An exceptional address from Paige Benton Brown at The Gospel Coalition

HERE http://thegospelcoalition.org/resources/name-index/a/Paige_Benton_Brown

Revelation 2:1a (ESV) “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write…”

Churches all have personalities. Those personalities generally take their primary characteristics from the Pastor(s) – though not always. But because we are social creatures, we often gather most comfortably with those who share similar personality traits, and/or compatible traits. And this has both pluses and minuses to it.

In an interview I heard with John MacArthur some time ago, MacArthur lamented that he has ministered so long in one place (Grace Community Church) that he has been there long enough to see some of his negative traits replicated in his congregation. We pass-on (so to speak) attitudes and viewpoints, mindsets and other factors which are not always positive. It is an occupational hazard. One that personally makes me tremble.

As you read the 2nd and 3rd chapters of the book of The Revelation, you cannot help but see this problem in the larger context of each congregation. Each one has its peculiarities which Jesus addresses. Some positive, some negative. And we can be reasonably sure that such traits reflect at least the leadership of the individual Churches, if not the majority of those in each one. For instance…

Ephesus was commended for its orthodoxy and activity, but challenged for being somewhat loveless.

Smyrna was beat up, persecuted, hopeless in this life – and counseled to place its trust in the return of Christ and not a reversal of fortunes. Pergamum was urban, compromised by the culture & dependent upon structure. Thyatira was socially active, but morally compromised by listening to un-Biblical “authority”. Sardis was outwardly vibrant but inwardly dead to the Spirit of Christ while Philadelphia, though diminutive was alive, dependent and faithful. Lastly, Laodicea, which was impactless through the deception of prosperity and loss of intimacy with Christ.

So which one are you? We might each be able to say our particular church fits at least mostly into one of these 7 pictures – but in truth, we probably share those characteristics personally as well. Do one of these descriptions fit your congregation? Do one of these descriptions seem to fit you individually – more or less? No doubt, at least one stands out in both cases. And with few exceptions you are probably in a church which reflects your affinity for those in like condition. So, which one are you?

One of the delights of this passage is that in the cases where anything negative is shared – there is counsel given. Neither you nor your church need remain that way. And for the two which have only commendation – there is encouragement to carry on.

To be perfectly honest – I would have to say I tend most toward being an “Ephesian.” Not good. But not un-fixable either. How great is the mercy and grace of our God! But if you were to sit down in the privacy of your own prayer closet with this portion of Scripture before you – where would you locate yourself? Where would you locate your church? And what will you do with the counsel given?

Our Faithful and True Shepherd, loves us too much, to leave us to ourselves. May we respond to that love in appropriate ways. He loves, to help His own recover from whatever we get ourselves into.  

Proverbs 28:15 (ESV) Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

Bad leadership “leads”, rules by two primary tactics – instilling fear through a bullying rage about all manner of things (roaring) and through fiercely attacking (charging) others. And let’s face it – these tactics are effective. It is why they persist. They get people to cower and run. And it is wicked. How opposite of our Christ.

Talk show hosts “lead” by raging for hours on end. Hoping to instill enough fear in folks to get a reaction. A reaction which translates into ratings more than any real action to change things with an eye toward loving others.

Politicians charge one another endlessly. They rage about the opposition. The demonize everyone who disagrees. They think they lead by making you angry at or afraid of – the other side.

It happens in our pulpits too. Rather than point others to Christ, preachers and teachers can spend their hours raging against the Devil, or the World or the Flesh, and driving people through fear. Such a form of spiritual bullying is reprehensible in the highest. It is one thing to point out truth, and quite another to try to manipulate through raging and charging.

And it happens in our homes. Fathers roar at their kids. Husbands at their wives. And some wives in return. We seek power over the other by our roaring and charging. We hit them where they are weak – and trample on them and then congratulate ourselves for being “real” men – leaders.

