Chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12, I'm going to read the first 11 verses of Hebrews chapter 12, this wonderful text. Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 1, God's word says this, Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons. My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by him. For those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and he scourges every son whom he receives. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respect them. Shall we not much rather be subject to the father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good so that we may share his holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful. Yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields its peaceful fruits of righteousness. Would you all please bow your heads as we pray. Father in heaven, how grateful we are to have your word before us. How grateful we are for this text. And how grateful we are, Lord, for your call upon our speaker today, Phil Train. We ask, Lord, as he brings us the message, we ask that you would open his mouth, that you enable him to declare your word with power and authority and conviction. And we pray, Lord, that you would give us all ears to hear. For your great glory and for the good of your people, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. You may please be seated, and Phil, if you would come up and declare God's word for us. Okay, thank you. Muy buenos dias. Okay, some of you passed 101, that's good. How are you? Yeah. Man, have you heard of that cat that was chasing after the mouse? The mouse goes in the little hole. The cat's waiting, waiting, waiting, and he doesn't come out. He said, what can I do? So he starts barking like a dog. Pretty soon, the mouse comes out. And the cat jumps on him, grabs him by the neck, and the mouse turns around and he says, how did you do that? Well, he says, if you're not bilingual today, you cannot eat. So anyhow, I encourage you to learn Spanish for sure. Thank you for having us here today. What a privilege. As Paul would say, every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Wherever I pray, whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy. For you have been my partners in spreading the good news about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. What a wonderful opportunity we have to celebrate today the Lord's table and to celebrate each one of us together here. Thank you for allowing me to be part of your family since 1976. Jen was already part of your family. In fact, I don't know if the picture's still back there, but you can check out the picture of the church, I don't know how many years ago, and Jan's right there on the front row, right? You'll have to check it out for sure, but thank you. for helping us these last 45 years, Pastor Wade. That's how many years you have been supporting us, 45 years, through prayer and financially. Thank you for doing that. You know, we were married here 48 years ago, a few moons ago, and we always have fond, fond remembrance. And we just wondered, Let me just ask, how many were here when we got married? Okay, two, probably June. Ooh, man, there's some hands going up, see? We're all in it together, thank you. Thank you for sure. Many changes have gone on in missions and in the world in 45 years for sure. Instead of Now, many missions field, instead of receiving missionaries, they are sending them. And we're so excited about That changed because the missionary call has come to those that have turned their heart to Jesus. They're reaching their Judea, their Samaria, and to the ends of the world. There's these little churches in Bolivia who are supporting missionaries in Africa and in the Muslim countries, praise God, hallelujah, right? They don't have lots of money, but the Lord takes the five loaves and the two fishes and multiplies it and makes it possible that they might be able to do the ministry. The last conference I was at before leaving just a few months ago in Bolivia. And we are returning in two weeks from this Monday back to our work in Bolivia. But the last conference I was at was for pastors and their wives. And that was a real privilege that I considered the opportunity of just sitting with them and listening sharing, obviously, some teaching, but what a privilege to be with them. And as I heard their story, wonderful story, Marcos, Pastor Marcos, he was telling me how he walks and goes sharing God's word. I know he has a better truck than I have, for sure, a Toyota truck. So why do you go walking? He said to me, because I don't want to miss a single house, I want every house to hear about Jesus Christ. You know, that is a privilege for us to be involved in their lives and equipping them, encouraging them, and helping them. Many of them already know lots about the Bible. And I'm thankful for that, although we give out Thompson chain Bibles, reference chain Bibles. I give a seminar, I'll be doing one next month in Bolivia. And you know, we're equipping them, but most of all, we want to help them as they seek the Lord and that they may sing, Jesus, I love you, as we just finished singing. And that is our vision, our desire. We are definitely at the other end, as you