What if today we had ten RSS or BJP people coming and sitting in our service? What kind of feeling would we have? Many of us would fear, wondering why they came and what they will do. Maybe I wouldn’t say some things I feel I have to say. Would we preach the gospel to them fearlessly with the love of Christ? Do we believe that Christ can save them? Will we pray with burden for their souls, love their souls, and do good to them?
We feel uncomfortable with such questions. Generally, Christians feel it is no use preaching to them or praying for them. They will never listen and get saved. I don’t know how many churches specifically pray for the RSS and its different groups, such as the Bajrang Dal, Karni Sena, or Shiv Sena, or the BJP group, or any Hindu organization. Many people say, “God has given me a burden to go and preach to Africa or China,” but have you heard any church saying that “we are praying God should send missionaries to bring the RSS and their group members to Christ?”
I was recently talking to a lawyer about a case. He was saying, “Our pastor will support me in this case. If he doesn’t support me, I will join the BJP and ensure this church is damaged.”
If you notice, there is a growing feeling of hate against this group, and we see more and more hatred against our current government. Each of us is affected by that feeling. If you look at the political scenario in our country, we live in a time marked by a lot of hatred. Look at the headlines and news channels—they are full of hate, anger, frustration, and divisions based on religion and gender, one against the other.
Many Christians are getting angry. Many, many Christians in our country, who are supposed to be instruments of the gospel of peace and love, are getting filled with a lot of hate and anger. I, too, keep watching the news and sometimes get so upset. I examine my heart, and there is some anger growing in me. Sometimes I don’t even want to see their faces—for instance, some spokesperson like Sambit Patra. I get very angry; when he speaks, I immediately switch off the television. The government may be wrong and do many wrong things, but is our growing hate and anger as Christians correct? Is that biblical? What effect is that having on our spiritual life? What does the Bible say about our attitude towards the government, even a wrong government?
There is a lot of anger and rebellion across the nation against the appointed government. If this continues, there will be many groups fighting against the government. There could be many terrorists within the nation. We as Christians can also fall into that trap, looking at what is happening and getting very politically involved. We take our eyes off the spiritual realm and start looking at the worldly level, thinking everything is going out of control and that God doesn’t know what is happening. We have to be careful as Christians not to get pulled into the hate, anger, frustration, and hostility. We have to make sure we live above the fray; we are not to be part of these angry scenarios. We have a different view; we have to set our affections on things above and not on things below.
Yes, we are upset that things are not right. God is not glorified, and wrong things are promoted in society—lies and things against God. We are upset for the sake of righteousness. But many times, if you examine our hearts, it is not just that. We end up having the same kind of hatred as the world. We feel upset because churches are persecuted. We end up talking wrong things about leaders.
Many times, our anger and bitterness are no different than the world’s. Yes, things are bad in the country, but when we experience and see these things, we need to guard our hearts so our hearts don’t rise up in rebellion, anger, and acts of aggression, such as not following rules or paying taxes. We may not become outward terrorists and pick up weapons, but inside, we are full of hate and anger. Looking at what happens, we may justify our anger and bitterness and silently rebel.
We have to guard our hearts from any form of hatred. A heart full of anger is like a terrorist, like a secret terrorist. If we allow ourselves to be pulled too much into what is happening in the world and what the media is saying, we can easily become murderers in our hearts. That affects God’s hand in our lives, our effectiveness in prayer, the grieving of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual fruit, and God may not be able to use us for his kingdom as he intends to. It will also affect our testimony and real, genuine love for the people we talk to.
If there is any anger building in your hearts against current politicians and the government, today we are going to look at a man who got so angry and became so fed up with the government that he actually became a terrorist. But we will see how wonderfully the grace of God transformed him. We can learn an important lesson on how to see our governments.
That is Simon the Zealot, also called Simon the Canaanite. In fact, even Judas Iscariot came from the same group. We are looking at each of the apostles. We could give one message to each of them, but I think I’ve tried to finish two. Today we will have time to see only Simon, and Judas needs special attention; we will look at him next week.
Let me read those verses which list the twelve:
“And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and [a]Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the [b]Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.”
