Does Your Heart Burn?

By Bobby Blakey on May 19, 2024

Romans 12:11

AUDIO

Does Your Heart Burn?

By Bobby Blakey on May 19, 2024

Romans 12:11

One of the things you need to know about me is I was born lazy. I don't know if anybody else can relate to that. But I am actually very skillful in the fine art of procrastination. And I can put things off. In fact, I've had a hard time in my Christian life putting things off. When I was in high school, my dad used to wake me up in the morning by saying, “How long will you lie there, O sluggard?” He was quoting Scripture because he was that kind of a dad. But I was also that kind of a son, if you know what I mean. A little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, I can still hear him speaking to me. I made a deal with my math teacher that, if I got As on all the tests, I wouldn't have to turn in any of the homework. That's how much of a procrastinator I was. And it took me so long to finish one of those tests by the end of the semester, it would have been quicker if I just did all the homework, you know what I mean? Like I would get myself in trouble all the time because I wouldn't do the right thing that I knew I was supposed to do. And I remember here at this church, a brother in Christ, a friend of mine, he said, hey, what are the sins like before you got saved, the sins that would define you, the sins that, if you weren't in Christ, they would run your life? And I said, Brother, one of the things about me is I'm a lazy person, I'm slothful. And he said, wow, I wouldn't even know that about you. And I said that, right, this is the power of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that he can take you from the way that you are born, and he can make you a new creation. And I want to share with you a verse that has helped me; it's renewed my mind. It's transformed me to be more like Jesus. And it's Romans chapter 12, verse 11. And so, I invite you to open your Bible and turn with me to this verse, just three phrases. You could memorize this verse during this sermon. And this verse has helped me, a lazy, born lazy, it's helped me learn how to live with a zeal for Jesus. And so, I want to invite you to stand up for the public reading of Scripture. And I want to encourage you to give this verse your full and undivided attention, because what I'm about to read to you right now is the Word of God. And so, let's really hear what God has to say to us today. This is Romans 12:11.
Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
That's the reading of God's Word. Go ahead and have your seat. And I think we've got some people, this is their first time here today at this service. Can we give them a warm welcome? Can we say, thank you for joining us. And what we're doing right now is we're going through Romans chapter 12. And it's a series called “Be the Church” because it's talking to us. And it's saying, hey, if you know all the mercy of God, if you know how God loved you, and he sent his Son, and how Jesus died for you, and you believe in Jesus, you're justified by your faith in Jesus, not your own works. You just trust in what Jesus did. And God declares you righteous. If God's done that for you, well, how should you now then live for God? It doesn't make sense that if Jesus gave his life as a sacrifice for you, then you should offer your body as a living sacrifice to God. And so, we're talking about how do we live this new life in Christ? We need to get our minds renewed, and we need to do it together. We're one body, we've all got different gifts, but we're here in one love, and we need to love each other in the truth, we need to love each other like brothers and sisters, like a family. And then as he's telling us how to live this way, he says those three phrases right there in verse 11. Do not be slothful in zeal. And these three phrases, they really build on each other. And they're really a very helpful way to think, don't be lazy or slothful or slow when it comes to zeal.
Now we'll throw the Greek word for zeal, σπουδή (spoudé), and we'll put it up here on the screen. And you might even remember it because we had it just a few weeks ago. If you look with your eyes back to verse 8 of Romans 12, it was describing different gifts that we have, and there's one who exhorts or encourages, there's one who contributes or gives, and then there's one who leads or stands before, and when you lead or stand before you're supposed to do it with what zeal. So, you do it with haste. You do it with earnestness, like you lead in the front, and you show, hey, I'm into this, hey, let's do this together. Right? So, you're supposed to have zeal, and the word zeal is like you're in a hurry, there's haste. There's an urgency, it's important. And so how can you be slow when you're supposed to make haste? How can you be lazy when you're supposed to have zeal?
So, let's get that down for point number one, the first phrase he's here going to say: “Don't go slow when it's time for haste.” Don't go slow when it's time for haste. Jesus has given you a mission. Jesus has saved you for good works that he has prepared beforehand. Jesus has given you commands to obey. Jesus did not just save you so you would go to heaven when you die. Jesus saved you so you would do something with your life? Are you doing it? Are you doing what Jesus wants you to do with your life? There are people in this room right now. And you know, you should do something. It's been on your heart for a long time. It's this person you should reach out to who doesn't know Jesus. It's this person where things aren't right, and you should take the first step towards reconciling with them. If you don't do it, you're slow to do it.
