What does it mean to be a celebrity? It means to be well known or famous.
The Lord Jesus was opposite of this.
Philippians 2:5-11 (NKJV) "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The word "reputation" means that He emptied Himself. Proof of the Lord emptying Himself is in His High Priestly prayer that He prayed to the Father but He also prayed that the Father's name be glorified.
John 12:27-28 (NKJV) “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”
After glorifying the Father's name, the Lord now asks for the glory that He had before the world was.
John 17:4-5 (NKJV) "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
When the Lord multiplied fish and bread, the people attempted to seize Him to make Him king.
John 6:15 (NKJV) "Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone."
Ask yourself a question. If you were already The King, would you want people to make you something that you already are? The Lord escaped the hands of wicked men because the nation of Israel was only looking for relief from the Roman government. They were also looking for another meal.
The fame of the Lord Jesus began to spread.
Mark 1:27-28 (NKJV) "Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”
And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee."
Matthew 4:23-25 (NKJV) "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan."
But the purpose of the Lord Jesus was to turn the hearts of Israel from sin and the wrong teachings of the Sanhedrin, but also to become the substitutionary sacrifice (propitiation) of God to completely pay the debt of sin. Not just for Israel, but for the whole world.
Today, we have the power to project images by camera.
We have arenas, stages, auditoriums and other facilities to give the appearance that a person is famous. If they have a reputation, if they're famous, we could go places. We have the ability to put on a show. False teachers and prophets stage false fake healings and give false prophesies to deceive people. Then they rob them of their finances by eroneously teaching tithing. No where in the NT did the Lord Jesus ever told the NT believers to tithe.
The perverted gospel is now a means of gain, money, fame, and reputation.
If they could do something spectacular, they could break the bank.
When the Lord came into the earth, the means by which He came was humbling. The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and implanted the Lord in the womb of Mary. After 9 months, Mary gave birth in the traditional way.
After the Lord reached age 30, He began His ministry that brought fame but at the same time, it brought hatred to His life. He exposed their sin (see John 15:18-25).
On occasion, the Lord would say things that would upset the tradition of the religious leaders.
You see. A smooth talking preacher or false prophet will not ruffle your feathers to expose the sin that's in your life because they're in sin themselves. But a true preacher cares nothing about his personal reputation. He cares only to please the Lord. The true preacher will risk everything to give the rightly divided word of truth.
The true preacher is under the command of the Lord and he will do everything to please the Lord, even if it means being a martyr.
It was clear that He would not go along with the hypocrisy.
In John 2, the Lord overthrew the money tables and took a cord and whipped them out of the Temple. The Lord would do it again just before He was crucified. On numerous occasions, He deliberately offended the Sanhedrin. He's called them hypocrites, children of hell, liars, murderers, blind, fools, vipers, serpents, brood of vipers, and blind guides.
Could the Lord had called them any worse?
Today, we have a similar situation.
Pastors that have prominence, good reputations with the world, and fame are all over the place.
Then in a flash, the Lord uses the foolish vessels to expose them.
Like a man lifting the skirt, the shame of these charlatans are exposed.
Their once "untouchable," "invincible," and "pristine" reputation is tarnished by their own association with sin and sinners. They're not as innocent as we thought.
They were false prophets, pastors, and teachers. They're false apostles and prophets, masquerading as real men of God until God exposes them.
2 Corinthians 11:12-15 (NKJV) "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."
But that's not all that God does.
2 Peter 2:12 (NKJV) "But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption..."
Balaam, after he received his wages called a diviner's fee from Balak, was later killed (see Numbers 31:8, Joshua 13:22).
And all who seek to minister to gain a reputation, fine clothing, eating well, living in mansions, flying private jets, or first class, fame, money, and notoriety, will suffer the same fate unless they repent and place faith on Christ alone, and walk in humility.
They will all burn in hell just as the Lord said in Matthew 7:15-28.
Proverbs 8:13 (NKJV) "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverse mouth I hate."
Proverbs 11:2 (NKJV)
"When pride comes, then comes shame;
But with the humble is wisdom."
Proverbs 16:18 (NKJV)
"Pride goes before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 21:24 (NKJV) "A proud and haughty man—“Scoffer” is his name;
He acts with arrogant pride."
Proverbs 29:23 (NKJV) "A man’s pride will bring him low,
But the humble in spirit will retain honor."
James 4:7-10 (NKJV) "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."
1 Peter 5:5-6 (NKJV) "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time..."
Just as the Lord Jesus, we should never look to build a reputation or fame.
Humility, and humbleness of mind, will save you from humiliation.
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