Lesser Lights and Their Ministry

Bible says that when Jesus did leave this earth in Acts chapter 1, disciples were watching as He slowly lifted into the sky and two men dressed in white stood beside them. Men of Galilee they said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven. So it is biblical to look to the sky for Jesus to be coming and someday He certainly will do that. The Bible tells us that in the story of creation God made two lights. He made the greater light to rule the day, obviously speaking of the sun, and He made the lesser light to rule the night, obviously speaking of the moon. So the greater light is one that is more visible, more apparent to us, looks larger, the lesser light smaller, not as apparent, not as brilliant in the sky. And so among the characters of Scripture there are greater lights and lesser lights. The greater lights are people who just blaze forth in the pages of Scripture, men like Moses and David and Isaiah and Daniel, Peter, Paul, people like that. And then there are lesser lights, lesser known personalities, minor personalities that we really know very little about from the pages of Scripture. Now obviously this is simply from our perspective, from our human perspective. The sun seems like the greater light in the sky, but it is not one of the larger bodies in the sky. There are many stars that are larger than our sun. It just appears to us that the sun is larger. And certainly in God's reckoning there are no greater lights and lesser lights. In fact if God does any evaluation of those kinds of scales, it's the exact opposite of what we normally think. You remember when Jesus was watching people give in the temple? He watched the widow give her two mites, each mite worth about an eighth of a penny. And Jesus stopped the whole process and said to those looking on, this woman has given more than all because she gave all that she had. So Jesus doesn't evaluate things, weigh things on the same scales that we use. But back to our perspective, from our perspective there are greater lights and lesser lights among people in the Scriptures and certainly even today as well. And that was true among the apostles. There were some greater lights and there were some lesser lights. We have looked at the greater lights. Today I want us to look at the lesser lights among the apostles, three apostles about whom we practically know nothing. Very little at all recorded about them in the Scriptures, but yet there are some good lessons for us to learn from them. So I want us to begin by looking at them separately and then we will look at them together and talk about some principles that we can learn from them collectively. The lesser lights among the apostles. Let's look at Mark chapter 3 and verse 18. If you have your Bible, please open it to Mark 3, 18. This is one of the lists of the apostles. The Bible says in verse 14 that he appointed 12, designating them apostles that they might be with him, that he might send them forth to preach, to have authority to drive out demons. These are the 12 he appointed. It begins the list in verse 16, Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John to them he gave the name Bowen-Airgees, which means sons of thunder, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas. All of those apostles we have already looked at. We have seen what the Bible says about their lives, but it is the next three that we want to talk about tonight. In verse 18, James, son of Alphius, Thaddeus, Simon, the Zealot. Let's just take them as they appear here in the Scriptures. First of all, James, son of Alphius. What does the Bible have to say about him? Well, very little, quite honestly. We must distinguish him from the other two James who are prominent in the New Testament. There was another apostle named James, the son or the brother of John. This is the James that was the early leader of the Jerusalem church and then was martyred by Herod in Acts chapter 12. But taking his place among the apostles to lead the church in Jerusalem was another James. James, the half brother of our Lord, who wrote the epistle of James, is the leader of the Jerusalem church by Acts chapter 15. So those are the two James that are most well known in the New Testament. This is an entirely different man. James, son of Alphius, is a third James in the New Testament, not nearly as well known as the others. In fact, there are only two things that we know about him in the Scriptures. One is that he is called the son of Alphius. That doesn't tell us a whole lot except, if you look back at chapter 2, in verse 14, in Mark's account of the calling of Matthew, the Bible says, as he, Jesus walked along, he saw Levi, son of Alphius, sitting at the tax collector's booth. And that's when Jesus called him to following. Could it be that Matthew and James were brothers? Well, we don't know whether this Alphius is the same Alphius. They may not have been sons of the same father. But if so, then we have at least three brother teams on the apostles. Peter and Andrew, James and John, and possibly Matthew and James, the son of Alphius. The only other thing we know about him that's described of him in the Scriptures is that in one case, he is called James the Less. In Mark chapter 15 and verse 40, and I think we have this Scripture four year there on the screen. The King James Version, it says, there were also women looking on a far off among whom was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less, and of Joseph and Salome. And most believe that this James the Less is the one that's referred to here as James son of Alphius. Well, what does it mean that he was the Less? Well, a lot of people think that means he was shorter. He was the shorter of