January 29, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
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.
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
(00:22):
place now. If you're not able to stick around with
us for all of today's talk, you can almost 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 the time.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Today's message is no Hoper. How many of you know
what a no hoper is? Well, you better find out.
So here's where we're going today and why I sit
with lots and lots and lots of people. Maybe all
pastors do this, but I spend hours and hours and
hours with hundreds hundreds of.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
People, and sometimes I get people come see me.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And usually if someone comes to see me, they're not
bringing me stock options. You know, they're in trouble, and
they're in big trouble and they're in pain, they're hurting,
and a lot of times you can help them and
move them and get them some answers. But a lot
of people kind of have this kind of feeling whether
they say these words, I don't think there's any hope
for me. I don't think there's any hope for my situation.
(01:22):
I feel hopeless. I'm beyond hope instead of full of hope,
or hope has been restored maybe by the time we're done.
But a lot of people just kind of on the
verge of giving up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Marriage.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Kids, they are married and they're wondering whether their marriage
is going to make it, or they're not married and
they wish they were, and they're about to give a
hope that they ever will be just lots of hopelessness.
Turn to Psalm thirty nine to seven. Psalm thirty nine
to seven, and now, Lord, what do I wait for?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
My hope is in you?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Part of this sitting down with people is I sit
down with people who are hoping against hope. And as
great as this is, when I sit down with a
man or a woman, their spouse is dying and we
pray that they'll be healed, and the great confusion. Actually
the mystery you can say, but it's very confusing for
a Christian sometimes because you say, well, he prayed for
(02:21):
his wife and God raised her up and healed her
and they got another twenty years. And I prayed for
my wife and she died and she was sick and
she didn't get well, and everybody prayed. Do we not
have enough faith that we have sin in our lives?
All these things that people tell you, and you're hoping
that what happened to that guy is going to happen
to you, and then it doesn't happen. You think, well,
why is God being mean to me. God's not being
(02:43):
mean to anybody necessarily. He just being God. You're not God.
You don't know his ways, you don't know his thoughts,
you don't know his reasons. You don't know what brings
him glory. And sometimes he heals on this side and
sometimes he heals on the other side, but he heals.
My hope is in you, he says Psalm forty two eleven.
(03:03):
And if you talk to yourself, it's biblical. So don't
feel like you need to check yourself. In Psalm forty
two eleven, why are you cast down? Oh, my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me? This is someone
talking to themselves. So you're asking yourself, why are you
cast down, soul?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And why are you disquieted within me? Your soul. You're
talking to your soul inside of yourself.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
You're disquieted, hoping God for I so yet praise him
the help of my countenance and my God. So you're
talking to the part of you. So that means there
gonna be a part of you that's like, we're gonna
make it. And then there's another part of you that goes,
We're not gonna make it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
How can that be?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
So?
Speaker 3 (03:43):
But think about it.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Sometimes you're trying to be positive and there's part of
you being negative, like.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
What is going on?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I'm losing my mind Isaiah forty, verse thirty one. Some
of you know these verses by heart. And I'll tell
you why a lot of people know these verses by
heart because they need them by life.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
They need them.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
For their lives, because they've been through stuff that you
can't survive unless you have scriptures to attach yourself to,
to hold on Isaiah forty, verse thirty one. But those
who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They
shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run
and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
He said, well, where's the word hope? The hold verse
(04:22):
is about hope. You're waiting on him. You know he's
going to show up, and then what happens? Renew your strength,
mount up with wings like eagles, Run, not be weary, walk,
not faint. Lamentations three, lamentations three twenty one. This I
recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. Through the
(04:44):
Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Now
let's break this down a little bit. This I recall
to my mind. So what is he bringing to Maybe
when things get rough, you go, okay, well what am
I going to think about? Where am I gonna go
(05:05):
when I get hit? This I recall to my mind.
Therefore I have hope. So this comes to mind, It
gives me hope. It's a reason I have hope.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And what is it?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his
compassions don't fail. They fail not, They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness. So you got to know stuff
like that, to back into the hope, to recall it
to mind, And how do we approach our day? We're
in trouble? What am I gonna do? Why don't you
ask him what he would like you to do? What
(05:35):
are we gonna do? Instead of what is me gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Lord? What do you have? Pleaned?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I think I got a way out of this. But
my ways have never worked out like your ways. So
what do you want to do? And you yield and
you listen, and you pray for wisdom. You can't have
any other way Luke twenty four to twenty one. This
is an example of somebody temporarily losing hope Luke twenty
four to twenty one.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
But we were hoping that it was he who was
going to redeem Israel.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Indeed, because besides all this today is the third day
since these things happened. We thought he was the guy.
