Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: Today's message is Inner Light. We'll move through these pretty quickly today, but let me tell you briefly where we're coming from today. I was not born in a church, but as long as I can remember, I used to sit on our front row of church. My dad was an evangelist for a long time, and I spent day after day after day, night after night, weeks on end, in a church.

I've seen all kind of churches. Everybody's been to church, everybody knows about God, they just get away from Him, then they go back. Let me tell you something: not everybody's been to church, not everybody knows about God, and some people aren't coming back, they're showing up for the first time just trying to figure out what the heck's going on and who this God is and if He can help in some way, if He's a personal God or if He's just some higher power out there that's an impersonal God. People are searching.

One of the most devastating things about church to me and religion—and I'm calling religion, some people say, "Well, I don't believe in organized religion." Well, that's why we're so disorganized. But anyhow, some say, "I don't believe in organized religion. I don't think church and all this stuff works." Don't throw the whole thing out. And one of the reasons we try to be so real and slow the pace down and anybody who comes in says, "You know, something's going on here. This isn't some program, it's not a circus, it's not a show. These are real people with real stuff, and it looks like they're getting some real answers."

As awesome as church can be and as amazing as it is to see your life changed for eternity, there is something that happens and something that I experienced. Some of this is going to apply to our church specifically, but we are at a very critical point in the life of this church.

This is going to sound maybe a little twisted and a little crazy, but in a way, the devil himself has a way of blessing us with more people. If you make your goal and your agenda people in a building and a lot of people, the devil will send you people. He'll stack the deck. You want people? That's what you're after? I'll send you all kind of people. And literally, a church can get infiltrated with the enemy.

And people who have no desire—you say, "No, I've never heard that." Let me tell you something: there are people out there, there are satanic groups who sit around—you say, "Well, I don't believe in that." That's your problem. They exist. You say there's no devil? He's out there. They sit around and literally pray when we pray for the church, they pray against the church.

And they might pick a couple and say, "You know what? You guys go that church. Something's going on down there. We're going to stop it." And they will pray against this church. They could come and get involved in this church, get in a position of leadership, and do stuff to screw the thing completely up. Let me tell you something: I am not interested in that. I'd rather stay just like this for the next 20 years and pray and be safe than to get big where people go, "Wow, it's a successful church."

Let me tell you what will make this church successful: not just that we make babies, that we have these Christians, people who become Christians, but that we raise these babies. And whether you know this or not, the purpose mission statement of this church is three words: disciples making disciples. It is not enough just to introduce somebody to the God of the universe and give them life insurance, eternal life insurance, and let them know, "Now when you die you're going to go to heaven. Your life may be hell, but you will make it into heaven."

We're not going to help you get from here to death, but most people's problem isn't dying and living forever, it's living and having to live now. They're trying to figure out how they're going to make it today, this week, this month, for the next few days. I'm going to talk to you today about inner light, and it's not just getting the light, but it's staying in the light. And we're going to look at who the light is and how you do that.

You have got to and we have got to slow down enough to personally know whether we are walking in this light continually or if we just got a little light and we're going to hang on 'til the end. It's not just about you and I understanding about eternal life and living this life, but it is also about being able to give it to somebody else.

What is this disciples making disciples? It is somebody who is a follower of Jesus Christ who can help somebody else become a follower of Jesus Christ. Where I sit down with Michael and Michael says, "Okay, I know if I die now I'm going to heaven because I've received this gift of eternal life. Now what's the next step?" It's me leading Michael to get to a point where he can walk and talk and breathe and live the Christian life in a way that he could sit down with the next person and say, "Here's how you do it."

Why is this so important? Because if you come to this church or any church and you get even eternal life settled and you don't learn how to live an abundant life and walk with God, you're going to get sucked back into the world within a matter of weeks if not months. I can name you the people. I have friends, we know people that have come through here and they don't get involved, they won't follow anybody.

I spent 20-something years of my life wrestling with this. Why? Because I did not want to be under anybody else's authority. I didn't want any accountability. I didn't want anybody knowing what I was doing, what I was thinking, what I was involved in. I loved my life and my lifestyle and my sin more than I loved walking with God. But let me tell you what will happen: you're not going to be able to take it much longer sooner or later, because you'll be so miserable. You'll get your way. You may get what you want, but you won't want what you got.

