Richard Ellis Talks

Guest (Male): Today on Richard Ellis Talks.

Richard Ellis: What if Hell really is like a corporation? They got a CEO, they got a mission statement, and the mission statement, I quote this over and over out of John 10:10, the thief comes not but to steal, kill, and destroy. That is the mission statement of Hell.

Guest (Male): You're listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. We're so grateful you tuned into the program. Richard wants to share with you some encouragement, words of hope, and probably a laugh or two. And in today's complicated busy life, that's exactly what's needed. Richard's talks are always straight from the Bible, filled with truth. Now, you may not be able to hang out with us for the entire program, but you can always pick it back up at our website, richard ellis.com. In fact, you can find all of Richard talks right there waiting just for you, richard ellis.com.

So, with today talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is Hell Incorporated. It is so important that we not use jargon, that we not use religious stuff, that we try to break this thing down where people can really understand not just what we're saying, but what's happened or is happening to them. Somebody gave us some tickets to a college football game at Cowboy Stadium and we went and grabbed some dinner and sitting there eating and my phone went off and the name appeared of a man I've known since I was 18 years old. I worked for him putting my way through college selling mobile homes, or as we called them, wobbly boxes, tornado magnets.

We had a lot of names. I can call them those things. I lived in one, so don't be writing me letters. My phone rang and as it turns out, he is from Waco, was in Dallas. He said I probably got two or three more days left. I hadn't seen him since college. And I told him my wife, our crew, I said I have to make a stop. So, we went by Baylor Hospital. I went up to see him and you know, when you see somebody who's about to die, it does something to you. And I joked around with him and hugged him, kissed him, and told him I loved him and I had married him to one of his four wives.

Didn't get to all of them, just one of them. So, I went from there to the game. And when you walk into a huge building like that and you see that many people and you observe the people around you, then what occurs to me is they'll all end up somewhere. You say, well dude, why don't you just go to a football game and watch the game? I do that too. But at some point, you'll realize maybe that everyone around you, everyone you meet, everywhere you go is on their way somewhere. And I grew up around preachers.

I've described you all that I never could figure out if they were mad at Hell or just mad as Hell. And as it turns out, a lot of them were just mad as Hell. They were angry about something. They had their own issues and what they said might have been true, but it is important to speak the truth in love. And if I thought screaming it would do it, I'd scream it. And if I thought whispering would do it, I'd try whispering. So, I'm going to make another run at it today. And this is for you in this room and you say, well I already know what you're about to say, then part of what I'm trying to help you see is that it may not be about you making Heaven or not.

It may be about the people you come in contact with and being keenly aware that good for you, you're going to make it. They may not make it. My buddy that I went to see, he asked me to do his funeral. It's a strange thing to have a man alive ask you to do his funeral. And I know where he 's going. He's done some stupid things in his life, but I know where he 's going. So, there'll be a better funeral and easier funeral to do. I talked to a man recently and I've never asked anybody this question before, but this is what I asked him.

I said, what do you think the entrance requirements of Hell are? And I ask you that today. How would you get into Hell if you were trying to get in? You say, well that's crazy. Nobody's trying to get into Hell. So, what does it take to get into Hell? Think about that during this message. Secondly, what if Hell really is like a corporation? They've got a CEO, they've got a mission statement, and the mission statement, I quote this over and over out of John 10:10, the thief comes not but to steal, kill, and destroy. That is the mission statement of Hell.

And then Jesus said, but I am come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly or to the full. So, there's a couple of plans. You've got to pick a plan. Now, this is the tough spot, so listen closely cuz you need to be careful how you hear this and how you explain this to other people. From the second you are born, you are Hell bound. Okay? Now, people say, well that can't be true cuz I'm not one of those people. I'm a nice person. From the second you are born, you are an employee of the corporation.

You say, well what does that mean? Let me take you to one verse. Romans chapter 6 in verse 23 and then we may go back and read some around this before this. Okay? So, here we go. Romans chapter 6 verse 23. Some of you know this by heart. Some of you never heard it. Listen to this. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in or through Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay? So, I'm going to take the first little phrase there. The wages of sin is death. Okay? Now, have you ever considered this that when you work for Hell Inc., your job is to sin.

