[0:00] I can visit my father, as I was telling the people in the morning service that I grew up in San Bernardino, the area here, and I left this area back in 1995.
[0:11] Some of you that have been here for a while remember when I came and preached, I worked with the fire department with the Forest Service, a smoke jumper. And so I went back there, I got saved, and then it was in 2003, we went to Honduras, and then from there we ended up going to, is this, okay.
[0:28] We ended up going to the Palfan Islands, and then down Punta Arenas. It's not on, right? Okay. I'm always breaking these things. Okay. Is it on now?
[0:41] Okay. And we ended up going to Punta Arenas there in 2019 is when we left. And I believe the Lord led me there.
[0:53] I went there in 2009 on a survey trip, but I wasn't ready, and I believe the Lord gave me a no answer not to go. So we went in 2019, been there ever since. Now, I believe God calls people to go, but you shouldn't go if you're not called to stay.
[1:14] I believe God really calls a person to stay. And so if you're thinking about missions, the question is, are you willing to stay? You guys are going to be passing out tracts here.
[1:26] You have that, I think, after church or whatever. You know, God, the Holy Spirit does the convicting. He does the saving. He just requires us to go tell.
[1:38] That's all he asks us to do is just to go tell others. So we've had a lot of fun out there, and me and my wife are going back here June 22nd. And we get to put the tracts in the mailboxes, which is really neat.
[1:53] So we do that. We go street preaching. We started a church. I have another PowerPoint, but we started a church in November of 2021.
[2:05] And what was neat was that I was able to start in a fire hall. And being a firefighter, I just thought that was kind of the Lord. Got to be a little bit expensive. So we end up in it.
[2:16] But it was good for we're still not out of that pandemic. We're still wearing masks where we go. But in April, we no longer have to wear our masks outside. So that was a blessing. But so being in the fire department in the back, they have a fire hall.
[2:32] And being in the back, it was really big. We knew we didn't need that much space, but it really helped because we were still in that following the coronavirus rules. And so we started that.
[2:42] A young man helped me. And we went from there to a taxi place where they have a fire hall there. And so we were able to continue church services. And then towards the end, right before I came out, we end up disbanding.
[2:59] He left. And that's just the way it goes. It happens. It's going to happen in the Christian life. You're going to meet friends. They're going to leave. Some friends will stay. Some friends won't. But any time you do a work for God, you're going to have ups and downs.
[3:12] You're going to have mountains and valleys. So we started right before we left back in our house. And so that's where we're at right now. And we're just going to keep going forward. We're going to be like this sign here says, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
[3:26] We're going to endure. And that's what we're going to be talking about is endurance in Hebrews. So if you can go to Hebrews, I'll just talk a little bit more about it. Chile is one of the most strictest nations in Latin America as far as following the rules and restrictions.
[3:44] Just to be able to go back to return, we had to be up on all our shots. So we had to take our shots and do that. We wear masks everywhere.
[3:56] I think the nation of Chile was really happy that the coronavirus came because they kept having all these protests with their country. And ever since this came, they really haven't had that many of the protests.
[4:09] It's kind of kept it low. We have a new president, Boric, and he's the youngest they've ever had there.
[4:20] And the people are pretty happy with him. And we're just waiting to see what happens with our country, with the country of Chile, what happens next. It can go one of two ways.
[4:32] He does like capitalism, but he also enjoys the communist view on things. He liked the dictators there in Venezuela. So we're still a little bit unsure which way we're going to go.
[4:44] He happens also to be the first president that lived in Punta Arenas, where we're at. So the people are really happy. If you look at a map where we're at, you saw some of the pictures.
[4:55] It was really cold. We're down there at the very bottom. And a lot of people will come and stop off at our city before they travel to the Antarctic. So they'll go to the Antarctic and step on the Antarctic.
[5:06] Or they'll go to Falkland Islands. Or they'll go to Toro del Paine. And so it just depends. So we're excited where we're at because we've seen a lot of visitors.
[5:19] But we're more excited because we've seen people from all over Latin America come because of the work. There's work there. And it's somewhat safe.
[5:30] They have one of the least corrupt police. And so people do come there. Most of the people that we've won or talked to has been people from a foreign country.
[5:43] It's been the Venezuelans or the Colombians. And so we're just doing whatever we can. And we're excited. Now, we were willing to go.
