“ARE YOU ZEALOUS?” Titus 2:14
FBCF – 1/24/21
Jon Daniels
INTRO – Bottom Line Personal magazine each month. Short articles on a variety of subjects. For instance, this month had articles on investments, changing your mental attitude, how to care for your elderly pets, &, of course, the dangers of earwax! Heading at top of front page: “Inside information from the world’s best experts.”
I would submit to you today that the Apostle Paul is the world’s best expert on the Gospel & the Church. His teachings in the NT form the bedrock for our belief system as Christ-followers & for the formation, operation, & continuation of a NT Church like we are. Much of what we hold to as our bottom-line doctrines come from Paul. Just think about some of the bottom lines in his writings:
- Romans – foundational teaching on our salvation through Christ alone
- 1 & 2 Cor – spiritual gifts & ministry of the Holy Spirit
- Galatians – faith in Christ & freedom in Christ
- Ephesians – spiritual warfare & armor of God
- Philippians – the joy of the Lord
- Colossians – the Lordship of Jesus Christ & His sufficiency to meet our every need
- 1 & 2 Thessalonians – Lots about the 2nd Coming of Christ
- 1 & 2 Timothy – Preach & live the Gospel
- Philemon – reconciliation & forgiveness among Christians brothers & sisters
And here again in Titus today – the bottom line of the GRACE of God in our lives.
EXPLANATION – Titus 2:14
Continue “Time for a Checkup” series.
- “Are You Saved?”
- “Are You Living Right?”
- “Are You Waiting Expectantly?”
- “Are You Zealous?”
Want to get to that word that is at the end of v. 14. So, let’s dissect this verse on our way to the word “zealous.”
Remember that the basis of all of these things that we’ve looked at over last 4 weeks is the GRACE of God – the undeserved favor, goodness, & kindness of God. It is God giving to us that which we do not deserve. Love what Rick Warren says: “God specializes in giving people a fresh start.” We don’t deserve the fresh start – God gives it to us out of His unconditional love for us.
THE REDEMPTION – “who gave Himself for us to redeem us” – This is the climactic moment of God’s grace shown to us – when Jesus Christ gave Himself FOR us to redeem us & rescue us from sin & death & hell. The word for “for” means that He died in our behalf, in our place, as our substitute. He took our sins upon Himself for us & paid the penalty for them for us.
- Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates…”
THE REASONS – We were “lawless” & needed to be “purified” – We were full of lawlessness before Christ saved us – full of evil, premeditating & planning our sin & wickedness. We could not & cannot save ourselves. We could not & cannot purify ourselves from our sin. Only Jesus could & can do that.
- 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess…HE is faithful…”
- Isaiah 1:18 – “You are stained red w/ sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow. Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.” (GNT)
THE RESULT – We are now His possession & are “zealous for good works” – When Jesus saved us; when He redeemed & rescued us from our lawlessness; when He washed us & cleansed us from all our sins, we become HIS. We now belong completely to Him – His special possession.
- periousios – Only place in NT where this word appears. Means that we are a “peculiar people” (KJV) – “a chosen & very special people” (AMP); that we now belong to HIM alone. We don’t even belong to ourselves any longer.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “…you are not your own; you were bought w/ a price…”
And when we begin to comprehend how amazing & astounding it is that Jesus Christ has redeemed us even though we are so lawless & impure, our response is to live a life that is zealous for Him! That leads to the question that is the title for the sermon today: “Are You Zealous?”
APPLICATION – Our relationship with Jesus makes us zealous for serving Him.
To be zealous means that you are ardently active, devoted, or diligent. It means that you are passionate, devoted, fervent, eager, & enthusiastic. It means that you are on fire. Make sure you are zealous for the right things.
Unfortunately, we see lots of people whose zeal is misguided & misplaced.
- Politics/Political personalities/Conspiracies
- Sports/Sports teams – Have to be careful about “smack talk” w/ some folks.
- Hobbies/Recreational activities
- Jobs/Careers/Money
We need to be laser-focused on things that are worthy of our zeal. What are some of those things?
ZEALOUS FOR THE WORD – Look at how Paul shows his zeal for the Word & encourages Titus to be zealous for the Word.
- Titus 1:3 – Paul was zealous for the preaching of the Word that God had entrusted to Him.
- Titus 1:9 – Pastors must be zealous for the Word.
- Titus 2:1 – Titus had to be zealous to teach the Word through solid, “sound doctrine.”
Psalm 119 is a powerful Psalm that is focused completely on the Word of God.
- Psalm 119:10-11 – “I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands. I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.” (CSB)
As a musician loves music, a scientist loves research, an athlete loves competition, so the child of God must love the Word of God. We must be obsessed w/ it! We will read it, study it, consume it, &, most of all, put it into practice in our lives.
ZEALOUS FOR WORSHIP – Everyone, saved & unsaved, is a worshiper. There is something or someone who occupies the throne of our heart & demands our mind’s attention & heart’s affection. For the Christian, the occupant of our heart’s throne is Jesus Christ. We must be zealous – on fire in worship of our Lord!
There is private worship – times of personal worship when we spend time w/ the Lord each day in His Word & in prayer, fellowshipping w/ Him.
There is corporate worship, like we are in right now – times set aside for the people of God to come together to encourage one another as we exalt the name of Jesus through prayer, music, giving, & proclamation of the Word.
- And it has nothing to do w/ preferences in the style of music that is done. Your preferred style of music is no better or more spiritual than someone who chooses another style of music.
o Some would shout “Amen!” if I stated that old hymns were the best way to worship Jesus.
o …Southern Gospel is the best…
o …contemporary praise songs…
o …majestic choral music…
o …spirituals sung in the black church…
- Can we stop w/ all of that & come together & agree that exalting the name of Jesus in corporate worship can take many different forms that are valid & appropriate & glorify God?
- Can we agree to not look down our noses at someone who chooses to worship Jesus differently than we do?
The bottom line is that every Christ-follower should be zealous for worshiping Jesus – PERIOD! HE ALONE IS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP! And when the Bible says in multiple places that we are to make a joyful noise to the Lord, it lets us know that there is a multitude of appropriate, Christ-honoring ways that we can express our worship to the Lord!
ZEALOUS FOR WITNESSING – Larry King died yesterday. Talk show host who interviewed thousands of people, including many evangelical Christians. Heard the Gospel many times – Billy Graham (1998), Anne Graham Lotz (2000). But as recently as 2019, he stated that he was an “agnostic atheist” after he divorced his 7th wife.
There are so many who are like Larry King – heard the Good News of the Gospel but continue to reject Jesus. Sometimes that’s discouraging. Broke my heart when I heard that Larry King had died b/c I was afraid that he’d never given his life to Christ.
But we can’t let those rejections dampen our zeal for witnessing. We’ve got to keep going, keep telling, keep working until Jesus returns.
- Can’t be ashamed – “I am not ashamed of the Gospel…” – Romans 1:16
- Can’t be afraid – “Do not fear for I am w/ you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God…” Isaiah 41:10
- We are not alone – Matt. 28:20
ZEALOUS FOR WORKING FOR “GOOD” THINGS – 3:8, 14 – Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension, & imminent return spurs us on to be zealous for good works. We are simply going to want to serve Him when we truly realize all He’s done for us
- Staying in the Word will spur us on
- Worshiping Jesus will spur us on
God saves us to do good works.
- Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…”
So, as long as we are alive, our lives should be characterized by an outward focus that moves us to keep doing good works in any way we can do them & for anyone who needs them.
CONCLUSION – "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." (John Wesley)
