SPEAKER 01 : 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 02 : 0:23

Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please stick around, stay with me. 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, some education, and absolutely no manipulation. I’m not trying to con anybody, not trying to raise money, not trying to sell you anything. Not wanting to hustle you out of anything at all. Just get you to listen. Listen as we try to present to you the plan of God. Hopefully so we can verify and identify that plan and you can orient and adjust to it as well. We’re playing in 105 cities across America this Sunday morning. Your city just happens to be the one, and I thank you for listening. Before we get into our topic today, we have a very interesting topic we want to talk about. I want to remind you that the FLOT line, F-L-O-T, is about establishing a main line of resistance in your soul, Forward Line of Troops, F-L-O-T. That main line of resistance is the 10 unique problem-solving devices that God has put forth in His Word. And if you will learn them and use them, they can stop the outside sources of adversity before they overrun the thinking of your soul and fill you with stress. You don’t have to have stress. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to be afraid. That’s the unique thing about the Christian life, and that’s the unique thing about building a flat line in your soul. So we offer this information simply for that reason, to help you key in on God’s problem solving devices. We have a new book out called Christian Problem Solving, and it’s absolutely free. If you’d like to have a copy, just go to our website, rickhughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org, and request the new Christian Problem Solving book. We also have transcripts of all of our 2019 shows and all of our 2020 shows. Those are 52 transcripts once a week for 52 weeks in the year. That’s available for you to study if you’d like to have it. We have other books available on our website, Life’s Toughest Years, written for young adults, but it’s a good study for anybody really in a difficult time of life. And A Divine Pardon that we use in prison ministry is a great book to reinforce eternal security and letting go of the past. Also, we have some spiritual influencer bookmarks, things that’ll help you stick it in your Bible and help you to remember your place. So give us a shout through the email or call our 800 number. Jack will give it to you at the end of the show. We’ll get you anything that you’d like to have, anything you need might help you along the way. Today, we want to talk about a word that may surprise you, a word you don’t hear used very often. Matter of fact, you might not even think it’s a word, but it is, and that word is gobbledygook. Gobbledygook, G-O-B-B-L-E-D-Y-G-O-B-L-O-K, gobbledygook, gobbledygook. Yep, gobbledygook. And I want to talk about Christian gobbledygook. Let me give you a definition of gobbledygook from the dictionary. It’s a language that is meaningless or is made unintelligible by excessive use of abstruse technical terms. In other words, just a bunch of nonsense. And it appears that all reason and discernment have gone out the window when we talk about the mechanics to the Christian life. I hear a lot of gobbledygook when I’m talking to people all the time. So I want to give you a simple question to try to prove my point to you this morning. If you’re listening, stay with me. Could you please tell me what I should do to be a good Christian? That’s an easy question. Tell me what I should do to be a good Christian. If I ask you that, what would your response be? Would you say, well, brother, you need to pray. I’d say, okay, if I pray, will I be a good Christian? Well, no, you read your Bible too. Okay, I’m going to pray and read my Bible. Will I be a good Christian? Well, no, you need to witness for Christ. Okay, I’m going to pray and read my Bible and witness for Christ. Will that make me a good Christian? Well, no, you got to obey God and And on and on and on it goes, and nobody actually gets to the real source of the problem. And it’s true, these are things that good Christians actually do, but these are not how you actually become a good Christian. We want to talk about that today and talk about all this gobbledygook that people mouth and utter that means absolutely nothing. I want to give you an illustration. In the bass fishing competitive world, there are guys and gals who look the part. They have the latest boats with the biggest motors and all sorts of sponsor logos wrapping their boat. They look the part with their sponsor jerseys, their sponsor hats, their sponsor sunglasses, their sponsor shoes, but they never win. On occasion, they may stumble into a wad of fish and win a small tournament, but it’s not repeated very often. But the point is they sure look good and they sure talk good, but they are never the winners. Christians are a lot like this as well, I think. I mean, they go to the best church, they dress the part, they know all the right words to say, but they never will be winners in God’s game plan because all they know is a bunch of gobbledygook. Like, hi, sister. Praise the Lord, brother. I feel the Lord is moving me. God willing, the man upstairs. Our thoughts and prayers go with you. Let go and let God. Just pray about it, brother. Pray for me, preacher. Godly gook. All this religious godly gook means nothing. It sounds spiritual. I mean, you looked a part, you talked a part, but you and I both know the real you is just mouthing those words and playing the game. If you want to seriously learn how to be the Christian who’s a winner, then let’s learn how to do it correctly. First of all, foremost of all, in the 10 problem-solving devices, we have the problem-solving device for sin called Rebound. No one can be a good Christian who has unconfessed sin in their life. The reason is because that quenches the filling of the Holy Spirit, and you cannot live the Christian life in the energy of the flesh. You have to live it under the empowerment and the filling of the Holy Spirit. So rebound is the first problem-solving device. 