[5:54] We were willing to stay. And you know we didn't know that much Spanish when we left. And we're still learning Spanish. But God doesn't require that you know Spanish. Again, He looks for someone who's willing to stay.
[6:08] And that's where we're at. We're excited to see what the Lord's going to do. The place is growing. It's doing pretty good as far as business. They've faltered.
[6:19] And they've slowed down a little bit because of their strict restrictions. But there are people that are willing to take the shots and wear the mask and come out there. So we're doing okay there.
[6:29] And we hope that the Lord will continue to bring people in. We want to see people saved. One thing about that area is they send all their missionaries from Santiago and up north down to where we're at.
[6:41] They consider us a mission field. So some of the Pentecostals, some of the Evangelicals, even Catholics, Mormons. They'll send the people that was in Santiago and other places and say, go here.
[6:54] Because it's called Findel Mundo. It's the end of the world. And so because of that, you have a lot of bad doctrines down in that area.
[7:05] We're the second independent Baptist church. The first guy that came, he was there for two years. And he left because it was so expensive. And I thought it might have been some other reasons. And I get down there and I'm like, okay, yep, that was it.
[7:18] So it is kind of expensive to live there. But go to Hebrews. If you guys have any questions, Hebrews 12. If you guys have any questions afterwards, we're going to be here for a little while. So just ask us and I'll be more than happy to answer.
[7:32] Hebrews chapter 12. And I want to talk about endurance. The Chileans do speak. They're one of the fastest Spanish speakers.
[7:44] Them and the Puerto Ricans, Dominican Republics. We have people from these foreign countries that come down. And they have trouble hearing what the Chileans are saying.
[7:59] One of my Venezuelan friends, he was telling me that. And I'm like, oh, great. And here I am trying to learn Spanish. And you don't even know what he's saying. Okay. And that's just because they speak fast.
[8:11] They mumble. The mass, of course, doesn't help. And then they'll leave off certain words on the end of a Spanish word. Okay. Hebrews chapter 12.
[8:23] Before we go there, I want to read this. On August of 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 men set sail on the ship Endurance.
[8:35] Its mission was a journey to the Antarctic. And from there, the men would be the first to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. This would become a failed attempt.
[8:46] Instead, it would become a journey for survival. A journey of enduring the inhospitable, cold, miserable climate of the Antarctic. And trying to reach civilization. These men, in order to survive, would have to endure the harsh climates, endure different personalities, endure bodily fatigue, and eventually work together in order to survive.
[9:11] The word endurance itself can have many meanings. Fortitude, courage, patience, perseverance, persistence, tolerance, suffering, putting up with or withstanding.
[9:22] Now, that's some of the words that we ought to use when we're dealing with other Christians. And also with the lost. We need to have courage with a fellow Christian.
[9:34] We need to have patience with a fellow Christian. With the lost, we should have perseverance. We should have persistence, tolerance with the lost.
[9:45] Romans 12, 18, it says, If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peacefully with all men. And sometimes some people can't get past the word, if, if it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peacefully with all men.
[10:01] Hebrews 12, and verse 1. It says, As we're forcing, we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
[10:17] Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
[10:35] You have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
[10:48] For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?
[11:01] But if you be without chastisement, wherefore are all our partakers, and are ye bastards, and not sons? Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we have given them reverence.
[11:12] Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chasten us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
[11:27] Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
[11:39] Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down on the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet. Lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your mercies.
[11:50] Lord, I pray you be with the track passing out, I believe, after church, Father. I pray you be with those that have to return. Father, give them safe travel and mercies home.
[12:01] And then be with those that are coming back for tonight's service, Father. Father, I pray you be with the members and with the pastor. And thank you for their faithfulness in serving you and help them to endure, Lord.
[12:13] We know we don't have to endure to the end. We know that if we're saved and trust in the blood of Christ, we already have salvation. We will see you, Christ. And there's no enduring to the end, Father.
[12:25] But Lord, help us to endure in our Christian life. And continue serving you in Christ Jesus' name. Amen. All right. So we're going to look at three types of enduring.
[12:39] And you have them there in the scriptures here. You've got enduring the cross in verse 2. You've got him that endured such contradiction of sinners.
[12:51] And then you've got endure chastening. Now we're going to start off with endure chastening. There's a chastening that comes in the Christian life.
[13:02] In verse 5, in the middle it says, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Sometimes the Lord will, of course, chasten you because of sin.
