Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: Today on Richard Ellis talks, when God tells you to do something, it's not suggestions, He's saying, "Look, this is the answer. This is the way, this is the truth, this is the life. Do this." You say, "Well, I don't understand it." You don't have to understand everything that goes down in order to obey it.

You're listening to Richard Ellis Talks with Richard Ellis. We're taking the entire month of September to focus on something that is very important to Richard, and I'm sure to you as well. And it all centers around the word legacy. How do you want to be remembered? Who has influenced your life in a meaningful way? What would people say about you when you were gone? What's left behind?

Well, we're introducing a brand new exciting feature that will be a place where you can share your story. I'll share more for you at the end of the program, but for now, let's jump right in with today's talk. Here is Richard Ellis. The title of today's message is Start to Finish. I actually want to read this definition. It's one some of the synonyms at least for this are throughout. So if something is from start to finish, it's throughout. But listen to these synonyms: all over, all the time, all through, around, at full length, completely, during every bit, every place, everywhere, far and near, far and wide, for the duration, from the beginning to end, from the end to end, from one end to the other, from start to finish, from the start, from the word go, high and low, in all respects, in every place, in everything, inside and out, on all accounts, overall, right through, round the whole time, throughout the whole of it, to the end, up and down, start to finish, throughout.

So there are a lot of people that think, well, God has lost control of the universe. Whatever went wrong, it went terribly wrong, and it's just chaos and God has lost control. In other words, big word, He's not really sovereign, He does not really manage what is going on in the universe. From start to finish, and even from before start and after finish, He is God. And He is in control, and though it may be perplexing and you say, "Well, how could he allow this or that?" At some point, if you're going to walk with Him and have a relationship with Him, you have to trust Him. Little children don't always understand what their parents are doing, and sometimes when they get older they go, "Wow, that's what that was about." I just didn't get it because I was just a kid. I was angry, I was frustrated, but I see now that they were trying to protect me, provide for me, help me, guide me, whatever it was. So you have to decide whether you trust Him and can you trust Him start to finish throughout the whole process?

Only one person who has lived on this planet has managed to pull off life the way it was intended from start to finish, and that is Jesus. God and man, man, God, equally, somehow in one package, but He pulled it off. No one else has been able from start to finish to do it perfectly. And I'd like to highlight a couple of these stories. So if you go to Joshua Old Testament chapter two. Joshua chapter two, without giving you all the background, but just a little bit of it, the people of Israel have gotten out of Egypt. Moses has led them out. They sent 12 spies in the promised land, 10 come back say, "We can't take it." Two say, "We can take it." And then God says, "You know what? Because you didn't believe," until all the people that didn't believe are dead, 40 years wandering in the desert, "You're not going in." Finally, all 40 years, bam, go by and the two that did believe, they get to go into the Promised Land. So they're going in, and Joshua is the leader. Moses is dead, and verse one of chapter two, now Joshua the son of Nun, sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go view the land, especially Jericho." So they went, and look where they ended up and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab and lodged there. So sometimes a harlot, a house could have been like a hotel/whorehouse all in one. I know that sounds terrible, but you're like, "Well, what is that? Cultural, that's what happened, that's what was going on." So of all the places they could end up, they're staying in this Rahab the harlot's house.

So if you keep reading here, it was told the King of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country." So the King of Jericho sent to Rahab, specifically, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country." Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went, I do not know. Pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them." She lied. I'm not endorsing this, but it saved their lives. It's what she did. But she brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stocks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof. Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the Fords, as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate. Now, before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, "Now, this is a harlot who knows who's in her house and that the king is trying to find them and kill them." And she says this, "I know that the Lord has given you the land. That the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the inhabitants of the land are faint-hearted because of you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt. And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted. Neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you. Why? For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have and deliver our lives from death."