Why would you know what Jesus wants you to do and not do it. The Scripture is saying, don't be slothful in zeal. If you know what you're supposed to do, don't be slow to do it. Now Jesus is going to say, this in Matthew 25:26. So if you've got a Bible, let's hear it straight from Jesus in Matthew 25:26. And here's what I really want you to think through with me today as we go through Romans 12:11. I want you to think through the fact that someday you're going to have a meeting with Jesus. Jesus is your boss, and you're going to give a direct report to Jesus at some point in the future. Just think about that. Jesus is not the baby in the manger. He's not the man on the cross. Jesus is the risen Lord of heaven and earth. He has been exalted to the name that is above every name, he's got eyes that burn like fire, his face shines like the sun, and it's like there's a sword coming out of his mouth because of how he speaks. You're going to have a meeting with him. What is Jesus going to say to you on that day? Because what he says, he's going to say to some people in Matthew 25:26. And look at what he says, right here. But his master answered him, and we're going to see there's a master who is Jesus, and his servants, who are us. We're going to see that a bunch of times today. In Matthew 25:26, “But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant!” Can you imagine on the day you meet Jesus; he says that you are a lazy, slothful servant? I would imagine you don't want to hear that from Jesus. That's why you need to hear what Romans 12:11 is saying to you today. Because if you're being slow to do what Jesus has called you to do, how is Jesus going to say to you well done, if you never did it, if you put it off, if you were lazy about it. And so, with that idea that you're going to meet with Jesus, and he's going to say something to you about the way that you lived your life. Let's get this whole story. Let's go back to verse 14. Let's try to get this whole Parable of the Talents because Jesus is telling stories like this all the time. There's a master, he's got some servants, the master is going to be gone for a while. You don't know when the master is coming back; he could come back at any moment. What is he going to find his servants doing when he comes back? This is Matthew 25:14-15, ““For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.” Now just to make it very clear, at this time, talent is a sum of money. So, when we hear talents, we think gifts or skills, but this is talking about in the story. He's given them five, five pieces of money over here, two pieces, one and he's doing it based on the how the ability he sees in his servants. So, look at verse 16. This is very important. Matthew 25:16-21, “He who had received the five talents went and” how does it say he went, everybody? He went, what? At once, bam. Jesus tells you to do something. This guy is going to do it. He's not slow to do it. He's ready to do it. He's zealous to do it. He wants to do it. It's important and urgent for him to do what Jesus says. That's the attitude we're looking for. That's the guy that clearly you're supposed to want to be like in the story where “He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” Can you imagine? On the day you get to see the glory of Jesus, on the day it goes from faith to sight, from long distance to face-to-face, Jesus looks at you and says, enter into my joy. What an amazing thing to hear from Jesus. That's what that guy hears. And look at Matthew 25:22-30. “And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Does that sound like a wakeup call for anybody else? When the Scripture says, do not be slothful in zeal, look at how Jesus thinks about lazy servants. Like they're not really serving him at all. Okay, Jesus saved you; Jesus, he died on the cross in your place, he came down from heaven on a search and rescue mission for your soul. And now you're just kind of going through the motions and you'll get to it some other time? That doesn't seem like the right response based on what Jesus did for you, that you're kind of slothful in your zeal for him. Go to Titus 2:14. I need everybody to see this particular verse in the book of Titus chapter 2, verse 14, because I think what some people are going to say in response to this sermon is, well, I'm just not really a zealous kind of a person. And, and you're going to make this like a personality trait. Well, maybe that guy's zealous, or maybe this lady over here is zealous. I'm not. That's not really my personality. Well, let me just show you what Titus 2:14 says. This is an amazing verse about what Jesus has done for us. It says here in Titus 2:14 that Jesus gave himself for us, Jesus offered up his life as a sacrifice to pay for your sin. And so, he gave himself for us. And then here's what he did, specifically, his precious blood, his righteous blood, by the shedding of his blood. That's how he redeemed or purchased or paid for your sin. Your sin was a debt you could not repay, and Jesus by shedding his blood, he redeemed you. That's what it says right here in verse 14, “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Is that talking about you? Are you one of the people Jesus died for? Did he redeem you by his blood? Are you one of the people of Jesus? Well, look how it describes you who are what does it say, everybody? “Who are zealous for good works.” This isn't the expectation for some Christians.
This is what it means to be a Christian. If you really know what Jesus did for you, and you've really been redeemed out of your sin, and you really are one of his people, you’ve got to get to what Jesus has you to do. He didn't just save you out of your sin, he saved you to do some good works. He wants you to do something with the rest of your life, something for his glory and other people's good. And you need to be zealous to do that. Does that describe you? Could you say that you are zealous? Jesus redeemed you, and now you're just wasting the time that he's giving you in your life? No, Jesus redeemed you so you could r”edeem the time, so you could make the most of these days.
Ephesians 5:16 says, “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” You don't know how many days you've got left. That person you want to see get saved, you don't know how much more time they've got left, that person that you don't feel right with, you don't know how much more time you have to make that right before it's too late. In fact, you don't know how many chances you even have to talk to that person. That person who doesn't know Jesus, that person that's on your heart like I should write him a letter, I should give him a call, or I should go and talk to him. We'll make the most of the time. Colossians 4:5 says, “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders.” Because who knows how many more chances you even have to share the Good News of Jesus with that. I see a lot of Christians who are acting like they've got a lot of time to obey Jesus, but the Scripture is saying, you’ve got time right now, you should go and do it today. You should redeem this opportunity this moment. Why are you being slow to do it if you know there's something you're supposed to do for Jesus? Why aren't you doing it today? What are you waiting for? Do not be slothful in zeal.
