SPEAKER 02 : 0:08

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.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:23

Thank you, Jack, and good morning, America. This is your host, Rick Hughes, coming to you from Cropwell, Alabama. Yes, we have the Flatline every Sunday morning, same time, same place on this radio station. broadcasting now over 100 stations across America, and I’m honored that you would give us time to listen. Thank you so very much. Our show is not about manipulation. It’s not about solicitation. It’s about information, giving you accurate information where you can verify and identify the plan of God for your life if you’d like to do so. And if you do that, then you’re free to orient and adjust to that plan. That’s really up to you. Your life and your life is based on your decisions, and everybody’s responsible for our decisions. The Bible says, as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. And so every thought you have starts with, everything you do starts with a thought. That thought determines what your incentive or your motivation is, and your motivation determines your action. I don’t know what you think today. I don’t know what you’re feeling today. But I can tell you it’s some tough times in America today as we listen to this radio show. I want to remind you of something before we get started in our topic today. You know, every Sunday we have a different topic and cover a different information for you. But I want to remind you that we have some new books available upon request. We’ve been doing some live interviews recently across the country at some of the various radio stations that cover our show. But these materials that we offer are provided at no charge. We don’t sell the Bible information. We don’t solicit money from you. We obviously trust the Lord to pay for our show because we have to purchase this time. But we’re not asking you to give money to get these books. They’re all free. One of them is called Christian Problem Solving. And it’s a detailed study of God’s 10 problem-solving devices. It’s actually transcripts of the shows that I did in 2020. So these transcripts have been put into a book, and all 10 of those Christian problem-solving devices we teach on the Flatline are in that book. Some of you don’t have computers. You may not know what studies we have available. So let me give you the titles of a few. We have Bible Promises and Principles, And 10 Reasons Why Prayers Aren’t Answered. These are all free for you. Bible Promises and Principles is like a little phone book and tremendous amount of Bible promises and biblical principles in the back. We have a book called Life’s Toughest Years, which focuses on young adults. We have a book called Divine Pardon, which we use in prison ministries. And we have a lot of bookmarks, different bookmarks that you can stick in your Bible that’ll help you. So if you don’t have a computer to request materials, you can call us at 800-831-0718. 800-831-0718. Leave your name and number. We’ll call you back, and we’ll see what you’d like to have. Or you can actually write to us at P.O. Box 100. P.O. Box 100 in Cropwell, Alabama. Cropwell, Alabama.

SPEAKER 1 : 3:27

35054.

SPEAKER 01 : 3:28

So thank you. Thank you for listening, and thank you for taking the opportunity to get a hold of this information if you’d like to have it. It’s there, it’s free, and it’s available. Today we want to talk about the spiritual sluggard. spiritual sluggard sluggard s-l-u-g-g-a-r-d you say what is that well it’s a person that’s habitually lazy or inactive a person that doesn’t take responsibility for his or her own life and this word sluggard is used many times in the book of proverbs in the bible where the person he or she is condemned for their laziness listen to proverbs 6 9 how long will you lie there you sluggard And when will you get up from your sleep? In Proverbs 20, verse 4, sluggard do not plow in season. So at harvest time, they look but find nothing. The sluggard that I’m talking about has the ability to work, but he or she refuses. No drive, no responsibility. Won’t use their volition to take care of the job they need to get done. And remember, I told you a couple of weeks ago, God gave you a job. Just like he gave Adam a job in the garden to take care of the garden, cultivate the garden, and to name the animals, he gave you a job to take care of the garden in your soul. And you’re supposed to grow spiritually and become a mature believer. That’s why the Bible says, grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So the sluggard has the ability to do this, but he won’t take that responsibility. If we make an analogy to the Christian life, who’s a spiritual sluggard, we’re going to come to some very pointed insights from God. One, listen carefully. Once you accept Christ as your savior, you were given a job by God. And that job is to tend to your spiritual life and ultimately represent Jesus Christ with the results being rewardable in eternity future at the