In this episode, Rick Hughes delves into the profound concept of steadfastness, both in divine love and in personal faith. Through biblical passages, he illustrates God’s unwavering love and how it’s an enduring promise for believers. This episode also explores the teachings of Paul regarding holding firm in one’s spiritual journey despite challenges and criticisms from those around us.
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 good morning and welcome to the flatline I’m your host Rick Hughes and for the next few minutes it’ll be 30 minutes of motivation some inspiration a whole lot of education and
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And no manipulation, as we say every week. We don’t con people. We’re not trying to raise money. We’re not going to try to sell you anything. We would just like for you to listen as I try to verify and identify God’s plan for your life. If I can do that, then you have the freedom and the privacy to orient and adjust to the plan. That’s up to you. My job is to communicate the Word of God accurately to you without any gimmicks, without any games. giving you straight up information the best that I know how. This is show 976 Sundays that we’ve been on the air with the Flatline and currently broadcasting this morning in over 100 cities across America. What a great honor it is for me to do that and watch the Lord pay for it too because it’s not free. The Lord always pays for it without us having to beg anybody for any money. We just do our job and the Lord provides. What a great privilege that is. I love hearing from you, seeing many of you that have written me wonderful emails and wonderful letters. Many of the great calls I’ve gotten. I got a few weird calls too, but I’ve got mostly good calls. So thank you for letting me know that the show is having an impact in your life and is changing the direction in which you’re living. Today we want to cover a subject that I think is very interesting. It’s a little different, a little different subject, but I think it’ll encourage you to stand fast. So we’re going to talk about standing fast today. I want to talk about you being steadfast. So let’s look at a few passages in the Bible, some passages of Scripture in regard to the word steadfast and standfast, two different words. We can start off by recognizing one of God’s essential traits for us is his steadfastness. God is very steadfast in regards to us. Listen to what the Bible says in Psalm 136, verse 1. This is a great verse for us. Listen. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. And then in Psalm 32, 10. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. That’s an amazing promise for you and I. God’s steadfast love. What you and I learn from these verses and other verses like this is that God’s love, his divine love, is best translated, rather than steadfast, you could translate it unfailing. My pastor translated it that way years ago. I’ve never forgot. He wrote a wonderful book called The Unfailing Love of God. And I translate this word unfailing, and that means that God’s unfailing love is steadfast and enduring love. unwavering, always firm, and it continues on forever and forever. The principle that we learn from this verse is that his love never fails because God never fails. So if God’s love is steadfast and unchanging, then he does not ever get mad at us, mad at you, mad at me, or hate us when we sin and when we fail because his justice is not based on any emotional response to our actions. God doesn’t get emotional and say, Lord, look what those dumb jerks did this time. He doesn’t do that. His love is unwavering. His love is firm. His love is steadfast. He may discipline us, but he does it in love. This unfailing, steadfast love of God is demonstrated in two key verses, two that really highlight his steadfast love. You know the first one, John 3.16, For God so loved the world, that steadfast, unfailing love, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. And it’s also demonstrated in 2 Peter 3.9, where Peter records these words, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness. but is long-suffering towards us as steadfast. He’s always there. He loves us. It’s unfailing love. He’s not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It’s not God’s desire that anyone spend eternity in the lake of fire. That’s why he sent his only… his only son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to go to the cross and pay the penalty for our sin. Steadfast, God’s love is steadfast. God’s love is unfailing. Take comfort in that this morning because like me, you probably have failed. But God still loves us. He’s not mad at us. But there is a process that we can get forgiven when our failure, and that’s the first problem-solving device called a rebound technique, 1 John 1, 9, where the Bible clearly says when we fail, when we sin, that if we would confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all of our wrongdoing. The word steadfast, Paul wrote this thought in regards to the resurrection of believers. Many in the city of Corinth had denied the resurrection from the dead, like in 1 Corinthians 15, 35. And Paul wished or wanted these believers in Corinth to be steadfastly confident in their victory over death by means of the resurrection. The word he used there for steadfast is an adjective. It’s pronounced hedreos, hedreos. And it means unmovable. It’s unmovable. There’s another word used in scriptures, which is in fact a mandate from Paul the Apostle, and that word is not steadfast, but it’s the word stand fast. So let’s take a look at that word stand fast and note that for our lives today. In 1 Thessalonians 3, verse eight, Paul wrote, for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. If you stand fast in the Lord. In this passage, Paul is encouraged by Timothy’s report of how the church in Thessalonica was handling their persecution. Notice the Greek word if, if, conditional clause. First class condition because it’s linked with the word stacheo. And it’s a present active indicative, and I know that’s kind of complicated, but the present tense is a verb that indicates continuous action linked with the active voice indicating they’re doing it with their own volition. And the