We hoped he was going to redeem Israel. Now you see, well,
but they should have just waited a little longer. It
was the third day he's raised for the dead. It
was already all okay, don't lose hope so quick.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Now you say, well, I've already lost it. Well, then
get it back.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
If he can raise the dead, and he has been
raised from the dead, what can he not do for you.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Romans five to one.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we
have access by faith into this grace in which we
stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only that, but we alshow glory in tribulations,
knowing that the tribulation produces perseverance. Perseverance character and character
(06:57):
produces what hope. And now hope does not disappoint because
the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
So you say, well, I want that. Now go with
me again. You say, well, I want the end of
that verse. I want the love of God to be
poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit who
was given to me. Okay, well, let's back it up.
How do you get that? You got to have hope,
(07:19):
a hope that does not disappoint. Well, how do I
get that? Well, let's back it up. You got to
have some character. Oh, I don't know if I want
to have character. Well, how do I get that? You
gotta have some perseverance. Quitters don't have much hope. They quit. Well,
how do I get perseverance? And this is when I'm
gonna lose everybody tribulation. I'm out and worse than just tribulation.
(07:44):
What does he say, rejoice in hope with the glory
of God. That we glory in tribulations. So you want
to end up with hope and the love of God
being poured out in your heart. You got to start
doing something with tribulations. So trouble comes you say, Okay, wait,
I know what this is. This is the first domino
(08:04):
that's going to drop the rest of them and get
me to hope and the love of God being shut
abroad in my heart.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Instead of what the right I didn't shine up for this. See,
we want all this stuff at the end. We don't
want to do anything to get there. Everybody wants to meddle,
nobody wants to run. Everybody wants a trophy, nobody wants
to play Romans eight twenty four. See it gets easier
(08:34):
to find these because you're already in Romans. You go, oh,
I bet you eight after five. Pretty crazy how that
works Romans eight twenty four. For we were saved in
this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope.
For why does one still hope for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see,
(08:55):
we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. So, little kid,
I hope I get a trampoline for Christmas. And then
Christmas comes and you got a trampoline, and you look
at your parents go I sure, hope I get a trampoline,
and like, okay, explain that there's a trampoline. Why are
you hoping for something you've already seen? Oh? Yeah, you're right.
I don't need a hope for that anymore. So read
(09:17):
it again. Hope that is seen is not hope. So
what is the hope about. It's things you have not seen.
You don't hope for what you see. You hope for
what we do not see. We eagerly wait for it
with perseverance. Now you say, well, what are you hoping for? Man,
we sing these old songs. My hope is built on
(09:38):
nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Right, so I
know heaven exists, I have not seen it I've not
been there yet. So my hope, my future, my everything
is him with him there. I have work to do here,
responsibilities here. But this life life is not my hope.
(10:01):
He is my hope. All my hope is there. And
so you say, but doesn't life get tough sometimes? Yeah,
but you get perseverance, you hang in there, you say,
but they're suffering. Yeah, they're suffering. It won't be there.
That's why your hope is there, not a ear. So
once I get to heaven, I'll read your verse about this.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
In heaven.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
You won't need faith. In heaven, you won't need hope.
All you're believing has been brought to life. All your hope,
you see it, you have it, there's no more hoping.
It's there. So let's say someone you're laying at home,
you're sick, you got something, you're dying, you know you're dying,
and the doctors are whispering at everybody always maybe got
six weeks, six months to live, whatever it is, and
(10:45):
you're laying there and you're like, God, what's going on?
Like I didn't think it was going to go down
this way, and this is not good. My family, my kids,
my grandkids, kids, I haven't even seen, and you lay
there and go, I don't know if I can do this,
and then the Holy Spirit shoots you up with so
much hope and you just go.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
But somehow I know I'm gonna make it, because this
is not the end.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I know that if I die, You're gonna come get
me and I'll be with you there and my house
prepared there. And now all of a sudden, your tragedy
or a tribulation, your problem turns into hope that turns
into like it's so real you can taste it. You're
just not there yet. And now that's what sustains you
day by day. And people who have no faith, who
(11:29):
have no hope, who have no God, they lay there
by themselves and die. And no matter how hard you try,
if they rejecting, there is no hope Hebrews six point nineteen. Love,
how this puts it all down, Hebrews six nineteen. This
hope we have as an anchor of the soul. So
(11:53):
your soul is a boat. You've got to lock it down,
anchor it so it doesn't get swept away, washed away
by a storm.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's going to stay fixed.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And then he uses these words, this hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.
The word sure in the Greek means firm, secure, stable.
It conveys the idea of being reliable and trustworthy.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
The word steadfast, where.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
It's kind of connected to the word we get our
word asphalt to the word means unmovable. Certain It suggests
a sense of safety and assurance, emphasizing that something cannot
be shaken or compromised. So this hope we have is
not some random hope. This hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which
(12:42):
enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has
entered for us, even Jesus having become high priests forever according.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
To the order of milkez a day. So what kind
of hope you got? Now?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I'm not telling you I don't have moments where I
get sideways a little bit. But the longer I live,
the more tribulation, the more pay Since the more all
these things stack up, I don't get taken out as easily. Now,
how is that possible? Because this kind of hope that
I have is an anchor of my soul. My soul
is not going to be just swept away. It is sure,
(13:15):
it is steadfast. It doesn't mean you can't question, you
can't lose hope a little bit. Let me tell you
this story, really quick, long story, how this came to pass.