might understand, right? Where are we as far as future ministry? Well, we are praying about it and asking the Lord for the right time. perhaps to return to this area and keep on ministering. There's so many Spanish people here and I've been ministering even in these few months that I've been here in four different churches in Spanish and it is a blessing. There's a tremendous mission field here in Los Angeles and the greater Los Angeles for sure. So we are doing that kind of ministry and thank you again for being part of our lives all these years. I say that not because I was supposed to say it, I say it from the heart and I am so thankful for you. Last Sunday was the last Sunday that one of my favorite preachers stepped to one side. He didn't retire, but he stepped to one side. All of you have heard about him, Chuck Swindoll, 89 years old. He says, I'm not retiring only when the Lord wants to take me home. I will retire at that point. I hope to be preaching. And as I'm preaching and I fall and I bump my head, the Lord takes me home. That's when I'm going to retire. But meantime, I'm going to continue preaching and sharing about the Lord, running the race, keeping on, keeping going. and sharing God's word so that we may all finish well. We may finish with joy. Paul says in Acts chapter 20 verse seven, the ministry that he has given us to do. And I want to this morning encourage all of us Whether you're a gentleman who has been going on in life and in ministry for many, many, many years, I also want to encourage the mothers. Because next weekend is Mother's Day. And many mothers are the unsung heroes. By the way, there's a terrific movie that you need to see, The Unsung Hero. And it's a wonderful, it'll make you cry for sure, but you need to see it. It is wonderful. And a wonderful presentation of the ministry of one mother. And I want to recognize all of us, especially the mothers this morning. What will keep us going? What will keep us going on like Chuck for over 60 years in ministry? Well, as we look forward, as our eyes are set on Jesus, and we see him being manifested through his spirit in our lives as we share Jesus Christ. Now, in Hebrews chapter 11, I won't go into that because that's not the passage, but that gives the context for Chapter 12 for sure. That's why it says, therefore, beginning the first word in chapter 12. In chapter 11, it talks about the heroes of faith. How did they keep on going? They were people who had to go said some of them were even sawed in half. Some of them suffered so very much, but what kept them going? Well, for Abraham, as he looked for the maker of that wonderful city in the future, for Moses, all of these heroes of faith, as they look forward, they were encouraged. So we are running the race. And I trust you are running the race. If you have put a pause on running the race, I trust that even this morning you might be challenged to again start running the race that God has given us. Two things I want us to remember this morning through the passage that was read to us in Hebrews chapter 12. Number one, remember five things. And number two, expect two things for sure. So here we go. Remember, what are we gonna remember? Well, we need to remember that great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, the great cloud of witnesses. Hmm, what does that refer to? Well, some people would like to think that people that have passed on are looking down on us, okay? Maybe, maybe, but probably not. It probably illustrates what kind of life those people had before they went on to eternity. It's not so much theological as it is an illustration of how we are supposed to run. Do you remember that PE class? I do. Many of them for sure. And I remember when the PE teacher would say, okay, today we're going to run a mile. And so we would all get out there four times around. You need to go four times because That is a mile, okay. So, you know, you start running, pretty soon, all these other guys are way ahead, right? Second time around, third time around, and the first guys are already lapping you, right? Because you couldn't run that fast, unless of course you were Eric Little, who said there is lots of pleasure in running, for sure. But, Anyhow, we run the race. Not easy. You know what the word race comes from? It comes from agon, from the term that helps us in English, agony. Where agon, we are running in agony, many of us, You know, it is taking everything from us. But you know what the cloud of witnesses would say? Keep on going and finish well. Do it as God has called you to do and fulfill the ministry. So what do we need to do? Number one, number two, we need to unload those things that hinder us from going forward for sure. What can they be? Well, I'm sure it's different for all of us, but let me speak of some things that are real in our life. Such as, number one, doubts that we have. Doubts that come from the very beginning. When Satan challenged Eve to doubt, to doubt him, doubt his goodness, doubt God and who he is. And you know, today, We're going to say hoy dia. Today, many young people, many people are doubting. Does God exist? If there's so much suffering in the world, does God exist? And there are answers. We don't have all the answers