And if you stay, if you continue employed there, that's your job. You have to do your job. You can't get out of doing your job. That is your job. Your job is to sin. Now, what do you get paid for sinning? Okay? Now, everybody, you've already said it. Some whispered the answer, but think about this. Who in the world would take a job or keep a job when you finally figured out that the entire job was sinning, screwing up your life and your eternity, and that what you would get paid when the payday came was death.

That's what you were earning. That's what you were working toward your whole life. Sin is your job. Your payment for your working is death. Who would sign up for this? You say, well nobody would sign up for that. But that's what we do every day. You say, well who knows this? It's in the Bible. The information is in this book and it is your responsibility to figure that out. My responsibility to try to communicate it. You say, but all you ever talk about is Jesus dying on the cross, being buried and raised from the dead, and sin, and all these things because that's the problem.

And he is the answer. And so if you go into the world and you say, oh you need to be nicer to your mom, that may help mom in their relationship. That's not going to get you a new job. That's not quitting Hell. Being good is not bad. It's just never good enough. And then the flip side of this is but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. So, Hell says, sin and we'll pay you with death and God comes along and says, I give you a gift. You can't work for it.

I'm not asking you to work for it. I'm offering you a free gift and I'll shut this craziness down. You can quit Hell and work for Heaven. Not work to get into Heaven, but once you receive the gift, now you are working for Heaven. Now, it's God living in you, working through you. It's a completely different way to live. Here's what I see now. I see people trying to do the best they can at their job working for Hell, trying to be happy. They work hard, they feel like crap. It didn't feel like it's going anywhere.

Some of them if you talk to them have no hope. What is the point? Where is it going? And if you look, if the wages of sin is death and it is, look in your own life and look at where you have worked for sin and you say, well is it just talking about physical death? Ultimately, it's physical eternal death, but look at how much death has come to your family, to your house, to your relationships. A marriage is destroyed because of what? Marriages are not destroyed by people being great husbands and wives. Oh, why did you divorce him?

Oh, he was just too amazing. I couldn't take it anymore. Just overwhelming me, so I divorced him. It's usually something stupid. It's some sin and that relationship dies. We do things with our kids and we kill those relationships. Things happen. Now, before I forget this and in case I forget this, you say, well then there's no hope. The wages of sin is death, so I sinned and I got what I deserved and that thing died. Let me tell you where God will throw you a crazy curve ball when you go to work for him. He raises the dead.

He raises the dead. And something you thought was completely dead and it is dead, certifiably dead, he'll come along and by his power that raised Jesus from the dead can raise you from the dead, raise a relationship from the dead, he raises the dead. So, the devil's whole plan, steal, kill, destroy. Not just kill, destroy. And Jesus comes along and says, here's my offer. I'll offer you a new employment contract. Signing bonus, eternal life. Eternal life. Come work for me. I'll move in. In fact, you won't even have to do the work. I'll do all the work.

I will live in you. I will live through you and I will bring you joy. Been looking for some joy. I will bring you some peace. Been looking for some peace. Then all of a sudden your old tree starts sprouting all this fruit. Long suffering, patience, stuff you never had by yourself. If you read the Bible and then you say, okay, well let's work for Hell, let's work for Heaven. What do you think is going to work out better? You say, well but I don't think I'll have as much fun. So crazy. I get where you're coming from.

Give God a chance to show you what real pleasure is, what real fun is. Now, I still go back and work for Hell every once in a while on a contract basis every once in a while because I get deceived. I get talked into something. They say, you know, you need a little, you know, God's way of resting, God's way of recovery, God's way of all that where you need to come over here, come back over here. We'll show you a good time just for a little while, just for a little while. So, maybe you go drink a little too much and go back to the old way.

Maybe you smoke a little weed. Maybe you go out and have random sex with some stranger. Maybe you look at a little porn. Maybe whatever you do. Maybe go steal stuff. I hate to leave that one out. A lot of thieves in the world. Go in a store and take something, get a big rush. Lie about something. Whatever gets you going. And then you sit there and go, what am I doing? I don't work for him anymore. And you go back and say, God, I'm sorry. You know, let's just stay where we're supposed to be for a while and do what we're supposed to do and live the way he intended for us to live.

Sin is exhausting, exhausting. And part of the reason you're even here and listening as long as you are is you know what I'm saying is true. And so I get in a mob and all these people and they're having a big time and I'm for having a big time. But when you cross certain lines with your big time and then it becomes sin, now you got problems. And we have been put at the intersections of life. You say, well no one's listening to me. They may not listen to you in a crowd, but if they watch your life and they know something's different, you'd be amazed if they know you're available and you love them.