Sooner or later, I say this, you've got to cry "Uncle" before you ever say "Father." You've got to say, "God, I give up, I yield, I'll do it your way. I have made a wreck, a mess of my life and I can't live this way anymore." I'm not saying you're not going to have fun living in sin. You can have a blast. You want to go out there and party and have a big time? Let me tell you something: you're going to have a big time.

But it's like buying something on credit. It's fun at the moment, but the second you walk out the door you've got an old car or old piece of clothing and a lot of time to pay for it. And the bills just keep coming in and the interest compounds. That's not the right way to do it. You do it God's way, you may suffer a little bit upfront, but in the long haul it pays.

Look at John chapter 1, verse 4. This passage is talking about Jesus: "In Him was life," talking about Jesus, "and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Then down in verse 9: "That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world." If you came in here in the middle of the night in this room, curtains closed, you know what it would be? If the lights are all off, it would be dark. You say, "Well, that's pretty obvious, Richard."

There is something about the nature of darkness and light that darkness cannot swallow light. Does everybody understand this? If all you have is darkness, it's going to stay dark until light comes. But when there is light, you can't have darkness while there is light. It doesn't go both ways. When it is dark and light comes, the dark literally runs.

And I've said this before: why is it that most nightclubs—you know, why aren't they like a real happy nightclub where there's fluorescent cube beam lights everywhere? It's just you go in and it's the brightest place you've ever been in your life. Because you can't do the stuff you want to do in the light.

Why is it that most nightclubs have booths and corners and even private rooms? And it gets darker the farther back you go? Because there's something about what you can get away with in the dark that you would never do in the light. I guarantee, let's go Friday night, you pick the bar, and we'll go in, find the breaker box. Let the music be rocking, just let the place be going and blowing in the dark, and you flip the switch and turn the cleanup lights on. They will go bananas. The party will stop. You know why? Because light runs darkness right out of the building.

The same thing happens in your life. If you are living in the dark, literally. Now what is it like to live in the dark? If you've ever talked to anybody who's blind, it is not a good thing. You stumble around, you can't see, it changes your life to be able to see. And literally when Jesus came, it says about Him—turn over to John 8:12. Same book, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, just keep going a few pages. Now this is Jesus talking about Himself: "Then Jesus spoke to them again saying, 'I am the light of the world.'"

He literally is the light of the world. And when Jesus showed up, the reason He made such a huge difference is that there was darkness and lights come on. You know how the phrase people say, "It's like a light came on, all of a sudden I could see it." If you've ever had this happen reading the Bible, you're reading along the Scriptures and maybe for years you've read it and nothing happened, you didn't see it. And all of a sudden you're reading the same old verse and it's like, "Oh my gosh, I see it now." Why? Because there's light shed on it.

Now when you have Him in you, you have light—not just life in you, you have light in you so that when you read these things or you go to walk through your life, you can literally see. Why is it so many people say, "I'm trying to make decisions, I just can't see which way to go." It's not they can't see with physical eyes, they can't see with spiritual eyes. So many people out there are searching but literally in the dark.

Now let me tell you what's awesome, and some of you are experiencing this. You've got this light and the light is on and you're letting it shine, and people around you are getting hit by the light. Have you experienced this? And people who live in the darkness get close to you and it's kind of like a flashlight. You can be in the dark a hundred yards away, but when you get closer you start being able to see.

And these people around you start being able to see all of a sudden where they couldn't before. And it's off of your light, the light that's in you. Verse 12 again: Jesus spoke to them, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." This is about as simple as I can get it. You're either going to follow Him or you're not. I'm not asking if you know Him. I'm asking are you going to follow Him?

And it'll cost you. And we could go around the room starting with me, go person to person to person, and I say, "What's the deal? Why won't you follow Jesus?" "Oh, I got this thing. I love doing this. I'm just not going to quit drinking. I'm not going to quit doing crack. I'm not going to quit doing heroin. I'm not going to give up the money. I want to be rich. I'm going to get rich. I can't stop screwing around. Sex is my deal, I'm not letting go of it."