Now go back to Romans 12:11 because these three phrases they build on each other. And so, the first phrase calls us out for being slackers. It calls us out, like, hey, is anybody getting convicted yet? Is anybody like when I say, oh, you know, you should do this, what comes to your mind? When I talked about that person, you know, you should reach out to, who are you thinking of? Why are you not actively pursuing that? Why are you putting it off? Stop that, don't be slothful in your zeal. You were made to be a zealous servant of Jesus. And in fact, when it tells us what not to do, and the first phrase, the second phrase here in verse 11, tells us exactly what we should do, which is be fervent in Spirit. And really, we'll put the Greek word here up on the screen for what it means to be fervent, the Greek word is Zeo. And it means to boil with heat, to make hot, to be on fire in your soul is what it's saying. It's saying, hey, how come you're slower to do it? How come you're lazy to do it? How come you're putting off being zealous for good works? You should be on fire to do it. The temperature should be high, you should get that water up to a boil, be fervent in spirit. Are you going through the motions for the Lord? Or can you honestly say before Jesus here today that you are on fire in your soul? That's what it's saying be fervent in spirit. Okay, so Jesus promised that in the end-times, in the last days, like the times we're living in, the love of many will grow what everybody? Cold. Jesus doesn't want you to be cold. He wants you to be hot.
Let's get this down for point number two: “Don't grow cold by stoking the fire.” Don't grow cold. You’ve got to stoke the fire, you’ve got to make sure it's hot. This is the question of the sermon. This is the question that I'm here to ask you today. Does your heart burn? Can you tell me you're on fire because anything less in spirit is not the response that Jesus is looking for. It's not worthy of Jesus. Jesus is crying out in agony. Jesus has given his very life. He's shedding his last drop of blood. He's given his last breath for you. Jesus is all in for you. Are you just kind of in for Jesus? Or could you say, no, I'm on fire for the Lord. My heart burns for Jesus. That's the idea of being fervent in Spirit. And so, some of us might have to admit that we were more on fire in the past than we are right now. And we've kind of slowed down, we've maybe lost our first love and the Scripture is not acting like well, hopefully someday you'll get it back. No, the Scripture is telling you, you’ve got to go stoke the fire of your heart. You’ve got to go get zealous. You’ve got to get that temperature back up to where you are hot for the Lord; you're on fire for the Lord.
Go to Acts chapter 18. It's just a few pages to the left from Romans 12. Acts 18 is where we meet a guy named Apollos. And he is described as fervent in Spirit. So, this is the other time in the Greek Scriptures where the same phrase, fervent in spirit, is used. And it's used to describe this guy, Apollos, maybe you've heard of him. Unfortunately, he's most famous because in 1 Corinthians, it talks about how people were making it a competition between Paul and Apollos. And, unfortunately, Christians do this all the time where it's like, rate your favorite pastor, or compare your favorite preachers, and it causes division, and all kinds of stuff. That's what was happening in the Corinthian church. And Apollos was one of the guys that people thought, oh, man, that guy. He's on fire. Look at how it describes him here in Acts 18:24. Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.” He had been instructed, he had been taught in the way of the Lord, and then here it is, being fervent in Spirit. So, this guy when he came into town, you could say Apollos he was on fire; that guy, he was blazing a trail with heat, he was bringing it. And then look what it says about him, “he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.” But he was fired up. And he was explaining who Jesus was even to people that he must have been explaining it from the Hebrew Bible, he must have been explaining it through the prophecies because he didn't even really know the full gospel story of Jesus yet, but he knew it in the Scripture. And the guy was fervent in Spirit. Now, this is where a lot of people if you see somebody like Apollos and the guy is just coming in teaching, and the guy is fired up, and he's firing other people up. What are some people going to think these days? They're going to be like, that just must be his personality. He must just be a passionate individual and on fire type, right? People are going to this is what we do at church to distance ourselves from feeling any personal responsibility. Why would I ever be like Apollos? Well, why do you think that guy became fervent in Spirit? Do you think the guy was just naturally fervent in Spirit? Or are you looking at what the text is actually saying? The guy was competent in what he'd been instructed in? He spoke taught accurately the things concerning who? Where does the fire come from? See this guy, he knew the Scriptures. This guy, he was taught the way of the Lord. This guy, he could see Jesus in the book. That's where the fire comes from. That's what makes your heart burn when you can see Jesus in the Scriptures.
Do you remember that story on the road to Emmaus? Do you remember when Jesus appeared after he rose from the dead? He appeared to the two disciples and they couldn't even realize it was Jesus, and Jesus had to show the disciples in the Scriptures. Do you see me here in Genesis 3:15? Do you see me here and Isaiah 53? Did you know Psalm 22 is not just about David? It's really about me on the cross. Can you guys see this and at some moment, these two disciples, they can realize that it is Jesus. Jesus is alive, he's right there in front of their eyes. And then Jesus suddenly disappears right in front of them. And what does one brother say to another, he says, “Did not our hearts burn when he opened to us the Scripture.” When they saw Jesus in the Bible, they experienced a revival in their heart. You want to know why Apollos is coming in, plays in heat and emphasis, the guy is in the Scriptures, the guy knows the way of the Lord, the guy can teach you exactly what page Jesus is on, and exactly how that prophecy or is going to be fulfilled. That's the guy who's going to be on fire.
