Richard Ellis Talks

Announcer: Today on Richard Ellis Talks.

Richard Ellis: So how are you going to perform yourself into getting God to accept you if you've already been accepted in Christ? If it's already a fact. You say, well, I don't look accepted. I don't feel accepted. I don't think I've achieved all this. He has declared you all these things. You got to decide if that's what you're going to be or not.

Announcer: Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Thanks for allowing us to share this time with you. You may be stuck in traffic or stuck in life. Either way, today's message is going to help you get on the right track as you learn how much God loves you right where you are. Richard's unique style checks all the boxes with a lot of hope, insight, truth, and of course, humor. Today's talk with Richard will get our conversation started, but we want to keep it going with you. So let's stay in touch through our website richardellis.com. But right now, let's go ahead and get right into today's talk.

Here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is Play from Victory. So if you know who wide receiver by the name of Cooper Cup. So interesting story, backstory about this guy. He um he had an ACL injury and didn't play in the Super Bowl when LA lost to the Patriots. But the story goes like this and it's out of an article I read. Following this disappointment of losing to the Patriots, Cup explained he had a quote unquote vision in which he foresaw not only an eventual Rams Super Bowl win, but also his MVP performance. In 2019, we walked off the field the last time after losing to the Patriots, Cup told reporters afterward.

I wasn't able to be a part of that thing. I don't know what it was. There was just this vision God revealed to me that we were going to come back. We were going to be part of a Super Bowl. We were going to win it and somehow I was going to walk off the field as the MVP of the game. I shared, again quoting Cup, I shared that vision with my wife because I couldn't tell anyone else. Obviously, what that was, he added. But from the moment this postseason started, there was just a belief.

Every game, it was written already. And I just got to play free knowing that I got to play from victory, not for victory. Now, what does it mean to play from victory, not for victory unless you've already won? Bear Bryant said, if you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards. Well, that was all well and good for Bear Bryant. Usually, someone lost at his end. So you say, well, if I just believe all that stuff and do all that stuff, then I'll win.

That's what Bear Bryant says. But somebody's got to lose for somebody to win.

Guest (Male): That's right.

Richard Ellis: Charles Spurgeon said, after many years of great mercy, after tasting of the powers of the world to come, we still are so weak, so foolish. But oh, when we get away from self to God, they're all is truth, impurity, and holiness, and our heart finds peace, wisdom, completeness, delight, joy, victory. Start in Exodus chapter 14, if you would. We got a ton of scripture to read today, so here we go. So you say, well, Cup, that's crazy. What if the other team said they had visions too and somebody's wrong? No one else is claiming to have this and he didn't tell anybody what his wife.

Is it possible for God to tell you something is going to happen and you believe it's going to happen and it happens? Exodus 14:13 and Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace. So what was God saying? He's saying you're going to win. Deuteronomy 20, a few pages over. Deuteronomy 20, let's start in verse 3.

And he shall say to them, hear, oh Israel, today you're on the verge of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint. Do not be afraid and do not tremble or be terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you. Now, the older I get, the longer I live, the bigger the universe gets, the bigger, you know, it's not like God is big. He's bigger than big. There's not even words to describe who this God is. Right? So who is this God?

What can he do? What can he not do? So when I face my day, when I face my challenges, when I face the temptations, there is no way you can say, oh well, you know, the devil made me do it. I don't think the devil can make a Christian do anything. I think you choose. Right? Cuz the devil cannot make you do something. Joshua 1:5. Now, you say, well, this was written back then to them and this doesn't apply to anybody else but these people. I got picked. I'm his child. Oh no, well, you're not as special as Joshua or somebody else, so this doesn't apply to you.

Look what he told him. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Now, I talked to people along the way who've had catastrophic things happen to them and it just seems like God's gone silent. It's gone dark. Nothing. So you say, well, what do they got? You better have a slab of truth to land on and know the scriptures and when they say, I will never leave you or forsake you, he means that.

You say, well, I don't feel like he 's here. That has nothing to do with anything. Right? He's there. Joshua 10. Joshua 10:7. So Joshua's he's the leader. So Joshua ascended from Gilgal. He and all the people of war with him and all the mighty men of valor and the Lord said to Joshua, do not fear them. Why does God keep telling people, New Testament, Old Testament, don't be afraid? Cuz one of our primary impulses is to fear. Something comes at us. You're sick. You are broke. You lost your job. You don't know which way you are going.

God hasn't revealed the next thing for you. What are you going to do? And fear hits us instead of saying, okay, I'm going to be okay. We get afraid and then God says, hey, don't be afraid. Now, why would you not be afraid? Do not fear them for I have delivered them into your hand. Not a man of them shall stand before you. Then if you keep reading this story, that's exactly what happened. Go down to verse 24 of that same chapter. So it was when they brought out those kings that they had just defeated to Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel and said to the captains of the men of war who went with him, come near.