judgment seat of Christ as taught in 1 Corinthians 3, 11 through 16. So your job is to tend to your spiritual life. Many believers don’t even know they have a spiritual life. The spiritual life is not the physical life. They are two different things. When you’re born again, your dead human spirit is reactivated as God the Holy Spirit comes to indwell you, and you’re made spiritually alive, and you have a spiritual birthday. That’s birthday two. So everybody’s going to have two birthdays. Birthday one, the day you’re born. Birthday two, the day you believe in Jesus Christ, if in fact you do that. If you don’t do that, then you’re going to have two death days. That’s right, two death days. Death day one, when you die physically, and death day two, when you’re cast into the lake of fire, where the Bible says this is the second death. So the spiritual life is mandated in the Bible for us to learn how to operate spiritually in the spiritual life to learn what it’s about, how we can glorify God and represent Jesus Christ in our time. So to the mature spiritual life, not the immature, not the baby Christian, not the adolescent Christian, but the mature Christian, this requires a lifetime of work No one-shot decision will make you that spiritual hero. This requires you dedicating your life to study and grow in the Word of God, not rededicate. I remember years ago when I first got into the ministry, I gave an invitation to come rededicate your life back in 1970 at a meeting in Mississippi. And a fellow came down the aisle and said, I want to rededicate my life. And I said, great, rededicate. And he said, you know what he asked me? He had the gall to say, well, how do you do it? And I thought, well, you know, one, two, three, rededicate me. That didn’t work. And I realized that I was using some, just some nomenclature, some words. I didn’t really know what they meant myself. So what exactly does it mean to rededicate your life to Christ? It doesn’t mean anything. The spiritual life is you growing daily. You sticking with the Word of God, that’s the rededicating every day that you take in the Word of God under a well-qualified pastor, you are in essence rededicating your life for growing in grace. So point three, growing to spiritual maturity is not an easy task. Why? Because it’s compared to spiritual warfare in the Bible. And point four, the spiritual sluggard is not willing to put forth the effort necessary to become a mature believer. Did you hear me? He’s not willing to put forth the effort necessary to become a mature believer. If you think it just happens automatically, you’re wrong. If you think you can go to church once a week and put a little money on the offering plate, sing in the choir, go to Sunday school, and you’re going to be a spiritually mature believer, not going to happen that way. You’re never going to get out of babyhood. How could a kid get out of the first grade if he went to two hours a week? He can’t. You have got to have a daily routine of taking in the Word of God under a well-qualified pastor as you are filled with the Holy Spirit. So that’s a war. Growing to spiritual maturity is a war because Satan tries to invade your thoughts. Your sin nature will try to steal you away, doesn’t want you to do this. The world is going to lure you away, and Satan will try to deceive you. And here’s what the bottom line is. The spiritual sluggard is not willing to put forth the work. Listen to Acts 17, 10 through 12. These men are not spiritual sluggards. They are indeed mature believers. In Acts 17, 10 through 12, then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, And when they arrived, they went into the synagogue in Berea, the synagogue of the Jews, and these were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so or not. Therefore, many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. That’s the impact of spiritual growth and representing Christ. These individuals that searched the scriptures that Paul taught, they grew to grace, they grew to be mature believers, they led other people to Christ, had an impact. That’s what you are supposed to do. Search the scriptures daily. I’m not talking about a little daily devotion. I’m not talking about a little book you buy at the drugstore, a daily thought for Jesus sort of deal. Listen, that’s like an appetizer. What I’m talking about is sitting down with your Bible, with your notebook, at the table, with a cup of coffee, with a soda, whatever you want to do, turn on the tape player, turn on the podcast, turn on the DVD, and listen to the Bible taught by a well-qualified pastor. You can do that. It’s free. It’s available. If you don’t know how, get a hold of me. I’ll tell you how. In 2 Peter 3.18, the Bible says, but grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That verb grow is not a request. That’s a mandate from God through Peter. You must grow. And there is only one way to do it, and that’s to stay filled with the Holy Spirit and to take in God’s word consistently, preferably under that well-qualified pastor who you hear me speak of. He’s your human shepherd. But Ephesians 5.15 says this, be very careful how you live your life. Not as unwise, and if I can modify that, not being stupid, not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. That’s the warfare you’re involved in, the spiritual warfare. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not be foolish. Don’t be an idiot. Learn God’s will for you. Learn what God’s will for you is. Jesus Christ, our Lord, said it this way. Take my yoke and learn of me. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. If you love God, then you need to read 1 John 5, 3, where it says, if you love me, you will obey me, and my mandates are not hard. Here’s one of them, grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You’ve got to get out of being a spiritual baby to being a spiritually mature individual that represents Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 4, 11, so Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, why? To equip his people for the work of service so the body of Christ may be built up. So the Lord Jesus Christ distributes spiritual gifts at the point of salvation. I am not a pastor. I am an evangelist. But some men have the gift of pastor-teacher. The Greek word there is poimen kai didaskalos, pastor and shepherd. And it’s not two different people because there’s only one definite article, not two. The poimen kai didaskalos, the pastor, teacher. And his job is to equip his congregation, his flock, for the work of the service. Why? So the body of Christ can be built up. I can tell you this, it’s not easy to pastor a church. It requires many hours of studying to teach God’s word correctly. And you know, and sometimes the congregation doesn’t want that. I mean, sometimes the congregation wants personal attention. They want the pastor to visit them, pray for them, have tea with me sort of stuff, you know. And pastors are easily discouraged from studying and digging out the spiritual truths due to unreasonable demands from their very own congregation. Your local church is designed to be a classroom, first and foremost, not a lonely hearts club. You don’t need the pastor visiting you every time you turn around. Every time you get sick, if you expect the pastor to come to the hospital and hold your hand and tell you, my sister died with it, but you’re going to be okay, let’s pray together. That’s not what the pastor’s job is. Listen, that’s why I got elected deacons to handle things like that. His job is to study and teach God’s word to you so that when you do get sick, when you do get an infinite and infirmity, when you do have tragedy, you can handle it. You can deal with it without having to depend on someone else to live your spiritual life for you. And if you’re a sluggard spiritually, you’re not going to be able to do that. You’re going to need help. You’re going to need somebody to hold your hand, pray for you, stand beside you, try to hold you up, because you won’t be able to glorify God on your own. There’s nothing wrong with people praying for you. There’s nothing wrong with friends coming to visit you. But you’ve got to stand alone. You’ve got to be a mature believer. You’ve got to be able to do that on your own. So be very careful. It’s not easy. It takes work to nurture and grow a congregation as a pastor, and it takes work to grow spiritually as a congregational member. Paul reminded Timothy of this in 2 Timothy 3, 14 through 17. You must continue in the things which you have learned. Where did he learn it? From Paul. You must continue in the things you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. That’s Paul. and that from childhood you’ve known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Jesus Christ. And he goes on to tell Timothy that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be completely, thoroughly furnished for all good works. That’s the job of the pastor. And where did he learn it? From a child. That from childhood you’ve known the Holy Scriptures. So his mama and his aunt taught him the Word of God, made sure he was in front of him. And that’s your job as a parent, to reinforce the Scriptures to your children, to teach them authority orientation, biblical orientation. And that’s critical for having a well-equipped child. But the well-equipped pastor must be self-motivated. This takes a little more than just showing up to work. He must be self-motivated, which requires he must be hungry for spiritual growth. And this is actually a very rare trait. I mean, I can tell you from my experience, of traveling for 53 years in the ministry that I’ve been in the ministry. I have met hundreds of pastors, and I have not met a whole lot that are really hungry for spiritual growth. It’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy to get involved in the congregational meetings. It’s easy to get involved in building a Christian community. But to get alone and dig up the Word of God and teach the