1 John 1, 9 says, if we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then the second problem-solving device is the filling of the Holy Spirit. That solves the problem of our genetically formed sin nature that we have. I was being interviewed by a radio station in Honolulu yesterday, and the day before that, interviewed by a radio station in Minneapolis, and the day before that, by a radio station in Philadelphia. And they were asking me those questions, you know, about this, what does that mean? Well, if you quench the Holy Spirit, it means you sin and you grieve the Holy Spirit. He’s not able to do his job. And so you have to be in fellowship to be a good Christian. And that’s how you grow, if you stay in fellowship. You can’t grow out of fellowship. You can’t serve the Lord out of fellowship. Or you can go to church out of fellowship. You can pray out of fellowship. You can witness out of fellowship. That means unconfessed sin in your life. but it’s never going to be rewarded by God. We’ll see that. So let’s look at this passage. 1 Corinthians 9, 24 through 27. Here the Apostle Paul uses a couple of analogies. Listen as I read it to you. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly, and I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and I keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should become disqualified. In this passage, the Apostle Paul is using two athletic analogies to motivate those Christians in Corinth to get with it. First is the runner running in a race. And he compares the Christian life to that sort of competition like they would have known about in the Ithmian games. The Yithmean Games were second only to the Olympic Games, and what Paul says, he’s stressing self-control. One of the keys, one of the keys to receiving the winner’s wreath is self-control. Listen again, every athlete, verse 25, 1 Corinthians 9, every athlete exercises self-control in all things. So that’s the key to receiving the winner’s wreath, being in control of self. He then uses the analogy of a boxer to represent the Christian life. And he emphasizes that he’s not shadow boxing, but he’s in a real match. So the point he’s trying to make is this, that it takes serious sacrifice and serious work to be a winner. And in the believer’s life, it’s the same thing. You’re not ever going to be a winner for the Lord Jesus Christ. You’re never going to hear the Lord Jesus Christ say, well done, my good and faithful servant, if you don’t learn the mechanics to the Christian life. How the Christian life operates, it’s called the spiritual life. Many people don’t even know they have a spiritual life. And that was the problem that Paul wrote here in 1 Corinthians 9. Do you not know Christ? You should have known. You ought to be aware of this. He’s saying, don’t you know that anyone that runs in a race, everybody runs, but only one of them can get the prize? Do you not know is assuming they should be familiar with these athletic events? By analogy, the writer of Hebrews also makes it plain to his audience that they should understand how to execute the Christian life, but they don’t. The writer of Hebrews echoes these same sentiments. They should know, but they don’t. Listen, listen to it. Hebrews 5, 11 through 12. I have many things to say to you, but they’re hard to be uttered seeing that you are dull of hearing. For when the time is that you ought to be a teacher, you should know you ought to be a teacher. You have need someone come back and teach you again the very first principles of the oracles of God. And you have become such as a person who needs milk and not as strong meat. The baby believer has a hard time concentrating on the deeper truths of God. If you require milk, that simply means that if the preacher preaches over your head, you get discouraged and you go home. And I don’t like that. I didn’t understand that. You’re not willing to learn. When I first started learning the Word of God, there were two things I had to have. I had to have a Bible and I had to have a dictionary because a lot of the words that my pastor used, I had never heard before. post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. I didn’t know what that meant. Salvation, sanctification, justification. Heck, I couldn’t even spell some of those words. And then he taught about the essence of God, sovereignty, righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, immutability, veracity. I didn’t know what those meant. I had to look them up. But I wanted to learn, and I wanted to get it. I didn’t want to be a baby Christian all my life. How about you? Are you satisfied being a baby Christian? Are you satisfied just uttering some gobbledygook that sounds great, you look great, but you know inside you’re not, that it’s very shallow? In the context of this 1 Corinthians 9, 24 through 27 passage, Paul says, only the winners receive the prize. The prize was a wreath, a crown of wreaths. This is true for you too. We’re going to see in a minute where there are crowns that God will pass out at the judgment seat of Christ. And you may qualify for one of those winner’s crowns, but it’s going to take self-control and discipline. Remember, every athlete exercises self-control in all things, verse 25. Then in verse 27 of 1 Corinthians 9, but I discipline my body and keep it under control. Two things, self-control and discipline. That means he had to keep the flesh under control. “‘so that you not be declared unfit for service,’ he said, “‘lest after preaching to others, “‘I myself would be disqualified.'” The word is unfit for service. God is looking for a few good men, a few good ladies. Are you fit for service? Without self-control, that’s controlling your old sin nature, and without discipline, that’s studying to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth, you will never get a crown from God. You’ll show up in heaven. You’ll have eternal life in heaven, but you’ll be minus any rewards because you