Preface - Of
Dragons and Giants
History and literature have much to say about the depredations of dragons,
the tyranny of giants and of the heroism of brave men who, defying danger
and death, conquered these monsters; of Siegfried who, when the dragon reared
to spring upon him, "drove the immortal
sword straight into its heart" and went singing on his way to deliver Brundhilde;
of St. George who fought valiantly till, on the third day of combat, "the
monster fell like a huge rock shattered by a storm"; of Ulysses and his
feat of blinding the one-eyed giant, Polyphemus, the monster who gorged himself
upon human victims. But the real heroes of history are the spiritual giants,
who, not in the fanciful pages of mythology or legend, but in actual life, defied
death and demons, overcame powerful adversaries, "stopped the
mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight" and died as conquerors.
The Scriptures, telling of Samson's conquest of a fierce lion, are careful to emphasize
the fact that "he had nothing in his hand." It was then, and only then, that "the Spirit
of the Lord came mightily upon him and he rent the lion as he would have rent a kid."
Samson's condition: "He had nothing in his hand."
Samson's enduement: "The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him."
Samson's triumph: "He rent the lion as he would have rent a kid."
Wherein lies the difference between ordinary Christians and extraordinary Christians,
between spiritual pygmies and spiritual giants? Simply stated, it is the difference
between before Pentecost and after Pentecost. Even after Easter morning, but before
Pentecost, the disciples were floundering in a morass of spiritual impotence and
cowardice. Between Easter and Pentecost there is not one recorded instance of the
disciples making any attempt to preach the Gospel and point lost souls to the Lamb of
God. Instead, it is repeatedly stated that they were behind closed doors! They were
hiding, not witnessing! But when they paid the cost of Pentecost through the ten
days of prayer and contrition in the upper room, and the mighty fullness of the Holy
Spirit came upon them and into them, their cowardice vanished, they threw open the
doors and entered upon a campaign of missionary conquest which is still the glory of
the Christian Church.
This book tells how God wrote history through the lives of eight men who, like the
early disciples, were Giants of the Missionary Trail because they were possessed,
filled, controlled and energized by the Holy Spirit of God. This great truth is
evidenced in the marvelous ministry of Jonathan Goforth, "The Holy Spirit's Man in
China," and all the others portrayed in these pages.
As in several earlier volumes of missionary biography, I have endeavored to give
a faithful account of the conversion, spiritual development, conflicts, trials and
triumphs of each missionary, to discover the hidings of power and to weave all the
pertinent data into a pattern of unity and beauty around each character's great life
text ... —Eugene M. Harrison |
