Simon the Canaanite-Zealot
Category: Obedience to God’s Will
Key Passage: Matthew 10
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: December 17, 2024
Turn your Bibles to Matthew chapter 10. We have been going over the 12 apostles. We have covered the majority of them. We are going to look at Simon tonight, not Simon Peter, but the other Simon. We will talk about him for just a bit tonight. He is only mentioned four times in all the Bible, and every time it is one of the lists of the apostles. So really nothing much has been said in particular about Simon. We are going to read all four of those lists, and I want you to notice some different things about them. We are going to start in Matthew chapter 10, verse number two. I do not have it. Usually I have to lay it out in my Bible. I do not have that right now, but I am getting there. Matthew chapter 10.
The Bible says, “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname is Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him, betrayed Jesus.”
We are going to focus a little bit on that one, Simon the Canaanite, just a little bit tonight. Father, Lord, I pray that you would give every person here what they need. Lord, you knew everything going on. You kind of led me to go this way, so I pray it will be accomplished. Lord, let the people be fed, let them leave being fed, and just satisfy their need, challenging us, Father. Lord, we will thank you and praise you for what you do. It is in Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.
Go back to verse number four, which we just read. We are going to read every single time that Simon is mentioned in the Bible. I want you to notice there are some differences here. One difference I want you to notice, we will talk about that, and then just something about the list. So look at it. Verse number four, Matthew 10, verse number four: Simon the what?
Look over in Mark chapter number three. That is the first time Simon is mentioned in all the Bible. He was one of the 12 apostles, by the way. A 12 apostle has a special place in heaven. He will be having a special judgment on all the 12 tribes. He will have one of the tribes that he is over; Simon will be judging them in the New Jerusalem. The foundations—Simon’s name will be there. He is an apostle, a patriarch of the faith, if you will. He is one of the ones that God chose to really take on the ministry after Jesus ascended and expand around the world—the apostle.
Let us look at something else about it. Now look down where you are. You are in Mark, chapter 3. Let us start in verse number 18, another list of the apostles: “And Andrew and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus and Thaddeus and Simon the what?” What is the next word? “Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him,” and they went into a house.
Look over in Luke 6, if you will, Luke chapter number 6. It is another list. That is the only time Simon is mentioned—in the list of the apostles. Look over in Luke chapter 6, and we will just kind of jump in the middle of the list in verse number 15. Luke 6, verse number 15: “Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called what?” Zealot. “And Judas, brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.”
Look over in Acts chapter 1, the last place that Simon is mentioned in all the Bible. Acts chapter 1 and verse number 13. They are in the upper room. 120 people are there praying, a ten-day prayer meeting, and God sent his Spirit in power after that Day of Pentecost. But it lists in this upper room these 11 apostles. Judas is not part of it now. Look what he says in Acts 1 and verse number 13: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room where abode both Peter and James and John and Andrew and Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon what?” What is the next word? “Zealot, and Judas the brother of James.”
Now, is not that interesting? Did you know what the difference is? Matthew and Mark call him Simon the what? Luke and Acts call him Simon the Zealot. You say, “What is the deal there?”
There are a couple different schools of thought. They are really going to preach; you just kind of want to inform you on the schools of thought. Leave the verdict up to you. I will tell you what I think. Simon the Canaanite, we tend to think he was from Canaan, that area. He is still a Jewish person, but from that area. That is why he is called Simon the Canaanite. By the way, it makes sense. There are two Simons, so you need to kind of tell the difference between the two: Simon Peter and Simon from Canaan. That is really the school of thought for the most part on Simon the Canaanite.
Then Luke and Acts call him Simon the Zealot, or Simon the zealous one. Now here is the thing about the Zealots. Many say he is called that Zealot because there was a group of people at that time called the Zealots. It was a group of individuals, very nationalist. They were very much about Israel. They hated Rome to the point—they did not just hate Rome, the majority of them hated Rome—that was their captor, you know. They hated it to the point they were so zealous of their hatred that they just wanted people to go, and they would do it themselves to the point of violence against Rome. They are very, very zealous against Rome. They are nationalists and they wanted to just revolt and use force and fight against Rome.
