Richard Ellis Talks

Guest (Male): Today on Richard Ellis Talks.

Richard Ellis: You have to somehow be in the world but not of the world. It doesn't mean you go build some compound somewhere and isolate yourself because that'll turn into a whole other mess. You're going to have to be with people, but you're going to have to know how to live, what to do, what to say, how to think in the midst of those people.

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

Richard Ellis: The title today's message is Live and Learn, and I'd like us to start in 1 Kings chapter 3. There's a great story here. Solomon, said to be the wisest man who ever lived, and oddly enough, ended up one of the most foolish men who ever lived because of some of his choices. Just because you ask for wisdom and you have wisdom, you must apply that wisdom for it to do you any good.

1 Kings chapter 3, and let's jump in at verse 16. "Now two women who were harlots came to the king, prostitutes, and stood before him. And one woman said, 'O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. Swap babies on us. And when I arose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had born.'

Then the other woman said, 'No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.' And the first woman said, 'No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.' Thus they spoke before the king. And the king said..." So here goes Solomon, this young guy. "The one says, 'This is my son who lives, and your son is the dead one'; and the other says, 'No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.' Then the king said, 'Bring me a sword.' So they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, 'Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.'"

Now, this is his first demonstration of wisdom. Does it sound wise so far? We're going to kill the only baby that's left? "Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, 'O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!' But the other said, 'Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him. Chop him in half.' So the king answered and said, 'Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.'"

Because the true mother would never let her own child die. She would rather see the child live somewhere else than die. "And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice." Are you a wise person? And how do you know if you are or not? We hear this phrase, "Live and learn." That is really not a great phrase. It is the way most of us operate. And what it means is we learn the hard way because we have to live and then we learn out of what we've done. The tragedy is that some people, no matter how much the consequences come at you or come at us, we still never learn, and we keep going through the same old process, and therefore we never really live. We live and supposedly we learn, but some people never learn.

Let me make a suggestion to you. How about we flip these two terms? How about we make it "learn and live"? How about wisdom? Let me read you some stuff about wisdom. Go to Proverbs 1, verse 1. I'm probably going to read you a bunch of Scripture today because if you've never read this, you need to hear it, and if you've read it before, you need to hear it again. "The proverbs of Solomon," same guy who's going to chop the baby in half but not really, "the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—a wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning..." You may have in your translation "of wisdom, of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

When you meet someone and you're trying to help them and teach them, basically the Book says they are a fool. They will not listen. You cannot teach them anything. "I don't want to hear that. I'm going to do what I want to do." And how is that working out for them? "My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother." Now you say, "Well, but that verse doesn't apply to me because my dad's an idiot and my mom's a loser and they never taught me anything." Well, then get over that and go to the Scriptures. And let God be your father. Get godly people around you to impart some wisdom and teach you how to live and show you how to think. "For they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent."

The world is crying out to you. "Over here! Over here! We're having a big time." Now, let's take it to an extreme. Let's say you're some kid raised in the hood in a tough part of the world and there are gangs. You say, "Well, I don't know any people in gangs." You know what? There are kids who read the Bible who are confronted with gang behavior. Now, you're living in a neighborhood—could be Hispanic, could be white, could be black, could be Korean, could be anywhere there are gangs. Now, in that context, listen to this passage. "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood...'"

You say, "Well, I don't know anybody wants to go kill someone." Let me tell you something. There are people out there just sitting around dreaming up crap, some stupid thing to do. You hear about gangs and they send a couple of guys out for initiation, and the initiation is the first person you see with their headlights on bright, kill them. Random stuff. You say, "Well, how did that person die?" Well, some gangs were out and those were their instructions and they shot them and that was it. You say, "Well, that's crazy." There are people dreaming this up.

So if you're one of these kids and they're saying, "'Let us lie in wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.' Do you see it? There's no reason. We're just going to go kill somebody. 'Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, like hell, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all kinds of precious possessions.' We're going to kill them and then we're going to rob them. 'We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in your lot among us; let us all have one purse.' We'll throw down together. We'll be communist criminals."

My son, now look, you say, "Well, then some kid is hearing that." And then he comes back. "My son, do not walk in the way with them, keep your foot from their path; for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely, in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird; but they lie in wait for their own blood, they lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; it takes away the life of its owners."

And then look at the contrast. "Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: 'How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke; surely I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer,' she says. 'They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.' Why? 'Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.'" You say, "Well, it sounds like there's no hope." Let me tell you something. There is a point when you cross line after line after line, you almost can't get back. You say, "Is that true?" Just look around. People who harden their hearts, stiff neck, refuse rebuke, cannot be corrected. They just plowed in the ground and sooner or later, in a lot of cases, they just die. You say, "Well, I think there's hope for me." Well, good for you! Do something about it.

Because the more you say no, the more I say no, the more I believe rationalize in order to rationalize my behavior, then I get more spiritually deaf all the time. Then what was a cry for my name becomes a whisper and it's just kind of a muffled sound and I can't even hear God anymore because I'm so buried in my stuff. Keep reading. "They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure without fear of evil."