And then we are reminded of our Savior. He led by going. He was on His way to die. And He called others to come and follow. But as would be prophesied of Him: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. ²He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; ³ a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. ⁴ He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” (Isaiah 42:1–4, ESV)

He did not rage at others to control them – but in the Spirit of His Father He said: “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18, ESV)

Like a Shepherd He lead us. Not like a bully. Not like a fear monger. Not wickedly. He leads us in gentleness and truth. Beside still waters. He restores our souls – He does not rage at them. How unlike the World.

What a Savior!

Ephesians 6:10–20 (ESV) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; ¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, ¹⁹ and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Whenever I fall into sin, (don’t give me that look – you do too) I find I need look to find which part of Christ’s armor I’ve neglected. That is most often what leaves me susceptible to failure. No doubt, it is the same for you too.

1. Do I have my BELT OF TRUTH on? Am I seeing all of reality and even my identity as defined in relationship TO Christ? Am I seeing sin as the hideous thing it really is in God’s eyes, and righteousness as the treasure it really is in God’s eyes? Or is my day-to-day worldview uninformed by understanding the universe through God’s eternal purposes in Christ – rather than through the lens of the moment or this world’s values?

2. Do I have my BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS on? Commentators are divided on the nature of this breastplate – whether it refers to guarding my own heart through habitually walking in righteousness or fixing my eyes on Christ’s imputed righteousness. I take my stand on not being able to separate the two. The more I rely NOT on my own righteousness, and live fully convinced of Christ’s righteousness imputed to me in faith – the more I walk in the freedom of that righteousness, and guard my heart. Am I conscious of really and truly being declared righteous IN Christ?

3. Are my feet standing securely in the readiness given by the GOSPEL OF PEACE? Do I live at peace with God because of my justification in the Gospel, or is there some underlying fear that the Gospel is not enough? That my peace with God is tenuous, fragile and conditional upon me rather than secured in Christ?

4. Is my SHIELD OF FAITH up? Am I living increasingly in the full revelation of God IN Christ? Do I believe His Word – fully? Is sin as bad as the Word says it is? Is mankind’s plight really that desperate? Is Christ’s atoning sacrifice really the only means of peace with God? Does He really hate sin that much? Does He really love me that much? Am I really secure in Him? Will I be resurrected in Him? Will all of His promises prevail? If I do not trust Him – I will suspect Him, and sin will have its way through deception, just like in Eden.

5. Do I have on the HELMET OF SALVATION? Do I think like a redeemed person with living in the true hope of Heaven – which is salvation’s consummation of being eternally WITH Christ. Am I living like that’s where I’m going?

6. Do I have on the SWORD OF THE WORD? Am I living, having my sin being constantly exposed by the light OF Christ. Or do I live in self-deception and imagine myself better than I am? If He is not continually searching my with the light of His word – separating my thoughts and intents – which is impossible by human means – I will talk myself into sin every time.

7. Have I put on PRAYER today? Am I living in the access to the Father won BY Christ? In intimacy with the King of glory?

Am I really standing in these as my daily, conscious reality? If not, I WILL fall. 

Proverbs 3:1–3 (ESV) My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, ² for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. ³ Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.

“Kiss me you fool!” When my wife says that – I light up like a roman candle. That’s one command I just can’t get enough of. I LOVE to obey it – every chance I get. And that is the very premise of this 3rd chapter of Proverbs.

Solomon, in instructing his son – bids him to be sure not to “forget” his teaching, and to “keep” (to treasure up) his commandments. And what commandment is he referring to? To never let his heart and mind operate apart from a full awareness of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. To live, luxuriating in the reality that God’s love toward Him is steadfast – unmovable and unchangeable, and that He is absolutely faithful to all of His promises and in the fidelity of His divine love.

It is no mistake that these words copy the core of God’s self-disclosure on Sinai: Exodus 34:5–6 (ESV) “⁵ The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” One immediately thinks of Jude 21a “keep yourselves in the love of God.” The idea there isn’t to keep yourself lovable BY God, but keep your heart and mind fixed on the reality of God’s love FOR you!

So here – Solomon knows that the issues of life are all wrapped up in the individual knowing the nature of God’s nature and love for them in Christ.

