February 19, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Thanks for
allowing us to share this time with you. Honestly, it's
our favorite time of the day where we get to
hang out together and talk about how the truth of
God's word can make a huge difference in your life.
And that's what we're going to hear from Richard in
a way that only he can do with words of hope, insight,
(00:21):
and humor. You may be stuck in traffic or stuck
in life. Either way, today's message is going to help
get you on the right track as you learn how
much God loves you right where you are. So let's
get right into today's talk. Here's Richard Ellis.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The title today's message is Older than Dirt. Go to
Palm one oh two. Now we are going to go
as I try to do, from left to right, and
we got a lot of ground to cover, and I
wouldn't say some of this will seem a little technical,
but just track with me till the end and hopefully
this will end and we'll end up some word. Psalm
(00:58):
one two five says, this of old you lay the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work
of your hands. Now it is. I think the younger
I was, or maybe just say the older I get,
the more category I have for the transient nature and
the very very very limited amount of time we're here.
(01:21):
And when you're a kid, when you're young, you think nobody,
you know, people die, but I ain't gonna die. I'm
just a kid, you know, I'm a teenager, I'm twenty,
I'm thirty, I'm forty. And then all of a sudden,
more of your friends start dying, and people get sick,
and you start going, this is coming my way, this
is going to happen to me. And one hundred percent
of people, by the way, do not die. I don't
(01:42):
know if you're aware of this. In the Old Testament,
not everybody died. You got chariots coming after at least Elijah,
and there's no record of Elijah dying, so he got
taken out of here somehow, so it's possible. And people say, okay, well, great,
I'll allow for one. But what are you talking about here?
Everybody dies? Should Jesus reach today. I ain't dying. I
(02:04):
don't have to die. I will be taking up with
him in the clouds. And you say, well, how is
this possible. It takes a lot of faith. You say,
you know, I don't believe that. Will you Just believe
whatever you want to believe and see how that works
out for you. Because if he comes back today, I'm
out of here, and I pray you're in that first
load that goes out so somewhere back and I'm going
(02:24):
to try to read these verses. But a lot of
the stuff in the Bible, you look at it and go, yeah,
I see that. I can't get my little brain around.
I can't get my little heart around. I cannot. You know,
there's a time of my life I didn't understand that
God loved me, and then all of a sudden I
started getting little flicker glimpses of God loving me, and
I know he loves me now, but I still don't
have a clue. I get completely overwhelmed with just the
(02:46):
fact that He loves little on me and I think
I know that He loves.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Me a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And then he does something else and I go, God,
I just I can't absorb this. It's just too big,
it's too much. And then I read there being a
beginning of some time and whatever you do I say
this along the way, whatever you do with Genesis chapter one,
verse one, where it literally all it starts out, the
whole thing starts out in the beginning. Now that is
not the beginning of eternity. There is no beginning to eternity.
(03:16):
Which I almost made myself nuts last night running these traps.
I got into this, okay, but who made God? I'm
really encouraging you not to go there. I know it's
a great question. You're gonna mess yourself up for a
few days of not a few hours, because I kept
going around like, you know what, I can't do this,
you know, because you don't get anywhere. He is bigger
(03:37):
than any beginning, and before there was a beginning on
this planet, for any of our existence. He just is.
He just is, and for whatever reason he decided to
do this thing that he did. And the more complicated
it gets sometimes I think, you know, well, I think
there are people, especially scientists or intelligent people, discover things
(04:01):
that are sitting there going, look what we found in
the sand. We can make chips for computers, and like
you think, they're looking up at God going But you
didn't know that was there, you old coot. You know
like he just put it all into motion, but he
had no idea what was coming, like, oh wow, I
made sand and look what they found. Let me tell
you something. God knows everything we're gonna find. He's sitting
(04:24):
on his throat going wow, that took him up three
thousand years to figure that out, but they finally found it.
There was all the time he packed it into the plan.
It's all there, and we're like little kids and our
parents know. As a dad, I watch my girls discover things,
and I go, they're gonna figure it out. They're gonna
get their feet under them, and they're gonna fall in
(04:45):
her butt about three hundred times, and then they're gonna
take off and they go, wow, I can walk, I
can run, Like, yeah, you can walk, you can run.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, bet you didn't know I could do that. Like, yeah,
I knew you could do that. I knew it was coming.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It just took you a little while. So God has
set something in motion and he watches this thing. There's
not just a beginning, though, there is an end and
this is not And I stand here in this room
and look around at these things, these you know, tangible things,
and me being somewhat you know I'm here, but I'll
(05:19):
be gone at some point, and it looks so real.
The Bible talks about all of this will be dissolved,
and you say, well, you mean like the whole planet. Okay, yeah,
the whole planet, like the whole universe, the whole universe.
Who's big enough to dissolve it? The same person who's
big enough to create it. That's who's big enough.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
My problem with this big old God is that someone
tells me that this big old God somehow has compressed
himself in the person of the Holy Spirit and lives
right here inside of me. And I am clueless about that.
