Turn your Bibles to Luke's Gospel, Luke chapter 6, please. I was joking with Pastor Todd today. He called me and he says, so are you still doing it? And I said, I'm not quite sure I know what you're talking about. And he said, are you still preaching on those three disciples? I said, well, I did draw the short straw. So I guess I guess the answer is yes. He said, well, Andy and I were wondering maybe if you changed and went with Larry Curley and Moe instead of James, Simon, and Judas. And I said, well, that did not cross my mind, although we probably know more about Larry Curley and Moe than we do James, Simon, and Judas. So, but nevertheless, we're still going to endeavor to talk tonight about three obscure apostles. They are in the back end, if you will, of the listing of all of the disciples in many of the places that are listed. Luke chapter 6 is no different. When you get down to verse number 13, Luke begins to list the disciples there. And he starts in verse number 13, And 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 and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon called Zolotys, and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. Next week, Lord willing, we'll be finalizing this series with Judas Iscariot. But this evening, we get to look at three obscure apostles, James, Simon, and Judas. There are other apostles with those names. You have, of course, James, the brother of John. You have the… how shall we describe him? Simon Peter, who is by all accounts the head honcho, if you will, of the disciples. He's the one that everybody would know. If you were to ask People along the street, hey, do you know Simon the Disciple? Probably, they would not be thinking of this one first. They would be thinking of Simon Peter. The other one, obviously, is Judas. Now, interestingly, if you had asked the people around them at that time, we're not quite sure which one they might have chosen. Judas Iscariot was the treasurer. And by all accounts and purposes, at that point in their life, He was just fine. In fact, it wouldn't have surprised me that he was considered maybe at the very beginning to be one of Jesus's best because he's, after all, the one that handled the money. But here we have Judas, the son of James. We want to start off with James, the son of Alphaeus here. also referred to as James the Less. Mark refers to him as James the Less. Now we're not exactly sure why he's called James the Less. Some would speculate that it's maybe because of his height. The term Mycroft would necessarily be reflective of his height. Others would say maybe that it has to do with his age. And still others might say that it has the idea of the size of his influence that was a part of that group. It may be one of those. It may be all of those. It may be none of those. But probably, James, if I had to choose, I would say it probably has something to do with his influence. I just don't want to pick on his physical appearance, maybe. I don't know. But he probably didn't have a whole lot to say. The Bible doesn't record anything, anything, other than in the list. That's it. There is some speculation when you read here in Luke that it says here, James is the son of Alphaeus. If you recall from last week when Pastor Gleiser spoke, Matthew's father was also Alphaeus. So, you could speculate that there's a possibility that James and Matthew might be brothers. But nowhere in scripture does it allude to that fact. Nowhere does it reference the fact that Matthew and James were both the sons of the same Alpheus. It just says that he's the son of Alpheus. When I moved here to Indianapolis, I found out very quickly that there was another Greg Habegger in town. And back in 2005, when I believe it was President George Bush was in town, The other Greg Habegger had the opportunity with his family to sit down with President George Bush and share some things. I'm not exactly sure what the conversation was about, but it got reported in the news and in the newspaper that President Bush met with Greg Habegger. And there were some folks around here that said, did you meet with President Bush? And I said, no, that's the other Greg Habegger. And they look at me like, you've got to be kidding me. There's another Greg Habegger. By the way, it makes, it's, I don't know if I should say this, but that Greg Habegger is on my mother's side of the family. So if you want to do that, the tree gets crooked somewhere in there in the family tree. So I grew up. asking whether or not if going to a Habegger reunion, if I was going to my dad's side or my mom's side. So I'm not sure what that means. Bern, Indiana is well known for that, as I'm sure Pastor Felber can attest. But at any rate, that great Habegger, I believe, right now is assistant dean up at Hamilton Southeastern. Nevertheless, James, the less, lived a life of obscurity. Nothing. is said about it. So we move on. Simon the Zealot. We should be done by 745. Just don't tell Master Curtis. Point number two, Simon the Zealot, also referred to as Simon the Canaanite. Folks, read that. Matthew and Mark use that phrase. It does not mean that he was from Canaan or from the area of Canaan. It's actually a different word for really saying the same thing. He was zealous. Simon was a part of the group, the political party, if you will, of the zealots. And for those of you who have studied those, you maybe have heard of the groups, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, The Essenes, which are really not mentioned in Scripture, but are mentioned in other writings, as well as the Zealots. The Zealots would be similar to the Pharisees in that they believed in a literal rendering of the law. However, they took their beliefs to the nth degree, and they were very, very zealous in demanding that their beliefs be the way they should be. So much so that they used force. And in fact, the Zealots were well known for assassinating Roman soldiers, Roman citizens, anybody that had to do with the Romans. They absolutely hated the Romans. They believed that the only people that could rule the Jews is God himself. And it was their mission in life, so to speak, to rid everybody else, the Romans, of that rule so that God could then become, once again, the ruler. And they were very, very passionate about that. I find it interesting that Jesus called Simon. Because, if you recall last week, who else did