Reclaiming our Zeal

They came here after they got married, because my mum was pregnant with my sister, and healthcare is much better over here than in Brazil, so they came over to have my sister, planning to head back to Brazil to continue the Lord’s work over there.

Now, the Lord had other plans, and they stayed and instead settled here and they worshipped in Great Victoria Street Baptist church. But given what I’ve just told you, my home was distinctly Christian.

And I was brought up as a Presbyterian in the Baptist church…and by that, I mean that I was brought up by parents who led me in the ways of the Lord, as if I had been baptised as a child.

They were honouring the covenantal vows that we, as Presbyterian parents make at baptism, to lead their children in the way of the Lord, to instruct us in the Word of God and to tell us of the awesome news that God would save me from an eternity of Hell if I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, asking him to forgive my sins and submitting to HIS Lordship over my life.

And I did this when I was 4…apparently. I have no recollection of giving my life to Jesus, but it was when I was around 4.

And in a sense, that’s the Presbyterian’s dream…or any Christian’s dream - that their children will be brought up in the faith so that their ‘conversion’ is almost not a conversion at all - it’s more a realisation… ‘Hey, I believe in Jesus. I always have. I’ve always confessed my sins to him and I’ve always lived for him.’

And while I may not have remembered giving my life to Jesus when I was 4, I affirmed that when I was older.

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The point of this is that my conversion wasn’t dramatic. It’s not like I was homeless, caught up in drugs and prostitution, neck deep in the paramilitaries and then one day I walked into a church to get out of the cold, I heard that Jesus loves me died for me and so I fell on my knees, crying out to be saved, and from that point on my life was transformed.

That wasn’t me. That’s not my story.

I mean, I know I can’t remember the day or hour when I gave my life to Jesus, but if I was 4, I think I’d know if I was a drugged up homeless four-year-old involved in the paramilitaries.

My conversion wasn’t like Saul’s. Sauls conversion was dramatic, as you saw last week. Saul went from being the church’s main antagonist - the leading persecutor of the church, to becoming the church’s main preacher and promoter of the church.

THAT’S dramatic…which is why we call conversions of people who were drugged up, thieves or murderers, a DAMASCUS ROAD conversion…because the person goes from one extreme to the other overnight.

It’s a dramatic transformation of their life.

And while that’s not my story, it is the story of a man named Billy.

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Because I was brought up in the baptist church, and for a while in my teens in a gospel hall, something that happened in the gospel hall, almost on a weekly basis, was that someone would come and give their testimony.

In other words, someone would stand up during the service and talk about how the Lord saved them.

And in order to draw in the crowds (who were the same people week in, week out) the vilest criminal turned Christian was the holy grail.

If the church could find a drugged up terrorist who had come to faith in Jesus, then that’s the jackpot baby.

And every now and then I heard from people who were steeped in the paramilitaries - members of the UDA or another organisation who were involved in murder and all sorts of messed up stuff, but who had stumbled into a church on a Sunday night, heard that Jesus loved them and would save them if they repented of their sin, and that night, tears streaming down their face, they gave their livest to Jesus....

And Billy was one of those people.

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Now, what that resulted in is something that I rarely see today...

What happened is that Billy, who was zealous for God and Ulster - willing to lose his life for the cause - became zealous for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Instead of causing trouble, he walked the streets in the centre of Belfast, stopping everyone he could and telling them that Jesus loves them and can save them from their sin if they repent and put their trust in him.

And he went around as many gospel halls as he could, speaking at missions around the country, telling people that if God can save him, he can save anyone.

And the zeal he had for the gospel was phenomenal.

And I often thought to myself…there’s a difference between that person and me.

I didn’t have this life of debauchery. I didn’t have a conversion experience like this - a Damascus Road experience where I turned from misfit to missionary.

And I often compared my lack of zeal for the gospel to his abundance of zeal. I mean, why don’t I have the same zeal he had?

And I think that part of the reason is because I wasn’t in that pit of despair. I wasn’t in that place where life was as low as it could get, only to have God reach down and pull me out.

