"Zeal for Thy house will consume me" (John 2:17). Beware of those churchmen Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) called wouldlings - weak inclinations and lacking conviction. Man's nature is toward inactivity/passivity unless he is influenced by an exceedingly strong affection. Lack of zeal makes a man a mere shadow of who he could be (Judges 6). One's unexercised zeal for Christ is "choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity" (Lk. 8:14). Holy zeal boasts many enemies yet few friends because Christian zeal is a spiritual heat gifted by the Holy Spirit. All Christians are saved, but zealous Christians bring the Lord the highest delight because zealous Christians are of the disposition that whatever their hand finds to do, they do it with all their might (Ecc. 9:10). They are as Samson and David going out to meet lions rather than avoiding worldly challenges. Caleb and Nehemiah are your examples in fearing no man regardless of his size or position. In sacred zeal, men speak as no others will speak because they are advancing toward Stephen's stoning and Jesus' cross. Their concern is not of doing too much, but of falling far short. Though their fervor for the Lord is so precise and fiery that they themselves become the hymns, prayers and sermons others sing, pray and preach, their brand of Christianity should not be considered extraordinary. They give evidence to an active grace far advanced over man's fallen nature. Zeal for eternal matters marks the dwelling place of everlasting grace. Christians enthusiastically express holy affections through their present actions. Saints enthusiastically pursuing Christ refuse to warehouse their courage or delay their address to the world's eclipse. Churchmen without zeal are but mere churchmen. Heavenly fire perfects the sacrifices of Christians. Holy fire consumes the believer's offering, for if it does not, then the offering is unacceptable to God. Therefore, true Christians are wrapped in the swaddling cloths of holy zeal. Saintly zeal is the wardrobe of the saint serving as his identifier. Zeal preserves Christians from becoming Laodicean. Worldly propriety and one's clamor for acceptability can chill celestial zealousness. Those claiming Christ and yet possessing no zeal soon discover that the unzealous grow cold and lawlessness invades their lives. Lack of enthusiasm and excitement for Christ encumbers Christianity thereby resulting in the loss of a pure Christian witness. Lovers of Christ burn for Christ (Jer. 20:9). Sanctification and evangelism nourishes zeal. If you have experienced the new birth, you enjoy God allowing you to host an eternal eye searching for eternal life and the reward of everlasting joy. God is not only calling you to die daily for Him, but to live to Him. Zealous saints never run out of breath and never cease hurling gospel grenades because they boil with gospel truths. Perhaps the insights of your Puritan brethren will assist you in capturing God perspective for the zeal He expects in your life: * It is weakness to be hot in a cold matter, but worse to be cold in a hot matter - John Trapp * He hath got but a little of Christ that fears to get too much - Thomas Taylor God's saints burn with an extraordinary zeal to protect the reputation of their Lord and advance His gospel by straining every nerve within them. They are sacrificers who trouble a complacent Church (I Ki. 18; Rev. 3:19). Zealous troublers are tsunamis of sacred energy expecting to stand alone as they enter the conflict for righteousness. When the Holy Spirit comes upon a man, he acts as he never has before and He is transformed into another person: "Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man" (I Sam. 10:6). SOLI DEO GLORIA!