Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: Today on Richard Ellis Talks. You don't make heaven without Jesus. And it's not about just believing that he existed or that he lived or that he died or even that he was raised from the dead. You can believe all those facts and still end up in hell. You say, "Well, how's that possible?" Because you don't personalize it. You can have cases of deodorant; if you don't wear it, it ain't helping you.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. We're taking these few days to share some very important news with you. As we all know, the world is a very troubled place right now, and maybe your own heart has also felt very heavy for many reasons.

Let me say that you don't have to walk this out alone. This program is committed to sharing the good news that promises hope for the hurting. And we have a great opportunity to come alongside of your mayday, mayday, mayday call. More on that later, but for now, with today's talk, here is Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is In the Way. First question today is this: are you in the way? Turn to John chapter 14. Some of this comes out of some reading and study I've been doing every day myself out of the book of Acts. Let me start out by reading this little passage in John 14 and connect it to something else here that I think is pretty fascinating.

John 14, just for the sake of context, let's read verse 1 and following. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you." And this is Jesus speaking. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; and where I am, there you may be also."

And then he says this in verse 4: "And where I go you know, and the way you know." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you're going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, and a lot of people who have done church for a while know this phrase, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him and have seen him."

Now, what I'm highlighting here is the first thing he said, "I am the way." The word here he used is the word "hodos" in Greek. I usually don't throw out Greek, but it's the same word that'll be used again in some other verses I'm going to read you. He said, "I am the way." Now, what drives a lot of people crazy about Christianity, about church, and it seems that it doesn't drive them crazy about Islam or anything else. We put up with all kinds of mess from every religion in the world, but the second you say that Jesus is the only way to heaven, people freak.

They flip completely out. "You're narrow-minded." You've never heard anybody say that a Muslim is narrow-minded, but no one's afraid of saying Jesus is not the only way. If you get in these conversations, you don't have to be harsh; you don't have to be mean. The safest thing in the world, if you don't want to say something to offend someone, then quote Jesus. Let him be the problem. What did he say? "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me." That's what Jesus said. If you don't like it, argue with him. Don't argue with me; I didn't say it. I'm just quoting him.

Now, if it's not true, then we're a bunch of idiots. We have wasted all of our lives; we are pursuing something that is irrelevant because if what he says is not true, we've been made fools of. But if this is the deal and he said it and it's true, there's something to this. Now, the word he uses here, he says, "I am the way." It simply, in some places, means way, wayside, journey, highway; there's some other things it can be used in the Bible. It's simply a way, a traveled way, a road, a journey, traveling, metaphorically a course of conduct, a way and manner of thinking, feeling, deciding.

So, if you're looking for the way, he is the way. You say, "Well, that's too simple." That's just how this is. The gospel is very simple. As it turns out, the way you're looking for is a person. It's not a map; it's not some directions, although the Scriptures do give us a lot of directions. The way is actually a person. Now, go to Acts chapter 9, verse 2. I'm going to fire off a bunch of scriptures here in Acts. You're just going to have to go left to right and show you where this is used.

It starts turning up this same word, but if you see how it's translated in our Bibles, it gets a capital W all of a sudden. It's not referring so much to Jesus as what they started calling Christianity. In Acts 9:2, "And asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way." So these Christians were of the Way. "Whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem." Now, this is talking about Paul, who is persecuting Christians. He said, "Give me documentation so I can go down to Damascus and arrest these people, have them killed." They were described as the people of the Way.

Now, here's my question: are you in the way? Are you a person of this way, the Way that's described here? You say, "Well, what are you talking about?" These people were so easy to find because they had picked a direction; they had picked a person in Jesus Christ and were following this way so obviously that someone could come into town and go, "There they are. Those are the people of the Way. Arrest them, take them in."

Go to Acts chapter 19, verse 9. Another place here. Acts 19:9 says this: "But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus." Go to Acts 19:23: "And about that time there arose a great commotion about the Way." They keep referring to this thing, the Way, as these Christians. People were perturbed. You either joined the Way or you got away from the Way.

Acts 24:14. He says, "But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers." This is Paul speaking here publicly. "Which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets." So, they're calling it a sect; I'm telling you I'm following a person. I'm following this thing we call Christianity, but they called the Way in this deal.

