tenderly, as a nurse or a mother over erring children. It will expose
false teachers, as Jesus did the Scribes and Pharisees, and yet weep
tenderly, as Jesus did over Jerusalem when He came near to it for the
last time. True zeal will be decided, as a surgeon dealing with a
diseased limb; but true zeal will be gentle, as one that is dressing the
wounds of a brother. True zeal will speak truth boldly, like Athanasius,
against the world, and not care who is offended; but true zeal will
endeavour, in all its speaking, to "speak the truth in love."
(5) Furthermore, if zeal be true, _it will be joined to a deep
humility_. A truly zealous man will be the last to discover the
greatness of his own attainments. All that he is and does will come so
immensely short of his own desires, that he will be filled with a sense
of his own unprofitableness, and amazed to think that God should work by
him at all. Like Moses, when he came down from the Mount, he will not
know that his face shines. Like the righteous, in the twenty-fifth
chapter of St. Matthew, he will not be aware of his own good works. Dr.
Buchanan is one whose praise is in all the churches. He was one of the
first to take up the cause of the perishing heathen. He literally spent
himself, body and mind, in labouring to arouse sleeping Christians to
see the importance of missions. Yet he says in one of his letters, "I do
not know that I ever had what Christians call zeal." Whitefield was one
of the most zealous preachers of the Gospel the world has ever seen.
Fervent in spirit, instant in season and out of season, he was a burning
and shining light, and turned thousands to God. Yet he says after
preaching for thirty years, "Lord help me to begin to begin." M'Cheyne
was one of the greatest blessings that God ever gave to the Church of
Scotland. He was a minister insatiably desirous of the salvation of
souls. Few men ever did so much good as he did, though he died at the
age of twenty-nine. Yet he says in one of his letters, "None but God
knows what an abyss of corruption is in my heart. It is perfectly
wonderful that ever God could bless such a ministry." We may be very
sure where there is self-conceit there is little true zeal.
I ask the readers of this paper particularly to remember the description
of true zeal which I have just given. Zeal according to knowledge,--zeal
from true motives,--zeal warranted by Scriptural examples,--zeal
tempered with charity,--zeal accompanied by deep humility,--this is true
genuine zeal,--this is the kind of zeal which God approves. Of such zeal
you and I never need fear having too much.
I ask you to remember the description, because of the times in which you
live. Beware of supposing that sincerity alone can ever make up true
zeal,--that earnestness, however ignorant, makes a man a really zealous
Christian in the sight of God. There is a generation in these days which
makes an idol of what it is pleased to call "_earnestness_" in religion.
These men will allow no fault to be found with an "_earnest man_."
Whatever his theological opinions may be,--if he be but an earnest man,
that is enough for these people, and we are to ask no more. They tell
you we have nothing to do with minute points of doctrine, and with
questions of "words and names," about which Christians are not agreed.
Is the man an earnest man? If he is, we ought to be satisfied.
"Earnestness" in their eyes covers over a multitude of sins. I warn you
solemnly to beware of this specious doctrine. In the name of the Gospel,
and in the name of the Bible, I enter my protest against the theory that
mere earnestness can make a man a truly zealous and pious man in the
sight of God.
These idolaters of earnestness would make out that God has given us no
standard of truth and error, or that the true standard, the Bible, is so
obscure, that no man can find out what truth is by simply going to it.
They pour contempt upon the Word, the written Word, and therefore they
must be wrong.
These idolaters of earnestness would make us condemn every witness for
the truth, and every opponent of false teaching, from the time of the
Lord Jesus down to this day. The Scribes and Pharisees were "in
earnest," and yet our Lord opposed them. And shall we dare even to hint
a suspicion that they ought to have been let alone?--Queen Mary, and
Bonner, and Gardiner were "in earnest" in restoring Popery, and trying
to put down Protestantism, and yet Ridley and Latimer opposed them to
the death. And shall we dare to say that as both parties were "in
earnest," both were in the right?--Devil-worshippers and idolaters at
this day are in earnest, and yet our missionaries labour to expose their
errors. And shall we dare to say that "earnestness" would take them to
heaven, and that missionaries to heathen and Roman Catholics had better
stay at home?--Are we really going to admit that the Bible does not show
us what is truth? Are we really going to put a mere vague thing called
"earnestness," in the place of Christ, and to maintain that no "earnest"
man can be wrong? God forbid that we should give place to such doctrine!