Here is the interesting part of that, just an interesting part of that. That is the major thing you talk about when you talk about Simon the Zealot. Remember who we talked about last Wednesday night? Who did we talk about? Anybody remember? Oh, you were sleeping? Matthew. Good job, Matthew. Remember, he left all. He rose up and followed him. But where did he rise up from? Where was he at? Where is that? Yeah, he was collecting the tax. He was at the receipt of custom, remember? He was at the tax collection booth.
So Matthew, remember how they did it? You know how they did it. Rome said, “You know, you need this amount of tax.” And so they could—you know, we need a thousand dollars—they could raise three times whatever they want to do. But here is the thing: Matthew worked directly for Rome. If Simon is all about—he was as zealous as that group of people—can you imagine the potential for division among the 12 apostles? “I hate Rome. Let us start a war.” “You work for Rome?” Is not that interesting? The first church, if you would, probably had a little sparks flying here and there everywhere. That is just part of people. But they had to learn to get along.
Of course, if he left all, and Simon left, by the way, do not become such a patriotic person that you put that above God. I love America. It is in my blood, but there is something much higher than that. By the way, one day we are all going to be of one nation up there.
Anyway, they had to let all that go. They had to get along. So just an interesting thought, even among the apostles. You talk about different. Wow. I mean, it is just totally different. One on this side working directly for Rome, one over here just hating Rome. And yet they are on the same team. Jesus did that. And a great lesson from that we could learn.
Some will say it really does not have anything to do with the Zealots. The word just means zealous, and it was just a very zealous person, had a lot of zeal. Maybe both are true, but he was very, very zealous. Some will say that the word Canaanite, and it does—if you study the word out, really the old word, the root of it—it does have to do with zeal. And so some say, just emphasizing the zeal, Simon was just one of these people, just—he is very zealous. That is why they call him Simon the Canaanite. And I—if you study the word out—means zeal or zealous. And of course, the Zealot, just very—he has a lot of zeal about him. There is a little debate about all that, two different schools of thought.
But let me just say a word about zeal, and we are going to move home. Zeal can be a great thing. Jesus had zeal about it. Remember, he drove out the traitors in the temple, and they said, “Hey,” remember later on, “the zeal of my house will eat me up.” And the Bible talks about verses about God has zeal about him. Not a bad thing. But, you know, zeal—you can have zeal without knowledge, and zeal has got to be steered in the right direction.
Over there in Romans 10, I think Romans 10:3, we mentioned Sunday morning that they had a—they were going about to establish their own righteousness and have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God, speaking about Jewish people. Remember that? Anybody who listened to it? We talked about that on Sunday morning. Well, that verse right before it, talking about the Jewish people—let me just read it for you—at Romans 10:2: “For I bear record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” So the Jewish people as a whole were talking about—they had a lot of zeal of God, but they were going in the wrong direction.
Zeal can be great, but zeal must be steered. If you can get zeal with knowledge, now you have something. I love it. Some young Christians, they have zeal, but not a lot of knowledge. I hope they never lose their zeal. That is not a bad thing. It is a good thing, but I hope they add to it knowledge and keep their zeal.
I was talking with someone—oh, Kevin Baldazore, remember he is a friend from Brother Warren. He was a police officer for 20-something years. He is retired. He is starting a church in Maryland. He texted me this afternoon, and he is always got this zeal about him. I said, “Brother, I appreciate—I appreciate you just having fire for the Lord. I hope you do not lose that.” I appreciate that about him. He has knowledge with it. God has used it. It is a good thing, but zeal with knowledge is very, very important.