[13:15] You did something wrong. And God will chasten you. But sometimes you don't do anything wrong. And you ask God, why is this happening in my life? I've been serving you.
[13:25] I've been living for you. Why are you punishing me? That's what it looks like. And God just might be chastening you. Verse 6.
[13:37] Here's why. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Maybe you haven't been chastened in a while.
[13:49] Maybe the Lord's left you. Now he hasn't left you. But sometimes you start praying and you say, where's God? Where's God at? And he might have left you.
[13:59] And you've got to repent and get right with God. And he'll come back. But he will be afar off. He will be afar off. So verse 7.
[14:11] It says there, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chastens not? And then 8.
[14:23] If you be without chastisement, basically, it says you're like a bastard and not a son. Verse 9. I think everyone's had a father of our flesh which corrected us and gave them reverence.
[14:36] My dad, when he would spank us, he would use the belt. But one time me and my sons, we got into one of his closets and he was with the police reserve.
[14:47] And I was talking to someone about how, you know, we moved to Montana, Idaho. And they say, oh, you must love your guns. You must love your guns. And I had a gun. But I never really used it. I went hunting a little bit.
[14:58] I just never really got into that whole hunting and shooting the guns. Not like my boys. And I just never got into it. You know, so I'm telling this guy this. Then we started talking about something else.
[15:09] And then somehow we get on the subject of parents punishing you. And then so I started to tell him this story when we were young. My dad was in the police reserve. And me and my twin brother, we went into his closet.
[15:22] We got a hold of one of his guns. And my dad came in there and he saw that. And so he grabbed his mace and he sprayed us in the face. And the guy's like, well, no wonder why you don't like guns.
[15:34] I'm like, well, okay, well, yeah, okay, that makes sense. But he chased us. And, you know, we're okay now. I mean, so there's no side effects. But a father is going to love you.
[15:44] He's going to punish you. He's going to chasten you. And that's God. He will chasten us. I know we got started a little bit late. So I'm going to skip a couple scriptures. But if you go through the book of Proverbs, you're going to see a father that chastens the son.
[16:01] And I believe it should be the father that does it. Now, sometimes the mother needs to do it too. And my wife chastens our boys too. I think it needs to be both parents. Sometimes you go to some places like in Latin America.
[16:14] I mean, the chancla. I mean, beware of the chancla. Because that thing, I mean, they're serious about that. And the mother, I mean, she's like an ace thrower. And she can, you know, spin that thing. And, oh.
[16:25] But where's the dad? The dad needs to also. Okay, verse 11. Now no chastening. 10. They verily for a few days chasten us after their own pleasure.
[16:36] But he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. So the dad sometimes did it for their own pleasure because they didn't want to hear the crying or whatever. But he did it for our profit.
[16:47] 11. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous. We all know that who's been punished. But even with God, you know, it doesn't seem to be joyous.
[16:57] And we start asking why, why, why. Nevertheless, after it yieldeth the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Now some of you couples in here, some of you might be a little too soft.
[17:14] And you let your spouse do all the discipline. And you start to cry, you know, when you see the child and he's getting upset. And, you know, you start to cry and you feel bad for the child.
[17:26] Maybe you break it now. You don't want to break it now. Now that I'm done talking to the men, let's talk to the ladies. Okay, because the ladies, you know. But a famous evangelist, he said this.
[17:38] I was raised at the knee of a devoted mother and across the knee of a determined father. Another great preacher had this to say. My father was a patriotic parent. He laid on the stripes and I saw the stars.
[17:53] Now Dr. Spock, we all know who Dr. Spock is. He wrote a book in 1946 called Child and Baby Care. And that's why we can't spank our children without having the fear of the, what's that name?
[18:11] Social, yeah, whatever. We'll come and take the child away. And he believed spanking was wrong. But did you know this?
[18:21] That in a Red Book magazine, Dr. Spock believes physical discipline, sometimes spanking, could be helpful depending on the parent's temperament.
[18:34] It was in the article called How Not to Raise a Bratty Child. So where he went away from that, I don't know. But even he thought at one time that you ought to exercise some type of discipline for the child.
[18:50] And when he said it would be helpful depending on the parent's temperament, he's right. You never spank a child out of your own anger. You wait until you calm down before you spank him.