Believer – do YOU know it? Do you live here? Or are you secretly living the life of performance? Underneath it all, do you find your heart’s repose more located in whether or not you’ve done well today (reading the Word, praying, worshiping etc.), than in the knowledge of HIS steadfast love and faithfulness? If so, you are denying grace, and looking for self-justification. It is so subtle, isn’t it?

So our Writer by the inspiration of the Spirit calls us to “bind” these realities around our necks – more! To carve them into the very seat of our affections and understanding. For apart from this – we will fall into mere religion. But to live here, is to live long, savory days of life and peace.

What a Savior!    

Mark 11:12–14 (ESV) On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. ¹³ And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Sometimes, a little background information can go a long way. If Bishop Lightfoot is correct (along with a number of other commentators) part of the enigma of this account of Jesus approaching and subsequently cursing this fig tree would not have been such to Jesus’ contemporaries.

In Lightfoot’s “A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Hebraica”, he notes that there were several different kinds of fig trees common there and then. One kind – bore leaves all year round. And, it produced fruit which took 3 years to mature. Thus it would have been normal to expect some fruit on this kind of fig tree – even as Mark reminds us that it was not the season for figs – the regular cultivated figs that is.

So what’s the problem? If Bishop Lightfoot is correct in identifying this particular fig tree as one which bear its leaves every season, and has fruit on it which takes 3 years to ripen – then it is easy to see that Jesus’ pronouncement has more to do with the wicked generation which stripped this tree bare of its fruit. They could not and would not wait for it to serve its design, and robbed it bare. It is not a pronouncement against the tree, as much as it is against Israel’s leadership who in their greed and lust, took Israel’s glory to themselves, and left nothing for the Messiah. See Mark 12:1-11.

So it is, immediately after, He casts the money changers out of the Temple. Those picking the “fig tree” bare and leaving the people destitute and bearing the name of God only, and nothing of His substance in their traditions. In about 40 years – they will no longer be able to strip the “tree” any more.

Mark 12:38–40 (ESV) And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces ³⁹ and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, ⁴⁰ who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

It is a frightening thing to take what belongs to God.

Mark 14:3–9 (ESV) And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

No other act among people evoked such a response from Jesus: “wherever the Gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Why? What is so special about this act that Jesus should respond to it so strongly?

It seems to me that the words of Jesus in the first part of verse 8 hold the key. So simple, and yet so profound: “She has done what she could.” Herein is my failure so often – I do not even do what I can.

He asks no more of us than what we can do – not what we cannot. He does not ask us to amass great wealth to finance the entire evangelism enterprise, or to reach each individual with the Gospel personally: He asks only that we do what we can.

And how was this demonstrated here? That answer is in verse 3 – “she broke the flask.” She did not uncork it so as to use some to anoint Jesus and retain the rest for herself or others – she wasted it all on Him. With careless abandon. She didn’t worry (apparently) about getting more later, or that once it was gone, it was gone. It was used to bless her Lord and that was all that mattered. She did what she could – and she didn’t hold back.

Heavenly Father, how I long for this same heart in myself. How small must my conceptions of your glory be that I hold back a thing – that I do not even do what I can often? Forgive me. Let me see Jesus’ glory in such a way that this cold, dark stingy heart of mine be warmed and enlightened and set free. For what do I have, that does not belong to you? And what is anything to me, accept to bless you with? Let me do all I can, and not worry about what I cannot. Set me free from clinging to anything in this world that can instead be used to glorify the King who have His dear life a ransom for my wretched soul.  

2 Timothy 2:16–18 (ESV) But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

It is rare that Paul addresses a false teaching directly in his epistles, and rarer still to attach names to such teachings. But some things call for unusual treatment due to their impact. And here, Paul identifies what makes the actions of Hymenaeus and Philetus so problematic: a spreading ungodliness, due to a subverted faith which is the product of false teaching. In other words, false teaching which damages genuine faith, ultimately results in an ungodly lifestyle in those damaged by it. They give up the simplicity of trusting and walking with Christ.