Here is one of the just good things about zeal. I want you to notice, look over in 2 Corinthians chapter number nine. This is one way zeal is steered in the right direction that God can really use zeal in a great way. Second Corinthians chapter number nine. God is speaking through Paul; he is writing to the Corinth church. They were taking up an offering basically for the people back in Jerusalem. Jerusalem had some tough times financially, and they are sending back an offering to Jerusalem. I want you to notice how God words it here, 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Look in verse number 2: “For I know the forwardness of your mind”—I did not mean that in a bad way, just the eagerness, you are ready to go—“the forwardness of your mind for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia.” I have told them over there, “Man, you guys are just ready to give to this need, the needy people in Jerusalem.” That Achaia was ready a year ago, and your zeal has provoked very many.
You get someone very zealous for something, hopefully towards the right thing, and they can attract a lot of people to jump on board. You get someone zealous about a Sunday school class, boy, that will do so. You get someone zealous about church, that will do so. That is allowable to attract people. You get somebody zealous about Jesus Christ, and more people—just that zeal can bring a lot of people along with you. So zeal can be a great thing if it is used properly. So Simon, Simon the Zealot, Simon the Canaanite.
But I want you to notice something else. This is what we want to focus on tonight. Y’all still with me out there? We are getting there. We are getting somewhere. I want us to go back just real briefly, back over to Matthew, and I want you to notice not just the name Simon the Canaanite, but I want you to notice the order a little bit. I am not going to give it away; you will probably figure it out. Matthew chapter 10, and we will start in verse number 2, I believe it is. Matthew 2. Well, we will start—yeah, verse number 2, verse number 2. Here we go. Matthew 10, are you there? Amen. Look at this saying: “Now the names of the 12 apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname is Thaddeus; Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.”
Look over in Mark chapter number three. Mark chapter number three. Just look at the order here. Once you see the order, we have not really focused on the order until now. Mark chapter 3. Look down. We will start in verse number—oh, verse number 16: “Simon he surnamed Peter, James the son of Zebedee, John the brother of James, and he is certainly named—surnamed them Boanerges, which is the sons of thunder—and Andrew and Philip, Bartholomew and Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus and Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot, which has also betrayed him.” And they went into a house together.
Look over in Luke chapter 6. We are getting—we are getting somewhere. We are going. So stay with me. Stay with me. I just want you to notice the order of what we are focusing on right now. Look in Luke 16—excuse me, Luke 6. Just want you to see the order. Luke 6. Look in verse number 13. We will start there: “When it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, James, and John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zealot, and Judas, brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor.”
One more place, back over in Acts. Acts chapter number one, where we are going to be done as far as these lists. Acts chapter number one. We have already read it once. You want to notice the order of it. Acts chapter number one, and look in verse number 13. Acts 1:13. Are you there? Amen. Good deal. “And when they were coming in, they went into an upper room where abode both Peter, James, and John, and Andrew, and Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zealots, and Judas the brother of James.”
Now, anybody catch it? What is the thing about the order? Where was Simon at on this order? Typically, yeah, typically, two of the four times, the only one listed below him was the traitor. Well, no wonder he is on the bottom, you know. Besides that, Simon is just—you know—second to the last, and then one other time, third to the last. But for the most part, he is at the bottom of the list. And the Bible never records Simon saying, “Well, why don’t you name me first? Why does Peter got to be first? Why does Thomas—he is called the doubter—why is he above me?” He is never doing all that, if you will. It just seems about it and tells us a whole lot, but he is way down at the bottom of the list. But he still has the role of judging one of the tribes of Israel. He still has his name in the foundation of the New Jerusalem.
You know what? If there are 12, somebody has to be the 11th. Nobody can be the first. You know, there has to be someone fulfilling all these roles. You know, somebody has to have their name mentioned every once in a while. If I got really bothered because I am way down their Bible list, maybe—maybe my motives are not as pure as they ought to be.
Your motives are so very, very important. My motives—why am I doing what I am doing for the Lord? My motives are so often—if my motives are not right, a lot of times in the end, when things are not going my way, I am not getting the recognition, I will—I am pulling the quick. Or if my motives are not right, there is a proneness to bring contention with me. Because pride—you know, that pride, the middle letter is that “I” there, P-R-I—I, I, I—and my eyes not mentioned, showing some pride there. And only my pride can bring contention.