[19:01] And, of course, I could say that now because my kids are grown. So YouTube, sorry, or wherever this is at, they're already grown. Don't come after them. They'll shoot you.
[19:11] No, I'm kidding. Okay. Proverbs 25, verse 4, it says, Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come a vessel for the finer.
[19:21] If you've read your Bible, you've kind of seen that one. But how many of you are going to take a big dirt clod, and you're going to take it up to the pawn shop and say, Hey, how much can I get for this? You know there's silver inside of that, but you're not going to go and present that to them.
[19:35] You've got to chip away at that dirt and all that junk that's around before they can see that finer thing, that shiny silver. And that's what God's doing with us. And he's got to chip away at some things that we need work on, and he'll chastise us sometimes to work on that.
[19:52] When I got saved, I wanted to come back down here. I got saved up there in Montana, and I really wanted to come back here. But God knew that I need to stay up in Montana because I don't think I would have succeeded.
[20:06] I don't think I would have done very well in my Christian life. And I needed to be a place away, and that's how God worked it out for me. And he was working on me, and we didn't have the wages like California had, and it was really a sacrifice to live up there.
[20:21] But, you know, I had to just endure. I just had to go on. And I always thought that maybe God was wrong. But, you know, if you've been saved a little while and you look back on your Christian life and you say, You know what?
[20:34] God was right there. I was an idiot. God was right. Go to Ezekiel 22. Ezekiel 22.
[20:45] And keep your place right there in Hebrews because we're going to come back. Ezekiel 22. Now, he's talking to the nation of Israel, and I get the doctrine, but we're going to take some spiritual application out of it.
[20:59] And if that's all you say or question in your Christian life, Oh, well, that's not the doctrine. Then you're not using the whole Bible to your advantage because there's a lot of spiritual things that God has given in the Old Testament and that we can use.
[21:14] Ezekiel 22 and verse 14. Or look at 13. Behold, therefore, I have spent my hand. 22, 13. Ezekiel 23. Behold, therefore, I have spent my hand at thy dishonest gain, which thou hast made, and at thy blood, which hath been in the midst of thee.
[21:31] 14. Can thy heart endure or can thy hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee? I, the Lord, have spoken it and will do it.
[21:43] Some of you, you have endured. You're still here. You're still going on. You're not skipping out on church and you're still staying faithful. Some of you, you might be newly saved.
[21:54] And, you know, this would be kind of for you. This is also for the old person because a lot of times we see a person that's been saved 20, 30 years and they leave church.
[22:05] But can your heart endure or can thy hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee? And God will deal with us. He'll deal with us to chasten us, to make us better.
[22:18] And then he also, of course, deals with us with sin. If Shackleton was to have the best seafaring crew, there would have to be some chastening.
[22:31] Shackleton took a different ship down to Argentina as he was raising money for the expedition. And he left the care of the ship to Captain Worsley.
[22:42] When he met up with his men, the morale, the attitude was in the worst shape ever. It wasn't in the same shape when they left England. And so Shackleton gets there and some of the men are drunk and some of them just have a bad attitude.
[22:59] So Shackleton had to fire some of the men. Some of you that are in management position, you know that. You're going to have to fire and it's really hard to do that nowadays to fire someone.
[23:10] But you want the best crew and you don't want someone who is constantly a pessimistic and says they can't do the job. And you've got to be careful of that because you can affect others.
[23:21] And we're in it, we're supposed to be in it for the long haul, serving Christ. And so he had to fire some of the men. And then others he had to convince of changing their attitudes if they were to continue on the expedition.
[23:37] I think he would have, if he could have fined the right men, he probably would have got all the men from Argentina. I don't know. But he had to chase them. He had to chase them. And this was going to prove to be crucial in the upcoming ordeal.
[23:52] Because they're still thinking that they're going to cross across the land and they still have this ship to go back on. And so if someone's pessimistic, you can just send them back to the ship and just reward the ones that are good to be the first to cross the Antarctic.
[24:08] They don't realize they're going to be stuck in the ice and there's going to be a fight to survive. Will you allow God to chasten you? Do you know what's going to happen in your life?
[24:21] God wants to chasten you because maybe there's some crucial ordeal or something you're going to have to face later. So he's trying to make you better. He's trying to make you better. Okay.
