Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: At some very basic point, sooner or later you have to decide, I want to live. I don’t want to just survive, I don’t want to just exist, I really want to live and have a purpose for being alive. Because if you come up with a purpose for being alive, then you kind of have to say, okay, am I taking care of myself so I can accomplish that purpose?

Guest (Male): You’re listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Richard’s style is unlike anyone else’s, where he shares the life-changing message of the gospel in a way that’s real, refreshing, focused, and fun. We know that life is pretty challenging these days, but these talks will help you meet those challenges head-on with biblical truth, encouragement, and direction.

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Richard Ellis: The title of today’s message is Don’t Kill Yourself. You wouldn’t have to be around here very long to hear me say that repeatedly. You think it may seem a little odd to say that, except that more people than you think have thought about it, are thinking about it, or might in the future. You say, well, I would never think about that. You don’t know how bad it can get. You say, well, I’m not going to commit suicide. But you’re killing yourself.

You say, well, how am I killing myself? Drugs, alcohol. You say, I’m not killing myself. If you drink and drive, you have a higher possibility, a higher chance of killing someone else and yourself than you would if you didn’t drink and drive. Why are you drinking? Why are you driving? Oh, it was an accident, that’s why I died.

In a lot of people, a lot of churches, it’s hard to talk about weight, about food. You say, I’m not killing myself. You’re eating yourself to death. You say, well, at least I’m not smoking meth anymore and now I’m just eating. You can still die. You say, I just can’t quit. We’ll get to that in a minute.

At some very basic point, sooner or later you have to decide, I want to live. I don’t want to just survive, I don’t want to just exist, I really want to live and have a purpose for being alive. Because if you come up with a purpose for being alive, then you kind of have to say, okay, am I taking care of myself so I can accomplish that purpose? So yours might be not involuntary manslaughter; it might be involuntary self-slaughter. Because suicide even that way is murder. You’re killing yourself.

You say, well, why would somebody be desperate enough to want to die? Go to 1 Kings chapter 19. You can turn to that one, 1 Kings 19 verse four. And here Elijah is coming off a mountaintop experience, an amazing come through by God, intervened, showed up massively. And look where Elijah ends up.

1 Kings 19:4: "But he himself, Elijah, went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die and said, it is enough. Now, Lord, take my life for I am no better than my fathers." In other words, I want to die. So depressed, so overwhelmed, so down, literally wanted to die.

You say, well, what do you do in those moments? It’s not what you do in those moments; it’s what you do before those moments that saves your life in those moments. People say, I don’t need to know scripture. You better know some scripture to counteract the attack that comes in those moments. Because when the devil fills your brain with thoughts of killing yourself, and when you are completely overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, you’re just like, I can’t take this anymore, and the devil goes, "Here, I got an answer: kill yourself."

Then you see people pulling out guns, playing with guns, just all kind of crazy stuff starts to happen that you would never do if you weren’t in that low spot. So you better have a weapon to pull and use that weapon on the enemy when the enemy is using a weapon to attack your mind in those moments. You say, well, I’ve never been there. I hope you never are. But if these great men in scripture can be there, you can be there.

Look at Jonah chapter four verse eight. Now Jonah has screwed up, he’s gone the wrong way, finally went back to Nineveh, did what he was supposed to do, and Nineveh repents. But if you remember the story of Jonah, the reason he did not want to go to Nineveh and preach and do what God told him to do was he knew if he preached, they’d repent and they’d all be saved and he didn’t like that.

So he finally gets to Nineveh, he preaches to them, the king, everybody repents. They’re like, "Okay, God’s right, we’re wrong," and the whole city is spared, saved. And then he goes out and look at Jonah chapter four verse eight: "And it happened when the sun rose that God prepared a vehement east wind and the sun beat on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself and said, it is better for me to die than to live." And he had just come off a massive victory.

Whether you know this or not, you think, man, I’m on a high point, I’ve never seen God work in my life like He has now, and you think it’s all going to be great from here. That’s when people get taken out. Be very careful after tremendous victories. You become extremely vulnerable. I do not know why this is. It can happen in a business situation; you fight, fight, fight, fight, fight trying to get something accomplished. It finally, the deal is sealed and you make it and you’re all like, "Wow, this is what I waited for," and then you crash because there’s nothing to look forward to, it’s done, it’s behind you. And you’re like, "Now what?"

And then you can think, well, if that was it and it didn’t fix it, what am I going to do now? And you think, how could I be thinking about killing myself? People do it every day. Or they lose all their money or something that was more valuable than life to them and they think, I can’t live without this person or this thing or this job. So where does this come from? By the way, Elijah and Jonah did not kill themselves because that’s not God’s plan.