Word of God and be concerned about the spiritual life of your very people in your church, that’s a rare trait. With no motivation for spiritual growth, it’s easy to take the congregation into something called legalism as a means of spiritual maturity. And eventually into crusader arrogance as a way to serve God. And all that’s evil. Legalism is a means of spiritual maturity. You know, like you’re a very mature believer if you don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t cuss, don’t go to anything but G-rated movies. and just go bowling and sing in the choir and you’ll be a good Christian. I got news for people. I don’t like to bowl and I can’t sing. So how am I going to be a good Christian? Spiritually mature believers, it’s a lot more than that. Crusader arrogance. And this is when you try to straighten out the devil’s world. You can’t do it. God didn’t send you to straighten out the devil’s world. God didn’t send the church to straighten out the devil’s world. We are sojourners. We’re passing through here. God sent us to be the light to the world, the light of the world with the cross of Jesus Christ because that’s what changes men. Not you and me crusading against drinking, crusading against anything. whatever you want to get on, whatever your favorite crusader topic is, you’re not going to change anybody’s mind. Only the Holy Spirit can do that when they come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior. So you get out there in the middle of the world and you start fighting for God, so to say, you’re wasting your time. You must grow spiritually. Then you have an invisible impact. Then you have a historical impact. Then you represent Jesus Christ. Then you become attractive as the light. That’s what God lined it. That’s how God lined it up for you, and that’s what you’ve got to do. The spiritually diligent Christian, I’m hoping that’s you, will be recognized in time by Satan. He’s going to know who you are, and then he will seek to demonize you and to marginalize your impact. And in eternity, God will recognize you and reward you for a job being well done. So if you’re a pastor, you can get ready. If you decide, I want to really study and really teach the word of God, you can get ready for the war. I have a friend of mine who was president of a large company and a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the company meetings always took him away from church, so he decided, he and his wife both got together, and they decided, we’re not going to miss Bible class anymore. We’re going to be there. We’re not going to let all this company stuff interfere and draw us away from Bible class. Wow, did the war break out? Yeah, you can believe the persecution that came his way once he decided that he would put the Word of God number one in his life. Can you do that? Will your pastor teach you more than just on Sunday morning and Sunday night? If you are a pastor, will you take time to study and learn and grow and teach your congregation? I can tell you something. There’s a church right down the street from me, and they had a great pastor. He was teaching the Word of God wonderfully, but he wasn’t a people person. He wasn’t a glad hander. He wasn’t a shake hand, have tea with me sort of person. You know what they did, don’t you? They ran him off. They got the kind of person they wanted, the person that would give them attention, the person that would come calling on them and pray with them and hold their hand. Listen, there’s got to be some of that, I understand. I have personal friends that I love to pray with and shake hands with and be around, but that’s not how you grow spiritually. So the spiritually diligent pastor or the spiritually diligent Christian is going to be recognized by Satan and he will try to demonize you and marginalize your impact. So here’s some questions I need to ask you. One, are you a spiritual sluggard? Don’t lie, tell the truth. Do you use rebound problem-solving device, number one? and recover from sin immediately when you know you’ve done so? Do you even know what sin is? Something you think, something you say, or something that you do? Are you the spiritual sluggard that won’t do those things? You won’t recover from your sin? You know the word people use is backslide. I use the word reversionism. They go backwards. They’re saved. They’re going to heaven. They’ve met Christ as their Savior. But instead of growing in grace as they should, they’ve been lured off to the side, they’ve gotten into some sort of evil crusader arrogance, or they’re just so busy with their family, so busy with their hobby, so busy with whatever that they quit growing spiritually. And they may find time to go to church every now and then. But as far as getting a Bible, sitting down at night, turning on a DVD or an MP3 or getting a live streaming video and studying under a well-qualified pastor, that’s not going to do it. And they’re going to say, you don’t understand. I got children to raise. I got dinner to cook. I got this. I