Has anybody ever heard of an EDM electronic dance music
DJ called Testow. So I went to see him the
other night. So I surprised the girls and their husbands.
(13:39):
Two of my daughters and their husbands. Rebecca knew we
were going. And the reason I went. It's a new
night club that's been opened. And I met one of
the partners and I'm not sure if he's a believer
or not. He said some things when I met and
indicated that been working really hard on this. It was
the opening night, so he told me to get there
at ten thirty. Well, Testa didn't go until midnight, and
(14:01):
so we got there on time, and midnight it cranked.
I don't know if you know how many one hundred
and five decibels is, that's about what it was clocking.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I was standing right behind the sound.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Guy and he said, well, what are you doing in
a tso EDM dance rave? Basically at one thirty in
the morning, they wanted to go home. I just stayed
till three, but anyhow, because I think they were going
to turn it up some more. I just wanted to
see what happened. He said, what were you doing there?
I have a new friend who may know Jesus but
(14:34):
may not, so I didn't go by myself. I'm not
going to get in trouble. Took my wife to my
family and he said, well, if he's not saved, do
you think he could get saved.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I hope.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So it's not that I don't think Jesus can save him.
I have hope, but he has something to do with
the other side of that. And by the way, there
were about thirty two hundred people in this place. It
was crazy for me. A night like that is like
you load me up in the biggest fishing boat you
(15:06):
could find and take me as far out in the
ocean as we can get, and I look up and
see fish everywhere, lost people everywhere. You say, well, they're dancing,
and they're drugging and they're drinking.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
What else you know? At least they're honest, hot, cold
or spit you out hotter goal Let's go baby, And
you say well.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
And I told you'd have to almost scream at each
other to speak. So I told my new friend, I said, hey,
you know, I've been looking around. I haven't seen any
other of my preacher friends here. He said, the list
is very short. He said, well, you're you're a pastor.
You shouldn't be in places like that. You know what
(15:47):
I think, Jesus says, you're a pastor. Why aren't you
in places like that? Why aren't you fishing where fish
are not at sea world trying to catch fish that
already been caught, now to other people's aquarium. Oh, let's
try to go steal those people from that church over
this church. I ain't got no verses for that, Jesus
(16:08):
surrounded with lost people, no shepherd.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
So I have hope. You wonder what hope is I
believe on him? I have hope. Is it going to happen?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I can't guarantee that, but I'm trying, and I'm trusting,
and I'm talking to him, and I'm praying with him
and for him. So and Testa was great. I don't
know if you think about him, but you know, puts
on a good show. He's got to be deaf. I
didn't find that out personally. But there's no way he's
not deaf, all right. Hebrews eleven one. Now look at this.
Some of you know this by heart, you've read this
(16:38):
that he did whatever this is simple Hebrews eleven one.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
This chapter is actually about faith. But look how it starts.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Now, Faith is the substance of things hope for the
evidence of things not seen. Belief is a firm conviction
about something you know to be true or trustworthy, while
hope is the joyful expectation of its fulfillment. Whatever you
are hoping for must be grounded in faith or you
(17:06):
will lose hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
So what is it that I'm hoping for? My faith
is what gives my hope substance. Okay, So let's say
you've got a friend.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I have some of these friends.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
You say they're lost, they're just completely they're atheist, they
don't believe anything, and you.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Say, I hope.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
You know, I'm kinda I'm still hoping Jesus can save him,
but I'm not sure. He raises the dead, and the
Bible describes people who don't know him as dead in
their transpeasence ends.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So they are dead. So all you have to do.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Is say, Okay, God, I got a dead person here
that doesn't know you, and they're dead, and they're gonna
be double dead if they die without you. So I'm
asking you, in Jesus's name, raise my friend from the dead.
Do it again, God, my dad, my mom, my sister,
my brother, and whoever it is. And you say, well,
(18:06):
I hope he does it. Your hope is grounded in
a fact that he can do it. So faith is
the substance of the things that you hope for. So
if you go around just hoping for stuff and you
got no slab that it's built on, it's not real.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Hope. When I got saved, I was dead. You said,
were just a little kid. Little kids can be dead.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
In their sins. And how did I get saved? I
get raised from the dead. He breathed life into me.
Now I've had challenges since that day, but I have
never been the same, And I still can wonder off
and I can lose a little hope and question whether
God being kind to my little brother or not, and
get all wrapped up on that and don't like some
of the things He's doing because I don't understand, But
(18:48):
I don't lose hope because he's.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
All I've got.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I got nowhere else to go. I got nobody else.
There's no place I can go. There's no person I
can turn to that gives me more hope than him.