Listen to this: it is never God’s purpose for a believer to kill themselves. You say, well, that’s what I believe God’s will was for my life. It is not. So if you’re praying, "Oh, dear God, show me if I’m supposed to kill myself," stop praying that. Say, "God, help me not kill myself," because that is not His will.

John chapter 10 verse 10. This may be my most quoted verse in the whole Bible, but we’re going at it again because not everybody listening has heard these verses. John chapter 10 verse 10: "The thief," and this is Satan is the thief in this story, "does not come except," this is the only reason he comes, "to steal and to kill and to destroy."

So where do these thoughts, where does this stuff come from? The enemy. His sole purpose for your life... You say, no, the devil wants to bless me. He does not want to bless you. And if he somehow is able to quote-unquote bless you, there’s a hook in it. His sole purpose is to steal, kill, and to destroy. And then Jesus says, "But I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly."

Stay with me a minute. Sometimes we get so focused on the sacrifice that we cannot see the success that will come from doing what God said. Get your eyes on the prize, not on what it’s going to cost you to get there. Because if you just stare at the sacrifice and go, "Oh my gosh, I’m going to have to give up this, this, this, and this." But if you do what He says to do, what if that accomplishes tremendous things not only for Him but for you?

And one of the number one things people come back with is, "But I’m going to miss out, I’m going to suffer." You’re going to suffer either way you go. Now, let’s talk about Judas. This man spent three years with Jesus in the flesh, Jesus, God-man, man-God, in the flesh, and still missed it. Jesus comes to give him life. He chose to take his life. Jesus is about giving life, beginning with His own life. Satan, as we’ve seen, is about taking life, beginning with yours.

Go to Matthew 26:24. And this is one of the most perplexing things for me in scripture. There’s a part of me that just somehow, and I’ve scoured the scriptures trying to find this, but what if Judas had a shot? What if you get to heaven and, surprise of surprises, he made it? Nobody makes it, even Judas being one of the 12, without believing what everybody else has to believe.

Look at this verse, Matthew 26:24: "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him," in other words, He’s going to die the way it was written, "but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would have been good for that man if he had not been born." Judas. It would have been better for Judas if he had never been born.

Go to John chapter 17 verse 12. "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me, I have kept and none of them is lost except the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled." Who’s the son of perdition? It’s Judas. Did Judas make heaven? No. Why did he not make heaven? Because being around Jesus, being around religious things, just believing even that He was the Messiah... Okay, you acknowledge, okay, I think He was, but if you do not personally appropriate who He is and what He did and internalize it, you won’t make it.

Now this is not for suicidal people here; this is for anybody who has thought, I have read about Jesus, I have been around Christian people, I was raised by a Christian godly mom or dad or both, I’ve been going to church, I give money to charity. You’ve got all these things going except that you don’t have Christ inside you, you’re not going to make it. It doesn’t mean if you’re a good person that’s a bad thing; it’s just being good is never going to be good enough. You have to find out and you say, well, I’m not sure. Then get someone that you know. I’ll stay all day and talk to people about this. You say, I’m not sure. I can help you be sure.

Because eternal life is a gift. Jesus died on the cross, shed His blood, buried, raised from the dead to purchase a gift. He offers it and you accept the gift and He comes to live in you, inside you and through you and change you. And when God moves in your body, you will know that. Don’t kill yourself.

Now, oddly enough, the devil says the same thing in a different way, don’t kill yourself. Turn to Matthew chapter 16. So God doesn’t want you to take your life, steal, kill, destroy. Satan does want you to take your physical life. Satan doesn’t want you to kill yourself spiritually, but the only way to follow Christ is to do that. You say, what do you mean? Matthew 16 verse 24: "Then Jesus said to His disciples, if anyone desires to come after Me," you say, well, I want to follow Jesus. This is how you do it. "Let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me."

What does the cross represent? It’s a symbol of death. So you’re going to have to be willing to take your life, like killing yourself. Not yourself, but your self and say, I will yield my self, my life, my choices, my will, me, and yield to His life. Take up your cross and follow Me. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the angels and then He will reward each according to his works."

So you say, well, what are you talking about? What is the benefit? You get life. You get eternal life, but you get something else between here and heaven. You get abundant life, a full life, the life He intended. I know of a young man right now and he is a believer and he is hellbent on doing whatever he wants to do. He is determined to prove that he can be a Christian and live like hell at the same time. You cannot do that. It never works. And he has no peace, no joy, the love of God is not shed abroad in his heart. He’s experiencing none of these things that God promises.

