Christian Zeal

Every Christian, A Zealous Christian TITUS 2:14 God: Our Ultimate Heat Source James 4:8 Christ-Like Character: Our Perfect Fuel 1 Peter 2:21 Purity: Our Optimum Environment 1 John 2:16 If you’ve read the Bible very much, you know that God uses metaphors pretty often to teach us complex ideas. He calls Jesus our great shepherd and us the sheep. He describes Jesus as the Groom and us the Bride. All of these metaphors are intended to help us live for Him. Wonderfully, God uses a very familiar, very rich metaphor to teach us about zeal too: that is fire. I know, most of us microwave almost everything, or push a button to start a fire in the decorative fireplaces we enjoy. So we probably don’t know as much about fire as the people 2000 years ago who depended on fire for their food, their light, their safety – practically everything. But even today, we know enough about it to get God’s metaphor – because it is really as simple as lighting a candle. God’s Metaphor: Greek word Zelos #2204 & #2205 - To Be Hot, Heat God’s Vision: That Every Christian Be A Zealous Christian. The Challenge: Many who desire to be zealous don’t know how to build a lifelong spiritual fire. The Solution: We can build lifelong Christian Zeal with the right Heat, Fuel, & Environment. ***So tonight, I just want to give you the best of the best by looking at How God helped some of the most zealous people in the Bible succeed.

7 Steps To Lifelong Zeal Step 1: Prepare Your Zeal Step 2: Ignite Your Zeal Step 3: Fuel Your Zeal Step 4: Protect Your Zeal Step 5: Use Your Zeal Step 6: Spread Your Zeal Step 7: Tend Your Zeal Obstacles Are Unpleasant, But Unsurprising Philippians 1:28 Christians Don’t Back Down Just Because Suffering Is Involved. With God’s Help We Persevere. Matthew 16:21, 2 Corinthians 4:8-10,16-18

Protection: From Satan’s Lies Just this basic understanding immediately helps us overcome Satan’s lies. And we must see these lies for what they are before we can hope to make any real progress. To See God’s answer clearly we need to get rid of some false concepts that create BIG problems in the study of Christian ZEAL. We could just being this lesson with a definition, but if I did that you would say “Oh…I don’t know about that…I’ve always thought that zeal was….” because most of us on one level or another have bought into at least a few of Satan’s lies about ZEAL. So first, I want to blow those lies out of the water, so that when I show you the Biblical Definition of Christian Zeal you can say – WOW – that makes so much sense. Instead of – HUMMM – I’m not so sure. Satan’s Lies: Zeal Is All About What Is New - At Its Best Brand New & Built With New Things LIE: Zeal Is Only For A Few Only for the young, Only for the outgoing, Only for the preachers. LIE: Zeal Is Too Difficult & Dangerous Too Emotional & Vague To Successfully Develop Too Easy To Misuse To Be Worth Having LIE: Zeal Is Too Fragile & Disappointing Even if you become zealous, the storms of life will beat it out of you and then you will just miss it. LIE: Zeal Alone Is Sufficient - (Truth: Paul was a zealous persecutor, but not saved!) 1.) A Potential Lack of Study. Because this topic is not as frequently discussed in the scriptures as other traits such as honesty or faith it is easy to overlook. 2.) An Acceptance of Satan’s Lies About Zeal: aa.) Satan Lies and tells us that the initial fireworks are better than the mature flames. This is crazy! Think of Peter’s immature and unrefined zeal. Was he zealous early on: sure; but what did that get him? - - Rebuked: Get Behind My Satan - - Sinking: In the Sea of Galilee - - Reproved: For Attacking Malchus, & Cutting off his ear. - - Sobbing: At the Sight of the Savior he had denied 3 times. **Wake UP** Zeal is not at its best young and out of control. Zeal is at its best when it ages and matures and becomes a focused force for good! a.) Satan Lies and says that Zeal is only for a select few. That only those with outgoing personalities, or those who are young can enjoy being zealous. b.) Satan Lies and says that Zeal is too rare, too emotional, too uncontrollable to be really understood, much less to be developed and nurtured. So there is no point in trying. And if you were to try you’d probably just get it wrong and end up getting burned. c.) Satan Lies and says that Zeal is to fragile, and once it is lost, there is no point in rebuilding it. It is better to just accept the lukewarm state of your faith and learn to live without it. After all the joy in serving God was probably a promise that was too good to be true anyway. LIE: Zeal Is Only For A Few LIE: Zeal Is All About What Is New Acts 17:21, 2 Peter 3:1-2 LIE: Zeal Is At It’s Best At The Beginning LIE: Zeal Is Measured By What We Avoid Luke 18:11 LIE: Zeal Alone Is Sufficient Galatians 1:14

Protection: God Helps Us Beat Burnout (1 Kings 19) Heat Problem… Recognized God’s Nearness In Major Events, But Lost Sight of God’s Behind The Scenes Work Fuel Problem… Courage: Fearful of Jezebel Energy: Exhausted from running for his life. Diligence: Needed encouragement to keep going. Loving Service: The wrong place for his next task. Environment Problem… Relationships: He felt utterly alone. Okay – A Heads up is great for the future…but what do I do right now. If I feel like my zeal has been nearly snuffed out. – God has a very clear answer and it is found in 1 Kings 19, when Elijah, one of the most zealous servants of God, had become absolutly wiped out. Read to vs. 18 Heat Problem: vs. 11-12 Courage: vs. 3 Energy vs. 4-8 Diligence vs. 17-18 Relationships vs. 10, 14, 18

Protection: God Helps Us Beat Burnout (1 Kings 19) HEAT: Spend Time Alone With God. 1 Kings 19:9 (Mark 1:35) HEAT: Speak Honestly About Your Feelings. 1 Kings 19:4,10,14 (Ps 10:1-4, 16-18) FUEL: See God Working In His Ways. 1 Kings 19:11-13 (Philippians 1:6) FUEL: Set Out For The Next Act of Service. 1 Kings 19:15-16 ENV: Take Courage, You Are Not Alone. 1 Kings 19:17-18, Micah 7:1-2, Habakkuk 1:2-4 Look To Jesus (Hebrews 12:3) NOT ALONE: Very common feeling (Mic. 7:1-2, Hab. 1:2-4)

Christian Zeal In The Storms Of Life, Who Is In Your Boat? Tonight did you feel like the slide talking about Elijah facing burnout was a slide all about you. You’d like to use your zeal to Glofiy God, but for one reason or another you feel totally burnt out. We hope this helps you rebuild, but if you would like the prayers and support of the saints here too – then we stand ready to help. In The Storms Of Life, Who Is In Your Boat? Mark 4:35-39