indicative mood is the mood of reality. They are, they in fact were standing fast. Paul’s not questioning their fidelity. Timothy already has given them two thumbs up. So Paul understands these believers are standing fast. Any Christian who’s serious about growing in grace will often be criticized by legalistic believers who are happy to play the game. But the minute you get serious and the minute you start to question some religious rituals, you’ll be branded as a troublemaker. I remember many, many years ago, one of my dear friends who got into the Word and started growing got to questioning the concept of the offering that you have to give, you know, your 10%. You know, you have to give that every month, 10% of your income. And he got to questioning that and he got in trouble in his local church because, you know, the Bible says give as God has prospered you. It doesn’t mandate you to tithe 10% of your income. That was an Old Testament taxation and everybody in the nation paid 10%. And when my friend questioned that, of course he was labeled as an idiot and tried to kick him out of the church because they definitely need you to tithe your 10%. But in some cases, and that’s fine, if you want to tithe 10%, wonderful, praise the Lord. But it’s not mandated. It says give as God has prospered you is what the Bible teaches in the New Testament. So I ask you this morning, are you standing fast in your pursuit of God’s word? Or on the other hand, have you been discouraged, even disillusioned by someone who will be critical of you? Because the one thing I learned many years ago in my life is that When you start growing and advancing towards spiritual maturity, it’s a lonely road. When you place learning God’s Word as priority number one in your life, you’re going to be considered not much fun anymore. And to be honest about it, your sin-loving friends will peel off and float away. But the best part of that is that you’ll save time and save some money and probably find some new like-minded believers that you could have fellowship with. And that’s a wonderful thing. So let’s look at another passage where Paul uses the same word, stand fast. In Philippians chapter four, verse one. Therefore, my beloved and longed for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord. That’s a prepositional phrase, in the Lord. Beloved, he calls them. That’s what you stand fast in, the Lord. The word, therefore, let’s back up for a minute. Philippians chapter four, verse one. Therefore, my beloved. Therefore is a reference backwards to chapter three, where he’s making some amazing statements. So he’s saying, therefore, or because of what I told you in chapter three, or in that part of the letter, this is what he’s referring to. The first thing they had to stand fast or resist was the canine clergy. You may have never heard that term before, but listen to what Paul calls them in Philippians 3, 2, where he said, therefore, going backwards, Philippians 3, 2, beware of the dogs. There’s your canine clergy. Beware of the evil workers. Beware of the mutilation. Wow, what’s going on in Philippi? Well, these dogs that Paul called them were the Judaizers who were insisting that the converts be circumcised. They were claiming that the Old Testament rights of circumcision were necessary for salvation. The Apostle Paul labeled them as evil, deceitful workers and mutilators of the flesh. In modern Christianity, there are those who claim you cannot be saved unless you or he or she is baptized. And this can lead to salvation by a deed that you perform. Baptism is identification with Christ, yes, but it is not part of the salvation experience. People who get saved often get baptized as an expression of their faith, but that baptism is not required for salvation. What is required for salvation? Ephesians 2, 8, and 9, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it’s the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. So if you want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him as your Savior, it’s a simple act of faith. You’re saved through faith and that not of yourselves. You don’t have to give up fast cars. You don’t have to give up fishing. You don’t have to give up hunting. You don’t have to give up eating peanut butter or drinking RC colas. You just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1.17, Paul made it clear about this baptism thing. He said, Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1.16, to all who believe it, to the Jew first and to the Gentile. The most powerful thing in our world today is the gospel, the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And Paul said, God didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach that gospel. And Paul also warned those people in Philippi about people that are enemies of the cross. What is that? In Philippians 3, 18 and 19, here’s what he told them. Remember, he said, therefore, and I’m telling you, therefore, stand fast because of what I told you in chapter three. Here’s something he told them in chapter three. For many walk of whom I have told you often, and I now tell you even weeping and broke his heart. They are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, sin unto death, whose God is their belly, their emotions, and whose glory is their shame, who set their mind on earthly things, end of quote. These citizens of Philippi that Paul is talking about are the cosmic evangelists, people that lure you into the search for happiness through pursuing the details of life. These types are called antinomians, antinomians. I know you may have never heard that word before, and I hadn’t heard it either at one time in my life. An antinomian, what is that? That’s the concept that Christians are released by grace from observing any moral laws. In other words, these people sometimes are known as libertines or hedonistic individuals. They have no moral principles and no sexual restraints. So when Paul says stand fast in Philippians 4.1, stand fast, my beloved, stand Stand fast in the Lord. What’s he saying? He’s using the present active imperative, the verb stakeo. It’s not an adjective. This is a verb. And it is a present tense verb. There never is a time that you and I are not to stand fast. The active voice means we produce the action of the verb by the filling of the Holy Spirit in our life. And the imperative mood is a mood of command from the original language of the Greek New Testament. It’s not a subjunctive mood, it’s not an indicative mood, it’s an imperative, it is an order from God, stand fast, stakeo, stakeo. This order is for the believers in Philippi to absolutely and totally stay away from these types of people that are enemies of the cross. Paul is trying to protect his converts, because he knows how vicious and how deceptive the attack of the religious community can be on new believers. In his first letter to the church in Thessalonica, he encouraged them to stand fast also in 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 8. