Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: God comes along to us and he tells you in scripture or somehow in your heart or praying and he says, "Wait. Stay still, sit, stay, don't move, obey me, there's something coming, hold on." And he gives you a promise, and in scripture it's there or however he's revealed this to you in your heart, "Hold on."

Guest (Male): Welcome to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. Richard's going to take the next few minutes to share some great words of hope and insight for you. And in today's broken world, that's something everyone is desperate to hear. Richard shares unapologetically the truth of the Bible in a way that's clear, relational, and uplifting.

So thank you for taking this time to listen. We know it will bless you. And when you have a moment, you might want to check out our website so we can stay connected with you: richardellis.com. But right now, let's go ahead and get things off and running with today's talk. Here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title today's message is "Repentecost." And it's not a word that exists, but if you put the word "repent" in the word of Pentecost, you end up with Repentecost. And I'd like you to start with me in Genesis chapter 11. Genesis is the first book in the Bible. If you have the scriptures, then turn there with us and we're going to start in Genesis 11, verse 1. We're going to cover a bunch of ground reading the scriptures, but I want to start here to give you some background to see how screwed up things can get and how God can come along and fix them.

In Genesis chapter 11, God has by this time made Adam and Eve. They've been in a garden. They've screwed up. Sin, he's thrown them out, locked that garden so they couldn't get to the tree of life. They've lived, multiplied, screwed it up so bad that God says, "I'm killing everybody. Everybody's going to be destroyed but Noah and the animals." People die, but animals live, except for Noah and his family. So there's a flood. Noah and his family survive that. It starts to multiply again and they screw up again. And here's—I mean, we're not even out of Genesis 11 yet.

And in Genesis 11, verse 1, it says, "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.'"

Let's make a name for ourselves. Nothing to do with God. "But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, 'Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth."

Ever wonder why we all speak so many different languages on the planet? Genesis chapter 11. Man, one language, one people, said, "You know what? Forget God. Let's build a tower. We can get to God. He doesn't have to come to us. We'll build a tower into the heavens." Total disregard for God. "We'll go to him. No need for him to come to us." And they said, "Let us go down." The Father, Son, Holy Spirit, we're going down. And what happened that day is we get scattered, split, divided on nothing but a linguistic basis.

Now jump over to Acts chapter 1 in the New Testament. Now remember Babel. Remember what happened there. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus has lived, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, he's been crucified, he's been buried, he's been raised from the dead. He's alive, and for 40 days, as we'll see in just a minute, he's appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing to the disciples. He appears over 500 brethren, it says in the scriptures.

Well, let's read a little bit here in Acts chapter 1, verse 1. "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days." So from what we call Easter Sunday, for 40 days, he appears, disappears, does miraculous things. Unquestionably it is him, and the power of God is manifest through him.

So this goes on for 40 days, "and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, he commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, 'which,' he said, 'you have heard from me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.'" Now listen. If God has told you to do something, if he says wait, for God's sake, wait. He says just a few days. He says don't give up. Don't go try to take matters in your own hands. I've come, I've lived, I've died, I've been buried, I'm alive again. I've stayed with you for 40 days and I'm telling you something's happen—he didn't say 10 days, which it turned out to be 10 days. Wait. And all they had to do was wait 10 days and something so profound would happen it would change the planet.

And God comes along to us and he tells you in scripture or somehow in your heart or praying and he says, "Wait. Stay still, sit, stay, don't move, obey me, there's something coming, hold on." And he gives you a promise, and in scripture it's there or however he's revealed this to you in your heart, "Hold on." And he tells them wait for the Promise of the Father, "which you have heard from me. I told you he's coming, he's coming. And John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, 'Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?' And he said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to me.'" If you've got the Holy Spirit, let me tell you what you've got. You've got power and you're a witness. Now ask yourself this question. You say, "Well, I don't have any power and I'm not a witness."

Then is the Holy Spirit free to work in and through your life? Because there is going to be power in your life over the enemy, over sin, over any number of things, and you are going to be a witness. You will not be able to keep your traps shut. Something will happen. Your life—you say, "Well, I live my life. Living a life is louder than any words you can say." Whatever. Sooner or later, you have grandkids, you can show pictures all day long, but you're going to start talking about those grandkids. You can't shut up.

You get a new wife, you get engaged. He's excited. He's wanting to tell everybody, "Look what I've got." This is what happens to you. So he says you're going to get power and you'll be witness to me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. And it's not by just coincidence he says Jerusalem because all heaven breaks loose in Jerusalem.

