A Zealous Servant

Thank you for the special music. That was very beautiful. It certainly was very fitting with the title, wasn't it? You just kind of want to relax and think about God's way and the wonderful things that He's done for us. We really appreciate that. Thank you, ladies, and Troy as well. Have you ever been in a situation where something happens and then it reminds you of another circumstance? Maybe it brings back an occasion that you remember something you hadn't thought about for a while. Well, it probably has happened to all of us. There's an interesting example of this in the New Testament with Jesus Christ and His disciples. That circumstance is found over in John 2 and verse 14. You'd like to turn there with me. It's an interesting situation. In fact, it's interesting in more than a number of ways. One way that this situation is interesting is that it falls in chapter 2 in the book of John. So we're right near the beginning of the Gospel of John. Now, if you were to turn to this same story in, let's say, Matthew, this situation doesn't occur until chapter 21. But for some reason, John felt it was important to put this story right up near the front of what he recorded for us. And it's an interesting situation that has so many lessons involved in it. It's a situation that reminded the disciples of something else. It's a familiar story. John 2, 14. Here, Jesus says, It's recorded for us that He said to those who sold doves, Take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. So they see this happen before their eyes, and they're immediately reminded of something else. They're reminded of another situation. They're reminded of something that was written back in the Psalms. Verse 17, it says, His disciples remembered that it was written, Zio for your house has eaten me up. The disciples put these two events right together. They watched Jesus Christ overturn the tables. And it reminded them that there was a prophecy about Jesus Christ. And they recognized the fact that being eaten up for the house of God motivated Christ to do something. And that came to their mind, almost like a deja vu. They thought of that specific situation. Jesus Christ had this desire, this fervor for God's house. And it was intentional. It was for a purpose. And so that desire and that fervor, that zeal that He had, caused Christ to do something about it. Now I think there's an amazing lesson here for us today as well. When we think about a zealous servant, you see that's what's described here. Zio for your house has eaten me up. That means he was consumed by it. This is what was at the forefront of his mind. It was something that he was just strongly devoted. He was dedicated, enthusiastic about God's way and His house. And it moved him to do something about it. Now have you thought too much about this kind of zeal that Christ had? Can we say that zeal for God's way, for His house, has eaten us up? Has it consumed us? Consumed us to the point that we can't help but do something about it. In fact, what does it mean to be a zealous servant anyway? How does that manifest itself? Does that mean I have to go out and start whipping tables over? Start beating oxen, getting them out? Is that how it would manifest itself today? Well, let's think about that for a few minutes. Let's think about zeal and how it should impact our lives today. Is it even important to have this type of enthusiasm, this type of devotion today? Is that something that just is relegated to the past? Or should that be something that we should be concerned about?

There's an interesting passage over in Titus 2, verse 11. Turn over there to Titus 2. We'll find some instructions that the apostle Paul was giving to a young minister. He was giving these instructions to Titus. And in the instructions that he's giving him, he addresses this concept of zeal. Now oftentimes, I think as we consider the word zeal, we have certain images that come to mind.

Maybe this image of Christ turning the tables over is one of them. But you know, it's not just that kind of excitement that God wants us to think of. Paul told Titus something interesting. In verse 11, chapter 2, he says, "...the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." Of course, that's literally talking about Jesus Christ Himself. Verse 12, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. So our dedication to God has to have evidence in the kind of people that we are.

Who are we? When it gets right down to our heart and our core, what is the standard that we live by? Who are we? How would we define ourselves? Well, he goes on to say, "...looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." You see, we should be impacted because Christ is going to return.

Christ is our Savior. He is our hope. The resurrection is our hope. Being in the kingdom of God for all eternity is our hope. We're looking forward to the revealing, the second coming of Jesus Christ. He gave Himself for us, it says in verse 14, that He could redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people. And so we're supposed to be that special people. And in fact, He qualifies what are special people? Who are godly people? How can we identify the people of God? You see, Paul tells Timothy that identification is found in people that are zealous for good works. Zealous for good works.

