True Zeal

Titus ii. 14

Zealous of good works. — TiTUS iL 14.

THIS is one of Paul’s latest letters, the work ot an old man. It is characterised, in contrast with his earlier epistles, by the remarkable stress which, like its sister letters to Timothy, it lays upon conduct. That difference between it and the earlier writings of the apostle has often been alleged as a reason for doubting its genuineness. But is there anything more natural than that, as he drew near the end of his life, and after he had laid the foundation, broad and deep and level, of the principles of the Christian revelation, Paul should thereon rear that, for the sake of which the foundation was laid, viz., these exhortations to good works? Surely doctrine exists for the sake of practice, and surely Christ Himself, as this very verse tells us, in the miracle of His humiliation, and in the transcendent self-forgetfulness of His sacrifice on His cross, had no higher end than, as the context says, to purify to Himself a people for His possession, “zealons of good works.”

If these letters are characterised by especial emphasis being laid on Christian conduct, they are no less characterised by the closer union which they ever contemplate between the conduct which is consequence, and the faith in Jesus Christ which is its cause.

I. Notice, first, how there is laid down here the best Direction for Christian Zeal to Take.

Now it is very unfortunate that the ordinary, superficial vocabulary of Christian people has laid hold of that phrase “good works,” and narrowed it down to mean one specific department of these. The expression is apt to suggest to us a vision of soup kitchens, dispensaries, charitable institutions, missionhalls, etc., etc. We forget that the apostle means something a great deal more comprehensive than works of beneficence, however great and important these may be, that he means, in fact, the whole activity of a spirit knit to Jesus Christ, and manifesting itself therefore necessarily in all things that are lovely and of good report, and moulded after the pattern of the perfect life of Him from whom it draws its life.

Do not let us forget either that when we say “good works,” we only partially represent the depth of the apostle’s meaning here, for he employs, as many of you know, that profound and lovely Greek phraseology by which, instead of describing the acts as ‘’ good “— an adjective which only defines their moral quality — he qualifies them as “beautiful,” an adjective which implies the appeal which they make to every man’s sense of harmony, of loveliness, of symmetry, of proportionateness.

All “good” works are beautiful. Alas! that the earthliness and sensuality of men have degraded and besmirched art so that we cannot say that all beautiful work is good. Let us take this lesson: that nothing comes up to the Christian standard, however conformed it may be morally to the great law of rectitude, unless it is conformed also to the no less imperative law of beauty; and that we are just as much bound to seek to make our lives fair, as we are bound to make them pure. Be zealous of good works, and see that you give the word its widest intrepretation, and not fancy that it is confined to crusades of any kind. And see, too, that you give it the interpretation which includes whatsoever things are lovely and whatsoever things are of good report. There we fail, and there especially do many recognised types of Christian character most signally break down.

But let me ask you to notice how, in the words of my text, there is provided for us the true aim, the highest of all aims, to which zeal should be directed.

I do not need to spend your time in defining zeal. We all know what it is, perhaps we know best, as the old philosopher said about God, what it is when we do not try to define it. But just let me point ont that it is all very well for us to be earnest and eager apostles and missionaries of great causes of different kinds, more or less immediately connected with Christian truth, by which we may seek to influence other people’s opinions and practice, but that there is a better field for our zeal, and that is, the continuous effort to make ourselves what God would have us to be, and what Christ has set us the example of being.

To make ourselves Christ-like is our first duty. People often find it very difficult to reconcile the conflicting claims of self-improvement, and public calls of various kinds, or religious activity. But let us distinctly understand that, however needful it is for us all — and it is needful if we are to be true Christians — to take a vigorous part in the great struggle that God’s will has in the world to get itself recognised and done, the first thing that we have all to be zealous about is to see that we ourselves recognise and do it.

Depend upon it, the most of us will do far more for the world by mending ourselves than by trying to mend other people. I do not wish to say a word to check the flow of earnest beneficence either in a Christian or in a more distinctly secular direction, but

I do plead for the increase of earnest regard to our own sj)! ritual character and conduct proportionate to the increase of mere external activities.

There were in our Lord’s time a set of men who claimed for their own, or had given to them by public opinion, the name that the apostle here employs, “Zealots.” In the expiring days of the Jewish commonwealth, when foreign influences poured in like a flood and threatened to wash away temple and customs, these men declared passionately against innovation, and were zealous for the law, as Paul tells us that He was, and their zeal led them into many crimes. They had zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. There was one of them who became a Christian, and an apostle, and his name stands on the list of the twelve, Simon Zelotes. He had brought his fiery zeal to Jesus to purify and direct it, and had found the true field for it in the service of his Master. In all zeal which devotes itself mainly to influencing the opinions and practices of other people, there is perilously apt to mingle baser elements. That gold has always a good deal of alloy in it. The old narrative of Jehu, the savage butcher that became King of Israel, and murdered people by the hundred, and then complacently said, “Come and see my zeal for the Lord,” does not want its parallels to-day in the fierce intolerance and personal motives which are so apt to blend with such enthusiasm.

I do not wish to withdraw any zeal from other regions, but I do urge that the deepest current should run strong and full in the direction of my text, and that if we are to be, as we ought to be, zealots, we shall be “zealots for good works.”

II. Now, notice again how my text brings out the Temper of Enthusiasm, which is the only one by which any lofty morality will ever be achieved.

A man that does good works because he cannot help it, or because he is driven by the constraint of a conscience that he does not care to obey, we might almost say, does not do good works at all. At any rate there is a woeful deduction to be made from all such “goodness.” I know that we have often to coerce ourselves into paths of righteousness, and out of paths of evil. But that is second best. The first and the highest form of Christian living is that with eagerness we desire, and with joy we set ourselves to achieve, and with earnestness we follow after, all things that are fair and noble. Reluctant obedience is scarcely distinguishable from disobedience. And if we think of all that goes to make up the notion of zeal, the fiery eagerness, the enthusiastic delight, the joy in every opportunity of doing the thing; and then think of our tempers when we set ourselves to what we know is God’s will concerning us, then I think we may all hide our faces, and say, “Unclean! unclean!” A joyful

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heart makes little service great. A heart that has pleasure in the doing of the deed makes the heaviest service light. We are to be zealous, and unless we have this animating enthusiasm, and find delight in the performance of God’s vill, we shall fall far, far short not only of the obligations, but of the possibilities, of the Christian life. “Then, said I, lo I I come, I delight to do Thy will; Thy law is within my heart.” We are to be ‘’ Zealots for good works,” and not driven to do them by a sense of duty, by dread of retribution, nor lured by the prospect of reward, but doing them just because we love them, and love to have the op[>ortnnity of so serving.

III. Now, one more word before I close. My text, in its connection, leads us to see very clearly, further. The one Secret of this Zeal.

“” He gave Himself for ns, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His possession.” It is only when hearts are thus purified, when they have given themselves away in response to, and recognition of Christ’s gift of Himself to us, that such a temper of zeal will be realised. His gift of Himself breaks the dominion of self in us, in the measure in which we receive it; and takes away the hindrances which keep us from being passionately enthusiastic after goodness. His gift of Himself melts the iron, and makes it run a glowing stream, into any mould which the founder may lay at the opening of the furnace. His gift of Himself is the secret of our being “zealous of good works.” Here is the great central station from which the electric light and heat are communicated to the city. Switch on to it, complete your connections, and keep yourselves where the power will come thrilling, warming, enlightening. It is when we clasp the hand of Him of whom His disciples remembered that it was said, “The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up “; that we, in our turn, being purified unto Him, and made His possession by our own surrender, will become ‘zealous of all good works.”