Your motives are so very, very, very important. Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. First Corinthians chapter 3. Here is something that is very important about your motives. If my motives are not right, I may, when I get to heaven, I may end up losing some rewards. That is a sad thing.
Look over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. When you are there, would you say, “Praise the Lord”? Good. I want you to see this, and it is just so right in front of your face. You probably knew all this, but let us just look at it real quickly here. First Corinthians 3, look in verse number 12: “Now if any man build upon this foundation”—watch the foundation that is laid, verse number 11, Jesus Christ, there is salvation—“if any man build upon this foundation,” watch here, there are two categories: one that burns, one that does not burn, but there are three names under each category. “Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones.” That is one category; it will not burn. But notice there are three different jewels or gems in the category that does not burn. I will come up in here just a minute. Then it says, “wood, hay, stubble.” That is going to burn up. You see those things? Now watch what he says. Verse number 13: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest”—open to the whole world, made manifest—“for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire.” That is why he said two categories: one will not burn, one will burn. “It shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.”
“If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon after his salvation”—the foundation of Jesus—“he shall receive a what?” Reward. It did not burn up; he got a reward. “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.” He is still going to heaven, misses the fires of hell, but he suffers what is the loss? He lost so many rewards God wanted him to have.
So our motives are important. At the judgment seat of Christ, it is not just about what we have done, but why we have done it. Y’all live there tonight? Now, let me just—let us just talk about motives. Sometimes I think we do not quite fully get motives, and we just kind of put all the motives into one of two categories. And remember, there are three different things under each category. So let us talk about motives. Let us talk about the right kind of motives, all right?
You know twice the Bible says this, you will know it, you will know it: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning.” One time it says wisdom, and then one time it says knowledge. But notice it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning. If Brother Chip was joking about Brother Garrett and saying he lives a wild life, and Brother Garrett says, “You know what, I am not going to go out clubbing anymore”—I am joking, he has not been—but he says, “I am not going to do that because I do not want God to take me out to the woodshed and chase me.” Help me out. Is that a wrong or sinful motive? No. That may be a baser motive, but “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.” He has some wisdom and knowledge. He is saying, “I ain’t going there. I do not want the Lord to beat the tar out of me.” That is not a bad motive.
If he is doing it for that reason, he may get some rewards for that, I do not know. It is the beginning, the Bible says, of wisdom, of knowledge. That is not a bad thing. I would rather him have that than just go clubbing like he has been doing. No, I mean, I am teasing with him. That is not a bad motive, not at all. But there are a lot of other motives.
What does it say over there, Matthew 6? Is it, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth”? It is all about clothes, or moss will eat up the clothes. It is about your cars, or rust, you know, can rust it out. It is about all your money. Well, robbers can come in there and steal it. Then that next verse, what is it, 21? He says, “But lay it up for yourselves treasures in where?” In heaven. So is that a motive? That is a motive. Why God put it in his Bible? It is a reward. Why do you want to live for the Lord? “I do not know,” he says, “it is wrong.” I want to live for the Lord because you get rewards. Why did God put it in the Bible as a reward? Because he wants to be motivated by it. Not a sinful motive.
It is all right. It may not be the best. I would tend to think it is maybe a little bit higher than the beginning, which is the fear of the Lord. You know, I want to get some rewards. I do not think that is a wrong motive. Gold, silver, precious stone—it might not be the highest, but I think it is in there. That is why God put it in there. But lay it up for yourself. That is what the Bible said: lay it up for yourself treasures in heaven.