[24:32] Go back to Hebrews 12, verse 3. The next one, it says, For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
[24:44] Christ endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Now we're to consider Christ and endure when the lost comes to contradict our beliefs, our trust in the Bible, or our behavior in this journey.
[25:02] And we're to consider Christ and endure when the Christian comes to contradict our beliefs, our Bible, and this journey, our behavior in this journey.
[25:15] We're supposed to endure sound doctrine. The Bible says you're in this church. You're in a sound doctrinal church. You need to stay here. He's going to show you from the scriptures.
[25:28] He's going to be able to answer most things. Some things are a mystery. But he's going to be able to answer most things in this Bible. He's going to show you in this Bible eternal security and how some of these passages that looks like it might contradict the doctrine of eternal security is not true.
[25:51] That it might just be for a different dispensation. But he will give you that sound doctrine. Now, sometimes it's only a small handful of Christians.
[26:03] Or sometimes it's just the pastor that fights for that sound doctrine. But we need to endure that. We need to be... We're supposed to try and convince others of the truth of Christ if they ask.
[26:17] The Bible says... I think it's in Peter... Where is that? In Peter... I can't remember now. I'll think of it later. Look at Daniel 7.25.
[26:32] Oh, be ready to always give an answer to everyone that believeth of the hope which lieth within you. We need to be ready to give an answer. If you go out and hang tracks on the door, good for you.
[26:44] We need to be able to tell people and hang tracks on the door. But you never know. Someone might stop you while you're doing that. And they might have a question. Now, you've got to use discernment to just see if they're trying to keep you from continuing on what you're doing.
[26:59] But some people will have a genuine question that they want an answer for. Daniel 7.25. It says, And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High.
[27:12] That's what the devil's doing. He's wearing you out. And he wants to wear you out. And he'll use it through his minions and sinners.
[27:24] And we need to endure the contradiction of sinners because they'll come at you. And they're going to ask you questions. And you should have the answer when they ask you. Okay, go to 1 Peter.
[27:34] 1 Peter 2. And I'm trying, I'm watching your time. I know we're running over a little bit. We started late. But I'm going to go through this real quick. And we have one more point and we'll be done. 1 Peter 2.
[27:47] 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. And look at verse 19. 1 Peter 2. Verse 19.
[27:59] It says, For this is thankworthy. 1 Peter 2.19. For this is thankworthy for a man for conscience toward God. Endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when you are buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently?
[28:11] But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently. This is acceptable with God. For even here unto were you called. Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his step.
[28:23] So here in 20 it says, It says, When you be buffeted for your faults, you take it patiently. But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently.
[28:34] This is acceptable with God. Sometimes those contradictions of sinners will come. And sometimes we just need to answer not a fool. And other times answer a fool. We need to endure sometimes when those contradictions of sinners come.
[28:49] And look at 23. It says, Christ, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not. But committed himself to him that judges righteously.
[29:02] So sometimes you just got to ask God. All right, God, you want me to be quiet? All right, I'll be quiet. I'll be quiet. And we need to endure that. Because for some of us, it's really hard to be quiet. This was, you know, we don't have to always win the argument.
[29:19] We don't have to always win the argument all the time. And sometimes silence can be deadlier than defending oneself. And so Christ also, he defended himself to those who were opposed to him.
[29:32] This was his life, and he used some great wisdom in that. Look at 1 Peter 3, verse 14. I think that's the one that I wanted. 1 Peter 3, 14. Yep. Okay, go back to Hebrews.
[30:11] Let's do the last point. Hebrews 12. And the last point there is enduring the cross. Hebrews 12, verse 2. Hebrews 12, verse 2.
[30:23] It says, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of God.
[30:35] The joy was set before him, and he endured the cross. He endured his death, knowing fully well what he was going to have to go through as a son of God. And if you love God, you're going to have to take up your cross sometimes.
[30:49] And you're going to have to follow him. Look at 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. I'm going to skip that scripture, but let's look at 2 Timothy 3, verse 11.
[31:05] 2 Timothy 3, verse 11. It says, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra.
[31:16] What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Sometimes you can't help it.
[31:28] You just, you know, you try to do everything right, and persecutions are still going to come. Because you're trying to live godly. Look at 4, 5. Chapter 4, verse 5, right there in 2 Timothy.
[31:41] But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions. And those afflictions will come. And we've got to endure them. We've just got to keep going on. You've just got to let them come and just go on.