I shrink with horror from such theology. I warn men solemnly to beware
of being carried away by it, for it is common and most seductive in this
day. Beware of it, for it is only a new form of an old error,--that old
error which says that a man "Can't be wrong whose life is in the right."
Admire zeal. Seek after zeal. Encourage zeal. But see that your own zeal
be true. See that the zeal which you admire in others is a zeal
"according to knowledge,"--a zeal from right motives,--a zeal that can
bring chapter and verse out of the Bible for its foundation. Any zeal
but this is but a false fire. It is not lighted by the Holy Ghost.
III. I pass on now to the third thing I proposed to speak of. Let me
show _why it is good for a man to be zealous_.
It is certain that God never gave man a commandment which it was not
man's interest as well as duty to obey. He never set a grace before His
believing people which His people will not find it their highest
happiness to follow after. This is true of all the graces of the
Christian character. Perhaps it is pre-eminently true in the case of
zeal.
(_a_) Zeal is _good for a Christian's own soul_. We all know that
exercise is good for the health, and that regular employment of our
muscles and limbs promotes our bodily comfort, and increases our bodily
vigour. Now that which exercise does for our bodies, zeal will do for
our souls. It will help mightily to promote inward feelings of joy,
peace, comfort, and happiness. None have so much enjoyment of Christ as
those who are ever zealous for His glory,--jealous over their own
walk,--tender over their own consciences,--full of anxiety about the
souls of others,--and ever watching, working, labouring, striving, and
toiling to extend the knowledge of Jesus Christ upon earth. Such men
live in the full light of the sun, and therefore their hearts are always
warm. Such men water others, and therefore they are watered themselves.
Their hearts are like a garden daily refreshed by the dew of the Holy
Ghost. They honour God, and so God honours them.
I would not be mistaken in saying this. I would not appear to speak
slightingly of any believer. I know that "the Lord takes pleasure in all
His people." (Ps. cxlix. 4.) There is not one, from the least to the
greatest,--from the smallest child in the kingdom of God, to the oldest
warrior in the battle against Satan,--there is not one in whom the Lord
Jesus Christ does not take great pleasure. We are all His children,--and
however weak and feeble some of us may be, "as a father pitieth his
children, so does the Lord pity them that love and fear Him." (Ps. ciii.
13.) We are all the plants of His own planting;--and though many of us
are poor, weakly exotics, scarcely keeping life together in a foreign
soil,--yet as the gardener loves that which his hands have reared, so
does the Lord Jesus love the poor sinners that trust in Him. But while I
say this, I do also believe that the Lord takes special pleasure in
those who are _zealous_ for Him,--in those who give themselves body,
soul, and spirit, to extend His glory in this world. To them He reveals
Himself, as he does not to others. To them He shows things that other
men never see. He blesses the work of their hands. He cheers them with
spiritual consolations, which others only know by the hearing of the
ear. They are men after His own heart, for they are men more like
Himself than others. None have such joy and peace in believing,--none
have such sensible comfort in their religion,--none have so much of
"heaven upon earth" (Deut. xi. 21),--none see and feel so much of the
consolations of the Gospel as those who are zealous, earnest,
thorough-going, devoted Christians. For the sake of our own souls, if
there were no other reason, it is good to be zealous,--to be very
zealous in our religion.
(_b_) As zeal is good for ourselves individually, so it is also _good
for the professing Church of Christ generally_. Nothing so much keeps
alive true religion as a leaven of zealous Christians scattered to and
fro throughout a Church. Like salt, they prevent the whole body falling
into a state of corruption. None but men of this kind can revive
Churches when ready to die. It is impossible to over-estimate the debt
that all Christians owe to zeal. The greatest mistake the rulers of a
Church can make is to drive zealous men out of its pale. By so doing
they drain out the life-blood of the system, and hasten on
ecclesiastical decline and death.
