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.

Pastor Dave Watson: As you are getting seated, again, we welcome you to Calvary Chapel. At this time, we are joined by our radio audience on WMCA 570. So welcome. It is good to have everybody hear us. I pray that today’s service will be a blessing to you.

If you know someone who is maybe down and out on their faith, maybe struggling a little bit, now is a good time to take out your cell phone and just send them a text. Say, "Hey listen, listen to 570 AM or tune into Facebook or YouTube and see our church." Most importantly, hear God’s word regarding faith and regarding our faith. Just take a second and text that person. It will be a blessing to them. It will help them in their Christian walk, and they will thank you that you did that.

It gives you an excuse to text in church, so you can actually be on the phone texting a whole bunch of other people. I think you're just texting someone who needs help, but you're, in fact, texting the world. It’s a great thing. Sometimes you'll see me and it looks like I’m not paying attention. I have to put our outline and stuff like that on certain places. Sometimes I’m up here and I’m putting that on there, not because I’m not paying attention, but I’m trying to make sure everybody can have that experience, have our outline, and have everything we have.

At this time, our ushers are going to come and receive our morning offering. If you are a guest today, this is one of your first times here, do not feel compelled to give. Your presence with us is your gift to us. Thank you. We are not getting you here to try and get your money by any means. We want to be a huge blessing to you, but we are only able to do all that we do because of the generosity of God’s people. I’m going to ask Bill if he will come and read for us or lead us in our scripture reading from the book of Hebrews, chapter 13, verses 15 and 16, and in a word of prayer over the offering.

Guest (Male): Good morning, church. A reading from Hebrews chapter 13:15-16. Through him, then, let us continually offer up the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Let’s pray. Lord, we are grateful for this opportunity to return a portion of what you have so graciously blessed us with. We ask that these moneys, these funds, be used to glorify your name and to further your kingdom while enabling us to be cheerful givers. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Pastor Dave Watson: So we are going to, at this point in our service, continue our reading of the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11, verses 32 through 40. Make sure this works. I’m going to unplug it and plug it back in. We might have to use the Bible, the actual Bible. Hebrews chapter 11, verses 32 through 40. Go ahead and grab the Bible in the pew in front of you. Never mind. You don't have to use the Bible; you can use the screen. Almost right on. That was close. I almost had to read the Bible on a Sunday morning. That’s a little scary.

Hebrews 11:32-40. Are you ready? Here we go. "And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect."

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your word. We pray today for your work in the midst of our lives. Lord, there was a mass shooting last night in Iowa. We pray that you will, Lord, comfort those and heal those, Lord, who are recovering from that horrible event. Lord, there’s a war in Iran. We pray, Lord, that this will be the week that this stops. Nothing else will be necessary, and Lord, let there be no more loss of life.

We pray for wisdom for all of our political leaders and those in authority, that they may come to you in a personal, life-changing faith and that would be evident, but also that they would seek you for guidance and for strength and for wisdom. We pray for your protection for your people, Israel, both in their home state and around the world. Lord, antisemitism is just so hard to understand, apart from understanding that it is demonically inspired.

Lord, we thank you today for Pastor Scolen being home. We pray for your healing hand on him, that he will, Lord, fully recover. Give Louisa all the strength she needs to help him in his recovery. Lord, in our time together, speak to us. Lord, you always speak. Help us to listen and apply what you say. In Jesus’s name, amen.

You may be seated. We are on the last section of Hebrews 11. We will call this Faith’s Prevailing. What has been happening up to now? Before we get into that, let me just mention a particular place you might indeed be familiar with. How many of you have ever heard of Cooperstown? What’s in Cooperstown? The Baseball Hall of Fame.

In fact, I don’t even have to put those two phrases together. If I say I’m going to Cooperstown, you don’t think I’m going to a restaurant in Cooperstown, a little coffee shop up there. You think I’m going where? The Hall of Fame. It’s not that big. It’s about a four-hour drive from here. You can go up and back in one day. I’ve done that. You don’t feel great that day, but at the end of the day, it works out. Here are some of the plaques in Cooperstown. It is the place where all the Hall of Fame baseball players are honored.

