Richard Ellis Talks

Guest (Male): Today on Richard Ellis Talks.

Richard Ellis: I have never seen God. I have never seen Jesus. But I'm going to tell you what, there are times when I know he is right there with me. And when I'm speaking, though I don't hear an audible voice back, through the witness of the Holy Spirit in my heart and in my life, through the scriptures, I know he's listening. And I hear him say things in my heart and give me direction where I know he's with me.

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, RichardEllis.com. In fact, you can find all of Richard's talks right there waiting just for you. RichardEllis.com. With today's talk, here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is "About Face." We're going to start in Genesis and go all the way to Revelation and cover a number of things, but here's where we're going. There is something about face. There is something that emails, phone calls, and writing letters will just not accomplish.

Sooner or later, it's about sitting down with somebody face to face and having conversation and having relationship and having intimacy and communicating with somebody beyond all these things. Small groups are great, but sooner or later, there's a time and a place where it is about face-to-face conversations.

I had a conversation with a guy recently. He and his wife are going through some tough stuff, praying about a situation in their family. It was one of those things that talking about the phone wasn't going to cut it. It was so personal. It was so profound. It was so tough, so sensitive. It wasn't one of those things that you had a bunch of people in the room.

Sooner or later, there comes a time in your life and in my life where you got to sit down with somebody and say, "You know what? This is what's going on, and I need some face time. I need somebody to look me in the eyes and tell me it's going to be okay, or give me some direction or help me see if what I'm thinking or what I'm praying or where I'm going is okay, is right, and that it's going to be all right." Better than all right, it's going to be great.

Some people avoid this face stuff at all costs because there are times when somebody looks me in the eye or looks you in the eye, and if you can sit long enough and stay long enough and listen long enough, they're going to see something's not right. Your eyes are the windows of your soul, the scripture says. And whatever's going on inside of you, at some point, the eyes are going to reveal that. Sooner or later, you better have somebody in your life you can sit down face to face with and have this intimacy.

We have large gatherings of churches here. We have smaller groups. But the great danger in my heart and my concern for our church, the elders' concern, everybody's concern ought to be this: It is great to grow. It is great to get larger. But when you get larger, there's the possibility that people just become part of a sheep ranch, not part of a shepherding process.

You have got to help in this process. You have to engage in the process. You have to make yourself available to people who are making themselves available to interact with you so that this pastoring-shepherding process can go on so someone will know you.

It is possible with a couple of hundred people in a room, it's possible with 20,000 people in a room, and everybody know that everybody is known by somebody. And if I get in trouble, there's a church, there's people, there's a place that cares what happens to me and you can sit down and have these conversations. The larger we get, we're going to move to making it more intimate every day. But you have got to engage in that and be a part of that and make it possible for us to spend time with you and find out who you are on a more intimate level.

We'll start in Genesis chapter four. Genesis chapter four, without giving the whole story, Cain has killed his brother Abel. And it's the first murder in the scriptures. It's not a good thing. God is not happy, and Cain is about to be really unhappy. I want to just share with you, he's had this conversation and God has basically said, "Here's the consequence. Here's what's going to happen as a result of your sin, this murder."

In chapter four, verse 13, Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." And look what part of his punishment was: "Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face." Guys, I don't know if you've ever felt this way, like you've gone so far that God himself has turned his face from you and is done with you. You've been thrown off the team, you're gone, and you can't even get God to look at you again.

It's not going to happen, but sometimes people feel this way. Cain says, "Not only have you driven me this day from the face of the ground, I shall be hidden from your face. I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." He was afraid for his life, but part of his fear and the consequence is he felt like he had lost God's face. He had lost the ability to see God and have that interaction.

It is my opinion—and I spend some time with a lot of Christian and religious and church people—but I try to spend enough time with people who don't do God, don't do church, are just out there. Their life sucks. They feel like they're a loser. They don't know what to do about it. And they somehow cannot connect from what they're feeling and what's wrong and the guilt and the shame and the fear and the funk and wanting to kill themselves or do anything, put something in them to fill the emptiness.

They feel like they can't connect. Well, they don't even believe in God, maybe. You know what? It's very difficult to find someone who really honestly doesn't believe there's a God. You put somebody in enough trouble, there's a God. They're going to cry out to somebody. Somehow it's helping them see that whatever you think you've done or whatever it is you think you've got on you or you're carrying in your heart or in your life, this God did the most astounding, drastic, extreme thing any God could do.