got this to do that to do. Sure you do. It’s a matter of priorities. It always is. So are you a spiritual sluggard? And number two, do you have a way to study every day as I’ve been talking about? And if you do, do you metabolize what you learn, or does it just become what the Bible calls gnosis, G-N-O-S-I-S, which is knowledge? You know, knowledge is great, but it has to be full knowledge. The Bible has a different word for that. It’s called epinosis. The Greek word means full knowledge. Hearing what the pastor teaches is one thing, and you assimilate that information. That’s knowledge, but applying that information and living by it, that’s full knowledge. Three, does another believer have to carry your responsibilities since you’re distracted by your family and your friends? Do they have to be the ones that grow to spiritual maturity and deliver this nation in a time of adversity? Because you won’t take time to do it. You don’t have time. You’re too busy. Family and friends call. What destroys a client nation like ours? Spiritual sluggards beginning with the clergy that fails to teach and the individual believer who fails to grow. Neither one of those are going to have any kind of national impact and change the course of history. So do you think the preacher is the only one who’s supposed to be spiritually mature in your congregation? No, that pastor can only take you as far as he’s been himself. If he hasn’t been to point B, he can’t take you there. So keep in mind that the spiritually immature pastor cannot take you where he himself has never been. You must get that spiritually mature pastor and sit under him and learn God’s word and apply it to your life. Spiritual growth takes work, work, work. Listen to Galatians 6, 3 through 5. For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he’s nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one of us examine his own work. Work, there it is. And then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. It’s time for you to stand up. It’s time for you to take responsibility for your spiritual life. I purchased time on these radio stations for two reasons. First and foremost is to introduce you to the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s anointed son, with the hope that you will accept his work on your behalf on the cross because he was not the center. We’re the center. Secondly, to find in your city someone, maybe one, maybe two, maybe three, who’s motivated to to be the spiritually mature believer I’m talking about and not be a spiritual sluggard. So if you recognize you’re hearing God’s word taught in a way that you’ve never heard it before, that I’m not playing games, I’m not using gimmicks, I’m not appealing for money, just plain talk without all the religious overtones, then are you willing to investigate further what I’m saying? If so, I hope you will take time to contact me through our website, And tell me, please, and I want to grow. I want to be that person you’re talking about. And then if you’re willing to investigate further, then we’ll give you some information. We’ll guide you in your future search for truth. But remember, I am not your pastor. I’m simply an evangelist, but fully capable of pointing you in the right direction. So do not be a spiritual sluggard who’s unwilling to put forth the work necessary to grow to spiritual maturity so that you can represent Jesus Christ. Ask God. Ask him to give you direction. Ask him to give you time to study. He will provide the direction if you will provide the desire in your heart. Because remember, you’re going to give an account for all he provided for you. The question is, did you seize that opportunity or were you so distracted you walked away from that to chase your dreams and go astray, following your own goals? Listen to Romans 11, 33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has become his counselor? Or who has given to him and it shall be repaid to him. For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory and honor forever and forever. The depth and the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. That’s what you’re missing. You are missing the depth and the wisdom of the knowledge of God. I cannot tell you what a treasure it is to have that insight and discernment and understanding as you go through the devil’s world, to be able to see what’s happening, to be able to read the cards and know what’s going on, to be able to interpret history properly. My goodness, my goodness. It’s all yours. It’s all there. It’s just a matter of whether you are sluggard or whether you are willing to be spiritually aware. I hope you’ve listened. I hope you’ve paid attention. I hope I haven’t offended you. I’ve just tried to lay it out as plain as I can. And I hope you’ll come back next week, same time, same place, same station. So until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you so very much for listening to The Flotline.

SPEAKER 02 : 27:52

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.