Richard Ellis Talks

Richard Ellis: We get spooked when things happen that are out of our control. We don't want anything miraculous happen that we can't explain because someone would go, "Oh my God, it's getting freaky," or "God's doing something." You know what? It wouldn't be bad every once in a while for something like that to happen, where somebody's life was so dramatically changed that there's no way that happened but that God did it.

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 is 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 topic. Here's Richard Ellis.

Richard Ellis: The title of today's message is "Strength in Weakness." I want us to look at three passages today—two main passages. If it wasn't for screwed-up people and screwed-up churches, you wouldn't have half of the New Testament. A lot of this stuff was written to people who were upside down.

If you read the Bible, I can tell you one of the reasons I believe God really wrote this book and that it's true is because He didn't leave certain stuff out. It's all in here: incest, rape, adultery, murder. If you're trying to write a clean book and protect people's character and their past, you don't reveal stuff like this. It's all here.

Paul, writing to this church in Corinth, challenges them on a lot of stuff. He gets into some personal stuff here. There was something wrong with Paul. He was a very zealous, very strong personality, but he had some kind of physical ailment. We're going to look at that in just a minute.

Whatever it was, we're not positive. Some people think it may have been something wrong with his eyes because there are some references in the scriptures to, "See how large a hand I've written this in," that he wrote big. Whatever the case may be, it's really best that we don't know, because some people would say, "Oh, well, I've got the same problem Paul did," and it doesn't apply to anything else.

Your weakness, whatever it may be, whatever your problem could be, anything—that's where these scriptures will apply in a moment. Look at verse seven. Paul says in verse seven of chapter 12, 2 Corinthians chapter 12: "And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure."

Now, what was going on here? Paul had seen stuff that nobody had seen like Paul has. He had an encounter after Jesus had been raised from the dead and ascended into heaven. Paul meets Jesus on the road, sees Him, talks to Him. He is having some unbelievable spiritual experiences that, frankly, can give you a big head.

He's seeing things, hearing things. God is using him. He speaks, people are healed. He preaches, people are saved. It's just unbelievable power coming out of this man. For some reason, God says, verse seven, "lest he be exalted above measure by the abundance of all these revelations, a thorn in the flesh." God said, "I'm going to allow Satan to do something in his life that will humble him."

There's going to be some weakness, something in his life. "I'm going to put this on him and it's going to cause him some trouble, but I'm going to use that for a purpose." Track this with me because everybody in the room may or may not have something like this. He says, "lest he be exalted above measure." Verse eight: "Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me."

Paul got answers to prayers. When he prayed, he spoke with God. He had heard the voice of Jesus, literally, and he's about to hear it again. Paul had talked to God, heard from God, got answers from God, seen miraculous things happen. So he says, "God, what's going on here?" Now, I want to give you a parenthetical disclaimer based on this passage.

I believe Jesus heals people. I believe Jesus healed people back then. I believe He can do it today just like that. I believe we could pray for someone and cancer or any disease could be taken away in an instant. I believe God is that powerful. But I'm telling you, He does not always remove sickness.

I don't understand why, in this case, I'll show you in a minute why. Some people say, "Well, it's your lack of faith. If you had more faith, you could be healed." Be very careful with that. Some people that Jesus healed, the disciples healed, it didn't have anything to do with their faith. Jesus just spoke and they were healed.

Be very cautious. Don't go to one extreme or the other. Some people say, "Oh, all these signs and wonders and all these miraculous things ended 2,000 years ago." My book says that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I just can't write it all off. Most of the time, we are very comfortable if someone gets healed over at Baylor Hospital. That's fine, just don't let it happen in here.

We get spooked when things happen that are out of our control. We don't want anything miraculous happen that we can't explain because someone would go, "Oh my God, it's getting freaky," or "God's doing something." It wouldn't be bad every once in a while for something like that to happen, where somebody's life was so dramatically changed that there's no way that happened but that God did it.

So don't write it all off. There's an extreme both ways. I have a hard time biblically with people who say, "Well, everybody that's sick ought to get well. That's God's will." I don't know what we're going to do with Paul then, because sometimes God allows these things and sends these things for a reason.

"Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me." God, take this thorn away from me. And he waits, and you know what? Nothing. He waits. Some of you have been praying for stuff for years. You pray again. Paul prays, "God, this thing is a thorn. This looks like the enemy on me. Get this thing off of me." Nothing.

A third time he prays, "God, You have got to get this thing off of me. I don't want to live with this. I don't want to die with this. I don't want to experience this. This is not helping anything." Now, some people say, "Well, I've prayed three times," or "I've prayed my whole life for something to be removed," and they say Paul's prayer was not answered. It was answered. The problem is we want "yes" to our prayers.

