Word of Salvation – Vol.12 No.43 – October 1966

 

Human Recklessness And Pride, Human Self-Conceit

 

Sermon by Rev. G. de Ruiter on Rev. 13:18+14:1

Scripture Reading: Rev.13:1 – 14:1

Psalter Hymnal: 123:1,2,3; 48:5 (after Law); 298:3 (or Creed); 431; 407; 300

 

Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,

All kinds of aspects of history are mentioned in this last book of the Bible, and so we hear of crimes and wars, of hunger and starvation, we hear of a persecuted church and of a victorious church, victorious in preaching the Gospel and in translating the Bible, we hear of satanic power and devilish temptations, but also of divine care and protection from the King of the world and the head of the church – Jesus Christ.  Here in Rev.13 another aspect is dominant: human recklessness and pride, human self-conceit [in dutch: menselijke overmoed en zelfoverschatting].

Now is this element of human recklessness not new, not at all.  On the second page of our Bible we hear a man singing a song of human self-conceit: “I am my own helper, my own defender; I am a judge and executioner myself, self-sufficient and independent; I don’t need help of any man, I can help myself and manage my own things I am like God!”

And on the third page of the Bible we read the story of men who wanted to be on equal terms with God, building a tower with its top in heaven, overbridging all gaps themselves: “we can reach God’s level and deal with God as if He is one of us.’

And all this is part of an international anthem, a universal folk-song – top hit no.1.  And the author of this ages old top hit is Satan.  It is his suggestion to sing this song, as we can read it on the very first page of our Bible: ‘Don’t listen to God; don’t think you are dependent on God; don’t think you have to stick to His commandments in order to survive; be independent; go your own way and be like God.’

There it is: be like God, make your own Gods, be your own God!  And so in a way humanism is as old as mankind – the song of humanism: ‘glory be to man in the highest’.  But old as it may be, especially in our intellectual age it has become, with renewed strength, a universal idolatry; and it is true what someone wrote the other day: ‘No more subtle enemy has ever faced the Christian church than this one which dethrones God and replaces Him with His own creature’.

The humanists are becoming militant.  They are dedicated to attack Christianity.  Julian Huxley said that if humanism is to acquire a wider appeal it must become a religion, with a simple bible, a creed and humanist hymns, a ten commandments could be added, as would confessional practices.  And so humanism could slowly be developed into a new kind of mystery cult.  It could become a new, polite name for an aggressive, influential crusade against Christianity – in the name of social and moral and intellectual advance.  (quotation from ‘World Aflame’, Billy Graham).

But it is only the old enemy in a new dress; Satan repeating his first temptation on a new tune; ‘just be like God-be your own God’.

Especially the development of scientific research is a terrific means in Satan’s claws to confuse mankind as a whole.  And so this nuclear age has greatly reduced the faith that was woven deeply into the culture of the past.  As one scientist said the other day: “The world picture of this nuclear age does not include God.”  The cultivated man today finds no God in his reactor and he finds none through his telescope.  God is not among the rushing electrons, and He is not visible in outer space.  And so his conclusion is: there is no God, since there is not a single scientific evidence about Him.’ (from ‘World Aflame’)

And so more and more people have started to worship man; many intellectuals have come to believe that the human mind can understand everything eventually and will finish by controlling the universe; and amongst people from the lower layers and ranks of society all this has resulted in lawlessness, in throwing away old norms and rules and customs, to which only the old-timers, the squares, want to stick, people who still live in the past tense.  And parents with teenage children know how these teenagers all are infected by this spirit of our age, this spirit of longing to be independent, to have their own way, preferably a way loosed from God, from any authority.

Well, all this has been predicted in and is part of the message of Revelation 13.  This frightening picture of these two beasts has its culmination point in vs.18: ‘let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is 666.’

Six is the number of the earth.  In six days the world has been created, at the sixth day man was created.  So six especially is the number of man.  Six means earthly, human activities, just as seven often means heavenly, divine activities.

And let us keep in mind straight from the beginning that six never can become seven.  Ten times six, sixty means increase of human activities.  A hundred times six means greater increase.  666 means the highest development of humanity; three sixes in a row, it is the trinity of mankind; it means human activities and performances carried to extremes, to a dizzy height.

That great man of the future, that beast-man of Revelation 13, that anti-type of Christ, the Antichrist will be a genius, and that’s why many people will come to worship him, when he according to 2Thessalonians 2 will take his seat in the temple, the place of God, to replace God proclaiming himself to be God.  Satan, as the ape of God, imitating God, will reveal himself in a human genius, and his name shall be: 666, the highest development of human possibilities and capabilities, the trinity of mankind.  The antichrist, that first beast and his minister for propaganda, his minister for religion and cultural affairs, who will look like a lamb, sweet and innocent, but who will speak like a dragon, they will confuse mankind as a whole with their impressive deeds. (read here vss.13 and 14).