Somewhere along the way they come up to you privately and say, my mom's really sick or I've really screwed up and I know you believe something. Would you pray for me or can I talk to you? Sooner or later you're going to have that experience. And then you gently, lovingly, firmly, whatever your tact is, you explain to them that you love them, that God loves them, that there's hope, that you're not claiming to be all that, have it all figured out, but you do have one answer and his name is Jesus. Go to John chapter 1 back to the left.

This in some ways is a different creation story in the New Testament. John chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning, so whenever the beginning was, in the beginning was the word and this is a word logos and it basically means it's Jesus. The beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. So, whoever this is, it was with God and is God. And then it says he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made. So, whoever this is made everything.

In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it or could not overtake it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. This man came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world. okay? Every man coming into the world, this logos, Jesus as we know him to be, gives this light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. Now, this is what's very perplexing to me and extremely frustrating. I have sat with men, with women, some kids, but mostly men and women and explained that Jesus died on a cross for them, was buried, raised from the dead. There's hope. There's eternal life, abundant life, the way God intended. In almost short of getting on my hands and knees, I actually said that to a God the other days if it would help, I would get on my hands and knees and beg you to be reconciled to God, to make things right with God.

And it is a mind-boggling thing that Hell offers this horrific deal and God offers this extraordinary deal and people won't take it. How is that possible? I used to when I was a young man, I was kind of trained that you just kind of if you hit somebody long enough with the Bible, they'd cry for mercy and get saved. You know, just kind of one of those things. Dude, if you'll just stop screaming at me, I'll say yes and you know, just please go away. I have never talked anybody into being a Christian. I have never converted anyone.

All I have done is tell them the facts, give them the information, and hopefully they sense and see a transformation in my life and then they make a choice about what they're going to do. But when I get to that moment and someone looks me in the eyes and I realize they know they're hearing it and they have some understanding and they basically just they say, no thank you. That just takes your breath away. Do you not know what you just said or what you're doing? And then what almost everybody says is I just don't think a loving God would send anybody to Hell.

I'm with you. What do you want him to do? Sends his son down here, dies on a cross, buried, raised from the dead, offers you eternal life free, abundant life free, everything you've ever dreamed of free, some suffering maybe in this life, but you're going to be with him forever. Who's offering you a better deal than that? And yet they say no. So, literally says here, he was in the world. The world was made through him. The world did not know him. He came to his own. His own did not receive him. But look at verse 12.

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name who were born not of blood, not of physical birth, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The only way to get into Hell. Now, listen to me. If that's what you've been after, if you're trying to get into Hell, the bad news is you don't have to try anymore because if you have not received him, it's already a done deal.

And people who say that are not Christians say, man, I just feel like I'm empty. I'm dead even. I feel dead. I'm not even here. Something is missing. And what do we do? What does the enemy try to do? Take things that God intended for good and he says, okay, not a little wine for your stomach as the scripture says, but how about a lot of wine for your life? Just to make you feel better, to medicate and drown all your problems away. So, the devil tries to get you putting things in or on something to alter how you feel instead of just living the way God intended.

So, these people keep trying, keep trying. Why? They're looking for something to fill the emptiness. There is an emptiness in every human being and only Jesus can fill it. That's just it. And you say, well I don't agree with that. I get that. Let me say this. I'm trying to be gentle and quiet. I'm not saying I don't care that that's what you believe. It really doesn't matter. Your deal's not going to work. You say, well you think you're right. I know I'm right. You say, how do you know that? I'm willing to stake my life on this.

Bring me a better deal. Did your God die for you? Nobody even claims that. Muhammad didn't die on a cross for anybody. Didn't die for anybody. Buddha didn't die for anybody. Who you got? Bring me a better offer. I'll consider it. I've never heard a better deal than God loving me, coming down here and rescuing me and making available to me everything I ever needed and dreamed of. So, you say, well I'm going to keep my deal. I'm just telling you and gently warning you, your deal is Hell. Your deal is Hell. And you're as good as dead already.

The only hope you have is that maybe you change your mind between here and actual death cuz the book says it's appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment. So, my responsibility and frankly your responsibility as a Christian as you move through the world and through life, I am going to give an account one day for whether I clearly read the scriptures, explain the scriptures, and help you understand what you've got and where you're headed and what this looks like. Now, if you say, well I still don't get it, I'll be happy to sit down with you and work out it some more.