I can't tell you how many times I used to pray. I'd be dating some girl and pray, "God, work this out. Let me marry this girl." I thank God today He did not answer my prayers the way I wanted Him to. He answered them, but not the way I wanted Him to at that time. God will answer your prayers how: yes, no, or wait. Sometimes it's easy to deal with yes and no. It's the "wait" thing that drives us nuts.

What answer did he get? Look at verse nine. You pray, you pray, you pray. If you get a yes, go with your answer. If you get a no, accept it. If you get a wait, hang in there. But he got an answer, but his answer was no. "I will not remove it, but my answer's going to be better than removing the problem."

And He said to me—and I don't know if some of these Bibles, some of you have no idea what a red-letter edition of the Bible is, and you may have one and wonder, did they run out of black ink or something? But if you've got a New Testament and you flip through it and it's got red in it every once in a while, those are where Jesus spoke, where it's Him speaking.

Paul heard Jesus speak, and this is what Jesus said to him. I asked three times, and He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness." Now, he's still got his problem, but he got an answer. "Paul, you don't need the thorn removed. I know what's best for you. My strength, My grace, is all you need. My strength is made perfect in your weakness."

I know somebody in the room who has had a job situation where the job has been an absolute nightmare. This person has prayed and prayed for God to release them from this job, get them out of this job, out from under these bosses that this person has. It's been unbelievable. And it hasn't been until the last few weeks that you know what happened in the situation?

The person is still at the same job. God didn't change the job; God changed the person. God may not change your circumstance; He may change you. It's amazing how when your circumstance changes, your job changes. I've noticed this in my life. I go into certain buildings that I've been in as a kid or when I dated somebody and was just completely upside down, just stuff in my life.

I go in these same buildings and I look around the room, and it's the same building, but I don't feel the same that I did when I was in there 10 years before or 20 years before. You know what? The building didn't change. The trees are still green, the grass is still green, the roads are still paved. Dallas is pretty much the same in a lot of ways, but the years that I've lived here, the stuff I've gone through—the city doesn't change, I change.

And a place in one sense—have you ever driven by a landmark, a building that brought back a memory to you? A place you got in trouble, a hotel you spent the night in with somebody you shouldn't have? I don't mean to get too personal here. And you can't even go that way. A place you used to buy drugs, a strip joint you used to frequent.

And you can't even go there. And you think, "God, why is it I don't want to go in there anymore?" Something changed. I used to drive by here and couldn't stop. Now I'm different. God may change you and not change your circumstance. And He says to Paul, "My grace is all you need. And when you're weak, that's when I do My work. That's when you're going to be strong."

For My strength is made perfect in weakness. I've said this before, and I'll probably keep saying it: we are like—I don't know what we're like. Even kids aren't really like this. When everything is going great, we say, "See you, God," and we're out of there. I don't know what it is, but things get going good. You get a great job, buy a new car, get a great apartment, new boyfriend, new girlfriend, whatever it is.

And we just start going. As long as we're successful and have nothing going wrong, we almost just forget God. All of a sudden, He goes, "You know what? They're going to get it sooner or later, but until they do, something's got to give. I'm going to get their attention." And something falls apart in your life.

And you find yourself back in a closet, back on your knees going, "Okay." I say you've got to say "uncle" before you ever say "Father." You say, "Okay, enough's enough. I can't take it anymore. I'm back. You've broken me, I'm back." Learn maintenance. Change the oil every so many miles. Check your water. Maintain this relationship with God. Don't let it go for months and years and then everything fall apart and come dragging back to God with a broken-down vehicle.

Say, "God, I'm here today and tomorrow. Thank You, You've blessed me." When it's up and down, trust Him, thank Him, praise Him, live with Him, live for Him. Look what he says in the rest of verse nine. He's gotten his answer. Jesus says, "This is the deal. Grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect in weakness."

Then Paul says this: "Therefore, because of what He said, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Now he says, "All right, fine. If You're not taking it away, You're not changing it, I'll turn it around on the enemy. You're going to allow the enemy to do this to me, but I'm going to take what You've allowed him to put on me, and I'm going to start bragging about it to people."

Every time somebody sees my problem and points out my weakness, I'm going to say, "You know what? I'm glad you noticed that, because you know what? This is the thing in my life that enables me to go to God. This is the very thing in my life that when it starts hitting me and I think about it, I realize this is what drives me to God."

For some reason, this is one of the things I thought. Some of you have ex-wives and ex-husbands. And you know what? It'll never change. Till the day you die or they die, you will always have an ex-wife and an ex-husband. And if you have children, you're going to share those kids with that person. You know what? It is a thorn that is not going away.

