Zeal For the Things of God

Transcript

GR 339
12/2/1979
Zeal for the Things of God
John 2:12-25
Gil Rugh

The gospel of John in your Bibles and the 2nd chapter. In our last study together we looked through the first half of this chapter which focuses on the first miracle of the public ministry of Jesus Christ—the turning of water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee. And there was an opportunity for Jesus to display His glory primarily to His disciples. We noted that in response to His mother's request, He indicated that it would not be at this time that He unveils the fullness of His glory to the people generally, but that He did exceed to her request and turn the water to wine. But those basically who knew what happened were the servants and the disciples. The slaves who had been involved in the physical activity of filling the water pots with water and then bearing that to the head of the feast, they would have known where that wine came from; and the disciples had their faith confirmed. In verse 11 we were told "This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him." And what seems to be indicated here is that the disciples faith was further confirmed, was established and settled. Because they had heard Him teach, and now they have had opportunity to see Him display His power.
Remember John wrote in verse 14 of chapter 1, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father full of grace and truth." And here that display of glory in the performing of this miracle, primarily so that the disciples could have their faith confirmed and established in Him.

Then we have a note in verse 12 that at this point Jesus went over to Capernaum with his family, city on the Sea of Galilee. And it becomes the residence of Christ during most of His public ministry. With verse 13, we pick up on an event that happens at the first Passover in the public ministry of Christ. At least 3 Passovers occur during the earthly ministry of Christ. Perhaps 4, we'll note this as we move through John. Three identified by name, but there is another feast eluded to that may be a Passover feast. They are significant for several reasons: one, to help us get the chronology of the earthly ministry of Christ. We talk about Christ having a public ministry of approximately 3 years. We know this because of the Passovers. They help us date the time. We will observe these as we go along. This is not the 1st Passover that Jesus has ever attended. He would have been part of this occasion year by year. We saw Him when He was 12 years of age in the temple during the feast. But here it is the first Passover that He attends as the Messiah of Israel. And that becomes important to understand what He is going to do. As Jesus embarks on this ministry as Messiah, offering Himself as King of Israel, He is confronting a nation that is spiritually decadent. There has been a decay over the years in the nation Israel, and their worship and spiritual life has become decadent. And that will become clear as we move through this section. Often is the case, long after the life and true significance has departed, the ritual and external form continues. And this is what has happened to the Nation Israel at this point. The ritual goes on, the form goes on but there is no life. There is no true significance left in their worship.

Let's pick up with verse 13. "And the Passover of the Jews as at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." Now if you get a map, Capernaum was up by the Sea of Galilee. Jerusalem is down to the south. But in the Bible, you always talk about going up to Jerusalem, not only because it was elevated somewhat on the hill there but also because of its prominence to the nation. No one ever goes down to Jerusalem in the Bible. It's always up to Jerusalem.

