GODLY ZEAL—Part-II—Joshua 22:1-9
Passion/Excitement/Enthusiasm
"Mom and Dad, guess what?" called the high school senior as he rushed into the house.
"I got a part in the senior class play! I get to play a man who’s celebrating his twenty-fifth wedding anniversary!"
"That’s fantastic, son!" “I’m so proud of you!” exclaimed his father.
"And you know, if you apply yourself, when you get to college & have a little more experience, you’ll get some speaking parts, too." ....
Both the father & son were enthusiastic/zeal about the son’s accomplishments but for different reasons.
God’s people should be zealous for their Lord.
Godly/Religious zeal was tested/exhibited by the tribes of Israel on both sides of the Jordan.
Godly/Religious zeal is a major factor in the effectiveness/unity of God’s witness/people.
From where does godly/religious zeal arise?
6 sources of godly/religious zeal.
Godly zeal arises from...
1. MET OBLIGATIONS
2. RELEASED OBLIGATIONS
3. EXTENDED OBLIGATIONS
4—Godly zeal arises from
OWNED OBLIGATIONS(:7)
—Explanation:(:7)Separated/Personal
“Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,”
“Sent them away”—Separation/Estrangement from toer tribes
Responsible for maintaining God’s will in own land.
Go on own
“He blessed them”—Permanence
Obligation to your: Church/Community/Town/City, County, State
Spiritual obligations incorporated into our areas of strongest influence.
Each tribe responsible to contribute accordingly, both loving & living for God.
—Argumentation:
Not responsibility of others but ourselves.
—Illustration:
Wall/Held up by outside supports until boxed in & roof in place/Self-supported/Owned Obligations
Cotton along road/Hauler’s responsibility/Contact company to clean up roadside OR take it upon yourself to clean it up
—Application:
?You Owned Obligations to God?
Church—?Just hearing a sermon—Pat yourself on back thinking ‘I’ve done my duty’.
Family—Spouse, Children—Personal responsibility
Job—Christian work ethic
Resources—Income—?What outcome does your income bring?
Influences—
?You Zealous for God’s will?
5—Godly zeal arises from
MANAGED OBLIGATIONS(:8)
Explanation:(:8)Stewards/Indulge/Yield to/
“& said to them, “Return to your tents with great riches & with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, & with very many clothes; divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.””
Blessings:—Abundance
“Great riches”—Wealth
“Very much livestock”—Food—meat, milk; Wool; Leather—shoes,belts
“Silver/Gold”—Valuable
“Bronze/Iron”—
“Very many Clothes”—Poor people may have owned only on set of clothing.
Isa. 55:1-5—“Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy & eat. Come, buy wine & milk Without money & without cost. “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, & eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. “Incline your ear & come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David. “Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader & commander for the peoples. “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
Deut. 28:47-48—“Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy & a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD shall send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, & in the lack of all things; & He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.”
“Divide the spoil”—Military returning with spoil of land
—Share as needed—Common good of God’s people Particularly those in closest association.
*Active/continual Outreach—Missions—Keeps us from indulging the flesh.
In our little corner of the world we must manage/indulge our God-given obligations as efficiently & in as godly a manner as possible.
—Argumentation:
Ezek 16:14-22—READ—
Build bigger barns
Rom. 1:21-23—“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, & their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, & exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man & of birds & four-footed animals & crawling creatures.”
1Sam. 30: King David left 200 men too exhausted with the baggage—400 men pursued & slaughtered Amalekites who had raided Judah/400 wanted to keep spoil for themselves & from the others/David condemned the action
—Illustration:
Peanut Butter Capt’n Crunch cereal/Too much in bowl/Dig some out & put back in box/Managed Obligations
—Application:
?You Managed your Obligations to God?
?You Zealous for God’s will?
6—Godly zeal arises from
SOURCED OBLIGATIONS(:9)
—Explanation:(:9)Centered in God
“And the sons of Reuben & the sons of Gad & the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home & departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they had possessed, according to the command of the LORD through Moses.”
“Shiloh”—‘Place of rest’—Location of Tabernacle—Where God speaks
“The land of their possession”—
“Command of the LORD”—
We can claim God as our source when actually gratifying our own flesh.
Positive Affection for that by which we are most positively Effected.
?Does God effect you positively?—?You obligated?
—Argumentation:
Mat. 8:18-22—“Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side. And a certain scribe came & said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes, & the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”—Source of Obligations=Personal comfort
“And another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go & bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me; & allow the dead to bury their own dead.””—Source of Obligations= Family
—Illustration:
Stacey’s song/Obligation to appreciate ‘A Handful of Weeds’ or Obligation to show contempt at not having received ‘A Bouquet of Roses’?/Sourced Obligations
Plants need fertilizer/Apply weed killer instead/Sourced Obligation wrongly
—Application:
?To what are your Obligations to God Sourced? ...Relationship with Jesus?
?You Zealous for God’s will?
—CONCLUSION
All these concepts can be applied to any ‘religious fervor
whether Muslim, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Buddhist, Hindu...or Christian!
What’s the difference?—Jesus!
Action:
Godly zeal/enthusiasm/excitement arises from...
OWNED OBLIGATIONS
MANAGED OBLIGATIONS
SOURCED OBLIGATIONS
MET OBLIGATIONS
RELEASING OBLIGATIONS
EXTENDED OBLIGATIONS
Presented 05/20/01pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 31797