I have a pretty good baseball card collection. Here are a couple of Hall of Famers. Here’s the Mets Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. He was the first Met inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, although he played most of his career with the Mets. Mike Piazza a little bit later, Carlos Beltrán a little bit later. This is his baseball card. This one’s worth about 25 dollars, by the way. Then I have a Reggie Jackson rookie card. You may remember Reggie Jackson played for the Yankees, hit three home runs there in that big World Series game. He played for the Athletics first; I think they call them the A’s now. His card is worth five or six hundred dollars. I’m not going to tell you where it is in my house. These are some baseball cards that I have.

Probably of most recent note, the most famous person being inducted to the Hall of Fame was a Yankee. Anybody remember his name? Derek Jeter. Carlos knew it right away. I happen to have a few words from him from his induction. Let’s see if this even vaguely begins to work.

Derek Jeter: Ultimately, it boils down to you have a dream, you believe in that dream, and you surround yourself with people who are going to encourage you, support you, challenge you, be honest with you, and help nurture that dream. It started with my family. I know when I retired, you said you played every game with me. I know you recall from time to time telling me to keep building that resume, and look where it’s gotten us today. Thank you to the baseball writers, all but one of you who voted for me. Every single day, whether it was during the season or in the off-season, I felt as though I was representing you and I was representing all of New York. I did that in the best possible way I knew how.

Pastor Dave Watson: Pretty cool. Derek Jeter, Hall of Famer. Well, you know there’s another Hall. It’s called the Hall of Faith. It’s Hebrews 11. In fact, for most believers who have been around a while, if I say we’re going to be in Hebrews 11, I don’t have to tell you what we’re there for. We’re going to talk about the Hall of Faith because that’s just what that chapter is known about.

We’ve been walking through chapter 11. We finish it today, and it gives to us faith’s perspective. Remember, faith allows us to see the invisible. Faith allows us to experience the impossible. Faith allows us to understand the incredible. I submit to you, it should be our goal to be in God’s Hall of Faith.

In addition to perspective, the Hall of Faith gives us faith’s pioneers: Abel, Enoch, and Noah. We don’t know a lot about Abel’s walk. We know that Enoch walked with God and he wasn't, for God took him. We know that Noah was responsible for saving a very few people by building an incredible ark, but then he got so drunk he didn’t even realize what was going on. So he wasn’t a perfect person, but Abel, Enoch, and Noah, they made it to the Hall. They are Hall of Faithers.

Then we have faith’s patriarchs: Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Abraham left his homeland for a land he didn’t even see and then, when the going got tough, ran away to Egypt and lied about his wife a couple of times. Yet, where is he? The Hall. Sarah laughed when it was told her that she would have a child. Isaac got duped by his children. Jacob was a duper, a supplanter. Joseph was an amazing person who saw life from God’s perspective. Where are they? They’re in the Hall of Faith. All of them in the Hall.

Then we found faith’s pavers: Moses, Joshua, and Rahab. Moses, a man with a little bit of an anger problem. Don’t believe me? Ask the Egyptian he got mad at and killed. Joshua, who oftentimes was presumptuous and didn’t listen or didn't ask God, just did what he was going to do. And Rahab, what did she run? A bed and brothel. Yet, where is she? The Hall of Faith. More importantly, in the genealogy of Jesus. All of them, they made it to the Hall. All of them imperfect, but where did they make it? They made it to the Hall.

Faith’s prevailing. Please remember that from God’s viewpoint, our faith is to overcome the world. What is faith? Taking God at his word. That’s all faith is; don’t make it more than that. Our faith is to overcome the world. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world: our faith.

Our faith overcomes our flesh, our sinful nature. Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Then, faith overcomes the devil. We’re told, "Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion"—that’s pretty scary—"seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." We’re told when it comes to spiritual warfare, in all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.

Faith’s achievers are laid out here for us. Remember, it is without faith—or without faith—it is impossible to please God. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and he rewards those who seek him. We’re going to talk about people who soared, but they soared because they took God at his word. Sometimes, it’s not easy to take God at his word. He said he’s going to provide for us. We do everything we were supposed to do, but yet we look in our bank account and it’s low. We look in our refrigerator and it’s empty. It’s very hard not to take God at his word. But David said, "I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread." If I’ve done my part, God will provide. He doesn’t need me to tell a lie or something like that to get what I need. Faith is taking God at his word, and if I will do that, I will soar.

Now, as they are going to tell us about faith and faith's achievers, the author says he has a problem. What is his problem? He says, "What more shall I say?" I know you wish I would say that. I would ask myself, "What more can I say?" Believe me, the problem is I always find more. For time would fail. It’s a rhetorical question. What more can I say? The answer is: a lot. I can’t say much more because of time and space, a frustration of riches of material. The chronology would fail me to narrate, to tell you more.

