Join Rick Hughes on The Flatline as he explores the seasons of life, urging listeners to embrace the timeless truths of the Bible. With references to Solomon’s literary genius in Ecclesiastes, Rick discusses God’s immutable plans amidst our changing world and underscores the importance of spiritual maturity. Whether you’re new to faith or seasoned in scripture, this episode offers guidance on aligning your thoughts with Christ’s and appreciating the divine order of life.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes. For the next few minutes, I would like to invite you to stick around. It’ll be about 30 minutes of motivation, inspiration, education, but no manipulation. We don’t try to con anyone. We’re not trying to hustle money, not trying to solicit membership, just trying to give you some accurate information. The show is designed to remind you of biblical truths and hopefully to introduce you to a new way of studying and learning the Word of God. You know, remember, we always say God gave us two ends, one to think with and one to sit on, and success in life depends on which one you use. Heads, obviously, you win, and tails, well, you lose. And you always hear me say bad decisions limit future options. Speaking of bad decisions, there’s potential for every one of us to make dumb decisions in our life every day, but stupid decisions hurt people. Bad decisions limit future options and stupid decisions get people hurt. And so we have to learn to think and think for himself and not live off our emotions. That’s the worst way to live, emotional revolt to the soul, letting your emotions control your soul. God gave you emotions, that’s for sure, but they’re not designed to run the ship. They’re designed to appreciate what’s out there. But you have to learn to think for yourself, have to learn to control your thoughts, and that’s what the Bible teaches. Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus. That’s why the Bible says stop thinking of yourself in terms of arrogance beyond what you should. But think in terms of sanity as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from his word, Romans 12, one through three. So it’s imperative that as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, We think right, we get our minds right. The book of Ecclesiastes talks about thinking and how we think and how we orient and adjust to time. And I’d like to read to you something this morning out of the book of Ecclesiastes, beginning in chapter three, verses one through eight. Here it is, I’ll read it slowly. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which has been planted, a time to kill and a time to heal, A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost. A time to keep and a time to cast away, a time to tear apart, a time to sew together, a time to keep silent and a time to speak, a time to love, a time to hate, a time of war, a time of peace. There’s eight verses from Ecclesiastes chapter 3, verses 1 through 8. It may be a bit confusing, but let me kind of give you the breakdown here. This passage deals with God’s timing. for all events on this planet. Some of these things you are going to have to act upon, and some of them you have no control over. But there is, the bottom line is that nothing stays the same forever. You’ve learned that. You’ve seen that in your life. I mean, we’ve all had people that we loved and appreciated that were neighbors or friends, and they moved off and left us or We got something and things change and it’s not the same anymore. I mean, things change. They don’t stay the same forever, particularly in politics. Things change. Change is inevitable. And sometimes, you know, you and I might not necessarily like it, but it happens. So each event mentioned in this particular passage has been predetermined in God’s plan. Ecclesiastes 3.1 says, To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3.14, I know that everything God does will remain forever. There is nothing to add to it and there’s nothing to take from it for God is so worked that men should fear him. Here are a couple of principles that we can conclude from this passage. Uncontrollable circumstances in our lives are often a way that God directs us. Uncontrollable circumstances in our lives are often a way that God directs us. And if you have no control over it and something happened that brought about a tremendous change, God is directing you in a different direction. He’s showing you something. And the question is, can you figure out what he’s showing you? That’s the question. Because if you get emotional, you’ll quit thinking and you’ll just react and get bitter. Another principle is sometimes we get out of step with life, but God has not forgotten us. He knows where we are. He knows what we’re doing. Now, there’s no doubt that when Solomon wrote this, he was a literary genius. His poetic comparison of 14 opposites, it’s amazing. But through it all, here’s what he appears to be saying. He affirms that all of our activities, both good and bad, and all of our responses to people, objects, events, everything happens in its own time. That’s some of the commentary from Valverde and Zuck in the Bible Knowledge Commentary of the New Testament. That’s the way they see it, that he affirms that all of our activities, both good and bad, and all of our responses to people, objects, and events happen in their own time. All the events that Solomon’s mentioned in this section are allowed by God for all men. Even a time for injustice and a time for oppression. All are part of God’s immutable and eternal plan, indicating that man’s toil and man’s labor are for naught. This is not some sort of fatalism or deism, saying God’s unconcerned with events in the world, because you and I both know that he does intervene