And you prayed in the midst of the divorce. You prayed in the midst of the problem, "God, remove this, remove this. Why does this have to be in my life?" And God says, "Look, it's not going away. And it's not even a 'wait' problem. It's not about waiting. The answer is no, but My grace is sufficient for you in the tragedy, in the divorce, in the relationship. Trust Me."

Then what do you do? Every time somebody brings up the divorce, the enemy says, "You're a loser. You're a flake. You can't commit. You'll never be married again. You'll never have a relationship." What do you say to him? "I'm so glad you brought that back up, because this is the very thing that God is using in my life. This is where I feel I'm the weakest, but this is where His strength is made perfect in my weakness."

"And Father, I thank You. I am so glad that You're the God that can take disasters and weaknesses and turn them into strengths." Some of you—I've shared this before—some of you have habits, you have struggles, you have temptations, you have stuff that's destroyed your life and you hide it. Now, I'm not saying get up on a mic in a church and say it.

But sometimes the people who have had an abortion are the best people to sit down with somebody struggling with that issue. Sometimes a person who's smoked crack cocaine is a whole lot better talking to somebody who deals with that issue, or heroin. A sex addict talks to a sex addict a whole lot better than anybody else.

And you say, "I don't want anybody to know who I am." If that's your weakness and that's where God's clobbered you, turn it around on the enemy in your own life and in somebody else's and let God use you to see them change. Don't let it go to waste. There is a reason, and He can take your weakness and bring strength from it.

So he says, "I most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me." Now, that's the issue. Would you rather have your problem gone or the power of God on your life? I'd rather have the problem and keep the power. And sometimes we say, "God, I don't care about the power. I just want pleasure. I want peace. I want what I want." And God says, "You know what? You'd much rather have My power in the long run. Trust Me."

So you boast in it, you thank Him for it. Verse 10: Now he's gone from saying in verse nine, "I boast in this," to verse 10: "Therefore I take pleasure." Now he's deriving pleasure. It's kind of like spiritual masochism in a way here. He's turning this thing around. He says, "You know what? I'm going to enjoy this."

"I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." You weak today? You're closer to being strong than you've ever been. You've got some area in your life you just can't shake? Then say, "God, if it's not going away, then use it. I thank You. I'll boast in it. I'll take pleasure in it."

Look at the stuff he lists here: infirmities, reproaches, needs. Anybody short on cash? Whether you got yourself in that fix or not, if that's where you are, you say, "You know what, God? You're going to use this. I'm weak in this area." Distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, I am strong.

Now flip over to Matthew chapter 26. Lest you think he is the only one who's ever been through this. Matthew 26, verse 36 and following: "Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to the disciples, 'Sit here while I go and pray over there.' And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed."

"Then He said to them, 'My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.' I am so heartbroken I feel like it could kill me right here in the garden. 'Stay here and watch with Me.' And He went a little farther and fell on His face and prayed, saying—now listen, guys, this is the God of the universe and a man in a garden with three of His closest buddies praying."

And He gets out there and He knows what's coming, and He prays once: "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me." God, is there a way out of this? I know I'm about to die. I'm about to be sacrificed. If there is any way around this, I want out of this. Guys, we are all praying this stuff sooner or later in our lives.

"God, if there is a way around this bankruptcy, if there is a way around this divorce, if there is a way around this breakup, if there is a way around this firing or me quitting or whatever it is." We've all got stuff. And you say, "God, if there is any way, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless—now here's the kicker—not as I will, but as You will."

You know what kind of answer He got? He didn't get an answer. He goes back, verse 40: "Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, 'What? Could you not watch with Me for one hour?'" Here He is almost dying, He's so heartbroken because He knows He's about to literally die. And He's taken His three buddies, and here Peter's the closest one. He goes, "Peter, what's up with this? You're My friends. You couldn't watch with Me for an hour?"

Verse 41: "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, a second time He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." Now He's realizing. He's asking again, is there any way around this?

And He came and found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy. So He left them, went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. Three times Jesus, the God of the universe, goes into a garden and He prays, "God, is there any way out of this?" And you know what His answer was? No, there's no way around it.

I'm going to tell you something, guys, and this is the crux of the whole deal. I thank God that Jesus didn't get an answer to that prayer. I thank God there wasn't a way for Him to get around drinking that cup. Because if Jesus had answered His prayer, I wouldn't be here today.