Now, if you were to look that word up, you'd realize it's talking about a passionate people, a people that are impassioned for doing the will of God. They have an enthusiasm. They have a devotion and a dedication for honoring God in everything that they do. So as Paul instructs Timothy, I think it would be hard to deny the fact that we as God's people are supposed to be zealous. We're supposed to be an enthusiastic people that are entirely devoted to God's way.

Now, what kind of shape does that take? If you were to look up that word, let's say in a dictionary or something like that, it would give you a little bit of an idea that would hearken back to that example of Christ. Christ was zealous. He was passionate for God's way. And that passion motivated him to act, to do, to live a certain way.

So when it came to hypocrisy in the temple, Christ could not do anything but stand for God's way, to stand for the truth. And so that eagerness, that passion motivated Christ to do something. And that's a key when it comes to zeal. Zeal means that I am devoted, that I am passionate about doing something. It's not just thinking about something. It's not just believing something.

We can be passionate about beliefs, but if that belief doesn't motivate us to action, we can't call ourselves zealous. We have to have that strong feelings, but not just feelings, strong feelings that move us to action. And so being zealous for God is more than just being enthusiastic. It's more than having high energy. That's not what zeal is about. That can be some of it, but it has to be this enthusiasm, this motivation that turns into action. Maybe if you think about what Christ was doing in the temple.

He was cleansing the temple of God. This was unacceptable in God's house. And of course, begin to think about that in a spiritual sense. Where is God's house today? Where is God's house today? Christ was cleaning up the temple, and He was going to do whatever it took to accomplish that job. Now, you think about zeal and the passion that we're to have for God's way. Are we ready and are we willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done? Do we have a zeal for the house of God that has just consumed us, that has just eaten us up so we can't do anything else but to fulfill the Word of God?

You see, over and over again in Scripture, we're told to be zealous servants. Not just have a zealousness, but to be a zealous servant like Christ was consumed by it. He was eaten up by it. He couldn't help but reflect it in what He did and how He taught and in His behavior as well. So if we're to be zealous servants, if we're to be the kind of servants that are zealous for good works, as Paul instructed Titus, if we're going to be like that, I think that takes with it certain traits that we need to continue to develop as God's people.

So let's think about being a zealous servant for a moment. How would you describe a zealous servant? How would you describe someone that has this passion for God's way? How would you describe someone that is entirely devoted to following God? I think one of those traits is being bold. Being bold, I think a zealous servant, a zealous godly servant, is one that is bold. And bold sometimes can carry a number of different meanings. But as it ties into being a godly servant, bold takes on maybe a different meaning than what you might instantly think of.

There's an example of this that fits with being a zealous servant. It's over in 2 Kings 6, verse 13. Now this is an interesting section of Scripture. We cover this in our former prophets class. We haven't quite gotten here yet, but we get a little preview for you ABC students that are here. In this particular section of Scripture, the king of Syria is making war on Israel. So there's a big war at hand. Elisha, the prophet, is warning the king of Israel about this oncoming attack.

Well, how do you think the king of Syria feels about that? Would you be happy that your battle plans are being given away to your enemy? You want to conquer them. You don't want my plans given away to the king of Israel. So he's not happy. The king of Syria is not happy with Elisha. What to do about it? Well, let's get Elisha. We get Elisha out of the way, then they're not going to know what my plans are.

That'll take care of it. We can win the battle then. So here in 2 Kings, we pick up the story of the king of Syria coming to take Elisha. In verse 13, the king says, Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him. King wants to get Elisha. And so it was told him, saying, Surely he's in Dothan. Therefore he sent horses, chariots, and a great army there. And he came by night and surrounded the city. Look out Elisha, right? They are surrounded.

Verse 15, When the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army surrounding the city with horses. Yeah, we just read that, didn't we? Surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, his servant said to Elisha, Alas, my master, what shall we do? So Elisha answered, Don't fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And we know the story.