So you say, well, I'm gonna ditch on Jesus. Well,
where are you gonna go? There's nobody like Jesus. Nobody
else died for you, and a cross. Nobody else shed
his blood for you, buried race from the dead. You
(19:12):
got nobody else. You got nowhere else one Peter one
to three. Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has
begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. There it is in scripture,
(19:33):
begotten us again, this thing of being born again. You've
been born a second time to a living hope. And
who is the living hope? Where do you get it?
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Let's see,
I don't really sit around. I hope Jesus has really
really got raised from the dead. He said, well, why
is that not a hope? Thing? Because I know he's
in me. I don't have to question whether he's alive.
(19:56):
I'm alive and he's alive in me, and I know
it's him. If Jesus moves in your life, I'm telling
you we already had a lady in here saying when
she was smoking crack for twenty something years, and she said,
every time she picked up the pipe, she got saved
at six and every.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Time she picked up a pipe, the Holy Spirit spoke
to her.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
You say, well, how can you be smoking crack and no,
Jesus is talking to you, because when he moves in,
he don't move out. What do you think versus like,
I will never leave your forsake? You mean.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Never? Yeah, no matter what.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
This kind of stuff makes people nervous because we are
not like him.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
We quit on people. Oh I ain't doing this no more.
I'm out. You did that, I'm out.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
The living hope contrasts with mere wishful thinking.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Oh I hope this happened.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
No.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Living hope in this stuff is not wishful thinking. It
is a.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Vibrant and active rooted in the reality of Christ's resurrection.
Believers have because Jesus conquered death, promising eternal life and
future resurrection.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Maybe one more one Peter one thirteen.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,
and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is
to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts,
as in your ignorance. But as he who called you
(21:29):
is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, be holy, for I am holy.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
So what are you.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Resting your hope fully upon the grace that is brought
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Think about him.
People say, oh, well, that guy's so heavenly. Mind that
he's no earthly good. Think about him, Think about heaven.
Think about what you got coming. You're down here and
you say, well, my life sucks and I live in
a terrible place, and I got a terrible car and
people doing better than me, and I'm going to die
(21:58):
poor with nothing, And do get your eyes on heaven and.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Jesus he's your hope.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
If you're gonna be poor here, you don't gonna be
poor here, so long you won't be poor in heaven.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Unless you screw this up. So you say, well, I'm
a no hoper. Well, then let's change that.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Be a hoper. Be a no hoper, ko nw not
no hoper. You're a no hoper. You know there's hope,
and it's not because you dreamed it up and just
pulled it out of somewhere. It's in the book, it's him,
It's on his word. Do you realize if God does
not keep his word, the whole universe collapses. People I ask, well,
(22:34):
when you die, will you go to heaven? And they say,
I hope. So that hope so without faith in Jesus
is a no. So you can change that. Though, you say, well,
how do to change that? If I drop dead standing
right here, hit the ground preaching, I will be immediately
to be absent from the body, to be present with
the Lord.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
You say, well, how do you know that? Because I have.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Assurance, I have hope, I have Jesus, I have not
someone just with me in me. I know he lived,
he died on a cross, shed his blood, buried, raised
in the dead for me, and so it is personal,
it is not religious.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
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. You'll find
today's talk right there on 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
(23:33):
find the prayer wall to add your prayer requests, 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.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
So.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Check it out Richard Ellistalks dot com.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And Richard's back now.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
To wrap up today's.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Talk, he said, well, I gotta get me some of that.
You're exactly right. Well, how do I do that? Here's
how you do it. God, I am a sinner. I
finally get it. I've tried to save myself. I can't
save myself. I see now that you love me, you
care about me. That Jesus died on a cross shed,
his blood was buried and raised in the dead to
pay for my sin, to purchase me a place in heaven.
(24:14):
And it's all free. I accept, I accept empty handed,
dirty handed. I offer you nothing in return for your everything,
I accept come live in me, through me, save me,
change me. I am yours your mind. Now I have
the hope of heaven because you are my hope. And
he said, well, then, what, well, you've been born a
(24:35):
second time. Now let's live the first time the way
you're supposed to live. Follow him, trust him, obeying, And
when you lose hope, remember who is your hope. And
if he can't take care of you, nobody can. And
for everybody else you say, well, already know Jesus, well,
don't lose hope. Weeping indoors for a night, joy comes
(24:58):
in the morning. Own that morning is a different kind
of mourning.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Thanks for listening today to Richard Ellis Talks. We're confident
that the program blessed you and we want to hear
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and let us know. The number is eight five five
six Richard On other ways to drop us an email.
Jump on over to our website, Richard Ellis Talks dot
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We'd love to hear from you. And while you're there
(25:24):
at the website, there's a ton of 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 doing this program for you,
but we're so grateful when you hop on board to
help us.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
With the cost.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Call us at eight five five six Richard, or you
can contribute through the website. It's easy and much appreciated.
Eight five five six Richard or Richard Ellis Talks dot com.
Until next time, God bless you and thanks for listening
to Richard Ellis Talks.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah
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.