You have to know where you're headed. You have to know who you're working for and you have to understand that on payday you're going to get nothing but death, eternal death. You say, yeah, but I'm having a lot of fun on the way to Hell. Oh, that's brilliant. That's just brilliant. You have no understanding of what a real Hell is then and no If you think Hell is bad, there's no way to compare Heaven and Hell by the way. Hell's just a place for people that reject God. Heaven? It ain't like, oh let's Hell's bad, Heaven's great.

Heaven's in a whole another category cuz God will be there. Jesus will be there. You say, oh you just want to fly around and sing songs forever. Absolutely. Now, this sounds very strange maybe to you and I'm not hoping anybody ends up in Hell. You say, dude, you're going to lose everybody now. Nobody talks about Hell anymore. I really don't care. If you were to end up in Hell and had any awareness of your life, at least you will have this memory. Somebody tried to tell you where you were going. You were offered an option and you said no.

That's on you. That is not on me and that's not on God. You're offered a deal. You don't take the deal. That is not God's problem or his fault. It is his problem cuz you've rejected his son. But if you receive him, you say, okay, I'm in and I want you in me. To them what? Verse again. But as many as receive him, to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name. I believe in his name. I believe who he is, son of God, God man. Whatever you can read, I believe everything in here about him.

Made the world, saved my soul, died on a cross, buried, raised from the dead, coming again. I believe all this stuff. Am I missing out on some fun? Maybe. Little moments. But from what I can tell and all of you and all of me that I talked to, I don't think it works. Working for Hell don't work. And the pay sounds really horrible. I'm offering you a new job today. You say, well I'm already a Christian. Now, please don't misunderstand this. If you don't work for Hell anymore and you're a Christian, you became a Christian because you received a gift.

Now, he lives in you through me. Here's my suggestion to you. Go to work. Go to work. You say, I thought it wasn't about works. It's not about working to be a Christian. It's about doing something because you are one. And part of the reason you don't even believe you're a Christian half the time is you don't see any manifestation of that. Why don't you get up and go to work every day? You do that to make a living. Why don't you do that to make a life? You say, well I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

What are you talking about? Then read the manual. Read the What do they call those handbooks? Everybody go get a job at any big company. Even Hell's got a handbook. Read the Bible. Their handbook's in here. I mean, you got the Hell handbook down. Read the handbook. You say, well I don't want to do that. That's the deal. He died not just to get you into Heaven. He died to give you a life here and now where you could communicate this to someone else.

Guest (Male): 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.com. You'll find today's talk right there in the talks page along with all of Richard audio and video messages. You can even forward them to a friend so they can hear them too. You'll also find the prayer wall to add your prayer requests, a link so you can connect with us, the contribute page for you to be able to give to this ministry, all of our social media links and much more.

So, check it out, richard ellis.com. And Richard's back now to wrap up today's talk.

Richard Ellis: So, here you are in this room. There you are out there in a car somewhere riding around. You're going to work. Some of you literally today going to work. Listen to this. Are you going to work just to make a paycheck or do you understand you have a job to live the Christian life, which means letting Christ live through you, in you, and through you? And if we went through the room, some of you get this and you got story after story after story. I got story after story. I got stories when I don't do what I'm supposed to do and who knows how many people I miss.

But there are plenty of stories where I don't miss them because that's the job. I have never worked for anybody. I told you about my buddy who's dying. He was a good boss. He was a little wacky, but he called me and I was there within 20 minutes cuz I love him. He was a decent boss. I really got the best boss in the universe. And just another word for Lord is boss. So, when I wake up and go to my job, I say, okay boss, what are we doing today? He says, well you just go and I'll tell you on the way.

And so you're going and he says, hug that man. Yes, sir. I'll hug that man. Or you go, that man smells. And you really find out who the boss is by whether you're doing what the boss says to do or not. This is not complicated. You say, well I'm a Christian. My life's all screwed up. I got all this sin. Well then deal with your sin. Confess your sin. He's faithful and just to forgive you your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Okay? So, you're back. Boom, just like that. You go, well I keep doing the same stupid thing over and over again.

Then get some help. Tell somebody. I can't do this by myself. And then go to work. You say, well I don't get it. Then come ask some questions cuz you're missing out on the craziest life you could ever possibly have. You have no idea how you can use you, you.

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