THE FOUR SIMONS
[p. 460] THE FOUR SIMONS
Luke 7:36-43; Luke 5:4-8; Mark 15:21; Mark 14:3
In thinking on this meeting, I decided to present the gospel if I am enabled to do so, in connection with the four Simons; Simon the Pharisee, Simon Peter, Simon the Cyrenian and Simon the leper. Another Simon is mentioned in Scripture, but it would make the address too cumbersome to include him. One too might say that one likes to go on the principle of four. Scripture largely recognizes the numeral and uses it, and so I have selected these four men. I believe they are types usable and intended to be usable in God’s service. For instance, the Pharisee represents our religious affiliations. Fishing represents employment which has to be taken account of in the gospel. The Cyrenian was coming up from the country, which is properly a field. He was a farmer of which there are many here in this room. The fourth does not seem to have any special calling. If he has, the Spirit of God does not mention it at all, but it does say that he is a leper. He is known to be that.
Simon the Pharisee comes up first and the mention of him challenges every pharisaical heart. You are in very bad company if you belong to the class this man belongs to. That which is represented by the Pharisee is in each one of our hearts. It is religious pride and greatly hinders the gospel. Maybe there is someone here who can say that he is born in some distinction that is good enough for him. The question is, Is it good enough for God? It is with Him we have to do in this matter, eventually, if not now. So that one has to challenge one’s religious affiliations, or challenge himself in regard of them. Even though they may be good enough for us, what does God think about them? Are you trusting in them as some do, saying, ‘ It is good enough for a certain great man, why not for me? ‘ The word Pharisee is used to designate this man four times. You get his outward name, you get the statement [p. 461] that he is a Pharisee four times. You say that that is merely to identify him, but there are no sects in Scripture. You get his name. You say, ‘ Why do we get his name at all? ‘ There are many persons mentioned in Scripture whose names are not mentioned at all. This man’s name is. If you die in your sins your name will be called out at the great white throne. It will indeed. The works attached to each person and his whole history will be there.
Simon did not just invite the Lord to a meal. That is not condemned. But in his supercilious way, he “spoke with himself, saying, This person if he were a prophet would have known who and what the woman is who touches him, for she is a sinner”. The Lord calls him by name; He does not say, ‘ Pharisee ‘, no, He says, “Simon”. It is his personal name; it is not the name of his religious affiliation. That word Pharisee is not his name in the books of God; the word Simon is his name. And so the Lord said, “Simon”, not ‘ Pharisee ‘. The Lord uses his given name, that in the books of God and in the books of men.
Now if there is one like him trusting in some religious denomination, hoping that things will be all right, saying, ‘ The denomination is good enough for some great man, my parents and my grandparents, it is good enough for me, I will take a chance ‘, I wish to tell you that there is no chance about it. You will be laid in a Christless grave if you die, and have part in a Christless resurrection too. There are two resurrections; the one is a thousand years after the other. “Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection”. Most of us here will have part in that, thank God! “Over these the second death has no power” (Revelation 20:6), those trusting in the blood for their salvation. It is as certain as anything that those who trust in a bloodless religion will perish. There is no other ground of salvation than that. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
[p. 462] This man has no fault whatever. When this woman comes into his house, he would think, How dare she come in! He did not say it, but he felt it. How dare she come in! That is the religious attitude. He criticised the believer who trusted in the blood of Jesus. Such a one as that would be criticised, and in criticising her, he would be criticising Jesus. Pharisees have a way of speaking to themselves. The Lord gives a sample of a pharisee in this same gospel. A pharisee went to the temple to pray and he prayed to himself, we are told. It looks as though this type of a man has only himself as an object; he speaks to himself; he prays to himself; he thanks God he is not as bad as others; he gives the list. ‘ I am not as bad as this tax-gatherer. ‘ He says that to himself. And so this man speaks to himself. He criticises Jesus within himself. “If he were a prophet,” he says, as though he thought He was not even that. So the Lord says, “Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee”. That is the point. The Lord has something to say to someone here. He does not want to expose you unnecessarily, or disgrace you. Allow the Lord to say a word! Religious people, you who are trusting in your religious associations, let the Lord say a word to you tonight! He does not criticise Simon, He does not turn the tables on him. He says, “There was a certain creditor”. Simon, what do you say to that? “Which of them will love him most?” The Lord raised the question of love. What about your love? Have you any love for Christ? If you have you will not criticise Him to yourself or to anyone else. “If he were a prophet”, he says, ‘ He would know that this woman is a sinner ‘.
