Hebrews 11

³²And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

³³Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.

³⁴Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

This is the faith of old. The faith we need today. Faith is a very powerful tool.

What we'll read next is the faith of the early saints (the people making up the first church). All they wanted was a better resurrection. How they died was not their concern. They were not thinking about the temporary present. Instead they were focused on the long range spiritual life and standing for Jesus.

³⁵Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

³⁶And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:

³⁷They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

Stoned (killed by having large rocks thrown at them), sawn (cut into pieces while alive), killed with the sword (hacked to death), destitute (broke and homeless), Afflicted (beaten) and tormented (tortured).

Who said God loves us too much to let us be hurt? We need to get a more real understanding of the God we serve and get ourselves spiritually strengthened.

The people who are telling us everything will be alright are not our friends. If they were our friends wouldn’t they be telling us the hard truth that will strengthen us?

³⁸(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

³⁹And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

⁴⁰God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

God is not forgetting about us. The early saints can not be made perfect (fully resurrected) without us. They are waiting under the altar for their brothers and fellow servants who will be killed as they were to be fulfilled.