Here is another motive. I do not think it is wrong, but 2 Corinthians 5:20: “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ.” You have a testimony. I had a situation that I had to deal with in my neighborhood this afternoon. And a lady, a real estate agent, had walked the vast majority of the neighborhood trying to get people to be on her side. And we were down at the courthouse this afternoon over her situation. And she said, “You know, I want you to know as I walked the neighborhood and told people about the situation, she said, ‘Everybody pretty much in the neighborhood knows you; you’re the preacher in the back of the neighborhood.’” And I said, “I know, I know it. That is good. I pray the Lord for it.” But I had to—I had to—there is an issue, somebody trying to start a car repair business in her neighborhood, and I had to stand up against it because it was against the codes and all that, everybody. And I told my one neighbor that was there, I said, “Man, I’m praying, Lord, how do I stand as a good Christian should stand?” I was concerned about that because of a…
Look, if someone is living for the Lord, maybe because I think about Brother Joel. Brother Joel loves his grandkids. They come to his house and they just raid it. I mean, they live—they got all this money, all his clothes, they got everything, you know. But hey, if you’re living for the Lord to be a good testimony to your grandkids, is that wrong? No. Is that a motive? Yes. Is it a good motive? Well, we are ambassadors for Christ, what it calls us. I do not think that is as sinful. It may not be the top, but it is not a bad one. I do not think it is maybe base, and it is not wrong, but the fear of the Lord—that is not wrong. But you grow. By the way, probably a healthy Christian, you have got a little bit of all these in there. When you are up and you are down, maybe a different motive motivates you often. That is not a bad thing. You want to be a good testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing wrong with that.
Here is the interesting thing not mentioned very much—we have got to hurry along tonight. Look over in 2 John. Second John, first, second, third John, back in the back part of your Bible: Jude, Revelation, Second John, chapter number three, verse number eight. When you find that, would you say, “Amen”? Oh, you are on the ball tonight. What about that? What about that? Good, good. I was hoping for one at least. My goodness. You know, man, I didn’t get anybody on that one there. Goodness gracious, y’all are on the ball. Second John, look down in verse number eight. I think it is a very interesting verse to say the least. He is talking to hear this church, and he says, “Look to yourselves, that we”—that’s John and those of this evangelistic team, if you will—“lose not those things which we have brought, but that we receive a full what?” What’s the next word? Reward.
Who was that invested in your life? A neighbor, a mom and dad, a Sunday school teacher. You just got just one person, just somebody that majorly invested. Who was it? Somebody that majorly invested in you? Miss Joyce, your grandmother. Good, good, good, good. Somebody else. Just someone that made—Brother Chip, Aunt Shelley. Amen. Amen. One more. One more. Brother Garrett, his dad. Now, wait a second. He’s saying here, “Man, live for the Lord because those people have invested in you, and you want them to receive a full reward.” Is not that interesting?
By the way, we do not have time to get into it, but that lines up with Hebrews chapter number 11, the last part of that chapter, and Hebrews chapter 12, the beginning of it. But look, friend, so is that a wrong motive because those people that invested in Aunt Shelley invested in Brother Chip? Is it a wrong motive for Brother Chip? It is, “Man, I want to live for the Lord for a lot of reasons, but one reason I would like for her to get a lot of rewards because she invested in my mother.” Is that a bad motive? I do not think necessarily it is the top, but it is not a bad thing. A lot of things can motivate you to live for the Lord. That is why gold, silver, precious stone—there are different categories inside that category. See, not bad motives, and probably many tons of them that I haven’t mentioned.
This would probably be on the top of the list. Help me out. You know it, 1 John 4:19: “We love him because he was what?” And what Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my…” What is this over there, 1 John? Brother Bill preached about it much. It was a great, great message. “Perfect love casteth out…” It is no longer the beginning. You have grown, and you say, “I just want to do it because I love him. He has been so much better than I ever deserved.” It tears me up. It breaks my heart when I do not obey him and I go against him because I hurt the one I love. I am not obeying him. I love him. I love him. I want to please him. His commandments are not grievous. It is why? Because, man, it is way beyond that base. And then that’s not bad, but it’s way beyond that. It’s not about, “I don’t want him to whip me.” Man, it’s—it just breaks my heart when I don’t please him because I love him.