in events in this world, but it’s simply the proof of what man can expect in this world. The great news is this, God’s redemption through Jesus Christ for each one of us. Because it’s at this junction in our life that our life can take on purpose and direction. And that’s the wonderful thing. So the first thing that Solomon mentions is the beginning and the ending of a person’s life. That’s the very first thing he mentions. There’s a time to be born and a time to die. Nobody can expect anything until they’re born. This is how we all come into this world. We come in through parents who, through God’s natural order, copulate and conceive just as Adam and Eve did, our first parents. In order for there to be a birth, there must be a man and a woman. Did you hear that? In order for there to be a birth, there must be a man and a woman. God designed it that way. I mean, any two individuals could be a parent, but only a man and a woman can bring life into this world. No matter what a person may claim, it’s only through the man and the woman that life is created, and only through God the soul is given to that life. So the Bible says there’s a time to be born, birthday 101, the big day for all moms and all dads. It’s amazing, the Facebook app on my cell phone constantly telling me whose birthday it is. And some people are really into that. You know, they dig saying, hey, happy birthday, happy birthday. And it gets obnoxious after a while, but people have birthdays. Every day of the year, somebody’s having a birthday. And it’s a time to be born. A new baby comes forth. Wonderful. Great. But that baby that comes forth is born physically alive but spiritually dead. That doesn’t mean that baby committed a sin. It means the baby is born into the human race spiritually dead. The newborn baby has a body and a living soul but a dead human spirit because Adam’s original sin was imputed at that birth. Romans 5, 12, therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, thus death has now spread to all men for all have sinned. This is the very reason that Jesus Christ came. That’s to redeem us out of this sin-infested world. So when we receive Christ as Savior, Each one of us, when we believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross, when we put our faith alone in Christ alone, we are redeemed. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter one, excuse me, 1 Peter chapter two, verse 24, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, that’s you and I, having died to sin might live for righteousness, by whose stripes we were healed. The sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, satisfied the justice of God, thus anyone who is in Christ Anyone who’s put their faith in Christ has Christ’s righteousness and is now able to be acceptable before God’s justice because the justice of God judged Christ instead of us. The justice of God poured out upon him the punishment, not you. And by being in Christ, you are now part of God’s family. So there’s a time to be born and there is a time to die. There’s a time to be born once and there’s a time to be born twice. I mean, you’re either going to be born once and die twice or you’re going to be born twice and die once. That might not make sense to you, but the first birth is your physical birth, the second birth is your spiritual birth. The first death, it’s appointed and the man wants to die, we’ll see that here in just a minute. But the second death is being cast into the lake of fire, where the Bible says this is the second death. So if you’re only born once, physical, you’re gonna have two deaths, physical death and cast into the lake of fire. But if you’re born twice, physical birth and spiritual birth, then you only go through physical death. You have to. We’ll explain that to you. Hebrews 9, 27, Ecclesiastes 3, 1, there is a time to die. Hebrews 9, 27, and as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment, which is the great white throne of judgment, Revelation 20, verse 11 through 15. And if your name is not found written in the Lamb’s book of life, then you are cast into the lake of fire. Not that God takes pleasure in doing that, but that you rejected the redemption, you rejected the redeemer, the person, Jesus Christ, his only begotten son. You said no, and you declared that you did not believe that was the way it worked. That was up to you. You made that decision, but that decision will come forth here because your name will not be in the Lamb’s Book of Life because of your own arrogance, thinking that you could redeem yourself by being good or nice or you didn’t care, one of the two. So physical death is unavoidable since this body will not function or work in heaven. Why? Because it’s sin-infected and must return to dust. But now your soul and your spirit live on in a new body forever. That’s the wonderful thing about it. The soul and the spirit live on in a new body forever. And so it’s a resurrection body, and it’s a body that will be with you throughout all eternity. Now, death for the unbeliever is a horrible thing since there’s no more chance for salvation. But death for the believer is a total victory. And for the spiritually mature believer, it’s a promotion with honors. It’s a wonderful thing. So you have to decide which route that you want to take. For the mature believer, these are the words that you can cling to. Job 5, 19 through 27. Now, what am I calling a mature believer? I’m talking about a believer who stays filled with the Holy Spirit on a consistent basis, not that he doesn’t sin, but he rebounds his sin, problem-solving device number one, and a believer who is growing according to 2 Peter 3.18, growing the grace and the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He’s growing daily, listening to a well-qualified