HEB 11:37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated- the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

This week was physically a bad week for Dr Tong. While at the side room, he coughed the hardest I have ever seen him coughed. It was pretty disturbing. I did not think that he was in the right physical condition to go on preaching, but as usual, no one could talk him out of it. And as usual, he came alive on the pulpit, sustained by some strange-looking anti-coughing pills that he popped before the sermon (he claimed they could stop his cough for at least 40 minutes - and he was right).

Dr Tong started by sharing with the people the busiest month he has had for many years, and the many wonderful things the LORD did through the many gospel rallies and seminars held all over in September. Just for the past few days, more than 100,000 came to hear the gospel at various part of Indonesia.

This week marks the 3rd anniversary in the Hebrews expository preaching at Newton Life Church. For chapter 11 alone, we have spent more than 1 year and 3 months (excluding the days we did not meet, we had spent about 1 year on chapter 11). Dr Tong emphasized that we spent so much time at chapter 11 because it is uniquely about faith. Our Christian belief is unique because unlike all other religion, it is built upon faith, and not works. The Bible is not a product of the fallen human reason, but a revelation of God, telling us about our relationship with Him. Hebrews 11:6 for example declares for us that we need faith to come to God, and even that faith came from God. By faith we are declared righteous, sins forgiven, become children of God, receive the Holy Spirit and have victory in life. The sinner become righteous by faith, the righteous has life because of faith.

Chapter 11 does not only deals with the content of faith, but demonstrates for us the real examples of great heroes of faith, from Abel to the prophets. They were from varied background; kings, prophets, shepherds and even a prostitute. Verses 33 - 35 tells of the positive victories the people of faith had; while 36 - 40 spoke about the victory over sufferings. Therefore, on the one hand, faith affirms the power of God; it also affirms the absolute sovereignty of God. When both are in harmony, our spirituality would be whole. If a person believes only in a God of grace and success, his spirituality is shallow and immature. We need to believe that God can deliver us from anything, but at the same time, know that He has the authority to allow suffering to come to us and continues to sustain us in the midst of our suffering. The last passage of Chapter 11 disprove success theology and health and wealth theology completely. It is not enough just to believe that He is able; but also that He is still in control despite of the circumstances He has allowed.

Dr Tong emphasized that these incidents of suffering are not confined only to that specific period in time, but continues onwards. When a nation has not suffered for a long time, it should be a time for us to tremble in fear rather than rejoice in thankfulness. In the case of Indonesia, from independence in 1945 to 1995, they had 50 years of relative calm and peace. Christians led a peaceful life and were able to attend church freely. For the past 7 years however, at least 800 churches were burnt, Christians were killed, raped and mutilated. Even as he spoke, Indonesian Christians are still being persecuted by Muslim terrorists, many of whom were trained in Afghanistan. At the same time, many over-zealous Christians were also killing the Muslims. So we see that peace and harmony are not permanent features. Ironically, these things happened right after Indonesia declared herself to have achieved religious harmony.

In the midst of all these, we cry out to God and ask Him why He is, and why He does not intervene and rescue His people. The passage tells us however, that true victory is manifested in the midst of the greatest suffering. Throughout generations, there are people God has chosen specially who are able to withstand persecution, and will stand firm. People who were so special that the world was not worthy of them (verse 38). The world did not like them and persecuted them greatly. They never did compromise, although the circumstances were extremely difficult.

The three friends of Daniel demonstrated this very well. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego told the Babylonian king that they will not worship him and that God will rescue them. But if God chose not too, they will still not worship the king, choosing instead to trust God (Daniel 3:18). The Son of God was with them as they were thrown into the fire. Faith enables us then to have the presence of God.

When the 3 men emerged from the furnace, the Bible says that there was no smell of fire on anyone of them (Daniel 3:27). Rev Andrew Gih said that many people smelled of fire once they suffer a little difficulties. They complain bitterly about little things whenever they serve in church. These 3 men were in the furnace that was burning seven times the original temperature, yet they did not emerge with any sign of persecution. Dr Tong challenged the people to continue to manifest joy and peace in the midst of suffering, rather than attempt to show the world we are suffering and bitter. This is what the saints should do, as God enables us to sing in the midst of darkness (Job 35:10). Dr Tong once conducted a fundraising concert for the Indonesian churches in the midst of smoldering ashes from a burnt church to illustrate the point that we need to sing in the midst of our suffering.