But then he speaks about some people, people who, on the face of it, some of them you wouldn't think would be in the Hall of Faith. What do I mean by this? Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David, Samuel, and the prophets. Gideon, such a great man of faith. Do you remember how great his faith was? Two times he said, "God, I need a sign." God gives him a sign and he goes, "Maybe I need another sign." He was weak in faith. He wasn’t the man who had all the faith in the world. Yet, he defeated the enemies of God with only 300 men, torches, and trumpets as they yelled, "The sword of the Lord and Gideon!" scaring away their enemies.

Then there’s Barak. You find his story in Judges 4. He is so fearful, so faithless. He says to Deborah the prophetess, "I’ll go, but could you go with me? Could you come with me?" Why? "I’m afraid. I’m not going to go if you don’t go with me." And then he defeats a 900-chariot army. Gideon and Barak, they made it to the Hall. Were they perfect? No, far from it. Did they have moments of unbelief? Absolutely. Yet, they made it to the Hall.

Then there’s Samson. Would you have put Samson in the Hall of Faith? What a mess-up! I mean, he’s got everything going. His strength is found in him being a Nazirite, his family having committed him to the Lord and him taking a vow. He breaks every end of that Nazirite vow. Yet, one man, he defeats the Philistines. Remembered for his faith despite Samson and the lion. In death, he kills more Philistines than in life.

And then there’s Jephthah, who I call the most unlikely man in the world to be running anything, and he runs the nation of Israel. He’s against the Ammonites. He leads Israel to victory. He shouldn’t even be in his position he’s in. And then he makes that incredibly weird, rash vow. Remember that vow? What does he say? He said, "Whatever comes out of the house first is yours, Lord." And who comes out? His daughter. Some believe he physically sacrificed her. I’m not the person who believes that, but some people believe that. But nonetheless, Samson and Jephthah did what? They made it to the Hall.

David beat Goliath. Surely, surely you see him in the Hall. A simple shepherd beats Goliath, later leads Israel. There is a little problem with David. He participates, he orders essentially the murder of Uriah the Hittite because he’s taken his wife to be his mistress. Oh. Yet, where is he? The Hall.

How about Samuel? He is a judge in Israel. We find him throughout the book of Samuel. He judges Israel, he anointed kings, but he fails with his family. Israel doesn’t want his kids to take over; they would prefer a king. Why? Because he’s really, really bad with his family. Yet, where do we find him? In the Hall. David and Samuel in the Hall. These six imperfect people won their battles against overwhelming odds by faith, and so they’re listed here. They are the achievers. Then it adds one other group of people, the prophets. In a sense, it’s a list of everybody else.

We’re going to see now what everybody else did, what their achievements were. Who soared? Here’s where they soared. First of all, I want you to note they experienced the unbelievable. Sometimes, when you read a miracle in the Bible, you read something amazing in the Bible, you go, "Eh, it's cool, but you know." But if you put yourself in the historical situation, it blows your mind. It’s not simply "eh"; it’s divine. It’s divine. What happened with these people? How was it they experienced the unbelievable?

Well, who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Woo! It is through faith. What is faith together now? Taking God at his word. It was through taking God at his word that the following things happened.

Number one, they were routing. They overcame kingdoms. To struggle against, to overcome is the Greek word used here, and they overcame kingdoms, countries. Certainly Gideon, Barak, Jephthah, David might be in view, but they were claiming the promise. They were taking God at his word from Leviticus 26:8: "Five of you shall chase a hundred, a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword." By faith, they were routing.

And then, by faith, they were ruling. They enforced justice. We get our word "ergonomics" from the next word; they worked effectively righteous. They weren’t just leaders; they were just leaders. They weren’t just amazing kings; they were kings who enforced justice or rulers who enforced justice. Deuteronomy 16:18 says, "You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment."

And then they were receptive. They obtained promises. I love this particular word, epetuchon. Can you say that with me? Epetuchon. It means to light on something, meaning you sit down on something. They sat down on the promises of God. Not the promise, which is the Messiah, but the promises of God. They hovered over to them and they sat down on them. They obtained the promises. Psalm 145:13, "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works." They claimed the promises of God. So they were routing, they were ruling, they were receptive.