And if you met this guy and looked at him, he looks angry, he sounds angry, he is angry. And you say, well, why would he not yield? Hear the echo of that. Why would we not yield? Because we are so scared if I let go of this thing that I believe with all my heart is going to fix me, going to fulfill me, going to satisfy me, if I let go of that, then I’ll have nothing. If you let go of your life, that’s when you finally find it.

Go to Matthew 27. Now this is Jesus hanging on the cross. The religious people walking around the foot of the cross or at least close by where they can see Him being crucified and they are calling things out. Matthew 27:42. Listen to what they are crying out to the crowd: "He saved others, Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross and we will believe Him."

So what’s the challenge? He saved others; Himself He cannot save. What would have happened if He had saved Himself? We would be lost. You say, well, but that would have been better for Jesus. No, that’s why He came. You say, but it cost Him His life. Yeah, but look what it got Him. So if you take this same principle and say, well, but I’m afraid if I follow Him, deny myself, take up my cross, follow Him, then it’s not going to go well for me. It could not possibly go better for you than that. Because if you hold on to your life, in the scripture it says that verse we read, if you gain the whole world but you lose the only life you’re going to get, you lose your soul, you don’t accomplish what God intended for you, then what was it?

Be careful with these goals that you set. Goals can be catastrophic for human beings. Because if you get your goals wrong, it could cost you your life. You say, what do you mean? I have a goal to do such and such a thing, be famous, whatever it is, and you chase that to the no matter what. Almost make deals with the devil, if that’s what it takes to accomplish your goal. And then you accomplish it and you have it and you go, "What have I done?" And what if you stand before Christ and He goes, "What have I done? That’s not what I intended."

Luke 23, same scenario here, Luke 23 verse 32. Jesus on the cross: "There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right, one on the left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do. And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered saying, He saved others, let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."

"The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine and saying, if You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself. And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: this is the King of the Jews. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him saying, if You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."

What was He doing hanging on that cross? Making possible the saving of that thief. That thief didn’t make it. The guy on the other side did. Why? Because he realized who Jesus was and called out the other thief. They can hear each other talking on these crosses. "Dude, don’t you know we deserve to be here?" And looks at Jesus and said, "Remember me." And He said, "Today you will be with Me in paradise." That guy believed. You say, well, it was at the last second. It counts.

Galatians chapter two. Now I’m going to read you a couple more verses and these are very, very, very simple things to the Christian life that the average Christian never figures out. Because the devil is trying to kill you physically but trying to keep you alive spiritually as a Christian and trying to get you to say, no, no, no, no, I can do what I want to do, I got my ticket to heaven and I can figure it out, I can straddle the fence, I can be a Christian and I can be headed to heaven and live like hell and God’s okay with that because there’s grace.

But there is no peace, there is no joy, there’s no fruit of the Spirit being manifest in your life. You’re ineffective. So what does the devil say? He’s like, okay, if I can’t get them to kill themselves physically, then I’m going to get them to not kill themselves spiritually and live like there’s not even Jesus in them, live the old life, the old man, the old way. So ask yourself the question: do you look like your life has been taken over by Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ? Not acting like a Christian but every day, everywhere you go, the process, you see the old passions, the old desires for things, those are slipping away and He’s replaced those with new passions, new desires for things that He wants you to chase.

If you come up with nothing’s changed, it doesn’t mean you’re not a Christian; it just means you haven’t been willing to kill yourself. You won’t reckon yourself dead unto sin and alive unto God. Now you say, why do you keep going over this? Because you’re going to die this way if nothing changes. You say, but I’m a Christian, what else do you want? Okay, you answer that question. You’re a Christian, what else do you want? You may not know there’s anything else offered. I’m just going to wait till Jesus comes, I’m just going to wait to die.

And do what? "Oh, I’m going to make more money." For what? "I’m going to be famous." For what? "I’m going to be nicer." In whose name? Oh, he’s so nice. What they ought to be saying is, "You know what? He’s a piece of work, but he’s gotten really nice and the only answer has to be God because he’s a piece of work."

Look at this verse in Galatians chapter 2:20. And this is what Paul said about himself and what we need to say about ourselves: "I have been crucified with Christ." Okay, so if you and I died when Jesus died, then He was dead, we were dead. You say, well, how can I be dead and still be alive? Keep reading. "It’s no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Now, this is very hard to explain, I guess, because I’ve been trying to do it for a long time and you’re still staring at me. So here we go. So if I pulled out a gun and I said, I need somebody to come up here and shoot me because I don’t want to do it myself, shoot me in the head, and I fall down dead on the stage. And then Jesus comes and takes over my body and I come back to life and now it’s His body. Do you think my life would change?