Acts 24:22, just a little farther down: "But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the Way." Now, this is a governmental official who knew something about the Way. He had heard about this Christian thing, this Jesus thing, so he was informed, "having more accurate knowledge," it says, "of the Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, 'When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.'" You're going to have to go back and read around all these verses to see what's going on, but Paul had pursued the Way. He was a part of the Way now. He had tracked them down to hunt them down to begin with; now he is a part of it, defending it, living it, and so clearly a part of the Way that he had been arrested, it was so obvious.

Now, the first question again: are you in the way? And you say, "But you always go back to Jesus, and you tell us that he died, was buried, and raised from the dead, and that if we just pray and believe that Jesus died and was buried and raised from the dead, that we'll go to heaven." I got kids in this church that kid me and say, "You're going to share the gospel, you're going to cry, you're going to do one other thing." I can't remember what it was they said I do. It should be predictable. I've got nothing else to talk about.

If I get up here and read you some cute stories I found in National Geographic or whatever, who cares? You say, "Well, all you do is read Scripture." Who cares what I think? There's got to be a whole book here; let's read what God says about life, about the Way. Let's do that. You've got to make sure you're in the way. And the only way to get in the way is to get the Way in you. You don't make heaven without Jesus. And it's not about just believing that he existed or that he lived or that he died or even that he was raised from the dead. You can believe all those facts and still end up in hell.

You say, "Well, how's that possible?" Because you don't personalize it. You can have cases of deodorant; if you don't wear it, it ain't helping you. You have to apply these truths to your life. At some point, you reach out the hands of your heart and you say, "God, I hear all this story; I realize I need it. I want the Way in me so that I can find my way from now on, not just to heaven but through this maze of life because I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what I'm doing, and without you, I'm not going to make it." So literally, they started calling this thing the Way because so many people have lost their way or never had their way in the first place, or that's what we always just have our way all the time; that's all we got.

Let me go to one other one: Hebrews chapter 12. Now let me make an assumption because it's church; you know, we're gathered here as some Christian people. I'm not assuming everybody here is, but let's make an assumption that at least some of you have figured out you're a part of the Way. Now, my second question is, what's in the way? And I found a ton of verses, but I don't have time to read all of these things, so I'm going to pick one here in Hebrews chapter 12. This is something if you go to church any amount of time you're going to hear, but enough hearing it already; do something about it.

My problem is not finding the verses and telling you what the Bible says; my struggle is actually doing it myself. And until you start to apply this stuff and make some decisions every day of your life about things that come along the way, your life is not going to change. Hebrews 12:1: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses," referring to chapter 11 about all the people of faith, he says, "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Okay, what is it that's getting in the way? And it's not a hard question. Okay, let's just do a show of hands. How many of you—and I've done this before—how many of you know for a fact what it is what he's describing here, every weight, the sin which so easily ensnares you? If you know what the sin that so easily ensnares you is, raise your hand. My hand is up. Okay, a lot of hands up. Make a decision! You know what it is. What are you doing about getting whatever is in the way out of the way so you can be a part of the Way that you're supposed to be living?

You say, "Well, I'm praying about that." Enough praying about it already! And how's that working out for you? Well, isn't that a bad thing? It's great to pray, but what you're probably doing is going, "Oh God, I screwed up again. I'm back." Why don't we do a little praying before we go to ask for forgiveness and do a little praying about not doing it in the first place? I have proven with my ensnarings that I cannot do it by myself. I have to have help. It took me forever. I went kicking and screaming. I can tell you where I was sitting in an Excursion behind a building when I picked up the phone and called my buddy John.

I said, "John, I don't know what you're thinking, and I don't like this conversation because I wasn't raised being accountable and having people ask me questions, but I am not going to make it by myself. I'm going to go down in flames unless I have somebody. Have you been thinking that?" And he says, "I've been thinking that." And I said, "Would you agree to meet with me once a week as long as it takes so we can have some protection in our life?" And you know what? I still struggle even meeting with him. So how am I doing? Not very good.

But I refuse to say, "Well, it's just a—these are just bad habits that we have. These are just struggles in life." You know what? It's sin. God's got a cure for sin. He ain't got a program for all that other mess you're coming up with. Excuses. Call it something different, then you can keep it. It's in the way of you getting on with the life that God has planned for you and designed for you. John Maxwell, he's an author, motivational speaker, says this: "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." And I love what James Crooke said: "The man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." Think about it.

