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October 10, 2021 · 26 min · Pray Radio
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0:00 You're listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Richard's style is very unique where he shares the message of the gospel unlike anyone else. It's real, refreshing, focused, and fun.0:12 Whether you find yourself in a good place, maybe in a difficult place, or possibly even in a very lonely place, let me encourage you that you've come to the right place. Now if you're not able to stick around with us0:24 for all of today's talk, you can always listen to, download, and even share this entire message with a friend right from our website, richard ellis talks dot com. So with today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.0:37 The title of today's message is Raisin' Hell. And no, that is not where bad grapes go when they die. So if you're wondering about that, turn to Proverbs 1. For the sake of time, let me jump0:49 down to verse 10. The context here is wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. And you have got people in your life who are trying along the way to impart wisdom to you. I was at an event1:00 yesterday and a lady probably in her 70 was standing there and I said, You know, I bet you feel just like my mom sometimes, like you don't even exist. That these 40 year olds, 50 year olds, 30 year olds standing around1:12 like they know everything and no 1 bothers to ask you anything like you're some kind of idiot all of a sudden. Has it ever occurred to you that the 60, 70, 80, 90 year old people that are around you might actually know1:24 something? And if you would stop a minute and say, hey, you've been around a while, tell me about your life. Tell me what worked. A lot of times people, older people won't tell you anything because they don't think you1:34 can be told anything. And they go to tell you and go, it ain't gonna do any good. You say, well, why didn't somebody warn me? Because you don't wanna be warned. But if you stop long enough and pick somebody out and go,1:45 wow, you look like a piece of work, like you were a hell raiser. Did this work for you? And they go, nope, didn't work for me. Why do you think I'm sitting here at church? Well, tell me about that and your story. They1:54 go, okay, you asked. And then you hear this torrent, this flood of stuff come out and you go, wow, I don't want to end up that way. Then listen. And that's the point of Proverbs. Here's wisdom.2:06 Stupidity says, I don't learn anything without figuring out my way, doing it the hard way. Then I'll say, oh yeah, yeah, you were right. Wisdom says, okay, now what did you say? And what happened to all these other2:17 people? I'm out. I don't need to go down that road. I get it before I have to get it. Right? So if there are kids here listening or beyond and you say, Yeah, but all my friends. Let me tell you something. All your2:29 friends aren't gonna make it. And in this story in Proverbs 1, almost off the bat, this wisdom, hear instruction of your father, don't forsake the law of your mother. Verse 10, My son, if sinners entice2:41 you, do not consent. So if you're in a group of people and you say, Well, is this just for teenagers or little kids? No, it's for all of us. Anybody, a buddies. Hey, what's up, man? Come on. We're gonna go do whatever.2:53 And you know what? I don't do whatever anymore. I'm not going with you. He says, if they entice you, we're gonna go. And you say, well, what kind of stuff are they saying let's do? If they say, come with us, let us lie3:04 in wait to shed blood. You go, Who are these people? No 1 would sit around waiting to kill somebody. It happens every day or there wouldn't be newscasts. My nephew the other day is in a3:16 Whataburger, minding his own business across the restaurants, another group of young guys. These young guys are start staring at my nephew and his friends and kind of this mean look, something wasn't right. All of a3:27 sudden, my nephew gets up to leave. He's a teenage boy, big kid walks out. 1 of these kids come out behind him and just cold cocks him from behind and knocks him down. Jumps in a truck, screams out as3:39 he's driving away, How's your face feel kid? Yeah, well, where does that come from? Let's just get together. You know, I don't wanna do something stupid by myself. I'd like to have some friends with me. Right? It's more3:50 fun if you're gonna do something stupid to have witnesses. That's how all these kids get caught. Because we have to have friends. We have to have a group. So you say, well, there's no 1 sitting around just dreaming up4:00 stuff. You did. Right? Just get bored. God, let's go do that. And see, the more bizarre it gets, well, we don't want to do that anymore. We've already stolen some stuff. Let's go do something4:12 else crazier. And then it escalates and escalates. The next thing you know, you know, somebody's talking about getting in a gang, you get in a gang. They go, okay, you wanna be in our gang? You gotta go out and pop4:18 somebody. So you know, pick some car with bright headlights on and shoot them. Now you're in our gang. You say, well, I'm not around any of those people. You are around these people whether you know it or4:30 not. They say, come with us. Let us lie in wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like shield and whole like those who go down to the4:41 pit. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil, shed innocent blood, steal stuff, cast in your lot among us. Let us all have 14:53 purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight5:05 of any bird but they lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owner. You say, Well, you know, this5:17 doesn't apply to me. This applies to tons of people. And you say, Well, I don't want my kids reading this kind of stuff. The longer I live, the more stories I hear, the sooner5:29 and sooner and sooner kids are being subjected to stuff that you have no idea what's going on in the world. Parents are naive and think, Oh, well, my kids all have phones and we don't check them because we got5:41 good kids. Really? And your parents thought the same thing. Oh no, Richard, he would never do that. What? I was a crazy kid. Why do you think I know5:53 so much about this? Well, you never went to jail. No, I got really blessed and lucky or whatever it was or, you know, I got away with it or something. I can't even tell you some of the things I did6:04 because I don't wanna give anybody any ideas. It's really a shame actually because some of it was pretty creative stuff, so. Now you say, well, but it's exciting. You know, if we all set6:16 up a deal, said, okay, here's the sermon for this week and here's what we're gonna do and report back on next week. I want everyone to go steal something this week. And then during our shared time, we'll pass around6:28 microphones and talk about how it worked out for you. And we're gonna give a prize away for the person who steals the most expensive thing. You think you're crazy. But I guarantee if we all went out and did it, man, your6:39 heart would be beaten like a drum. You go, well, I'm trying to do what the preacher said to do and God help me. You know, God help me. Give me strength Lord as I steal this lawn mower or grab6:51 this bike. Now if you've ever stole anything, the first thing I ever stole, was a little bitty kid in a department store as a missionary kid, think it was the first thing. In Brazil, I took a pen. I took a pen from a7:02 store, a really cool pen. Thought that'd be cool. I got that pen in my hot little hands, got outside of that store with that pen, it almost destroyed me. I freaked completely out. I was like, oh my gosh, I got out of7:13 here with it. Now I have a stolen pen. Something inside of me, alarms went off like something is wrong. Now I'm figuring out how to sneak the pen back in the store. It was7:24 exhausting, stressful, crazy. That wasn't the first thing I stole. Now I'm going back. My mind, it's all coming back. Back when bubble gum was a penny a piece, if anybody ever remembers that, you'd go to a7:36 7 11 and it was a penny, man. For a quarter, you could throw down in a 7 11, man. It was unbelievable. Little brown bag and stuff. So I grabbed me some bubble gum, got out of there, got7:48 caught somehow. You know, you have to go back and apologize and whatever. It's a horrible feeling. Sin is exhausting. Sin is exhausting. Just get any woman8:00 who knows right from wrong, gets in a situation with a guy, not married to that man, and things start getting heated and he's wanting to do this, she's wanting to do that. And all of a sudden the alarm start going off,8:12 your body's saying 1 thing, your heart and your mind saying another, and you cross lines. Let me tell you something, that is stressful. And through the years, the number of girls, the number of guys, the calls I get, and8:23 the girl says, I think I might be pregnant. Now I get other calls, texts like, Hey, we found out we're having a baby. Boom, it's the most exciting thing in the world when it's legit, when it's done the proper8:35 way. Doesn't mean God can't forgive you if you do it the wrong way, but there is stress that comes the other way, right? And I'm not going to ask the women in here to show of hands who've missed 1 and thought,8:47 boom, I'm in trouble. It's stressful. You say, yeah, but everybody's out there having a good time. Let me tell you something. The good time is not that good all the time. It's momentary. There's little flickers.8:58 It's a hit. And once you start getting high, you got to keep getting high. Over and over and over the stories that I hear. 7 year old kids, 10 year old boys, 13 year9:10 old girls, whether it's sex or alcohol, somebody says, Hey, try this. And the kids suck in air anyway. They're hurting inside. Things are not good at home. They don't feel loved maybe or they're just exploring and they9:22 have no 1 to talk to them. And somebody says, Hey, take a sip of this. And they take a sip of this. Wow, I feel so much better. It's exciting. It works. So they do that for a while and it doesn't work. Someone says, Take9:33 a hit of this. Hand them a joint. Something, Hey, have you ever tried this? You know, but I feel so bad about all my drinking or whatever. So now this doesn't seem so bad. Yeah, what the heck? Boom. I take a hit off of9:43 that. Oh, wow, that feel good now. Then you do that for a while. You go, I would never do anything else. And how many times guys have told me, got in a party, somebody's house, life sucks, Things9:55 aren't going my way. Somebody walks in and says, Hey dude, try a line. You know, everybody's