[31:53] Just endure. You need to be strong in Christ. And don't entangle yourselves with the affairs of this life. Be strong as a soldier, as it says in Timothy.
[32:04] I do want you to look at Mark 15. Mark 15. And verse 22. Mark 15, verse 22. And I will read the other scripture.
[32:19] And we'll go back to Hebrews. And we'll be done. Mark and verse 15. Mark 15, verse 22.
[32:35] Verse 22. It says, And they bring him unto the place called Golotha, which is to be interpreted the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine, mingled with myrrh. But he received it not.
[32:46] And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, cast his lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour. And they crucified him. And the superscription of his accusation was written over the king of the Jews.
[32:58] And with him they crucified two thieves, the one on his right and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, and he was numbered with the transgressors. And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and saying, Ah, thou have destroyed the temple and built it in three days.
[33:10] Save thyself and come down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others. Himself he cannot save. Let Christ, the king of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.
[33:23] And they that were crucified with him reviled him. They wanted to see Christ come down from the cross. They wanted to see a sign. They wanted a genie. They wanted a genie that would grant them three wishes before they would believe.
[33:34] I don't think they would have believed. And Christ went to the cross for your sins. And he endured that cross because he knew he had to save the world.
[33:45] And he could have been stoned by the Jews, especially when he said that he was the I am. They could have stoned him right there. But he disappeared among them because he knew that that was not his death.
[33:58] And he would have to go willingly. And he had to endure the cross. If you're not saved, if you haven't truly trusted in the blood of Christ, you need to make sure of that. Make sure that you are saved.
[34:09] You trusted in Christ alone for your salvation. Because you could be like me, like a Lutheran who believed in Christ, believed he died on the cross, believed he rose again, believed in the Virgin Mary.
[34:22] And still you could die and go to hell. That's where I was at. I was lost. And I believed in all those things. But I never took Christ into my heart and asked him to save my soul.
[34:33] And I knew. I knew all that stuff. But I was lost in my sins. And Christ endured that cross for all of mankind.
[34:44] And we need to endure for him. And continue on because there are people out there that are still lost. And there's a joy coming to us if we will endure.
[34:56] However, the Christian life is an endurance race. Verse 1 says, back there in Hebrew. Go back to Hebrews. And we're going to be done. Finish off with the ending of Ernest Shackleton's story.
[35:10] But go back there to Hebrews. Hebrews and chapter 12 still. And verse 1. It says there, verse 14, also we are compassed about with so great a cloud of wetness.
[35:22] Let us lay aside every weight in the same one which does so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. When we endure these things, we're running with patience the race that is set before us.
[35:37] And that's what we need to do. We need to endure. And we need to endure our cross that Christ has given us. And it's not a 100-yard dash, this Christian life.
[35:52] It's a race of endurance that's going to last your whole life. And you've got to be able to endure the chastening. Endure the contradiction of sinners. Endure the cross.
[36:04] You know, the gun goes off at salvation. It's like you're in a race. The gun goes off at salvation. And some people, they just take off running. They're that 100-yard dash. And you see them, and they're excited for the Lord.
[36:16] And they're serving. They're street preaching. They're doing some things. And then a year or two years, you're like, where'd that guy go to? Where'd that guy go to? Where's he at now? And others, the gun goes off at salvation.
[36:27] And they realize it's an endurance race. And so they'll go, and they'll go witness. And they'll serve. And maybe they're as excited as that guy. But they understand that there will be disappointments.
[36:38] There will be problems. There will be a chastening. And they're in it for the long haul. I was the guy who did the 100-yard dash. And I'm still here. I'm probably not like that guy anymore.
[36:49] But I called my twin brother. I said, Duke, Duke, you're going to die and go to hell. Maybe not the best way. OK? But I was excited. And then when you go out and knock on doors and you talk to people, man, that's, you know, sometimes you get a chance to talk to people.
[37:05] It can be exciting, especially if you get with one of those guys that are really zealous. Find one of those guys as your partner. You just sit back and watch the fun. I mean, that was me. And I didn't really know how to do it.
[37:15] But they let me loose. And I knocked on the guy's door. And he's like, no, I don't want none of that. And he slammed his door. I'm like, fine, go to hell. And I just kept on going. And not the best way, again, to do it. But, you know, you're going to find it's kind of interesting with some of those guys sometimes.
