "DAY AND NIGHT" (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:2), and not as it is convenient, one in a week.
It is only as we meditate on His word day and night that we can become prosperous and successful.

God wants us to "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks" (2 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
We are not to rejoice only when times are easy.
Neither are we to pray only when we have personal emergencies.
We should give thanks to God in all circumstance, allowing God to rule over any situation.

God wants His people to give cheerfully and generously (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).
We are not to give stingily or reluctantly.
Our generous giving is a reflection of our faith in the promises of God and our obedience and trust in Him.

God wants us to preach at any time that He directs us by His Spirit, "in season and out of season," and not only when it is convenient to us (2 Timothy 4:2).
And when we preach, we are to preach fearlessly, without being defensive and ashamed of the Good News of the kingdom of God (Ephesians 6:19-20).

And God want us to preach to all creation, even unto the uttermost parts of the earth (Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8).
We must not be satisfied with just preaching the Good News to our neighbors only.
We must care for the lost who have not heard of God's word and reach out to them as the Lord directs.

Our initial zeal for God will die down and our heart can grow cold if we do not guard ourselves from the influence of others inside the church.
Our fire for God can only be kept burning by an intimate relationship with Jesus.
It is only from Jesus that we can receive a continuous flow of love and power and zeal through is indwelling Spirit.
We must thus commune with Jesus in our heart and receive from Him a continuous flow of His vision, righteousness and faith (Revelation 3:18-20).

If we keep our eyes off Jesus, we can easily become discouraged and disheartened by what we see around us inside the church.
The increase in wickedness among the community of believers can cause even the most ardent of the followers of Jesus to become cynical if he is not careful.

Jesus has said in Matthew 24:12
     "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of MOST will grow cold.

Such wickedness in the church includes:

ruthless politics in the church,
the hypocrisy and selfishness of leaders,
the fight for power at all cost (power-craziness),
pride in monuments and ministries,
building and promotion of personal kingdoms, not God's kingdom,
the seeking of titles and position and honor from each other,
the lust for affluence, pomp and luxury,
the lack of seek-denial, integrity and truthfulness,
the disregard for missions and the lost,
the apathy and complacency of most believers,
the lack of compassion for the needy,
the persecution and rejection of zealous Christians by the carnal believers,

As children of God, we must only see as God sees.
Otherwise, our discouragement will easily lead to lukewarmness and coldness, and even to bitterness.
We must only believe in our heart what God has declared in His word.
Our heart must be consumed only by God's vision and plans.
In this way, we will grow in our zeal for God.

Your thought

1. Are you on fire for the things of God? If not, why not?

2. What steps would you take to allow God to set your heart on fire for Him again?

3. What are the consequences of lukewarmness? (See Revelation 3:14-22; Jude 3-21)

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