And that's where the Jews who could, if at all possible, were obligated to come to celebrate the Passover. "And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers seated." Now what happened is that those who would come from all parts of the world would come to celebrate the Passover. And they were to offer sacrifice on this occasion. But if you were travelling a great distance, it was not possible for you to bring an animal with you for sacrifice. So they would come, and at the temple they would purchase an animal for sacrifice. Also, the animals had to be approved by the priests, had to pass his inspection and be approved for sacrifice. So what they did in the temple, the court of the Gentiles within the walls of the temple but not in the inner temple—the outer court called the Court of the Gentiles because the Gentiles were allowed into this area. But they were not allowed to proceed further into the temple. They set up the Bazaars of Annas as it was called, Annas being the high priest. And here they sold animals for sacrifice. Also, the money changers are here as you note at the end of verse 14. And what happens is that people come from all over the empire and were going to make an offering of their money, some of the money would not be acceptable. It would be considered defiled. They had to turn it in for acceptable Jewish coinage. Now this sounds like a fine convenience, but it had become a money-making proposition. The animals sold here were sold at extravagant prices. You need an approved animal and here's an approved animal. Shortly after New Testament times, after the time John would have written, there was some reform done by a Jewish leader. To give you an idea of how exorbitant the prices were, he took the price of a dove that they were charging what we would call $3.75 for the dove, and brought it down to 8c, to bring it more in line with what the cost ought to be. That's quite a mark up from 8q to $3.75. So you get some idea of the corruption fiat was going on. This fed the coffers of the high priest and the priestly class. They were getting rich on the people, and it is to this scene that Jesus comes. The confusion would be like going to a market with all the turmoil going on there. Anything but worship. Haggling over the exchange of money, haggling over the animal. This taking advantage of people who came and really wanted to worship. Now Jesus comes into this scene—and keep in mind He has come into this scene before, but He has never come into this scene as Messiah of Israel. So in verse 15, He made a scourge of cords. Perhaps picking up the ropes that would have been laying around from the animals after they were sold, and ties them together to make a scourge and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money-changers, and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, ’Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.'" Strong display of the power of Jesus Christ. As He moves through this in an awesome scene and with a scourge drives everyone and everything out before Him, turning the tables over. So money flying all over. Animals being driven out. You can imagine the confusion. What you have here is a display of something of the power of His character. One man going through this large area and just driving them out. Cleaning the area out with the statement, "Stop making My Father's house a house of merchandise." And this is what has happened. It is no longer a house of prayer. It is no longer a place of worship. It is merchandise mart. It's a place to buy and sell. It's a place where people were supposed to lead people in their spiritual life and worship to make money and grow rich. And you have a picture here very clearly of the decadence of the nation. That at the very heart of their worship at the temple, at the very heart of their worship system at the Passover, what are they doing? They've turned it into a merchandise opportunity.
You have pictured clearly, then, that the forms are going on. Animals are being sacrificed. There is still money being given. They are still coming to the temple. Still observing the Passover, but there's no life left in the nation. The forms go on, but the life has ceased to exist. And that's always the case. That's the problem with form, with ritual. There's nothing wrong with ritual in itself or with form. They are commanded throughout the Old Testament. What is wrong is that when those rituals and those forms continue apart from the life and vitality that gave them their significance. This is a continual problem in Israel. This isn’t something new.

One example. Go back to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 1. The prophets have to speak to this problem on a number of occasions. We’ll look at just one example. As Isaiah gives his prophecy, note verse 9. "Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a few survivors, we would be like Sodom, we would be like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah." Sodom and Gomorrah have been nonexistent for centuries. But what he is doing is addressing the nation Israel as Sodom and Gomorrah, saying you people are just as decadent as Sodom. You’re just as decadent as Gomorrah. And what he is going to address is their worship system. Note. "What are your multiplied sacrifices to me," says the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of My courts?" God doesn’t view it in a beautiful act of worship. He views it as defiling His presence. Defiling His temple. Who required this of you? Well, you required us to bring our animal sacrifices; you told us to come to the temple.

Verse 13, "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, their incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, they have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you, yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of bloodshed. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clear; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Case to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice...." Down to verse 18, "Come now, and let us reason together," says the Lord, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool." God demands of them a right relationship with Him. Then the form and ritual should flow out of that right relationship. But Israel is going on with the form, ritual, but there is no true relationship with God. There is no cleansing. There is the lack of forgiveness. They have not personally believed in Him and placed their faith in Him, and are thus worshiping Him as His people. God says He can’t stand it. It is an abomination, it is a sacrilege. Now it's important that we have God's perspective on religious activity, on so-called worship. I read this about the Jews and say it's terrible, but then I come back to John chapter 2. I find 800 years after Isaiah that things have not changed. There is still the externals going on without any life. You know what? I come down to today, 2,000 years after John writes, and find things still have not changed. How many people will be in churches, so-called worshipping. They'll go through the ritual, they'll sit at the right time, they'll stand at the right time, they'll sing the right songs, listen to a message. They'll go on their way having gone through the form. They have no vital, living relationship with the God they claim to worship. They have never come to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and His death for them. That's what the New Testament commands of us who worship Him. We must worship Him in spirit and in truth, and yet the form goes on. People are sure God are pleased with them because they went to church today. God says it's an abomination. How many times have you heard a Christian say 'At least they go to church.' God says of all things, they go to church—what an abomination! For those who are just going through the form and the ritual, it is better that they would never go. The desirable thing, of course, is that we worship Him according to the instruction of the Word which first of all demands a personal relationship with Him based upon faith in what He has done. His Son, Jesus Christ, has died for my sins and I must believe that He died for me personally. Until that happens, there is no possibility of worship at all. Yet we continue through the motions.

