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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

Misplaced Zeal

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this time to come and study your word once more.

What a blessing, Lord, to be able to fellowship together, to be able to study together.

Even though we're separated physically, we can be together here to worship you in spirit and in truth.

And Lord, we need both of those this morning.

We need your truth to speak so clearly from your word.

We need your spirit to explain so clearly, to inspire our hearts and minds and illuminate, and more than that, you convict our hearts and minds to come up higher, our lives to be challenged by your Word this morning.

So Father, please lead us, grace us with thy presence is our earnest plea and prayer.

The title of my sermon this morning is Misplaced Zeal.

And really, before we went into lockdown, we had been studying in our churches the Gospel John.

We've gone through about 24 sermons on the Gospel John and we're still not done yet and I really wanted to finish this book by this year but I don't think it's happening.

We've been looking at other different topics in the prior weeks but today we are going to continue in John chapter 18.

Now we looked at John 17, the famous prayer of Jesus.

Not as famous as the Lord's Prayer but this is that chapter that he prays aloud in the presence of the disciples for his disciples that they may be 1 just as Christ was 1 with the Father that they might be 1 in Christ.

And so he's finished communion with them, having that last supper, he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, and just as he's finishing praying these prayers, and what's very interesting in the Gospel of John is what is not recorded is the prayer of Jesus where he's saying, Father please take this cup away from me I don't want to drink it.

It's not actually in there but a greater prayer has been replaced and it's focusing on the disciples.

So anyways he's finished praying and now comes Judas who has betrayed Jesus.

He comes in to arrest Christ and take him away to lead him out to judgment to quote-unquote teach him a lesson.

And they're ready to take Christ and who steps in but the ever ready Peter and what does he do look at what the Bible says in John 18 verse 10 then Simon Peter having a sword drew it and smote the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear.

This is the only place, friends, of the 4 gospels that we see Peter's name mentioned, that he was 1 that drew the sword, and also that we know the servant who had his ear cut off, his name was Malchus.

And John is the only 1 that gives us extra details.

But you know, first, when we read this passage, we're thinking, number 1, Peter, where on earth did you get the sword from?

And not only that, for the past 3 and a half years, you've been the disciple of Christ.

And maybe he took the words of Jesus too literally when he said in Luke chapter 22 in verse 36 and 37, sell his garment and buy 1, for I say unto you that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me.

And he was reckoned among the transgressors, for the things concerning me have an end.

But you know when Jesus said here, sell your garment and go buy a sword, Jesus was not being literal.

Look, Peter must have missed the point because right after that, look at what happens in verse 38, and they, the disciples said to Jesus, Lord, behold, Here are 2 swords.

Jesus did not approve of the 2 swords that they pulled out and say, hey Christ, we don't have to sell, we got the swords here.

And if Jesus really had meant for them to fight.

In the book of Acts, they would have had swords to fight.

You know, after 40 days, Jesus might have reprimanded them.

During the 40 days after Jesus resurrected, He might have told the disciples, where did you get your swords?

And we would have seen a whole lot of fighting with swords in the book of Acts, isn't it?

Jesus was never talking about literal swords.

There is something that we are instructed to buy though.

In Proverbs 23 in verse 23 it says, buy the truth and sell it not.

Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

Not a literal sword made out of metal, but the sword of the Spirit, which we know in Ephesians chapter 6 verse 17 is the Word of God.

We are to buy the Word of God, meaning Friends, we are not to spare any expense to be able to get the Bible in our hands, to be able to receive the Word of God.

If that means just we sleep a little less so that we can come to church on time to catch the Word of God in Sabbath school, not divine service, but in Sabbath school first, and then in divine service, then we can grow.

We got to make sacrifices to get the Word of God in our hearts.

And it will come back, friends, as a double blessing to you eventually.

This afternoon at 02:00, friends, maybe you might still be having lunch.

Just eat a bit faster or maybe just eat while you're studying together.

Come and make sure you buy and sacrifice for the truth, the Word of God.

So firstly, Peter, what are you doing with a literal sword?

But secondly, Peter, when he drew his sword out, when they came to arrest Jesus, do you know that Peter was not aiming for the ear?

Look, he was either chopping top down to cut his ear, maybe, but then he would have chopped his shoulder, right?

Or he was going across, aiming for the neck, and maybe the angel of the Lord deflected it, and it went up and cut off his ear.

But Peter was not aiming for the ear only.

He was planning to take the life of this man.

3 and a half years walking with Jesus and you're still acting like a murderer.

It was only supernatural intervention that prevented Peter from killing this man.

Friends, this is what we call misplaced zeal.

Look at Luke's account of this situation where Peter cut off the ear of the servant.

Luke 22 49 to 51, When they which were about him saw what would follow, they said unto him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

And 1 of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.

And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far.

You see, in verse 49, someone asked God, Jesus, Lord, shall we smite with the sword?

And straight away in verse 50, before Jesus can say anything, Peter reacts and goes and aims for the neck of this servant.

He's so rash, misplaced, zeal, zealous but wrong, chopping and not following the Lord's orders.

Had Jesus asked for literal swords to be used, He would not have gotten on the ground there and picked up the man's ear that fell off and healed him in that very instant.

No, friends, Jesus was not referring to literal swords.

But you know, I think that we can all have misplaced or mistaken zeal in our lives, thinking that we're zealous for the cause of God when in fact we're acting in opposition to it, acting out of personal preference and personal emotions and things that we have felt were right rather than consulting with God.

I want you to consider Saul who became Paul.

He says in Philippians 3, verse 6, he says, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

He was the foremost in persecuting and killing Stephen.

He was the 1 that was hauling people off to prison and sentencing them to death.

He had a whole lot of zeal, but it was misplaced.

He was the instigator behind all this persecution that was taking place.

He was the man that was leading the charge of it.

And the Pharisees and all the Sanhedrin, they were so happy to have Paul in their ranks.

And he was on his way to Damascus to persecute more of Christ's disciples when God arrested him along the way and opened his eyes and shone light into his soul.

And I don't doubt that Paul, he was sincere, But he was sincerely wrong.

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Misplaced Zeal

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