And so, you cannot expect that you will always be on fire. You cannot expect that the fire is just going to naturally keep burning. You are going to have to stoke the fire of your heart by seeing Jesus in the Scripture. So, this is something you're going to have to learn how to do. And if you're a new Christian, and all you've ever known is being on fire, keep that going as long as you can. But at some point, you might find yourself growing weary, you might find yourself getting rejected and getting hurt as you try to love other people. And you might find that you're losing that motivation that you had. And maybe you have to admit, man, I used to be more into this than I am right now. So, what are you going to do? Are you just going to be slothful in zeal or are you going to be fervent in Spirit?
So you're going to have to get that fire going, you're going to have to bring the coals back together and relight the fire and put more fuel on the fire until it's burning hot again. That's the idea of being fervent in Spirit. And this guy Apollos, he's an example. And what do we know about him? He knew a lot about the Scriptures. He knew about how to see Jesus in the Bible. Now he didn't know about what Jesus did. And so, look what happens here in Acts 18:26, “As he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside.” We know they're friends with Paul, and they explained to him the way of God more accurately, hey, there's more of the story that you haven't heard yet follows. Let us tell you what Jesus did. And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. And when he arrived, he greatly helped those who, through grace, had believed, for he powerfully refuting the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
Man, do you want to do anything with your life? Do you want your life to matter to anyone else? Do you want to make a difference in other people's lives on the day you die, and they have a service for you? Do you want anybody to show up there and speak into the microphone and say, hey, I want to talk about my friend because they greatly helped me, that's what this guy did. Because this guy was on fire. And the fire was contagious. The fire spread to more believers when he kept showing them Jesus in the scriptures. Other people caught fire too, and they were greatly helped in their faith. And then the haters came, and the persecutors came, and guess who was there ready to defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Apollos was. He wasn't ashamed. He wasn't afraid. He wasn't timid. You know why he was fervent in Spirit? Does that describe you? It's not supposed to be a few people. It's supposed to be the Jesus people. We’re the people with the burning hearts because we can see Jesus, we know right where he is. He's right here. And we can tell you what he's going to do. Because we can show you that all of the prophecies, they are fulfilled in Jesus, Jesus is the Christ. Am I speaking to anybody here today? Have you seen Jesus in the book? Are you on fire? That's not supposed to be exceptional. That's supposed to be standard operating Christian response.
So, we’ve got to get this mindset out of our heads that there's going to be a few zealots here. If you're one of the people of Jesus, do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in Spirit. And if you're not feeling fervent, if you're not feeling on fire, you've got to go learn how to address yourself. Go to 2 Timothy 1:6. This is where Paul passes this on to his disciple, Timothy. So, 2 Timothy, there are a bunch of books that all start with T. If you can go to 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 6. This is the last letter that Paul wrote, and maybe Paul was getting a little concerned about how Timothy was doing. Timothy was a young pastor in Ephesus. And maybe he thought Timothy was starting to act with timidity. And so, he wrote him this letter. And look at what he says to Timothy in 2 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 3. He says, “I think God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience. So, first of all, he says, I'm here to serve God. And I thank God for you because I'm constantly in my prayers, remembering you night and day. Verse 4, “I remember your tears. I remember when we were crying together, Timothy, and I longed to see you that I may be filled with joy, because I am reminded of your sincere faith. Have faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you look at it right here. fan into flame the gift of God, I know you've got it. I know you've been saved by Jesus. I know he's given you the gift to be the pastor there. We laid hands on you.” You’ve got to stir it up. You’ve got to shake it up. You’ve got to get that fire and you’ve got to you got to stoke that fire, fan it into a flame, Timothy. It's not just going to always naturally happen. You can't just wait till you feel on fire. You can't just wait for an experience to set you on fire. No, you’ve got to learn how to address the issues of your own soul. And when you can tell your spirit is not fervent, then you need to fan it into flame is what he says to Timothy. Timothy, we're not about timidity. That's what he says here in verse 7, for God gave us a spirit, not of fear, not to hold back, not to keep to ourselves. God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. And if you're not ready to live like that, Timothy, then fan into flame get that fire going. Have you learned how to do this? You're not going to always wake up ready to go for Jesus. You're going to feel maybe beaten down by trials, you're going to feel really bad. Maybe if you gave in to a temptation, how are you going to get that fire going again, you're going to have to fan it into flame. This is something you're going to have to do, to stoke the fire of your own soul.