pastor teach him and feed him God’s Word. He or she sits down, listens, takes notes, and applies what they learn into their life And that’s what I’m talking about, a mature believer, a person who’s growing spiritually, who’s not stagnant, who’s not staying the same, but advancing spiritually in the plan of God. So Job says, from six disasters, God will deliver you. Job 5, 19 through 27. Furthermore, in seven, no evil will touch you. In depression, that’s economic disaster, he will preserve you from death. In battle, from the stroke of the sword. You’ll be hidden from the lash of the tongue, which is sort of a social disaster from sins of the tongue. And you will not be afraid of death when it comes. You will laugh at death and famine. You will have nothing to fear from a violent death. You will have a covenant with the stones of the field, that’s weapons and ammunition. And wild animals will be at peace with you, and therefore you will know that your human body is in peace, for you will visit your home in heaven and you will not forfeit blessing or reward. And you will know that your seed will be numerous and your descendants like the grass of the earth. That’s the perpetuation of our client nation. You will come to the grave in full age, like a shock of corn in its season. Behold this doctrine. We’ve researched it. This is the guest of it. Hear it and apply it to yourselves. Job 5, 19 through 27. Coming to your grave in a full age. There’s nothing worse than coming to your grave too soon. Some people do it by acts of stupidity, driving, acting stupid, drinking. Some people do it by suicide, coming to the grave too early. God has laid out a course of action for your life and a plan for your life, and it’s not your choice to decide to do something stupid and wind up not only hurting yourself but hurting other people. And yet it happens every day. Stupid decisions lead to injury. Bad decisions limit future options. But stupid decisions hurt people. And sometimes people check out way too soon because they’re stupid. They drink and they drive. They drink and do drugs. They drive and get road rage and run people over and shoot people. We hear about it every day. Stupid, stupid things. America is the land of the stupid. I can assure you that. Look at politics today and you can figure this one out. So you cannot be removed from life apart from the sovereignty of God. If you’re a mature believer, if you’re growing in grace, if you’re representing Jesus Christ, the principle is that until God makes the decision, nothing, nothing will remove you from this life. And once that decision has been made by God, once the command comes down, all right, bring him home, then nothing will keep you here. But for the unbeliever, the person without Christ, it’s a daily gamble. In Luke 12, 16 through 21, this is what Jesus said. He told them a parable saying this, The land of the rich man was very productive, and he began to reason to himself, saying, What shall I do? Since I have no place to store all of my crops. And then he said, Oh, I got it. This is what I’ll do. I’ll tear down my barns, and I’ll build larger barns and store all my grains and all my goods there. And then I will say to my soul these words, Soul? You have many goods laid up for many years to come. Be easy, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, You are a fool, because this very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. None of that will go with you. None of it. So for the unbeliever, the thought that he can make himself happy is an illusion because he doesn’t know when he’s going to go. He doesn’t know how he’s going to go. I mean, there have been tremendous instances of famous individuals have been kidnapped and murdered. They were wealthy individuals held for ransom, killed, destroyed. You don’t know. You don’t know. And when you get in a car and drive down the road and five feet to your left, there’s another vehicle approaching you at 80 miles an hour, 60 miles an hour. That’s a head-on crash if that person loses attention and gets on the phone, looks down to take a text. It happens every day. You see, none of us have control over the beginning or the ending of life, but we do have control over our future destiny and how we live during our time on this sin-infested planet. Joshua, the Old Testament leader of Israel after the death of Moses, put it this way in Joshua 24, 14. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, then choose you this day who you will serve. Whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the river are the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we’re going to serve the Lord. You know, even an atheist serves a God. It’s a God of self. Oh, he might not believe in the Trinity, the Triune God. He might not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but he makes his own God, and his own God is his self, a self-God. You and I, we must make a decision about whom we’re going to allow to direct the courses of our life and provide for our needs. Did you hear me? you and I must make a decision about whom we will allow to direct the course of our lives and provide for our needs. So the question that I’m asking you today is where do you get your direction in life? One thing you could be certain about, and that’s the enemy has a cosmic system, or shall we say a cosmic smokescreen to blind you from the true facts of God’s plan. He doesn’t want you to know it. In 2 Corinthians 4, 4, in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not. lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine in unto them. If there’s anything that Satan wants to do is to stop people from believing in Jesus Christ, maybe you’ve never thought about why you’re here. Maybe it’s never really entered your