It has been said,

“There
are no great men of God, only men of a great God.”

In that case, one of my favorite “men of a great God” is 19^th
century American theologian Albert Barnes, who provided gems like this below in
his commentary of both the Old and New Testaments.

Psalm 55:22 – Cast
your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the
righteous to be shaken.

    “All that is to be
‘borne’ or to be ‘done’ in this world he has ‘divided up’ among people, giving
or assigning to each one what He thought best suited to his ability, his
circumstances, his position in life – what ‘he’ could do or bear best – and
what, therefore, would most conduce to the great end in view. That portion thus
assigned to ‘us,’ we are directed to ‘cast upon the Lord;’ that is, we are to
look to him to enable us to do or to bear it. As it is ‘his’ appointment, we
should receive it, and submit to it, without complaining; as it is ‘his’
appointment, we may feel assured that no more has been laid upon us than is
commensurate with our ability, our condition, our usefulness, our salvation. We
have not to rearrange what has been thus appointed, or to adjust it anew, but
to do all, and endure all that he has ordained, leaning on his arm.”

Think for a moment of some amazing, historical men and women of God.

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to witness the calling of spiritual giants like Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, George Muller, or Jim and Elizabeth Elliott? To have been present the moment that those individuals responded to the call of Christ in their life and began the journey of immense impact for the Kingdom of God?

If we were to have witnessed first-hand the calling of a missionary pioneer to South Africa who would serve faithfully for over 50 years, it would have looked no different then what we witnessed recently in the Dominican Republic, during a vacation bible school, where numerous children responded to a Gospel presentation.

In Zechariah 4:10 the Lord challenged Zechariah, “Who dares despise the day of small things?”

This short phrase refers to the building of the second temple, which was contemptible to the enemies of Judah, and little in the eyes of many of the Jews themselves, who had seen the former temple built by Solomon, yet not in the eyes of the Lord of hosts.

Fred Barlow writes on wholesomewords.org,
When I think of Robert Moffat, I am rightly reminded of the Scripture in Zechariah 4:10, which
witnesses, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” It seemed a small thing to some godly men in a southern Scotland church when a boy about four years old, from a home of poor but pious parents, knelt at an altar to pray. His decision was despised by the elders as one who was too young to understand. Thank God, one unnamed, unknown-to-us brother bothered to kneel in prayer with “Robbie.” Moffat may well have been converted to Christ then — if not, it was the commencement of a chain of events that led to his conversion and to the opening of doors of evangelism to the uncharted depths of the dark continent of Africa.

While growing up, his mother during the long winter evenings would tell Robert and his siblings of stories of missionaries. In his teens he saw a sign announcing a missionary meeting. Robbie attended and responded to God’s call on his life to become a missionary. He went on to serve the Lord faithfully for 50 years: Laying the foundation of the church in Botswana and Zimbabwe; translating the Bible into foreign languages, a task that in one case took 17 years.

The prime minister of South Africa said of Robert Moffat, “Among missionaries, there was none greater, none holier.”

When on March 20, 1870 he preached his last sermon, most of the congregation were the children of his first church 50 years earlier.

The Lord had graciously allowed him to play a role in generational change for Christ. This is our prayer for the Genesis Program as well, and a good reminder to never “dare despise the day of small things.”

Mark 9:38-40 reads,

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.”

John McArthur writes in Twelve Ordinary Men,

“[The Apostles] were perfectly ordinary men in every way. Not one of them was renown for scholarship or great erudition. They had no track record as orators or theologians. In fact, they were outsiders as far as the religious establishment of Jesus’ day was concerned. They were not outstanding because of any natural talents or intellectual abilities. On the contrary, they were all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith and bitter failure…Yet with all their faults and character flaws – as remarkably ordinary as they were – these men carried on a ministry after Jesus’ ascension that left an indelible impact on the world.”

And yet, there is much to glean from their recorded interactions, successes and failures, as they related to Christ during his earthly ministry.

Ministry, both the highs and lows, must drive us to our knees and the pages of Scripture. This past week drove me to the passage above and to glean from the faithful expositors below.

Warren Wiersbe
“Jesus did not treat John’s statement lightly; in fact, He went on to explain the danger of causing others to stumble and therefore stop serving the Lord (Mark 9:42–50). ‘These little ones’ refers to all God’s children who follow Christ and seek to serve Him. The way believers treat others in the family of God is a serious thing, and God wants us to ‘have peace one with another’ (Mark 9:50). The disciples did not get along with each other, nor did they get along with other believers!”

Albert Barnes
“True likeness to the Savior would lead us to rejoice in all the good accomplished, by whomsoever it may be done; and to rejoice that the kingdom of Christ is advanced.”