the two James among the apostles. Now, that's really all we know about him. I mean, how would you like to be known as the short one? I can just hear Peter calling James, and one of the two James is saying, which James are you on? I want Shorty. And that's all he's known as, James the Less, the short one, the shorter of the two. Others feel that that means younger, not shorter, but younger. In fact, the NIV translates it by the word younger. So that was basically a designation to distinguish him from the James the brother of John among the apostles. Beyond that, we know absolutely nothing about this man. There is not one word or one action recorded of him in the New Testament. All we know, son of Alphius, and he's either shorter or younger than the other James. That's really all we know about him. So let's move on to the second man listed there in verse 18, and that is Thadius. Now Thadius actually has another name in some of the lists of the apostles in Luke chapter 6, and in Acts chapter 1, he is called Judas son of James. He's not the Judas Iscariot who denied Jesus, but he was another Judas. And for that reason, sometimes he was called by his surname, which was Thadius. There is one thing that we have recorded about this man in the New Testament. If you'll look in your Bible at John chapter 14, in John 14, we have one question, a 16-word question, asked by Thadius. The only time he's mentioned other than the lists that are given of the apostles in the New Testament. On chapter 14, Jesus in this passage is explaining to his disciples that he must leave. He's just told them that he's going away to prepare house for them, a mansion for them, and his father's house, and he will come back and get them, and they've discussed that some more. Thomas has made a statement to him, Philip has asked a question of him in verse 8, and Jesus is describing that he's going to be going away, but he will manifest himself to them, the apostles, but not to the world. The world will not see him, but they will see him and have a special relationship with him. If you'll look down in verse 22, here's the question, then Judas, not Judas Iscariot. This is the one who's listed in other places as Thadius. Judas, not Judas Iscariot, said, but Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? Thadius here demonstrates a common misconception among the disciples right up to the very end, and that was that Jesus was coming to set up his kingdom, a literal political kingdom that would overthrow Rome. And the disciples never completely got that out of their minds and never completely understood the spiritual aspect of the kingdom till after the resurrection. And what Thadius really is asking here is, Lord, I don't understand why you're just going to reveal yourself to us and not to the whole world. I thought you had come to set up your kingdom and it would be a worldwide kingdom and everybody would know you as king. You see, that's what he's thinking. And Jesus continues to correct their misperceptions of his kingdom. In verse 23, when Jesus replies, if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own. They belong to the father who sent me. And he goes on to describe the special relationship that those who hear him and obey him have with him and his father through the presence of the Holy Spirit. So Jesus answers his question, why are you going to reveal yourself to us but not the world by saying, I'm talking about a spiritual relationship with those who obey me, those who know my commandments. My father and I will come to him and he describes that in the terms of the Holy Spirit coming and making his abode with us. So Jesus patiently explains that this relationship is to those who love him, those who are obedient to his word, he reserves a special relationship for those who have come to know him and love him and obey his word. So Thaddeus asked a question that drew a response from the Lord that has been a blessing to us ever since in understanding that spiritual relationship that we have with him through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That's all we know about Thaddeus. The third guy mentioned in Mark chapter 3 and verse 18 is called Simon the zealot. Simon the zealot. Now that tells us a lot about him although there is nothing else described of him in the New Testament. There's no question or word from him, no statement made by him, no action that is described uniquely of him. But just the fact that he was Simon the zealot does tell us a lot about him because you see the zealots were the most radical revolutionary political party in Israel in the first century. They were fiery patriots who fought the Romans anyway they could. They used guerrilla warfare, they used rebellion, they resisted with arms, they would attack groups of Roman soldiers along the highways, they would do anything they could to try to inflict any damage on Rome. Knowing realistically that they could not themselves overthrow the Roman Empire, they were just going to inflict as much damage as they could. They were fiery zealots. So evidently this Simon the zealot was a man of flaming zeal, burning enthusiasm who loved his country and hated the Romans and would do whatever he could to inflict harm on the Romans. Now that says something about him that's very interesting that he is included in the apostolic band. Evidently his life was radically transformed by Jesus Christ. When he met Christ his goals became completely different. Not radical revolutionary political agenda but now he's fighting for a spiritual kingdom, he's fighting for Jesus Christ and he will become one of the apostles that will follow the Lord Jesus. No more bloodshed, no more hatred of the Romans, he's learning a new way and