By Erroll Hulse
'But now we are all little men; there is scarce a man alive now upon this earth.' --C. H. Spurgeon
From earliest times, God has blessed His people and sustained His church by giving them leaders. While the children of Israel were groaning in bondage in Egypt, Jehovah was preparing Moses to be a savior. When the hordes of Midian filled the land of Israel, driving God's people into dens and caves in the mountains, Gideon was commissioned, and by three hundred men a great victory was wrought. When Europe was enslaved in the chains of popery and superstition, Luther emerged as God's sent servant. When England relapsed into darkness, the voice of Whitefield came like a trumpet blast to waken the dead.
All God's men have been equipped by Him for their peculiar tasks--Peter for Pentecost, Paul for the Gentiles. The scene is always changing, but the Lord has always had His men.
In our day, rank confusion prevails on every hand. We are all acquainted to some degree with the weaknesses that depress the church of God as a whole. The question is, Are we aware of the need for outstanding leadership? And if so, are we praying that God will send us men for the times--men who are equipped, called, and thrust forth? It is not for us to dictate to our heavenly Father the kind of men He must send, but we can envision some of the gifts that we might find in such leaders. Let us intercede earnestly for:
1. Men who have burning hearts of love for God and men, who fear God and nothing else but sin, who have an inexhaustible zeal for God's glory, and who are ready to die, if need be, for Christ.
2. Men who possess a thorough knowledge of Scripture and who are able to expound any text in a systematic and convincing manner.
3. Men who are gifted in doctrinal comprehension and who love the tried and tested doctrines of the faith.
4. Men who love and study church history, who specialize in the history of evangelical reformations and revivals, who know what the martyrs believed and died for, and who can competently apply an extensive knowledge of church history to the present day.
5. Men who are humble enough to apply themselves to small spheres of labor but who, at the same time, have a world vision, following missionary movements everywhere, doing everything in their power to help fulfill the Great Commission.
6. Men who know how to meet the evils of the age, who have a plan from God for our day, who are competent and aggressive in evangelism, and who are sons of thunder rather than showmen.
7. Men who do not follow infidels but concentrate like the apostles on power in preaching the gospel.
8. Men who will not compromise the truth for the sake of expediency, who have the courage to discard that which is merely traditional, oppose that which is unscriptural, and yet be respectful of those who do not measure up to the spiritual dimensions here described.
May God send us such men.