Verse 17, Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes, open the servant's eyes, that he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around. They had a spiritual army on their side. Verse 18, So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Strike this people, I pray, with blindness.

And he struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. We read this story and go, wow, this is an amazing story. Obviously, Elisha was bold. He was not fearful before this army of the Syrians. He knew that he could be bold. He knew he could be zealous for God's way.

But how can I be? I can't be bold like that, can I? Well, think about it for a minute. How could Elisha be bold? How was that possible?

What was it that made him able to see something that his servant didn't see? What was it that made him understand that it wasn't something to worry about?

I think when you think about boldness and zealousness, it comes down to the fact that a zealous servant understands God is with him. A zealous servant recognizes that God is with her.

You see, his zealousness, his boldness wasn't found in the fact that, well, I'm a prophet of God. Of course we'll be all right. That wasn't it at all. It wasn't at all. He knew God was with him. So boldness involves not fearing what man can do to us because God is on our side. You see, isn't that what boldness is about? Truly understanding the power that is with us. And it's not our power. It's Christ in us. It was God and his armies backing up Elisha that made the difference. Can we be bold like that? Can we understand it's not dependent on me. It's dependent on God in me. You see, if we can allow that to come through in our thoughts and our actions, can we have a passion for God's Word and His way that can't help but shine through? You see, Elisha had a passion for God's way and understanding that it didn't depend on him. It depended on God and God wasn't going to leave him. God wasn't going to forsake him.

God was going to be with him as he was zealous and bold for God's way. He wasn't worried what man can do. And so that's the kind of boldness I think God wants us to have.

Scripture that's connected with this is back in Hebrews 13.

In Hebrews chapter 13, right near the end of Paul's writing to the Hebrews, he gives some final instructions here as he closes out this letter. And as he's finishing the letter, yeah, I wonder if he had this scenario with Elisha in mind and how it should impact all of us so that we can be a zealous servant for God as well. In verse 5 of chapter 13 of Hebrews, he says, "...let your conduct be without covetousness, be content with the things that you have.

For he himself has said, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you." No, not ever. Never forsake you. So what's our perspective? Because we know this to be true, because we know we'll never be left. No, never be left alone. God will never forsake us. He's called us. He's chosen us out of this world. He's given us His Holy Spirit. We know that. We know that we know that. Can we count on the fact He'll never leave us? Never forsake us? If we can, that should motivate us to be zealous servants. So, verse 6, we can be bold. We may boldly say, boy, aren't I great? No, no, no, not great. It's not dependent on me. The Lord is my helper. God is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me? So can we be bold? Can we be zealous for God's way? Can we stand up for the Sabbath? Boy, the time just changed. The sun sets a whole lot earlier than it was a couple weeks ago. Now, I've got to get out of work. Can I be bold? Can I stand up and say, I keep the Sabbath? I don't fudge on it. I do it because I honor God. God is with me. Can we stand for that? Can I stand to be content? Can I be content in my life and where I'm at in my life? Because I can boldly say, God is with me. So I'm not going to compromise. I'm not going to give up. Not whether it's the Sabbath, not whether it's alcohol, not whether it's sex, not whether it's anger or impatience. You name it! I'm not going to compromise because I can boldly say, I have God's Spirit living within me. Can I win that war? Is there a host of heaven that is with me? I think so. We're not so different from Elijah after all, are we? We're not.

Having that kind of boldness is what God wants us to have, that uncompromising, passionate attitude toward God's Word and His way. Now, part of boldness also can come to mean that we stand for the truth when we have to stand for the truth. We say what needs to be said when it needs to be said. Elisha's servant needed to hear that God was with them. He needed to know that and know that He knew it. His life was in jeopardy. He needed to know that. Imagine the great heroes of the Bible that had to be told and someone had to boldly stand up for God's way. Can you imagine going before the King of Israel and saying, David, you're the sinner, you're the man.