He sent His only Son from heaven to earth, born of a virgin, lived this perfect life, do all these miracles, then die on a cross, shed His blood, make a payment, the payment for all of our sin, be buried and raised from the dead. And now God says, "It's paid. It's finished. It's taken care of. I don't care where you've been, what you've done, there's a way to get to Me now. And if you thought My face was turned away from you, it's not anymore."

God the Father turned His face away from Jesus so He could face us and we could face Him and have interaction with Him like He intended for Adam and Eve and everybody else. But it is only through what Jesus did that we are able to face God now and get back what Cain had lost and felt there.

In Exodus chapter 33, we'll read just one verse here. And if you're reading through the Bible and you understand, I mean, nobody could see God and not die. I mean, He's just so holy, He is so awesome, He is so amazing, you literally can't look at Him. And there's just this verse in Exodus 33:11, and it says, "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend."

Let me tell you something: This is possible. I have never seen God. I have never seen Jesus. But I'm going to tell you what, there are times when I know he is right there with me. And when I'm speaking, though I don't hear an audible voice back, through the witness of the Holy Spirit in my heart and in my life, through the scriptures, I know he's listening.

I hear him say things in my heart and give me direction where I know he's with me. And I'll get to this at the end, but there is a day coming when it's not going to be faith face to face, it's going to be face to face. And we will behold him. We will see him. We will touch him. It'll be literally face to face with Jesus. And what an amazing day that's going to be.

Anyhow, we read about that in just a little bit as well. But Moses face to face, and I love this phrase: "as a man speaks to his friend." Boiling all this down as simply as I can put, I'm tired of email. I'm tired of phone calls. I'm tired of sending money and not sending me, and not sending us. And for some of you, it's your own mom and dad. It's a brother, it's a sister, it's an old friend, and you miss their face.

They're going to die, and you're going to see their face in a box somewhere, maybe, and that's going to be the last time. Don't wait for this stuff. When the Holy Spirit prompts you to do something and go see somebody, there is a time and a place where you have to see somebody's face.

Go to Psalm 27. For Cain, it was he couldn't face God and was afraid that God would never face him. But sometimes there are things that we're in the face of. There is stuff coming on us and we don't know what to do. Psalm 27, let's pick up here is Psalm of David, verse 4. David says here, "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek." He says one thing.

If you're going to pick one thing, what is this one thing that he says, "I've desired of the Lord and that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me!"

You ever want to just say to God, "Answer me! I'm asking you, answer me!" Women feel this way with their husbands a lot, but you know you just want to look at a man and say, "Answer me! Say something! What are you doing up there? Have mercy on me! Answer me!" When You said—this is David hearing what God had said to him—"When You said, 'Seek My face.'" What did God tell David to do? "Seek My face."

There is a difference in trying to learn things about God. Some of you think, "Well, I'm involved in the God process here and trying to find out things about religion and God, maybe church, whatever." Let me tell you something: Go after God's face. Go after him so hard that you can get so close you can grab him by the ears and say, "Look, I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere. I've been looking for you my whole life. You gotta help me. I am not going to make it down here by myself. I need time with you. I need answers from you. You have got to help me."

I think sometimes, if nothing else, God would love for us to get in some place and by faith—I know what it is—look him in the eyes and listen to him and speak to him and have some of that face time. But here David in the face of some trouble, "When I cry with my voice, have mercy also upon me and answer me! When You said, 'Seek My face,' my heart said to You, 'Your face, Lord, I will seek.' Okay, I'll seek Your face. Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation."

Sooner or later—and I'm getting there more every day, maybe just get older the more of a screw-up you know you are—you just realize you're in trouble. I'm getting closer to realizing more every day: I am not going to make it without him. It's not about how smart you are, how much money you got, how much control you think you are. Let me tell you something: You're not going to make it without him.

And I'm not talking about into heaven. It's every day. All hell is breaking loose on me, and I know it is on you if it is on me the way it does. The enemy is out for you. He is out to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants your character. He wants your family. He wants your job. He wants everything you've got and anything you've got that can give him some glory and not God glory, and wreck your life.