And Jesus comes along and says, "Look, whatever you're holding onto, My way is better. Follow Me." And we say, "God, I just can't follow You. It'll cost me too much. I'm having too much fun." Let me tell you something: if you're having so much fun, why the heck are you so miserable? Why are you even listening to this message? If the world's way and your way is so great, why even talk to God about it? Because something inside's not right.

And Jesus comes along and says, "Look, follow Me and you won't walk in darkness, but you'll have the light of life." I can literally sit you people down and look in their eyes and tell you if there's light or not. I can have a conversation that long, look somebody in the eyes, and there are people who it literally looks like it is just dark inside their body, inside of their head, inside of their eyes. It is like their eyes are just sunken back in their head and you look and if you jumped in, you'd never hit the bottom. It is so empty.

And I have seen those same people in conversations, the light come on, the darkness be driven out, and literally it's like light coming out of their head. There is a joy, there's life, there's light in there that was not there before. It's not a thing, it is a person.

And some people get connected to God, but they don't stay connected to God and they wonder, "Where did He go?" You've got to not just get the light, the Bible talks about walking in the light. "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." You can literally walk in the light.

Now keep going, this is not John, this is 1 John chapter 1. And we're going to start here with verse 5: "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you: that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." Jesus said, "I am the light." God and Jesus are one. God is light; in Him is no darkness at all.

Now look at verse 6. And guys, this has everything to do with church: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him"—we are in a relationship with Him—"and we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." Now how many people do you know—and it's one of the main questions, one of the top ten questions about God and the Bible: "Why are there so many hypocrites in the world?" Ever heard that question? If you're so worried about there being so many hypocrites, then let there be one less: you. Don't be pointing your finger out there and talking about all the hypocrites in the world. If you don't like hypocrites, then just don't be one.

This is hypocrisy: if we say we have fellowship—how many people do you know that walk around talking about God, claim to be talking with God, claim to know God, know all this stuff about God—but somewhere in the deal you say you have fellowship with Him but you walk in darkness? Then what does it say about you? We lie and do not practice the truth. They're lying. They claim to know God, it's all this God talk. And every once in a while I will sit down with somebody and I'll listen for a minute—and I'm not being judgmental or critical—but I listen and something inside of me says, "You know, this all sounds right, but I don't think this person believes or lives a lick of this thing." Ever met somebody like that? Then don't be one of those people.

Verse 7: "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light," then what happens? Philippians 4:6: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." And then in verse 7 it says, "And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

How do you know if you're being anxious or doing it by what the Book says? The Book says if you are anxious and you know you've given it to God, the way you'll know you're not being anxious anymore is you'll have a peace that passes all understanding. I love it when there's some indicator whether I'm doing it right or not. You either have a peace or you're being anxious; it's pretty clear-cut. In this deal he says if we walk in the light as He is in the light, there are two things that will happen. Look at them: we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Two things: we're going to have fellowship with each other and you're going to be free from guilt.

Let me tell you what makes me nuts when I go into churches: is when I see us talking about God and claim to walk with God and we can't stand each other. Let me tell you something: it's all over. We'll be another religious institution when we fill a building with people who claim to know God, sing songs to God, pray to God, and can't get along with each other.

You say, "Well, I don't like that person." I didn't say you had to like them, but you better love them. "By this will all men know that you are My disciples, My followers, if you have love one for another." Now you're sitting out there listening to this message going, "Well, how do I know it's working?" If you don't like or love other Christians, you're in trouble. If you don't like spending time with other Christians, you're in trouble.

You say, "Well, they're not my kind of people." If they're Jesus' kind of people, they're my kind of people. And if they're in His family, they're in my family, and I don't have to go bowling or skiing with them, but I better be able to sit with them for an hour and a half or have a little Bible study with them and be okay.

The world does not believe a word of what we say or even what we walk around doing sometimes because they look at us together and go, "You people don't even like each other. You badmouth, you criticize each other, you complain about each other, you devour one another," the Bible says. "You backbite, you stab each other. I don't want a God who gets people doing that."

