| The Christian Life | May 1945 |
Consumes the Righteous
The Zeal of God’s House
“I am become a stranger unto My brethren, and an alien unto My mother’s children. For the zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached Thee are fallen upon Me.”—Psalm 69:8,9
IN OUR text the Psalmist speaks prophetically concerning the zeal of Christ, and it is this zeal which should actuate all the Lord’s people. He tells us the effect which this zeal should have upon those who are devoted to the Lord, and how it would affect those who are blinded by “the god of this world.” (II Cor. 4:4) This consuming zeal is one of the essential characteristics of those who “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.”—Rev. 14: 4
Concerning the Kingdom of righteousness to be established in the earth, the prophet of the Lord said, “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:7) Thus clothed with zeal, as with a garment, our King is marching on, and will bring everything into subjection to the righteous laws of His Kingdom.
The first part of our text indicates that the zeal of God’s house would cause those who possess it to be separated from the world, and at times even from their earthly relatives. “I am become a stranger unto My brethren, and an alien unto My mother’s children.” This was true of Jesus, and is, we are assured, the condition upon which any of His followers may share with the Lord in the blessing of all the families of the earth.
One who is fully consecrated to the doing of the Lord’s will, following in His footsteps, realizes that he must forget his own people and his father’s house (Adam’s house). Being separated from the world and its spirit, he must, under these adverse conditions, endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Thus will the King greatly desire his beauty of character.—Psa. 45:10,11
Zeal, where manifest in the service of Christ, is a quality of character well becoming the true Christian. The Psalmist tells us that zeal is peculiar to the house of the Lord. It implies a wholehearted devotion to Him and a determination to do that which the Lord indicates to be His will. We are told by the Apostle Paul that “we are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” (I Cor. 3:9) Further, he says, “We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” (II Cor. 6:1) Therefore our zeal must be directed in harmony with God’s work, otherwise we would not be co-workers with Him, no matter how much time we devote to a work which is according to our own ideas.
In Saul of Tarsus we have an outstanding example of misdirected zeal. Before his conversion “he made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3) He himself tells us of his zeal for the traditions of the fathers in Israel. (Gal. 1:13,14) But when Jesus appeared to him as he marched at the head of a company of soldiers, intent on carrying his work of destruction into Damascus, and he realized that his zeal had hitherto been misdirected, he immediately repented, sought the Lord’s will, and thenceforth espoused the cause of Christ. This clearly demonstrates the importance of knowing God’s plan, and of having wisdom and spiritual understanding which will enable us to direct our zeal in ways pleasing to God.
We might with profit look back to the early days of the “harvest” period. There we find a noble example of zeal, directed and abundantly blessed by the Lord. Those of us today who are old enough to look back to that time can recall with what joy each new Bible help was received and how the path of the Lord’s people thereby became more and more illuminated. What love, what zeal was manifested by the faithful watchers in Zion, as that zealous and wise servant brought forth things new and old from the Lord’s storehouse! How gladly and joyfully they spent their means and their strength to make known to others the glad message of the Gospel. A retrospective view of that happy past, comparing the zeal and devotion manifest at that time with our present condition, may be beneficial if the comparison tends to spur us on now to greater zeal and devotion.
If we find that our zeal has become dampened and has cooled considerably since first we found the Lord, let us bestir ourselves. If we find that we have become slack in the service of the Lord, either by being drawn unwittingly into the frantic furor and mad rush of the present time when so many minds are becoming infected with the bacilli of hate; or that we have been enjoying the rich blessings that are ours today as a matter of course, let us seek earnestly at the throne of grace for the clearness of vision, the keenness of perception and the deep heart appreciation of the truths which once filled our hearts with joy and gladness. Let our prayers be, “Continue, Lord Jesus, to offer me upon God’s altar of sacrifice, until that sacrifice is completely consumed.” It is indeed a serious thing if we have become lax and, in the words of the poet, find ourselves asking,
“Where is the blessedness I knew
When first I found the Lord?”
