Calvary Chapel Staten Island

Guest (Female): Hello, and welcome to God in our City, a weekly program highlighting what the great God of the universe is doing in our city. Your host and Bible teacher is Pastor Dave Watson. Pastor Dave has been the pastor of Calvary Chapel on Staten Island for 30 years. He is also the co-founder and president of the New York Institute for Biblical Studies.

We hope that you will be blessed by today's broadcast. If you would like a copy of today's message free of charge, please call us at 718-720-5390. That's 718-720-5390. Now to our broadcast.

Guest (Male): God Almighty, Lord of Glory, You have called me friend. God Almighty, Lord of Glory, You have called me friend. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. He calls me friend. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. He calls me friend.

One more time. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. I am a friend of God. He calls me friend. He calls me friend. He calls me friend. He calls me friend.

Pastor Dave Watson: You may be seated. As you're getting seated, again, just welcoming all of you to Calvary Chapel. If you're just joining us by radio, Facebook, or YouTube, welcome. It's our privilege to be with you today. Praying that God blesses you and ministers to you even as we have our service today. I hope it will be an encouragement to you.

You can catch Calvary Chapel every weeknight with God in our City, Monday through Friday at 6:00 PM. We'd love for you to listen in, and I know that that show will be a blessing to you, that program. At this time, we're going to take our morning offering. But before the ushers come, just a couple of notes.

First of all, I hope we all appreciate how blessed our congregation is in the things that we're able to do. In less than the last year, we've had a team in Cuba ministering. We were able to participate with Pastor Tim and Linda as they went to Taiwan and ministered. This past summer, we were in North Carolina, Tennessee, ministering. Diane Kent tells me she just got back from a missions trip to the same place.

Our team just arrived back from Italy. I got some texts from Suzanne, Susie as we know her, from the work that we had started to do in Jamaica. She's finishing that off, and she'll tell us a little bit about it next week. It's an incredible footprint that we have a privilege to be part of. It happens because of the heart of the people here. You're not perfect, you know that. But you have an incredible heart for reaching out, and we're being able to touch a lot of the world because of that. So, I thank you for your generosity, thank you for your commitment.

Also, you paid to keep the lights on here. You like it nice and warm, right? Nice and toasty. It cost us last month $2,000 to make sure it was warm here. Somebody say, "Yes, Jesus." But it's warm, right? Amen. Exactly. I'm going to ask our ushers to come now to receive our morning offering. I'm going to ask Mark to grab the mic. He's going to read a scripture verse as well as lead us in a word of prayer. Mark?

Guest (Male): Good morning. Chronicles 29:17: I know, my God, that you attest the heart and pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart, I have freely offered all these things. And now I have seen your people who are present here offering freely and joyously to you.

In Acts 20:35, it says it is better to give than to receive. Simple, plain words. Father, thank you for giving this the ability and the opportunity to give back. Lord, we know you don't need the money. Money means nothing to you, Father. It's used in this church to carry out the work that they do. Lord, everything done here is done in your glory and in your honor. Father, we are so grateful to be part of that and to have the opportunity to give. I ask that everybody gives generously and freely of heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest (Male): Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You. Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You. I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways. And step by step You'll lead me, and I will follow You all of my days.

Sing it again. Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You. Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You. I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways. And step by step You'll lead me, and I will follow You all of my days. I will follow You all of my days.

Hallelujah. We honor You, Lord Jesus, and forever we will sing Hallelujah. For You alone are worthy, and forever we will sing Hallelujah. We honor You. We honor You, Lord Jesus, and forever we will sing Hallelujah. For You alone are worthy, and forever we will sing Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

We honor You Jesus, because You're worthy of our praise, Oh God. Sing after me. I will worship with all of my heart. I will praise You with all of my strength. I will seek You all of my days. And I will follow all of Your ways.

I'll give You all my worship. I will give You all my praise. You alone I long to worship. You alone are worthy of my praise.

I will bow down, hail You as King. I will bow down, hail You as King. I will serve You, give You everything. I will lift up my eyes to Your throne. I will trust You, I will trust You alone.

I will give You all my worship. I will give You all my praise. You alone I long to worship. You alone are worthy of my praise. I will give You all my worship. I will give You all my praise. You alone I long to worship. You alone are worthy of my praise. You alone are worthy of my praise. You alone are worthy of my praise. You alone are worthy of my praise.