John Calvin
“There is reason to suspect the disciples of Christ of ambition, because they are anxious to maintain their privilege and honor. For why is it that they all at once forbid a man who is unknown to them to work miracles, but because they wish to be the sole possessors of this right?”

“If the disciples had not been more devoted to their own glory than anxious and desirous to promote the glory of their Master, they would not have been offended when they saw that glory heightened and enlarged in another direction.”

16th century theologian Richard Hooker is created with saying,

“Wise men are men, and truth is truth.”

This should be of comfort to all Christ-followers: our faith lies not in imperfect messengers, historical or contemporary, but in our perfect Savior and His perfect message of Salvation found in Scripture.

Amidst the amazing story in Acts 9 of the conversion of the Apostle Paul is an often-overlooked character, Ananias, who deserves our consideration and admiration for his obedience in adversity.

10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

11 The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

John Pollock writes in his book The Apostle: The Life of Paul,

“Ananias the obscure (never heard of before or since) had been chosen to baptize Saul. This was to be the first example of a historical pattern that great ambassadors for Christ, however much prepared in other ways, would be brought to their vocation by unimportant agents:

– Augustine hears a child’s voice repeat, ‘Take up and read!’;

– John Wesley listens to an anonymous Moravian reading Luther;

– D. L. Moody, wrapping up shoes in a store, pauses for a few words from his Sunday school teacher;

– Charles Haddon Spurgeon, sheltering from a snowstorm, hears a workingman in a snowbound minister’s pulpit.”

Among the many benefits of serving the local church, as a member of Empowering Action, is the opportunity to interact with modern-day Ananias’, whose obedience, often in obscurity and affliction, produce “fruit that lasts” for the Kingdom. Often their hearts reflect the words of the Psalmist,

It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces. (Psalm 119:71-72)

Currently, each morning, as part of my personal devotions, I read a portion of George Muller’s Journal and The Biography of Robert Murray McCheyne by Andrew Bonar.

Years ago my pastor indicated that, other than the Bible itself, it is essential that followers of Christ regular consume the inspirational stories of great men and women of God.

FB Meyer in his work The Secret of Guidance writes,

We may still further secure the same results by studying the biography of saintly men belonging to recent centuries. Happy the man within reach of a library, the shelves of which are well lined with books of holy biography! He will never, never be in want of additional stimulus as he reads the story of McCheyne and W. C. Burns, of Brainerd and Martyn, of Jonathan Edwards and others. He will not envy or repine; but he will constantly lift eye and heart to Heaven, asking that as much may be done through himself.

This morning Andrew Bonar described Robert Murray McCheyne’s “living a disinterested life,”

As it was evident that his Master owned his labor abundantly, by giving him seals of his apostleship, attempts were made occasionally by zealous friends to induce him to move to other fields of service. In all these cases, he looked simply at the apparent indications of the Lord’s will. Worldly interest seemed scarcely ever to cross his mind in regard to such a matter, for he truly lived a disinterested life.

Question: Why was he “disinterested” in the things of this world?
Answer: Because he grasped Scripture:

Viewing himself as only a temporary resident here
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (1 Peter 1:21)

Recognizing his citizenship was in heaven
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)

Setting his mind on heavenly things
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3)

Let us strive, as well, to live a “disinterested life.”

W.H. Griffith Thomas gave the following advice to young preachers in the 19th century,

“Think yourself empty, read yourself full, write yourself clear, pray yourself keen— then enter the pulpit and let yourself go!”

Thomas followed that counsel himself, and in so doing, he became one of the spiritual giants of his day, being described as “one of the founding minds and hearts of Dallas Theological Seminary.”

I particularly enjoy heeding Thomas’ call to read, as long ago a boss ingrained in me that “Readers are leaders and leaders are readers.” One book that I recently completed, entitled More than Coping: God’s Servants Can Triumph Over Emotional Pain, provided insights from the lives of spiritual giants such as C.S. Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Amy Carmichael and J. Hudson Taylor.

The following quotes are examples of the wisdom gleaned from such investment in “reading oneself full.”

“I thank thee, Lord Jesus, for the promise whereon thou has given me to rest. Give me all the needed strength of body, wisdom of mind, grace of soul to do this thy so great work.”
– Hudson Taylor

“Compromise has come to be a dirty word in the Christian world, although it was indeed never meant to be that…Hudson Taylor would not have compromised principle in order to save his life, nor should we. But he knew the true meaning of compromise. In order to cope in China, he compromised things that had no moral overtones in order to win the very souls of people. He chanced offending his own colleagues rather than offend those among whom he lived and worked.”
– Elizabeth Skoglund