[37:30] But I knew it was for the long haul. And I knew disappointments would come. And my pastor prepped me for that. And, of course, the Lord and everyone. So keep going.
[37:41] Don't give up. Ernest Shackleton, according to his men, was considered the greatest leader that ever came on God's earth bar none.
[37:52] Now, this was according to his men. The greatest leader that ever came on God's earth bar none. It was also said of him that when you're in a hopeless situation, when there seems no way out, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.
[38:07] And we have a better leader than that. This journey of survival of him and his men would last for two years. And through it all, Shackleton would not lose one man.
[38:20] His ship was stuck in ice for ten months before it finally sunk to the bottom. They would have to travel 850 miles on ice, on foot on ice, sometimes walking and sometimes in lifeboats.
[38:36] Because the ice would break up and then I'd get in the lifeboats. And then it would come solid again. And then they'd pick up the lifeboats and walk on or drag them. And he had to chasten the men, the men who were the pessimists.
[38:50] And those that fought and those that argued, he had to chasten them. Because he was trying to keep depression and discouragement to a minimal. And there are other times when Shackleton just had to let the men vent on him.
[39:04] They had to just vent on him, give them their complaints, give them their gripes, and he just had to let it go. He just had to let it go. He knew he couldn't answer all the questions. We as men, sometimes we need to do that.
[39:14] Sometimes our wives just want to vent a little bit. They don't want a solution to the problem. They just want to vent a little bit. And sometimes we just got to let them do that. He had to take the criticism about himself and his leadership skills.
[39:28] You know that if you're in management. I was in management after the fire. After working at a smoke jumper, I got in with the company and I was a district manager. And they're going to criticize you.
[39:40] You're the leader. They're going to criticize you. It's just the way it is. You have to submit. You have to put up with it. But don't give up. Through the breaking of the ice to an encounter with the sea leopard and the Antarctic extreme weather, the men finally made it to a place called Elephant Island.
[39:56] And it was their first step on dry land for a year and a half. However, they were still a ways off from civilization. Any means of rescue was impossible.
[40:09] Someone would have to lead a daring escape by lifeboat. By lifeboat, not ships. Across the dreaded Drake's Passage. Now, where we're at, we're at the bottom.
[40:19] And if this was Punta Arenas, it was like the Magellan Strait that goes through. And that was because boats would come around Cape Horn. And it became too dangerous because the boats would always shipwreck.
[40:31] And they would always, not all the time, but most of the boats, they would come and they would shipwreck. Because you had the Atlantic and the Pacific. And it caused waves. And it was just, it's still considered this day as one of the most dreaded passages.
[40:44] So boats will go through that straight, Magellan Strait. And so we get a lot of tourism there. But, so this is one of the most dangerous places. And they're going to go by lifeboat. So he had to handpick his men.
[40:57] And he handpicked five other men. And they knew what they were getting into. They knew that they probably would never come back from this alive. And they would have to make it to the South Georgian Islands, which was a whaling station.
[41:10] That's where the whalers come. And so he and the other five others, there's going to be a great trial of affliction. Now, they made it to the South Georgian Islands.
[41:22] But they were on the wrong side of the island. And they were so tired, they were not going to take that lifeboat and go around. And they were so tired that they stopped on the island. And three ended up staying there.
[41:34] And the other three decided they're going to have to go up over the mountain and over the other side. And so they started to make their journey up over the mountain. And Captain Worsley said in his diary years later, he said, I know there was three of us climbing that mountain.
[41:54] But it felt like there was four. And they believed Providence was there for them. And they get to the top. They lay down. And then something woke them up.
[42:05] Because if they had laid down and went to sleep, they would have died. Something woke them up. They went on. They come into the whaling station. The whalers there thought they had seen a ghost. They thought they had seen three ghosts coming at them.
[42:17] And so, of course, Shackleton eventually hired a Chilean vessel. And then they came and they rescued their men on Elephant Island. And not a one man died in that journey of survival.
[42:30] And that's us. We've got to continue to endure. We've got to continue to endure. People are going to come and try to get us out of this journey. The devil is going to try to get out of his journey.
[42:41] It's going to be hard. But we've just got to keep going. Keep serving God. You never know who you're going to affect. You never know who you might lead to the Lord by not even talking to him, giving him a track.
[42:53] Keep on serving the Lord. Pastor.