Put your feet on the necks of these kings. And they drew near and put their feet on their necks. Then Joshua said to them, do not be afraid. It's God telling Joshua first, don't be afraid. Now, it's Joshua telling them, don't be afraid. Nor be dismayed. Be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight. So what is that promise? You're going to win. It doesn't mean you don't have to fight. It just means you don't fight like a loser. Right? If you go into a battle and you say, well, how's this going to turn out?

We're going to win. We got to fight, but we're going to win. Well, they're shooting at us. It 's a war. Right? So the enemy's coming at you, but you've got weapons. You've got protection. Go to 2 Chronicles 20. Verse 15. Over and over here, the same thing. And he said, listen, all you Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem and you, King Jehoshaphat, thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the ascent of Ziz and you will find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel.

You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, see the salvation of the Lord who is with you. Oh Judah and Jerusalem, do not fear or be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them for the Lord is with you. And in these battles, they would send singers and instruments in before the soldiers. John chapter 3. Now, we're in the New Testament. You say, well, what all these battles? The battles have not ended. They're just not flesh and blood anymore. Okay? So there are wars in the world, but not wars like the war between Israel and God's enemies.

But now it's between God's church, the body of Christ and the enemy. This is a very tricky thing to explain to people. They say, well, you don't you know, my wife, my husband, my kids, my boss, my partner. They come up with all these people that they think these are my enemies. Your physical enemies are but shadows of your real spiritual enemies. And if you try to attack a physical enemy, you get nowhere. You've got to shoot at the shadow caster, not the shadow. So you look at a situation and say, Lord, what's going on here?

I'm under attack. He said, yeah, but it's not what you think. It's not these people, this situation. It's the enemy behind all this. So don't take them on. Take the enemy on. You've got the weapons. You've got the win. Let's take them on. And then the devil gets us chasing each other around upset with people who goes, they'll spend the rest of their lives being angry, bitter, upset, locked down. They're done instead of taking the real enemies on. John chapter 3 verse 18. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.

So let me just let's set it up. If you end up a loser, it is because you ended up not being a believer in the gospel. Right? So if you lose and if you're not a believer yet, and this is a weird thing to tell people as well, but you're as good as dead even if you're breathing. You say, well, I'm alive. I got time. I 'm thinking about accepting Christ. I'm thinking about becoming a Christian. I'm going to do that later. Your later might be too late. And then what are you going to do?

John chapter 16. John 16:33. These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. Okay? So let's stop a minute right there. I can name you a handful of preachers that if you turn on the radio, turn on the TV, they're going to tell you that if you get Jesus, all your problems are gone. What are you going to do with these verses? Now, I can still know I'm going to win with tribulation, but I know I'm going to have tribulation. I'm going to have trials.

I'm going to have my faith is going to be tested. All this stuff's going to happen. You can't say, oh poof, get Jesus and I'm never going to be sick again. I'm going to be rich. I'm never going to have any problems. And then if you don't have that going on, those same people will tell you, well, there must be sin in your life. You don't believe enough. You can believe all of this and still have terrible things come your way. I suppose the people on the back half of Hebrews 11 just didn't have enough faith who were sawn asunder and fed the lions just didn't have enough faith.

These things I've spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So I am on the winning team. I literally have the winning team living in my body. He is the winning team. Ephesians 1. Now, this one for me lays out about as much Play from Victory as you can come up with. The old man that helped me so much, Claude, read this to me one day and explained this to me and it's just astonishing the stuff in Ephesians 1.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God to the saints who are in Ephesus to written to Christians and faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, blessed is him because he's done what? Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. So number one, you have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies, in the heavenly places in Christ. So you got Jesus, you got every spiritual blessing.

And just as he chose us, so I know I've been chosen in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish, chosen, holy without blemish before him in love, having predestined us to adoption, predestined tied to chosen, adoption picked as sons of Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved. I have been made accepted in Christ in the beloved. So how are you going to perform yourself into getting God to accept you if you've already been accepted in Christ?

If it's already a fact. You say, well, I don't look accepted. I don't feel accepted. I don't think I've achieved all this. He has declared you all these things. You got to decide if that's what you're going to be or not. In him we have redemption. Look at this stuff that's comes in the package. Redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will. So you say, well, I want to know what God's will is.

He'll show you that according to his good pleasure in which he purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. In him also we have obtained an inheritance. So when my dad died, he didn't have much. So my sister and my brother, we pulled numbers and decided in what order we'd go. And we picked and picked and picked and picked and split it all up. And maybe the one most valuable thing I ended up with was a painting that my dad had bought.