So we have two left. This man was part of the radical Zealot sect. He was so fed up with the government and wanted to overthrow the Roman government with terrorist activities, but the Lord Jesus Christ transformed that man. Oh, how the infinitely wonderful grace of Jesus Christ changed this dangerous man! Think of your life—what you once were and what you are today. Is there a human explanation? What brought that change? It is the change that the infinite, sovereign grace of God brings in a sinner. It is a deep change; it occurs in the depth of our soul. It is a radical, intense, fundamental change; it is a true change. It is a supernatural change. It is an eternal change. It is a permanent change; nothing can change us back. Through all eternity, we are changed. Did we change ourselves? We know it’s not possible; only Christ can do it. We cannot change ourselves; it is the infinite grace of God. Why don’t we believe that the same grace can change the RSS or BJP people? How can we develop anger in our hearts? If Sovereign grace didn’t meet us, we would have been much worse.
So let us look at this man, Simon the Zealot.
2 Heads: His Sinful Past and How the Grace of God Transformed Him
His Sinful Past Life: In this list, he is the second Simon in the list. We know Simon Peter. This is a very common name. There are nine people named Simon in the New Testament: Simon Peter, Simon the Zealot, Simon the brother of James and John, Simon the leper (in whose house Mary anointed Lord Jesus), Simon of Cyrene (who carried the cross to Calvary), Simon the Pharisee, Simon the father of Judas, Simon the magician (who wanted to buy the Holy Spirit with money), and Simon the tanner (with whom Peter lodged in Joppa in Acts 9). It is very common, so he comes from a common family.
Note his name, Zealot. Many translations have Canaanite. The verse “Simon the Canaanite” demands investigation. What does it mean? It is a designation of identity, not a name. The only other disciple who has this kind of designation is Matthew, “a tax collector,” which is not a good thing. He does it with a sense of shame, indicating his past life of shame. No other apostles have titles like this. We see next Simon, the Canaanite. This is put there as a reminder, a shame, and a repentance of a sinful past.
What does it mean? “Canaanite” is not the right translation; it doesn’t mean he is from Cana or a Canaanite. The word is Kananaios. It comes from the root qanna, which means “to be jealous” or “to be zealous for the law.” Zealot is the right translation, referring to the sect or group he was part of. If you look at Luke 6:15, he is called Simon the Zelotes. In Luke, he is called Simon the Zelote (zlts), and this is just another word meaning the same thing: Simon the man full of zeal, Simon the Zealot. Zealot means very zealous. You look at sports people—very zealous. You may see them with their faces and bodies painted, going crazy, cheering for their team; that is the idea. This tells his political association; it was a political group.
To understand his name, we need to understand the political scenario in the New Testament. We have to learn a New Testament history lesson for that. Do you wonder that if you turn the book of Malachi to the New Testament book of Matthew, there is one page? Malachi is not the last book. Do you know what the last book in the Old Testament is in terms of the timeline? It is the history book of Nehemiah, the last book written in terms of time. So, between Malachi and Matthew, there is one blank page—the passing of 400 years. That is a lot of time—five or six generations. A lot of things can happen. Today, US history is 350 years, and it became a superpower. Think of how much changes in 400 years.
Between Malachi and Matthew—400 years—the Babylonian empire was gone, and the Greek empire went over, but its influence continued in the Roman kingdom, and then the Roman empire was there. They had occupied Palestine and were ruling them and collecting taxes from them. Rome had a mix of Greek culture, so they were influencing the world with their culture. In Israel, people saw their culture perishing. “This is a Jewish nation. Only a Jew should rule us; no Roman has a right to be here. We have to preserve our culture and religion. These people are spoiling our culture.” Some groups rose up against Roman influence. During that time, there were so many political scenarios and groups, just like today. You see so many groups today who were not there 50 years ago.
Today, they call them “right-wing groups,” like the RSS and BJP, and groups supporting the government, and then the “left-wing,” completely opposite to these groups and against the government—left-wing Congress and other parties against the government. We see the same thing in Israel. You see that political scenarios are nothing new; every generation has this. This is how sinful men always divide themselves and fight systems—right or left.