And the eternal life with God that is offered through Jesus and the cup that He drank—His life, His death, His burial, and resurrection—would not be provided. And what is so simple to us on this side of the crucifixion, the death, burial, and resurrection—what was so complicated for people in the Old Testament with all the sacrificial system—all you've got to do is come in a room like this or sit down with a friend at work or in a squad car on a Friday night.

And somebody tell you the God of the universe loves you so much that He came, He lived, and even prayed if there's a way around this, let Me get out of it, but if there's not, Your will be done. And God said, "My will is for You to die." And He died, was buried, having shed His blood, was buried and raised from the dead to provide eternal life for you—abundant life between here and heaven.

That is so dadgum simple, it is unbelievable. Even a child can get it. And it all happened because God didn't answer somebody's prayer. The thing you're praying, if it's removed, you may get the problem gone, but you may miss out on the power of God in your life. And there is nothing worth trading the power of God in on your life.

I know there's some heavy stuff in this room and people listening to my voice. But whatever it is, keep praying, but if God says no, then go with "no," especially if you hear, "My grace is all you need. Trust Me. I'll give you the strength. My strength is made perfect in your weakness." And trust Him and go with it.

And in some of these cases, like in a situation where there's ex-wives or husbands, what else are you going to do? You going to complain the rest of your life and be bitter and angry and mean, and your kids be affected by it? Get a life. Get a grip. Say, "God, I'm not going to let this destroy me. And You've said no. It's obvious that it's no, so I'm going to go with it. And I'm going to trust You and let Your strength be made perfect in my weakness."

And then is when the power of God is unleashed in your life, and you'll see maybe not your circumstance change; you'll see God change you from the inside out. And it starts with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ because of what He did in that garden. He said, "Okay, I'll go through with it. I'll take the answer." And the grace was sufficient even for Christ. Flip over to Romans 5:3 real quick, and we'll close with this one. Romans 5:3—well, let's start with verse one, then we'll read down a few verses.

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope."

"Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Don't give up. There are strengths in weaknesses. And if you will hold on and give it to God and trust Him and allow Him to do what He's trying to do in you and through you and whatever this is, it's going to come around.

It pays off. You will end up with the power of God in your life. You say, "I can't do it." That's precisely the point. When you get to that point, say, "God, I can't do this anymore without You," then that's when He's unleashed, that's when the power and His strength is made perfect in your weakness.

And sooner or later, guys, everybody, if you haven't come to this point, I pray you do before you die, but you get to the point where you say, "God, I can't save myself. I can't even get myself into heaven. I can't even keep myself alive. I can't do anything. I need a Savior. I need somebody to rescue me, somebody to save me."

And I believe Jesus died to do that, and He died to purchase a place for me in heaven that He offers as an absolute free gift, and I receive that gift personally. We had people in this room who prayed to receive the gift of eternal life sitting in a chair in a little schoolhouse. Your life can literally change right there where you sit.

For some of you, it's an issue of eternity. For some of you, it's just a life thing you're going to have to say, "God, I know the answer's been 'no' for a long time to my prayer to let this thing go. I accept Your answer, that it's not 'yes' and it's not 'wait,' it's 'no.' I accept it and I'm going to praise You for it. I'm going to thank You in it. I'm going to glory in it. I'm going to take pleasure in it because there's nothing else I can do. And I want Your power in my life more than I want this thing gone, and it looks like it's not going anywhere."

Take these things that the enemy means for evil and You mean for good and use them, Lord, for Your honor and glory, we pray. In Jesus' name who makes it possible, amen. Let's pray together and think about these things. Father, thank You for each person that's in this room. And I thank You for the eternal decisions and the life decisions that are made in a moment like this.

And for those, Father, that have heard this thing about Jesus and His life, His blood, His death, burial, and resurrection, and they finally today understand that He died for them, that He took their place, that He paid their way, that their sins can be forgiven. And today they've come and said to You, Father, in the quietness of this moment in their heart, "I change my mind. I can't get me into heaven. I know You can, and I trust You to do it. And I accept this gift that You offer of eternal life with You in heaven."

Father, for those people, I thank You, and I pray that You'd give them courage, even if it's just to check off a space on a card or to tell a friend that a new journey has begun, a new life has begun. And Father, for the Christians in this room who may have known You for a long time and prayed earnestly that things would change: Father, if the answer is wait, then let them hang in there, knowing that You're going to answer.

But Father, if the answer is no, I pray that You'd give us the grace that is all we need in the final analysis like You did with Paul. And that we would see Your strength made perfect in our weakness, and that we would take glory, even pleasure, in whatever it is, and realize that's where Your power is unleashed in our life. And take these things that the enemy means for evil and You mean for good and use them, Lord, for Your honor and glory, we pray in Jesus' name who makes it possible. Amen.

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