It's probably not worth maybe 3 or 400 bucks. It's valuable to me. So that was my inheritance. Turns out he had a pretty big inheritance on the other side. So whether I die with a bunch of stuff here to leave to my kids, I already have an inheritance right now. Now, I may not be able to show it to you right now, but if you come by the house in heaven. Well, it sounds like you might be bragging about your house and you're not even there yet. Oh, it's under construction. And somehow it turns out that in some way I might be shipping ahead the building materials for my own house.

Gold, silver, precious stones cuz the wood, hay, and stubble won't clear the fire. So it tells me here, in him also we've obtained an inheritance. And by the way, inheritances usually get distributed when someone dies and the will is executed and someone has died and the will was executed, his will. And that means that inheritance is mine. In him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the council of his will that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory.

In him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed. Look at this. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchase possession to the praise of his glory? Sealed. Nobody can mess with something God seals. 1 John 4 verse 1 written to Christians. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God.

This is how you know if it's a spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. So these are simple tests. You look at somebody and say, do you believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh? You'd be amazed how many people can't say yes to that. There's your answer. If it's the spirit of God, they'll be able to say yes. If it's not, they won't admit to that.

And they can't say that Jesus is Lord by the way either cuz he's not to them. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming and is now already in the world. Verse 4. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Every once in a while, you know how at night you kind of think you see a shadow or something, like something spooky happen? Like what was that? Anybody ever have something like that happen, like a little weird?

So I'm like, okay, so let's say something like that. Let's say something appeared in my house. What are you going to do? Now, you say, well, I might be I might be a little of, you know, would you be afraid? Maybe for a second. I'm kind of getting ready for that cuz I'm not playing that game. Now, I'm saying this very Please don't write me letters about this. But if it's in my house I would say, maybe this is my little rehearsed playing. Jesus, get the hell out of my house. Now, you say, are you talking to him?

No, I'm asking him to get the hell out of my house. You say, well, who talks like that? I don't want him anywhere near me. And what do I have to be afraid of? Greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. Don't come in here messing with me. Oh, they can do this and this and that. Like, you know what? Not unless God lets them. Oh, you need to have more respect for the enemy. I got about all the respect I need for him. He's done about all the damage I want done in my life.

I 'm going to get out here alive, but I'd like to get out here with less scars than I have from this battle. You are of God, little children, and have overcome them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. And just a reminder again that when the whole thing is over, one angel will escort Satan to the pit. And one angel will throw Satan in the pit and lock the door and that's that. Now, he's got some power and authority to do whatever God's letting him do, but that deals over one day.

1 John 5. 1 John 5 verse 1. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and everyone who loves him, who begot also loves him who is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God?

So what do you believe? I believe he's the son of God. And that's all it takes to overcome the world. Now, let me read you some great stuff. Revelation 11. By the way, if you ever wonder if you get discouraged and think is this going to work out, just go read Revelation. Revelation 11:15. Then the seventh angel sounded and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. So you play from victory. Revelation 21 verse 1.

Now, I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, gone. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, behold, look, I make all things new. And he said to me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.

But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually moral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Announcer: 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: Go down to verse 22. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day or night. There shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

But there shall by no means enter in it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Are you playing from victory? Are you playing with fire? And you say, well, I don't believe any of that. There's nothing to that. I can live like I want to. Nothing's going to happen to me. And I hope that works out for you, but it won't. But if somehow the Holy Spirit of God has spoken to your heart and your mind and you know there's something to this and you know if you die right now, you're in a heap of trouble.

It's as simple as receiving a gift, believing and receiving a gift. And you just say, God, I know I'm a sinner. I need your forgiveness. I believe Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and raised from the dead to pay for my sin and offer me eternal life. All of this is a free gift. I ask you to come live in me, through me, change me, save me. You're the only one who can. You say, it can't be that easy. Easy for you, not so easy for the Father, not so easy for the son.

Announcer: This has been Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. The message of the gospel is one we take very seriously in our mission to reach the planet and you have a vital part of doing that along with us. If you've been encouraged by these talks with Richard, be sure to tell someone about the change they've made in your life. You can even share today's talk with them through the website richardellis.com. And we'd love to hear your story as well as to how these talks have made a difference to you too. Give us a call, 855-6 Richard.

You can also reach us through our website richardellis.com. And while you're there, check out all the pages we put together for you, richardellis.com. Also be sure to click on the contribute tab to send your very generous gift. If the program is making a difference to you, your gift will make a big difference to us. Until next time, thanks so much for listening to Richard Ellis Talks.