In Israel in those days, there were four groups in the New Testament. The right-wings, who were supportive of the government and adjusted with the Romans, were the Sadducees and the Herodians. The left-wings were conservative and strict: the Pharisees and the Zealots, who hated the Roman occupation, their rule, and paying taxes. We don’t see them in the Old Testament. Where did they come from? Who are they? Nothing like the Pharisees or Sadducees existed in the Old Testament. They started in those 400 years, influencing the people in those days. There was a lot of polarization happening in those days—a complex culture with different groups of people. You see the same thing in today’s world. Let us quickly understand these groups; it will be helpful to understand the coming chapter.
The Pharisees were separatists. They were religious conservatives, very orthodox, following all the traditions and rules. They believed, “We need to continue our culture.” They believed in the authority of the Bible and everything the Bible said—soul, resurrection, heaven, hell. But they went to an extreme—very intense—and invented more rules not in the Bible. They were very legalistic and many were hypocritical. They were against paying taxes and the Romans. They were left-wing. There were around 3,000 of them.
Close to the Pharisees were the Scribes. They were lawyers in the Law of Moses—experts in the word of God. They were copyists of the law; they interpreted the word of God. Their full-time work was to study, copy, record, interpret, and teach the word of God. They were highly respected and close with the Pharisees.
Then there were the Sadducees. They were the other extreme, the pendulum swung to the extreme—liberals, open to the opinions of others and new ideas, with no standard for them. They modified the Bible, didn’t believe the Bible, didn’t believe in miracles, no soul, no heaven, hell, resurrection, or life after death. Because of their adjusting with everything and not standing for any truth, they embraced Greek and Roman culture, thinking, “Let us take the best of Hebrew, Greek, and Roman. Let us change according to the time.” They were rich, aristocratic, and the high society; the government was in their hands, and they were very worldly. They were in charge of the temple. High priest Annas and Caiaphas were Sadducees. They were right-wing. The only place where both right and left agreed and came together was the crucifixion of the Son of God.
Herodians believed it was in the best interest of Israel to cooperate with Rome. “Let us not fight Rome. Rome is here; it’s powerful; no use fighting. If it is wrong, let us seek peace. But let us seek peace and get the benefits.” They were political liberals; they opposed any war with Rome and supported Roman tax. “Let us pay the tax; we will live in peace in Rome.” They were very influential Jews. They thought, “Don’t preserve our culture and religion. Let us bring Roman influence. Let us change with the time. Love everybody and get along.”
Next are the Zealots. The Herodians were political liberals supporting Rome, against war, and allowing high taxes. The Zealots were the opposite of the Herodians. They were the staunch, intense political conservatives of the day. They wanted no taxes and no Roman occupation in their land. They wanted their own culture. They were ready to cut anyone’s head, always stirring problems in society. They were ready for war with Rome any time. Zealot means intensity of convictions—fervent and fire. No one had such deep belief and intense conviction as these people. They intensely believed in their ideology. They believed in their cause so much that they were ready to give any sacrifice—family, children, and even their lives. They would never give up. They were fanatical nationalists and extreme patriots, ready for anything, but Rome should not rule. They were given to radical (intense) politics; they were revolutionaries. Rome had occupied their land, spoiling their culture and religion. “This is Jewish land; no idols. These people are idolaters. They eat pig.” They were against it and wanted to fight and throw off the yoke. “We will not give one rupee tax.” They hated the Romans. Their political agenda was to overthrow Roman rule in Israel. They were ready to die. They used terrorism; they used random acts of violence and created a disturbance, killed people, and always created problems to remove Rome. They were militant, revolutionary, and political radicals. Hence, they were looking for a Messiah who would come as a king and Lord who would overthrow the Roman government. He would restore the kingdom of Israel to them.
hey saw Christ as someone who would fulfill all their ideology for the nation of Israel.
Acts 5:37 refers to how the Zealots started. Verses 36-37 show Gamaliel explaining to the Sanhedrin what to do about the new movement (the apostles’ activities). He warns them and gives them past examples: “Some time ago, Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.”
We get a historical background of the Zealots. It speaks of the founding father of the Zealots, Judas of Galilee. Interestingly, if you read Wikipedia, the roots and practice of terrorism can be traced at least to the 1st-century AD Zealots. Judas was the Osama Bin Laden of the Zealots.