I visited with a preacher in this city and he'll have hundreds of people listening to him. Yet that man does not believe in the need for salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. He does not believe even that the Bible is the Word of God. He's told me so. He does not believe men are sinners needing cleansing by faith in Christ. He's told me so. Yet they'll all go through the form there. They'll all go through the ritual. It's an abomination to God, a mockery to Him. You and I need to be sure as believers that we have God's perspective on worship. And incidentally, worship doesn't deteriorate just like that. Know what happens? Those who are believers begin to go through the motion without any significance to it. We come, we sit, we sing the songs, we listen to the message and we go out unaffected and unmoved. You haven't really worshipped. And that coolness—pretty soon there's a change, that the forms go on without any meaning. And over a period of time you raise a generation who is going through the form but they have never believed. We need to be careful that we have God's perspective on worship. We're not all worshipping God in our own way. Those who are worshipping God through personal faith in Jesus Christ are worshipping God. Those who are not worshipping Him on the basis of personal faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ are trampling the courts of God and making a mockery of Him. And it's an abomination.

So back in John chapter 2. Jesus comes to this scene where this mockery is being made. And He moves through the temple with this statement as He drives them out, at the end of verse 16, "Stop making My Father's house a house of merchandise." There are two times where Jesus performs this same basic activity. He'll do it again at the end of His ministry just before the crucifixion. This is recorded in the other gospels. Here we have it at the beginning of His public ministry. The other gospels record it at the end. And you note how personal it is. "Stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise." Not ’our’ Father's house because most of them did not have a personal relationship with God. "My Father's house" because this is a claim to His deity, a claim to be the Messiah. The disciples recognized it and even the Jews recognized the claim although they do not accept it. Note the next two verses. "His disciples remembered that it was written, ’Zeal for Your house has consumed me.'" Psalm 69:9. A Messianic Psalm that writes about the Messiah and His coming. "Zeal for your house has consumed me." You note the next statement: "The Jews therefore said, 'What sign do You show to us, seeing that You do these things?'" They recognized the Messianic claim being made, but they are unwilling to accept it. They want to know what signs He has to give evidence, validity to what He is doing. We noted this is a quote from Psalm 69:9. Go back to Malachi chapter 3.

You note here this prophecy concerning the coming Messiah, verse 1. "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple." Now the messenger to prepare the way is John the Baptist. We've seen that in John chapter 1. He came to prepare the way. "Then the Lord whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, he is coming," says the Lord of hosts. "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years." You'll note. The Messiah would come and He would come to His temple, and He would perform a cleansing. He would perform a purification. Now the Jews recognize this. They asked Him, "What sign do you show us seeing you do these things?" In effect, you're claiming to be the Messiah coming to His temple. The ultimate accomplishment of this will be at the second coming when the purification will be complete and final. Here the Jews restore the abuse when Jesus is gone, but there will be a coming ultimate purification. But the Jews recognized the claim. He's claiming to be the Messiah. 'Clean My Father's house up; I’ve come to My temple.’ They would be unwilling to accept it.