That took a boldness that had to come from God. Nathan had to stand up before the King and say, David, you are the sinner, you are the man. You know, sometimes it's our turn. Sometimes it's our turn to stand up for the truth. Peter had to stand up before the council, before the Sanhedrin. He had to stand up and say, I cannot help but speak the things that I've seen and that I've heard. It couldn't be help. It had to come out. You think of Ahab and Jezebel.

Micaiah the prophet had to stand up and stand for God's way, boldly and zealously, proclaiming the truth. How could they do that? I think it comes back to that basis of boldness.

The basis is that basis of zealousness is truly understanding that God's on our side. God is with us. The Lord is our helper. There shouldn't be any fear then. We should have that passion to stand for the truth. Of course, it doesn't stop there either, because when you consider being a zealous servant, that zealousness also has to go hand in hand with a determination, doesn't it?

Don't we have to have that determination along with that boldness in order to follow through in God's way? I think we do. Maybe a different word would be a tenaciousness. This quality of grabbing onto something and never letting go. You see, that's what we need to do when it comes to God's way. We've got His Word. We grab onto it. We grab onto our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we never let go, no matter what. That's kind of the zealousness that we've got to have, to hang on and be tenacious and never let go. Be determined. Be relentless in the pursuit of godliness. There's an interesting example of this back in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah the prophet, boy, was he faced with different challenges as God told him to prophesy to his people.

Can you imagine having that job? When you know things are going down the tubes, and yet you've got to cry out. You've got to tell them. You've got to point out their shortcomings. Can you imagine having to do that? Well, that was certainly part of Jeremiah's job. And oftentimes, being the human that he was, being just like you and me, there's times we get down. We get discouraged.

We wonder, can I really continue on? There's been so many strikes against me in my life. How can I continue to be passionate for God's way when it just seems to be overwhelming at times?

You see, that's the way Jeremiah felt. I'm always the bearer of bad news.

No wonder everybody hates me. You know, I guess I'll go eat worms. You see, Jeremiah felt that way. What a depressing thing that would have been, especially when the people didn't listen. You're preaching the truth. You're telling them God's way, and they don't get it. They don't do anything about it. So Jeremiah was at one of those points here in Jeremiah 20. Verse 8, the New King James says, O Lord, here he's talking to God, You've enticed me, and I was enticed. You've overpowered me. You've prevailed. I've become a laughingstock all day long. Everybody mocks me.

You see, whenever I cry out, there's going to be violence. Whenever I cry out, there's destruction.

It doesn't happen immediately, so everybody makes fun of me. Everybody's putting me down. They're ridiculing me. They're scorning me because I'm preaching the truth. So why bother? You ever felt that way? I don't see the instant difference in living God's way. I don't see this great impact in my life. It doesn't seem like I'm changing at all. It doesn't seem like I'm growing at all. It doesn't seem like I'm more Christ-like than before. You ever feel that way? Jeremiah did.

Jeremiah felt that way. Now, it's interesting. He says, whatever I speak, I must cry out. I must shout violence and destruction. He's telling them what's going to happen to them. He says, For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach in a derision all day long. They're making fun of me all day long because nothing seems to be happening, God. I'm telling them what you told me, but they're making fun of me now because it's not happening. That would make you feel like you want to give up. You'd certainly not feel like I'm going to be zealous for God's way. I'm not going to be passionate about this because it just doesn't seem to make any difference.

But notice what Jeremiah says in verse 9.

If I say, I will not mention Him, talking about God, or speak any more in His name, all right, forget it. I'm not doing it. But what happens in Jeremiah? He says, Then within me there's something like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I'm weary with holding it in. I cannot. So in other words, he's saying, boy, when this happens, when I try to ignore it, when I try not to be zealous, when I try to give up on God's way, when I don't want to speak it anymore, when I don't want to give the bad news to Israel any longer, there's this deep burning, this passion that is inside of me. I try my best to hold it in, but I can't. It's impossible. I just cannot ignore you, God. I just can't ignore your way. I can't turn my back on your love. I cannot look the other. I just have to, because there's such a burning desire within me that it has to come out. It has to come out. And so he recognized that. Even when he wanted to give up, he just couldn't.