If I said everybody in this room today who is a follower stand up, if I told you to do that, would you stand? And then if I said, "Everybody standing now, how many of you, if you're a leader, remain standing?" You say, "Well, what do you mean? A leader in this church?" No, I just mean, are you a leader? You say, "Well, what do you mean, am I a leader?" If you're a leader, you know you're a leader. If you're a father, you are a leader. You say, "Well, I never saw it that way." Then get your whatever and do something about it. You are a leader, for God's sake.

If you're a mother, you're a leader. If you're breathing and you're a Christian, at some point, you are supposed to be a leader. There's no way around it. If you're a disciple, that means you are following, and God leads his followers into leading other followers. That's disciples making disciples. I'm always fascinated how long people can come and just sit in a church and listen, listen, listen, and then never do anything. And you go, "Well, they didn't stay around." Of course they didn't; they're not involved in the process. They don't get it. They want their ticket to heaven, give a little money, think that's it. You've got to get some dirt under your nails or you're not involved.

You say, "Well, how do you do that?" I watch guys come into our church out of prison. Some guys will, not that everybody—sooner or later most people here end up there, but not there yet. Guys coming out of prison, they're a mess. Their lives are upside down; struggle, struggle, struggle trying to make it on the outside. And then I've seen a few guys make the turn, and it is extraordinary. They grow up, they hang on, they do the right thing. It's not that they completely stop struggling, but they stay in the Way, and then some other guy comes out, and they have some empathy, some sympathy, some understanding of what it's like to come out of that environment. And they take that person on and say, "I'll stand with you, I'll walk with you, I will not abandon you because somebody helped me, and by God, you're not going down on my watch." And they become leaders of followers who turn into leaders of followers of leaders of followers, and it's been going on for thousands of years. The question is, are you going to let whatever's getting in the way in your life to shut you down, or are you going to get in the deal?

Go to Matthew chapter 18. I'm running out of verses, so you're lucky. But my last question is this: are you in the way? And it is possible that somebody, your children, your wife, your husband, your family, your friends, your coworkers—somebody's not making it in this life because we—me, you—are in the way. In Matthew 18:6, Jesus drops the hammer on these people. He's got little kids around him, little children. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes."

Now, that's harsh, but it is possible for us to get in the way of what God is doing. Go to Matthew chapter 23. He goes specifically to the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious leaders who should have known better. Matthew 23:13: "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." And I don't know if it's people in the room here today or somewhere outside there; you better be careful who you listen to because they may shut you completely out of heaven. They won't make it, and you won't either because you're listening to garbage.

First John chapter 2. I'm going to take a little time and read this, and I think that's my last one. And this is very practical, very cut to the chase. First John 2:1, talking to Christians, refers to them here, "My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin." What an extraordinary concept. We think the Bible is written to us because we are sinners and we do sin. He's saying here, "I'm writing this to you so you won't sin." Enough of having Scripture that applies to us once we've screwed up; how about some Scripture that helps us not screw up in the first place?

He says, "Okay, you don't want to sin? I'm writing you this so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, if you happen to sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." And it doesn't mean that everyone's saved, they just don't know it, universalism. It means that it's available to everybody, but you have to respond to what he's offering. Verse 3: "Now by this we know that we know him." And I love the way the Bible is pretty clear. You say, "Well, I'm a friend of God." You sing the song, wave your hand, "I'm a friend of God." Good for you. How are we going to know that's the case, that you actually know him? "If we keep his commandments." Are you doing the deal? Not a bunch of rules and regulations; are you living the life? Am I actually even attempting to live the life?

"Now by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He who says, 'I know him,' and does not keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked." So how much is my life like Jesus' life? What would Jesus do?

Verse 7: "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining." Now look at verse 9: "He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." Now, here's one of the simple dipsticks for me. All I got to do is look around and say, "How am I doing in terms of loving, forget the world, just my own brothers and sisters in Christ?"