Now it's interesting back in John chapter 2 that the disciples remembered what had been written in the Psalms about Jesus Christ the coning Messiah. "Zeal for Your house will consume Me." It was prophesied concerning the coming Messiah that Zeal would consume Him. This word 'zeal' comes from the basic word ze-o and it means to boil, to seethe. Then it comes to mean to be zealous or enthusiastic about something. We're told that the Messiah would be zealous, to a point of being consumed for the things of God. That word 'consumed' is used other times in the New Testament, but always of a literal consumption like consuming food, devouring food. What is pictured here is He is zealous for the things of God. That's what consumes His entire life. His entire life is taken up with an enthusiasm for the things of God. I think that's significant, that here you see the Messiah coming to the nation Israel and what is going on is a decadent worship system. And He is so consumed by His passion for the things of His Father that He cannot tolerate it, so He moves to rectify the situation. We need to have a proper perspective on the Christ that we serve. We sometimes pride ourselves in our passionless Christianity today. We have no more zeal or enthusiasm for the things of God than a wet sponge. And we pride ourselves in it. Oh yes, things aren't like they are but the Lord will take care of it. We are unmoved and unaffected, but here I find my Lord, the one that I'm to pattern my life after consumed by a zeal, fervor, enthusiasm for the things of God and I’m to be like Him. It's amazing how quiet and controlled and mellow we can be as believers about the things of God. I wonder if you would ask some people around you, ask some in your families, you fathers, if I were to ask your kids what really excites your dad? What really is the passion that consumes him? Oh boy, Sunday afternoon football really consumes him. Or, the Nebraska games. I never saw my dad so excited. I wonder how many of our kids would say 'Oh, nothing excites my dad like the things concerning Jesus Christ. Nothing is as important to my dad as the Word of God and serving God.' Is that the thing that really consumes my life? It doesn't say this was a major part of the life of Christ. It doesn't say He gave this a significant part in His life. It said it consumed Him, it devoured Him. This WAS His life. Zeal for the things of God. That should be true of us you know. That's why Jesus Christ came.

Look over in the book of Titus, chapter 2. Talking about the grace of God, the manifestation of the grace of God is the coming of Jesus Christ. In verse 11 of Titus 2, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us..." You note, the grace of God should teach you something. "...to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." Now note verse 14, "...who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." He has redeemed, purified us so that we might be a people who are zealous for serving Him. We would have a zeal for good deeds, and good deeds are the works of God. A people who have an excitement, a passion, a fire burning for serving God. That's part of what He redeemed us for. He redeemed me, purified me, so that I might be on fire, boiling for Him. This characterized the Apostle Paul on a number of occasions.

But note a couple of references back in II Corinthians, first in chapter 7 of II Corinthians. Paul has written to the Corinthians. They needed to rectify a situation. In fact they needed to mete out discipline in their midst, and the Corinthians were brought to sorrow over their activity to the point of making a change. So you can tell if a person has a godly sorrow, has it caused any change in their life? A lot of people are sorry, a lot of people cry but they don't change their conduct to bring it into conformity to godliness. They haven't had a godly sorrow. That's what he talks about in verse 9 and 10. Verse 10, "The sorrow that is according to the will of God, produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation..." Note verse 11, "For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you, what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal..." There's our word. "...what avenging of wrong!" You note they had rectified the situation. They had been zealous, enthusiastic to make the correction. In effect, to deal with the person who had been doing something wrong? Talk about church discipline today. It's hard to build a fire under some Christians. Paul says that the Corinthians were zealous to do the right thing, to correct the situation when he told them they needed to.

Over to chapter 9. Interesting in the area of your giving. You know you can create zeal, motivate people by your own faithfulness. Verse 2, "for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them." The Corinthians were so excited, so enthusiastic, so zealous about giving that it was catching even up in the Northern part of Greece where the Macedonians were. Maybe that's what part of the problem is in our giving. More of us need to be more enthusiastic about it, excited about it and that enthusiasm will spread.

One passage. Look over in the book of Romans chapter 12. I noted this basic word 'zeal' comes from the word that means to boil. And you have the basic word in Romans chapter 12, verse 10. "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." And that word ’fervent' is that basic word 'ze-o', to boil, to seethe. And you are to be boiling in your service for the Lord, which naturally results in a zeal. Zealousness. You know some Christians are satisfied 'Oh well, nobody else will do it, I guess I could take the job.' Really boiling! They're not even tepid, not even warm. Well, somebody's got to do it. You know what God is looking for? He's looking for people who are boiling in their service for Him. We often hear 'Oh there's no fire in these Christians.' Ever think it's because there's no fire in you? It amazes me how calm and cool and collect and reserve we can be about those things which are of utmost importance, those things which are to consume us. I don't see any fire in the Christians around me.
Did you ever think there may be no fire in you? You know, heat spreads and if you're a puddle, there won't be much fire around you. Because water sort of dampens it. Oh, there's no fire in these Christians. That ought to say something about you. You haven't been spreading much heat, and I need to wonder is there any heat in me? Am I generating any warmth?