In the entire Bible, there is only 1 recorded incident of Jesus Christ singing. This was when Christ was about to enter into the garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:30, Mark 14:26). That happened before the most frightening persecution that was to come to Christ. Yet He sang from Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the LORD has made, we should rejoice and be glad in it", the traditional Passover song. Christ entered into His suffering willingly and with joy. The apostle Paul was recorded to have sung also once in the Bible. That happened while he was in prison at Philippi. Acts 16:25 tells us that with chains on both his hands and feet, he sung and rejoiced while bloodied with wounds. All the prophets and apostles were able to praise God in he midst of great suffering.

All sorts of persecutions started in the height of peace and harmony. All the persecutions in Germany, China and Indonesia arose unexpectedly, showing us that the LORD allowed persecutions to come even in the midst of peace and harmony. Other than the apostle John, all the apostles died a terrible death, being sawed, being stoned, being crucified upside down, being beheaded. We see therefore that their witness is real because no one would die for a lie. Not everything that we believe in life is true. But when we are talking about the Word of God, we can be rest assured that every word is true, so much so that so many people were willing to die for it.

While there are terrorists today who lived like those heroes of faith, in the wilderness or caves; these people were murderers and not of the truth, unlike all the people of faith who did not do evil. Many terrorists are inspired by the Bible, with Samson as the first person who was a suicide-warrior. But the key difference is that the terrorists did evil, while the great men of faith only lived and served the truth.

Dr Tong emphasized that it is not grace that leads us into perfection, but suffering (Hebrews 5:8,9). The last verse of chapter 11 is difficult to understand, as it spoke about how God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. This is a unique description in the Bible, indicating that these people are not yet perfect without us, despite of their sufferings.

Dr Tong thought about this for a long time. Colossians 1:24 "Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." What does it mean by saying that there is a 'lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions'? Dr Tong said that suffering has not ended with any generation, but is something that will continue until we enter into the completion of the will of God. God allows some forms of suffering to be given to some people and time, and other forms to other people or time. The greatest suffering was reserved for Jesus Christ, the suffering servant. Nobody can suffer more than Christ did , as Christ said that the students cannot be higher than the teacher. We know that Christ entered into perfection through His suffering. In the same manner, we will enter into perfection through our partaking in suffering. Only when we suffer with Him, can we be like Him. Only when we carry the cross with Him can we receive the crown like Him. Only when we die like Him can we be resurrected like Him. So God allowed his people to have a part in suffering so as long as history is not ended. So when we suffer for His sake, it is for us to share in God's perfection.

Dr Tong believes that God's kingdom is not manifested instantaneously, but is a culmination of all the sufferings of the saints of all generations. Like a great symphony, the eternal will of God is displayed in time through the suffering of the saints. A great piece of music would contain moments of sorrow and darkness, just as our journey of faith must contain its low points for us to understand the triumph. Dr Tong gave a few illustrations with his unique whistling, showing that great music from Beethoven and others all contained moments of darkness. Verse 40 says that all the sufferings will not end until our own sufferings are added to it. This means that more suffering will come, and all who suffer are part of this entire symphony.

Jesus Christ said that those who suffer for righteousness' sake are blessed (Matt 5:10). The secret for victory in suffering is two-fold: remembering that all past prophets and saints suffered greatly, and also placing our hope in the future glory. So we reach backwards and forward in history as well, to be comforted in the midst of our suffering, and we can persevere. Verse 40 therefore parallels verse 13: "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth." As guest and a traveler in this world, we are of course not bothered with this temporal world, and would not be bothered if we do not received what was meant for eternity.

The suffering will end when two numbers are up. In Romans, when the number of gentiles to be saved are up; and in Revelation, when the number of martyrs are up. When these two numbers are fulfilled, the entire symphony of God will finally end. Dr Tong said he understands verse 40 via Revelation 6:9 - 11.

In the midst of violent coughing, Dr Tong explained why he chose the name "Stephen". The name 'Stephen' means crown, and also because Stephen was the first martyr who was stoned to death. He wanted to be like the saints in Rev 2:10, faithful in suffering till death so as to receive the crown of righteousness.

The concluding remarks centered around how the witnesses are like clouds. Clouds are made of water that has victory over the gravity of the earth, and rose to become clouds. Although it is of the same substance as water on the ground, it has been transformed totally. When we are at a great altitude, we see things differently. We are no longer stuck at a lowly perspective. Dr Tong remarked that he loves to go to the tallest building everywhere he visits, so that he can get a great view of the city. We should all aim to raise up high in our faith, so that we can see things in the proper perspective, and be submissive to God through our sufferings.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.