Oh, and Charles Spurgeon. He said, “I want to say, ‘Lord, I love you.’” And he said, “I want the Lord to look down and say, ‘Charles, I know you do.’” And that is probably the highest motive, the love of Christ can trade with me. But all these others aren’t wrong motives. A lot of things can motivate you.
But let us look. So those are maybe some positive motives for living for the Lord. Probably some that I did not think to mention in that. But I want you to say, “Well, what is the wrong motive?” Look over in Matthew chapter 6. And I think really this first part of this chapter, first 18 verses of Matthew 6, really deals with this matter of the wrong kind of motives.
Matthew chapter number six in God’s word. And this is an interesting area. It is going to be 18 verses, I think it is, Matthew chapter number six. And it’s interesting. He says in these 18 verses, seven times he will use this word “reward.” Seven is the number of completion. So a lot of these first 18 verses are about rewards. Seven times he says he uses that word. This is interesting. You will find this phrase three times in the first part of Matthew 6: “They have their reward.” Interesting. Watch what God says about it over here. We talk about good motives; let us look at the wrong kind of a motive. Matthew chapter 6. We will start—we will start in verse number one: “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them.”
We will stop for just a second about alms. There are three types of giving. You can break it up this way. There is the tithe; that is the Lord’s. You have no choice in the matter of the tithe. The tithe is the Lord’s. We will go to the church house—the tithe. And there’s offering; that’s over and above your 10%. You can give it to WMQI, Brother Martin. He is supposed to say amen right there. He said, “Amen.” You can give it wherever the Lord leads you: do missionaries, whatnot, you know, every Lord’s. And then there are alms, alms deeds. This is Brother Frank. He needs help. Ms. Juan is stealing all his money, you know, everything left. You cannot buy any food. I’m joking about all that. And you give him the Baptist handshake, and inside that handshake, there’s a $100 bill, and you transfer it over to his hand when you’re shaking the hand. That’s alms deeds. You’re helping someone. Angel Tree—that’s alms deeds. You’re helping someone, a needy person. Okay? So that’s what I spoke about.
Matthew 6:1: “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have what?” What are the next two words? “No reward.” Wow. Notice it clarifies a little bit: “of your Father which is in heaven.” You might have reward that so-and-so saw you, and they pat you on the back, and you get a big head and all that, but of you, God, you ain’t got no reward. I would rather have a reward from God than man, amen.
Look at verse number two: “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” Help me out. What’s that last phrase? They have their reward. Isn’t that amazing?
“But thou, when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall what?” What is the word, next word? “Reward thee openly.”
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” Isn’t that amazing?
“But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall what? Shall reward thee openly.”
Look down, if you would, to verse number 16: “Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” Say, I pray, what’s a bad motive? To be seen of men. I am—I’m impressed when I find out someone did something for someone else and nobody knew about it. That’s—that’s a good thing. And just sometimes secretly or somehow I’ll find out about it that they never told anybody. Not to be seen of men, but for the Lord.
You know, and the thing about that, that’s a heart thing, and God’s the one that really he searches the heart. It’s hard to know because the heart is deceitful above all things, that is really wicked. Who can know it? So you need God. But as you get closer to God, by the way, none of us are perfect about this stuff. But I’ve drawn out of God, and he will draw nigh to you, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. And as you get close to the Lord, the Lord says, “Hey, your heart right there.” He’s the heart doctor. He’s going to make your heart right.
But so many motives aren’t bad, aren’t wrong, but if my motive is to be seen of men—by the way, it’s so important, I think we’ll talk about Sunday morning, so I don’t need to talk about tonight, we’re going to run out of time tonight—but man, get your needs met by the Lord so you don’t have to go out in front of everybody and get your needs met by them. That is so important. So vital. But no, no, that’s not a good reward.
