A godly man is a zealous man

I am reading Thomas Watsons' The Godly Man's Picture - Drawn with a Scripture Pencil and am giving a short summary / devotional from this weeks reading for my invest group.

 

What is zeal?

Webster's 1828 Dictionary reads, "Passionate ardor [enthusiasm] in the pursuit of any thing. In general, zeal is an eagerness of desire to accomplish or obtain some object, and it may be manifested either in favor of any person or thing, or in opposition to it, and in a good or bad cause." Watson's definition? "Zeal is a mixed affection [emotion], a compound of love and anger. It carries forth our love to God and anger against sin in the most intense manner."

 

Using Webster and Watson's definitions, we can see zeal as that which places God in His rightful place as the primary pursuit in our lives and is expressed through our love to God and anger against sin.

 

Using a dialectical form of writing, Watson poses the question, "What about moderation?"

 

"Though moderation in things of indifference is commendable, and doubtless it would greatly tend to settling the peace of the church, yet in the main articles of faith, wherein God's glory and our salvation lie at stake, here moderation is nothing but sinful neutrality." In other words being a peacemaker should only extend to the nonessentials, when God's glory or salvation (the gospel) come into the picture, they should be defended zealously.

 

The challenge he leaves us with is, "Christians, what do you reserve your zeal for? Is it for your gold that perishes? Can you bestow your zeal better than upon God?... Was not Jesus Christ zealous for you?...How zealous he was for your redemption, and you have no zeal for him?"

 

Lastly, we need to think about what this really looks like. I know that I have often zealously pursued things other than God. Sports has been an zealous pursuit in the past, as has work. We are called to be zealous for God. The temptation is to think of zeal as that which is exhibited on Sunday morning. True zeal, however, should be displayed in each area of life. What does this look like in each role that God has given us?  What does it mean to me to be a father who is zealous for God? A zealous husband? A zealous church member? A zealous employee?

 

Great Quote on Justification

Question: How art thou righteous before God?
Answer: Only by true faith in Jesus Christ; that is, although my conscience accuse me that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and that I am still prone always to all evil, yet God, without merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sin, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me, if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart. -- from the Heidelberg Confession (1563) Question 60.

Two types of faith

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ... fath by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:14, 17

I've been reading in the Books of James lately... One verse in particular jumped out at me today. James is not comparing faith and works, but (as Douglas Moo puts it): "He is, rather, contrasting a faith that, because it is inherently defective, produces no works and a faith that, because it is genuine, does result in action."

In looking at my own life, I don't often find myself interacting with those who are lacking in basic necessities. The whole "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled..." isn't really a position I find myself in. But I do on a regular basis interact with other believers. When I do, does my faith express itself through a true concern for their needs? Often a cursory "I'll be praying for you..." is the the response I'll give. Sure, I may fire off a prayer or even spend time in my morning devotions praying for that person, but a faith that acts will look to go BEYOND this. How can I help the physical needs of that brother or sister for whom Christ died? It may be giving an ear to someone that I really don't want to, or giving my time to help move a piece of furniture. To leave the application of this passage in the extreme situation of someone without food is to shortchange the message James is trying to get across. My faith MUST result in acts of love to my brothers and sisters OR ELSE IT IS DEFECTIVE FAITH.

What's my mission today?

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

We have in this verse a mission and a message. After reminding us of who we are, Peter continues with a purpose statement, "that you may declare the praises of him." Of course this "him" is none other than Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. We are reminded that our calling and privilege is to declare his praises. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever says the Westminster Catchecism. This verse is proof of this claim. Our calling is to praise Christ. A thought that should be on our minds every day is "How shall I declare His praise today?"

This mission is rooted in a message. The message is none other than the simple and glorious truth of the gospel "called you out of darkeness into his wonderful light." This is is the motivation of my declaration of his praise today.