Yes Lord, only You Jesus are worthy of our praise. Sing one more song, why don't you stand with us? Sing My Jesus, My Savior.

My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like You. All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love. My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship You.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name. I sing for joy at the work of Your hands. Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

Yes Lord. My Jesus, my Savior. My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like You. All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love. My comfort, my shelter, tower of refuge and strength. Let every breath, all that I am, never cease to worship You.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name. I sing for joy at the work of Your hands. Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have. Shout to the Lord.

Shout to the Lord, all the earth let us sing. Power and majesty, praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the seas will roar at the sound of Your name. I sing for joy at the work of Your hands. Forever I'll love You, forever I'll stand. Nothing compares to the promise I have in You. Nothing compares to the promise I have in You. Nothing compares to the promise I have in You.

Pastor Dave Watson: If you would kindly stay standing, we'll read our scriptures together. We're talking about the patriarchs of faith in our series, "It's a New Season," still studying the book of Hebrews. We're going to read today about Abraham. We're going to read from Hebrews 11:8-16. Are you ready? Here we go.

By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith, he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

Now, these all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who seek thus make it clear that they're seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for your word. Thank you for the truths contained in it. Thank you for how it speaks to our lives every single day. We come before you today, a needy people. We need your help. We need your strength. We need your peace. We need your presence. We need you, Lord, in all things.

We come before you and we praise you for all your goodness to us. We praise you for saving our souls and making us whole through Christ Jesus. We praise you because we know that you are in control. Even, Lord, as we grieve the loss of the six servicemen who died in a plane crash in Iraq in the last couple of days. We would pray, Lord, for a quick end to this war, a resolution of it. We would pray, Lord, for the peace of Jerusalem and the protection of Jewish people everywhere. Thank you for protecting the synagogue in Detroit just this past week, Lord.

Lord, we pray for your intervention in our city, in our nation. We pray, Lord, that a spiritual awakening will go across our land. We pray it will begin in our own hearts, Lord. In our own hearts. Lord, today we come before you in need of you to teach us, to guide us through your word. Even as we do this, Lord, we pray, even so come, Lord Jesus. Thy kingdom come. Lord, we need you in this hour, and our world needs you, Lord Jesus, to come back. So we shout, "Maranatha!" Lord, for we are looking for your coming, and we look forward to heaven. We pray all these things now in Jesus' name, Amen.

You may be seated. We're working our way through Hebrews chapter 11. It will take us a little longer than I'm sure we would like, but it's important. We talked a couple weeks ago about faith allowing us to see the invisible, faith allowing us to experience the impossible, and to understand the incredible. I'm using green today as my marker in honor of Saint Patrick's Day, like you needed to know that.

Faith's patriarch is where we are today. We looked at faith's pioneers last week: Enoch, who walked with God before him, Abel, who worshipped God, and Noah, who worked for God. As we start today, I'm going to read a couple quotes, and I wonder if you know from where I have gotten them. Are you ready?

"I seek those joys that fade not, which are laid up in a right hand place forevermore." Think about that for a second. Okay, I'll give you another. "Better, though difficult, the right way to go, than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe." They're from Pilgrim's Progress, written by John Bunyan. Pilgrim's Progress speaks of the fact that you and I are on a journey, that what is happening in our life is a journey.

Literally, the title of Pilgrim's Progress points this out because it's not Pilgrim's Progress, it's *The* Pilgrim's Progress. Every Christian is on a journey. Someone turn to the person next to you and say, "I'm on a journey." It's been quite a ride. We're on a journey. The Pilgrim's Progress was written by Baptist pastor John Bunyan while he was in prison for not being part of the established Church of England. England was Anglican; he was a Baptist. He spoke out for his faith, and he was in prison.

He writes this book. It records the faith journey of Pilgrim, later renamed Christian, because he was no longer a pilgrim, he was a Christian. It is second only to the Bible. 250 million copies in so many languages have been distributed in all-time book sales. It was published in 1678, and then there's a part two in 1684, which is the story of Pilgrim's wife and her journey to faith. I have my copy for Pilgrim's Progress. I went almost to no expense to get this, 50 cents. I bought it at a book sale. Beautiful little copy of it, and I recommend it to you.

Another quote from Bunyan is: "This hill, though high, I covet to ascend. The difficulty will not me offend, for I perceive the way to life lies here. Come, pluck up heart, let neither faint nor fear." What he is saying to us in Pilgrim's Progress, and what is true of us, whether it's in Pilgrim's Progress or any way else, is that our Christian experience is a faith journey. You and I are on a journey.