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 1, he said in regards to the Lord’s coming, I do not want you to be quickly shaken or disturbed by deception or false information that you hear. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul once again addressed those believers in Thessalonica in regards to the return of Jesus Christ and when it would happen. And here’s what he said in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3 through 4. Let no one deceive you by any means for the day will not come until the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed. He’s the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. This is something that will happen prior to the rapture of the church. And so this is very interesting. In this case, the enemy’s trying to discourage the believers by introducing a doctrinal error concerning eschatology that had infiltrated into the Thessalonican church. These verses contains truth that are found nowhere else in the whole Bible. And they are the key to understanding future events. And that’s a quote now from Bible knowledge commentary. These verses contain truths that are found nowhere else in the Bible. And they are the key to understanding future events. When the Antichrist walks into the temple of God, it happens in the middle of the tribulation of the last three and a half years and proclaims himself to be God. And that’s when the world knows they’re in trouble. you and I will leave prior to the tribulation beginning, before that seven years ever happens, the rapture of the church will take place. And you’ll see that here in just a minute. So in this case, the enemy is trying to discourage the believers by introducing a doctrinal error concerning eschatology. So we have to understand that Paul reminds them they had been taught He taught them what would actually occur in the future. He did, 2 Thessalonians 2, 5. Listen, do you not remember that when I was still with you, I taught you these things? The exit resurrection, better known as the rapture of the church, is a critical doctrine of encouragement for you and for me. It’s clearly delineated in 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 13 through 18. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first And then we that are alive and remain should be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus shall we always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. This introduces the rapture of the church or the exit resurrection. That’s the next prophetic event that has to occur in history. And that’s coming and no one knows when. The worst thing you can do is try to interpret biblical prophecy in light of current events. There was a time when everybody said Hitler was the Antichrist, and there’s a time when people said this is the Antichrist, and that’s the Antichrist, and some guy wrote a book saying, oh, it’s gonna be 40 years and then it’ll happen. No one knows when it’s going to happen, but it will happen. According to the Bible, there will be a day when believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I, will just simply disappear. We will be caught up together with the Lord in the air, And we’ll get our resurrection bodies eventually. We’ll spend eternity with him. But first we’ll come back to the earth for a thousand years for the millennial reign of Christ where we’ll rule and reign with him. A lot of people don’t think about that. They think about going to heaven and that’s where you’re going to be. But no, after you get to heaven, during the seven years of tribulation, you are being judged in heaven at the judgment seat of Christ in 1 Corinthians 3. That’s where we get into the wood, hay, and stubble, and gold, silver, and precious stones. This is where the Lord will reward you for your fidelity. You will be recognized as well done, my good and my faithful servant. And then after the seven years is over, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to the earth to set foot on the earth and establish his kingdom, we will come back with him and rule and reign with him for 1,000 years in our resurrection bodies. And I don’t know about you, but there’s a lot of things I’d like to do in that 1,000 years, a lot of places I’d like to go, and I won’t even have to buy an airplane ticket. A lot of things I like to see and I only have to pay a sightseeing tour. I’ll be in a resurrection body and I’ll be able to go do that when I want to. That’s coming for you and for me. What a great thing. And Paul taught these people in Thessalonica these things so they would not be discouraged. He said comfort one another with these words. So stand fast. Be of comfort. Don’t be discouraged by those people who say it’s not going to happen because there’s going to be a falling away first, and then the man of sin will be revealed, and the one who opposes him and exalts himself above all that is called God. We have a lot of that going on today, but the Antichrist is not here yet. He will be in the future at some point in time. But when he appears, you will be gone. You won’t be here. You will not be going through the tribulation. You will be face to face with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So you see, in this brief study that I’ve given you this morning, I hope you can understand why you must stand fast, why you must not be dissuaded in regards to the certainty of what is taught, since these Bible doctrines that I’ve given you are very essential to your growth and your confidence in God’s plan. What are