And the Holy Spirit comes along and says, "You are in the way. I'm trying to do something here. I'm trying to change the world; I'm trying to reach the people on the planet right now, and you're supposed to be a part of the process, not in the way of the Way. Get out of the way!" You may not know who said this, but it was Thomas Paine, part of our history back in the 1700s, 1800s, who said, "Lead, follow, or get out of the way." Get out of the way, get in the way, or lay aside whatever is in the way of your living the Way, or get out of the way if you're getting in the way of others finding the Way.

Now, this isn't a very complicated message because I don't think the whole deal's very complicated. And you showed up at church; you know what, let's give everybody a golf clap for showing up at church. Good for you. You say, "Well, are you mocking us for coming to church?" You know, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but if you're going to come sit your butts down here for the next however many years and just listen to me talk and not apply this stuff, we're going nowhere. You've got to wake up in the morning and go, "God, I'm a leader. If I'm not a leader yet, I am a follower, and I'm going to make sure people around me that are leading me were in the way that I'm supposed to be going. And I'm praying, God; I'm asking you, raise me up. Get me to the place where it's not just people helping me for the rest of my life. I want a piece of this. I want to be healthy enough. I want to be whole. I want to lay aside this junk that's tearing my life up so when somebody else tells me their stuff, I can say, 'You know what? I struggled, still struggle, have struggled with this, and here's how I did it. Let me show you how to deal with that,' and help somebody else move along so when I'm dead and gone, I've left something in process."

But it's not going to happen unless you make a decision. You say, "Well, you're asking us to accept Christ and be saved." No, I'm not talking about heaven now; I'm talking about being saved from yourself and get out of the way. Now see, my problem is, you know, we got elders in this church, we got deacons in this church, we got some designated leaders. But if anything's going to happen through this church, I know this is a terrifying thought, but you're it.

You know, we got some visitors here that may come and go, but some of you have been here for a while, and you're going, "You talking to me?" Whatever is going to happen in this church or through this church is going to happen through the people sitting right here today. And that's a terrifying thought to me personally, but because I'm in here too. Shoot, I'm out of time, but that never stopped me before, so I'm going to say this last thing. I can go down the rows almost seat by seat, almost everybody in this room, and I'd love to call some names because as frustrating as it is sometimes, you can't imagine how encouraging it is. And I can tell you story after story of people getting off their spiritual butts and engaging and doing something. And their life is changed, and the people's lives they're engaged with are being changed, and God's at work. And I'll take that going on any day over the fanciest building on the planet and the biggest show you got because I am seeing the God of the universe working in my life, in your life, in our body, in our family, in our lives, and the world is being changed, and it doesn't get much better than that. So get out of the way and make sure you're in the way so we can do this thing. All right, let's pray.

Father, so many times we're so in the way that people who are actually looking for you can't get to you because we are such an offense with our own lives or lack of living this way that they can't even get to you, Lord. So help us get out of the way so somebody can find you through a life that's lived that resembles you, Lord Jesus. Father, it is pretty simple. I don't know what it is that came to people's mind; I know my stuff, and I pray today for people who actually raised their hand and know what's up and what their current struggle is. I pray that however they make decisions, that today a decision would be made if it's been made a million times before, literally maybe, that one more time they'd say, "God, I need some help. I need you to help me, and I've asked you to help me before; maybe I just need to acknowledge that I can't do this by myself. I need to get involved with some people—men with men, women with women, whatever it takes, Lord, somebody that I can just sit down and say, 'Look, I am so screwed up you can't even imagine. Will you help me stay in the way and do what I'm supposed to do?'"

Maybe somebody doesn't even know you today, Lord, and something about all this resonates and makes sense, and it's like their eyes have been opened, their ears unstopped, their heart kind of receptive like never before, and they'd simply say, "God, it's me. I've never realized what my problem was. I've been trying to make a way and find the way without you, and I realize today you are the way, you are the truth, you are the life, and I can't get where I'm trying to go without you. No one comes to the Father but through you." So Jesus, I need you, and I believe that you lived, that you died on that cross, shed your blood, you were buried, raised from the dead to get me the free gift of eternal life and the free gift of my sins being forgiven. Forgive me of my sins. I accept this gift of eternal life; come live in me and through me, change me from the inside out, and help me be what's been talked about here today and find the way and do what it is I'm supposed to do. Father, thank you for being patient with us. Help us make today count, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

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