Because he was a zealous servant, even though this was bad news for the God, he had to give it. He had to say it. And so, as we see down to verse 12, he says, O Lord of hosts, you test the righteous. You see the heart and mind. Let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. You see that boldness, that determination, that relentlessness was something he couldn't escape because his cause was in God's hands. I've committed my life.

I've committed my thinking. I've committed my words and my speaking into your hands.

And so being a zealous servant, you've got to have that kind of determination. Because what do we have within us? You might say, well, I'm not zealous like that.

Well, as God's people, do we have something inside of us that can't help but come out?

I think so. I think we do. We've been given God's Holy Spirit. We are the temple of God. We are housing the Spirit of God. Jesus Christ is living in us. And so do we have this desire that has to come out? Hopefully we do. Hopefully we can't help and contain it. It's just got to be released. And so we've got to have that kind of determination that even if we tried to hold it in, we can't. We can't. It's got to come out. Because as Jeremiah says here, he's preaching captivity.

He was preaching it when it was going to come. He preached it when it came. He preached it all over the place. And he kept doing it over and over and over again. He was tenacious about hanging on to God's way, determined to honor God, and fulfill the job God gave him as one of his prophets. He wasn't going to turn his back on it. Can we turn our back on our calling?

I don't think so. It's got to come out. It's got to come out. There are so many wonderful examples of this throughout the Bible. One that just came to mind was Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. You could look this one up sometime when you have some time. I think it's around Acts 14, 15, somewhere in there. So Paul and Barnabas are preaching, and the people hate him.

Hate Paul for his word. So what do they do? They stone him. They drag him outside of the city and leave him for dead. Maybe he is dead. Might very well have killed him. Might have stoned him. Drag him outside of the city. Guess what happens? It says he stands up. He stands up.

Well, what does he do? He continues to preach the Word of God. Literally, stands up is a word that's closely connected to being resurrected. That physically he came back to life and he had the same burning desire within him that just could not be shut up. Even death didn't persuade him to give up. So he gets up, goes on to Derby and starts preaching the gospel there. So it's just an amazing story that that's the kind of determination, the kind of zealousness that we all have been given. We've been given it. Now let's let it out. Let's not contain it. Let's have that kind of persistence that God wants us to have. You talk about persistence. There's another interesting story back in Jeremiah. If you're still there, go over to chapter 35.

Chapter 35 in Jeremiah, we come to the story of the family of Jonadab.

Jonadab is an interesting story because God's making an example out of them as Jeremiah uses them to tell the story of zealousness. Now this this Jonadab, his family, they're descendants of Moses' father-in-law, his descendants. And so they appear on the scene. Jeremiah 35 verse 12, it says, The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. Go and tell the men of Judah in the inhabitants of Jerusalem. You will not receive instruction to obey my words, says the Lord. Uh-oh, here comes that same message again. You haven't been obeying. You're in trouble for not obeying. That's what God's saying. At the beginning of verse 14, then, it says, The words of Jonadab, the son of Rekab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed. What's the point? You just said the people aren't obeying God's words, not obeying His commandments. So what in the world does Jonadab have to do with that?

Well, God's making a point here. He says, Jonadab, the son of Rekab, when Rekab commanded his sons not to drink wine, what did they do? God says, For to this day they drink none, and obey their father's commandment. So what's so great about that? You know, what grandpa told us not to have a drink so they didn't? Well, once he's off the scene, we're going to drink all we want.

No, that wasn't the point. This wasn't like 10 years of, you know, following grandpa's orders.

