INTRODUCTION.

THE

HE title chosen for this book is a happy one--“THE GREAT Men of God,❞—great men in the judgment and estimation of God, or great men in and through the power of God, or yet again, men great in godliness. There are many kinds of greatness recognized in the world among men-great conquerors, great rulers, great statesmen, great scholars, and great benefactors. And the world does well to hold such in remembrance, and to preserve their lives for the example and inspiration of others. But the world's great men may or may not be great men of God. To be great toward God, or great in godliness, is the highest order of greatness, and to be entitled to rank in this high order requires certain indispensable traits of character. A great conqueror whose fame may fill the world, may after all be only a great destroyer. A great statesman, winning the applause of nations by his wisdom and forethought, may be but an ambitious aspirant after place and power. A great scholar may be only a mere selfish plodder in books, and seeker after knowledge for his own gratification and pleasure. A hero whose martial deeds may attract the admiration of the world may be only a daring, reckless adventurer, sustained by no true courage, and inspired by no noble motives. Back of all outward manifestations and action lie the true elements of character, and the real requisites of true greatness. These must be sought in the motives, the inspiration, and the purposes of the life. Among even the world's truly great men must be found purity of motive, a lofty, manly inspiration, and a broad, generous, unselfish purpose; otherwise, even in the world's estimation, their fame is but sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Much more, in "great men of God" shall we find these elements of character combined with others still higher and greater.

In God's heroes, to human greatness must be added divine greatness-greatness on the godward side of life. Accordingly in these great Bible characters, while we would recognize every one of them as great in his simple manhood, we discover still other more

prominent elements of character which lift them into a higher and diviner sphere of manhood. They are great through God. They are great for the sake of God. They are great by the inspiration and help of God. Their lives are directed with reference to the will and purposes of God. They are consecrated lives. They are lives sanctified and animated by faith and obedience. And this faith in God and obedience to his will is their peculiar characteristic, and is what lifts them into their pre-eminence as great men of God. They may be great statesmen, as Moses and Samuel and David; or great heroes, as Joshua and Gideon and Samson; or great in wisdom, as Solomon; or great reformers, as Isaiah and Jeremiah and Daniel; but they are all great men of God through their faith and obedience to him, and the consecration of their lives to his purposes. They are chosen instruments of God. And in this higher and broader greatness, they belong not merely to the Bible and the Jews, but to the race.

As an illustration of this true greatness, was there ever more implicit obedience than that of Abraham's? His early home was Ur of Chaldea, on the right bank of the Euphrates, near the ancient head of the Persian Gulf. At the command of God he at once leaves his country and removes to Haran, where he prospers and accumulates property. In the midst of his prosperity and quiet rest the Lord again calls, and immediately he goes to a strange land, occupied by a hostile people, and this with no title or prospect but the promise of God, "I will make of thee a great nation." Yet upon that single warrant Abraham leaves country, kindred, home, every thing that attaches one to the place of his nativity, and went out, "not knowing whither he went." When prosperity had again crowned his new home and labors, and the "child of promise" had come, and was growing up to manhood, again the command of his God came to him in a form sufficient to shake the foundation of the strongest faith, and to arouse rebellion in the most obedient spirit: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt-offering!" Terrible as was the command, the faith and obedience stood the test, and Abraham immediately obeyed, "and went unto the place of which God had told him." Thus faith in God directed him in the whole course of his life. He planned nothing of himself, nothing for

himself. Following the leadings of divine Providence with the one supreme motive to honor and obey God, he carried with him the presence of the Lord, and wherever he fixed his abode he consecrated it with God's altar. Well may such a man be recognized as a "Great Man of God," and be called the "friend of God," and the "father of the faithful."

Again, how beautiful and how great a life on its mere human side was that of Joseph-so beautiful that an attempt has been made to dramatize it, and to produce it on the stage, with the accessories of scenery and music. And yet so grand is it on its godward side, that to portray it, to expand it, even to comment upon it, is to take away its charm. It is a life lived toward God and directed of God. Hence we see magnanimity triumphing over meanness; generosity requiting envy and malice; the man who had become so great in wisdom and power showing himself greater still in humility and love; but above all we see the spirit of piety honoring God in all the events of life, and dictating forgiveness toward men for injuries which God had turned to blessings. Up to the time of his sudden exaltation, each particular event of his life had seemed to tell against him, every body was his enemy; and yet all things were working together for his good! Who would not trust and magnify the Lord who holds all the complicated threads of life in the guiding hand of love? And who does not see at a glance wherein lay the great strength of Joseph !

As a still further illustration let us take one of the prophets. Dean Stanley has pronounced Elijah the Tishbite, "the grandest and most romantic character that Israel produced." His was indeed a rugged and stormy life, and his name is worthy to be associated with that of Moses-the representative of the prophets, as Moses was of the law, and both to bring the grandeur and glory of the Old Testament and lay them at the feet of Jesus as the homage of God's greatest men paid on the mount of transfiguration to the supreme man. Not Cesar surpassed this old prophet in courage; not Luther or John Knox was bolder than he. His whole history is made up of a succession of great, striking pictures even to the last. The chariot of fire and the horses of flame seem to be but the natural close of the wonderful life. Independent of his greatness as an inspired prophet, we can see that there is a

native grandeur about the man, that his is a colossal nature. Fearless, independent, he towers above kings and princes; while next to his loyalty to God, is his true, devoted love to his country, his firm, unsullied patriotism. And yet, apart from his prophetic character, what is Elijah but a man of grand and noble nature, lifted up into a divine hero by his unflinching faith in God, and his implicit obedience to his will and purposes!

In almost every nation there arise at long intervals remarkable men, whose lives, characters, or teachings, effect great revolutions in its political or religious life. Such men stand as columns to mark the dividing line, or the epochs, in human history Such in ancient Greece were Socrates and Plato; such in China were Confucius and Mencius; such of another character were Alexander, Cesar, Charlemagne; and in more modern times such were Cromwell, Bonaparte, and Washington. But wonderful as these men were in the greatness of their genius, the grandeur of their achievements, and the social and political changes they produced, they differ immensely and in the most important respects from these "great men of God." Alexander had his strong cohorts behind him, Cesar his mighty legions, Bonaparte his heroic columns, and even Washington his enthusiastic and admiring countrymen, consecrated with himself to the achievement of a grand purpose. But many of these heroes of God were alone and single handed, and yet wrought greater revolutions, and effected wider and more permanent changes, than they all. Paul was a hero of the grandest type, a model hero, though his transcendent courage was never exhibited on the field of battle. Those great men of the world attract our attention by their conquering arms, or by the productions of their genius; but these men of God often attract our attention and claim our admiration from the very fact that they are not surrounded by the accessories of outward pomp and grandeur, or the glamour of the schools of learning and philosophy, and yet their achievements surpass those of the great men and martial heroes of the world. They surpass them also in the heroic qualities which they exhibit. They face death, not occasionally, but constantly without flinching; not amid the excitement of battle and the shouts of men, but often alone and anfriended; not surrounded by the presence and sympathy of admiring thousands, but surrounded with enemies and over