I do not understand that that ily hows the God
of the universe in this body. He lives in me
(06:04):
and through me, And no matter what I do, what
I think, how I screw up, he is committed to
staying with me, no matter what. I go back to
Psalm one O two of old you laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the works of
your hands. Tagging along a little bit with Genesis one
to one, Good Isaiah forty eight, and you're gonna hear
(06:25):
recurring theme in these verses that I read to you.
Isaiah forty eight. Let's read twelve and following. Listen to me, oh,
Jacob and Israel, my called I am he, I am
the first, I am also the last. Indeed, my hand
has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right
(06:47):
hand has stretched out the heavens. When I call to them,
they stand up together. This is a god who speaks
and stuff happens, who with his hand can just throw
the universe into place. But the phrase I'm after, and
you'll see in a minute, is indeed my hand has
laid the foundation of the earth. It started with him.
(07:08):
Go to Zachariah chapter twelve. I promise you it's in
the Bible, Zacharai twelve to one. The burden of the
word of the Lord against Israel, Thus says the Lord,
and it describes who he is, the Lord who stretches
out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and
forms the spirit of man within him, again describing him
(07:29):
in that way. And I go to John chapter seventeen.
Go the right, Matthew, Mark Luke John in the New Testament.
Now we are going to have to go back to
the left in a minute, to another passage in the
Old Testament, but I'll tell you when we get there.
John seventeen. I don't have time to read this whole prayer,
but this is Jesus. If you want to know what
a prayer that Jesus would pray, you say, well, we
got the Lord's prayer, our father'sohd in heaven. He taught
(07:50):
us to pray using that. This is somehow we have
this documented prayer in the Book of John, where this
is a conversation that Jesus has with his father. It
starts out, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes
to heaven and said, Father, the hours come, glorify your son,
that your son also may glorify you, as you have
given him authority over all flesh. That he should give
(08:12):
eternal life to as many as you have given him.
And this is eternal life, that they may know that
you the only true God, and Jesus Christ him you
have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I
have finished the work which you gave me to do.
And now o, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with
the glory which I had with you before the world
was It's like they're having a conversation about a previous time.
(08:35):
I'm coming back. I've done what you sent me to do,
but we're gonna get it back the way it was,
You and me, the three of us, the Holy Spirit there,
all of us back together after I've accomplished what you
sent me to do. Now jump down here, and I
recommend you go read this on your own time. Let's
jump into verse twenty three, and he's describing, well, no,
go to twenty I do not pray for these alone,
(08:56):
but also for those who believe in me through their words.
So he charged talking about us. He's prayed for the
disciples that are actually there. Now he jumps to us,
those who would believe through their word, that they all
may be one as you, father, and me, and I
in you, That they also may be one in us,
That the world may believe that you sent me, and
the glory which you gave me I have given them,
(09:19):
that they may be one just as we are one,
I in them and you and me, that they may
be made perfect in one, and that the world may
know that you have sent me and have loved them
as you love me. Now, this is what I'm talking
about today. But let me tell you something. The reason
it is so important for us to be one. It
doesn't mean we agree all the time, it doesn't mean
we don't like different things. But when we are one,
(09:41):
the world goes. I believe it it has to be
of God. And my contention is, if heaven is going
to be everybody, then regardless of economics, education, ethnicity, whatever
you want to put out there, if we can sit
in room or gather together as a body and be
one and be in agreement on certain things enough so
(10:01):
that someone walks in and goes, there is no way
this is anything but God. And then they believe because
the glory that they see in that goes back to God,
and they say this has to be Him. So keep
reading with me verse twenty three.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I and them.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Let's read that again, I and them, you and me,
that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that you have sent me and
have loved them as you love me. Father. I desire
that they, also, whom you gave me, may be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory
which you have given me, for you loved me before
the foundation of the world. He keeps going back that
(10:39):
there's a point in time before anything went down, and
there was a relationship that he had with the Father,
Oh Righteous Father. The world has not known you, but
I have known you, and these have known that you
sent me. And I have declared to them your name,
and will declare it that the love with which you
love me may be with them and e and them.
(11:00):
Go to Ephesians chapter one. Keep going to the right
if you see Galatians and Ephesians is right after that.
Ephesians chapter one. There is a lot of stuff that
went down and has happened and is real. Before any
of this that you see or you live in or
experience ever happened. Okay, Ephesians chapter one. Let's jump in
(11:21):
at verse one Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by
the will of God to the saints here at Ephesus
and faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace to you and peace
from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly
places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him
(11:41):
before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame. Before him in love, having predestined
us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, by which he
made us accepted in the beloved. Now I've said this recently.
I don't have a clue what this means. I do
(12:02):
not get this. I don't know how I can be
able to choose. And yet I was chosen before I
even existed. But the truth is, the fact is, before
the foundation of the world read this sentence, he chose
us in him, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
A decision was made before Genesis one one ever happened,
(12:25):
that I would live, I would be born. He saw it.
He is the beginning, he's the first, he's the last.
He saw the whole thing. I would be born, I
would live, and I would be a part.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Of his plan.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
That is unbelievable. And if Jesus tarries, if he doesn't
come back for let's say, another thousand years, I don't
know how that's possible, but it could happen. Then if
my children have children and their children have children, Lord Willing,
in my lineage down the line, there are people who
have not been born yet who will believe what I believe.