Speaking about love, with all the religion that you have, do you love the Lord Jesus? That is the point He is making. The apostle Paul, years later, says, “If anyone love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha,” (1 Corinthians 16:22). It means, Let him be cursed when the Lord Jesus comes. Perhaps ninety [p. 463] per cent here will be with Him for ever. Is there anyone here who does not love Jesus? Simon says, “I suppose that he to whom he forgave the most”. The Lord says, “Thou hast rightly judged”. What about you, Simon? What about you religionists here, do you love the Lord Jesus? You say, ‘ What could Simon say? He was a highly respected man ‘. He invited the Lord, not because he loved Him, but because he would have a distinguished man at his table. I have no hesitation in saying that that man is not saved. The harvest is past for him and the summer is ended and he is not saved. On the other hand, Jesus makes it plain as far as He is concerned, He is here to save that man. He puts him alongside of the woman. Forgiveness was for Simon as much as for the woman. There may be somebody like that here tonight. But she is saved. You might despise her, but she loved Jesus. She loved much because she was forgiven much. Yet the Lord frankly forgave them both. That is the attitude of God here tonight. If there is a Pharisee here, God would say to you through me, ‘ As far as I am concerned, I will not raise the question of your sins; they are all dealt with as far as I am concerned, in the death of My Son ‘. It is for you to accept forgiveness. It is for you. What is the difference between these two persons? The woman came and the man did not. The gospel is on the principle of faith to faith. It is not insulting you, but it tells you that your sins are dealt with. If you are burdened with guilt, it is dealt with to the complete satisfaction of God. There is “One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5,6), for this man Simon, as well as this woman.
But then you say that there is not only the death of Christ necessary for salvation, but there is the necessity of faith for forgiveness. ‘ But ‘, you say, ‘ I have not got it ‘. You are in a bad way, and as soon as you begin to think that you are in a bad way, you are in a good way. Faith comes by hearing. Let it into your soul. It is the [p. 464] simple question of believing God. The death of Christ is of no avail save as someone has faith. Faith comes by hearing; hence the great value of these gospel preachings, because you get faith through them. The Lord turns to her, “Thy faith”, He says. Why did not the pharisee get it? Because he did not want it. His affiliations blinded him and hardened him. If there is someone here trusting in the religion that you have been born into, wake up to the fact that with all your religion you will enter a Christless grave. It will be a question then, not of forgiveness, but of penalty. When the Lord Jesus comes in a flame of fire to execute judgment, you will be punished with everlasting destruction. It is most serious to think of; hence the value of a meeting like this. It is an opportunity for you to let faith in. It comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, so that you are benefited by the grace. Forgiveness is there, but the faith is the difference. It was not in Simon but it was in the woman.
With the next man it is a question of his occupation — Simon Peter. I do not know what occupation Simon, the pharisee had — probably he was a man of means — but Simon Peter was a fisherman. You might say Simon the fisherman in that way, and that is not to be overlooked in this matter of the gospel, what one’s calling is. For instance, it may be a tax-gatherer, and you have to take account of that. If it is a fisherman, the Lord takes account of the calling, and so in this gospel, the Lord evidently is very desirous of securing Peter through the gospel.
John does not tell us anything about this matter. He informs us that when the Lord first met Peter he changed his name at once, but Matthew tells us that he is a fisherman and the Lord meets him, and so does Mark. But Luke tells us that the Lord entered into Simon’s house. Surely he is going to be saved now. Well, the Lord had entered Simon the pharisee’s house and he was not saved. Even by having the Lord and serving [p. 465] Him in your house, you cannot be sure of any result. If the greatest preacher came into your house, you cannot be sure of anything from that. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever. Simon is surely in the way of salvation. It does not say he invited the Lord. He went in. He doubtless had Peter in His mind, and so it is with many a soul here. The Lord has you in mind. Alas, we do not see much. We are looking for happenings, trees falling, etc., but alas, we do not see much; persons collapsing in the presence of God in their sense of guilt. The Lord went into Simon’s house. Nothing happened to Simon, but a great deal happened to his mother-in-law. Some of you here have had mothers converted and fathers converted, and nothing has happened to you yet. Alas, the devil is working with you all the time. It is appalling how he works. He turns a tide sometimes.
As I said, nothing happens to Peter, he goes on in his own way, in his own secret doings. Satan works with him. And so the Lord enters Simon’s house and his mother-in-law was sick of a fever. The Lord stands over her. He did not stand over Simon although Simon needed Him as much as the mother-in-law. No doubt Simon was very thankful for his mother-in-law being relieved of the fever. The Lord stands over her. There was need of authority in the house. Simon would never have any influence over her. But the Lord Jesus came from heaven and He stood over her and rebuked the fever and the fever left her, and she arises and serves them.