It wasn't 20 or 30 or 100 or 200. This had been in the family for 300 years. For 300 years, this family didn't drink, and they followed that commandment from Rekab.

That's pretty amazing. You think that would start to tell the story?

Now, if the Rekabites could go without drinking for 300 years obeying their father, how is it that you can't obey my commands, is what God says? How can you not obey what I tell you?

Verse 15, he says, or just before, at the end of verse 14, he says, Although I've spoken to you rising early and speaking, you didn't obey me. I've also sent to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Turn now everyone from his evil way. Amend your doings. Don't go after other gods to serve them. Then you'll dwell in the land which I've given you and your fathers.

But you haven't inclined your ear or obeyed me.

Surely the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rekab, have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them. But these people, they have not obeyed me.

So the point is, if we can be steadfast, if we can be persistent in physical things, if this family can follow their family tradition for all that time, how much more should we obey God? How much more should we be zealous and steadfast for his way?

You see, we're exhorted to do just that, aren't we? He tells us we need to. He tells us to be relentless in serving him, persistent in our actions, not just our feelings, not just our beliefs, but in our actions to persistently pursue God's way. That's the kind of servants we're supposed to be. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us just that. You might not think it should show up in this particular chapter. Normally we think of it as the resurrection chapter. And we think of all that's entailed in the physical things as opposed to the spiritual things. And we see in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, notice the end of the chapter, chapter 15, all the way down in the very last verse, the very last verse, verse 58 in 1 Corinthians 15. After getting done describing the difference between the physical and the spiritual and talking about the fact that the physical cannot inherit eternal life, he gets down to the lesson of the day. Because these things are true, because God has called us, because we understand the truth, because of these things it should be evidenced in our behavior, in that persistence and that determination to follow God's way. So he says in verse 58 of 1 Corinthians 15, he says, therefore, because of the plan of God, because of what's going to happen, he says, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, be immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Interesting little qualifier he puts there at the end. For only in it for ourselves, we're only in it for our own desires, our own wants. Mmm, that's not going to work out so good. Your labor would be in vain, because then we're back in that fleshly category, we're back in that physical perspective. He's saying, come out of that physical perspective. Have a spiritual perspective here. And when you do, when you are steadfast and immovable in the ways of God in doing His will, he says that labor is not in vain. In other words, you can count on what I just said a couple of verses ago, that you will be in the resurrection. You will have eternal life. You will be in the kingdom of God. And so we've got to have that dedicated, steadfast persistence to be immovable when it comes to putting God's way into practice in our lives. So will we be relentless? Will we be tenacious? Will we be long suffering and steadfast in our pursuit of exhibiting God's Word in our life?

There's an interesting example of this. You may know the story of Cortes. Cortes was a big-time Spanish explorer back in the early 1500s. And he was after the gold. He was going for the gold as he was going through South America. They were trying to establish a settlement in Mexico.

Of course, it was already inhabited. And for a number of different expeditions, the Spanish were unable to establish a settlement there. They always ended up getting back on the ships and heading back to Spain, because they just could not. They were unable to do it. Now Cortes, I suppose you could call him zealous. He was a zealous man. He was determined to succeed. So 1519 came along, sailing off the coast of Mexico. He was determined not to turn back. He was determined for that gold. He was determined for that settlement. But could you imagine arriving on shore with 110 sailors, maybe 500 or so soldiers? And your job is to conquer five million people?

I think there might be a little hesitation there. I guess I'd be, even if I did have guns and they didn't, I still think they'd be able to overwhelm you if you weren't too careful with it. Yet he was going to accomplish the task. How could you make certain, even though he was zealous, even though he wanted to accomplish this mission, how could you be sure the rest of the gang is going to be with me? Well, once they got all the sailors and the soldiers on shore, you know what Cortes did. He burned the ships. He burned them. There's no going back, right? You might think about going back to Spain. Now you can't. You cannot. Now with that in mind, how do you think that impacted the soldiers? How do you think that impacted the sailors? Retreat? No option. That is not an option. The only way is to go forward. We have to go forward. We have to win the battle. That's all there was to it. So Cortes was wholeheartedly devoted to win, to find that goal, to establish the Spanish dominance. There was no turning back. Now, what about us? You put that story into a spiritual realm. Do we try to turn back? Or do we have that goal at heart? Have we burned the ships?