That sounds appealing. You say, "But everybody's having fun." Let me tell you something. They are not having fun, ultimately. You say, "Well, how do I not end up there?" You make choices, and one of the first choices you make is, "God, give me wisdom. I cannot continue to listen to what the world is telling me, get all of these messages, the crowd crying out to me and go their way and end up where you want me to be." If you are going God's way, you are going upstream. You are going against the crowd. It is just the way it is. You say, "Well, no, I've surrounded myself with godly people." Then there's a problem there, too, if that's all you know. You have to somehow be in the world but not of the world. It doesn't mean you go build some compound somewhere and isolate yourself because that'll turn into a whole other mess. You're going to have to be with people, but you're going to have to know how to live, what to do, what to say, how to think in the midst of those people.

Go to Proverbs chapter 2. And look at how this is—first two words, "My son." This is a father trying to instruct a child. "My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God." Now, what is that picture? You're screaming out to God for help. You're going after wisdom and understanding like you would for profit.

Keep reading with me. "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards..." Look at the benefits to getting this stuff. A shield, a guard. "He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths; to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words..."

And you know people say, "Well, why do they bring women up in here?" Because it's written to an idiot boy. A man without wisdom is hell-bent on destruction. A godless man, unless he's got ethics, some kind of morals, some kind of conscience, a man left to himself is almost doomed. You say, "Well, that's not very positive." Why do you think this guy's writing to his son these things? He's warning him about what he knows and about every man on the planet knows. You've got to get away from these people and from a certain kind of woman.

Keep reading. Let's go back to this verse 18. "To deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; none who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life. So you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep the paths of righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the earth." Read your Bible. The warnings are in there. And when you have these feelings and you're tempted and you're about to go do something stupid, then you stop and say, "God, what am I thinking? I'm not thinking! You've got to help me."

Wisdom, where you see through things, you see past things. How do you think Jesus got to the cross? For the joy that was set before Him. What was set before Him? A cross. He saw joy beyond the cross, despising the shame, endured the cross because there was something beyond that.

Proverbs 4. I'd read all the Proverbs to you, but we don't have time. Proverbs 4, verse 1. "Hear, my children, the instruction of a father." Now he's not saying this to his son; he's saying it so you say, "Well, I don't have a father," then he includes you. "Hear the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding; for I give you good doctrine: do not forsake my law. When I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me, and said to me: 'Let your heart retain my words; keep my commandments, and live.'" Learn and live.

You want to live the way God intended for you to live, then find out what He's trying to tell you, listen, cry out for more understanding, more wisdom, and then you'll really start living. The crowd parties together, but they come alone when they're broken-hearted, when they're having to lose a baby, when they've destroyed their home, when they come in and sit down in the privacy of a moment and say, "I've got some communicable disease." And even if I wanted to be with another woman, it's so obvious in that situation, I can't be with anybody. So we're having a big time, aren't we? It's not working, guys. It has never worked.

How many of you have lived and learned? How many are you going to want to learn and start living without all the pain? Wisdom will prevent you—you're going to have trouble in this world. "In this world, you will have tribulation," the Bible says that. When you don't cry out for wisdom and you don't listen to God, you are increasing the amount of trouble you have. You're going to have trouble already; don't make it worse for yourself. Ask God what to do. You say, "Well, I don't want to ask God what to do because He might not agree with me. What are we going to do then? What if I can't talk Him into my way of thinking?" Then you're better off agreeing with Him. And you say, "Well, how in the world do you know what that is?" There is something called peace.

When you go to make a decision and your whole system blows up on you, and everything in you says, "Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!" the alarms are going off, do not proceed. And you go, "La-la-la-la-la," put your fingers in your ear, "I don't want—I can't hear you, I can't hear you," and you plow on anyway. That's your own fault. God is crying out you going, "No! No!" Wisdom cries out, "Listen to me, that's not going to work!" La-la-la-la-la. And then we plow through our mess and are broken-hearted, and then you start crying out to God because you have to live and learn. I'm saying cry before you get in the situation. Before you cry in pain, cry for wisdom. And say, "God, help me. I don't need any more problems. I'm already dealing with the compounded interest on the ones I've got." There's no end to this. Keep reading.

Proverbs 4, verse 5. "Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you." I love that it juxtaposes a harlot with wisdom. Two women crying out for your attention. Very interesting to me. Which woman are you going to listen to? Two women. "Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding," while you're at it. "Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor when you embrace her." Look at this, embracing wisdom, not some strange woman. "She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you. Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life. Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil."

Proverbs 7, there really is no end to this. Proverbs 7, verse 1. "My son, keep my words..." Okay, why does he keep repeating himself? Because we don't get it, and he knew his son—the crowds' cries are so loud, we've got to hear it over and over, and you've got to go back and read it, and you have to have people around you going, "Dude, what are you doing? What are you thinking? You're going to destroy your life." Usually, before someone goes down the tubes, there is isolation. People don't just randomly go out and blow up. They peel away. The enemy comes between you and the flock, you and the herd, you and your safety net. And he pulls you away, and then you get quiet, and then everything gets secret, and then you're by yourself, you're alone, and nobody knows where you are, nobody knows what we're doing. And then bam, you get picked off in a snare because you didn't have any protection. You didn't have anybody watching out for you.