A subtle test came upon the Lord’s people after Brother Russell had finished his earthly course. His death occurred during the first World War, when social, political and religious upheavals and unrest were prevalent everywhere. This contagion also worked its way into the midst of the Lord’s people, causing severe trials, and the sheep were scattered. But the Lord was faithful concerning His promise that He would gather again the remnant of His flock into the fold. The language of the prophecy indicates a time when the Lord’s flock would be scattered, and that then He would gather again the remnant (those not heeding the voice of strangers) into the fold.—Zech. 13:7
Pastor Russell was indeed the instrument in the Lord’s hands at this end of the age for the dispensing of meat in due season to the household of faith. No modern writer has propounded more lucidly than he the far-reaching effects of the ransom sacrifice of Christ. In harmony with the testimony of the prophets, the words of Jesus and of the apostles, he declared that a day was coming when all the ends of the earth would see the salvation of our God; a time when none shall need to say to his neighbor, “Know the Lord; for they shall all know Him, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.” (Jer. 31:31) “That servant” believed in a universal opportunity for all men to gain righteousness and eternal life.
Today we face the greatest catastrophe that has overtaken the human race since the flood of Noah’s day. The war of 1914 cannot be compared with the present global war. Nations are engaged in a life and death struggle. Evil predominates; the demons are active. The grim monster of aggressive warfare is causing dismay and terror in all lands, even among those who at heart long for universal peace. God’s people are facing trials today as great or even greater than ever before. There is a danger that the love of many may wax cold, resulting in a dying out of that sacred flame of zeal which is peculiar to the Lord’s house; for a burning zeal is the expression of a heart that is aglow with love.
Our Lord’s illustrations of the Kingdom are always apt. Following His great prophecy concerning the end of the age, as recorded in Matthew 24, He gave an illustration of the Kingdom, saying, “Then shall the Kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom. And five of them were wise and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them. But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the Bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.”—Matt. 25:1-5
We see from this parable that both the wise and the foolish virgins slumbered and slept. The word “slumbered,” which expresses one stage of their drowsiness, is from the Greek root, nustazo, from neuo, which means to nod the head from sleepiness. At midnight there was a cry, “Behold the Bridegroom!” The virgins were not only awakened, but set themselves to work. They arose and trimmed their lamps. Lamps trimmed and burning are a beautiful symbol of alertness and loving zeal. We recall the words of Jesus, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and. glorify your Father which is in heaven.”—Matt. 5:16
To “trim” a lamp is to remove dead ashes and sooty incrustations from around the flame; to raise and stir up the wick; and to fill it with oil. The word here used by our Lord, and translated “trim,” is elsewhere rendered garnish; adorn; to beautify. To “trim” our “lamps” is to make a thorough examination of our conduct; to note what is wanting with a view to having everything in perfect order. It means to put away all dead works and the sooty crusts of formalism, and the petty personal differences which are so wholly unworthy of the Lord’s true people and which so effectively gather around and check the flame of our devotion. It means to raise the wick of faith, and to stir up the gift of God which is in us, that we may lay hold more firmly upon the promises and lean more fully upon the Lord as our strength and salvation. And then, by fresh acts of preparedness, it means to fill our souls with the fullness of His grace and the unction of the Holy Spirit that we may be wholly consecrated to the Lord and be sealed unto the day of redemption.
Beautiful adornments of Christian character are “a meek and quiet spirit” and a living faith. (I Pet. 3:4) Such as are thus adorned are the light of the world, being illumined with the living radiance of the Son of God, whose glory, as in a mirror, they behold and reflect.
Let us, then, dear brethren, examine ourselves to see that our lamps are trimmed and burning. Let us not grow weary in welldoing, knowing assuredly that we shall reap if we faint not. (Gal. 6:9; II Thess. 3:13) Let us be awake to our privileges and responsibilities one to another and to all men.
“And may my zeal, to judgment brought,
Prove true beneath Thy test.”