And then, they were rescued. This is an amazing statement. They stopped the mouth of lions. But it’s plural. Has anyone here ever been in the presence of a lion, like at a zoo? I don’t know why anyone would go to a place where the lions roam just to look at them. You know what? I’ll get a picture. But they stopped, fenced in the mouth of lions. Who is the person that you think of when I say the mouth of lions? Daniel, right? In the lions' den. They were rescued. They stopped the mouth of lions. We have David who did it in 1 Samuel, but also Samson who killed a lion with his bare hands. And then everybody’s favorite Bible character, Benaiah. Everybody knows Benaiah, right? No, nobody knows Benaiah, but that’s neither here nor there. But they were claiming the promise. They were taking God at his word in Psalm 22:21: "Save me from the mouth of the lion. You have rescued me from the horns of the wild ox." They claimed, they took God at his word. And where is Daniel? He’s in the Hall of Faith.

Here’s our buddy Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. I think we need to investigate this guy more; he’s pretty cool.

And then they were reversing. They quenched the power of fire. They put out the power of fire. They put out fire’s might. We’re told that the shield of faith quenches the fiery darts of the wicked one. But the people that we think of most with this are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Isaiah 43:2, this is the promise they claimed: "When you pass through the waters, I’ll be with you; and though the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you." Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, where are they? They’re in the Hall. They’re in the Hall of Faith.

Then they were removed. They escaped. They escaped what? The edge of the sword. The mouth of the sword. Maybe it has in view here 1 Kings 19:2 when Elijah was being sought by Ahab to kill him. But Jeremiah promises, "But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you; you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord."

And then, they were rejuvenated. They were made strong even when they were weak. They were strengthened. They began to be made strong from their weakness. They were weak, they were tired, they were beaten, they almost couldn’t go on. Yet, they were rejuvenated by the Lord. What does that remind us of? Isaiah 40:30 and 31: "Even youths shall faint and be weary, young men shall fall exhausted, but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." They were indeed rejuvenated.

Then they were resurgent. They became mighty in war. They had strength in battle and in war. We’re reminded in Psalm 18:34, "He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze." I’m not real good with a bow and arrow. If you went bow and arrow shooting with me, you would be wise to stay way, way away. I could do some damage. But a bow of bronze, how much strength would you need to pull that back and shoot it? It’s saying that God used them to do incredible things even though they were small.

Amazing set of verses in 1 Kings 20:27 and 29: "And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country." Who do you think's going to win the battle? My money’s on the Syrians. I’ll give you two to one odds. And it says, "And they encamped opposite one another seven days. On the seventh day, the battle was joined, and the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day." Whoo!

And then they were relentless. They fought the encampment of the enemies. They fought, they bent the encampment of the enemies. Maybe the picture here is of Gideon. You remember Gideon, that great man of faith, right? Who tiptoes down into the camp at the word of the Lord, and then he hears them, he overhears them saying being afraid of him. So he comes back with how many men? 300 men. Do you remember what he shouted? "The sword of the Lord and Gideon!" And they routed them. Because of the promise of God, with God, we shall do valiantly. It is he who will tread down our foes.

Now watch this last one. They were resurrected. Women received their dead by resurrection. How is all of this occurring? By faith, taking God at his word. How much faith do you need, by the way? Faith the size of a mustard seed. Faith like the gentleman in the book of Mark who said, "Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief." Women received their dead. Maybe the picture here is the widow of Zarephath who Elijah brings her son back to life, or the Shunammite woman who Elisha, the next prophet, brings her son back to life. And this all happens by resurrection. The means of receiving the dead is by faith and by a resurrection. By what? A resurrection. Listen, I’ve seen people near death come back miraculously. I’ve yet to see someone dead come back alive after they’ve been dead. So where is the widow of Zarephath? Where is the Shunammite woman? They’re in the Hall of Faith. "Your dead shall rise," Isaiah 26:19 says. "Their bodies shall rise. You shall dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy, for your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead."

Speaking of the experiencing of the unbelievable, on Easter Sunday, the second of two pilots who had been shot down over Iran, that pilot who had been wounded badly, who had climbed up on a ridge to use his encrypted device to let people know where he was, that pilot was miraculously rescued. Do you know what he had encrypted in his first transmission to the people he hoped would rescue him? These three words: "God is what? Good."

So what do we see here? We see by faith this experiencing the unbelievable. They were routing, they were ruling, they were receptive, they were rescued, they were reversing, they were removed, they were rejuvenated, they were resurgent, they were relentless, they were resurrected. And we all say, "Man, I want that for me."