were too lazy to take time to learn God’s plan. Oh, you learned a little gobbledygook. You learned those little key words. Praise the Lord, brother. God willing. Hallelujah. I’ll pray for you, but it didn’t mean anything to you. So here are some principles. One, if you want to gain the prize that I’m talking about, this is the judgment seat of Christ. It’s where all distinctions begin, and it will continue for all eternity. If you want to gain that prize at the judgment seat of Christ, where crowns are going to be distributed at the judgment seat, that’s what you need to understand. Listen to Revelation 22, 12. Behold, I’m coming suddenly. And my reward is with me to decorate each believer on the basis of his accomplishments. I would hate to think that you’re going to get before God himself and you’re going to stand there empty-handed with nothing to show for what he gave you. He gave you a Bible, he gave you a pastor, he gave you his Holy Spirit, he gave you all sorts of temporal blessings in time, and you did nothing with it. You just played the game. Oh, you went to church, yes, you joined up, you fessed up, you gave up, but you never grew up. That’s the problem. If you want to seriously grow up, you better buckle up and put on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. The Bible tells you to get ready because Satan as a strategy to defeat you, to discourage you, to distract you. And I can assure you right now, if you decide that I want to be a mature believer and I want to glorify God at all cost in my life, you will pay the price. The Lord Jesus Christ told those disciples they killed me and now they’re going to try to kill you because this is the devil’s world. And the Bible teaches us he’s a murderer. He’s always been a murderer. And there’s nothing he would rather do than get rid of you before you glorify Jesus Christ. So when he says I’m coming to reward, my decorations are with me and I’ll give them out based on your accomplishment, Revelation 22, 12, the Greek word for crowns is stephanos, stephanos. And it is a reward for winning in battle and used in athletics also. And what the concept is is that believers, mature believers, will wear these rewards in eternity. The crown is used by analogy for the greatest honor that God can give any believer. A crown. We’re going to talk about those crowns. As a result of the fulfillment of the unique spiritual life that you’re living in the church age where you are, there are two crowns available for you. Two crowns available to every believer. One of them is called the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy 4.8. The other is called the crown of life in James 1.12. So let’s discuss those for a minute and see what it is. But let’s remember, We live in the unique age called the church. We have the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit. We have Christ in us, the hope of glory. We have the indwelling of God the Father. All three members of the Trinity indwell us. We have a canon of scripture. We have spiritual gifts given to us like pastor, teacher to help us advance in the plan of God. This is the unique age that we live in. In the Old Testament, they didn’t have these things. They didn’t have a Bible. They didn’t have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They had the endowment of the Holy Spirit on occasion, but not day by day, moment by moment could they walk in the Spirit like you. So if you get with it, if you learn these things, if you grow in the grace and knowledge of your Savior, you can win the crown of righteousness. And this is available to all believers who become winners, the ones who are what? Self-controlled and disciplined, controlling their sin nature and disciplined in their studies and their growth. So any mature believer that has the attainment of spiritual maturity can get this crown. This crown emphasizes your capacity for enjoyment of eternal rewards and eternal decorations. And you would be what’s called the invisible hero in God’s plan. A spiritual winner is an invisible hero that has an invisible impact. The crown of righteousness that we’re talking about is given because of your virtue love. What do I mean by that? 1 John 5, 3, if you love me, you will obey me and my mandates are not grievous. Virtue love is what motivates you to be the person God asked you to be, the person God tells you to be. And that crown is given for your virtue love, for your honor, for your integrity. for you going through the various momentum testing that you will face as you grow to maturity, and for you fulfilling the royal family honor code. We haven’t taught you that yet. We probably will. What is the royal family honor code? We’ll see it. So in 2 Timothy 4, 7 through 8, Paul talks about this. He said, I fought a good fight. He’s about to be put to death. I finished my course. I kept the doctrine. In the future, there’s laid up for me the crown of righteousness, what I’m talking to you about. Laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day. The day of what? Judgment seat of Christ. And not to me only, but to all those winners who love his appearing. That means you. You, if you have self-control and self-discipline. If you control your flesh and don’t let it control you, that means you don’t live in carnality, but you live in spirituality, and you discipline your body to take in, learn, and apply the Word of God. Every believer has the opportunity for this reward. This is our eternal inheritance. And it is the greatest possible thing given to the ordinary believer in eternity. But the sad thing is many believers don’t even seem to be interested in getting this reward. So I told you there are two crowns, the crown of righteousness and the crown of life. What about the crown of life? This decoration is awarded to the invisible heroes who have maximum production of divine good because they fulfill the plan of God for their life. And this includes all the impacts that a mature believer could have. Personal impact in his own area, historical impact in his time, international impact