Now you say, "Well, what is that?" That, my friends, is faith. She heard about what had happened. She knew God was behind it. Everyone's afraid, but she takes a step of faith and says, "I'm going to try. I'm going to trust. I'm going to ask for mercy." So I said the title was Start to Finish. You say, "Well, what if I never really started?" It is impossible to finish something you don't start. You say, "Well, how do I get started?" You take a step of faith. You say, "What kind of step of faith is that?" You hear the craziest story you've ever heard that somehow God loves you, that He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to be born of a virgin, live a sinless life, die on a cross, be buried, raised from the dead, and make heaven free of charge and forgiveness of sin free of charge for the taking, if you would but believe and receive and trust Him. He said, "Well, what if that doesn't work?" Then the whole universe will collapse because He backs His word. When He gives His word, He keeps His word.

So you have to start by taking that step or you don't finish, you get finished off by a real enemy who has a real plan for your life. And an eternity separated from God is part of the package. And people say to me all the time, "Well, I don't believe that's going to happen." And I gently say, "You will." You may not believe it now, but the day that you do believe it, it will be by sight, and it will be because you have been separated and there's no more hope then. So we warn people now and try to get you to take a start with Him.

Now you say, "Well, what if I start and I don't finish?" I'm going to read you a bunch of verses about that, but track with me on this. Go to further in this chapter. You know what, let's go to chapter six, actually. So what God has told them to do in regard to this city, He's told Joshua to march around the city seven times, seven days, once a day, on the seventh day, seven times, and basically what He was told was, on that day, after you march around it seven times, blow the trumpets, the walls will fall down and take the city. Now, unless you have faith, you're going to not do this, okay? So sometimes God asks His people to do seemingly ridiculous things. But you have got to stop arguing with God about ridiculous things, unless they violate His word and are not of His Spirit. But if you take steps, He says, "Do this, and this will come to pass." So if you look in chapter six, verse 15, go down there, but it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose early about the dawning of the day and marched around the city seven times in the same matter. On that day only they marched around the city seven times. And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people, "Shout for the Lord has given you the city. Now, the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction. It and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live. She and all who are with her in her house because she hid the messengers that we sent." And if you go back and read the details of what Rahab said, and what the spies said, they said, "If they are in your house, when this goes down, they'll be protected. But if they do not stay in your house, if they're out somewhere else, they will not be spared. You have to follow instructions."

When God tells you to do something, it's not suggestions, He's saying, "Look, this is the answer. This is the way, this is the truth, this is the life. Do this." You say, "Well, I don't understand it." You don't have to understand everything that goes down in order to obey it. Verse 18, and you by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things and make the camp of Israel accursed and trouble it. But all the silver, gold, He tells them how to take out the spoils and what to do. Then go down to 22, but Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, "Go into the harlot's house and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her." And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel. But they burned the city and all that was in it with fire. Only the silver and gold and the vessels of bronze and iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day because she hid the messengers from whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Now, I'm going to go ahead and have you flip forward to Matthew chapter one, but we're going to go back left in a second. So what's the big deal about Rahab the harlot? The genealogy of Jesus Christ, the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Judah and his brothers. Judah begat Perez and Zerah by Tamar. Perez begat Hezron, and Hezron begat Ram. So there's a lot of begetting going on. If you can't figure out what that is, I can tell you later if you don't. Ram begat Amminadab, Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon. And look what happens in verse five. Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab. So this Rahab the harlot getting spared is a very huge deal because she ends up being a part of the genealogy of Jesus. And Boaz begat Obed by Ruth. Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David the king. David the king begat Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah, it goes on to Jesus. So sometimes obeying is very important because where it ends up, you have no idea where it's going to end up.

I don't know who you are. I don't know where you're from. All of you people listening beyond here. I don't know all your stories. I know a ton of stories in this room. You may not have done it right from start to finish and you're not finished yet anyway, but here's something you can do. You can start to finish. You say, "What do you mean by that?" You make a decision that you are going to finish. So how do you finish? You have to start somewhere to decide to finish. You say, "Well, I'm just going to figure it out as I go." Then you're going nowhere. If you're running a race, every race I've ever run, there was a starting point and there was a finishing point. They didn't just say, "Just kind of keep some time and run 20 miles wherever you want to run and then just call us and tell us when you finish." No race is like that yet. There is a finish. So you start at the starting point with the intent to finish. Let's say you're running the race and you go down, you get tripped, you fall, something goes terribly wrong, you land up on your rear, and you're trying to decide, "I don't know if I can finish the race." The only way you are going to finish it is to start it again where you are. You say, "The race is over for me." Not if you decide to finish.