But also through faith, they endured the unbearable. The unbearable. Listen to what happened. Some were tortured. In that first section, if I said, "Let me have an amen," you’d go, "Amen." Then we get here to the second session, I say, "Let me have an amen," you’d go, "No-men."

Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were killed—they were sawn in two, I’m sorry, King Jimmy in me here—they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

They were harmed. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release so they might rise again to a better life. I think often of the prophet Jeremiah, who they put on kind of like a swing and let him down into a cistern of mud. And I gotta think that must have been one of the nastiest things a person could have happen to them, torturing him. So some or others were tortured, to beat the drum. It can refer to a rack where you’re stretched out and beaten.

But they wouldn’t accept the ransom. The price was to deny their faith. But they wouldn’t accept that. You want to let go? Deny your faith. I’ll pass. I won’t do that. Why? I want a better or superior resurrection, a reward in heaven. They were, beyond that, harassed. They suffered mocking. Well, mocking, you can deal with that, right? Flogging? Not so much. Even chains and imprisonment. They received a trial, a test, a legal proceeding. The content of the trial is described: in it there was mocking or deriding, in it was whipping or caning or flogging. Imagine someone taking a stick and just beating you and beating you and beating you. Bonds and imprisonment. They were incarcerated, physically and mentally abused. It reminds us of Joseph, whose master put him in prison unjustly.

And then they were hammered. They were stoned. From the Greek word lithos, which means stone. We have this incredibly romantic view sometimes, I think, of stoning. Little stones just hitting you in the head, you kind of fall asleep and eventually you die. That’s not what happened in stoning. What happened in stoning? They would put you in a pit so everyone could have a good shot at you. They would take large rocks and throw them down the pit to kill you. But they went through all these things how? By faith. Zechariah, a prophet in 2 Chronicles, he's the son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood above the people and said to them, "Thus says the Lord, 'Why do you break the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.'" But they conspired against him, at the command of the king, and what did they do? They stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. They did it in church.

And then they were halved. They were sawn in half. Cut in two. Tradition tells this is how Isaiah was murdered under King Manasseh. Where is Isaiah? He made it to the Hall. The belief is that he hid himself inside a tree, they figured it out, they cut the tree down, they brought the tree to a particular place, and they cut him in half.

Then they were hit. They died by the murder of the sword. See, God is able to deliver us from the sword and deliver us in spite of the sword. And then they were humiliated. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated. They were humbled. They were hungry, they were in need. They were destitute, they were hunted. They were suffering and afflicted with people chasing them. They were hated or mistreated or to be treated badly. We think here of the prophet Micaiah.

And they were homeless, wandering aimlessly. Like planets because when you look at the planets, it looks like they’re just wandering around up there. They were in deserts, in mountains, in the caves of the earth. But yet, by God, they are honored. "Of whom the world was not worthy." Wandering about in deserts and mountains and dens and caves. Lost humanity, the world is not worthy of these people. Outwardly, they’re considered worthless, but society is not worthy of them. God’s estimate of them is extremely high.

They endured the unbearable. They were harmed, harassed, hammered, hurt, halved, hit, humiliated, humbled, hungry, hunted, hated, homeless, but honored by God. Kayla Mueller was a Christian humanitarian worker, a young woman. She’s captured by ISIS in August 2013. She’s confirmed dead in February 2015. Hard to believe she—this story is over 10 years old. So according to David Jeremiah, who read the story of her on his radio program, this is a handwritten note that she sent to her family. She had four other friends who planned an escape, and she said, "If you escape and I go with you, because I’m an American, they will be relentless. They will come and find you. I’m not going with you; go without me."

Her friends escaped, and they took this letter out and made sure her family received it. In this letter is this most amazing of statements. Listen to it, if you would: "I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our Creator because literally there was no else. By God and by your prayers, I have felt," listen to these words, "tenderly cradled in freefall." She endured. She endured. How was she able to endure? How was she able to make it? She endured the unbearable.

And then finally, they envisioned the unseeable. The how? They soared by faith. Listen to these last words: "And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect."

All God’s people said, "Huh?" This means something very, very simple. These people are commended by faith. These people are honored by faith. But these people, these incredible people, need what we have. What do we have? The new covenant. What do we have? Jesus. They, apart from us, are not made complete. They claimed the promises; we have the promise, Jesus. Everyone without exception, though being commended through faith, they didn’t receive the promise, the Messiah. God provided something better, the better covenant established upon better promises.