You will not make it without God. We have people in this church who struggle with all kind of drug addiction. They will not live without God's help. And they will not make it without our help and our prayers. This is a package family deal. We got people struggle with alcohol. We got people struggle with greed, with pride, with all these things.

You're not going to beat this stuff without him. And the sooner you seek his face in the face of all these problems and just say, "God, they all want to help and they're willing to help and they can help, but there's no one like You. You are my strength. You are my redeemer. You're the only one that can give me the power to live the way I'm supposed to live."

Isaiah 59. Go over a few pages over to the right. This is Isaiah writing, and basically, this is a whole nation he's talking about here. Isaiah 59, let's just read one and two. "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear."

Old Testament principle applies. You say you can't hear God, you can't see His face anymore? Just ask a simple question: Is there sin in my life that God is not going to put up with, that if I would just deal with it the way He wants me to deal with it, confess it, know that He is faithful and just to forgive me and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness, if I would just make things right with God, I could get back in fellowship with Him and see His face again.

If you go over to Acts, go over the New Testament into Acts. Acts chapter 20. Gosh, I don't have time to read all this, but 13, you can kind of see the island-hopping and city to city, and then let's go down to 17. From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; and how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

See, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. He's going to Jerusalem, stopping in all these places, and he knows deep in his gut it's not going to be good, but he's got to go and he's going anyway.

"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more." He tells them, "You're not going to see me ever again."

Jump down to verse 36. He's gone, he's met with them, he's about to leave. He's said his goodbyes, all these last closing statements. And then look at verse 36. And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

You know what? When you don't know somebody and they're leaving, you go, "Well, goodbye. It was really nice meeting you guys, and have a good trip, and God bless you. Well, we gotta go. We got a soccer game to get to. See you."

When you know somebody, you end up on their neck. You're hugging them. You're kissing them. These people are weeping. They are family. They are friends. They are brothers and sisters. There is a bond here, and the bottom line of all the things he said, the one that disrupted them so much was that "You're not going to see my face anymore." The same thing happened with the disciples. Jesus says He's leaving, going to send a Comforter. But where's Jesus? These disciples that had face-to-face contact with God in the flesh? How do you withdraw from that? How do you get over that?

Look at Romans 1, verse 11. Paul writing to the Romans here. Next book over, just keep going over, and I'm going to read you a bunch of these passages. Romans 1:11 and 12. Paul writing to them, he says, "For I long to see you." Why? Not just to let's hang out. "I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established—that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me."

I had some decision, something we were talking about this week, and for some reason, the elders could not get physically together. Somebody's car broke down, and so we had to rig some conference call. I don't want to do any more conference calls. We talked about it, we were discussing it, but I don't like conference calls. I want to see their faces.

Had another deal happen the other day, one of the guys in the church, and I sent him an email. Now, you know what? I don't like emails. You can screw your entire life up with email. Because you send an email, and the email I sent was: "Are we having the deal such and such a day?" And the one-word response—and if I didn't know the guy, I'd worry more—but one word came back, and it was the word "sure." That's all he said. Now, what does that mean? "Sure" or "Sure!" "Sure." And if you don't know the person, you're like, "Okay, so what'd you mean by 'sure'? Sure?" Now you start questioning.

So you start typing email, you think, "Well, there's no inflection here and I can't express this. Forget this, I'm calling him. They'll know what I mean here." But there's nothing like face to face. Now, it's going to take time. It's going to cost you. You're going to have to invest in somebody's life. But this is what it's about. And Paul set in a huge example here traveling—you've just got to go see a friend maybe. This guy got on boats, shipwrecked, all kind of persecution problems. And the bottom line was to physically be with these people and impart to them some truth and encourage them and make sure they're okay.

First Thessalonians 2. Listen to this stuff. First Thessalonians 2:17. Paul again writing here, "But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire." "I can't wait to see your face." "Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy." These were his kids in the faith. He couldn't wait to see them and see what was going on. Everybody needs it sooner or later.

First Thessalonians chapter three, keep reading into that next chapter. Let's pick up with verse three. Look at what Paul says. "Therefore, when we could no longer endure it"—we couldn't take it anymore, I was done, I could not take it anymore, I could no longer endure it—"we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ."