because some of them will be answered when we are with the Lord. But let me tell you, the Lord has allowed suffering in the world and there's difficulty so that we in part may glorify God but also we might know that he is the powerful God that is working in our lives. So let's unload doubt and fear that keeps us behind. Man, can I really be committed? Which takes me to the third point. What should we remember? What should we let go? These runners, man, they got right down into their birthday suit, right? nothing on because they didn't want any hindrance. What do you and myself need to let go? Well, probably there's a number of things, but when it speaks here of faith, it says that we need to let go of those things that entangle us. Well, what is that? It's within context, the faith, it means, it's referring back to the lifestyle that those people had of trusting God, of putting our faith in Jesus. Some of us tend to get our eyes off the Lord, and that's why it says, run with endurance the race that is set before us. Let us not be entangled. The picture is of the shoestrings and being entangled and falling all over our own selves in many ways for sure. We unload, we let go, But number four, we must remember to keep our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus, who despised the shame. He didn't let the shame keep him back from saving us and going to the cross. So where are we gonna look? To Jesus, not look inside, right? Nowadays, many of us are tortured with shame. Shame, shame's a big word these days. But shame has been part of our lives. You know what shame does? Well, shame stops the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It stops us focusing on the work of Jesus on the cross. It stops us from gathering together as a body of believers. What are they gonna say about me? Oh yeah, if somebody looks at us kind of strange, shame might come to us. I want to encourage you today that shame is not of the Lord, it's of the enemy. He has taken, he has borne our shame on the cross, Isaiah says. And as we think of our own personal lives, we need to let go of that shame that so easily entangles us. And then we run with patience. running that a hundred yard dash. We are running a marathon. You know, sometimes when something happens and we repeat things that we know we shouldn't be doing. Oh man, I got to start again. I got to start again. Like my little grandson. We had him over to our house a few days ago, and we were gonna play dominoes. And I thought, hmm, okay, this is gonna be a challenge. He might not know how many, the number of the dominoes, but he could at least tell the color of the little dots on the dominoes, right? Well, I could tell he was getting frustrated. So I said, well, let's just stand up the dominoes. and we will see who can make the longest chain of dominoes by standing them up. Well, he got to about 10 and broom, all of them went over. And he says, grandpa, I can't do it. I can't do it. And maybe some of us are saying the same thing today. I can't do it. I can't walk near to God. I can't even sing my Jesus, I love thee. Some of us think we can't, but you know what? We don't go back to the original domino. We keep on going from where we stopped, where you put pause on, where things happen that perhaps you would not like to remember. We keep on going from that place on. Okay, something happened, maybe even this week, maybe even last night, and you wanna give up and say, I'm not gonna continue on running the race. The Lord would say, keep running the race. Pick yourself up and keep running the race. That's what the cloud of witnesses would tell us for sure. Now, just remember, as we are running, we're not in competition. I'm not in competition with you and I hope you are not in competition with me. We each have a calling and we each have a race that we need to run so that we might fulfill that calling from the Lord. Remember, it's not one of those hundred yard dashes. It's a marathon, a slow run. We keep steady running the race. Now, two things that we can expect. Number one, discouragement. It says in verse three, for consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Discouragement. I'm sure that the way Jesus could see people, some who had pledged they would even go and die for him, such as Peter, and at the end, he petered out, right? He didn't continue on. His own relatives said, he might be a little crazy. We've come to pick him up. So people that were very, very close. As we run the race, and we are grandparents, we have 11 grandchildren, I just wonder what kind of a world they are coming up in. And it becomes discouraging. Sometimes our children who, You know, we used to read the Bible every day and pray with them, do devotionals, do all kinds of things. When they're on their own, they're no longer following or seek to follow the Lord. And even at times do things that bring us a lot of sorrow. And we stay up at night and pray. And I do, I'm sure you do. We pray for our children, for our family, we pray. But you know what? Only the Lord can change their life. Are we willing to let the Lord do his work in their lives? We need to take care of ourselves so that we can be all that the Lord wants us to be to our children. One of my