Zeal is in truth that grace which God seems to delight to honour. Look
through the list of Christians who have been eminent for usefulness. Who
are the men that have left the deepest and most indelible marks on the
Church of their day? Who are the men that God has generally honoured to
build up the walls of His Zion, and turn the battle from the gate? Not
so much men of learning and literary talents, as men of zeal.
Bishop Latimer was not such a deeply-read scholar as Cranmer or Ridley.
He could not quote Fathers from memory, as they did. He refused to be
drawn into arguments about antiquity. He stuck to his Bible. Yet it is
not too much to say that no English reformer made such a lasting
impression on the nation as old Latimer did. And what was the reason?
His simple zeal.
Baxter, the Puritan, was not equal to some of his contemporaries in
intellectual gifts. It is no disparagement to say that he does not stand
on a level with Manton or Owen. Yet few men probably exercised so wide
an influence on the generation in which he lived. And what was the
reason? His burning zeal.
Whitefield, and Wesley, and Berridge, and Venn were inferior in mental
attainments to Bishops Butler and Watson. But they produced effects on
the people of this country which fifty Butlers and Watsons would
probably never have produced. They saved the Church of England from
ruin. And what was one secret of their power? Their zeal.
These men stood forward at turning points in the history of the Church.
They bore unmoved storms of opposition and persecution.--They were not
afraid to stand alone. They cared not though their motives were
misinterpreted.--They counted all things but loss for the truth's
sake.--They were each and all and every one eminently _men of one
thing_:--and that one thing was to advance the glory of God, and to
maintain His truth in the world. They were all fire, and so they lighted
others.--They were wide awake, and so they awakened others.--They were
all alive, and so they quickened others.--They were always working, and
so they shamed others into working too.--They came down upon men like
Moses from the mount.--They shone as if they had been in the presence
of God.--They carried to and fro with them, as they walked their course
through the world, something of the atmosphere and savour of heaven
itself.
There is a sense in which it may be said that zeal is contagious.
Nothing is more useful to the professors of Christianity than to see a
real live Christian, a thoroughly zealous man of God. They may rail at
him,--they may carp at him,--they may pick holes in his conduct,--they
may look shy upon him,--they may not understand him any more than men
understand a new comet when a new comet appears;--but insensibly a
zealous man does them good. He opens their eyes. He makes them feel
their own sleepiness. He makes their own great darkness visible. He
obliges them to see their own barrenness. He compels them to think,
whether they like it or not--"What are we doing? Are we not no better
than mere cumberers of the ground?" It may be sadly true that "one
sinner _destroyeth_ much good;" but it is also a blessed truth that one
zealous Christian can _do_ much good. Yes: one single zealous man in a
town,--one zealous man in a congregation,--one zealous man in a
society,--one zealous man in a family, may be a great, a most extensive
blessing. How many machines of usefulness such a man sets a going! How
much Christian activity he often calls into being which would otherwise
have slept! How many fountains he opens which would otherwise have been
sealed! Verily there is a deep mine of truth in those words of the
Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: "Your zeal hath provoked very many." (2
Cor. ix, 2.)
(_c_) But, as zeal is good for the Church and for individuals, so zeal
is _good for the world_. Where would the Missionary work be if it were
not for zeal? Where would our City Missions and Ragged Schools be if it
were not for zeal? Where would our District-Visiting and Pastoral Aid
Societies be if it were not for zeal? Where would be our Societies for
rooting out sin and ignorance, for finding out the dark places of the
earth, and recovering poor lost souls? Where would be all these glorious
instruments for good if it were not for Christian zeal? Zeal called
these institutions into being, and zeal keeps them at work when they
have begun. Zeal gathers a few despised men, and makes them the nucleus
of many a powerful Society. Zeal keeps up the collections of a Society
when it is formed. Zeal prevents men from becoming lazy and sleepy when
the machine is large and begins to get favour from the world. Zeal
raises up men to go forth, putting their lives in their hands, like
Moffatt and Williams in our own day. Zeal supplies their place when they
are gathered into the garner, and taken home.
What would become of the ignorant masses who crowd the lanes and alleys
of our overgrown cities, if it were not for Christian zeal? Governments
can do nothing with them: they cannot make laws that will meet the evil.