So there is no going back. I can't even consider any other way than to move forward with the mind of Christ. You see, that's where Cortes was. That's where we need to be, to have that unrelenting persistence that the goal will be achieved. That's the kind of servants that God wants us to be. Now, in order to do that, for Cortes, there was no turning back. For us, can we compromise?

You see, we've got to be uncompromising. We have to be unbending when it comes to God's way and living it in our life. You see, that's what God has in mind for us. He wants us to be uncompromising. He wants us to burn the ships so that we can accomplish that zealousness and that passion for God's way. He wants us to have that. That's the kind of perspective that Jesus Christ himself had. And we can't have it. We can have it. Because it means Cortes's goal had to be forefront.

That had to be what he was going to accomplish. In order to do that, you've got to have that right goal. And God's given that to us. Do we know what's right? Do we have the right goal?

Absolutely. Christ says we have the truth. The truth ultimately makes us free. John 8, 32 tells us that. A couple of verses later, John 17, 17, Christ says, sanctify them by your truth.

Your Word is truth. So we have truth on our side. Can we be sure of it?

Well, yeah, it goes back to where our confidence is. Our confidence is in God. We look to Him.

He'll never leave us. He'll never forsake us. We can have the constant surety that these things are certain. Luke reminds us about that. We can be certain of the things we've been instructed in. It's right at the very beginning of Luke, Luke 1.4, where we have it recorded why these things were written down. Why were these things written? Why did Luke, the physician, write all these things down? That you may know the certainty of those things that you were instructed in. We know, we know, we know it. And so we can understand it. We can accomplish it. And we can stand up and uncompromisingly stand for the truth. We don't have to waver. We don't have to be thrown off course. In fact, we can't. God expects us not to waver, even in the face of opposition. So we can't waver. We can't waver in our thinking, because that's where it starts.

When we begin to think the wrong thoughts, what do we do?

Well, hopefully there's this burning desire within us to overcome those wrong thoughts, so we don't allow it to turn into sin. And when we're faced with challenges, some of that's in our health. When we're faced with a health challenge, can we still stand up and know that God is with us? Can we be bold? Can we be relentless? Can we be steadfast and persistent in our belief that God is always with us? I think we can. And when we feel—you see, we're human beings. We feel things. We're emotional beings. When that emotion carries us the wrong way, can we stand and be uncompromising in the truth and realize those feelings are wrong?

That's not right. I'm not going to allow my mind to take me that way so that I can have that uncompromising attitude, that unbending force of will that I'm not going to go that way. I'm not going to waver in the face of whatever the opposition is—my thinking, my feelings, my health, my attitude—whatever. I'm not going to waver. An amazing story back in the Old Testament is found in Numbers 25, verse 11. Numbers 25, verse 11 describes the story of Phineas. Phineas was the grandson of Aaron. He was one of the priests. And as usual, Israel would go back and forth. They did waver in the face of opposition. They wavered when it came to doing what was right. They wavered when it came to fulfilling the goal that God had established for them. What happened? Well, the men of Israel began to take Midianite women. The problem, not only that they weren't Israelites, but the fact was their pagan ways of worship was going to infect their worship of God. They were going to be taken the wrong way. They were going to compromise, worshiping the true God. So this was unacceptable in God's sight. And it took someone to stand up for the truth and be uncompromising, even though there were so many that were opposing what was right.

What did he do? Phineas took a spear and killed some of those that were opposing God's way, even flaunting this whole pagan worship, this whole Midianite women thing. And you can read the whole story for yourself. I want to zero in on the end of the story, what God had to say about Phineas. Verse 11, Numbers 25, it says, Phineas, the son of Elazer, or Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest, had turned my wrath away from the children of Israel. God's wrath was turned. Why?