doing lines because you're in a house full of people doing lines. How'd you get there? Because I'm a hell raiser now. No, you10:06 weren't. But now you are. He says, Hey dude, have you ever tried this? Or this is the other story I hear. Someone to say, Hey, let me try that dude. You don't want to touch this. And the person using tried to talk the10:17 guy out of it because he says, I know what this is doing to my life. You don't want to have anything to do with this. So there's some wisdom even like in a crack house where people doing the10:29 drugs, doing the sin, trying to warn somebody, dude, don't do this. Run for your life. And still, no, that makes me want it even more. So now you're doing lines and you got a bong, you got10:41 a bada bing bada bong. It's just downhill from there. And then you crash and burn. It's exhausting. It's exhausting. Now, some of you say, Wow,10:52 good thing there are preachers like you preaching about things like this for people like whoever you're talking about. Because I'm cool. Yeah, you got it all figured out. Read you another 1,11:04 Proverbs 13 15, go over a few pages. The New King James version puts it this way, Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is11:16 hard. The King James version says, Good understanding gives favor, but the way of the transgressor is hard. The way of the sinner is hard. You say, No, it's not. My life is easy11:27 breezy. I got a maid, man. I got gang. I got women. I got cars. What do you think a DWI is? Oh, I didn't get arrested? Oh, really? What was that? Well,11:39 got removed from my record because I am very smart and have money and could get that fixed. Did that fix you? Just because you can fix situations doesn't mean you're fixed. And sooner or11:51 later, that's going to go to something else. It always escalates. If you don't repent, you don't change, you don't cry out for God's help, sooner or later, you're going to take it somewhere12:03 else. Some guy says, Well, I'm just looking at stuff online. And then 1 day he wakes up in a hotel somewhere with a stranger exchanging cash for favors. I would never do that, you12:14 say. And how did that happen? Because it escalates. The fire takes more and more fuel to keep it going. All right, go to Romans 6.12:26 Now, it's funny to me how, or interesting at least, how the Bible starts making more sense to desperate people than casual observers. People who just think, Well,12:38 that's interesting. I'll read the Bible and see what it says. Take it or leave it. Yeah, that was interesting. Desperate people looking for answers that know that it is life and death. It is not a game. It is a war. When12:50 they go to the Bible, they go, Okay, I got to get some answers. Because if I don't find the way to walk and the way to live my life, then I am not gonna make it. And then it really does become life13:01 and death. Lady came to me, said, I met a young man or son, teenage son who was with her here last Sunday. He's not here today because last night he slit his wrist. He's in a facility, he tried to kill himself. He was13:13 here last week, had planned to come back today and he's not here. How does that happen? Steal, kill, destroy. This is not a game. And he may try to come back. He may or may not make it. You13:25 pray that he'll make it. But the enemy is trying to take you out. You say, well, what if I make it to 90? He didn't take me out then. If you didn't really live, then you just existed for 9013:37 years. And what is that about? Oh, I had a lovely home, nice car every 2 or 3 years. Right neighborhood. My kids went to the right school. And what else?13:49 What did your life accomplish? Where did you at some point look at God himself and say, I don't want to just have a nice life. I don't want to just be comfortable. I don't want to just exist, come and go with14:01 nothing. I'm trying to get hooked up to you God in such a way that you live in me that you fill me to overflowing that you use me in this world even if it costs me everything. I would rather14:12 live and die making a difference for your name than just having a good name and having a good life. You say, well, what's wrong with just being comfortable? You only get 1 life. And when you meet Jesus,14:24 you stand face to face with God and in that millisecond, it all hits you. Oh my gosh, I got it wrong. There was so much more I could have seen or done or God used me14:35 for. This chapter 6 of Romans. If you go read this and you got troubles, it makes a whole lot of sense. He goes back and forth about, starts with the gospel, then14:47 jump down here. Verse 6, Knowing this that our old man was crucified with him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Now this is a very interesting14:59 concept. If all you are, you say, Well, I'm just a sinner. I'm a sinner. You admit that, that's a great thing to admit. But if you are a sinner and you decide that's how you're gonna live and that's all you got, you15:11 become a slave to sin. I don't wanna show hands on this, but I'm gonna tell you something, whether it's sex, drugs, alcohol, greed, whatever you got, there is a point where you are not doing it15:22 anymore, it is doing you. And I've talked to young kids, teenagers, older people. You know, you think someone comes over to your house and they just come over like for a party. Do you know