I can remember when I was in college, I was still having a hard time, putting off things in college. I was still being lazy. And just to show you I wasn't making the best decisions. I ended up in an 8am poetry class. Can you imagine this? What was I thinking? 8am poetry in college. I see I was naive when it came to poetry. I had read a lot of Dr. Seuss. I had some words that I knew that rhymes. I thought poetry, I’ve got this. I mean, my name is Bobby Blakey, that even rhymes I can do this right. Let's go. Man, it was about feeling emotions. And it was about like, expressing things with language. I had no idea really what it was about. And so, I was sleeping through my 8am poetry class one day, I was a little hand and little slumber I'm just going to miss this class. No problem. And the phone rang while I was sleeping through my class, and this was back before cellphones. This is like an actual plug in the wall phone. And for some reason when I'm asleep, I answer the phone. Another bad decision. And I'll never forget. I pull the phone to my ear, and I hear three words, “Blakey, stern thyself.” That's what he said. And he was quoting 2 Timothy 1:6. It's crazy. Dr. Simon's from poetry class, a guy who used to be a pastor, and now he's just preaching to his students every day in the classroom. And Dr. Simon's, wait a minute, he doesn't have his cell phone. Wait a minute, how does Dr. Simon's even have my phone number? He must have left everybody else in poetry class, went to some kind of school office, found my phone number and called me. I am busted . And I ran as fast as my little feet would carry me down to poetry and I took copious notes on things I had no idea what he was talking about. Right because he called me out. Blakey stir thyself. Do you realize how many mornings in my life, I need that phone call? I mean, listen, it is going to be hard to live your life for Jesus in this world, you're going to face many tribulations and we need somebody to say to us, hey, you’ve got to get yourself going. Hey, you’ve got to fan it into flame. You’ve got to stir it up. Like they're all the blessings of the heavenly places. They're yours in Jesus, all the power of the Holy Spirit. He's already living inside of you. You have everything you need to do everything God wants you to do. You’ve got to get fervent in Spirit. You’ve got to fan it into flame. Stir thyself is what we need to hear. And I remember one day somebody asked me, they were like, if you could just give me one verse, like how do I stay on fire? What is the key? I don't ever want to lose this fire that I've got right now. How do I keep it? How do I how do I keep my heart burning? They're like, give me one verse. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 are verses that will keep the fire burning, relight the beacons when you need them. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 14. It just says it very simply, very compact. If you're taking notes, you want to write this phrase down. It says the love of Christ controls us, or the love of Christ compels us. It's sometimes translated, the love of Christ has shaken me up, the love of Christ has stirred me from the inside out. It's the idea, like if you took a carbonated beverage, if you took a fizzy drink, and you started shaking that thing up, and then you pop the top on that thing, what are you expecting that the contents inside are going to explode, they're going to burst forth. That's the idea here that you have been shaken up by the love of Jesus. And now you are ready to burst forth. It goes on to say, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”
Why should you be on fire? Why should you be forgiven in Spirit? Because Jesus died for you. Like, what more could he do? He humbled himself from Heaven, was obedient to the point of death, even a brutal and bloody death on a cross. And you want to know what was holding him there? It wasn't just the nails. It was that he wanted to be there. Because he wanted to pay for your sin. And all the judgment, all the punishment, all the wrath for your debt. It was all paid by his body, and his blood and that love of Jesus the love that Jesus has for you, it makes sense. I shouldn't be just kind of air about Jesus in my life. I should be on fire. I should be fervent in Spirit. Is this describing you? Are you shaken up? Are you stirred? Are you compelled by the love of Jesus? Maybe you need a big reminder here today. Maybe we need to get back to our core motivation. Why should you and I not be slothful in zeal? Why should we be on fire in our souls?
Go back to Romans chapter 12, verse 11, because this third phrase here, it cuts to the heart. And it gets to the reason why it gets to. Here's your motivation. It says, “serve the Lord.” You know who you're doing this for? Do you know why you're doing this? Everything you're doing as a Christian is a response to what Jesus has already done for you, and everything you're doing as a Christian, it will all be evaluated when you have that meeting with Jesus, when you see him face-to-face. When he welcomes you, hopefully to the joy of your master. Master is the word for Lord here. You are here to be a slave, a servant of the master, the Lord. Now, sometimes we talk about Greek words and maybe some of you are like, oh, it's all Greek to me. I don't even know what you're saying up there sometimes. Well, here's to grow. Greek words you should really learn, okay? We talk about these regularly here at the church because the word for serve here the verb is douleuo. Oh, that's the verb here. And it means to serve, but the noun is the one that comes up more often, it's doulos, and it means slave. Okay? In the first century in the Roman Empire, slaves were a common way of life. And so that's the idea. You're a slave of the Lord, the Lord is the kurios here. So that is the word for master or Lord or boss. And so, if you are a slave of the Lord, that's your personal relationship with Jesus, he's the Lord of heaven and earth, he has all authority, he's the one who says who lives or dies and where they go when they die. And so, if you know him, you're living to serve him. Now, when I say the word slave here in America, we have a very bad connotation when it comes to slavery. And I don't know if you've ever done a Bible study on slavery before. But there's a certain kind of slavery in the Scripture called man-stealing, and man-stealing is a sin. In fact, it says that people who are guilty of man-stealing where you would like kidnap people from one place and force them to serve as slaves. And another place, the Bible says that is inherently evil, and people who live like that will not inherit the kingdom of God. You have to repent of man-stealing, you need to be forgiven of that sin. So, we think of man-stealing kind of slavery, which is evil and is wrong, and is corrupt. But in the first century, in the Roman Empire, all slavery wasn't evil like that. In fact, there were a lot of slaves at that time who worked in this household, and they could be set free, but they didn't want to go free. They wanted to continue serving there as one of the slaves, they wanted to keep being employed by that household, they were willing, they're like, hey, I like my master. I like the benefits. I like what I'm doing, I'm going to stay here, I'm going to keep doing this. They thought it was actually a good, they thought it's a privilege to be a slave here in this household, and to serve in this way. And so, that's the idea here that you would consider it a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus. And that would be the reason why that would be the motivation. The reason I'm on fire is because I'm doing it for Jesus.