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
(00:22):
place now. If you're not able to stick around with
us for all of today's talk, you can almost 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 the time.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Today's message is no Hoper. How many of you know
what a no hoper is? Well, you better find out.
So here's where we're going today and why I sit
with lots and lots and lots of people. Maybe all
pastors do this, but I spend hours and hours and
hours with hundreds hundreds of.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
People, and sometimes I get people come see me.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
And usually if someone comes to see me, they're not
bringing me stock options. You know, they're in trouble, and
they're in big trouble and they're in pain, they're hurting,
and a lot of times you can help them and
move them and get them some answers. But a lot
of people kind of have this kind of feeling whether
they say these words, I don't think there's any hope
for me. I don't think there's any hope for my situation.
(01:22):
I feel hopeless. I'm beyond hope instead of full of hope,
or hope has been restored maybe by the time we're done.
But a lot of people just kind of on the
verge of giving up a little bit.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Marriage.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Kids, they are married and they're wondering whether their marriage
is going to make it, or they're not married and
they wish they were, and they're about to give a
hope that they ever will be just lots of hopelessness.
Turn to Psalm thirty nine to seven. Psalm thirty nine
to seven, and now, Lord, what do I wait for?
Speaker 3 (01:55):
My hope is in you?
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Now.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Part of this sitting down with people is I sit
down with people who are hoping against hope. And as
great as this is, when I sit down with a
man or a woman, their spouse is dying and we
pray that they'll be healed, and the great confusion. Actually
the mystery you can say, but it's very confusing for
a Christian sometimes because you say, well, he prayed for
(02:21):
his wife and God raised her up and healed her
and they got another twenty years. And I prayed for
my wife and she died and she was sick and
she didn't get well, and everybody prayed. Do we not
have enough faith that we have sin in our lives?
All these things that people tell you, and you're hoping
that what happened to that guy is going to happen
to you, and then it doesn't happen. You think, well,
why is God being mean to me. God's not being
(02:43):
mean to anybody necessarily. He just being God. You're not God.
You don't know his ways, you don't know his thoughts,
you don't know his reasons. You don't know what brings
him glory. And sometimes he heals on this side and
sometimes he heals on the other side, but he heals.
My hope is in you, he says Psalm forty two eleven.
(03:03):
And if you talk to yourself, it's biblical. So don't
feel like you need to check yourself. In Psalm forty
two eleven, why are you cast down? Oh, my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me? This is someone
talking to themselves. So you're asking yourself, why are you
cast down, soul?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
And why are you disquieted within me? Your soul. You're
talking to your soul inside of yourself.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
You're disquieted, hoping God for I so yet praise him
the help of my countenance and my God. So you're
talking to the part of you. So that means there
gonna be a part of you that's like, we're gonna
make it. And then there's another part of you that goes,
We're not gonna make it.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
How can that be?
Speaker 2 (03:42):
So?
Speaker 3 (03:43):
But think about it.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Sometimes you're trying to be positive and there's part of
you being negative, like.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
What is going on?
Speaker 2 (03:48):
I'm losing my mind Isaiah forty, verse thirty one. Some
of you know these verses by heart. And I'll tell
you why a lot of people know these verses by
heart because they need them by life.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
They need them.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
For their lives, because they've been through stuff that you
can't survive unless you have scriptures to attach yourself to,
to hold on Isaiah forty, verse thirty one. But those
who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They
shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run
and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
He said, well, where's the word hope? The hold verse
(04:22):
is about hope. You're waiting on him. You know he's
going to show up, and then what happens? Renew your strength,
mount up with wings like eagles, Run, not be weary, walk,
not faint. Lamentations three, lamentations three twenty one. This I
recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. Through the
(04:44):
Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. Now
let's break this down a little bit. This I recall
to my mind. So what is he bringing to Maybe
when things get rough, you go, okay, well what am
I going to think about? Where am I gonna go
(05:05):
when I get hit? This I recall to my mind.
Therefore I have hope. So this comes to mind, It
gives me hope. It's a reason I have hope.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
And what is it?
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed because his
compassions don't fail. They fail not, They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness. So you got to know stuff
like that, to back into the hope, to recall it
to mind, And how do we approach our day? We're
in trouble? What am I gonna do? Why don't you
ask him what he would like you to do? What
(05:35):
are we gonna do? Instead of what is me gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
Speaker 3 (05:39):
Lord? What do you have? Pleaned?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
I think I got a way out of this. But
my ways have never worked out like your ways. So
what do you want to do? And you yield and
you listen, and you pray for wisdom. You can't have
any other way Luke twenty four to twenty one. This
is an example of somebody temporarily losing hope Luke twenty
four to twenty one.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
But we were hoping that it was he who was
going to redeem Israel.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Indeed, because besides all this today is the third day
since these things happened. We thought he was the guy.
