Great Men Part 5

THE COMPANY OF GREAT MEN IS OBTAINED THROUGH GIFTS -- "A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men" (Proverbs 18:16). There are both evil and good ways in which the truth of this verse can be fulfilled.

The bribery and influence peddling in which under-the-table, gift-giving lobbyists and corrupt politicians often engage in Washington D. C. and elsewhere is roundly condemned by the Bible: Exodus 23:8 "Thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous." One is made to wonder the extent to which US secrets, favors, business, hand-outs, and legislation have been sold and bought across the years with gifts that have blinded official eyes and perverted their words and decisions!

Jokingly, I have heard something like the following about there being too much "Tainted Money":-- " 'Taint mine, 'taint yours, and 'taint easy to get!" But this is the fact concerning "Tainted Money" in our world today -- 'Tis easy to get -- too much of the time, in too many places, and from too many sources!

It has been said, "Every man has his price," but faithful and true Christians cannot be "bought" into doing wrong, for they obey the command of Proverbs 23:23 -- "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."

But there are good ways in which the truth that "A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men" can be, and are, fulfilled.

The unspeakable gift of the God-Man, Christ Jesus has made room for him in the hearts of countless millions of His followers across two millenniums; it has also brought Him and his gospel before both great and small throughout the earth. While it is true that "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble" have allowed Christ to be brought into their hearts, St. Paul bears witness to the fact that Christ's followers were found even in "Caesar's household" (1 Cor 1:26; Philip. 4:22). Whether accepted or not, the fact is that Christ's unspeakable gift at Calvary SHOULD make room for Him in every heart and bring him before and into the hearts of the greatest of earth's great men.

But there are two other positive fulfillments of Proverbs 23:23 that I would mention and they are the effects resulting from one having the mighty "Gift of the Holy Ghost":-- First, having the Gift of the Holy Ghost in one's heart makes room for the possessor in the presence of the Triune God, The Holy Angels, and the Bloodwashed both now and forever. Second, when one who has the Gift of the Holy Ghost within him in great magnitude, it may well bring him into the presence of the great men of this world. Yes, this latter effect is much smaller than the former, but -- when a Spirit-Filled man of God is so mightily filled with the Gift of the Holy Ghost that Kings, Queens, Princes and Presidents usher him into their presence, feeling and taking note of the unearthly presence and power radiating from his spirit, sometimes things are stirred thereby -- one way or another -- and God can use either result.

St. Paul was one whose gift of the Holy Ghost brought him before the great as well as the small. In Acts 26:22 he wrote: "Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come." While sailing to Rome on a storm-tossed sea, the Lord said to him:  "Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." It was Paul's Gift of the Holy Ghost that brought him before the great of earth, and whether those audiences resulted in persuasion, persecution, prison, or martyrdom, God always used them for His glory.

Likewise, across the centuries of history, other men filled with the Gift of the Holy Ghost have also found themselves brought into the presence of earth's great men, and, as in the case of Paul, the results have been mixed, but God has often used these audiences for His glory. Not every Daniel-like saint has become a Prime Minister, not every Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego has escaped the burning flames of a wicked tyrant's rage, and not every Mordecai has escaped the gallows of a designing Haman, but whatever the response, God seems to be determined to have those filled with His Gift of the Holy Ghost drawn into the presence of earth's great men, as well as into the presence of the small, so that every class in every clime around the globe and from pole to pole shall have the gospel preached unto them. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in ALL the world [including before the great men of this world] for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Mat 24:14).