But they saw it. They saw it before. In order that apart from us, they are not brought to completion. Their perfection is wrapped up in what we have, but they saw it afar off. Hebrews 11:13, verses we looked at a couple weeks ago: "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." 1 Peter 1:10 and 11: "The salvation that we have, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit in Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories."

The way you and I envision the unseeable is the promise of God of what? Eternal life. What’s the chance that in the next 50 years, you’re dead? I’ve got a pretty good chance of being dead. In fact, I would have trouble getting an insurance policy right now for 20 years, 25 years. But this is the hope that we have: when we leave this life, where do we go? To heaven. Why? Because we’re good enough? Nope. Because Jesus died for us. By grace, the unmerited favor of God, by grace are we saved through faith, taking God at his word. And that not of ourselves, it’s a gift of God, not of works, lest any of us, lest anyone should boast. Alvin Autry, who we lost this past year, Sam and Norma’s dad, had that hope. When you would visit him in the hospital, he was more anxious to go home-home than he was to go home. Why? By faith.

Now faith has an admonition here. I want you to picture, if you will, the portals of heaven, people standing on the very edge of heaven looking over. There you will find those who were routing, those who were ruling, those who were receptive, those who were reversing, those who were removed, those who were rejuvenated, those who were resurgent, those who were relentless, those who were resurrected, as well as those who were harmed, harassed, hammered, hurt, halved, hit, and humiliated.

They’re standing there, and the next words after chapter 11, verse 40 ends, are this: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, all those people who went before, all those people who are in the Hall. How are they in the Hall? By faith, taking God at his word. They are watching us from heaven’s portal." It says, "Let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of God."

You may not be able to remember Abel, Enoch, or Noah. Your mind may fail you when you think of Abraham. You go beyond Abraham, you go, "Sarah, oh yeah, how was she? I don’t know." Abraham and Sarah, well that might be too much. How about Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph? Okay, maybe you got them but you’re having trouble. Maybe you can’t even fathom Moses and Joshua and Rahab. Maybe it’s too much when you think about Gideon and Barak and Samuel and David and Jephthah. Maybe all of that is overwhelming. Well, then just look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. And the cry is "Run your race!" as the witnesses in heaven scream to you, "Go! Go! Go! Go! It can be done!"

So what’s it to me? What are some unbelievable things that by faith I need to experience? What are some unbelievable things that by faith I need to experience? What are some unbearable things that by faith I need to endure? Maybe you can’t picture yourself dying. I can’t picture myself dying either. I think that must be a hard thing to do. How am I going to do that? By what? Faith. By faith. What are some unseeable things that by faith I need to envision? Remember this, my brothers and sisters, all of our life, the just shall live how? By what? Faith. By faith.

I want you to see one more picture, one more card. It’s the Hall of the Father. And who’s in it? By faith, what did we do? We pleased God. We pleased God. You say, "Oh, Pastor, I’m imperfect." Please, I know. I know. Your kids called and told me. "Pastor, I’m just not who I ought to be." You think any of those people were who they were supposed to be? With the exception of maybe Abel, Enoch, and Daniel, the rest of them have flaws that are just so wide and deep. But where are they? They’re in the Hall. They’re in the Hall.

Look, will you? If you will, just look at the picture in front of you. One day we’ll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. God will have saved us and brought us before himself. On that day, by faith, not because I’m perfect, but by faith, taking God at his word, you know what I want to hear? "Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord." That will happen if number one, I say yes to Jesus for salvation, for him as my savior.

Number two, if I take time to get to know the God of the Bible and the Bible of God. Please understand this: you can’t stand on the promises, you can’t take God at his word if you don’t know what his word says. So often our theology, our promise grabbing, is limited to a bookmark we got we stuck in our Bible. There’s got to be something better than that. Exercise my faith trusting God for some simple things—food, clothing, maybe a parking space. Pray about the people and things I should trust God about, and stay on course. Don’t quit when it gets tough.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, work deeply in our hearts, in our lives, in our souls, so that we, Lord, so that each of us, Lord, would decide to follow Jesus, would commit to being all in for Jesus, who Lord, in spite of our foibles, in spite of our struggles.

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 AM 570 TheMission.com under Programs, click Program Guide, AM 570 and 102.3 FM, The Mission, WMCA.