(12:58):
And somehow, before the foundation of the world world, they
two were chosen, they were predestined, and they were to
be blameless and holy before him, And he said, well,
why are you harping on this the foundation of the
world stuff? There are things that were decided before anything
that we see that exists even existed. And I can
go around the room beginning with me, and I know
(13:20):
most people in this room. We are pieces of work,
and we've done stupid things and continue to stupid things,
and we have had horrible things happen to us, the
unspeakable things that are perpetrated one person against another. It's
just too much sometimes. And yet in this mess, in
this madness, in this world where evil is real, still,
(13:44):
somehow God, way before time was created, said I know
what I'm gonna do. I know what will happen. I
know that they'll be born, and I have a plan
for every one of them. And some of you. When
I look into your eyes and I sit down and
spend time with you, individual people, and you tell me
your story, and part of the reason. You tell me
(14:06):
your story and put it out there. You say, look,
this is so jacked up. There is no way God
is going to use me.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I say, you know what.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
You think that, but you've got to read the book
no matter what you come up with, no matter what
you think you've done to disqualify you, And there are
things you can do. And if you're looking at Jesus,
you've probably got disqualified. You're out. But until that happens,
where there is breath, there is life. Where there's breath
(14:34):
in life, there is hope. So the question is, and
how very much time I have left or you have left?
Are you going to get in on this plan or not?
Are you going to participate? Are you going to believe
that God saw you coming and had a plan? And
now the challenge is getting you to participate and in
spite of your humanity, let him use you anyway. Go
(14:55):
to Hebrews chapter one. It's to the right to get
to James. You've gone too far Hebrews chapter one. You're
gonna have to go read this for the sake of time.
I'm just gonna hit a few of these verses. Gosh,
what do I leave out? It all looks like scripture
to me verse five Hebrews won five. Let's read from there.
For to which of the angels did he ever say,
(15:18):
you are my son. Today I've begotten you, and again
I will be to him a father, and he shall
be to me a son. But when he again brings
the first born into the world, he says, let all
the angels of God worship him. And of all the angels,
he says, who makes his angels spirits and his minister's
a flame of fire? But to the son, he says,
your throne, O, God is forever and ever. A scepter
(15:38):
of righteousness, is the scepter of your kingdom. You have
loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has
anointed you with the oil of gladness, more than your companions.
And you look at this, and you Lord, in the
beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of your hands. They will perish, but
(16:00):
you remain, and they will all grow old like a garment,
like a cloak. You will fold them up and they
will be changed. But you are the same, and your
years will not fail. But to which of the angels
has he ever said sit at my right hand till
I make your enemies your footstool. Are they not all
ministering saints sent forth the minister for those who inherit salvation.
(16:22):
He talks about angels here a little bit. Go to
First Peter chapter one. I'm almost out of Versus, so
there's hope. First Peter chapter one, and we will pick
up at verse let's say seventeen. Peter says here, and
if you call on the Father, who without partiality, judges
according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time
(16:45):
of your stay here in fear, knowing that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things like silver gold from your
aimless conduct, received by tradition from your father's but with
the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without
blemish and without spot He indeed, look at this, He
indeed was fore ordained before the foundation of the world,
(17:06):
but was manifest in these last times for you who
threw him. Believe in God, who raised him from the
dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and
your hope are in God. Now here's another thing I
don't completely get. But Jesus is on his throne in heaven,
see at the right hand of the Father, whatever's going
on up there. Before anything happens here, and a decision
(17:26):
is made, before the heavens and the earth have made,
before Adam and even made, anything is made, this is
what we're gonna do. And you say, well, why would
God cook up this whole nightmare? Why would God, if
everything was okay in heaven, make a bunch of planets
and a universe and a bunch of people and set
this crazy thing in motion when he already knows from
(17:46):
the beginning that they're gonna screw up. We're gonna be
screw ups, We're gonna need to be saved. It's all
gonna end in a big battle on what is this about?
You know what, it's his business. He did it, and
I get to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
What I love about it is that God, all by
himself was doing his own thing, the Father of the Son,
the Holy Spirit. They not only didn't need me, there
wasn't any me to need. And God decided, you know what,
I think, I'm gonna make me a Richard Ellis. That's
gonna take me a few thousand years to get to him.
Because these people have to hook up, and these people
(18:20):
have to hook up, and these people have to hook
it up and these and then pretty soon I'll get
me or Richard Ellis. I don't think I want to
do this all without him. I want him part of
my plan. I want him with me. So I'm gonna
make me some people to be with me. And some
people argue that part of the reason God made everything
was to show the devil himself that angels maybe can
(18:42):
be made to do things. But people give them the
right to choose and love on them and redeem them
and buy them back, and they will choose me over you, Satan.
And it worked. And there is no explanation because it
takes crazy amounts of faith. And if you have doubts,
(19:02):
you're not by yourself. And I shared a little bit
about my questions about where is God and who made
God and all these things. You know, I have thoughts
run through my head and go if I lost my mind.