they? Well, we saw that God’s love is steadfast. It’s unfailing. Regardless of your failure, God still loves you. He’s not going to turn his back on you. As they say in today’s vernacular, he will not throw you under the bus. You may turn your back on God, but God will just love you from behind. His love is steadfast. He will not abandon you. And he loves you so much that that’s why the Bible said he sent his only begotten son to die for you. God’s love is unfailing, as my pastor said. The unfailing love of God. You can get that book. If you’ll write to us, we’ll tell you how to get it. The unfailing love of God. The second thing that I taught you this morning is don’t be discouraged in your spiritual growth. by people who tend to criticize you or condemn you for being, quote, too committed, being one of those Bible thumpers, being one of those people that’s got their nose in the Bible. And this will happen to you. Once you start growing spiritually, it’s going to create a divide in your life. It’s going to create people that are not going to want to hang around you much longer because you’re going to have different priorities in your life and you’re going to have different goals in your life. and you’re gonna be interested in something that they’re not interested in. They’re not interested in studying the Bible. They’re not interested in sitting around and talking about the Word of God to you. And so they may tend to discourage you. You may get disillusioned by that because it happened to me. I didn’t understand this. I mean, I got so excited about learning the Word of God under my pastor when I found my pastor and I started being fed the Word of God. I wanted to tell everybody about it. Look what I’m learning. and they just looked at me like I was cross-sided. They looked at me like I was weird. They weren’t interested in what I was interested in and it didn’t take me long to learn to keep my mouth shut. They were not on the same page with me. What they wanted and what I wanted was two different things. I wanted to understand how the Christian life works. I wanted to understand the mechanics of the Christian life. I wanted to know that I was doing the right thing in the right way and not them They just wanted to go, go, go for Jesus, brother. Go, go, go for Jesus. And that was all fine, and that was all wonderful. Except 99.9% of it was all human good. Because nobody ever told me how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Nobody ever told me the difference between divine good and human good. Nobody ever told me that I needed to grow in grace and the knowledge of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Nobody ever told me there was a difference between being a baby Christian and an adult Christian. I had to learn that, and when I learned it, I wanted to share it with other people, but they were not interested. I was too committed. They condemned me, and that’ll happen to you if you really get serious about growing in grace. Paul also warned the people in Philippi to look out for the canine clergy. That’s those preachers that’ll try to convince you That your salvation is more than just simply faith alone in Christ alone. That it’s a lot more than that. You have to give up something. You have to promise you’re not going to sin anymore. You have to get baptized. You have to do whatever they want you to do to be a Christian. That’s what the legalistic world will do to you. The canine clergy will devour you if you let them. They’ll chain you up and manipulate you and say, now, brother, if you’re really saved, you know, you wouldn’t drink those Pepsi colas if you’re really saved. That’s a nasty drink. Brother, if you’re really saved, you wouldn’t eat those peanuts, brother. If you’re really saved, you wouldn’t watch that movie, brother. If you’re really saved, the next thing you know, you can’t do anything but sing in the choir and go bowling. Two things that I’m not very good at. I can’t sing for sure, and I don’t even like bowling. So I wondered what can you do as a Christian to have fun until I learned the word of God. I said, there’s a lot of things you can do to have fun, but you’re not going to have fun around that bunch because they’re the canine clergy. So Paul said, look out. They will devour you. They’ll rip you to pieces. And then we also saw the passage in Thessalonica where Paul said, keep looking up. The rapture is going to occur. You need to keep looking up. You need to understand that it can come at any time. It’s your blessed hope. In the scriptures, God tells us he’s looking for those people who would stand fast and maybe even stand alone. In Ezekiel 22, 30, so I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, who would stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land and I, so that I should not destroy it. That’s divine discipline in the nation. But I found no one. Now, listen, you have that opportunity to stand in the gap here in America. This country needs you to be a mature believer. This country needs you to give blessing by association. God needs you to be part of the pivot in this country, and I’m counting on you to stand fast in the Lord. I’m counting on you to continue to grow in grace. I’m counting on you to stay filled with the Holy Spirit. I’m counting on you to learn those 10 problem-solving devices and apply them into your life. I’m counting on you to be that person who will stand in the gap that God can count on. Remember what God said. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Since you rejected knowledge, I’ll reject you. Hosea 4, 6. We have rejected knowledge. Are you rejecting knowledge? Or do you want to learn more? I’m so thankful for a few of the letters I got and a few of the calls I got this week. People that said, I want to learn more. How can I learn more about my life? How can I learn more about my Savior? How can I grow to be the man or the woman God wants me to be? I hope this show is encouraging you. I’m counting on you to stand fast. God is steadfast. He’s not going to abandon you. He wants you to stand fast. That’s my prayer for you. That’s why I gave you this information. And I trust you’ll be back next week, same time, same channel. Until then, 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.
