One of my favourite old hymns is For all the Saints and one of my all time favourite songs is Yes I believe by Point of Grace. Both emphasis the saints that have gone before who are now cheering us on to great acts of faith for the King. The writer of Hebrews likens this to our running a race with the witnesses who have gone before being the crowd urging us on. Hebrews 11 gives a great long list of the greats of faith who have gone before and it is these along with many others who are encouraging us to run our race with faith and perseverance. Many of them would love to live in our day and with their great faith do mighty exploits for God. I suspect they are quite bemused by the apathetic, wealthy but so often faithless Western church.
I listened to a radio programme recently about the early days of aviation and the planes and airfields they used which are a far cry from our modern airplanes and airports. How the early aviators would love to see the progress of aviation since those early days. I am sure they would want to get into the cockpit of one of today’s airplanes and have everything explained and marvel at today’s technology. In the same way, imagine John and Charles Wesley, John G Lake, Andrew Murray, or Spurgeon and Moody visiting our churches today. Technologically and culturally much may have changed but they would still be urging us to build on what went before and press on into everything that God has for us. We have a race to run to win our generation for the Lord. Though superficially society looks much better than in their day, underneath are the same lost souls, dying in their sin, just as much in need of a Saviour. God is anointing his church afresh to go into all the world and preach the Gospel with signs and wonders following. Let us be inspired by the great men and women of the faith to run our race with perseverance and let God use us to reach our world.
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