And I meet people and they're like out there having
a good time. You ever meet anybody's having a good time,
and you go, you know what, my life, I'm following
God and I'm not having any fun. They're out there
(19:24):
having fun, They're chasing women, they're buying stuff, they're going
on trips, they're swiping credit cards, they're having fun. And
I'm trying to be disciplined and live my life the
way God said. And I'm getting left behind until you
drop dead or Jesus shows up, and you go, ooh,
Maybe this turned out better than I thought it would.
Maybe they weren't having as much fun as I thought
they were. And I'm glad I hung in there and
(19:46):
stuck with it. The precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish, without spot for ordained before the
foundations of the world, but was manifesting these last times
for you writing to these people. Then I got one
more verse Jeremiah twenty nine. And some of you know
this verse by heart, and some of you need to
(20:09):
know it by heart Jeremiah twenty nine in verse ten.
For thus says the Lord, after seventy years are completed
at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good
word toward you and cause you to return to this place.
When God tells you he's going to do something, he's
going to do something. And when the book says that
(20:31):
Jesus is coming back, and the prayer is even so,
Come Lord Jesus, let me tell you something. And there's
people in the Old Testament record who say, where is
the promise of his coming? Hey, he ain't showing up
and we've been waiting for two thousand years. If that
cry gets louder, you know what, Whatever about your Jesus
coming back two thousand years, there's nothing. You go read
the passage about him returning the trumpet sound and here
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he comes. You'll know it. When he comes back, You'll
know it. And I promise you he has come back.
I'm either dying or my Jesus is coming after me.
And you say, well, why do you hold onto that?
Because that's all I got? And you say, well you
should find you something else. You know what, There isn't
anything else. You bring me your best shot. You got
nothing on my Jesus. Whatever you got, did whatever you
(21:17):
got die for you? And if whatever you got died
for you? Was he raised from the dead or is
he just a dead god? I don't need a dead savior.
I need a raise from the dead savior. See, I
got nothing but my Jesus, because there ain't nothing but
him when you get down to it, I don't need
little statues. I'm not being disrespectful of whatever you think
(21:38):
is all that. Let me tell you something. If your
light and incense and praying to some little statue, your
statue can't hear, can't see, can't talk, in gonna.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Do jack for you.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
The old song says, I serve a risen savior.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
He's in the world today. I know that he is living,
no matter what men may say.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
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 ellistalks dot com. 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
(22:19):
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 3 (22:31):
So.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Check it out Richard ellistalks dot com. And Richard's back
now to wrap up today's talk.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Now, why have I read about all this stuff about
before the foundation of the world, about Jesus and creation
and all this.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
There is a plan, and I am the reason for
the plan. You are the reason for the whole plan.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And if he'd go to so much trouble to make
an amazing planet that he can dissolve with a word,
And if you would go to the trouble to send
his own son Jesus to come here and live born
of a virgin, live a sinless life, be crucified on
a cruel cross, be buried and raised from the dead.
If he went through all that for what, Because he's
thinking about you, and he was thinking about you before
(23:14):
there was anything to even think about. He knew you'd come,
and he said, I gotta get him back, because these
people are gonna procreate, and there's people gonna be born.
They're all gonna have souls. They're gonna live or die
heaven or hell. But I'm gonna get some of them,
and I'm gonna give him faith. They're they're gonna respond
to their not And I got really good plans for him.
And if they look at the universe and see how
(23:36):
great I am at creating things and the intricacies, he
just God And it's not all mundane. Boom boom boom,
look at flowers, look at the bugs, look at just life.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
What kind of God are you dealing with?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And if he is that meticulous, and he is that
preoccupied by creation, which he makes just for us to
enjoy and to be here and to find stuff and
see who he is, then what.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
In the world do you think he's trying to do
through little ou?
Speaker 2 (24:04):
If he has this great plan for the universe, then
we are the reason Jesus died. Ultimately, he died to
redeem people, not trees, not creation, though it will get
caught up in the redemption process as well.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
He did it all for me. I didn't know that
growing up. I missed that so frustrating. It took me
too long to figure out that he loved me, that
I was special to him. He had really cool ideas
about me and for me, and he wanted to use me,
and he had gifted me, and he's gifted you, and
he's thinking about you, and he doesn't want to bring
(24:41):
any evil on you. How could you possibly think God
wants to bring evil on you when his son died
to get you back. It's not possible.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
He can't wish evil on you if your sin caused
his son his life, So respond to that love. I
beg you to respond.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
I beg you to let him love you.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
This has been Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. There's
only one reason we do this program, to take the
planet with the good news of Jesus Christ. That's our
message and our mission, and you have a vital part
of doing that along with us. If you've been encouraged
by these talks with Richard, be sure to share with
someone about the change they've made in your life. And
we'd love to hear your story as to how the
(25:25):
talks have made a difference to you. Give us a call.
We'd love to talk with you. Eight five five six Richard.
You can also reach us through our website, Richard Ellis
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(25:47):
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Until next time, Thanks so much for listening to Richard
Ellis talks, Yeah,
Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Thanks for
allowing us to share this time with you. Honestly, it's
our favorite time of the day where we get to
hang out together and talk about how the truth of
God's word can make a huge difference in your life.