Would I be the same person with Him living in my old body than I was when it was just me living in my old body? You would think so. Because it would seem it would be impossible for God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit to enter a human body and it not change that body and that person. So why is there no change? Because the old person that got shot in the head and we thought was dead goes, "Guess what? I’m not dead."

And now we got war because I’m going to do what I want to do, even with Jesus living in the house. And now you wonder why you have so much anxiety, so much conflict as a Christian. Because the Holy Spirit says, "My body." You go, "No, big boy, not your body, my body." Well, this is what I’d like us to do today. We’re not doing that today; we’re doing what I want to do today. I don’t think we should be smoking that. Well, take a seat, big boy, we’re smoking it.

Because you don’t work. You’re supposed to calm me down, you doesn’t work, this is going to calm me down. I’m anxious. Well, here, do it my way. No, we’re not doing it your way; we’re going to do it my way. What if you woke up in the morning and said, okay, Lord, help me get my head around this. So this is like I just killed myself and You’re going to take over and I’m going to physically yield my body like a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to You, which sounds pretty reasonable.

You say, well, then am I possessed? You are, whether you like it or not; it’s just a matter of whether He’s running the show or not. You say, well, what would that life look like? You shouldn’t be asking that question if you’re a Christian, unless you’re just a baby Christian; you should know something about that life. Because the longer you live that life, the better it goes when He’s running it than when you’re running it, and the more of it you yield to Him. And before you know it, He’s running everything. Deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Him. You go, I don’t know what that looks like. Let me tell you something, it’s looking better and better for me every day. Every day.

And you will find... I had a conversation with a guy today and he’s having a hard time moving forward. And I said, then go back. I think he has some substance abuse issues. I said, okay, then go back where you came from, go back to that. And he was like, no. I said, why? Because that’ll kill you. There’s no life back there. I said, then you’ve got to move forward. He was describing his old life and he said my whole mind like confusion, but everything was about going after that.

Now listen to me. If your life is consumed with sin, there is nothing but the sin to chase. The passions, the desires, if it’s sex, if it’s drugs, if it’s alcohol, if it’s anger, whatever it is, everything about you is focused on that. That is what I’m going to do, that’s what I’m going to be. When you yield your life to Him and you deny yourself and take up your cross and reckon yourself dead to all that, then the amazing thing that happens is all that passion and drive that was destroying you now starts chasing Him.

You’ve proved with the evil chase that you have chase. And now all of a sudden all that energy, all that passion starts going after Him because you, in the same way you can be addicted to things that will kill you, you can be addicted to something that once you’re dead, He gives you life.

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, richardellistalks.com. You’ll find today’s talk right there in the talks page, along with all of Richard’s 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: richardellistalks.com. And Richard’s back now to wrap up today’s talk.

Richard Ellis: Now, is it great to become a Christian? Yeah, but that’s just the start. Is it great to end up in heaven? Yeah, but you’re not there yet and I’m already telling you you can’t kill yourself, that’s not His will. So what if you live? I know this is terrifying, but what if you live? Then live.

What did He say? Thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I’ve come that you might have life. Okay. But then He says, and have it more abundantly, or to the full, to the max. Why do people do all these things they do? They’re trying to get off, they’re trying to get high, they’re like, "Oh, I’m going to shoot this up and I feel alive." You want to feel alive, let Jesus live.

You will never feel more alive than to let Him take over your heart, your life, your mind, your will, your emotions, your body, everything about you. And then you find yourself in places speaking to people and writing checks and doing things you never would have done. But you’re going, "My gosh, why did I miss out on this life before?" Instead of it all being about me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. What about me? Who’s going to do something for me? He already did something for you.

He gave His life. You say, that doesn’t make sense. He died so I can live. Then He says now I want you to die so He can live in you and through you. And then the whole world starts to change. Your world starts to change. If this stuff ever starts making sense, you won’t have much trouble witnessing to people because you’ll have something to tell them.

Jesus said what? Follow Me. And what does that involve? Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow Him. But He said, "Follow Me, I’ll make you fishers of men." Because then you’re like little kids possessed by a living God. And something happens and you go, you can’t imagine what happened to me. I was kind. I was kind. And I’m not kind. It has to be God. And then they think about their deal and go, "Wow, wonder if your God could help me?" I’m like, "Yeah, He can help you too. Let Him move in. Let Him take over."

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