While he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore, say, behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. Now, physically speaking, this was pretty grotesque.

This was not the kind of thing we do physically today, but spiritually, are we consumed?

Are we eaten up for the house of God? Does that consume us? That we are so zealous for God's way, we can't help but have it come out in our behavior. That's the way Phineas was. He couldn't help but stand for the truth of God's way. He was zealous, some translations say, he was zealous for the honor of God. He was putting God first in all these things, and ultimately, it saves the people.

And sometimes we find ourselves in this kind of a situation, not with Midianite women or something like that, but we find ourselves surrounded by sin, surrounded by wrong examples, surrounded by God's people doing the wrong thing. We turn our back and we look the other way. We don't address issues like that. We don't stand for what's right. We get taken in, and we end up being a part of it ourselves. God says that's unacceptable. We have to stand for the truth. Even one person standing for the truth can make an unbelievable difference.

That's the kind of people God wants us to be. He wants to be that zealous Christian standing for his way, no matter the circumstances. So maybe that's something we should think about.

How often do we find ourselves beginning to compromise the truth of God?

You see, if we remember that biblical basis of where zeal comes from, then I believe we can stand for the truth. We can do what's right, because that biblical basis comes not from us. It comes from God. It comes from God. And so we can have that kind of impact in God's way of thinking. Colossians 3, verse 23, reminds us of the kind of zeal that we're to have, the kind of passion for God's way. Can we be passionate for God's way? Can we have the enthusiasm to live His way? You see, it's not dependent on our age. It's not dependent on our health. It's not dependent on our feelings. It's dependent on God. Colossians 3, verse 23, it reminds us of the zeal that moves us to action, moves us to doing. Colossians 3, 23, it says, whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto man. Boy, there's the perspective. What I do, I'm doing it to God. I'm honoring God. I'm serving His people because ultimately I'm serving God. And so I am steadfast. I am immovable. In fact, I am abounding then, it says in the work, because that passion for God's way is at my heart and core. I can't get away from it because if I have God's Holy Spirit, that zeal has been implanted in me. Now I've got to let it out. I've got to let the evidence of that Spirit of God come out and be evident in everything that I say and I do. At the very end of the book, Revelation chapter 3, in chapter 2 and chapter 3, we have the letters to the churches. And in chapter 3, verse 19, it gives us the perspective that we all need to have as we face the challenges of life, as we face the difficulties, as we face the trials, or as we face tribulation.

The letters to the churches continue to speak about those who overcome, those who face the challenges, and with an impassioned zeal for God's way overcome, there is an amazing reward of eternal life that waits. And so all the way down in chapter 3 and in verse 19, as we read about those, he says, verse 19, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

Because that's our calling. When we see we've swerved from God's way, when we've stepped off the path of righteousness because of the zealousness that God's given us, because of the passion that we have for God's way, because of that devotion and dedication, and because of the fact that God's given us His Spirit, it can't help but overflow into Godly actions. In fact, if you go back to the base meaning of that word for zealousness, it's the Greek word zaio. Zaio. That means to boil over, to boil over. And if any of us have ever cooked anything on the stove, when it boils over, it does something. It makes a huge mess, usually. But see, as God's people, we're to boil over in this zealousness for accomplishing God's will in our life. So if you remember back to John 2 17, and Jesus was eaten up for God's house. That's the lesson for us today. Where's God's house?

We are His temple. Is the zealousness for God's temple in us boiling over so that whatever my hand finds to do, I am going to do it with my might. Because Jesus set that bold example.

He was determined. He was relentless. He was tenacious. He was uncompromising for God's house.

We need to have that kind of zealousness for His temple, for our lives. We have Christ in us. Let's have that same perspective. Then we can't help but be a zealous servant.