that is Jesus tells us to love even our enemies. And if a Roman soldier compels you to carry his garment one mile, go ahead and carry it a second mile. I mean can you imagine what Simon thought when he heard those things? How revolutionary that was in his mindset, his thinking? But he was learning a new way of life under the leadership of Jesus Christ. There was a transformation in his life, his attitude would be different. But I think one of the most unique things and one of the most interesting things about Simon is that he lived with and worked with and ministered alongside Matthew. Now think about these two men and the backgrounds they came from. Matthew was a tax collector. A tax collector in that day was seen as the ultimate traitor. A zealot was seen as the ultimate patriot. You got these two men coming from complete opposite ends of life and the political spectrum now working together in the apostolic band. A tax gatherer, a tax hater. You've got a patriot and a traitor working together for the cause of Christ. I would love to have heard some of their conversations around the campfire at night. But they would talk about how the Lord had drastically changed their viewpoints and given them a new agenda, a new focus and purpose in life. That's certainly ought to be the way it is with us. You know God calls into his family people from radically different backgrounds as far as mindset, philosophy, even politically, whatever and calls us to a new focus. That is the building of his kingdom, not our own kingdoms. The working out of his agenda, not our own political agenda. So we have a new focus and a new purpose when we come to Christ. But I think there's something else that probably was true of Simon the zealot and that is I don't think the Lord, although there's nothing said about this, just knowing from the scriptures the way he works with us in our own unique personalities and so forth. I don't think the Lord took away his zeal, you know, and did a frontal lobotomy on him or something and just made him completely different. I think the Lord used his zeal that he used to channel into revolution and now channeled it into his work. I think that Jesus takes what we have, who we are and heightens our strengths, knocks the rough edges off of our weaknesses, transforms our temperament and personality so that what we are and who we are is now channeled in the right direction, enabling us and helping us to overcome our sins and weaknesses, yes, but channeling our strengths into use for him. And I'm sure that's what happened with Simon the zealot. It was now zeal that was channeled toward the work of Christ. Well those are the three lesser lights among the apostles and what we know about them, but I think there are lessons that we can learn from them as a whole that can help us in our Christian lives. And I would like to examine three, the ministry of lesser lights, three lessons we can learn from their ministry. First of all, their ministry was needed. Even though very little is recorded about them, they were more than just a name to Christ. Although practically all we know about them is what we see, they're just in the lists of the apostles. They were more than just a name to Christ. Think about it. James the Son of Alphius, Thaddeus, Simon the zealot were chosen along with James and John and Philip and Matthew and Peter and Andrew and the more well known of the apostles. They were chosen right alongside them. They shared in the ministry of the apostles in every way and in the ministry of Christ. Just like Peter and James and John, these men were men who were trained by the Lord Jesus. They were men who were sent out to preach. They taught just like the others did in Galilee and in other places where they were sent to preach and teach. They were given the ability to do miracles, just like the others. They cast out demons just like the others. They helped lay the foundation of the church in the book of Acts just like the others. And so these men, even though they are not well-known to us, were needed by the Lord. We called them to do the same kind of ministry that the others did. In his own way and in his wisdom, God has a place for us. We may not be one of the better known of his servants, but God has a place for us. You may feel obscure. You may feel unneeded in the work of God, but as we saw this morning, the Lord wants and uses all whom He chooses for His work. Regardless of what place we may occupy and what position or role we may play, we may have a more important place as we look at it or we may have a lesser role, a lesser light kind of role. But God calls us all and uses us all and in that sense needs us just like He does the others. Obviously, we know God doesn't really need any of us. He could get along fine without us, but He has chosen in His plan to use us to do His work. And in that sense, He needs the lesser lights just as much as the greater lights. Some people pray, some people give, some people show mercy, some people just help. As we saw this morning with the different spiritual gifts, all are needed in the body of Christ. So, James, son of Alphius, was needed just as much in the apostolic man as Peter was. Their ministry was needed. And so, no matter what you do, you are needed in the cause of Christ. It's awful easy for us to think that certain people are more necessary in God's work than others. That's simply not true, not from God's perspective. God has a place for all of us to serve and in whatever that place is, He expects us and wants us to be faithful. Their ministry was needed. Secondly, their ministry was faithfully carried out. They were content with their position. There's no evidence that there was any thought for applause or