Now, we would like our faith journey to look something like this. We're just going straight up. How many know that's not quite how your faith journey works? Our faith journey is more like this. Loops, roundabout Sam, it's everywhere, and that shouldn't surprise us because really when you read the Bible, that is the way it looks.

But Hebrews 11 doesn't capture the valleys. It only captures the mountaintops. I like to think that is because God does not focus, does not micro-look at my stupidness. He looks at the moments where I trusted him as I ought to. Our goal today is that we all fully embrace the truth that our faith journey will produce a pilgrimage that will be mixed with patience, with power, and with proclamation.

So, my first thought here is my faith will produce a pilgrimage. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. Imagine, if you will, if I said to you, "I need you to move out of your house. I need you to leave your house, and I need you to leave everything familiar that you're familiar with, and I need you to go somewhere."

You might say, "Well, where am I going?" "I can't tell you that." "What is the place like that I'm going?" "I can't tell you that." "Will there be people I know there?" "I can't tell you that." "How long's the journey?" "I can't tell you that." You'd go, "I ain't going, Sparky." Born again, not born again yesterday, right?

But Abraham's faith was marked by something called obedience. Something called obedience. The means of obedience was by, or in, or from faith. Faith is simply taking God at his word. That's faith. That is faith. The reason for the obedience is God called him to go out. He responded to the revelation that God gave him. Genuine faith is always a response to what God says, never to what I feel alone. Don't say to me, "I feel like this is what I want to do. I feel like this is what God would have me do." Is there any scripture to back that up?

Because, you may have gotten the large pizza with anchovies, and I know what that does to your stomach and to your feeling and your sleep. What is the basis? The basis of Abraham's obedience, the reason for his obedience was the revelation of God. And the scope of his obedience: he listened, and he completely obeyed. He listened, and he didn't obey a little bit. He completely obeyed. It was decisive, with no going back. Most times we hedge, don't we? We hedge. You've done that. You said, "God, I'll do this, but I'm going to kind of keep this going on right here. I'm going to be careful because I don't want to go crazy here."

He left behind the familiar life. Genesis 11:27-28 and 12:1 speak of what happened. It says, "Now these are the generations of Terah." That's Abraham's father. "Terah fathered Abram." Abram's name before he was renamed Abraham. "Nahor and Haran. And Haran fathered Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred in Ur of the Chaldeans. Now the Lord said," or had said, "to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.'"

This is Ur of the Chaldees. It's in modern-day Iraq. It's where the Tigris and Euphrates River flow south to the Persian Gulf. And God called Abraham. And he left. It was a going city. It was the city of its day, the most modern city of its day. So he left behind his familiar life, and then he left behind his former life. What was Abraham's former life like? Joshua said to all the people, "Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, long ago your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates. Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor, and they did what? They served other gods."

They worshipped other gods. Perhaps the idea here is they were the priests of other gods. This is the ziggurat they believe was in Ur of the Chaldeans. This is the place of worship, and Abraham leaves it all. And here's the reward for obedience: unto a place he was about to receive for an inheritance, for the place he was about to receive. All he had was a promise, but the promise was from God, so he banked on it. Just a place, a *topos*. It's the land of Canaan, and it's about to be received for an inheritance.

When Abraham left, he was told there would be a land, but he didn't even know what it would look like or where it was. William McDonald in his Believer's Bible Commentary says this: "The walk of faith often gives the impression to others of being imprudent and reckless, but the man who knows God is content to be led blindfolded, not knowing the route ahead."

The ignorance of Abraham's faith: he went out. He left everything. Just see the completeness of it, not knowing factually speaking where he was going. In addition to not knowing what it looked like, he didn't even know how to get there. He believed that God is, and God rewards those who diligently seek him. So, what do we know from that? We know that it's written that what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has prepared for those who love him if they simply trust and obey.

Strong principle here that I'm still learning, and I'm sure you are too. The life of faith is trusting his person before you can trace his program. The life of faith is trusting his person before I can trace his program. The life of faith is obeying his commands before I understand his connections. I want to know all the details. I want it to be safe. I want it to be simple. I want to know it's all going to work out peachy keen, or I don't want to be a part of it.