Well, actually I was…as an unrepentant four year old, I was in a pit of despair, but I didn’t realise it…but I wasn’t EXPERIENCING it as a four year old - not in the same way Billy was experincing HIS life before his conversion.

I was brought up as if I was always on my way to heaven.

Billy, the ex-paramilitary, wasn’t. Before his conversion, he was in a place in his life where his ticket to hell was stamped.

And because he had been saved from that, his sense of gratitude was abundant, and his zeal to help save others from his fate was also astounding.

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But it meant that he had to go back to the people he used to hang around with - his paramilitary friends…and tell them that Jesus loves them.

And he knew what would happen when he went back there. Because he used to do it to the bible-bashers who came to him telling him about Jesus.

He knew that he’d be rejected, despised, mocked, and maybe even worse…but he had to tell his friends because he now KNEW what would happen to them if they didn’t repent of their sin and put their trust in Jesus Christ.

And he wanted to do whatever he could to help them see the light and trust in Jesus so they could have the eternal life that he has.

So knowing the fate that befell him, he went around the paramilitary cells and he told his friends there that they needed Jesus.

He went, knowing that he must suffer for Jesus…but he did it, because if he could lead one person to Jesus and eternal life then it would be worth it.

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Again…I was nothing like Billy…I AM nothing like Billy. I never had that zeal for the gospel because I was never in that place where Billy was in his life.

And what I admire about Saul, soon to be called Paul, is that he had the same zeal.

And it’s because he had the same experience as Billy - or should I say, Billy had a similar experience to Saul.

Because Saul had been terrorising the church - he was a terrorist - hell-bent on destroying the church of Jesus Christ. This Jesus-movement had to be stopped.

He had zeal for that - he was zealous for the cause.

And then Saul meets Jesus face to face, so to speak, and his life turns around. And the scales on his eyes and his blindness is symbolic of the fact that all his life he was blind.

All his life he was thinking that he knew the truth, but, in reality, he was actually blind. And now the scales had fallen from his eyes and he knew the truth that Jesus IS the Son of God. That Jesus IS the Messiah. That Jesus is the way the truth and the life and that no one could come to the Father except through him.

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And now his zeal for persecuting the church is turned around and it’s being used to promote the church.

And who does he go to first? Where is his first port if call after his conversion?

Acts 9:20 NIV

20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

He went back to the synagogues - the place where the Jews met....and he preached that Jesus Christ - this man who YOU KILLED actually IS the Son of God.

‘You killed him a while back, but guess what…I just saw him with my own eyes - kinda - but I heard him with my own ears only a handful of days ago.

You killed him ages ago and I saw him last week!

He really IS alive, and he really IS the Son of God.

Guys, we got it all wrong. I got it all wrong. You’ve got to believe me.’

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Saul's zeal which he used to persecute the church was now being used to promote the church.

But he knew what he was going into.

Billy had to go back to the paramilitaries that he called friends, and tell them about Jesus…and he KNEW what he was going into.

Same with Saul.

Verse 22...

Acts 9:22 NIV

22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

And when Saul goes to Jerusalem, in verse 29, it says...

Acts 9:29 NIV

29 He talked and debated with the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him.

Saul did exactly what Stephen did - and we all know what happened to Stephen…He got stoned to death, AND… it was at the behest of Saul.

So Saul KNEW what was facing him. In fact, Jesus told Ananias what would happen to him.

In verses 15 & 16 of the same chapter, Jesus says to Ananias...

Acts 9:15 NIV

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

Acts 9:16 NIV

16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

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‘I’ve saved Saul, he’s my chosen instrument for my work here on earth, but boy is he going to suffer for me.’

And suffer he did. Paul lists some of the stuff that happened to him when he wrote to the Corinthians...

2 Corinthians 11:25 NIV

25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,

2 Corinthians 11:26 NIV

26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.

But Saul, trough it all, knew that this suffering was nothing compared to crown of glory awaiting him for his zealous pursuit of the gospel of Jesus Christ and bringing men and women into a saving faith in Jesus, like he had.