Judas rose up in the days of the census. You know the purpose of a census: “We want to know who you are, where you live, what you earn, and how much property you own. All this information should be linked, because we want to tax you for everything you have.” See, the equivalent of modern-day Aadhar was there in the 1st century in the form of the census. The census meant tax, tax, tax by the Romans to pay for Roman roads, the construction of their kingdom’s buildings, and massive statues of Caesar. Judas of Galilee had enough and rose up in the days of the census, drawing some people after him in AD 6. Jesus was crucified in AD 30. This man started his own group. He too perished, and all those who followed him scattered. Rome was fed up, so they sent legions of soldiers marching down to quash the movement. They killed Judas and took some of his disciples, though they couldn’t capture all of them. They crucified them publicly to intimidate their followers. All the others escaped and went underground. But they didn’t stop; they continued their work in hiding. Now it became difficult to deal with them because they were hard to find.
Now they wouldn’t fight directly; instead, they went into guerrilla warfare: small groups coming out of hiding to attack and run. They began to use terrorism and extreme methods. These small groups tried every way to show rebellion to Rome, aiming to imbalance the equilibrium of the Roman Empire, much like the Maoists and Naxalites of today. (And many groups will come if this government continues.)
They were secret assassins. They would plan and carry out assassinations against Roman military leaders and politicians who came to occupy Israel. We read of Pilate and Herod, who had to come with a lot of security to protect them from the Zealots. These people killed many; they were a banned group. They didn’t have guns or bombs, but deadly curved daggers hidden under their robes. They would sneak in wearing long, flowing robes, with deadly daggers concealed inside. They would come and stand in the crowd next to a Roman official, a leader, a centurion, or a politician. In the midst of a meeting, they would pull the dagger and thrust it into the side—they would stab them in the back. They were trained experts, knowing exactly how to stab between the ribs to pierce the heart, pull the knife out, and disappear into the crowd. They would carry out the assassination and slip away, or even get caught. They didn’t care. There was basically no way to stop them.
They began to burn buildings. They burned Roman-occupied buildings. They were like Muslim suicide bombers—radical fanatics who were willing to die suicide deaths and ready to suffer any harm in order to promote the cause which they believed was right: the idea that they would overthrow the government by agitating, scaring, and fighting them away. This led to many revolts. As you read the New Testament, the rest of history shows little interludes going on all over the place, led by the Zealots, that the Romans were putting out like little fires. They would murder here, murder there, loot, plunder, burn—anything they could do. Josephus says they believed it was a holy war.
Josephus writes in his “Antiquities” that the key reason for the destruction of Jerusalem was the activity of the Zealots. The Romans got so tired of fighting these little seditious things all over the place that they decided to come in and just destroy the whole operation. The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was mainly because of these Zealots. Jesus had prophesied, “Not one stone will be left.” Many historians believe the Zealots were the main reason why Titus Vespasian destroyed the city of Jerusalem. When the Romans came and surrounded Jerusalem, many Jews suggested, “Let us make a peace treaty; we will work together.” But the Zealots killed all those people who tried to make peace, declaring, “We will not concede to the Romans; we will never rule them.” They were willing to fight to the death. They were blind in their zeal to uphold the national honor of Israel. Titus had enough. He had surrounded the city for some time, and just as Jesus prophesied, Jerusalem was terribly destroyed. Historians believe it was because this group refused to negotiate with the Romans and was ready to die. That is what happened. They destroyed Jerusalem in AD 70. Moving out, they slaughtered people in 985 towns in Galilee. Millions were crucified. They just obliterated the nation, and the Zealots were the thorn in their side that finally brought this about.
It didn’t end with that. After AD 70, there was a leader of the Zealots by the name of Eleazar, and he led the remaining Zealots in continuing their plunder. There were just a few left, but they were going everywhere, doing what they’d always done. They finally found a retreat where they could hide: the place was Masada, and the Zealots were located there. From Masada, they would move out to do their guerrilla-type activity. This, of course, is later than the time of Simon. Do you remember how it all finally ended? The Romans finally took Masada, and the Zealots, not wanting to lose their lives to their despised and hated Roman enemy, committed suicide. Josephus writes in “The War of the Jews” that Eleazar summoned the people together and made a flaming speech in which he urged them to slaughter their own wives and children and then commit suicide. They took him at his word; they tenderly embraced their wives, kissed their children, and then began the bloody work. 960 perished. Only two women and five children escaped by hiding in a cave. Those were the political terrorists, and they would kill themselves before they would let a Roman take their life. That’s how deep their hatred was. You have to admire their zeal.