When Debbie and I came here in 1990, we must have been such young kids. The church didn't have a building. There was no building. So the former pastor, Lewis Neames, the one thing he talked about when I came and talked to him about everything before he left was, "Well, Dave, every other place I've been I've been able to get a building. Wasn't able to get one here. Best to you."

Came without a building. We were at many times almost homeless as a church. Almost homeless. Had no idea how it was going to work out. And I want to tell you that every moment I had so much faith and I was so sure that everything would— no. There were so many times I thought we're going to have to pack up and leave and this is going to be embarrassing. This is going to be embarrassing.

But we walk out by faith and not by sight. And we have to trust his person before we can trace his program. The life of faith is obeying his commands before I understand his connections. Obedience is an act of faith that pleases God. Let me say that again. Obedience is an act of faith that pleases God. Faith pleases God because I'm taking him at his word. But faith always has with it obedience. Faith always has obedience with it. Faith is taking God at his word and obeying.

When I obey God, when I don't like what I am being asked to do or understand it, I am saying, "I trust you, Lord." You mean God's going to ask me or God's going to put me through things that I don't like? Absolutely. I didn't hear an Amen on that. When I disobey God, when I don't like what I'm being asked to do or do not understand it, I am saying, "I trust me, Lord." That's tough.

Please understand there is a difference between a life of faith and a life of tempting the Lord, a life of presumption. We don't put ourselves in positions purposely so that God has to bail us out. Well, here's a thought: I'll run up my credit cards, and then I'm not going to have any money left, and then you know what I'm going to do? Then God's going to have to bail me out. Isn't that a great idea?

Or I'm going to quit my job and move to Hawaii to start a church. I don't know anybody there, but I always wanted to live in Hawaii, and God will have to bail me out. Exactly, Sarah. That is not a life of faith, that's a life of presumption. And what did Jesus say? "You will not tempt the Lord your God." He was tempted by Satan: "Throw yourself off this cliff so that God can prove himself that he'll take care of his anointed." Jesus said, "I'm not going to do that." You don't tempt the Lord your God.

The truth is we need to trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight our paths. What does that mean? I'm always, I wish I could say this is true of myself, but I want to be someone who is always saying, "God, what is next? I can't figure it out myself."

Let's all say that together: "God, what is next? I can't figure it out myself." I want you in every area of my life, and you'll make straight my paths. You'll make it so I don't have to go uphill. If you're like me, you're saying to yourself, "I don't live well that way. I'm not great at that. I'm a mess." Don't feel bad. So was Abraham.

God called Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldeans, leave the familiar. God called Abraham to leave what he knew, what was important to him, and he went to the promised land. And I want to see what Abraham did. It said, "Now there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land." God said, "I'm going to give you this land." He gets to the land, there's a famine. What does he say? "Time to get out of the land, because when the going gets tough, the tough get going to Egypt."

Have you ever bailed? I hope so, otherwise I feel bad about myself. You ever tried to trust God and then slipped and said, "You know..."? The simplest thoughts I can give you about faith are in a very interesting story in the scripture: the story of Naaman. 2 Kings chapter 5, verse 10. Naaman's got a problem. He's a leper. That's a huge problem to have, because there was no cure for leprosy. So you're going to die a leper, and you're going to die a very difficult death.

So they work out this scenario where they get a message to the king of Israel, so he will get an audience with Elisha. Watch what Elisha does. "And Elisha sent a messenger to Naaman," doesn't even take him in person, and says, "Go wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean." Naaman's actual face when he heard that: "What?!"

Notice what he says, or what it says about him. It says, "But Naaman was what? Angry. And went away saying, 'Behold, I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?' So he turned and went away in a rage."

He wanted to have a faith-healer experience. He wanted Elisha to come out and go, "Oooooh," hit him on the head, he falls back, and his leprosy's gone. Well, cooler heads prevailed, and those around him said, "Just go wash in the Jordan." So what did he do? He went down, dipped himself how many times? Seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Ultimately, he took God at his word, and God came through. Very happy, Naaman.

I brought along a clip from Pilgrim's Progress 2019, the Gettys, Keith Getty and his wife, and I want to just share that with you today. It's about the most important step you need to take on the faith journey. The Bible says if we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead, what will happen? We shall be saved. Simple words that we need to apply. Here's Christian, actually Pilgrim at this time, taking God at his word.