Simon was fulfilling his role God had given him. Typically, second to the last, only got lower than him as far as the list goes is Judas. But he fulfilled his role. Success is you finding what God’s will for your life is and doing it. That’s success. Who cares how many people know about it and say it? Who cares about it? You’re doing it for the Lord. Success is finding what God wants you to do and you do it. By the way, do not compare it. The Bible says, “They that compare themselves among themselves are not wise.” If someone’s just all about, you know, “Does anybody see me?” compare it to all the rest, they lack wisdom. That’s what the Bible said.
One last thing, we’ve got to be done. And I love this passage. Look over in Luke chapter 11. Luke chapter 11. We’ll just look at this one brief instance in the Bible. We’ll mention one more thing, and we’re done. Not say mention another thing; we’re just mentioning the past, we’re done. “Well, Chip, don’t believe me, you may be right. No, we’re going to look at Luke chapter 11.” I love this little story right here. Jesus is up preaching; probably a multitude is there.
Luke 11, look in verse number 27. “And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.” Boy, blessed is your mom, Mary. She was able to bear you. She brought you forth out of her womb. Boy, she’s highly favored, Mary. What about her? Watch what Jesus said. Very interesting. The next verse, verse number 28: “But he said, Yea, he didn’t deny that. Yeah, Mary’s blessed. Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God.” Thank you. Yeah, Mary had a special place, but if you do God’s will for your life, you’ve got a special place, too. Yeah, Mary is—hey, lady, yes, Mary is blessed, but you’re just as blessed if you find out God’s will for your life and you start doing it.
You know what is interesting? The Bible says the first will be last, and the last will be first, many times. You say, “That guy’s just fulfilling his role.” All right, Brother Chip, you’re right. Here’s the last thought I wasn’t going to mention. Hey, what about the widow? They’re putting in all that big bucks in there, and that’s fine. And you’ve got big bucks to put them in there right now, building for them in. But that widow just put in two mites, makes her offering. And Jesus said she put in more. She’s just fulfilling her role.
Look, whatever your role is, if nobody knows about it, who cares? You’re fulfilling the role God has given you. That’s success. You may have more rewards than a guy everybody knows about because he may—and I don’t know—the temptation is when you get seen, you want to be seen more. Sometimes it’s harder for that guy to stay right, pure. But that guy, nobody knows about him. He doesn’t care about it. He’s just doing God’s will. He may have more rewards because that other guy, they have the reward.
We’ve got to quit. Let’s close our eyes, if you would, please. Hey, let’s just ask the Lord. Lord, I’d like to have the right kind of motive. Whatever your will for my life is, that’s what I want to do. That’s what I want to fulfill right there. Let’s just spend some time. “Search me, O God, and know my heart, and know my heart. See my heart. I’d like to have your mind.” Just tell the Lord those things if you would tonight. Would you please stand if you’re able? Let’s just roll out to the Lord tonight. Let him purify our hearts.
Father, thank you for Simon. What a great man, just fulfilling the role you gave him. Father, help us to do the same, Lord, please. And help our hearts, help my heart, have out of the right motives, pure motives. Grow us tonight in that area. And Lord, we thank you for what you do. Jesus, and we pray. Amen.
Glad you’re in church, in your spot, Wednesday night. That’s awesome. And by the way, I don’t know if a mission—there’s mission at Sunday school, but praise the Lord, we got a bus. Amen for that. Amen. What a blessing. Some of our men are going to go pick it up, hopefully tomorrow. But praise the Lord for that. Got a bus, and it means we have about 500 more bus kids Sunday in your class. And Dave McCorororor is not here tonight. So he said, “Praise the Lord, I’m not there. I’m not there.” I’m teasing. Praise the Lord for it. That’s a great, great ministry. Good to see about it tonight. I’m going to slip out right afterwards and go be with my wife a bit tonight. But Brother Trey, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please?
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Simon the Canaanite-Zealot＂- Wednesday PM 12⧸11⧸2024 [Kq2V8XkYcWE]