We hoped he was going to redeem Israel. Now you see, well,
but they should have just waited a little longer. It
was the third day he's raised for the dead. It
was already all okay, don't lose hope so quick.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Now you say, well, I've already lost it. Well, then
get it back.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
If he can raise the dead, and he has been
raised from the dead, what can he not do for you.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Romans five to one.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we
have access by faith into this grace in which we
stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only that, but we alshow glory in tribulations,
knowing that the tribulation produces perseverance. Perseverance character and character
(06:57):
produces what hope. And now hope does not disappoint because
the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
So you say, well, I want that. Now go with
me again. You say, well, I want the end of
that verse. I want the love of God to be
poured out in my heart by the Holy Spirit who
was given to me. Okay, well, let's back it up.
How do you get that? You got to have hope,
(07:19):
a hope that does not disappoint. Well, how do I
get that? Well, let's back it up. You got to
have some character. Oh, I don't know if I want
to have character. Well, how do I get that? You
gotta have some perseverance. Quitters don't have much hope. They quit. Well,
how do I get perseverance? And this is when I'm
gonna lose everybody tribulation. I'm out and worse than just tribulation.
(07:44):
What does he say, rejoice in hope with the glory
of God. That we glory in tribulations. So you want
to end up with hope and the love of God
being poured out in your heart. You got to start
doing something with tribulations. So trouble comes you say, Okay, wait,
I know what this is. This is the first domino
(08:04):
that's going to drop the rest of them and get
me to hope and the love of God being shut
abroad in my heart.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Let's go.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Instead of what the right I didn't shine up for this. See,
we want all this stuff at the end. We don't
want to do anything to get there. Everybody wants to meddle,
nobody wants to run. Everybody wants a trophy, nobody wants
to play Romans eight twenty four. See it gets easier
(08:34):
to find these because you're already in Romans. You go, oh,
I bet you eight after five. Pretty crazy how that
works Romans eight twenty four. For we were saved in
this hope. But hope that is seen is not hope.
For why does one still hope for what he sees?
But if we hope for what we do not see,
(08:55):
we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. So, little kid,
I hope I get a trampoline for Christmas. And then
Christmas comes and you got a trampoline, and you look
at your parents go I sure, hope I get a trampoline,
and like, okay, explain that there's a trampoline. Why are
you hoping for something you've already seen? Oh? Yeah, you're right.
I don't need a hope for that anymore. So read
(09:17):
it again. Hope that is seen is not hope. So
what is the hope about. It's things you have not seen.
You don't hope for what you see. You hope for
what we do not see. We eagerly wait for it
with perseverance. Now you say, well, what are you hoping for? Man,
we sing these old songs. My hope is built on
(09:38):
nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Right, so I
know heaven exists, I have not seen it I've not
been there yet. So my hope, my future, my everything
is him with him there. I have work to do here,
responsibilities here. But this life life is not my hope.
(10:01):
He is my hope. All my hope is there. And
so you say, but doesn't life get tough sometimes? Yeah,
but you get perseverance, you hang in there, you say,
but they're suffering. Yeah, they're suffering. It won't be there.
That's why your hope is there, not a ear. So
once I get to heaven, I'll read your verse about this.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
In heaven.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
You won't need faith. In heaven, you won't need hope.
All you're believing has been brought to life. All your hope,
you see it, you have it, there's no more hoping.
It's there. So let's say someone you're laying at home,
you're sick, you got something, you're dying, you know you're dying,
and the doctors are whispering at everybody always maybe got
six weeks, six months to live, whatever it is, and
(10:45):
you're laying there and you're like, God, what's going on?
Like I didn't think it was going to go down
this way, and this is not good. My family, my kids,
my grandkids, kids, I haven't even seen, and you lay
there and go, I don't know if I can do this,
and then the Holy Spirit shoots you up with so
much hope and you just go.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
But somehow I know I'm gonna make it, because this
is not the end.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I know that if I die, You're gonna come get
me and I'll be with you there and my house
prepared there. And now all of a sudden, your tragedy
or a tribulation, your problem turns into hope that turns
into like it's so real you can taste it. You're
just not there yet. And now that's what sustains you
day by day. And people who have no faith, who
(11:29):
have no hope, who have no God, they lay there
by themselves and die. And no matter how hard you try,
if they rejecting, there is no hope Hebrews six point nineteen. Love,
how this puts it all down, Hebrews six nineteen. This
hope we have as an anchor of the soul. So
(11:53):
your soul is a boat. You've got to lock it down,
anchor it so it doesn't get swept away, washed away
by a storm.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's going to stay fixed.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And then he uses these words, this hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.
The word sure in the Greek means firm, secure, stable.
It conveys the idea of being reliable and trustworthy.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
The word steadfast, where.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
It's kind of connected to the word we get our
word asphalt to the word means unmovable. Certain It suggests
a sense of safety and assurance, emphasizing that something cannot
be shaken or compromised. So this hope we have is
not some random hope. This hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which
(12:42):
enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has
entered for us, even Jesus having become high priests forever according.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
To the order of milkez a day. So what kind
of hope you got? Now?