Do you see how politics is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? We see the same things happening.
Simon was from this group. I can imagine Matthew was always scared of this guy. Matthew was worse than the Sadducees—extreme right-wing, collecting tax. Simon was worse than the Pharisees—extreme left-wing, becoming a terrorist. Yet, they are all part of the church. That is how the Lord builds his church even today.
Simon was a radical, political Zealot. It was in his blood; he was a member of a dangerous terrorist organization. He would have been trained by them for years, from childhood. You couldn’t just join that group; it required many years of training and commitment, and a fiery zeal. He would have been involved in random assassinations in one way or another. He would have committed murders, killed many, and been ready even to take his own life for the nation. He was a super-patriot, a red-hot patriot who would not stop at anything, zealous in every sense of the word: zealous in killing, crime, assassinations, conspiracy, murder, and espionage. He was brought up like this, lived as a terrorist, and maybe one day would have died by suicide. But one day, a man from Nazareth walked up to him and said, “Follow me.” Everything changed for Simon. The infinite grace of God changed this terrorist into an Apostle.
We don’t have the record of it, but we know it happened: he was converted by the grace of God; by a divine call, he was made an Apostle. He was a brand plucked from the fire. He was the worst of sinners called by the grace of God. If there was ever anyone dangerous, dirty, filthy, defiled, brainwashed, and extremist, it was Simon the Zealot. He had so much blood on his hands, and it was the grace of God that radically transformed him and made him a new creature in Christ.
This only Christ can do. Do we believe that? There is no change that can happen to a human soul like the one Christ does. It is the change of regeneration and discipleship that changes a man from dirty, dangerous, filthy rags into a beautiful saint, a trophy of God’s grace.
Marvel at the infinite, sovereign grace of God. Does this describe all of our past? We have all fallen in Adam and are totally depraved. There are simply higher and lower expressions of depravity. For some, depravity doesn’t come out in a big way, not because we are good, but because there is not enough opportunity. Common restraining grace from God, due to upbringing and other factors, acts as a control, but we are all depraved, worst sinners.
Some of us are so caught up in our cause or goal—to enjoy the world, like great terrorists—that nothing will stop us. We live for the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life—lustful and covetous, addicted to alcohol, drugs. If we put a picture of you on the projector above, showing how dark your life was when you were in school and college, how would it look? Oh, do you admire what grace has done in your life? It is only the grace of the sovereign God in heaven. He initiated, pursued, found, and drew you out to himself. You were not looking for him. Whatever cause you were pursuing, you had a heart full of idols, lost, and going to hell. Outwardly, you may have looked good. It was God, by his grace, who came to you and drew you to himself.
It is the infinite grace of God that sent his only Son to be the propitiation for our sins and removed the curse and wrath on our heads. The sinful past of Simon the Zealot leaps out among the disciples. He is a trophy of God’s grace, transformed by the grace of God. This is the last man you would ever expect to find in church, or ever expect to show up at a Bible study—Simon. Great sinners make great saints. The greater the sinner, the greater the saint he becomes by the transforming grace of God. We see the magnitude of grace, the infinite grace of God, which not only saved a radical, extremist terrorist but also called him to be a disciple and made him an Apostle.
He is number 11. He didn’t have a visible role; he was a behind-the-scenes disciple. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John never mentioned him talking. (We at least see some speak in John.) He is a quiet disciple. This is amazing for one who was a Zealot to be quiet. There is no record of him asking questions or making comments. Just like Matthew, who was shocked by the grace of Jesus, Simon was silent. But he was a faithful Apostle.
What about his life after coming to Christ? His name “Zealot” was one reason to show his former group, but another reason, I think, is that he could be made known for his zeal. We need to understand that when he came to Christ, his zeal and passion didn’t stop. When he became a disciple, they didn’t change that name. He must have continued to manifest the same kind of fiery, passionate zeal that he had when he was a Zealot; it simply became redirected. He didn’t become Simon the lukewarm, a monotone, flat, or cold disciple. We can rightly assume he remained Simon the Zealot, just that he was now zealous for Christ and zealous for the Kingdom. When they referred to him as Zealot, there was a recognition: his zeal was now transformed and placed on the right object. He is not zealous now for the things of the world, but he is zealous for the things of God.