Go to Colossians chapter 3, where it uses this same phrase, this same idea. Colossians 3:23 talks about whatever it is you're doing. So, this can apply to anything you're doing, okay? If you are a salesman out there, trying to hustle your product, if you're a stay-at-home mom trying to raise those kids, like, if you're a student, whatever you do, maybe you're the boss of your company, whatever you do, look what it says here in Colossians 3, when it's talking to slaves who have masters. It says in Colossians, 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily.” Do it from the heart, do it with fire, as for the Lord, and not for men, knowing that from the Lord, you will receive the inheritance as your award, you are serving the Lord Christ. Like whatever you do, and you might think what you're doing is a big deal. You might think what you're doing, it's not that big a deal. But no, you should go, and you should do it. You should do it from the heart. You want to know why? Because you're doing it for Jesus. And Jesus sees what you're doing. And Jesus is going to reward you for what you're doing. Jesus is going to have a meeting to evaluate what you're doing. And he's going to say, well done, because you did it for him. See, a lot of people, they get burnt out. Let's talk about that for a second. Okay? Why do people get burned out? Here's a couple reasons people get burned out. Number one, because they're doing what they're doing to please other people. And when you're doing what you're doing to please other people, and then you don't feel like you're getting appreciated, or you're not getting noticed, I did this, but people aren't really impressed by it. They don't seem to care. Maybe you're doing things at home and the kids don't seem to care. You're doing things at church and you're not sure who's really appreciating it. You're doing things at work; you're working really hard. Nobody seems to really care. We'll see then you can really get discouraged. Why? Because you're doing it for men, not for the Lord. Second reason you might get burned out is you're doing it for yourself. You're doing it to try to find satisfaction for yourself and then it's leaving you empty and you're like man, I don't feel like I'm fulfilled. I don't feel like I have a purpose because I'm trying to get from myself but it's never enough. Know the reason it's not maybe satisfying or the reason you're feeling burnt out is you're lost. The core motivation, which is you're doing this for Jesus, you're doing it for the Lord Jesus. He promised that whatever is done in his name, whatever is done from the heart for him, you will by no means lose your award. Jesus said, even if you do something as simple as give somebody a cup of cold water, you will by no means lose your reward for that. Like, Jesus, he's noticing, he's appreciating, he's keeping track. He knows everything you're doing. When you really do it from your heart for the glory of the Lord Jesus, you will be rewarded for that. It makes a difference to Jesus; it matters to him. Do you know that Jesus knows you better than anybody else? He knows why you're doing it. He knows what you're doing. He's keeping track, and he is going to have a reward for you. That's what it says right here. If you feel uncomfortable about talking about rewards in heaven, well, let me just make it very clear. Jesus wasn't uncomfortable talking about that. He was promising rewards all the time. Anyone who's left, whatever you've left behind in this life, don't you worry, you're going to get it back both in this life and the life to come? No, Jesus is like, enter into the joy, I have a reward for you. And so on.
On the back of your handout, there's a question there, like, what do you do? What do you do? And can you really say you're doing it for Jesus? If it's something that you're home with your family, if it's something at work, if it's something here at church? Can you say that your motivation is I'm doing this to serve the Lord, he's my master, he's my boss, I'm doing this for him. Because if you're just doing it for other people, or you're doing it for yourself, you're probably going to end up burnt out. If you're doing it for the Lord Jesus, it's going to be worth it. Okay, now, I had a morning this week, just trying to be real with everybody here. I had a morning this week, where I woke up, and I was already tired, like I was already done, and the day had just begun. Does anybody else want to admit here at church today, that you felt that way? This week. Anybody else want to get your hand up with me right now? There ain't enough coffee for that, bro. I'll tell you right now, you can go to the gym so many times, you're still going to wake up tired. All right, it's going to happen. And here we go, I got a blank screen in front of me, I got a full calendar of things I'm supposed to do today. And I'm tempted to think away that I hear a lot of people talk about, if I can just get through the day. If I could just get through Friday. If I can just get till I'm going on my vacation on this day. If I can just get to that plane to Hawaii, or that road trip over here. I hear people say that all the time. Next time you say that, next time you think that, just realize what you're actually saying is I'm going to waste all this time. I'm just going to let all this time go. I'm just going to get through it however I can. That is not the way Jesus wants you to serve him. That is not the way Jesus didn't give you today. So, you could just try to get through. I'm sitting there and I'm feeling tired. And I got a blank screen and I got an overwhelming list of things to do. Here's, here's what I do. I just come down to this. I only need to do one thing today. All I’ve got to do I need to serve the Lord. I just have to continue in Christ. Only thing I need to do today. Remain in love with Jesus. Stay close to Jesus. It's all I’ve got to do. Okay.