Guest (Male): If I am to go forward, the king shall give me strength. Narrow is the path, remember. And if he wills to ease my load... What? Joy! What am I nearing? That my burden is finally being loosed! I was right to follow the King's path. For with each step, he is setting me free! I'm free, I'm free.

Pastor Dave Watson: Amen! My faith will produce a pilgrimage, a walk. It's not going to be necessarily the way we envision it, but it is a walk, a walk with God. And then my faith will produce or be mixed with patience.

Hebrews 11:9 and 10: "By faith he went to live in the land of promise," that is Abraham, "as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is who? God." The waiting of Abraham's faith.

The secret for waiting: how was he able to wait? By what? Faith. By what? Faith. By faith. The setting for the waiting: he dwelt in the land of promise, right where God had led him to be. And it's very critical for all of us, for you and for me, that we get to a spot where we know this is exactly where God wants me to be.

But we understand his situation of waiting. He was dwelling in tents. He saw the temporariness of this. It's not his yet; it's not ultimately where he belongs. The seeds in his waiting: he has Isaac and Jacob, the heirs of the same promise, living as it were with him. And the "why" of Abraham's faith, the great "because." Because he waited for the city. He looked forward to the city. And that is the perspective I must always have.

The specificity of the city: it was a particular city, it was God's city. The city's foundation was God. The city's designer was God. The city's maker was God. He wouldn't settle for anything less than what God had for him. It would be 800 years— how many years? 800 years— the book of Joshua, before all that had been promised Abraham was completed, and still he looked for a future city.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Zane Hodges, says this way: "This great patriarch lived like a stranger in a land he would later receive as his inheritance. So also would the readers inherit if they, like this forefather, kept looking forward to the city with foundations, a reference to the heavenly and eternal Jerusalem."

If you were a Jewish person in the first century, you're wondering when all the promises of God are going to come true for me. And you're reading Hebrews, and you're saying, "When is all this going to happen for me?" And what the author of Hebrews is saying through these scriptures is that you don't look for an earthly city, you look for a heavenly city. That's the ultimate fulfillment for you and I.

Abraham's ultimate and permanent promised land was heaven, which through faith he knew he would ultimately inherit. Notice how here in the latter part of Hebrews it talks about a city. It says, "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering." Chapter 13, verse 14: "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come."

Let's read this together: "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come." I love the fact that our church is a church of many, many immigrants. They came to this country, or your family came to this country, your mom and dad or your grandmother and grandfather came to this country, seeking a better life, a better city. But all of us, all of us should recognize, this isn't a lasting city. This isn't it. Thankfully, this isn't it.

There's a better day coming. A sunset, whether it be Trieste, Italy, or Great Kills Beach, is good, but heaven is spectacular. Heaven is spectacular. A good meal at La Strada is satisfying, but being in the presence of God is out of this world. So we are looking for *that* city. That's our perspective.

Have you ever heard the saying, "Good things come to those who wait"? There's something better than that. God things come to those who wait on the Lord. Abraham was made to be patient and to wait for the Lord's best, not settling for the good or the average. Let me say that again. Abraham was made to be patient and to wait for the Lord's best, not settling for the good or the average.

I am not a person you would go, "Hey, there's a great person of faith." That's honest. I wish it was me; that's not me. When we first came here, church didn't have a building of its own. I spent 30% of my time looking for buildings. To this day, if you talk to me about a building on Staten Island, I can tell you what it was worth back when I was looking for it. I can tell you the reasons you don't want it or you do want it.

There are so many buildings— and I mean there's a lot of them— that we were close, this close to. I thought we had them. I had a deal for a building on near Bay Street and Broad and Burnell, huge Presbyterian Church with a parsonage and a parish house. Had another deal in South Beach. We cleaned it up, and then somebody else bought it after we cleaned it up. Real nice of us. Had another church building off of Saint Paul and Sebra. Had that in our grasp. Should I go on?

But they weren't the best. Where was the best? Right here. Right here. Would I have settled for second best? I, like Abraham, needed to be made to be patient. Needed to be made to be patient for God's timing. My faith will produce a pilgrimage, that's my walk. My faith will produce patience, that's my wait.

And then my faith will produce power. It will produce power. This walk of faith, this walk of faith has miracles involved in it. By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age. Notice how Sarah is referred to here: "past the age." Since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead. Notice how Abraham is referred to. Sarah is past the age; Abraham is good as dead. Look at your husband and say, "You're good as dead." No, no, no.

Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven, as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. By the way, this can't mean simply the Jewish people. There are only somewhere near 18 million Jews in the world. That's not innumerable. What he's talking about is the children of faith that come from Abraham.

The reception of Sarah's faith: it starts with the inception. By faith, barren Sarah— that's how she's referred to— *steira*, what does that sound like? Sterile. Infertile Sarah. The conception of her faith: received *dynamis* to the conception of seed. The perception of her faith: she bore a child when she was past age because she considered faithful the one promising. She took God at his word. Did she do that right away? Talk about that in a second.

The result of Sarah's faith: as a result, therefore, from one was procreated, and he is good as dead, just as the stars from heaven in large number, as the sand by the seashore, innumerable. An enduring nation is the legacy of Sarah's faith. Through God's revelation, the impossible happened. The impossible happened.

In Luke 1:37, it speaks of someone else who shouldn't be pregnant because she was a virgin, that is Mary, and we read these words from the angel: "For nothing will be impossible with God." Or, "Because not impossible is anything according to the word of God." If God says it, it will happen. It's possible. You can take it to the bank. Don't you make up something and say, "Nothing is impossible with God. This I'm claiming it." No, it has to be something God promised. It has to be something God promised.

Simple illustration: the Bible says in the book of Philippians that my God shall supply what? All my need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Note first, all my need, not all my greed. My God will supply all my need. Now, the verses before that talk about putting God first in your finances and in your giving. So I can't claim Philippians 4:19 and 20 if I have not yet put God first in my finances. But if God is first in my finances, then I can say, "My God shall supply what? All my need according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah." And I can take that to the bank.

Now, lest you and I feel bad about ourselves, let's look at Sarah for a moment. Genesis 16:1 and 2: Abraham and Sarah are waiting for a child, and Sarah decides to help God. Have you ever helped God? How's that worked out? Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him how many children? None. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go into my servant. It may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abraham said, "I would never do that to you, honey. Sweetheart, I'm not pleased. Don't even think about it. We'll wait." No, Abraham listened to the voice of Sarah.

A little bit later, three individuals, God and two angels, are talking to Abraham, and the promise is made about this time next year, Sarah will bear a child. Sarah is within listening distance, meaning she was eavesdropping. So Sarah what? Laughed to herself, saying, "After I'm worn out and my lord is old..." Note, she's just worn out, Abraham is old. Good as dead.

Do you see how Sarah's faith is imperfect? Do you relate to that? I relate best with the poor father who had a son who had a demon. And Jesus comes down from the Mount of Transfiguration, and the disciples are not able to get the demon out of the child. And Jesus has a talk with the dad. And Jesus said to him, "If you can, all things are possible for one who believes." Your child is at stake. All you got to do is believe. What does the man say? "I believe," what are the next words? "Help my unbelief."

And when Jesus saw that the crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying, "You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him up, and he arose.

As we live this journey, God does miracles. God does miracles. We had our missions team up here, and I'm just so reminded of our second trip to Cuba when we brought as much meds as we knew and we were going town to town doing clinics and distributing meds. I wasn't doing really anything other than watching. But we were doing that. And we thought, "How are we going to have enough meds?" And they opened suitcases that they thought should be empty, and they had medicine in them. How is that? God.

But I want us to understand this: anytime the supernatural is involved with the natural, anytime the eternal is involved with the temporal, it is miraculous. The fact that God speaks his promises to us and we have them is miraculous. It means God has entered our universe. God has entered our world. Said better: anytime the Lord is involved in making and keeping promises, it is miraculous because the supernatural is altering the natural. The eternal is changing the temporal, and things are never the same.

When you, as an individual, said, "God, I am a sinner and I need Jesus. I am a sinner in need of a savior. I give my heart to you," and you're born again, it is one of the greatest miracles you can ever think to experience because he saves our soul. He makes us whole. It changes everything. Don't ever think of that, "Well, I accepted Christ." No! What happened when you accepted Jesus Christ? The Holy Spirit came into you. You were born from above. You went from darkness to light. You went from having your sins on you to having your sins taken away from you. You went from having no hope to having all the hope you could possibly have. You went from being a child of the devil to being a child of God. You went from being an orphan to having God as your father. Wow! Wow!