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I'm not telling you I don't have moments where I
get sideways a little bit. But the longer I live,
the more tribulation, the more pay Since the more all
these things stack up, I don't get taken out as easily. Now,
how is that possible? Because this kind of hope that
I have is an anchor of my soul. My soul
is not going to be just swept away. It is sure,
(13:15):
it is steadfast. It doesn't mean you can't question, you
can't lose hope a little bit. Let me tell you
this story, really quick, long story, how this came to pass.
Has anybody ever heard of an EDM electronic dance music
DJ called Testow. So I went to see him the
other night. So I surprised the girls and their husbands.
(13:39):
Two of my daughters and their husbands. Rebecca knew we
were going. And the reason I went. It's a new
night club that's been opened. And I met one of
the partners and I'm not sure if he's a believer
or not. He said some things when I met and
indicated that been working really hard on this. It was
the opening night, so he told me to get there
at ten thirty. Well, Testa didn't go until midnight, and
(14:01):
so we got there on time, and midnight it cranked.
I don't know if you know how many one hundred
and five decibels is, that's about what it was clocking.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I was standing right behind the sound.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Guy and he said, well, what are you doing in
a tso EDM dance rave? Basically at one thirty in
the morning, they wanted to go home. I just stayed
till three, but anyhow, because I think they were going
to turn it up some more. I just wanted to
see what happened. He said, what were you doing there?
I have a new friend who may know Jesus but
(14:34):
may not, so I didn't go by myself. I'm not
going to get in trouble. Took my wife to my
family and he said, well, if he's not saved, do
you think he could get saved.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
I hope.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
So it's not that I don't think Jesus can save him.
I have hope, but he has something to do with
the other side of that. And by the way, there
were about thirty two hundred people in this place. It
was crazy for me. A night like that is like
you load me up in the biggest fishing boat you
(15:06):
could find and take me as far out in the
ocean as we can get, and I look up and
see fish everywhere, lost people everywhere. You say, well, they're dancing,
and they're drugging and they're drinking.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
What else you know? At least they're honest, hot, cold
or spit you out hotter goal Let's go baby, And
you say well.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
And I told you'd have to almost scream at each
other to speak. So I told my new friend, I said, hey,
you know, I've been looking around. I haven't seen any
other of my preacher friends here. He said, the list
is very short. He said, well, you're you're a pastor.
You shouldn't be in places like that. You know what
(15:47):
I think, Jesus says, you're a pastor. Why aren't you
in places like that? Why aren't you fishing where fish
are not at sea world trying to catch fish that
already been caught, now to other people's aquarium. Oh, let's
try to go steal those people from that church over
this church. I ain't got no verses for that, Jesus
(16:08):
surrounded with lost people, no shepherd.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
So I have hope. You wonder what hope is I
believe on him? I have hope. Is it going to happen?
Speaker 2 (16:18):
I can't guarantee that, but I'm trying, and I'm trusting,
and I'm talking to him, and I'm praying with him
and for him. So and Testa was great. I don't
know if you think about him, but you know, puts
on a good show. He's got to be deaf. I
didn't find that out personally. But there's no way he's
not deaf, all right. Hebrews eleven one. Now look at this.
Some of you know this by heart, you've read this
(16:38):
that he did whatever this is simple Hebrews eleven one.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
This chapter is actually about faith. But look how it starts.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Now, Faith is the substance of things hope for the
evidence of things not seen. Belief is a firm conviction
about something you know to be true or trustworthy, while
hope is the joyful expectation of its fulfillment. Whatever you
are hoping for must be grounded in faith or you
(17:06):
will lose hope. Faith is the substance of things hoped for.
So what is it that I'm hoping for? My faith
is what gives my hope substance. Okay, So let's say
you've got a friend.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
I have some of these friends.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
You say they're lost, they're just completely they're atheist, they
don't believe anything, and you.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
Say, I hope.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
You know, I'm kinda I'm still hoping Jesus can save him,
but I'm not sure. He raises the dead, and the
Bible describes people who don't know him as dead in
their transpeasence ends.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
So they are dead. So all you have to do.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Is say, Okay, God, I got a dead person here
that doesn't know you, and they're dead, and they're gonna
be double dead if they die without you. So I'm
asking you, in Jesus's name, raise my friend from the dead.
Do it again, God, my dad, my mom, my sister,
my brother, and whoever it is. And you say, well,
(18:06):
I hope he does it. Your hope is grounded in
a fact that he can do it. So faith is
the substance of the things that you hope for. So
if you go around just hoping for stuff and you
got no slab that it's built on, it's not real.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
Hope. When I got saved, I was dead. You said,
were just a little kid. Little kids can be dead.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
In their sins. And how did I get saved? I
get raised from the dead. He breathed life into me.
Now I've had challenges since that day, but I have
never been the same, And I still can wonder off
and I can lose a little hope and question whether
God being kind to my little brother or not, and
get all wrapped up on that and don't like some
of the things He's doing because I don't understand, But
(18:48):
I don't lose hope because he's.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
All I've got.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I got nowhere else to go. I got nobody else.
