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Being Zealous for the Lord (James, Son of Zebedee)
GracetoYou.org ^ | 1993 | John MacArthur, Grace Community Church

Posted on 05/13/2020 4:37:04 AM PDT by metmom

The twelve apostles included "James the son of Zebedee" (Matt. 10:2).

God can use overzealous and ambitious people for His glory.

Like Peter and Andrew, James and John were fishermen. One day as Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He saw them in a boat with their father Zebedee and some hired servants. When Jesus called them to follow Him, they immediately left the boat and went with Him (Mark 1:19- 20).

James and John were zealous and ambitious men—so much so that Jesus nicknamed them "Boanerges," which means, "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). At times their great zeal got the better of them. In Luke 9:54 for example, after a Samaritan village had rejected some of the disciples, James and John asked Jesus for permission to call down fire from heaven to incinerate the whole village! On another occasion they sent their mother to ask Jesus to give them the most prominent places in His kingdom (Matt. 20:20-28). They wanted power, prestige, and honor, but Jesus promised them suffering and, in James's case, a martyr's grave.

James was probably the eldest of the two brothers. His name is listed first whenever their names appear together in Scripture. Perhaps he was also the most zealous and passionate of the two since that he was the first apostle to be martyred. When King Herod decided to persecute the early church, he had James put to death with a sword (Acts 12:2). When he saw how much that pleased the Jewish people, he had Peter arrested but didn't kill him. Apparently James was a bigger threat than Peter. That tells us something about the powerful ministry he must have had.

Like James and John, some Christians have a zeal that prompts them to run ahead of the Holy Spirit. If that's true of you, be thankful for your zeal but also be careful to allow the Spirit to govern what you do and say. However, if you've slipped into spiritual complacency and your life isn't much of a threat to Satan's kingdom, you need to repent and become more zealous for the Lord!

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God to give you a holy zeal that's motivated by love and governed by His Spirit.

For Further Study

Read John 2:12-22.

How did Jesus demonstrate His zeal for God's house? Why were His actions necessary?


TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; General Discusssion; Theology; Worship
KEYWORDS: gty

1 posted on 05/13/2020 4:37:04 AM PDT by metmom
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To: Alex Murphy; boatbums; CynicalBear; daniel1212; ealgeone; Elsie; Gamecock; HossB86; Iscool; ...

Studying God’s Word ping


2 posted on 05/13/2020 4:37:21 AM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

Natural zeal is disastrous in the kingdom of God. These two were of no use to the Lord until He had humbled them greatly and established that their natural zeal was of no use to Him, and had to die - and be destroyed.

This was the work of His cross in them. After His crucifixion, they found their natural zeal worthless, and they abandoned Him.

It was only after they were totally broken, humbled, brought to nothing in themselves that they with 118 others found themselves on their faces seeking Him with all of their hearts. They had nothing, knew nothing, could do nothing.

Only when they reached that point could God the Father pour out His Holy Spirit on them, filling them with a spiritual zeal that was not of the flesh, not of man, but of His Spirit.

The same is true for every man today who serves God. Is the zeal that of his natural man? His flesh? His self? If so - it must go to and through the cross, and die. It is of no use in God’s kingdom.

Only that which is done by and through His Holy Spirit will last, will build, will edify, will exalt Christ - and will remain.

Everything else will be burned up. I Corin. 3:12 - 15.


3 posted on 05/13/2020 5:23:24 AM PDT by Arlis
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To: metmom

I learned something from this. Thanks for posting!


4 posted on 05/13/2020 1:27:11 PM PDT by Hostage (Article V)
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To: Hostage

Yer welcome.


5 posted on 05/13/2020 1:33:50 PM PDT by metmom (...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
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To: metmom

Howdy Ma'am!
We are Elder Zealous and Elder Ambitious...

6 posted on 05/14/2020 4:09:49 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie
We are Elder Zealous and Elder Ambitious...

But which God do they represent? 😁🤪

7 posted on 05/14/2020 4:14:00 AM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: Mark17

Don’t blame them for being too zealous.
Perhaps you Christians are jealous!
All day pound the street;
with our stinky ol’ feet.
If you miss us you SURELY could smell us!


8 posted on 05/14/2020 4:22:55 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie; aMorePerfectUnion; SkyDancer; MHGinTN; SkyPilot
There are just too many Mormons around here
Whose crazy doctrine, to them isn’t even clear.
They never will learn
Someday day will burn
In the lake, when Jesus, in judgment shall appear.

I know the Mormons think their religion is right. I have news for them. It AIN’T. 👎

9 posted on 05/14/2020 5:59:59 AM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: Mark17

Mormonism is a mockery of Christianity.


10 posted on 05/14/2020 6:34:36 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: SkyDancer
Mormonism is a mockery of Christianity.

I agree, it’s a false religion, but did you like my Limerick? 😁👍

11 posted on 05/14/2020 6:38:13 AM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: Mark17

Oh sorry, was just slowly waking up, drinking coffee and perusing the site; but yeah, good un’


12 posted on 05/14/2020 6:43:14 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: SkyDancer
It’s 10:15 PM here. 😁 Almost time for bed. 👍😎
13 posted on 05/14/2020 7:16:47 AM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: Mark17

I take it you’re in the UK or Europe sommers .....


14 posted on 05/14/2020 7:28:49 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: SkyDancer
Davao Del Sur province. 😁
15 posted on 05/14/2020 8:08:27 AM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: Mark17

Okay. Must be nice there.


16 posted on 05/14/2020 9:07:58 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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To: Mark17

It’s good to see you are well.


17 posted on 05/15/2020 7:50:06 AM PDT by af_vet_1981 (The bus came by and I got on, That's when it all began)
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To: af_vet_1981
It’s good to see you are well.

Thanks bro. Glad to see you are well too. I know we talked about it before, but now, as you can see by my tagline, my son has finished USAF undergraduate pilot training. 👍 He done good. I am proud of him. 👍

18 posted on 05/15/2020 2:53:20 PM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: SkyDancer
Okay. Must be nice there.

It’s above 85° every day of the year. 😁

19 posted on 05/15/2020 11:34:52 PM PDT by Mark17 (Father of US Air Force Officer, who graduated from Air Force pilot training, on 1 May 2020)
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To: Mark17

And the humidity??


20 posted on 05/16/2020 6:27:51 AM PDT by SkyDancer (~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
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