Ten days that they don't know how long it is, but that's all they got to wait, 10 days. Go to Acts chapter 2, verse 1. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place." Now let's talk about this Pentecost thing. Pentecost simply means 50th day. Penta, five, 50th day. It's defined as the second of the three great Jewish feasts celebrated at Jerusalem yearly, the seventh week after the Passover in grateful recognition of the completed harvest. So Pentecost, 50 days. It was a big celebration, one of the biggest days in Jewish life. And this is when the Holy Spirit says, "Now."

But look at where they were. They waited. They stayed in Jerusalem. They were all with one accord in one place. "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting." Now that alone, guys, I'm telling you, it will throw you for a loop. I don't know if you hear people—how many of you have been in a tornado, been close to a tornado? Everybody says it's like a train.

Now imagine that sound and no wind. It says there was a sound as of a mighty rushing wind, but it doesn't say anywhere there was a wind. So they hear like this train, this locomotive, this something in this place where they are, it would completely boggle your mind. And back then, there are no sound systems. There's no way to simulate this or trick anybody. The Holy Spirit shows up and boom, this thing happens.

A sound as of a mighty rushing wind, it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then if that wasn't enough, then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. So somehow they looked like human candles. This flame divided and each one of them has these flames on their head. Verse 4, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."

Now remember Babel. That's when man says, "We're going to get to God." God says, "Good try. We're coming down. We're busting this thing up. We're going to scatter you and give you languages you won't even be able to talk to each other." And now at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes and you'll see an extraordinary thing that happens, even linguistically. Now this is not gibberish. You'll see in a minute. Some people say, "Well, when the Holy Spirit came, people just broke out speaking in tongues." They were intelligible tongues to someone. They weren't angelic languages. These were tongues that someone could understand and you'll see in the clarification here of that.

So they were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. "And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven." They had all come for this celebration. Probably if they could, they'd come early for Passover and stay the 50 days in Jerusalem. They were devout. They were committed. They were religious people who were searching for God in some way.

Verse 6, "And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused"—not just because of the sound—"because everyone heard them speak in his own language." So these people had come from all over, and the thing that freaked them completely out is they're hearing the praises of God spoken in not just their language, some of them in their dialect. And nobody would have known that. How would these ignorant disciples have learned all these languages?

So when this sound occurred, the multitude comes together, they were confused because everyone heard them speak in his own language. "Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, 'Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?'" They're not educated. They don't know our languages. "'And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born?'"

And the words here used for language, in one spot it's *dialectos*, which we get our word "dialect," the tongue or language peculiar to any people. And the other one is *glossa*, and this means the language or dialect used by a particular people, distinct from that of other nations. So both words, dialect, *glossa*, they heard it in their own language.

And then he tells—gives a list of who it was. "Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So each of these guys—and you'll see in a minute, it's at least 3,000 people—and every one of them says, "This is impossible. How are we hearing these people speak the wonderful works of God in our own language?" So it gets their attention, obviously.

Now jump if you will to 1 Corinthians 14:22, or let me just read this to you. He says, "Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe." So these tongues were a sign, clearly for non-believers. They believed in God but they had not believed in Christ yet, and so this got their attention.

Now look at verse 12. "So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'Whatever could this mean?'" What is going on? Something miraculous is clearly happening. "Others mocking said, 'They are full of new wine. They're drunk.'"

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day." It's 9 o'clock in the morning. They're not drunk. "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel." You are seeing prophecy fulfilled and it's Joel that said it would happen, and he quotes this.

"'And it shall come to pass in the last days,' says God, 'that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood.'"

They had just seen that 50 days before. If they were in Jerusalem at Passover when Jesus died on that cross, the sky went black, the moon turned to blood, and it's literally provable from an astronomical standpoint. You can roll the planet back 2,000 years, the planets back in NASA's computers, and literally you see a lunar eclipse. The moon turns blood red. They are remembering within 50 days, "Oh my gosh, we saw this."

So he said it would happen and it did happen, "before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it."

For David says concerning him—and he quotes David here in the Psalms—"I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence."

Verse 29, he goes on. "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Now something happens in this brief sermon, this brief speech, and these 3,000 individuals get it. And they don't just get it, they are pricked, it says, to the heart—not cut to the heart, they are pricked to the heart and there is a difference. In verse 37, "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said"—they spoke, they're cut to the heart. There's another place where the Jewish leaders are cut to the heart and they gnash with their teeth and they say, "Kill him." Some people have a reaction to hearing these things but it's not a pleasant one, it's not a good one, it is a—we are mad as hell, basically, and we're going to kill anybody who has anything to do with this. Not so here.