The vast majority of professing Christians have no eyes to see it: like
the priest and Levite, they pass by on the other side. But zeal has eyes
to see, and a heart to feel, and a head to devise, and a tongue to
plead, and hands to work, and feet to travel, in order to rescue poor
souls, and raise them from their low estate. Zeal does not stand poring
over difficulties, but simply says, "Here are souls perishing, and
something _shall_ be done." Zeal does not shrink back because there are
Anakims in the way: it looks over their heads, like Moses on Pisgah, and
says, "The land _shall_ be possessed." Zeal does not wait for company,
and tarry till good works are fashionable: it goes forward like a
forlorn hope, and trusts that others will follow by and bye. Ah! the
world little knows what a debt it owes to Christian zeal. How much crime
it has checked! How much sedition it has prevented! How much public
discontent it has calmed! How much obedience to law and love of order it
has produced! How many souls it has saved! Yes! and I believe we little
know what might be done if every Christian was a zealous man! How much
if ministers were more like Bickersteth, and Whitefield, and M'Cheyne!
How much if laymen were more like Howard, and Wilberforce, and Thornton,
and Nasmith, and George Moore! Oh, for the world's sake, as well as your
own, resolve, labour, strive to be a zealous Christian!
Let every one who professes to be a Christian beware of checking zeal.
Seek it. Cultivate it. Try to blow up the fire in your own heart, and
the hearts of others, but never, never check it. Beware of throwing cold
water on zealous souls, whenever you meet with them. Beware of nipping
in the bud this precious grace when first it shoots. If you are a
parent, beware of checking it in your children;--if you are a husband,
beware of checking it in your wife;--if you are a brother, beware of
checking it in your sisters,--and if you are a minister, beware of
checking it in the members of your congregation. It is a shoot of
heaven's own planting. Beware of crushing it, for Christ's sake. Zeal
may make mistakes.--Zeal may need directing.--Zeal may want guiding,
controlling, and advising. Like the elephants on ancient fields of
battle, it may sometimes do injury to its own side. But zeal does not
need damping in a wretched, cold, corrupt, miserable world like this.
Zeal, like John Knox pulling down the Scotch monasteries, may hurt the
feelings of narrow-minded and sleepy Christians. It may offend the
prejudices of those old-fashioned religionists who hate everything new,
and (like those who wanted soldiers and sailors to go on wearing
pigtails) abhor all change. But zeal in the end will be justified by its
results. Zeal, like John Knox, in the long run of life will do
infinitely more good than harm. There is little danger of there ever
being too much zeal for the glory of God. God forgive those who think
there is! You know little of human nature. You forget that sickness is
far more contagious than health, and that it is much easier to catch a
chill than impart a glow. Depend upon it, the Church seldom needs a
bridle, but often needs a spur. It seldom needs to be checked, it often
needs to be urged on.
And now, in conclusion, let me try to apply this subject to the
conscience of every person who reads this paper. It is a warning
subject, an arousing subject, an encouraging subject, according to the
state of our several hearts. I wish, by God's help, to give every reader
his portion.
(1) First of all, let me offer a warning to all _who make no decided
profession of religion_. There are thousands and tens of thousands, I
fear, in this condition. If you are one, the subject before you is full
of solemn warning. Oh, that the Lord in mercy may incline your heart to
receive it!
I ask you, then, in all affection, Where is your zeal in religion? With
the Bible before me, I may well be bold in asking. But with your life
before me, I may well tremble as to the answer. I ask again, Where is
your zeal for the glory of God? Where is your zeal for extending
Christ's Gospel through an evil world? Zeal, which was the
characteristic of the Lord Jesus; zeal, which is the characteristic of
the angels; zeal, which shines forth in all the brightest Christians:
where is your zeal, unconverted reader?--where is your zeal indeed! You
know well it is nowhere at all; you know well you see no beauty in it;
you know well it is scorned and cast out as evil by you and your
companions; you know well it has no place, no portion, no standing
ground, in the religion of your soul. It is not perhaps that you know
not what it is to be zealous in a certain way. You have zeal, but it is
all misapplied. It is all earthly: it is all about the things of time.