There are two prevailing views on what form this gangrenous teaching that the resurrection had already passed, took. First, is that the resurrection is simply one’s salvation. They have been “raised from the dead” in Christ, and therefore no literal, physical resurrection is to be looked for. Second, was simply that resurrection was merely when those who died passed into Heaven. Both views though hold the very same error at their core – the “spiritualizing” of the resurrection. And in this way, they “upset” or overturned the faith of some, in turning them away from looking for Christ’s literal return, the resurrection of the dead, and the putting of the universe right.

Enter Harold Camping.

I’ve been pretty silent so far on Mr. Camping’s wackiness. I’ve done everything I can (since the 80’s) to chalk up his strange preoccupation with eschatological arithmetic to a mere harmless fancy, and then increasingly to the onset of an age related lack of Biblical lucidity. But no more.

Listening to his live press conference last evening evening in the aftermath of his failed prediction of Judgment Day arriving in global earthquakes and the rapture of all true believers – I lost my ability to ignore it. Why? Because his entire defense last evening was the Hymenaeus and Philetus tack: Judgment Day DID come, but it was all just spiritual – so he said.

He took not one iota of responsibility for what he incited in others by teaching his own misguided interpretations (if they can be called that: better, self-delusions) as absolutely and unequivocally what the Bible teaches. His gangrenous false teaching will injure the simple , pure faith in Christ of many – as the admitted raising of (and thus fleecing God’s people of) over 100 million dollars to get the warning out. Whether it was for personal gain or not is irrelevant.

This is shameful, wicked, unconscionable and indefensible. And to say “well, it really DID happen, just spiritually” is as much of a lie and destructive to faith in the Bible as it can be.

Whether self-deluded or a pure sham (I make the assumption of self-delusion) – the damage is none the less. And the whole Church suffers from the weight of it.

Let me not mince words here: Harold Camping is a false teacher of the highest degree, who has perverted the Gospel by drawing people away from following Christ, to following his predictions in order to be truly saved and right with God. This, is damnable. And it is not to be excused, winked at, ignored or explained away.

God has used Harold Camping and Family Radio in wonderful ways over the years to truly be a vehicle for the Gospel. But that is no more a means to excuse this present crime against the Gospel than the fact that Peter declared Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God” and was an apostle – freed him from public confrontation by Paul in Antioch when Peter’s public weakness led to a practical denial of the Gospel.

I have but two things to say in closing:

a. Do not listen to Harold Camping. Shut him off. Period. Do not give an ear to false teachers. Avoid this “irreverent babble” – it only leads to ungodliness, for it takes our eyes off of Christ.

b. Pray for Harold Camping and those who have listened to him and been so woefully harmed. They are in serious trouble. they have “swerved from the truth.”

Mark 9:33–37 (ESV) And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

Note how humble our Savior is. It is why He wants us to become humble too – that we might be like Him.

And the truth is, you cannot have your eye set on your own greatness, and at the same time be willing to stop and receive those who can add nothing to your quest for personal greatness.

Loving the least among people, will marginalize you from such grasping after status yourself.

Receive, be identified with, take up in your arms those who are not capable of helping you achieve such a goal – do it for MY sake – and you will receive both Me and My Father; He seems to be saying.

And I am forced to ask myself – who is it I am afraid to be identified with – lest I lose status in the eyes of others? Who are the “those people” who do not quite measure up to my standard? What group is it I am afraid others will imagine that I’m “one of them”?

Am I afraid to be thought of as a sinner? A friend of the uneducated, or uneducated myself? A pal to the socially inept? The rednecks or the tree-huggers? The indigent? The broken? The addicted, convicted, helpless, needy & bound? Or do I want to be among the beautiful, the comfortable, the respectable and the un-cumbersome only?

Children are lacking knowledge, context, self-control, the ability to contribute much to their care and upkeep and will be noisy and bothersome. Welcome to me! And as the Savior scoops such up in His arms – He calls us to do the same.

What a lover of souls He is! What a Savior!