When you're walking in the light, we will have fellowship with one another, the first thing. There's going to be a community, there's going to be a family that is safe, that'll take care of each other. There's one way to figure it out: are you walking in the light? The second thing is—and it's amazing that it's in here—and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

My nightmare for 20-something years is that I had fear and guilt about sins I had committed when I was a teenager, when I was in my twenties; I couldn't shake them. Stuff I had done and there was no way to get rid of it. And I'd read the Bible, somebody'd tell me, I'd hear sermons, but you know what? The bottom line was I'd wake up feeling guilty. I'd live my day feeling guilty. I'd go to bed feeling guilty and I'd think, "I'm going to die and go to heaven, I'll just make the best of it. Maybe that's just the way the Christian life is." Let me tell you something: that is not what Jesus died to get you.

And if you live day after day like somebody shoves a fork in your gut and cranks it one more time and one more time and you have fear and guilt and questions and you never can get clean from past sin, you're not walking in the light. Does that make sense? I am interested in helping people have fellowship with God, with each other, and get free from this guilt. And there is no way to get free from it apart from the blood of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood, that blood did some amazing things. It solved the problem of sin between us and God. And it's an amazing thing to think about blood washing anything away; seems like it'd stain and make a mess. This kind of blood changes everything. When Jesus died and shed His blood, your sins were paid for once and for all.

You say, "But you don't understand, I've raped somebody. I've had an abortion. I've killed somebody." See, if I go around the room, some of you got pretty heavy-duty stuff. And God sits on His throne and says, "You know what? Jesus died so you could be free, so you could be forgiven." And it's a free gift I'm offering you: forgiveness.

You know what? It's not that God's not offering it. It's not that His blood was not shed. It's that we just don't believe it. We won't accept it, we won't receive it. We won't forgive ourselves. We won't accept His forgiveness in our behalf. When you're walking in the light, you're going to have fellowship with other Christians and you're going to be free from guilt.

It's not that you'll never be guilty again because if you sin you're going to feel guilty, but the great news is you can go to God and say, "You know what? I screwed up again, I need forgiveness." And He says, "It's been provided, take it and let's go." Now I'm going to tell you how you take the dadgum planet: you take a group of people like this and you teach them to love one another and live with one another and have fellowship the way God intended and get free from their guilt that is a result of sin, and you'll stinking take the planet.

Because if you know that and you feel that and you live that, somebody's going to see that. And if they see that, they're going to ask about that. And if they ask about that, you're not going to be able to contain yourself; you're going to tell them about that. And when you tell them about that, they're going to believe what you're saying; it's going to happen to them.

And it is like a wildfire that spreads. You know what? Religion doesn't spread that way. It's fear and guilt, hammer it out, go to church, keep the rules. There's no life in that. There's no light in that. It's just a list of stuff you do. I'm talking about what Jesus said: "Out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water." It is a good thing to be a Christian.

It is a great thing to be free. It is a great thing to love people. I don't care what color you are. I don't care what your background is. I don't care how much money you make. In heaven it won't matter. And this is practice for heaven. And if you can't get along here, you're not going to like heaven.

All right, you say, "Well, how do you do this?" 1 John 1 again, verse 7: "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." Don't say you haven't sinned. If you've sinned, just admit it. You're hiding.

The Bible says if you cover your sins you won't prosper, but if you confess and forsake your sins you'll prosper. Get it out in the open. You know you've done it, God knows you've done it, just deal with it God's way. And you may not know how that is. Well, here it is, verse 9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I grew up in Brazil. My dad tells a story about a prostitute he met. And this prostitute said when she became a Christian she shared with my dad—she said, "For years I'd go out, I'd work, and I'd come home and I'd get in the shower and the bath. And I would scrub myself, I would scrub myself, and I would try to get clean, and I could never get clean. No matter how much I took a bath, I could never get clean; no matter how much soap, I could never get clean. When she accepted Christ, she said, 'I am finally clean.'"

He'll make you clean. If we confess our sins, God says, "I'm faithful, I'll do what I said, and I am just." See, the fair thing is for us to all get hell. But because of His justice in that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead to pay our way, now justice says we can be free because He died. He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of unrighteousness.

Guest (Male): Richard Ellis will return in a moment to wrap up today's talk with a few final words. But first, I want to share some important information about the program. The reason we do this is to share with you the good news. When you open your heart and life to the saving grace of Jesus Christ, that's the beginning point of the most amazing journey you'll ever experience. But it's also a journey that we want to join with you.