that there are people who15:34 go through your house and go through your medicine cabinets looking for prescription drugs? Right? Do you all not know about this? We go down a mission trip on the Amazon sometimes. There's a15:46 pharmacy on the boat. 1 of the first discussions I had the first time I got on there, we got all kind of people on this boat. I said, have you got this place locked down? I got people that have struggled with things in15:55 the past. And the last thing they need is a mission trip on the Amazon and a pharmacy full of, you know, supply. Well, these are fine Christian people. They would never do anything like that. No more than16:07 you or me. Wrong place, right circumstances, we are capable of any number of things, aren't we? Amen. Okay. So Romans chapter 6, he16:19 interjects this thing about no longer being slaves of sin for he has died, has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we also will live with Him knowing that Christ having been raised from the16:29 dead dies no more. Jump over to verse 16. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that 1 slaves whom you obey, whether of16:41 sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness? Now, let me give you an idea in the mornings. You wake up in the morning and you have an option to present yourself as a slave, either16:53 to sin or to righteousness. You say, well, I would never say sin. Well, if you don't say righteousness, you have defaulted to sin because that's the natural bent. So you wake17:05 up and it's basically like saying, okay, Satan, I tell you what, it's game on because I've decided not to do what God wants me to do today. So whatever you got for me to do, I'm up. I'll do whatever. And it may not be17:17 till tonight, but whatever you need me for, I am your slave. I will do whatever you want me to do. You say that's a terrible prayer. Then don't pray it. You say, Well, I'm not praying it. Yes, you17:29 are. Because if you don't yield yourself to God, you default yield yourself to the enemy. And then you're just going to be a slave to sin. And nothing will ever change. You say, oh, I've17:40 got a really strong will. I can change. And then there's the group that gets clean and sober. This is fascinating. I've almost stopped encouraging people to get clean and sober. Because the reason you got high or drunk17:52 or whatever in the first place was probably to have some fun and change your life and medicate whatever pain you got. If you don't get Jesus in the clean and sober, now life just really sucks. Cause now you're back18:04 to reality and reality is not always fun. Real life responsibility is not good all the time. So unless you have a motive and a reason and some way to keep moving on and some purpose in your18:16 life, then you just sit there every day clean and sober. And you say, well, is that a bad thing? No, you'll live longer. But if you don't move to something else like Jesus, it's not gonna be pleasant. Okay, keep jumping18:27 down here some more verses. Let me get the 1 I'm after. Verse 20, For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then and the things of which you are now ashamed for18:38 the end of those things is death? But now having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, see the switch here, you have your fruit to holiness and the end18:50 everlasting life. And then this verse, a lot of Christians know, maybe you've never heard this. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay.19:02 The wages of sin is death. Wages implies an employer. Who's your boss? Who is your employer? Who have you gone to work for? You say, Well, you're not gonna say the devil, right? You're not gonna say19:14 that, are you? Well, sin is Satan, that's the deal. That's his whole game. So you say, well, yeah, I'd like to apply for a job working for the devil. When you get a raise in hell, do you know what you19:25 get? You get death. That's how you get a raise in hell. You sign up for sin and you say, Dude, you've lost me now. I'm not sinning. I just got some bad habits. We're just having a little fun. You19:37 know, all this little fun we call a little fun is what got Jesus nailed to a cross. So from his perspective, all this fun is not so much fun anymore. You say, Well, are you against all19:49 these things? Sin is this. Now, if you're not writing anything down or not listening yet, an old man told me this 1 day, sin is fulfilling a God given desire in an ungodly20:00 way. Everything that's been made, God made it. There's a reason for it. You say, well, even the declaration of independence was printed on hemp, wouldn't it? You know, there's gotta be some good reason for that. Well,20:12 you think they rolled them and smoked them, that's why we don't have them anymore. See, at some point you got to get serious about what sin is in your own life, in my own life and go, you know what, this isn't a game.20:24 Now you say, then I'll never have fun again. Let me tell you something, you're gonna have more fun, more joy being a Christian than you ever had the other way. And little kids, you you go20:36 to stay like, I'm gonna tell a lie. Lying is 1 of the most stressful things you can come up with. We've all heard this. You know, the best thing about telling the truth is you don't have to remember what you said because20:47 it's just the