Great Men Part 6

THE PLACE OF GREAT MEN MUST NOT BE SOUGHT -- "Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men" (Proverbs 25:6). Here we have the Old Testament version of one of Jesus' teachings in the New Testament. Every learned student of the New Testament is familiar with that passage, but I present it for at least your brief perusal:

"And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:7-11).

It was when Lucifer desired to stand in the place of God that he fell and since he would not fit his proper place in heaven, he no longer fit any place in heaven, and God created another place for him -- "everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt. 25:41). This may sound too harsh, but it really is so: The only fit place for place-seekers is the place "prepared for the devil and his angels." One of the biggest problems on earth, both in the secular and religious realms, is little men ambitious to stand, or already standing, where they ought not -- in the place of great men who properly fit that place!

The finale for the small standing in the place of the great, where they ought not, shall be seen at the end of this era when "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet" shall be seen "standing where it ought not" (Mark 13:14). The utmost audacity of a mere man standing in the place of God is that of which the Jews accused Jesus: "The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God" (John 10:33). But Jesus told them, "If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43). The Man of Sin will stand in the place of the Great God, where he ought not -- but not for long, for the final Trump shall sound, and the Lord "shall destroy [him, the antichrist] with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders" (2 Thess. 2:8-9). Those who would not humbly fit into their proper place on earth will then fill the only place in which they fit in eternity: "punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power" (2 Thess. 1:9).