I was interested in reading in one of the accounts in one of the difficulties going on overseas and where those in an embassy assembled in one room and the heat began to get to that room and the floor got hotter and hotter until the carpet caught fire in some places. I sometimes wonder how long some Christians are going to be able to contain it. You'd think that pretty soon they'd catch fire some place. That it would just break through. If there is any zeal. You know what part of the problem is? We're not feeding the right thing. thing. We’re not putting th fuel, the kindling in the right area. If I'm not feeding myself the Word of God, if I’m not actively about serving Him, I won’t be burning. You know, I feed myself with the television all week and I wonder why I’m not hot for the Lord. I’m all wrapped up in sports because I can tell you something about every team. I know nothing about the Word of God and I wonder why I’m all excited about the football game and not very excited about serving the Lord. Maybe I need to change. Maybe I need to start stoking the fire in the right place. Maybe I need to start putting some kindling on. Maybe if some of us men would start spending as much time during the week in the Word as we spend in front of the tube, we’d be excited for the Lord. You know, you’ve got to put the kindling in the right place. I’ve been pouring water on for the last six months and I wonder why there’s no fire. I need to feed it. I need to feed the right thing, so I can be fervent and boiling in my service for the Lord.

That spreads. Have you ever been around an enthusiastic and exciting person? You know what it does to you? It gets you excited. Yeh, that’s the great thing about being around new Christians. They're all excited about the gospel. Hey, you know that is exciting. Maybe I'll tell somebody. Oh yes, everybody's lost. Everybody needs to know, to believe in Christ. What time's the game on today? Ah yes, I need to read the Word, but I need to relax first. Let's see what we can do for the evening.

I was interested when Warren Wiersbe was here, I asked him how he does all his reading. He said he didn't do other things like watch television. Thought he'd have a better solution. That way I could get it all in and still spend 3 hours in front of the tube tonight. Now you'll think I'm down on television. I am because I think that we as believers probably waste a good amount of our time there. We men, we need men who are on fire for the Lord. Now we need women who are too, but I'm concerned about the dead-head men! I mean you could burn a box of matches under some men and still not get any heat! We need to put some kindling in the right place, men. Me! You! We ought to be boiling for the Lord! Most of us get run over by our wives. We can't stand the heat she's giving off. Maybe I need to stir up, stoke up the fire a little bit, so I can be patterning my life after the Messiah I claim to love and serve. I should be one who is boiling in my service for the Lord. I'm serving Him and I'm boiling in that service. I'm on fire, I'm enthusiastic, I'm zealous. It's my greatest privilege to serve Him. That's what consumes my life, my study life. All I do revolves around Him and what He has done for me.

Back to John chapter 2. You ask yourself what consumes you. What's the greatest thing in your life, the dominating thing in your life? What's the thing that you are most enthusiastic about? You can jot down 2 passages.
First Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20 talks about our body being the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you'd better be enthusiastic about keeping that pure and holy before God. That's His temple today, and in that context Paul is talking about keeping the impurity away. We need to be zealous for that which is God's even as Christ was.

And I Corinthians chapter 3, he says the church, the local body, is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And the man who destroys that body, God Himself will destroy. We need to be zealous about the purity and service of the local body.

Alright, back to John chapter 2. What do the unbelievers do? 'Show us a sign. We can't believe.' You know always another miracle would help. They don't believe. Remember the Jews seek for a sign, I Cor. 1:22? Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12, verses 38 and 39 'It is an evil and adulterous generation that looks for a sign.' Luke 16, if you don't believe Moses and the prophets, if you don't believe the Scriptures, you won't believe even though one is raised from the dead. And that's where Jesus carries us to here.