How did he leave his anger for the government and forget his terroristic cause, which was so strong in his blood? It was the grace of God that changed him.
How did this political terrorist become an Apostle for the Kingdom of God? He understood something that we all need to understand. I think the more we understand it, the more we will not be carried away with the anger and hatred for the government that the devil is stirring up through the media.
We have to understand first that the kingdom God is working out in this world is a spiritual kingdom. “My kingdom is not of this world.” It is far, far greater and deeper than any temporary government, more glorious and transcending any current groups that rise and fall today. We are called as citizens of that Kingdom. Babylon is gone, Greece is gone, Rome is gone, and today’s kingdoms will go, but this Kingdom will grow eternally. God opened Simon’s eyes to see the glory of the Kingdom of God.
Simon understood that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
When we understand that, we will not keep fighting politically. The previous verse (Ephesians 6:11) says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” We must take the full armor of God. This is the only weapon we are given in spiritual warfare. The reason we get caught up in politics and feel anger, bitterness, and frustration is because we don’t realize that our true weapon is prayer. If we pray a little bit more, we will be on the right path.
Paul says the first thing you need to do as a church is pray for the government. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 says, “I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.”
The problem is we don’t pray like we should. We don’t see prayer as a powerful weapon; we see it as a mere task. We don’t see it as a spiritual weapon to advance the cause of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4 states, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” The weapons of our warfare are not physical. We are fighting against wrong ideas, wrong motives, and wrong causes that stand against Jesus Christ, and we fight against those things through prayer and the Word of God. We don’t win simply because we don’t pray properly. This is what Simon understood: the glory of God’s Kingdom. He threw away his dagger and his terrorism. But he became a terrorist for God’s Kingdom, and he became a Zealot for the eternal Kingdom of God.
Yes, God is in control of the governments and is using human government for his purposes, in spite of their failures. There is something much, much greater than human government, transcending this or that government, that God is doing in history. It is a spiritual kingdom; it is something that happens in the spiritual realm, in the hearts and souls of men. That is what should be our focus. All these governments are not permanent; they cannot change anything. The only thing that brings any permanent change to this world is the Gospel of Christ. The permanent way to change any man, family, or nation is the Gospel. It is only done through praying and preaching the Gospel, being faithful disciples and making disciples of Jesus Christ. This is a spiritual thing. The Kingdom is advanced in hearts; no heart is ever won because of a sword or force. We need to make sure our attitude and approach reflect this.
As disciples, our only solution for this society is preaching the Gospel and making disciples. That disciple can be anyone without distinction; he can even be from the RSS, the Shiva Sena, or any other group. This is done through spiritual means, not any other force or violence.
The grace of God changed Simon. Grace made him take his eyes off the political scene and turn them to the spiritual Kingdom, which is much greater than what is happening in the temporary political scenario. God opened his eyes to see what God was doing in history through all these governments: advancing his eternal Kingdom.
Our warfare is spiritual. Direct all our zeal and energy away from political scenes and towards the Kingdom.
Have you fought this week? Have you struggled with the devil? Have you fought any wrong thinking, wrong habits, or temptations, and rejected them? Have you gone onto your knees in prayer and won battles there? Have you prayed with a burden for people’s souls this past week and reached out to anyone to speak the Gospel? Have you been violent in the Kingdom of God?
If you have, you understand the work you have been called to. If not, see how the devil diverts us. The greater battle is in the spiritual realm, but he uses the media to excite us about the political battles going on, developing polarization and hate in our hearts.
We have to guard our hearts from any form of hatred. A heart full of anger is like that of a terrorist. If we allow ourselves to be pulled too much into what is happening in the world via the media, we can easily become murderers in our hearts, terrorists by heart. If there is any anger building in our hearts against politicians and the government, it will have a horrible effect on our spiritual life. We lose our spiritual zeal. That affects God’s hand in our lives, our effectiveness in prayer, our testimony, and our real, genuine love for the people we talk to.
Looking at what happens, we may justify our anger and bitterness and silently rebel. But the Word of God tells us never to rebel against any government, even the worst government, like that of Nero. Romans 13:3-4. So, should we be passive? No. While not allowing any anger, we should pray for and use our right to vote for the right government.