It is not zeal for the glory of God: it is not zeal for the salvation of
souls. Yes: many a man has zeal for the newspaper, but not for the
Bible,--zeal for the daily reading of the _Times_, but no zeal for the
daily reading of God's blessed Word. Many a man has zeal for the account
book and the business book, but no zeal about the Book of Life and the
last great account,--zeal about Australian and Californian gold, but no
zeal about the unsearchable riches of Christ. Many a man has zeal about
his earthly concerns,--his family, his pleasures, his daily pursuits;
but no zeal about God, and heaven, and eternity.
If this is the state of any one who is reading this paper, awake, I do
beseech you, to see your gross _folly_. You cannot live for ever. You
are not ready to die. You are utterly unfit for the company of saints
and angels. Awake: be zealous and repent!--Awake to see the _harm_ you
are doing! You are putting arguments in the hands of infidels by your
shameful coldness. You are pulling down as fast as ministers build. You
are helping the devil. Awake: be zealous, and repent!--Awake to see your
childish _inconsistency_! What can be more worthy of zeal than eternal
things, than the glory of God, than the salvation of souls? Surely if it
is good to labour for rewards that are temporal, it is a thousand times
better to labour for those that are eternal. Awake: be zealous and
repent! Go and read that long-neglected Bible. Take up that blessed Book
which you have, and perhaps never use. Read that New Testament through.
Do you find nothing there to make you zealous,--to make you earnest
about your soul? Go and look at the cross of Christ. Go and see how the
Son of God there shed His precious blood for you,--how He suffered and
groaned, and died for you,--how He poured out His soul as an offering
for sin, in order that you, sinful brother or sister, might not perish,
but have eternal life. Go and look at the cross of Christ, and never
rest till you feel some zeal for your own soul,--some zeal for the glory
of God,--some zeal for extension of the Gospel throughout the world.
Once more I say, awake: be zealous, and repent!
(2) Let me, in the next place, say something to arouse those _who make a
profession of being decided Christians, and are yet lukewarm in their
practice_. There are only too many, I regret to say, in this state of
soul. If you are one, there is much in this subject which ought to lead
you to searchings of heart.
Let me speak to your conscience. To you also I desire to put the
question in all brotherly affection, Where is your zeal?--Where is your
zeal for the glory of God, and for extending the gospel throughout the
world? You know well it is very low. You know well that your zeal is a
little feeble glimmering spark, that just lives, and no more;--it is
like a thing "ready to die." (Rev. iii. 2.) Surely, there is a fault
somewhere, if this is the case. This state of things ought not to be.
You, the child of God,--you, redeemed at so glorious a price,--you,
ransomed with such precious blood, you, who are an heir of glory such as
no tongue ever yet told, or eye saw;--surely you ought to be a man of
another kind. Surely your zeal ought not to be so small.
I deeply feel that this is a painful subject to touch upon. I do it with
reluctance, and with a constant remembrance of my own unprofitableness.
Nevertheless, truth ought to be spoken. The plain truth is that many
believers in the present day seem so dreadfully afraid of doing harm
that they hardly ever dare to do good. There are many who are fruitful
in objections, but barren in actions;--rich in wet blankets, but poor in
anything like Christian fire. They are like the Dutch deputies, recorded
in the history of last century, who would never allow Marlborough to
venture anything, and by their excessive caution prevented many a
victory being won. Truly, in looking round the Church of Christ, a man
might sometimes think that God's kingdom had come, and God's will was
being done upon earth, so small is the zeal that some believers show. It
is vain to deny it. I need not go far for evidence. I point to Societies
for doing good to the heathen, the colonies, and the dark places of our
own land, languishing and standing still for want of active support. I
ask, _Is this zeal?_ I point to thousands of miserable guinea
subscriptions which are never missed by the givers, and yet make up the
sum of their Christian liberality. I ask, _Is this zeal?_ I point to
false doctrine allowed to grow up in parishes and families without an
effort being made to check it, while so-called believers look on, and
content themselves with wishing it was not so. I ask, _Is this zeal?_
Would the apostles have been satisfied with such a state of things? We
know they would not.