Occasionally, of course, the best of men will hang their harps on the willows. We are still human and some things rub the mortal the wrong way. There are always some in high places, not among those true cele brities we have already mentioned, who did not get there by their own merit. There are servants on horses and princes walking as servants upon the earth. True promotion cometh neither from the south, east, or west (Psa. 75:6), but some other kinds do. It may irk an honest soul to take a back seat or to see some true prophet ignored in favor of a politician. There are tricks of manufactured and arti ficial greatness by which some reach the top sea is in the synagogue and are called Rabbi. It will be interesting, when we get to Heaven, to find out who the really big preachers are. Some of them may have served on hard-scrabble circuits and worn old blue serge suits until they gleamed like shining armor; and their equally faithful wives may never have known what it was like to wear a good coat. They did not serve God for recogni tion or to be “appreciated.” They were faithful over a few things and cultivated well their plot and never wore out their eyes gazing at greener pastures nor did they bum up envying some man’s bishopric. By the large, there are no better people on earth than the host of “little (?) preachers” who never get headlines at conven tions, but work hard, rear fine fami
I n every generation God raises up in the church a figure who gets the eyes of the public and the ear of the multitude. There is no use trying to explain such celebrities, for after all the explanations have been added up the sum is greater than all of its parts. The best explanation lies in the sovereignty of God. He chooses whom He will and when He is ready He raises up His man. To be sure, when the Almighty asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” there must be an Isaiah with cleansed heart and fire-anointed lips to say, “Here am I; send me” (Isa. 6 :8 ). But the simplest way to account for such phenomenal characters is to say, “There was a man sent from God” (John 1:6). Along with these luminaries there shine lesser lights of varying bril liance. And fainter still are thousands of good men who never rate higher than “among those present.” Now God would have every man be all that he can be by divine grace, and Some could be greater lights than they are if they paid the price of faith and work. But there are many more who pray just as much and love God just as much and work just as hard as the chiefest celebrity but ■live and die almost unknown. Sometimes they are puzzled by it and perplexed if not in despair. Most of them, however, do not give it much thought but are content to be faithful and let God keep the books.
lies, hold things together while some body else gets the credit, these grass roots Aristocrats Anonymous. And one remarkable thing about it all is that some of these can outpreach some in high places. I have been painfully disappointed where I expected to hear much and have listened to more than one truly great preacher who never was heard of outside his state. In a slightly different category are those unknowns of their day who be came famous too late to know it, at least down here. Matthew Henry thought his ministry was well-nigh a failure but now his commentary circles the globe. We may have some such with us now, prophets without honor in their own country. Joseph Parker said: “There may be those who would today clap their hands applaudingly at the mention of the name of Bunyan who would not ad mit a living Bunyan to fellowship, intimacy, hospitality.” Something might be given to him at the back door. It is one thing to applaud the heroes, the prophets, the seers of old time and another to recognize their successors today. “Seven towns contend for Homer dead , Through which the living Homer begged his bread.” There are compensations, too. Some one has said that ice is the only thing that’s what it is cracked up to be. Certainly fame is disappointing The
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