recognition, at least any more than the rest of the apostles. We know that at times they all clamored for who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. But overall, they did what the Lord wanted them to do. You don't find them arguing with the other apostles that Peter's getting more press than James is or Thaddeus is. And you know, that is a lesson that all of us can learn from, that our ministry wherever we are and whatever we do for Christ should be faithfully carried out. None of us in this room are exceptional in God's work. Most of us are simply commonplace. When it comes to the grand scope of God's work, most of us don't have exceptional gifts. We're pretty ins- conspicuous, ordinary people. And yet, we should not be indifferent about our service for Christ. We should be just as zealous and faithful, just as earnest, about living for Christ as anyone else in God's work and God's kingdom. Yes, even here in Princeton, West Virginia, where nobody in the broad scope of world ministry knows what's going on. We may be very inconspicuous, but we should still be faithful in carrying out the work that God's given us to do. No matter how large or small it may be, I think sometimes it is easier to do well when you're in a conspicuous place. I think sometimes it's easier to do well when a lot of eyes are on you. The real test of faithfulness is when no one is watching but God. And even in our little pond, it's easy to do well, to really be faithful when we're in a conspicuous place. The real test, however, of faithfulness is how do we live when nobody is watching but God? When nobody will see or know whether or not we are faithful? I think about Joseph in the Old Testament. And often when we think about Joseph, we think about him at age 30. We think about him when God raised him up to be the second in command in Egypt. And the tremendous ministry that God opened up for him in the place of power and influence he had worldwide. That's what we think of when we think of Joseph. But you know the reason God put him in that place is because of what Joseph was for 13 years when hardly anybody knew where he was and what he was doing. When he was sold into slavery, he decides he will be faithful in his job as a slave. God allows him to be raised to a position of the head of the slaves in Potiphar's house. Then he gets thrown in prison and he makes the decision that he's going to be the very best prisoner he can be. Now think about it for a minute. There's a long distance from being second in command in Egypt to being the best prisoner you can be in the prison in Egypt. But Joseph is faithful regardless of who's watching or what position he occupies. That is the real test of character. If we are in prison, so to speak, our job is to be the very most faithful and best prisoner we can be. That's what Joseph did. I think of David. We think of David as a great king and he was. We think of a man whom the Bible says was a man after God's own heart even though he had his share of failures. When you look at the whole scope of his life, he was a man who served God, love God. But the real test of character was David faithful as a shepherd boy out in the field. There's every evidence that he was that he had cultivated in those quiet hours a deep relationship with God. Because many of his Psalms and the heart that later is evident in the writing of the Psalms, much of that was developed as a young man when he is tending sheep out where nobody's watching. Nobody sees but God what's happening. David is faithful. And so when David is sent as a young man to go check on his brothers and he sees Goliath taunting the armies of God, he is ready to step out and say, nobody challenges the God of Israel like that. The God of Israel can deliver and when every other soldier is fearful, David is courageous. Why? Because in those quiet hours he's developed a heart for God. You see, faithfulness is seen when nobody else is watching. When we are in inconspicuous places, when we are in places where we are not noticed or recognized by others, that is the real test of faithfulness and character. And these men, although they were not well known, were chosen by the Lord and evidently were faithful in carrying out their ministry. So their ministry was needed, their ministry was faithfully carried out, but thirdly, their ministry was rewarded by the Lord. Yes, their labors are unrecorded as far as scripture is concerned, but certainly they're not unrewarded. God rewarded them as he does all who faithfully serve him. Certainly their names were unknown. I mean, if we didn't read them in the list of the apostles, you wouldn't know who James, Son of Alphius is, or Simon the Zealot are thaddeus. I mean, there are just not common Bible names that we know. So they're unknown, but they were never overlooked in heaven. God knows everything they did, every action, every act of service throughout their lives. They would never be found in anyone's who's who book. But you know something, their names are recorded in heaven. In fact, their names are recorded in a special way in God's who's who. Look at this verse. I think it's on the screen, Revelation 21, verse 14. Talking about the New Jerusalem, the Bible says, the wall of that city had 12 foundations, and on them were the names of the 12 apostles of the land. Now think about it in the New Jerusalem, where we will live forever in eternity, future. One of the foundations has thaddeus on it. Oh sure, one of them has Peter and James and John, you know, but one has thaddeus on it, and one has James, Son of Alphius on it, and one has Simon the Zealot on it. And I don't know that Peter has a big foundation in Simon the Zealot, just has a little one. I think they're