In fact, if I try to live today, apart from Jesus, how many good things am I going to end up doing on that day? Not one good thing. So, all I really need to do is this one thing, where I make sure that today, Jesus this day that you've given me right now, this day that feels overwhelming, and I'm not sure how it's going to get done. I'm living this day for you. I'm going through this day with you. I'm going to like it says in John 15, I'm going to “abide in Christ,” I'm going to remain right here. I'm going to get your word on my heart. I'm going to pray to you. And I'm going to walk through this day and your life is going to give me the energy, your power is going to give me the strength, your love when people start saying things to me, that could rub me the wrong way. I'm going to respond to them with love and kindness and gentleness. And when it feels like I've got too much to do, I'm going to find wings, I'm going to find energy, I'm going to find power because you're going to be the one doing it through me. And you know what I find? I can do way more than I think I can do when I do it in Christ. Anybody want to say amen to that here today? Like you've really on any given day of your life, you've really just got to do one thing. The one thing that empowers all the other things, whether you're doing this with your family, work, church, whatever it is you're doing, if you're doing it for Christ, you'll have the strength to do it. You'll have the grace to do it. Because it's his life coming through you. Is that real for you? Like when you serve the Lord, do you find your strength renewed? When you serve the Lord, do you find there's grace for that? When you thought you were at the end, do you find that you can keep going? Because it's not you, it's Jesus in you. Is this just a bunch of ideas that you really have a life in Jesus? Or is this real life, that when I can't do it, Jesus does it through me. Because I'm not doing this for myself anymore. And I'm not doing this for somebody else. I'm doing this to serve the Lord.
Point number three, let's get it down like this: “Do the one thing worth doing. Do the one thing worth doing is what you do whatever it is for Jesus, the one thing worth doing is when you take the posture of a servant, and you do it for the glory of your Lord, you do it for him. What kind of a Lord do we have that serves his own servants. What a privilege it is to be one of the people of Jesus to have a master who loves you, cares for you, and is willing to come down and die in your place. And because he's willing to die for you, it should make sense to you that you would be willing to live for him. It makes sense to serve Jesus, he already served me. It makes sense to take up my cross and follow Jesus. He already took up the cross for me, like he's not asking me to do anything he hasn't already done for me. And so, I'm going to do one thing today, and I'm going to do it today, I'm going to do it tomorrow, I'm going to do it every single day that Jesus gives me. If I'm going to die, I'm going to die doing this one thing, I'm going to serve the Lord Jesus with my life. Because I understand, there's coming a meeting between me and Jesus. And that's what I'm living for. I'm living because of what he did for me. And I'm living for the day that I'm going to get to be with him. And when I think about this meeting that's coming between me as a servant, and my master Jesus, right? Does anybody else when you go to like some gas station or some sketchy fast food restaurant, do they call you boss, too? Because they call me boss. Do they call you guys boss? I don't know why people call me boss, right? If I was the boss, we'd be doing things differently at some of these establishments. You know what I mean? I'm definitely not the boss. Every time somebody calls me, the boss, I'm like, I'm not the boss. But I do serve a boss. I know who my boss is. And, and it reminds me like I have a boss. And I'm going to give a direct report from my life to the Lord Jesus. And when I think about that, I want to turn you to Luke chapter 12. Because this is the verse that has become very precious to me when I think about the day that I'm going to meet Jesus, the one who I've been living my whole life for, but I've never even laid eyes on him yet. I'm fired up because I've seen him in the Scriptures, but I haven't seen the fire coming out of his eyes. I haven't fallen over on my face because of his glory. And I'm looking forward to that. Then when I think about the day that I'm going to meet Jesus, I think of Luke chapter 12. And one of those stories he tells about the master and his servants. And he says in Luke 12:35, this is just a great verse right here. He says, “Stay dressed for action.” Did any of you get dressed for action today? He's like, stay ready is what it means. Stay like you're ready to go. Like you're ready for something to happen and keep your lamp burning and keep fervent in Spirit. Stay ready. Why be like men who are waiting for their kurios, their Lord, their master. We're like servants who are waiting for the master to come home from the wedding feast. And when he comes home, so that they may open the door to him at once. See, there it is, we want to be ready, not slothful but with fervor I'm serving. And if my master comes back, and Jesus is coming back, I want to be ready to open the door for him when he comes back. See, I think a lot of people in this room, if I asked you do you believe Jesus is coming back, you would give the right answer? Yes. But do you really live like Jesus is coming back? The answer to that, sadly, for some of us, you're not really living like that. You're not staying ready. You're not keeping fervent in Spirit. You're not living today like it could be your last day, like the day you meet the Lord, and you want to be ready to meet him. That's the idea here. Like, I don't know, when Jesus is coming back, but I want to be ready. And Jesus even said, when he returns, will He find faith on the earth? Jesus even raised this question. When the Son of Man comes riding on the clouds in all of his glory, how many people are still going to be waiting for him? How many servants is he really going to have? How many people when the love of many grows cold? Who's still going to be on fire for the Lord Jesus? Who's going to be shouting? Yes, this is what I've been waiting my whole life for. This is the reason I exist. Today. I meet Jesus. Jesus was raising the question how many people really will be waiting for me? And he, the master, wants his servant at once to open the door when he comes and knocks. Look at verse 37. I love this verse. “Blessed” happy “are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes.” Truly I say to you, this might be hard to believe. But here's the facts, truly I say to you, he, the master will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. What kind of a master does that? What kind of a boss, when he comes home says, thanks for serving, go ahead and have a seat. I'd like to serve you now. In fact, I'd like to show you this room that I've prepared for you in my Father's house, there are many rooms and I've got a place with your name on it, a place that I have reserved for you. And you know what? I saw those things you did. I saw how you kept serving. I saw how you kept loving, I saw how you kept going when it was hard. Here's the reward I want to give you, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Here's the reward, come and enter into this place I prepared for you to this reward I have.” Oh, and here's something I wanted to give you. It's a little stone, I engraved a nickname that I have for you. When I think of you, this is the name that comes to my mind. This is a secret nickname just between me and you that I want to give you. Do you realize that's what it's going to be like when you meet Jesus, you're going to meet a man who already knows everything you ever did, who already has a place for you already has a reward for you already knows you better than anyone else has known you. In fact, he's got a nickname for you. Just between you and Jesus? What kind of a master does that, where he comes to serve his own servants? And then it says this in verse 38. Like we don't know when he's coming. If he comes in the second watch, or maybe he comes later in the third, and he finds them awake. Blessed are those servants, happy are those servants. What are you wanting to do with your life? Now is the time to do it. And when Jesus comes back, which could be at any time, is he going to find you serving him? Is he going to find you there, going for it? Heart burning. Doing everything you're doing for the glory of the Lord Jesus? Is that how he's going to find you? Because if Jesus finds you like that, it will be so worth it. You will be so filled with joy, you will enter into the joy of your master forevermore. What an amazing moment is waiting for all of you who served the Lord Jesus. It's worth it to keep going. It's worth it to stay on fire. I have a very clear goal in what I want to do with my life. And there are many good things I want to do. I mean, I want to preach the word here at our church. So, it cuts to our hearts, our hearts burn. I want to care for all the people that are a part of the body of Christ here, I want to honor my parents, I want to love my wife. I want to teach my kids. But you know, the reason I do all of those things, as much as I love those people, it's not really for those people. There's just one thing that I'm really trying to do, and that is to serve Jesus today. That's what I'm trying to do. And I want to do it every day until I hear him say, now you're done. Now you did it. Come on, and then wait, do you see how worth it really was? The quote I have prepared for you. See, that's why a lazy person like me, keeps going for Jesus, not because it's my personality, but because of the person of Jesus Christ. I find him to be compelling, I find him to be worth it. I find that if I give my whole life away, and I die, I will be so happy to be in the presence of Jesus Christ, the one who already died for me. Are you serving the Lord with your life? There is no greater calling, there is no higher purpose.
And so, I want you to grab that communion that's there on your seat. And we're going to use this as Jesus taught us to, to remind ourselves what Jesus did for us. When you hold that little piece of bread there, that little kind of cracker thing in that cup, that represents the body of Jesus that was sacrificed to pay for your sin. And when you drink that little cup of juice there, that represents the righteous, precious blood of Jesus that redeemed you. It purchased you. Okay, so we're going to have a whole song for you. Now, I want you to take a moment to think about this meeting that you're having with Jesus. And I want you to think like this meeting that you're having with Jesus. What if that meeting happened today? What if you saw Jesus in all of his glory today and there he is, and he knows everything about you. What'd he say to you? “Well done, good and faithful servant?” Or would he be like, why are you slothful? Why aren't you zealous? What would Jesus say to you? I want you to think about that. And I want you to think about what Jesus did for you with his body and his blood. And I want you to respond to Jesus. So, we're going to sing a song, and during that song, you can just pray, you can just talk to Jesus, you can just consider, hey, what did Jesus do for me? And is my response logical? Does it make sense? Like, am I serving Jesus because he served me? Am I ready to carry the cross because he died on the cross for me. Like, am I living in a worthy way based on what Jesus has done for me? And I want you to feel once again in your heart what a privilege it is to be able to say that you're one of the servants of the Lord Jesus, and to love Jesus, and to confess your sins and to pray to Jesus. And then I'll come back, and we'll take that communion together. Let me pray for us right now.
Father in heaven, I pray that these three phrases, this one verse of Father, will you please put it on our hearts today? There are so many people in this room right now. Are they all really living on fire to serve Jesus? Father, I pray that people would understand that just going through the motions of going to church is not what Jesus is looking for. Just checking off the to do list of life, getting through another day, another week. That's not what Jesus is looking for. Father, I pray that no one here would be slothful in zeal, but that we would have our hearts burn. Because we get to be servants of a master who serves his servants. And we get to love a lord who's already proven his love for us with blood. And so, let this be a day when our souls burn once again. Let this be a day when the fire is fanned into a flame. Let this be a day where we remember what a joy it is to follow Jesus. What an honor it is to bear his name. What a privilege it is to say, I'm just one of the doulos, because Jesus, he's my kurios. He's my boss. And there's nothing I'd rather be doing today than serving the Lord Jesus with all my heart. Please, Father, use this verse to make us those people, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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