And that's what we're going to hear from Richard in
a way that only he can do with words of hope, insight,
(00:21):
and humor. You may be stuck in traffic or stuck
in life. Either way, today's message is going to help
get you on the right track as you learn how
much God loves you right where you are. So let's
get right into today's talk. Here's Richard Ellis.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The title today's message is Older than Dirt. Go to
Palm one oh two. Now we are going to go
as I try to do, from left to right, and
we got a lot of ground to cover, and I
wouldn't say some of this will seem a little technical,
but just track with me till the end and hopefully
this will end and we'll end up some word. Psalm
(00:58):
one two five says, this of old you lay the
foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work
of your hands. Now it is. I think the younger
I was, or maybe just say the older I get,
the more category I have for the transient nature and
the very very very limited amount of time we're here.
(01:21):
And when you're a kid, when you're young, you think nobody,
you know, people die, but I ain't gonna die. I'm
just a kid, you know, I'm a teenager, I'm twenty,
I'm thirty, I'm forty. And then all of a sudden,
more of your friends start dying, and people get sick,
and you start going, this is coming my way, this
is going to happen to me. And one hundred percent
of people, by the way, do not die. I don't
(01:42):
know if you're aware of this. In the Old Testament,
not everybody died. You got chariots coming after at least Elijah,
and there's no record of Elijah dying, so he got
taken out of here somehow, so it's possible. And people say, okay, well, great,
I'll allow for one. But what are you talking about here?
Everybody dies? Should Jesus reach today. I ain't dying. I
(02:04):
don't have to die. I will be taking up with
him in the clouds. And you say, well, how is
this possible. It takes a lot of faith. You say,
you know, I don't believe that. Will you Just believe
whatever you want to believe and see how that works
out for you. Because if he comes back today, I'm
out of here, and I pray you're in that first
load that goes out so somewhere back and I'm going
(02:24):
to try to read these verses. But a lot of
the stuff in the Bible, you look at it and go, yeah,
I see that. I can't get my little brain around.
I can't get my little heart around. I cannot. You know,
there's a time of my life I didn't understand that
God loved me, and then all of a sudden I
started getting little flicker glimpses of God loving me, and
I know he loves me now, but I still don't
have a clue. I get completely overwhelmed with just the
(02:46):
fact that He loves little on me and I think
I know that He loves.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Me a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And then he does something else and I go, God,
I just I can't absorb this. It's just too big,
it's too much. And then I read there being a
beginning of some time and whatever you do I say
this along the way, whatever you do with Genesis chapter one,
verse one, where it literally all it starts out, the
whole thing starts out in the beginning. Now that is
not the beginning of eternity. There is no beginning to eternity.
(03:16):
Which I almost made myself nuts last night running these traps.
I got into this, okay, but who made God? I'm
really encouraging you not to go there. I know it's
a great question. You're gonna mess yourself up for a
few days of not a few hours, because I kept
going around like, you know what, I can't do this,
you know, because you don't get anywhere. He is bigger
(03:37):
than any beginning, and before there was a beginning on
this planet, for any of our existence. He just is.
He just is, and for whatever reason he decided to
do this thing that he did. And the more complicated
it gets sometimes I think, you know, well, I think
there are people, especially scientists or intelligent people, discover things
(04:01):
that are sitting there going, look what we found in
the sand. We can make chips for computers, and like
you think, they're looking up at God going But you
didn't know that was there, you old coot. You know
like he just put it all into motion, but he
had no idea what was coming, like, oh wow, I
made sand and look what they found. Let me tell
you something. God knows everything we're gonna find. He's sitting
(04:24):
on his throat going wow, that took him up three
thousand years to figure that out, but they finally found it.
There was all the time he packed it into the plan.
It's all there, and we're like little kids and our
parents know. As a dad, I watch my girls discover things,
and I go, they're gonna figure it out. They're gonna
get their feet under them, and they're gonna fall in
(04:45):
her butt about three hundred times, and then they're gonna
take off and they go, wow, I can walk, I
can run, Like, yeah, you can walk, you can run.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
Well, bet you didn't know I could do that. Like, yeah,
I knew you could do that. I knew it was coming.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It just took you a little while. So God has
set something in motion and he watches this thing. There's
not just a beginning, though, there is an end and
this is not And I stand here in this room
and look around at these things, these you know, tangible things,
and me being somewhat you know I'm here, but I'll
(05:19):
be gone at some point, and it looks so real.
The Bible talks about all of this will be dissolved,
and you say, well, you mean like the whole planet. Okay, yeah,
the whole planet, like the whole universe, the whole universe.
Who's big enough to dissolve it? The same person who's
big enough to create it. That's who's big enough.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
My problem with this big old God is that someone
tells me that this big old God somehow has compressed
himself in the person of the Holy Spirit and lives
right here inside of me. And I am clueless about that.
I do not understand that that ily hows the God
of the universe in this body. He lives in me
(06:04):
and through me, And no matter what I do, what
I think, how I screw up, he is committed to
staying with me, no matter what. I go back to
Psalm one O two of old you laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the works of
your hands. Tagging along a little bit with Genesis one
to one, Good Isaiah forty eight, and you're gonna hear
(06:25):
recurring theme in these verses that I read to you.