in his world, angelic impact in God’s kingdom, and heritage impact as he passes on blessing to his family. Therefore, the crown of life is related to the invisible hero’s production from his spiritual life, his ambassadorship, and his royal priesthood. Did you know those are two things you have? You are a royal ambassador, and you are a royal priest. You are God’s representative on this earth, and the rewarding of the crown of life is related to how you represent God. And you are a royal priest. You don’t need another priest to intercede for you. You have your own priesthood, a royal priest. So the crown of life is awarded for consistently being filled with the Holy Spirit, consistently taking in the word of God, and consistently using the problem-solving devices in your life. Revelation 2.10, do not fear what you are about to suffer. Note that the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you may be tested and you will have special persecution 10 times. Keep on being faithful even into death and I will give you the crown of life. In James 1.12, happy is that person who perseveres under testing For once he has passed the test, he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. That’s virtue love. So there you have it, the crown of life and the crown of righteousness. There are other crowns distributed in the eternal state. But these are the two that I wanted to encourage you to obtain. I want you to hear him say, well done, my good and faithful servant, Matthew 25, 23. Not, howdy, have a seat. We’ll get to you in a little while after we finish distributing these rewards to all these winter believers. Obviously, you’re not a winner believer. You’re here. You’re going to be in eternity in heaven with God, but you’re not going to have any crown. So sit over there with the other folks and we’ll get to you next. You have a spiritual life and that life you will carry into all eternity. You won’t carry your sin infected body because it’s going to go back to dust, but you will carry your soul and you will carry your spirit and they will be housed in a new resurrection body forever and forever. That eternal state will allow you to bring much glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s anointed son. Our gratitude to him for what he has done for us. Our gratitude for his work and our desire to worship him. And it will cause us to credit him with all honors and all rewards that we could accumulate ourself, Revelation 4, 10 through 11. So consider this an encouragement. to get to the high ground of spiritual maturity in your life so you can re-present Jesus Christ and replicate his thinking, thus winning your crown or your recognition for all eternity, not just living with a bunch of gobbledygook that you don’t even understand what it means and it really doesn’t mean anything to anybody. It just sounds spiritual. But on the other hand, there is a warning, a warning to the unbeliever, the person that’s disadvantaged, the person that has not received Jesus Christ as Savior. I don’t know why you put it off, but there’s no crown for you. There is something for you, but it’s not very good. In Revelation 29, 11 through 18, understand what I’m about to read to you is not because God doesn’t like you. That’s not true. God loves you. The Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. What greater gift could God demonstrate that he loved you than to sacrifice his son on your behalf to let him pay the penalty for your sins, not his, yours. but you reject him. You don’t buy that. You say to yourself, I don’t believe in God, I’m an atheist. Okay, that’s fine. Your choice. I don’t believe the Bible, that’s just written by a bunch of old people. Okay, that’s your choice. I’m going to tell you what the Bible says if you listen. And if you listen and pay attention, you may want to change your mind. In Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 18, then I saw a great white throne. Now this is not the judgment seat of Christ in 1 Corinthians 3 where the rewards were passed out. This is different. I saw a great white throne and the one that sat on it from whose presence earth and heaven fled. and there was no place found for them to hide. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before his throne. And books were opened, and notice plural, books were opened, and another book, singular, was opened. That’s the book of life. And the dead were judged from the things which are written in the books according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in it. And they were all judged, each one of them, according to their deeds. And then death and hell were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. Now let me explain these two situations. The books are the books of your good deeds, of your good works. And remember the Bible says there are none that are good, no, not one. If you find yourself at this judgment and you think God’s going to cut you a deal because you’ve been good, you’re mistaken. Because he will tell you, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that worked iniquity. I didn’t know you. You did not accept my son as your savior. If your name is blotted out of the book of life, that means you died the first death. Your name is put in the book of life when you’re born. And when you’re born again, your name stays in the book of life. So you’re either gonna be born twice or you’re gonna die twice. The first death is here. The second death is cast into the lake of fire. Think about this. Please consider your decision. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in him while you have time so you do not wind up in the lake of fire. This is fair warning for you because God loves you. He wants you to have eternal life with him. He sent his son to die for you. Please believe that. And please pray today and ask God to save you. Tell him you’re believing in Christ. You’d like to receive him as your savior. Till next week, I’m your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:20

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.