All that zeal that he had in persecuting the church was used to promote the church.

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Now, when I compare myself to Billy, I often feel ashamed. Ashamed that I don’t have the same zeal that he has.

But then I rationalise it - ‘well, Andre, let’s face it - you didn’t experience what he experienced. He was in a really bad place and he was saved from that. you weren’t. Cut yourself some slack, man.’

But actually, when I think about it - I was in the same place as Billy…even as a four-year-old boy.

Because while I may not have been involved in paramilitary activity, my destination was the same…if I didn’t put my faith in Jesus Christ, I was going to spend eternity in Hell, because I was still a sinner who hadn’t repented.

My future, had I not asked Jesus to forgive my sin, would have been the same future awaiting Billy, had he not asked Jesus to forgive HIS sin…we would both be spending forever in Hell where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

So actually, I was saved from exactly the same thing as Billy.

And I need to be reminded of that every day so that I don’t get complacent.

Because there are many many others out there who currently have the same destination that I once had, and they currently have the same destination that Billy once had, because they don’t yet know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. They haven’t repented of their sin and given their lives to Jesus.

And so I need to constantly be reminded of what my destination could have been, because that gives me the zeal to go to my friends and family who are facing the same future that I once faced.

In fact, we all need reminded of what our lives and our futures COULD have been if we hadn’t accepted Jesus as our Lord and saviour. We ALL need this reminder…because it’s so easy to get complacent and take for granted what God did for us.

That he sacrificed his only Son to save us. That Jesus took the hell that we deserved on himself. That he was beaten, bruised, crucified all to show us his love and all so that we could be saved from the same fate that he endured.

We have a tendency to forget this, which is why Jesus asks us to remember it, which we will do this evening at our communion service…and we need to remember it so we don’t get complacent in our faith.

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So let’s not become complacent in our faith…let’s remember what Jesus did for us. Let’s remember just how messed up and destitute we were before Jesus saved us, and let that give us the zeal to go and tell our friends and family members who don’t yet know of Jesus, that he can change their lives, like he did for Saul - like he did for Billy…like he did for you and me.

Let that give us the courage to go to them.

Because it’s often our own people that are the hardest to reach. It’s often our own people that cause us the most trouble and HURT us the most.

But who did Saul go to??? His own people - the Jews.

And he knew that he would suffer for Jesus, but he loved his people so much that he wanted them to know the truth.

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So the question is…how much to we love our own people?

How much do I love my friends? I’ve many friends who don’t know God. They know I’m a Christian, and they know what I believe. And they know the gospel...but I haven’t really pushed them on it.

What does that say about my love for them and my concern for them?

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I’ve got work to do here. And if I do, I’d say that others do too.

Let’s ask Jesus to empower us with his Spirit to give us the courage to go to our own people and tell them about Jesus.

Remember verse 22...

Acts 9:22 NIV

22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Saul grew more and more powerful…that’s the Greek word, dunamis…which is a power that comes from the Holy Spirit.

That’s what we need. It’s what I need.

So let’s ask for this power and courage to go to our own people - the people we love, the people we care about, the people we call friends or family, and tell them that Jesus loves them and will save them if they turn away from their sin and give their lives to him.

Chances are we will suffer for doing so…but nobody said it would be easy.

Long pause

Earlier we read from 2 Corinthians, when Paul boasts about his hardships and all the stuff that happened to him. But we didn’t read on...

Because after Paul boasts about all his hardships, he continues to say this...

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 NIV

9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

See, when we do this, we will do it in Christ’s power.

So when we suffer for telling people about Jesus, when we endure hardships, persecutions, difficulties, we can actually delight…because we’re fulfilling God’s mission for us, to spread the good news, and yes, we’ll be more aware of our weaknesses, but that means that we can rely on the strength and power of Jesus Christ to help us instead of our own power.

So let’s reclaim our zeal for the Lord. Let’s remember where we once where and where we are now, and let that give us the encouragement we need to go to our own and tell them the good news about Jesus.