There's no place I can go. There's no person I
can turn to that gives me more hope than him.
So you say, well, I'm gonna ditch on Jesus. Well,
where are you gonna go? There's nobody like Jesus. Nobody
else died for you, and a cross. Nobody else shed
his blood for you, buried race from the dead. You
(19:12):
got nobody else. You got nowhere else one Peter one
to three. Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has
begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. There it is in scripture,
(19:33):
begotten us again, this thing of being born again. You've
been born a second time to a living hope. And
who is the living hope? Where do you get it?
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Let's see,
I don't really sit around. I hope Jesus has really
really got raised from the dead. He said, well, why
is that not a hope? Thing? Because I know he's
in me. I don't have to question whether he's alive.
(19:56):
I'm alive and he's alive in me, and I know
it's him. If Jesus moves in your life, I'm telling
you we already had a lady in here saying when
she was smoking crack for twenty something years, and she said,
every time she picked up the pipe, she got saved
at six and every.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Time she picked up a pipe, the Holy Spirit spoke
to her.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
You say, well, how can you be smoking crack and no,
Jesus is talking to you, because when he moves in,
he don't move out. What do you think versus like,
I will never leave your forsake? You mean.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Never? Yeah, no matter what.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
This kind of stuff makes people nervous because we are
not like him.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
We quit on people. Oh I ain't doing this no more.
I'm out. You did that, I'm out.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
The living hope contrasts with mere wishful thinking.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
Oh I hope this happened.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
No.
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Living hope in this stuff is not wishful thinking. It
is a.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Vibrant and active rooted in the reality of Christ's resurrection.
Believers have because Jesus conquered death, promising eternal life and
future resurrection.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
Maybe one more one Peter one thirteen.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,
and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is
to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts,
as in your ignorance. But as he who called you
(21:29):
is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
because it is written, be holy, for I am holy.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
So what are you.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Resting your hope fully upon the grace that is brought
to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Think about him.
People say, oh, well, that guy's so heavenly. Mind that
he's no earthly good. Think about him, Think about heaven.
Think about what you got coming. You're down here and
you say, well, my life sucks and I live in
a terrible place, and I got a terrible car and
people doing better than me, and I'm going to die
(21:58):
poor with nothing, And do get your eyes on heaven and.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
Jesus he's your hope.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
If you're gonna be poor here, you don't gonna be
poor here, so long you won't be poor in heaven.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Unless you screw this up. So you say, well, I'm
a no hoper. Well, then let's change that.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Be a hoper. Be a no hoper, ko nw not
no hoper. You're a no hoper. You know there's hope,
and it's not because you dreamed it up and just
pulled it out of somewhere. It's in the book, it's him,
It's on his word. Do you realize if God does
not keep his word, the whole universe collapses. People I ask, well,
(22:34):
when you die, will you go to heaven? And they say,
I hope. So that hope so without faith in Jesus
is a no. So you can change that. Though, you say, well,
how do to change that? If I drop dead standing
right here, hit the ground preaching, I will be immediately
to be absent from the body, to be present with
the Lord.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
You say, well, how do you know that? Because I have.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Assurance, I have hope, I have Jesus, I have not
someone just with me in me. I know he lived,
he died on a cross, shed his blood, buried, raised
in the dead for me, and so it is personal,
it is not religious.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
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. You'll find
today's talk right there on 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
(23:33):
find the prayer wall to add your prayer requests, 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.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
So.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Check it out Richard Ellistalks dot com.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
And Richard's back now.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
To wrap up today's.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
Talk, he said, well, I gotta get me some of that.
You're exactly right. Well, how do I do that? Here's
how you do it. God, I am a sinner. I
finally get it. I've tried to save myself. I can't
save myself. I see now that you love me, you
care about me. That Jesus died on a cross shed,
his blood was buried and raised in the dead to
pay for my sin, to purchase me a place in heaven.
(24:14):
And it's all free. I accept, I accept empty handed,
dirty handed. I offer you nothing in return for your everything,
I accept come live in me, through me, save me,
change me. I am yours your mind. Now I have
the hope of heaven because you are my hope. And
he said, well, then, what, well, you've been born a
(24:35):
second time. Now let's live the first time the way
you're supposed to live. Follow him, trust him, obeying, And
when you lose hope, remember who is your hope. And
if he can't take care of you, nobody can. And
for everybody else you say, well, already know Jesus, well,
don't lose hope. Weeping indoors for a night, joy comes
(24:58):
in the morning. Own that morning is a different kind
of mourning.
Speaker 1 (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. One way is to give us a call
and let us know. The number is eight five five
six Richard On other ways to drop us an email.
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(25:24):
at the website, there's a ton of 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
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Speaker 3 (25:40):
With the cost.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Call us at eight five five six Richard, or you
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Until next time, God bless you and thanks for listening
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Speaker 2 (26:00):
Yeah
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