Isaiah forty eight. Let's read twelve and following. Listen to me, oh,
Jacob and Israel, my called I am he, I am
the first, I am also the last. Indeed, my hand
has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right
(06:47):
hand has stretched out the heavens. When I call to them,
they stand up together. This is a god who speaks
and stuff happens, who with his hand can just throw
the universe into place. But the phrase I'm after, and
you'll see in a minute, is indeed my hand has
laid the foundation of the earth. It started with him.
(07:08):
Go to Zachariah chapter twelve. I promise you it's in
the Bible, Zacharai twelve to one. The burden of the
word of the Lord against Israel, Thus says the Lord,
and it describes who he is, the Lord who stretches
out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and
forms the spirit of man within him, again describing him
(07:29):
in that way. And I go to John chapter seventeen.
Go the right, Matthew, Mark Luke John in the New Testament.
Now we are going to have to go back to
the left in a minute, to another passage in the
Old Testament, but I'll tell you when we get there.
John seventeen. I don't have time to read this whole prayer,
but this is Jesus. If you want to know what
a prayer that Jesus would pray, you say, well, we
got the Lord's prayer, our father'sohd in heaven. He taught
(07:50):
us to pray using that. This is somehow we have
this documented prayer in the Book of John, where this
is a conversation that Jesus has with his father. It
starts out, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes
to heaven and said, Father, the hours come, glorify your son,
that your son also may glorify you, as you have
given him authority over all flesh. That he should give
(08:12):
eternal life to as many as you have given him.
And this is eternal life, that they may know that
you the only true God, and Jesus Christ him you
have sent. I have glorified you on the earth. I
have finished the work which you gave me to do.
And now o, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with
the glory which I had with you before the world
was It's like they're having a conversation about a previous time.
(08:35):
I'm coming back. I've done what you sent me to do,
but we're gonna get it back the way it was,
You and me, the three of us, the Holy Spirit there,
all of us back together after I've accomplished what you
sent me to do. Now jump down here, and I
recommend you go read this on your own time. Let's
jump into verse twenty three, and he's describing, well, no,
go to twenty I do not pray for these alone,
(08:56):
but also for those who believe in me through their words.
So he charged talking about us. He's prayed for the
disciples that are actually there. Now he jumps to us,
those who would believe through their word, that they all
may be one as you, father, and me, and I
in you, That they also may be one in us,
That the world may believe that you sent me, and
the glory which you gave me I have given them,
(09:19):
that they may be one just as we are one,
I in them and you and me, that they may
be made perfect in one, and that the world may
know that you have sent me and have loved them
as you love me. Now, this is what I'm talking
about today. But let me tell you something. The reason
it is so important for us to be one. It
doesn't mean we agree all the time, it doesn't mean
we don't like different things. But when we are one,
(09:41):
the world goes. I believe it it has to be
of God. And my contention is, if heaven is going
to be everybody, then regardless of economics, education, ethnicity, whatever
you want to put out there, if we can sit
in room or gather together as a body and be
one and be in agreement on certain things enough so
(10:01):
that someone walks in and goes, there is no way
this is anything but God. And then they believe because
the glory that they see in that goes back to God,
and they say this has to be Him. So keep
reading with me verse twenty three.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I and them.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Let's read that again, I and them, you and me,
that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that you have sent me and
have loved them as you love me. Father. I desire
that they, also, whom you gave me, may be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory
which you have given me, for you loved me before
the foundation of the world. He keeps going back that
(10:39):
there's a point in time before anything went down, and
there was a relationship that he had with the Father,
Oh Righteous Father. The world has not known you, but
I have known you, and these have known that you
sent me. And I have declared to them your name,
and will declare it that the love with which you
love me may be with them and e and them.
(11:00):
Go to Ephesians chapter one. Keep going to the right
if you see Galatians and Ephesians is right after that.
Ephesians chapter one. There is a lot of stuff that
went down and has happened and is real. Before any
of this that you see or you live in or
experience ever happened. Okay, Ephesians chapter one. Let's jump in
(11:21):
at verse one Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ, by
the will of God to the saints here at Ephesus
and faithful in Christ Jesus, Grace to you and peace
from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly
places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him
(11:41):
before the foundation of the world, that we should be
holy and without blame. Before him in love, having predestined
us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, by which he
made us accepted in the beloved. Now I've said this recently.
I don't have a clue what this means. I do
(12:02):
not get this. I don't know how I can be
able to choose. And yet I was chosen before I
even existed. But the truth is, the fact is, before
the foundation of the world read this sentence, he chose
us in him, before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
A decision was made before Genesis one one ever happened,
(12:25):
that I would live, I would be born. He saw it.
He is the beginning, he's the first, he's the last.
He saw the whole thing. I would be born, I
would live, and I would be a part.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Of his plan.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
That is unbelievable. And if Jesus tarries, if he doesn't
come back for let's say, another thousand years, I don't
know how that's possible, but it could happen. Then if
my children have children and their children have children, Lord Willing,
in my lineage down the line, there are people who
have not been born yet who will believe what I believe.