Let not this meeting pass without something happening to you! It will be most solemn if you go out of the door as you came in. Nothing happened in Peter’s house as far as you can see. Well, the Lord says, ‘ I will go to his business. I will go to his office tomorrow, or his workshop, and see if I can get him there ‘. What diligent working, what diligent seeking! He goes after the lost one. He is a fisherman. The Lord has more than Peter in mind. He enters Peter’s boat. He entered his house and nothing happened. It may be your [p. 466] business will be smashed. He isolated Peter’s boat. He had a very prosperous business that day from the business point of view, but Peter’s business dropped out of his mind. It dropped out completely, because after this event he left everything and followed Jesus. He is going to be a fisher of men, he is going to catch men. How much greater is that occupation! But before you can catch men you have got to be caught yourself.
Is there anyone here who is hanging in the balance? It is a matter between your soul and God. The Lord Jesus entered Peter’s boat and told Peter what to do. They enclosed a great multitude of fishes so that the boats were sinking, but what I am speaking about now is this man in relation to his business. He learns in relation to his business, the workshop, or office or whatever it might be, he learns that he is a sinful man. God is speaking here to someone as to his sins. Peter was a man who could swear, you know, very different from Simon the pharisee, a man who could drink as we say nowadays, and use profane words, but now in the presence of the Lord Jesus he discovers, “I am a sinful man”. Peter says, “I am a sinful man, O Lord”; “Depart from me”. He did not mean that really. The Lord only could be his helper. If there is one here tonight like that, the Lord alone can help you, and He is here. The gospel enters into this whole matter because he got forgiveness. It is a condition that you cannot overcome. You have not been able to overcome it, but you have judged it, and the matter is settled. We have been praying for you before we came to this meeting, and we have been praying since we came. Is there one convicted here tonight? Peter fell down at His knees, he left everything. He was a delivered man. They did not let the boat sink, they had beckoned to their partners to help them and after all that is done they follow Jesus.
In the next scripture Simon, a Cyrenian, is coming up out of a field. He is a farmer. It is probably a field [p. 467] he has not been working in so often, but he is coming up from the field at night. There is just one verse said about him. God is no respecter of persons. Simon is not interested in the crucifixion of Christ. This most wonderful thing was just about to happen, and he was passing by. This man was a shallow sort of man, but he is compelled to do something, one of the greatest things, to carry the cross of Jesus. It is remarkable that the Spirit of God would tell us that. Perhaps there is someone here like that tonight. You have come in here under stress of circumstances, may be. They had to compel him to do it. He does it. If he was converted after that we are not told, but if he was, he had two sons in the testimony, Alexander and Rufus. So it may be you came in here under stress of circumstances. You may have been asked by a christian friend and you did not like to refuse, so you came in through stress of circumstances. How solemn is this matter! You have been compelled to come through circumstances. He did not want to refuse. His heart is not in it. But then see where you are, and thank God that it may be the means of your son’s conversion later on. You may say that Simon did. Your influence and the influence of your wife may result in your son’s conversion. We do not look at these things as accidents. But through stress of circumstances you are here tonight. You may tell something to someone and that something may convert someone. The word of God goes on and we get Alexander and Rufus.
Now the last, Simon the leper. Does he need cleansing now? The Lord Jesus is in his house. There is a great love of Jesus in his house. But do we accept this reputation of being a leper? You say, ‘ I was converted in such and such a year. My sins were forgiven me then ‘. But what reputation did you have among your neighbours? Was it a sinful one? Do you like to hide your history, every sin that Jesus bore? The leprosy of Simon is typical of sin. We do not hide the fact of our [p. 468] guilt; it keeps us humble. Paul says, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15). He was preaching the gospel, and there were those converted by him and yet he is the chief of sinners. I have no doubt Paul would tell his hearers on many occasions what his guilt had been. So he says that his greatest sin was that he persecuted the assembly of God. My experience is that those of us who are in touch with the assembly, have almost invariably persecuted the assembly as we came in contact with it. Paul dragged them from their houses. He persecuted the assembly. He said that he was not worthy to be called an apostle because of it. The Lord would lay it upon the saints to accept the reputation, but think of what it cost Jesus to save us! What Paul was is what I am, but you see that the leprosy is not operative. That is the point in Simon the leper. It had ceased to operate. It is not infectious. Who is there who has not been cleansed with the water as well as the blood which flowed from the side of Jesus? Simon the leper’s reputation was that he was a leper, but Jesus is in his house. That is all I have to say, dear friends, about these four men, Simon the Pharisee, Simon the fisherman, Simon the farmer, and Simon the leper who was no longer infectious but free to entertain the Lord Jesus and the lovers of the Lord in his house.