We should be careful not to become extreme right or left, but to be biblically balanced.
Are you an angry and frustrated Christian against the government? Don’t allow that to continue. You have these seeds of anger, and they have to go away. That can terribly impact your life; that is a murderous heart, even if you try to justify it. A Christian should never resent their government, even if their government is abusing them through taxes, taking money, and killing their own people or causing them harm. The Apostles taught that we shouldn’t hate the government, but submit to the government. Today’s news pushes this hatred in subtle ways, and we should reject it.
Are you worried about the future, wanting to take things into your own hands? Don’t you realize God is in charge of everything happening? He controls every government. He will decide the outcome of the coming elections, and it will be for his purposes. We can rest in that. We have five state elections and general elections coming. Our weapon is prayer; we need to pray and rest in that truth.
You know, once Simon understood, he didn’t become a cold man. If he was so zealous for a worldly government, imagine how much more zealous he was for the eternal Kingdom. He must have been a man with a tremendous passion, a tremendous capacity for zeal. And you can imagine that he must have been a fireball when it came to the work of the Lord.
He was so zealous that tradition tells us he preached in Egypt and Persia and, because of his zeal, they cut him into two with a saw.
I was thinking about these terrorists, these left-wing groups, who show so much zeal for a temporary government—a zeal without knowledge. How much zeal do we, as people of God, have? I was very ashamed. If we believe the Kingdom of God is the only eternal, greatest thing in history, and that Kingdom can only grow by praying and Gospel preaching, how zealous am I? Am I zealous for the Gospel? Do these blind terrorists shame us? They are ready to sacrifice family, children, jobs, and even their lives for a temporary cause. They are so intense that whatever torture they experience, they never betray their cause. How much more zealous should we be as terrorists (zealots) for the Kingdom of God? Am I a Zealot for the Gospel? Why am I not praying enough for souls? Why am I not sharing the Gospel? Whatever the world may think, do I live for that cause?
You know, in a way, God expects all of us to be Zealots for God’s Kingdom. What he hates is lukewarmness. Jesus himself is the top Zealot. We see the Lord cleansing the temple; he did it twice. The second time, as John 2:14-17 records: “In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’”
They were cheating people and making it a business. He was a one-man SWAT team who chased the whole business out by the sheer force of his conviction. It was not a miracle; it was done with a force of zeal. He poured out the coins, overturned their tables—so much passion! “Stop making my Father’s house a business!” The disciples realized, “Zeal for my house will consume me.” This means resolute passion and unwavering fervor, stemming from an absolute commitment to God’s holiness. Zeal means a deep, burning feeling, manifested as love and jealousy, righteous indignation, devotion, and an intense and passionate desire to pursue a goal and advance a cause.
How few of us are zealous! Jesus stands at the head of the list. There needs to be a hot button in every one of us, one that is triggered not by what people do to me, but by what they do to the house of God, the glory of God, the Word of God, the Son of God, and the Gospel. You can kick me, spit on me, stamp on me, insult me—whatever you want. If I am filled with the Spirit of God, I will turn the other cheek. But when you corrupt the Word of God or defile the house of God, you will see me burning, becoming a Zealot. Are we like that?
We need to be men of zeal in our families and in our church. When we see God insulted, we need to be consumed with fire, burning. That is what we learn from this man. You know what the sin of the Laodicean church was? It made Him vomit. They didn’t have this zeal. Revelation 3:16 says, “Because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” You are blended with your world; there is no distinction about you. I will spew you out because you are just flat. In Revelation 3:19, He says to that Church, “Be zealous and repent.”
On the road to Emmaus, when He explained the Scriptures, the disciples said, “Did not our hearts burn within us?” Our hearts have to catch fire and be full of zeal for God as we hear the Word of God. It should burn within us, telling us of the glory of God.
May God use this message to make us fan the flame in your heart, so the fire of God may burn in your hearts with greater fervency and with greater devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are you like Simon before his conversion, pursuing worldly things? You are zealous for your work, your house, your family, your kids, and worldly things; zealous for cricket and other worldly pursuits. You are wasting your life living for the wrong things. God created you for his glory. So, may you become zealous for the glory of God.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 