truth. But once you start to lie in, you gotta remember, then you're gonna get caught and you think, oh, that's exhilarating. It's not fun when you get caught. You say, but I don't get caught. You're gonna20:58 get caught by God himself. You're gonna get caught. Because if He cares at all about you and He does, He has to care about us or He wouldn't have sent His son down here to die on a cross, get beat within an inch of a21:10 life and then die, nailed to a cross, buried, raised from dead if He didn't care about us. We say, well, I tell you what, I like the deal and I see what you're saying. I tell you what, I'm gonna send just a21:22 little bit longer. I'm on a good run right now. I got some really good stuff. And you're thinking, you know, if I do all this, you're saying, you're probably wanting me to go home and pour out all my alcohol and21:33 throw away all my weed and flush all my stuff down the toilet and whatever else you got going on, do the right thing. I'm really not a place where I want to do that. I'd like it to get worse first. Is that what21:45 you're saying? You start out with the sin working for you and then you end up working for the sin. So the wages of sin is what? Death. But the gift of God21:57 is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You know what I did to get eternal life? Nothing. You know what you're gonna have to do to get eternal life? Nothing.22:09 If you ever get it, it will be an absolute gift. You say, Well, I'm a good person. It ain't going to help you. You will never be good enough to deserve a gift. A gift is a gift. If22:21 you want go read another verse at some point, go to Matthew chapter 11 28. Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in22:33 heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, my burden is light. God's way, there is rest. There is peace. The fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, the works of the flesh.22:45 When you start working, doing the flesh stuff, it is that. It is toil. It is work. And it ends up nowhere good.22:53 Before Richard comes back to wrap things up for us today, I'd like to share a couple important things with you. Let me encourage you to take a minute and check out our website, richard ellis talks dot com.23:05 You'll find today's talk right there in the talks page, along with all of Richard's messages. You can even forward them to a friend so they can hear them too. You'll also find the prayer wall to add your prayer requests,23:16 a link to connect with us, the contribute page for you to be able to give to this ministry, a radio station finder, all our social media links, and much more. So check it out,23:27 richardellistalks dot com. And Richard's back now to wrap up today's talk.23:33 I don't know who I grabbed today. Some of you have been raising hell. You're gonna keep raising hell here and beyond. You just think that's what works. And when bad stuff happens, when the consequences come, remember23:44 this. If you're not ready to repent and do the right thing yet, just get this in your head. No matter where it ends up, how bad it gets, remember that God has allowed even the consequences, that is a23:56 part of His grace and His mercy to get your attention and save your life. And sometimes I talk to guys and they get arrested and I go, wow, that is so exciting. And they go, what are you talking about? That might have24:07 saved your life. A woman will say, my son got arrested. My daughter got arrested. I go, wow, that's awesome. Maybe that'll stop them. Maybe it'll slow them down enough to get a life and to figure out this doesn't work.24:19 You say, well, I wanna stop, but I'm a drug addict. I'm whatever I am. I can't stop. I drink. Whatever I do, I can't stop. I'm greedy. I can't stop trying to make money. I'm losing my family. I gamble. Whatever your deal24:30 is. This may be a longer sermon to hit this. When you get the God of the universe inside of you, you have power to overcome anything. Greater is24:42 He who is in me than he who is in the world. And the enemy comes at me, I got an answer. I cannot stop him by myself, but I know somebody. I can drop a name and get it done.24:55 And the name is Jesus. And you say, well, I don't believe all that. Then you keep doing what you're doing. But how is that working out for you so far?25:03 Thanks for listening today to Richard Ellis Talks. We're confident that the program blessed you, and we want to hear about it. 1 way is to give us a call and let us know. The number is 8 5 5 6 Richard.25:15 Another way is to drop us an email. Jump on over to our website, richard ellis talks dot com, and click on the connect tab at the top. We'd love to hear from you. And while you're there at the website, there's a ton of25:26 great stuff there just for you. Things like all of the talks from Richard, a prayer wall where you can leave your prayer request, and a whole lot more. Check it out. Richard Ellis talks dot com. Finally, we love doing25:37 this program for you, but we're so grateful when you hop on board to help us with the cost. Call us 8 5 5 6 Richard, or you can contribute through the website. It's easy and much appreciated. 8 5 5 625:49 Richard or Richard Ellis Talks dot com. Until next time, God bless you, and thanks for listening to Richard Ellis Talks.
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