Now this is where the enemy beats people up really bad because they say, "You don't know where I came from or even if I didn't come from a bad place, I've done some bad things. There's no hope for me." That is a lie from hell itself to shut you down because if nothing can separate you from the love of God, then nothing can separate you from Him. Neither height, nor depth, nor principality, nor power, nor things under the, you know, there's no one, anything, anywhere can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. So you cannot make those excuses anymore. You have to decide, am I going to finish this race? Now, what is your excuse why you are not going to finish? "Well, this happened to me, so God could never use me. I made these choices. God could never use me." You got no verses for that. You got grace, you got mercy. You got forgiveness being extended to whosoever will.

Now, I've gotten you a couple of really sorry examples here. I'm trying to go way out there to cover everybody. Now go to Luke chapter 23. And I'm going to read you a bunch of scripture, so if you're comfortable underlining these things or taking notes, I encourage you to write this down because I'm about to give you some finishing verses. If you've got any desire to start to finish from now on, I'm about to give you some ammo for the enemy. Luke 23, verse 39. Jesus is hanging on a cross, going to be dead in minutes. Two thieves, one on either side, verse 39. Then one of the criminals who were hanging blasphemed Him, saying, "If you're the Christ, save yourself and us." But the other answering rebuked him, talking over Jesus to the other guy on the cross. "Do you not even fear God, seeing you're under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly." Look at this mouthful. He figures out this guy is innocent, and he knows who he is. You'll see in a minute. "We indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord," I love watching sporting events when a Christian wins, they stick the microphone in his face, and they cannot help themselves because they cannot interview the winner. And there are some people that go, "I want to thank God." I'm not against that. But when they rip out these words, when you drop the L-word, you cannot say the L-word without Him. "I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." You're not getting those words out without Him. And I sit in my little house and look at that and go, my spirit bears witness with that man's spirit or that woman's spirit, that's the same Jesus I'm talking about. So when this word Lord gets used hanging on a cross, this guy knows who he is. "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." You go, "What's up with that?"

Even if you have one day left, just a few hours left, you can start to finish. That's what he did. He said, "Okay, I know I'm out of here too. I know who I'm hanging next to, and I'm going to appeal for mercy because I know who he is." And if he's who he is, then he'll take me. And Jesus promised him, "You and me, baby, today." That's my translation, loose translation, but. The enemy is going to tell you, you've gone too far, there's no hope. And though I used to say this, and I'm going to tell you why I don't say it, it's still kind of true. I used to tell people, "Where there's breath, there is hope." And then I stopped telling people that because with my Jesus, even where there's no breath, there is still hope because He raises the dead. So you can literally die and He can raise you from the dead. So why would you not give that Jesus a chance? You say, "Well, He's against me." How's He against you? What's He done to be against you? You really can't come up with anything, nothing personal. "Oh, well, He made my grandmother pray for me." Oh, wow, that sounds terrible. "My brother keeps talking to me about Jesus. I don't want to talk about Jesus." Well, that doesn't make your brother a bad person, he's trying to help you. How could Jesus not be on your side if He was willing to come and die, be buried, raised from the dead, go through all that for no other reason but to rescue you and me? And then He can go from being on your side to being on your inside. And my life has never been the same since He moved in. Never. It's been rough. I've gone down, wanted to quit, wanted to die, but He is a start to finish God.

Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, this is Paul writing, verse 17, let's go there. For my leaders he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church, and when they had come to him, he said to them, "You know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews. How I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you and taught you publicly and from house to house. Testifying to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulation await me." And then look at verse 24. "But none of these things move me. Nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God." So what's he decided? "I'm going to finish." How are you going to finish? "I'm just going to just be dragging my butt over the line, just barely make it. That's my plan." Well, that's what's going to happen then probably. Anybody who's ever run track knows anything about it, you extend to the finish line. In racing, it's got to be your torso, can't be your little pinky or your index finger. You got to push and so anybody trying to win a race, even at the last is giving it everything they have, chest out, hitting that line to win, to finish strong.