These guys hear this story, and at a certain moment, especially here in verse 36, "Let all the house of Israel know, God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified." And there's a good chance that somebody in that crowd might have been there on that Friday when they're crying out, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" And realizes the personal responsibility that they had for his crucifixion.

Now let me tell you something. At some point, whether you were there or not—and nobody here was there—you are going to understand that you got Jesus killed. And the reality of that and what got him killed was my sin and your sin, and you can't take it flippantly. I say to people all the time, "The thing I have never gotten over is that someone died for me, but somebody had to die for me because I had no way to take my sin on myself and take it before God and deal with it."

Do you know what a powerful thing that is to carry around a load of sin and shame and guilt? And you say, "Well, I don't feel guilty about anything," and maybe that's the problem. You cannot sin and have no shame and not have a problem. At some point the reality that you are a sinner—you say, "Well, you're trying to make us feel bad." No, I'm trying to tell you what your problem is so you can do something about it. And the only person who can do something about it is Jesus. And Peter got up and said to them, "You crucified him! But God raised him from the dead."

And these people who were feeling that and were cut to the heart, they were overwhelmed with the reality of their sin and why Jesus had to die and that they got him killed. And they couldn't stand it, and look what happens to them. He says, "God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, 'Men and brethren, what do we do? What do we do? You've got to help us. What do we do?'"

I'm telling you, the world is filled with people who are screaming out and there's no one listening, saying, "What do we do? Somebody help me for God's sake! I know I'm going to hell. My life is hell. I don't know where to turn. I don't know what to do. Somebody help me." And we are supposedly carrying around this treasure in earthen vessels and we have all this hope and joy and all the answers, and we don't give a damn about anybody.

Or we'd stop and ask a few questions and look into their lost eyes. And you say, "Well, I don't want to upset anybody. I don't want to"—you know what? They're already upset. Their life sucks and they don't know what to do about it. And the scripture says, "You know, would you hide your light under a bushel? No! Of course not!"

But every day we wake up and say, "Well, I got—I got my ticket. I'm going to heaven. To hell with you." Instead of waking up and saying, "Father, my sin got you killed. You saved me. I do not belong to myself. I am bought with a price. This day is not my day. This is the day the Lord has made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it. You got me. My hands, my eyes, my ears, my feet. And if there's something here that's got to go, take it. I don't want to miss this day. It could be my last. Use me, God. Use me or take me out." Could you pray that? "God, if I'm not going to yield my life to you, if I'm getting in the way, then just get me out of here. I got my ticket. I want to cash it in now because I'm not doing anything with my life. It's mine. I'm going to be in the way, just get me out of here." Nobody's praying that, are they?

When you see God for who he is, you're going to see yourself for who you are, and it ain't pretty. But man, it can get beautiful if you'll give him your nothing and take his everything. Then in verse 38, what have they asked? "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent." You know what you don't hear jack about anymore? Repent. You say, "Well, you're turning some hellfire brimstone." No, this isn't about just heaven, it's about your life.

Now what is repenting? He says, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

It's available to everybody. It's not just an exclusive few. And what God screwed up in Genesis 11 because they started saying, "We don't need God. We'll get to him by ourselves. We'll build us a tower and a city." He says, "You know you won't." He scatters them. But what does he do on the Day of Pentecost? He gathers them. And regardless of language barriers, something happens and he gets them all together and he says, "Watch this. I will restore what could have been. You couldn't do it without me. You'll do it with me." And somehow all of those people, 3,000 it says in a minute, gathered together and they get it. But not without repentance.

Now let me read you some simple definitions that I've found just people use on repentance. To feel pain, sorrow, or regret for what one has done or omitted to do. To change the mind or the course of conduct on account of regret or dissatisfaction. To be sorry for sin as morally evil and to seek forgiveness. To cease to love and practice sin.

You know why I sin? Because I like it. If you got a bad temper, you know why your temper goes off and you got a bad temper? Because you enjoy it. You got a problem with lust, you know why you lust? Because you enjoy it. You know why you don't give up alcohol—you may have some addiction, drugs, whatever it is. You know why you keep using? Because you love that more than you love God or you'd say, "God, help me. I got to get this out of my life."

Nobody sins because they have to, not at some point. You're a prisoner to it. You're a slave to that sin. But if you repent, that can change. The power of God is manifest. So I may have lost a ton of you by now, but I'm going to tell you what, there's somebody in here listening that's hurting. Somebody in here who has been cut to the heart and you are sick of yourself. You are sick of your life.