(12:58):
And somehow, before the foundation of the world world, they
two were chosen, they were predestined, and they were to
be blameless and holy before him, And he said, well,
why are you harping on this the foundation of the
world stuff? There are things that were decided before anything
that we see that exists even existed. And I can
go around the room beginning with me, and I know
(13:20):
most people in this room. We are pieces of work,
and we've done stupid things and continue to stupid things,
and we have had horrible things happen to us, the
unspeakable things that are perpetrated one person against another. It's
just too much sometimes. And yet in this mess, in
this madness, in this world where evil is real, still,
(13:44):
somehow God, way before time was created, said I know
what I'm gonna do. I know what will happen. I
know that they'll be born, and I have a plan
for every one of them. And some of you. When
I look into your eyes and I sit down and
spend time with you, individual people, and you tell me
your story, and part of the reason. You tell me
(14:06):
your story and put it out there. You say, look,
this is so jacked up. There is no way God
is going to use me.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I say, you know what.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
You think that, but you've got to read the book
no matter what you come up with, no matter what
you think you've done to disqualify you, And there are
things you can do. And if you're looking at Jesus,
you've probably got disqualified. You're out. But until that happens,
where there is breath, there is life. Where there's breath
(14:34):
in life, there is hope. So the question is, and
how very much time I have left or you have left?
Are you going to get in on this plan or not?
Are you going to participate? Are you going to believe
that God saw you coming and had a plan? And
now the challenge is getting you to participate and in
spite of your humanity, let him use you anyway. Go
(14:55):
to Hebrews chapter one. It's to the right to get
to James. You've gone too far Hebrews chapter one. You're
gonna have to go read this for the sake of time.
I'm just gonna hit a few of these verses. Gosh,
what do I leave out? It all looks like scripture
to me verse five Hebrews won five. Let's read from there.
For to which of the angels did he ever say,
(15:18):
you are my son. Today I've begotten you, and again
I will be to him a father, and he shall
be to me a son. But when he again brings
the first born into the world, he says, let all
the angels of God worship him. And of all the angels,
he says, who makes his angels spirits and his minister's
a flame of fire? But to the son, he says,
your throne, O, God is forever and ever. A scepter
(15:38):
of righteousness, is the scepter of your kingdom. You have
loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has
anointed you with the oil of gladness, more than your companions.
And you look at this, and you Lord, in the
beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of your hands. They will perish, but
(16:00):
you remain, and they will all grow old like a garment,
like a cloak. You will fold them up and they
will be changed. But you are the same, and your
years will not fail. But to which of the angels
has he ever said sit at my right hand till
I make your enemies your footstool. Are they not all
ministering saints sent forth the minister for those who inherit salvation.
(16:22):
He talks about angels here a little bit. Go to
First Peter chapter one. I'm almost out of Versus, so
there's hope. First Peter chapter one, and we will pick
up at verse let's say seventeen. Peter says here, and
if you call on the Father, who without partiality, judges
according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time
(16:45):
of your stay here in fear, knowing that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things like silver gold from your
aimless conduct, received by tradition from your father's but with
the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without
blemish and without spot He indeed, look at this, He
indeed was fore ordained before the foundation of the world,
(17:06):
but was manifest in these last times for you who
threw him. Believe in God, who raised him from the
dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and
your hope are in God. Now here's another thing I
don't completely get. But Jesus is on his throne in heaven,
see at the right hand of the Father, whatever's going
on up there. Before anything happens here, and a decision
(17:26):
is made, before the heavens and the earth have made,
before Adam and even made, anything is made, this is
what we're gonna do. And you say, well, why would
God cook up this whole nightmare? Why would God, if
everything was okay in heaven, make a bunch of planets
and a universe and a bunch of people and set
this crazy thing in motion when he already knows from
(17:46):
the beginning that they're gonna screw up. We're gonna be
screw ups, We're gonna need to be saved. It's all
gonna end in a big battle on what is this about?
You know what, it's his business. He did it, and
I get to be a part of it.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Now.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
What I love about it is that God, all by
himself was doing his own thing, the Father of the Son,
the Holy Spirit. They not only didn't need me, there
wasn't any me to need. And God decided, you know what,
I think, I'm gonna make me a Richard Ellis. That's
gonna take me a few thousand years to get to him.
Because these people have to hook up, and these people
(18:20):
have to hook up, and these people have to hook
it up and these and then pretty soon I'll get
me or Richard Ellis. I don't think I want to
do this all without him. I want him part of
my plan. I want him with me. So I'm gonna
make me some people to be with me. And some
people argue that part of the reason God made everything
was to show the devil himself that angels maybe can
(18:42):
be made to do things. But people give them the
right to choose and love on them and redeem them
and buy them back, and they will choose me over you, Satan.
And it worked. And there is no explanation because it
takes crazy amounts of faith. And if you have doubts,
(19:02):
you're not by yourself. And I shared a little bit
about my questions about where is God and who made
God and all these things. You know, I have thoughts
run through my head and go if I lost my mind.
And I meet people and they're like out there having
a good time. You ever meet anybody's having a good time,
and you go, you know what, my life, I'm following
God and I'm not having any fun. They're out there
(19:24):
having fun, They're chasing women, they're buying stuff, they're going
on trips, they're swiping credit cards, they're having fun. And
I'm trying to be disciplined and live my life the
way God said. And I'm getting left behind until you
drop dead or Jesus shows up, and you go, ooh,
Maybe this turned out better than I thought it would.