Philippians chapter one. Paul again. Philippians one, we'll jump into verse three. "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you." He's writing to these people at Philippi, "Always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the Gospel from this day until now, being confident of this very thing." And what is the thing he has confidence in, that he knows, "that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." So what does that tell you? From start to finish, He's going to finish what He started. So you say, "Well, I'm a screwed up Christian." And there's plenty in the room, a few in the room, a ton beyond here listening, not going to church, not committed, not serving. You think you're done. You got to stop listening to lies and get a hold of some truth and say, "God, will you forgive me?" The answer is, "Yes." "Can you use me again?" The answer is, "Yes." "If I repent, will you change me?" "Yes." "But I've gone down so many times." Get up and go again. Finish. He is trying to finish, even if you aren't trying to finish. "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Second Timothy chapter four, verse six. This is Paul. "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight," and look at this phrase, "I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." You say, "Well, how did he do that?" Somewhere he started to finish. He made a decision, "This is where I'm going." Verses like, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That is a decision to start to finish. That's where we're going to end up, that's what we're going to do. You cannot put this thing on autopilot. Nobody goes well. I remember somebody, the story about somebody who came from another country, they weren't familiar with technology, and somehow they rented a motorhome and thought that if they put it on autopilot, it would kind of do its thing. So they put it on auto, like cruise control, and got up and went in the back. And then the rest of the story, it did not go well because they thought it would somehow steer itself and get them to their destination, and it was over pretty quick. You can't just put it on cruise control. You got to walk with Him every day. You got to talk with Him every day. It is relational.

Interestingly, I'm just going to read this quick. Verse eight and following, "Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day. And not to me only, but also to all who loved His appearing." "Be diligent to come to me quickly," and then look at what happens just after he's saying he finished his race, he says, "Be diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica." What happened to Demas? I don't know, but no matter what happened to Demas, he could start to finish, even if he forsook Paul. I don't care where you are. I'm trying to find out if you're willing, no matter where you are, to start to finish and get to the finish line.

And then if you go read Hebrews 11. And let's go down to verse 30. The chapter of about faith, "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days." The same kind of faith that brought the walls down, verse 31, "By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace. Without faith, it is impossible to please Him." So you say, "I want to please Him." Then finish. You say, "I don't have the strength. I can't." Then let Him finish. Hebrews 12, next chapter, verse one, "Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." So who is the author and finisher? Who is the start to finish? It's Jesus, it's a person. There's an event at the beginning, you become a Christian. There may be an event at the end, either death or the return of Christ, but there's a big process in the middle, and throughout the entire process, He is the process. And you say, "I can't finish." Yes, you can. If you will trust Him and by faith look to Him to finish what He started in your life.

Last one is Jude, and we're only going to look at the first chapter. Insider humor is terrible, but there you go. There's only one chapter in Jude. Now this is how this little one chapter book, as we describe it, ends. Jude chapter 24. Now listen to this. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Richard Ellis Talks. We so appreciate you taking the time to be encouraged by Richard's unique way of challenging us to become more like Jesus every day. But it doesn't stop there. We want that same inspiration to be passed on from you too for others to be encouraged by your life in their own walk with the Lord. And most of us have seen great examples in someone else firsthand that has significantly touched and inspired our life. So much so that we want to pass it on to others as well. This legacy should be what we all inspire to. Even the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, verse one, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." So, who is it in your life that was a great example as a Christ follower that has inspired you to do the same? And what is it that you want to make sure others know about, what is most important to you as a believer?

Well, I have some really great news to share with you. We have just added a Legacy Wall on our website for you to tell your story. Who has made a difference in your life? And what is it that you want to share with others in leaving a legacy of your beliefs and values? We want to hear about it. Go to richardellis.com and share your story today. We love bringing you the program every day, but it means even more to us when you let us know how the program has helped you. Call us at 855-6-RICHARD or at richardellis.com. And while you're there, you can help us greatly by giving to this ministry. This program is making a huge difference in people's lives, and you can make a big difference to ours too. We really do need to hear from you on this. Go to richardellis.com to support this ministry and share your story. Thank you. And until next time, thank you for listening. We look forward to coming alongside you again for more Richard Ellis Talks.