mind. But there’s a reason why you’re here, and that’s to resolve this angelic conflict. You see, in eternity past, Satan was condemned to the lake of fire because of his own arrogance, Isaiah 14. He doesn’t want to go to the lake of fire. He knows it’s a real place. And so he’s constantly trying to vindicate himself and trying to impugn the name of God by attacking God’s love, saying, if you were a loving God, you… wouldn’t send me there. If you were loving God, you wouldn’t have created me like you knew what I was going to do. You created me. It’s your fault that I sin. No, it’s not. God loves you, he loves me, but he gives us autonomy and the freedom to choose. You have the freedom to choose. You can choose for or against Christ, and you can choose for or against God’s plan for your life. Now, just to make it straight, there are two ways you can go. The Thy Way Highway, T-H-Y, Thy Way Highway, or or the my way highway, either one, it’s your choice. But you’re gonna make decisions based on something. Something is going to guide you and direct you, and you have a choice. You can let your friends guide you and direct you, you can let your social media guide you and direct you, or you can go to the Bible. You can go to the word of God, because God says in Jeremiah, know the plans that I have for you and they’re to prosper you and make you happy. That’s God’s plan. But in your own mind, when you rebel against the plan of God and you go down the my way highway and you make stupid decisions, not only are you going to hurt yourself, you’re going to hurt other people. And when you make bad decisions, you’re gonna limit all of your options in life. There are people sitting in penitentiaries today listening to me, wonderful friends that I have that write to me and they’ve made bad decisions and they’re paying for it. And they would tell you the same thing, don’t do this, look where I wound up because of a bad decision that I made or a stupid decision that I made. I’ve hurt my family, I’ve hurt my children, I’ve hurt my friends, I would never do that again if I could get out of here. And they will eventually get out. Thank God for that. But we have to remember the concept. We have to make decisions every day of our life. And where do you get the information from? Even though your length of time is determined by God, as I said, he gives you the autonomy to determine your own course of action while you’re here. That’s what he lets you do. So where do the instructions come from? I see, when I was born, I didn’t get an instruction manual about how to live. Or did I? Actually, I did. The very principles and provisions and promises that God gave for me are found in the scripture. and they can ensure that I have a wonderful life. Rejecting those provisions, ignoring those promises can lead to much unhappiness and regret from bad decisions accumulated over years of frustration and failure. It’s a shame, but that’s what people do because in their own arrogance, they reject everything God has provided for them. I want to ask you a simple question. Do you understand God loves you? Do you know that? In 2 Corinthians 13, 14, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. This is what Paul wrote. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s what was provided on the cross for you. The love of God the Father, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, John 3, 16. And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, he will come and live in you. Jesus Christ said that. I’m going to go away, but I’m I’m going to send a tutor, a mentor that will live in you. It’s the Holy Spirit. He’ll guide you and direct you, John 16, John 14. God loves you. He has made provision for you to have a wonderful life. an amazing life, a life called the Christian life. It’s a life without fear, a life without worry, a life without guilt, a life without bitterness. It’s not a life without test. I mean, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10, 13, we all go through tests or common demand. This is what Solomon wrote about the test of the life and how it comes down the pipeline. but the provisions to handle the test are amazing. God’s impersonal love towards you is part of his eternal comfort of grace and part of the problem-solving devices that he gives for you in the flat line of your soul if you will learn them. God’s provided encouragement for you and me in the lowest moment of our lives. And God’s love for us is directed towards the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not my righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He loves what Christ provided for me, not on the basis of what I’ve done for him. So we don’t need comfort, we need encouragement. Encouragement of heart comes from metabolizing the word of God into your stream of consciousness. Learning it, applying it, living about it. The love of God has provided eternal encouragement for us by means of his word. That’s where it comes from. 1 Peter 1 24, for all people are like grass and all their glory is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flowers fall. but the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word that was preached to you. This is an eternal provision for your encouragement. The Bible contains all you need to know for a wonderful life between birth and death. and also how to have an amazing eternal future in the presence of your Creator. Solomon’s admonition about timing was critical since your course of life depends on those decisions you make. I hope you’ve been listening. I hope you’ve been paying attention. And I hope you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that that’s true. If I can help in any way, don’t hesitate to write. And until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
