767. GAL 4:18. CHRISTIAN ZEAL

Gal_4:18. Christian Zeal

"But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing."’97Gal_4:18.

We here see the relapsed state of the Christians in Galatia. They had received the gospel joyfully. So attached were they to the apostle, that they would have given themselves to have served him. But judaizing teachers diverted them from the simplicity of the gospel truth. The design of this epistle was to restore them to their former purity of belief and practice. The apostle shows that the old economy had passed away; that they could not be the disciples of both. Either they must be the groaning bondmen of the old, or the free children of the new dispensation. He applies his subject pointedly, and yet affectionately, Gal_4:10, &c. Our immediate subject is Christian zeal. Let us consider its nature, its object, its excellency, and its importance.

I. The nature of Christian zeal.

Zeal is an enlivened and impassioned ardor of mind, the opposite of coldness and apathy. It is the intense employment of means to acquire some real or imaginary object. It is from a word which signifies to boil. Hence it is obviously a warm and burning temperature of mind. I need not say it is an affection of the mind which may be applied either to good or bad. Our subject is Christian zeal; which,

1. Is a spiritual principle, and therefore divine in its origin.

A man may be zealous in sin; as Manasseh, as Saul. A man may be a zealous bigot or sectarian; but no man can be spiritually zealous, until he is a spiritual man. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," &c. "They that live after the flesh," &c., they cannot please God. A man may be zealous for forms. He may be a zealous Catholic, Protestant, Churchman, Dissenter; but not a zealous Christian.

2. Christian zeal is an intellectual principle, and therefore the result of knowledge.

We are to know why and wherefore we are zealous. The Jews had a zeal, Rom_10:2. So had Saul, but it was a blind one. Christian zeal not only warms, but it illumines. It is based on eternal truth. Like the sun, bright, clear, and glorious. To be able to give a reason, &c.

3. Christian zeal is a modest and humble principle.

False zeal is ostentatious. It desires to be seen and distinguished. Come, see my zeal, &c. A pharisaical zeal seeks to gain human applause. Peter had too much of this before his fall. "Though all men forsake thee," &c. Afterwards he learned by experience. "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me," &c. How changed, how different; yet how sincere! "Lord, thou knowest all things," &c.

4. Christian zeal is a constant, enduring principle.

Not like the Galatians; "Ye did run well." Not a flaming meteor, or startling comet; but like the rising orb of day shining more and more. Not the feverish heat of a diseased body, but regular constitutional warmth; the sign of health and life, and which only expires at death. "O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee," &c.

5. Christian zeal is an active, vigorous principle.

Not merely a zeal of words, of professions, of desires, of resolvings, of wishes, &c. It loosens the tongue, opens the hand, swiftens the feet. It prays, as well as believes; it labors, as well as hopes. It is embodied. Not a metaphysical something. Not like the wind; you see, hear, and feel it. And without this practical body it is a mere spectre, and can be of no use in our material world.

6. Christian zeal is an affectionate principle, and is always connected with fervent love.

No anathemas; no shibboleths. It is not suspicious, but open; not narrow, but broad, and liberal, and generous. It dwells not on the dark and terrific mount of Sinai, but or. the light, serene, and peaceful mount of Zion It is not the furious demon from beneath, but the bright and celestial angel from above. It has the eagle’s eye and wing, but it has the gentleness of a dove. It has the power of the ox, the energy of the lion; but the nature of the lamb, and the face of man. Brethren, this is an important distinction. Christian zeal is the zeal of love. Indignant at sin, but loves the sinner; hates heresy, but prays for the heretic. See it in Moses. He is grieved for the rebellion of the Israelites, yet he prays, &c. See it in Paul while warning the Galatians, &c. Especially in Christ. He pronounced all the woes against the Pharisees, &c., and then burst into tears, &c. While dying on the cross, his zeal was yet undamped, yet on behalf of his murderers, prayed, "Father, forgive them," &c.

II. The object of Christian zeal.

"In a good thing," &c. Now there is a twofold sphere for the exercise of Christian zeal.

1. In securing the greatest possible amount of good to ourselves.

Zealous in seeking extensive knowledge. Zealously laboring after more of the spirit of Christ. Dying daily to the world; rising into the divine life; advancing in all the graces of the Spirit; abounding in every good word and work. Now this must be first. Our own soul’s welfare first, &c.

2. In communicating all the good in our power to those around us.

What an enlarged sphere! The world itself is our field. But especially there are those immediately surrounding you. The perishing, starving, afflicted, dying poor. The ignorant, the vile, those going down to the pit. The church of Christ, with her blessed institutions, schools, tracts, sending the word abroad. Now Christ’s honor and glory are identified with all these, &c.

III. The excellency of Christian zeal.

"It is good, always to be zealously affected."

1. It is good to the soul which is under its influence.

The same as exercise to the body. No health or strength without it. It produces energy, buoyancy, safety, and happiness. Without it coldness, gloom, and paralyzation.

2. It is good for the church.

Can you estimate the amount of good conferred upon the church by Moses; by Caleb, Josiah, the spies, &c.; by Nehemiah, by Ezra, by Zerubbabel, by the apostles, by the fathers and martyrs, by the reformers of our own country? Had it not been for these, the volume of British Martyrology never would have been written. It was this that caused the Erskines of Scotland, Wesley and Whitefield and others in England, to be such distinguished blessings to the cause of the Redeemer.

3. It is good to the world at large.

The zeal of the Christian church in our own country has already spread its happy influence to most parts of the habitable globe. I appeal to those moral wastes in our own nation which have been fertilized. I appeal to the thousands in the islands of the west, who have been doubly emancipated by the zeal of their Christian brethren, from the fetters of the tyrant and the curse of sin. Behold our missionary stations scattered over the wide surface of the globe.

4. It is good, as it associates us with the highest intelligences of the heavenly world.

The happy angels are distinguished for knowledge, power, holiness, and goodness. But especially, too, are they distinguished for zeal. So zealous, that they are called "flames of fire." So zealous, that they burn night and day before the throne of the Eternal, waiting to execute the divine commands. Allow me to ascend yet higher. To remind you of one who has obtained a more eminent name than they; "who is exalted a prince and a Saviour," &c. How intensely he felt this holy affection. It induced him to sign the bond of the new covenant; it induced him to enter upon its fulfilment with eagerness and delight; it induced him to make it his meat and drink. How intensely and constantly it burned within him. "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up." "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished."

IV. The importance of Christian zeal.

This must in a great measure appear from what has already been advanced. We rather wish to say something of its present importance in certain matters, and under certain circumstances.

1. It is preeminently important when the object contemplated is great and glorious.

Christian zeal contemplates the eternal salvation of deathless spirits’97to save blood-bought and precious souls from everlasting burnings.

2. It is preeminently important when difficulties are numerous.

What can be done with startling and formidable opposition without zeal? Combination of earth and hell, wicked men and fallen spirits, the opposition of black ignorance, hardness, infatuation, satanic power, &c.

3. It is preeminently important when the time of action is limited.

This affected Christ himself; "I must work," &c. Time is hastening. We are exposed to the arrows of death’97the opening of the grave. Our fathers, where are they? or the prophets, where are they? Another generation is already treading upon our heels. How solemnly precious and important the thought.

4. When the responsibilities are momentous.

It is not a secondary concern. Not optional. It is imperative that we be zealously affected in every good work. Our destiny awaits us according to the spirit and practice we have pursued on earth.

Application

1. Let Christians cherish this holy principle.

2. Let unpardoned sinners zealously seek the salvation of their souls.

3. Let the church be zealous for the instruction of the rising age.

Autor: JABEZ BURNS