colleagues, as he came back from Bolivia, went to his son's house, who has a different style of life nowadays, said to his dad, dad, when you come to our house, don't pray anymore. We won't pray for meals, we are not gonna do that anymore. When we go to your house, we will respect you, you can pray. But when you come to ours, please don't pray. Ooh, does that hurt? It does, hurts deeply and we can become discouraged. But the Lord is the one that is working in us. So how did the Lord keep in curry? For the joy that was set before him. What did Jesus lack? Did he lack a house? No, he has a house, heaven. Does he lack anything else? No. What did he, what was the joy that was set before him? You and I, as we come to know him and come into a relationship with Jesus, we are his joy and he loves to be with us. So you can expect discouragement. I just wonder what kind of a society will my grandchildren be presented to in the future for sure. And then the discipline. That kind of word doesn't make us very happy for sure. In fact, that's what the text says. We don't like to think of discipline, but the word discipline takes on a new meaning from this passage. Number one, Discipline means that he loves us so very much. In Isaiah 63, nine, it says that when we are distressed, the Lord is distressed with us. He loves us. Number two, it means that we are his children when we go through the discipline, the refinement of the Lord. And number three, because he wants our very best. Let me finish with this. Discipline. Why discipline? Well, we've already said that it points to the fact that we are his children, but personally, why discipline? It will help us to have a much more fuller life. A life that he wants us to have as we let him refine us, as we let him correct us, as we let him show his love. Even though we are imperfect beings, he shows us his love. Not only that we will have a richer life, but we will have his style of life. Holiness. Chapter 12, verse 10. It says that we will come under his guidance, his help, his Holy Spirit will work in each one of us. But last, we will have a harvest of righteousness. I begin the message saying we want to finish well. All of us do. We all desire, and all of us, that's where the Lord is taking us. That's the direction as he disciplines us and takes those rough edges off. And those things that are so difficult in our life, and we have sworn, I won't change until the day I die. No voy a cambiar hasta el dia que me muera. That's the way we would say in Spanish. Right? The Lord says, I will do the work. Leave it up to me. I will do the work. So where are we in the race? Are we on pause? Maybe you have never even started the race. And the invitation today is that you can put your trust in Jesus and start the race. The only race that is worth really running. because it takes us to him and it will allow us to be with him forever and ever. Three weeks ago, April 14th, was the 112th anniversary of that fateful morning when the Titanic went down. We've all seen the movie. We have heard the story for sure. Captain Smith had been warned that there was a possibility of danger and that the icebergs were right around. Went to bed, got up when they came and knocked on his door and he gave some few instructions, but he didn't take the leadership that needed to be taken at that moment. Iceberg. I wonder if you might be facing an iceberg today, this week. Don't give up, don't give up. The band director, Mr. Wallace Hartley, started playing, had the band play some music that would encourage people that were on the boat. And as they were going down, He had them play, nearer my God to thee, nearer to thee, even though it be a cross that raises me, still all my songs shall be nearer my God to thee. That's a long hymn, I won't read it all. But I wonder how close we are to the Lord today. Have we been distracted by A lot of different things, they might be good things, but they have taken our eyes off of Jesus. And we are no longer concentrated, focused on him. Jesus is coming again soon, amen? I know you're not Pentecostal, but at least a little amen is okay, right? Jesus is coming again and we need to be ready, Jesus. wants us to run the race, the cloud of people. I can think of some people that we knew that are no longer here. They're in that cloud today. They would tell us, keep running, keep running the race. And for the unsung heroes, mama, mami, mama in Spanish, I want to encourage you, even though things don't seem to be working out the way you had planned. He, this is the last verse, he who begun the good work will, he will finish it. Amen? He's going to finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. And that gives us lots and lots of hope and gives us a whole new focus as we look to the future. Our Lord, thank you for allowing us to run the race that will take us to you. Help us not to be not to change our focus, but to be focused on Him who is the author and the finisher of our faith. I pray for each one of us. Lord, if someone is not running the race today, I pray that today would be that first day, that first step of believing in Jesus that they might know the wonderful love of yours. Thank you, our Father, for this opportunity to study your word today, amen.