probably all the same. So although their names are unknown to us, and they would never make anybody's who's who category, their names are on the pillars of the city of the New Jerusalem. And not only that, the book of Matthew tells us, Jesus said in Matthew 1928, that when he comes back in the renewing of all things, the regeneration of all things, that the 12 apostles will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. That's in his kingdom. When he sets up his kingdom on earth, the 12 apostles will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. So that means thaddeus is going to have a tribe. Simon the Zealot is going to have a tribe. Not only Peter, not only John, but these other men will too. So their names are unknown to us, but they are rewarded by the Lord just like the more well known of the apostles. I'm so convinced that we're going to be amazed at the judgment seat of Christ. I don't know how all that's going to work out. I don't know whether we'll see what's happening with other believers, whether it'll be just a personal interview, whether it will be all of us at the same time, as though we were personally being examined by Christ. I'm not sure how it will work, but if we do understand and see and know what has happened with other people, and the results, the rewards that they've received. I think there are going to be a lot of amazements there. There are a lot of sweet and gracious Christian people who live their lives faithfully, but their names are never known. They would never make the newspaper. They're never going to find their name in the bulletin unless they're in the hospital or something like that. But they faithfully serve where they are never recognized, where what they do is rarely if ever known, and while they may miss human praise and human recognition, nothing ever escapes the eye of God. My friend, he knows exactly what you have done for him, whether or not anybody else ever knows. He knows every prayer, every sacrifice you have made, every time you have done something secretly that nobody ever found out about, or knew that it was you that did that in the work of God. He knows that. He takes note of that, and it comes up to him as an acceptable sacrifice in his eyes he doesn't miss anything. There's a verse that describes a little bit about what will happen with the judgment seat of Christ. It's 1 Corinthians 3 13. It says this, it's on the screen. His work, talking about each man's work, his work will be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light, it will be revealed with fire. Now notice the next part. And the fire will test the quality of each man's work. Two things I would call to your attention from the last part of that verse. First of all, each man's work, man generically, men and women, any person, each person will stand before God someday. The judgment seat of Christ talking about believers, obviously. Each of us, without exception, will receive reward for that which we have done, which has eternal value to it, which is not temporary, it can be burned up in the fire. Each man's work. Second thing I would have you note is the quality of each man's work is what will be tested. Not the quantity, but quality. So it doesn't matter how much has been done as far as the way we gauge things in man's eyes. Remember the widow's mites that she gave in the offering? That's not the barometer of scale, the measuring tape that we use is not the way God sees things. He doesn't see things by quantity, season by quality. And there will probably be some of us who stand at the judgment seat of Christ, who've done a lot of stuff, but it was not quality. Either it was done out of impure motives, or it was done halfway, or our heart really wasn't in it, it was just out of duty. Quality wasn't there. And there are a lot of other folks I'm convinced who will stand before Jesus, who as far as man's measurements go, didn't do a whole lot, but what they did, maybe a single unnoticed focus in the work of Christ, they did with a pure heart and the best of motives and with intense zeal and faithfulness. And whereas no one may have noticed, Jesus noticed, and it will be rewarded. Come time for the judgment seat of Christ. What a day that will be. What a day that will be. Let's be faithful. Let's be faithful to Jesus, just like these men were, and not serve because we will be recognized or rewarded by men, but like these men, serve him faithfully because he has called us. He has equipped us, he's given us something to do, and whether or not it's ever known by anyone else, God knows. Their ministry was needed, their ministry was faithfully carried out, and their ministry was rewarded by the Lord. Lessor lights and their ministry. Great lessons for us to learn from these three apostles. Let's pray together. Father, we're grateful for men like James the Son of Alphius and Thaddeus and Simon the Zealot. People that we don't know a lot about, but we know, along with the others, served you faithfully, and will be rewarded by you. Lord, they give us encouragement to know that it's not important how man sees things. It's really important how you see them. And so I pray that you keep us faithful, regardless of where we serve and how we serve, and whether or not it's ever recognized by men. Help us to be faithful. Help us to do everything we do with an eye toward pleasing you, knowing that you're watching us, you see, you know, you understand. And someday we will all give an account to you for how we've lived, that which we've done that has eternal value will be rewarded. Lord, we pray that will not be ashamed in that day. Whatever we've done, we will have done wholeheartedly for you. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.