Developing a love for Christ in my kids

"Love to Christ is the point which we ought specially to dwell upon in teaching religion to children. Election, imputed righteousness, original sin, justification, sanctification, and even faith itself, are matters which sometimes puzzle a child of tender years. But love to Jesus seems far more within reach of their understanding. That He loved them even to His death, and that they ought to love Him in return, is a creed which meets the span of their minds. How true it is that "out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise!" (Matt. xxi. 16.) There are myriads of Christians who know every article of the Athanasian, Nicene, and Apostolic Creeds, and yet know less of real Christianity than a little child who only knows that he loves Christ." [Holiness, Chapter 15, Point I, Section c]

I've puzzled over the best way to encourage my children to develop a personal love for God. This paragraph just jumped out at me because of its simplicity. A love for Christ can be encouraged in my kids by pointing them toward the gospel as the demonstration of His love for them. It's that simple.

Christ is All

I have been reading through J.C. Ryle's book called Holiness. It has had a profound impact on me. I wish I could relate all of it, but as I cannot. I must simply highly, highly recommend it. I've viewed an active pursuit of holiness negatively for many years. This book has opened my eyes to the nature of a true pursuit of holiness. It is not simply a change in the way we act, but runs through the very core of the Christian. It begins in our justification by Christ and is continued by Him in our sanctification. I am including a link to the last chapter of the book called Christ is All.

http://home.comcast.net/~matthew.t.lowe/ryle/christ_is_all.htm

Revelation 21:5-7 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son."

The gig is up! What confidence we can have... The end of the story is disclosed. The book of Revelation is such an encouraging book! God's kingdom is permanantly established and everything is made new (all creation has been corrupted by sin and requires God to create it anew - from us being new creations in Christ to the earth being renewed or remade). How much suspense is there in watching a football game on video tape when you've seen the final score on the internet? Not a lot. In the same way, there is no suspense as to who will win and who will lose in the final conflict. This gives us great confidence in life. Evil and wrong will NOT ulitimately prevail - although this is easy to forget. We have here the definitive good ending to the supreme story.

What makes me happy? I found myself this morning (on the way to work, of course!) thinking about a weekend gone and another work week starting and found myself slipping into subtle depression. God in his goodness reminded me of the necessity of finding my joy in God. The conversation went something like this...

"So, your job is not your dream job. Very few people's jobs are. Where do you find your joy?"

"Well, I guess I am supposed to find it in You."

"If you're unhappy now, where would you find joy in the middle of a trial?"

Whether this was a Biblically informed subconscious conversation with myself or God's spirit talking with me, I don't know. I do know that the idea that was impressed on me was that wherever I am in my life, I can and must find my joy in Christ. That means if I am walking through trial, I can be joyful. If I am experiencing abundance, my joy must still be found in Christ. Then, if all the things I am blessed with disappear, I have lost nothing. If (for me) I struggle with my day to day job, I must find my joy in Christ. The thought that another job might bring me joy is simply a wrong and sinful thought. If Christ is not my joy now, he will not be my joy even if my job were to become that elusive "dream job." Not profound thoughts, but a necessary rediretion for my soul.

1 Peter 1:5-9 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
The process of growing to become more like Jesus Christ includes adding all the above attributes into our lives. From the moment of salvation we are a new person that is being changed to be more like our Saviour. The last verse really jumped out at me. If anyone doesn't have these attributes, are they Christians? Yes, but they have forgotten thing that should be motivating their transformation into Christ's image. Namely, the gospel. So we find that the gospel is more than the gospel of salvation, it works transformation. If we don't have the above works of the Spirit in our lives we may be saved from hell, but we rob ourselves of the privilege of having and effective and productive life on earth.

I John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
One of the attributes of God is holiness. God the Father is Holy, Jesus the Son is Holy, and the Spirit is Holy (hence "Holy Spirit"). The holiness of God is not excusive to the Father and the Spirit, but Jesus is just as Holy. In the mystery of the Incarnation this Holy Son made himself into a man.
The love of God is similar. Although shown by Jesus through of life as a human and death on the cross; it is also shown by the Father as he sent his son and poured out his wrath on Jesus. Stop and think about that! Here we have this triune God pouring out wrath on another member of the trinity. A person who throughout eternity past was in inconceivably close relationship with him. This is completely uncomprehensible. No wonder John says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us..." The Holy Spirit displays his love for us through his active presence in our lives today. The mystery of the trinity and love of God are united. To think of the love of Jesus and not to think about the love of the Father and the love of the Spirit is to sell short the concept of God's love. God's love must be developed within the framework of the Trinity. In worship and prayer remember that the death of our Saviour was a trinune display of love! Thanks be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!