Maybe they weren't having as much fun as I thought
they were. And I'm glad I hung in there and
(19:46):
stuck with it. The precious blood of Christ as of
a lamb without blemish, without spot for ordained before the
foundations of the world, but was manifesting these last times
for you writing to these people. Then I got one
more verse Jeremiah twenty nine. And some of you know
this verse by heart, and some of you need to
(20:09):
know it by heart Jeremiah twenty nine in verse ten.
For thus says the Lord, after seventy years are completed
at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good
word toward you and cause you to return to this place.
When God tells you he's going to do something, he's
going to do something. And when the book says that
(20:31):
Jesus is coming back, and the prayer is even so,
Come Lord Jesus, let me tell you something. And there's
people in the Old Testament record who say, where is
the promise of his coming? Hey, he ain't showing up
and we've been waiting for two thousand years. If that
cry gets louder, you know what, Whatever about your Jesus
coming back two thousand years, there's nothing. You go read
the passage about him returning the trumpet sound and here
(20:55):
he comes. You'll know it. When he comes back, You'll
know it. And I promise you he has come back.
I'm either dying or my Jesus is coming after me.
And you say, well, why do you hold onto that?
Because that's all I got? And you say, well you
should find you something else. You know what, There isn't
anything else. You bring me your best shot. You got
nothing on my Jesus. Whatever you got, did whatever you
(21:17):
got die for you? And if whatever you got died
for you? Was he raised from the dead or is
he just a dead god? I don't need a dead savior.
I need a raise from the dead savior. See, I
got nothing but my Jesus, because there ain't nothing but
him when you get down to it, I don't need
little statues. I'm not being disrespectful of whatever you think
(21:38):
is all that. Let me tell you something. If your
light and incense and praying to some little statue, your
statue can't hear, can't see, can't talk, in gonna.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Do jack for you.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
The old song says, I serve a risen savior.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
He's in the world today. I know that he is living,
no matter what men may say.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
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 ellistalks dot com. 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
(22:19):
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 3 (22:31):
So.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Check it out Richard ellistalks dot com. And Richard's back
now to wrap up today's talk.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Now, why have I read about all this stuff about
before the foundation of the world, about Jesus and creation
and all this.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
There is a plan, and I am the reason for
the plan. You are the reason for the whole plan.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And if he'd go to so much trouble to make
an amazing planet that he can dissolve with a word,
And if you would go to the trouble to send
his own son Jesus to come here and live born
of a virgin, live a sinless life, be crucified on
a cruel cross, be buried and raised from the dead.
If he went through all that for what, Because he's
thinking about you, and he was thinking about you before
(23:14):
there was anything to even think about. He knew you'd come,
and he said, I gotta get him back, because these
people are gonna procreate, and there's people gonna be born.
They're all gonna have souls. They're gonna live or die
heaven or hell. But I'm gonna get some of them,
and I'm gonna give him faith. They're they're gonna respond
to their not And I got really good plans for him.
And if they look at the universe and see how
(23:36):
great I am at creating things and the intricacies, he
just God And it's not all mundane. Boom boom boom,
look at flowers, look at the bugs, look at just life.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
What kind of God are you dealing with?
Speaker 2 (23:49):
And if he is that meticulous, and he is that
preoccupied by creation, which he makes just for us to
enjoy and to be here and to find stuff and
see who he is, then what.
Speaker 3 (24:00):
In the world do you think he's trying to do
through little ou?
Speaker 2 (24:04):
If he has this great plan for the universe, then
we are the reason Jesus died. Ultimately, he died to
redeem people, not trees, not creation, though it will get
caught up in the redemption process as well.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
He did it all for me. I didn't know that
growing up. I missed that so frustrating. It took me
too long to figure out that he loved me, that
I was special to him. He had really cool ideas
about me and for me, and he wanted to use me,
and he had gifted me, and he's gifted you, and
he's thinking about you, and he doesn't want to bring
(24:41):
any evil on you. How could you possibly think God
wants to bring evil on you when his son died
to get you back. It's not possible.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
He can't wish evil on you if your sin caused
his son his life, So respond to that love. I
beg you to respond.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
I beg you to let him love you.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
This has been Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. There's
only one reason we do this program, to take the
planet with the good news of Jesus Christ. That's our
message and our mission, and you have a vital part
of doing that along with us. If you've been encouraged
by these talks with Richard, be sure to share with
someone about the change they've made in your life. And
we'd love to hear your story as to how the
(25:25):
talks have made a difference to you. Give us a call.
We'd love to talk with you. Eight five five six Richard.
You can also reach us through our website, Richard Ellis
talks dot com, and while you're there, check out all
the fun and informative pages we put together for you
Richard Ellistalks dot com. While you're there, be sure to
click on the contribute tab at the top to send
(25:47):
your generous gift. If the program is making a difference
to you, your gift will make a big difference to us.
Until next time, Thanks so much for listening to Richard
Ellis talks, Yeah,
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