Verse 19, Jesus said "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." They said 'It took forty-six years to build this temple.' They started about 26 years before Christ, we're about 28-27 years afterwards - 46 years to build this temple and it's going to go on for another 15 years.
And then in 7 more years the Romans will level it. But Jesus was talking about the temple of His body in verse 21. "But He was speaking of the temple of His body." Here you are at the beginning of His public ministry. He is in total control of His destiny. He knows where He's going. This body is going to be destroyed. You're going to crucify it. In three days it will be raised back to life. Didn't cause the Jews to believe, did it? That greatest of signs, that culminating sign. Romans 4 says it is the great demonstration that Jesus is the Son of God. We've had that great sign and yet some of you sitting here this morning have never believed in Jesus Christ. You don't need a sign! You won't believe anyway! You don't believe What God says, that you're a sinner and that Christ died for you. And you're not impressed that He rose from the dead. You don't need a sign any more than these Jews did because you've made up your mind you're not going to believe regardless.

So they asked for a sign, but that won't convince them. Jesus said later on in John 'You search the Scripture for in them you think you have eternal life. It is the Scriptures that testify of me. You are unwilling to come to Me that you might have life.'

From this point on, verses 23-25, form a transition to the third chapter. "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing." He was doing many miracles on this occasion, and many were coming to believe. //But Jesus on His part was not entrusting1—that's the word believe as well—in them even though they were believing in Him. "...for He know all men, and because He did not need any one to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man."

Two things here. Many of these would be nonbelievers. They were being drawn to Him by the mighty miracles, but they hadn’t really come to rely upon Him as Messiah and Savior. And many of those who had come to believe in Him were not yet ready to pay the cost that was entailed in identification with Him. One passage, John chapter 12, verse 42,"Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God." Denotes some of the condition.
Peter is the same way. You get to the last night, the betrayal, and what does Peter do? He's not ready to openly stand and pay the price. Rather, he denies Him.

Now Jesus knew what was in man. He knew that those who were claiming to believe in Him were not yet ready to stand openly with Him and suffer what that would entail. We look at them and say that's terrible. Some of us are the same way. We're not more open in our testimony for Jesus Christ, we're not more open in our proclamation of the gospel because we are afraid of what people will say. I don't want to be tagged with some radical fanatic. I love the approval of men, I want them to speak well of me. You say 'Oh, it's a good testimony.' They think I'm wonderful. They've never heard me say that I belong to Jesus Christ, that I believe salvation is only in Him. We are that way. We love the approval of men rather than the approval of God. And I take it that's describing to a large extent those at the end of chapter 2. They are unwilling at this point to stand and identify with Him. We will come to confront Nicodemus, a man who sneaks in at night to confront Christ, and does become a believer but is unwilling to openly identify with Him as the gospel of John will make clear.

So what is driven home here? The emptiness of the religious system of the nation Israel. And you know you could be in this system. You could come to Indian Hills week after week and all it is a form. All it is part of the ritual. You never worship God because you've never been forgiven your sins. You need to believe in Him. He died for you, and the moment you believe that He died for you, then you are forgiven, brought into a relationship with Him, and worshipping Him becomes a reality for you.

Those of us who have—are we characterized by boiling for Jesus Christ?
Those who are enthusiastic and zealous, what consumes me is my service for Him.
Not because I'm a preacher but because I'm a child of God. And my life revolves around being what He wants me to be so that He can be exalted and glorified in my life in every way. Let me tell you, we have a group of Christians this size on fire for Jesus Christ in this city, the city won't be able to contain the work that God can accomplish through us. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for the greatness of our salvation. Father, that we of all people have something to be enthusiastic about, zealous about. Lord, we pray that we might be a people boiling within in our enthusiasm and desire to serve you. Lord, keep us from drifting into empty forms and ritual. We pray for any who are here this morning, who have not entered in to the reality of Jesus Christ that they might come to believe in Him as their Savior, for we pray in His name.