And so this whole picture of a bloodthirsty, enormous, frightening horrible monster from Revelation 13 could finally turn out to be a super-educated, over-intelectualised human being, man of science, healing his own mortal wounds, man of culture, but man without God, from whom – from God’s point of view – no one can expect any good.

And so Satan’s lie and temptation from the beginning ‘be like God’ will come back at the end, and this old ‘be like God’ will then become: ‘be God, be your own God.’

In the final empire of humanity it will be all sixes – what all the bells will ring.  Do you see this development throughout the ages, and do you recognise what’s happening in our days?  I can understand this prayer of a Christian poet:
In this our time of human triumph
when our words go forth as swift as light
our circling spaceships span the night
and power is given unto man to bloom with fire the cloudy pillar,
forgive our pride, forgive our shame,
O Lord, Creator and Redeemer,
teach us to glory in Thy name.

How we are in need to pray this prayer, since all of us are infected by this universal disease of human pride and recklessness and self-conceit.  And now let us stay home here.

When you listen to the stories told by Christian migrants, stories of perseverance and endurance and success, then very often the undertone is not a deep tone of sincere gratitude towards God, Who gave those blessings, but just a tone of hidden human pride: ‘haven’t I done a terrific job?  I am pretty good, don’t you think so?!’

It is hymn 666.  Even in church life you can hear it: ‘we reformed people, aren’t we the pick of the ecclesiastical basket?’  And again I’ll listen to this poet who understands our time so very well:
In this our time of human triumph,
Lord/our words deny the gifts we take,
our deeds betray the vows we make,
our Christian hearts are very often off-beat.
O send Thy truth, Thy Holy Spirit,
to guide, to quicken and inspire
our feeble wills and clouded purpose,
purge us as silver in Thy fire.

But what to say now about all this?  Is all this that frightening that we should despair, that we even start doubting our own faithfulness?  Don’t we have any possibilities to resist this last enemy of God and the church: humanism?  Will we all go down and perish, will we all drown in this flood of human recklessness and self-conceit?

Well, here that great theme of this book becomes relevant again, namely comfort and encouragement for Cod’s people.  In the first place we must realise that 6 never becomes 7, that three sixes are still sixes; even ten sixes on a row would not become sevens.  The human aspects will never make the divine aspects disappear; mankind will never take over the place of God completely; even that genius, the antichrist will still be human, i.e, subordinated and subject to King Jesus.  Let us listen to Psalm 2:

For our God will scorn them all;
Calm He sits enthroned on high.
Soon His wrath will on them fall,
angered then He will reply:
‘yet according to My will,
I have set My King to reign,
and on Zion’s holy hill
Mine Anointed I maintain.’

But now you may say: ‘well, that’s alright for our Lord; Satan can’t even touch Him, we know that.  But what about us, here in this world in which the beasts take over more and more, what about us, little feeble Christians?’

Well, for us, you and me, Christians with all our foibles, our miserable weaknesses, our many failures, for us God has given the picture of chapter 14:1- the 144000 with the name of Jesus and His Father’s name on their foreheads.

Exactly 144000 there are and no one will be missed at the end!
‘Out of tribulation, death and Satan’s hand
they have been translated at their Lord’s command.’

The Lord, their God with all His power made them faithful till the end!

No…!  6 never becomes 7, and therefore Satan will never be able to take away what God the Holy Spirit has given us: faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.  And 7 will never become 6, so once a believer – a believer forever; once on God’s level – for ever safe there, once God’s own – forever God’s own, once God’s child – forever in His family.

The number of the beast is just a human number, and he will influence Christians, and he will make us ashamed of ourselves because of our many failures and weaknesses, but God’s grace and mercy for us and over us will help us to continue.

And so God will always do better than man.
Man makes a jet aircraft whine, an outboard motor roar,
and man erects a television antenna to look into the heavens,
and he designs spears and knives and arrows and guns and planes,
tanks and bombs that he might fight his brother and die.

God made a baby laugh lying in Bethlehem’s manger
and he designed a hill and erected a cross,
and an open tomb for His own beloved Son,
that whosoever believes in Him might live forever.

Man launches a billion-dollar-missile
to speed a satellite into orbit thousands of miles out in space,
adding a new verse to that ages old hymn 666.

God has cleared a path by which His children’s prayers
might wing an unerring course through the realms of space and time
to heaven’s communication centre,
and this path will be open till the last day of world-history.

And the beast who looks like a lamb and talks like a dragon, he won’t be able to do any lasting harm to those who belong to the Iamb Jesus Christ,

And so we won’t be confused by hymn 666, but we will take over, time and again, that great song of Paul from Romans 8:
“What then shall we say to this?
If God is for us, who is against us?
He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all,
will he not also give us all things with him?
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies; who is to condemn?
It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead,
who is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, ‘For thy sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Amen.