So if you've been on this road for a while or just getting started, let us know how we can help. Maybe you've got some questions, stuck in neutral, or even wondering how to take the next breath. We get it and want to help you in any way we can. Give us a call at 855-6-RICHARD. You can also connect with us through our website, richardellis.com. We're here to celebrate with you too.

So if this program has made a difference to you and encouraged you in any way, tell us about it. We'd love to hear your story. So let's keep this conversation going by giving us a call at 855-6-RICHARD or send us an email through our website, richardellis.com. That would really make our day to know how Richard's talks have helped you. Call 855-6-RICHARD or email us through the website, richardellis.com.

And speaking of the messages, you can find today's talk along with every audio and video message from Richard at our website, richardellis.com. Find on the prayer wall how you can join the team and even a place where you can ask any questions you have to get straight biblical answers. Check it out: richardellis.com. Finally, we really believe that these talks with Richard are making a big difference in your life.

So this is how you can make a difference to ours. You can contribute to this ministry by giving us a call at 855-6-RICHARD or at our website, richardellis.com. That's 855-6-RICHARD or richardellis.com. And Richard's back now to wrap up today's talk.

Richard Ellis: Guys, if there is anything I would wish for you that I spent 20-something years of my life not knowing and not having—I thought dying and going to heaven was a great thing, and I'm not saying it's not; it's a great thing. But I had days not that I wanted to die, I just didn't want to live. I didn't love God, I didn't love me, I didn't love anybody else around me.

I had fear, I had guilt, I read all this stuff about peace, joy, love, patience, long-suffering—all this I said, "Whatever, I don't have it and I don't even know if I know anybody that has it. I am tired of existing. If heaven is so great, then get me the heck out of here, because I have no real life down here." And somebody came along and helped me understand that all this stuff about peace and about loving God, yourself, and other people and getting your sins forgiven was a real deal.

Some of you can't take it much longer. You realize that? You've screwed up pretty bad and you're carrying it around, you're like, "I just don't want to live this way much longer." I am begging you in Christ's behalf: go to God and let Him have it. Admit it. Say, "God, I confess it. I know Jesus died to forgive me of this, and I don't know why it's taken me so long, but You can have it. I cannot live this." I ask You to make me clean.

How do you know if it's working? You're going to find yourself having fellowship, being a part of a community of believers, and the guilt's going to be gone. Now the good news, guys, is that if you don't think you're walking in this light—not that you don't have light, but you're not walking in it—the good news is that you can have it.

The sad thing is that somebody here will hear a message like this and realize there's a better way to do it and you hold onto your stuff. You will not repent, the Bible says. To repent simply means to change your mind. You will not change your mind. You say, "I have what I have, I'm going to keep what I've got. I don't care what God says, I'm going to do it my way." The Bible says repent, change your mind and say what God says about it, not what you say.

You're screwing your life up. That's all that's at stake here is your life, plus all the people that will be affected by you if you do the right or wrong thing. All this stuff that we offer—Bible studies, discipleship stuff, home groups, business groups—why do we do that? Just to go through some exercise? No, it's to help you discover not just that there is light and you can have light, but that you can walk in that light.

That you don't have to get out in the dark on the outside the path and wonder what the heck am I doing, where am I going? You can walk with God, you can talk with God. When you screw up, you can get reconnected by simply confessing your sins and knowing He's faithful and just to forgive you and to make you clean.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening today to Richard Ellis Talks. We're confident that the program blessed you, and we want to hear about it. One way is to give us a call and let us know. The number is 855-6-RICHARD. Another way is to drop us an email. Jump on over to our website, richardellis.com, and click on the connect tab at the top. We'd love to hear from you.

And while you're there at the website, it's the best way to stay up-to-date with all the audio and video talks with Richard, post on the prayer wall, how you can join the team, and even a place where you can ask any questions you have to get straight biblical answers. Check it out: richardellis.com. Finally, we're grateful when you help us with the cost to bring you this program. Call us at 855-6-RICHARD or at our website, richardellis.com. That's 855-6-RICHARD or richardellis.com. Until next time, thanks for listening to Richard Ellis Talks.