Proverbs 7, there again. "My son, keep my words, treasure my commands within you. Keep my commands and live." Learn and you will live. "And my law as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. Say to wisdom, 'You are my sister,' and call understanding your nearest of kin." And then he goes back into warning about women, certain kind of women. Verse 11: "She was loud and rebellious." Caught him and kissed him. With an impudent face, she said to him, "I have peace offerings." Interesting how she has peace offerings. Some kind of peace offerings that lead straight to hell.

Go to James chapter 1. James chapter 1, verse 1. "James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad." So he's writing specifically to Jewish Christians that represent these twelve tribes. "Greetings. My brethren..." and look what a great way to start a letter, "count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." So if all hell's breaking loose, count it joy when you face trials. Why? Because it'll end up good. "I don't want trials. I don't want problems." So when problems come, what am I going to do? I'm going to do the foolish thing and run back to things that alleviated my pain temporarily because I don't like my situation. It doesn't work! It doesn't work.

"If any of you lacks wisdom..." You say, "You know what? Just wisdom on the previous thing." You know what it takes to rejoice, to have joy when various trials come at you? You have to have wisdom, because you're going to do one of at least two things. You're going to go, "What in the world's going to God? You can't do this to me! I'm upset! I'm angry!" shake your fist and be complaining about the situation. Or you count it all joy. You say, "Lord, I thank you for this situation." It takes wisdom to do that, because you know that the other way is not going to generate anything but negative and it's going to be a problem. It's going to be a problem on top of a problem.

So you say, "Lord, give me wisdom. This is a tough situation. But I'm going to count it all joy anyway, because you're going to bring some good from this. That's just the way it works. I'm wise enough to know that." But if you get in those situations you go, "Lord, I don't do that. I need wisdom." "If any man lacks wisdom, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God," okay, so far so good, "who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him." Don't stop at the period, though. You say, "Well, that seems simple. You ask and God'll give it to you." "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind."

You have to decide that wisdom is really what you want and you just don't want God's suggestion. So you go to God and you say, "God, I need wisdom. I'm not talking about halfway, I don't want you just to kind of give me your thoughts then I'll make a decision. I'm 100% asking for wisdom and whatever you tell me to do, that's what I'll do." And look what he keeps saying. "Let him ask in faith, no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind" because you go, "Well, God, what do you think?" Not like, are we going to do this? You just weigh in. Here's what the crowd says, here's what you say, we'll flip a coin and we'll see what happens. Verse 7: "For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord." Now, he just said if you ask, you'll get it. He says no you won't, unless you come 100% saying, "I'm done. This is what I'm after." "He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Now, do you want to know what stability looks like? It comes from a wise person. Whenever you see stability in the world, especially in the Christians, you see it in wisdom. When you see stability, the principle is the same. When you see a stable person in the world, there is a certain amount of wisdom behind even that, because there cannot be stability without wisdom. People are kind on both sides of the fence, back and forth, they never settle. They can't pick a lane, they're all over the place. They are unstable in all of their ways. You've got to decide what you want and chase after that. And if you can do it so thoroughly in terms of sin, then why can't you do it in terms of righteousness? You say, "Well, I'm not chasing sin." If you're not chasing God, you're chasing something else. You say, "Well, I'm sitting still, I'm not chasing." That's chasing. The default, doing nothing, is still chasing. It's still not going after God. You say, "Well, you're trying to turn us into a bunch of maniacs, bunch of like crazy people. We'll look ridiculous." And since when did we care what anybody thought we looked like? We want to blend in, we want to fit in, and how is that working out for you?

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. Well, here's Richard with some closing thoughts for us.

Richard Ellis: Live and learn, or do some learning and living. Now the truth of this is, I can get up here and rant and rave and scream and holler and bang around and you know what? You're going to do whatever you want to do anyway. But there are a few people listening who go, "You know what? I think there's something to this. I'm tired. I see beyond all of my rantings and all of my fantasies and all of my little games I'm playing. If I don't get after this with the only life I've got, then nothing's going to happen, nothing's going to change." You've got to chase this chick. And there are two women to chase, at least in the story. Get wisdom. Learn and live.

Guest (Male): Thanks for tuning in today to Richard Ellis Talks. We all have busy schedules these days, so it means the world to us that you would take this time to listen. Richard would love to know how today's talk has touched your heart, so give us a call at 855-6-RICHARD, 855-674-2427. You can also share your story with us at our website, RichardEllis.com. One last thing, Richard Ellis Talks is a daily program that is always expanding to reach the world with the good news of the Gospel. But it also has daily costs, and being a listener-supported program like ours means we rely on the financial partnership of our listeners, which means you. We believe that these talks with Richard are making a difference in your life, so this is how you can make a difference to ours. You can contribute by calling 855-6-RICHARD or at our website, RichardEllis.com. Thank you for your generosity. God bless and thanks for listening to Richard Ellis Talks.