My faith will produce a pilgrimage, a walk. My faith will produce patience, a wait. My faith will produce power, a wonder. And finally, my faith produces proclamation. The description of the faithful is found here: "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." According to faith, after the norm of faith, these all died. Who died? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah.

Not receiving the promise. They didn't get the land. They were promised the land from the Euphrates to the Nile. That's a lot of land. That's a lot of land. Whenever you hear people say, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," remind them: from the river to the river, Israel ain't going to be a sliver.

But they saw these promises afar off, in the distance. And they greeted them. They saluted the promises, knowing that in the future they would come true. "For you have need of endurance," Hebrews 10:36 says, "so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised." Hebrews 11:39: "And all these," that's everybody in Hebrews 11, "though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised." And then it says who did: us.

They confessed also that they are foreigners and pilgrims upon the earth. They say the same thing God says about them. You and I are aliens, strangers. We don't belong here. We don't belong here. We're pilgrims. We come from a foreign country to live in another land, but we're just passing through.

This earth is not our home. Our allegiance, our hope, our future, it is in God's promises. Philippians 3:20 and 21 reminds us: "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."

And here's the declaration: "For people who speak thus make it clear that they're seeking a homeland." Such ones make visible— I love this word, *emphanizo*. It's like the word emphasis. We emphasize that we are looking for a country, a fatherland. The Greek word here is *patrida*. We get our word patriot from. We are patriots of another land. You know why? Because we know nothing on earth will ever fulfill us like God's place for heaven.

For here's the desire of the faithful: "For if they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, a heavenly one." In other words, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, they all could have gone back and stayed in Ur. But they did not. What it is not, they don't return. They continually have opportunity, but they never give it a prolonged thought. Abraham didn't even go back to get a bride for his son.

What is it they go for? "For now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country." Continually desiring a heavenly country. What does it say to us? "Since Christ has risen from the dead, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God." Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. This is our destiny. For he has what? Prepared for them a city.

That word prepare reminds me of a verse in John chapter 14 where Jesus said, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

The covenant: therefore, God is not ashamed to call them his. They honored him by trusting him, so he honors them. And he's going to give them a city. He has prepared for them a city, the New Jerusalem. Listen to the words of Revelation 21:2: "And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

What does my faith walk say about my desires and my destiny? So we have here my faith producing a pilgrimage, patience, power, and proclamation. My faith will produce a pilgrimage, a walk, patience, a wait, power, a wonder, and proclamation, words.

So, what's it to me? Every week it's going to be the same thing for a little bit here. Here are the steps: say yes to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. First and foremost, do that. If you've never done that, please start that journey today by giving your heart to Christ. All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. I don't say that; God says it.

Take time to get to know the God of the Bible and the Bible of God. Exercise faith. Trust God for some very simple things. Very simple things. If you need to start with a parking space, do that. Whatever it is, trust him. And pray about the people and things I should trust God about.

And stay on course. Don't quit when it gets tough. Is a faith journey hard? Yes. Yes. Yes. Is there time you'll want to quit? Yes. Yes. Why? Because God doesn't ask us to do easy things. Oftentimes, he asks us to do hard things. Things like forgiving someone. Is that easy? Are they going to receive it? I'm not sure. Well, I'm going to wait and find out how they're going to receive it. Uh-uh. You forgive. You forgive. You forgive. You're obedient even when it's hard.

I don't need to replay this for you: a walk, a wait, a wonder, and then words. I have one final video to show you. This is now Christian, formerly Pilgrim, on the final part of his journey.

Guest (Male): Well? I'm afraid.

Guest (Male): And there is nothing wrong with that. You have trusted the King with your life, Christian.

Guest (Male): And I, dear friend, I so trust him with my... You will see me again, Christian, when the waves overpower, when death's cold arms wrap themselves around your wretched soul. I will be there! No!

Guest (Female): You will find your step deeper or shallower as you believe in the superiority of the King.

Guest (Male): I am breathing! I'm free! I'm free!

Guest (Female): Thanks for listening to God in our City. If this program was a blessing to you, please tell a friend and encourage them to listen to the next broadcast. Again, if you would like a copy of today's message free of charge, please call us at 718-720-5390. That's 718-720-5390. Until next time, may our great God continue to richly bless you as you seek to serve him.

God in our City is sponsored by Calvary Chapel Staten Island. Contact the ministry at AM570themission.com. Under programs, click program guide. AM 570 and 102.3 FM, The Mission, WMCA.