He call? He called Matthew. What was Matthew's job? Matthew's job was collecting taxes and money for the Roman government. You probably couldn't pick two more opposites in a group of disciples like Matthew and Simon. And yet, I think that's one of the wonderful things about this group of twelve ordinary men, if you will, in that Jesus assembled not merely men of all the same thinking and the same backgrounds and the same political underpinnings and the same thing. He brought all different kinds. He brought Matthew. who was hated, hated, hated by the Jews as a tax collector. And then he brings Simon the Zealot to the same group. Isn't that just like Jesus Christ? I think if we were to look in our congregation here, and we were to start to look at the backgrounds for where each one of us came from, if we really knew, we'd probably be amazed that some of us are maybe even sitting in the same pew. But that's the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the fantastic thing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ does. There is neither Jew nor Greek. We are all one in Jesus Christ. So, you have Simon the Zealot. Nothing is said about Simon the Zealot. So, number three. Judas. How many of you have named your child Judas? Please don't raise your hand if you have. Alright? Many of us have heard of children named Judah or Jude. It would come from the same background, but I looked on the internet yesterday and Judas, surprisingly, is not in the top 1,000 names of boy names for any baby that's born here in America. I'm sure there are folks that have named their child Judas, but it is probably not a name that you would aspire your grandchild or your child or your brother or sister to be born with the name Judas. It carries, nowadays, a very, very bad reputation. If you say that it's a Judas, you're basically saying that that person is a traitor. Back then, it didn't have that connotation. It was as common as John and Mark and Matthew today. It was very common. This Judas also had other names. In fact, I think as the writers of the Gospels were writing this, I think the other ones, they'd call him Levias or Thaddeus. I think in some ways, sort of shielding this man away from some of the ridicule that he would have. You'll notice that later on in John, John often referred to this man, even in the listings, as Judas, comma, not Iscariot. Very, very careful to make sure that this was not the same one. This was Judas, the son of James. In John chapter 14, we find one statement recorded. Let's turn over there to John chapter 14. John chapter 14, Jesus senses that His disciples are struggling. They are confused. They're frightened. And Jesus also knows what's coming the very next day. Judas Iscariot had already left the scene by this point. And here Jesus is talking with the remaining eleven And He realizes that these disciples need some promises and need some comfort. And as you read through the first 14 verses of John chapter 14, you find out that Jesus is talking about, even at the very beginning of John chapter 14, Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Thomas is asked the question, and we find out about this, we heard about this last week in verse number 5, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? And Jesus answers, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father. Philip then asks the question in verse number 8, Lord, show us the Father, and it suffitheth us. And Jesus says unto him, have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? And then we go down to verse number 15. And here he starts a section where he starts to introduce a brand new concept to these disciples. A concept that they would not understand until the day of Pentecost. And it says even in verse number 20, as he's explaining these things, At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. They can't grasp these things, but he's going to tell some of these things anyway. In verse 15 he says this, If ye love me, Keep My commandments. In other words, to show that you love Jesus Christ, it's going to be demonstrated. The fruit of that love is going to be demonstrated and indicated by obedience to Him. John would take that theme and would run with it in his first epistle. You read about John's writings about how he views obedience and walking with Jesus Christ and how it pertains to whether or not we are a part of his family. It's a big deal to John. Jesus says here, verse number 18, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me, because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. He reiterates what he just says in verse number 15. And he that loveth me shall be loved to my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Well, this starts to confuse the disciples. Jesus has just said, he that loveth me shall be loved to my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. What does Judas ask? Verse number 22. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and not unto the world? Judas is confused. If he's thinking from a physical standpoint, how is it that Jesus, His Lord and Master, is going to manifest Himself to disciples and not to the world? That doesn't quite make any sense. And as he further thinks about it, he has heard the fact that Jesus has said that He is going to be the Savior of the world. And now he's saying that he's going to only manifest himself in front of disciples and maybe not to the world. This is confusing to Judas. I don't think, as he's asking this question, he's not like Simon Peter that almost, in many cases, challenges the Lord Jesus and says, no, I don't think you're right, Jesus. I don't think the heart here of Judas is that at all. I think he's really, really wondering what this all means. And what is Jesus' answer in verse 23? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. He basically replies with the same information that he gave in verse number 15 as well as in verse number 21. In essence, Jesus is saying, Christ would manifest Himself only to those who love Him and whose love is clearly indicated by their obedience. And then Jesus goes on throughout the rest of chapter 14 all the way through the middle of chapter 16 with some wonderful, wonderful teaching. And that's all that we hear about Judas. So, what on earth, when we study these three men, are we supposed to take from this? God delights in using all different kinds of people. God put in this group of disciples men who were brash and who were passionate, Men who were maybe struggling with doubt. Men who were optimists, like Andrew. Men who were pessimists, like Philip. Men who were passionate, like Simon, the zealot. Very passionate. Men like Simon, Cephas, Peter. Fishermen like James and John, businessmen, tax collector, people that sort of worked for the Romans, people that sort of hated the Romans. Jesus assembled all of these people to be his disciples. And it's as if he was assembling these people and saying, look what I can do with these ordinary, simple people for the praise of my Father's glory. In 1 Corinthians, it's written, it's on there on your sheet, chapter 1, verse 26, it says, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are." If you were to ask some of the Roman leaders in that day who had been seeing these people, if you would ask the Sadducees and some of the religious leaders as they saw this group of people making havoc, if you will, across the country, They are scratching their heads and wondering, how can this possibly be? I mean, look at them. They're not even educated. How is this even possible? But God loves to use people like you and people like me, ordinary, simple people, for the praise of His glory. There will be countless thousands probably millions of unnamed saints who never get their names written in the pages of the Scriptures. They're not considered the John Wesley's or the Amy Carmichael's or the Hudson Taylor's or you can list name upon name of people that we would know that we would say are mighty men of valor in terms of Jesus Christ. But there are many, many, many, men and women and girls and boys who have gone on before us, who have lived the Christian life admirably, honorably, and one day they will be richly rewarded. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. 1 Corinthians chapter 4. talking about ministers and stewards. Verse number one, let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you. Or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself. Yet am I not hereby justified. But he that judges me is the Lord." Paul's saying, it doesn't matter if you think that I'm doing a great job. It doesn't matter if you think I'm doing a poor job. It doesn't matter if I think I'm doing a great job or if I'm doing a poor job. Because I can deceive myself. The only person who knows the motive of my heart and what I'm doing and my real passion and why I'm doing what I'm doing is the Lord Himself. And in verse number 5, He says this, Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the matters of the hearts. And then shall every man have praise of God. What a beautiful passage that is. That as you are serving the Lord Jesus Christ, today and tomorrow, when you are passionately loving your Savior, and nobody else knows about it. Maybe you're in the season of life where it seems like you can never get out of the house. You're stuck. It may be someone, a mother, who is home with their children, would like maybe to do other things, but you know what? Your ministry is your family. There may be, and I know there are, there are prayer warriors in here tonight who daily take that prayer bulletin that you get tonight and you passionately pray for those people. Nobody else knows about it. And quite frankly, you probably don't want anybody to know about it. That's between you and your Savior. And you pour your heart out, and you pray passionately for those people, and you know what's going to be a marvelous thing? When we get to heaven, and God starts to hand out rewards, it's going to be probably quite surprising to all of us. To see people who we never thought stand there, and as God lavishly praises that young man, that elderly gentleman, that wonderful lady, that nobody ever really thought about, but God did. And He saw the heart, and He saw the passion, and He saw the love, and now it's His turn to lavishly to bring on the rewards. Oh, we think as human beings, we pretty much have it figured out. We think we know who might be living for Jesus Christ. And in a certain sense, the Bible does say that by their fruits ye shall know Him. Absolutely. But I think what Paul is saying here is really, we have no idea. There are lots of James and Simons and Judas, not Iscariots, in this church. And in this city. And in this country. And in this world. That are faithfully serving the Lord Jesus Christ where they are at. No bright lights. No big fanfare. But they're faithfully serving. These three men that we read about here are going to have their names on the pillars in that great heaven above. What do they do? They don't see anything in here. Why would their names be there? Because God knows. And it's His wonderful sovereign will. So what does that mean for me? That wherever I am and whatever I am doing, may my motives and my thoughts and the reason for what I do be pure before Him. No matter what anybody else thinks. And no matter even what I think. I trust that as you pray on a daily basis, that you ask the Lord, please, dear Heavenly Father, search the innermost parts of my heart and see me. Try me. See if there's any wicked way in me. And lead me in the way of everlasting, because I want to love you with a passion that can only come from you. And how do I display that? Jesus answers that to Judas. If you love me, it's going to be demonstrated and it's going to be indicated by your obedience and your walk with Him. May I encourage you, if you're running the race and nobody knows, keep running. And if you're not, get on board. Jesus needs disciples. who will passionately work and serve Him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for the fact that You include these people in Your Word. We thank You that You give us glimpses of these disciples throughout these four Gospels. Lord, each one of these writers are very careful to really note that it's not about these apostles. It's about your Son, Jesus Christ. Dear Heavenly Father, may we pattern our lives after the Lord Jesus Christ. After your Son. And Heavenly Father, may we run the race that you have put before us. And when we fall, may we get back up. And may we keep serving you. with a pure and right heart, seeking only that which would please you and those things which you love. May we have a passion like Simon. May we love you. In Jesus' name. Amen.