To do what? We had to see you. We had to hear what was going on with you. "So we sent him to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions." They were getting hammered with the same thing you and I get hammered with. Different eras, different culture, it's the same old stuff the devil pulls.

They said, "We couldn't take it anymore. We sent Timothy to establish and encourage you concerning your faith, that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain."

So Timothy goes down there. Pick up at verse nine. "For what thanks can we render to God for you, for all the joy with which we rejoice for your sake before our God, night and day praying exceedingly that we may see your face and perfect what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus Christ, direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." It's over and over and over again. Paul is concerned, focused on getting back to these people because he loves them and cares about them.

First Corinthians 13. There's a little verse tucked away in this whole chapter on love that is astounding to me as well. First Corinthians chapter 13, verse 12. He says, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly." It's like looking at the spiritual world and reality like you're looking through the bottom of a Coke bottle. You kind of see stuff but you can't really make it completely out, and it makes some sense but it's just like stained glass window, looking at the world through glass, through a mirror, a glass darkly.

But look at this: "Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as also I am known." It's a little foggy now, you can't make it out. But there is a moment in time—let me tell you something, I believe that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And if I take my last breath today, I will be standing before the God of the universe looking Jesus face to face. I'm not going to have to get in line behind somebody else. I will see my Savior.

This may cost you your stinking life. And the dying may be the easy part of the cost. You may live, and it cost you your life. You may find yourself selling something that's a prized possession to meet some need. I'm telling you, don't stay around here. This is going to cost you because it gets inside of you. It gets a hold of you. And you realize the world is in trouble, and there are people without basic things, and you can't unsee what you've seen.

You can't undo what God does in your heart. And you go back and look at the early church in Acts. Nobody had any lack. People sold land and possessions and whatever and said, "You know what? I don't need this stuff. There are people in need. We're going to fix this." I pray to God we become a pipeline, a massive pipeline that the more people show up, that God will bless us. And it's not about money building some kingdom, it's money to build His kingdom.

And that God says, "I found a place and they will pipe these funds and the resources needed to help people here and around the world, and that we will be a place where you come and go, 'It goes someplace and makes a difference.'"

Guest (Male): We'll get back to Richard in a moment to close out today's talk. But first, I want to share something with you about the program. Our mission is actually very simple: to take the planet. So it's our prayer that these daily talks from Richard aren't something you only hear and enjoy, but that they inspire you to share with others.

Together we can do this. The message of the gospel is something everyone needs to hear, and that's why it's a huge priority to us. And you can join us in this important mission. Call us at 855-6-RICHARD to say you're in, or you can get on board with us through our website, RichardEllis.com. Here's Richard with some closing thoughts for us.

Richard Ellis: Look at Revelation 22. Maybe we'll quit with this. Tucked away in Revelation 22, describing the end and what it'll be like, in verse 3. And it says, "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it"—talking about the city, heaven—"and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads." There is a day coming and you don't know when your day is. I don't know when my day is. The comfort I have is, if I drop dead today, I am out of here. I know exactly where I'm going to be.

You say, "Well, that sounds cocky and overconfident." It has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with God and His grace and His mercy and His love. I deserve jack. I deserve hell. I deserve nothing. But this God came along and said, "Here's the deal. You deserve exactly what you'd get, hell. But My Son is willing to go and I'm willing to let Him come, and we're going to sacrifice Him to get you alive, an eternal life and an abundant life. He's going to die, He's done that. They buried Him, I raised Him from the dead. It's a package deal. If you'll accept it as a gift, I'll let you in heaven one day and I'll change your life forever."

And you reach out the hands of your heart and say, "I'm in." And the only reason I'm in heaven one day is because of what Jesus did for me and gave me the faith even to respond to what He did. I got nothing to do with it. I am completely at His mercy.

I suggest an about face before you face that God. If you look up the word "about face," it means a 180 turn to the right from the position of attention, a reversal of direction, a reversal of attitude, behavior, or point of view. "Repentance" is another great word in the Bible that's used to change your mind. And when you change your mind, you change your direction. It'll put you in a completely different frame of mind, point of view. You'll end up in another place.

I've seen some hard cases. People who would damn you to hell and take you with them on the highway to hell, just look you straight in the eye, no reservation about anything. And God get a hold of their heart, make an about face, and go the other direction. I highly recommend it.

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