In this episode of The Flatline, Rick Hughes explores the profound questions of heaven and salvation. Examine the role of Jesus Christ as the redeemer and the importance of faith in securing eternal life. Listen as Rick emphasizes a life aligned with the teachings of the Bible, contrasting earthly struggles with heavenly promises. As you explore these spiritual truths, find out why belief in Christ is the key to a hopeful eternity.
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, and for the next few minutes, please stay with me. It’s just a short time of motivation, some inspiration, some education, and no manipulation. If this is your first time to listen to our show, The FLOT Line, FLOT is a military acronym, and it stands for the Forward Line of Troops. This is not a military show. This is not a political show. It’s a show about the Bible, but we’re using a military analogy. What we’re saying is there are 10 unique problem-solving devices found in the Bible, and if you will learn them, and if you will use them, they will act like a main line of resistance, a forward line of troops, and they will stop the outside sources of adversity from ever becoming the inside source of stress. Yes, I’m telling you it’s possible for you to live a life free of stress, not free of adversity, that’s impossible, but free of stress, which means there’s a life free of worry, a life free of fear, a life free of bitterness. There’s a better way to live, and it is called the unique life, the Christian life, a wonderful life. And it’s lived by what the Bible says, let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, learning to think like he thought while he was on planet Earth, fulfilling the Father’s plan. Before we get into the message today, let me say that we podcast all of our radio shows on the various podcast venues like Spotify or Apple iPod or Anchor. If you simply go to those platforms and type in The Flot Line, you’ll find us. And you can listen anywhere, anytime, anyplace, 24-7 a day. If you’d like to listen to the radio shows again, the one that we play currently on our website, you just simply go to rickhughesministries.org, rickhughesministries.org, and go under Flotline, scroll down past the list of all the radio stations, and you’ll see the show. If you’ll click on it, it’ll play it for you. and replay it on our website right there for you. So that’s all available. Our books are available for you free of charge. We don’t sell anything. We’re not trying to say, well, just give us enough money to cover the cost brother. We’re not saying that we’re saying to ourselves, if God’s in it, God will pay for it. So we’re not putting a price on anything you want it. Just order it. We have a new book called Christian, uh, crash course in Christianity. We have a new book called, uh, Christian Problem Solving that lists those 10 problem-solving devices for you. We have transcripts from the 2019 shows and the 2020 shows, word-for-word transcripts of both years. They’re all available free, along with our various bookmarks. So help yourself. If you’d like to contact us, go to rickhughesministries.org. Okay, let’s get into what we want to talk about today. We want to talk about a simple question. I’m going to ask you a question. I want you to think about it. Here it is. Do you want to go to heaven? Do you want to go to heaven? Now, I don’t know very many people that would say no. Yes, yes, you want to go to heaven for sure. Here’s what the Lord Jesus Christ said about heaven to his disciples. He said in John 14, one through three, let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions, and if it were not so, I would have told you. But I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, you may be also.” So we know that at the ascension, the Lord Jesus Christ went to heaven, and we know that anyone who dies in Christ joins him in heaven. So where is this place? And technically, what is it called? Well, Psalm 33, 14, it says, from the place of his dwelling, he looks on all the inhabitants of the earth. So obviously, God can see everything that’s going on on planet earth. And in Philippians 3, 20, the Bible says our citizenship is not in, and let me put in parentheses here, it’s not in California, it’s not in San Diego, it’s not in Maine, it’s not in Michigan, it’s not in Alabama, it’s not in Mississippi, it’s in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior to return, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a citizen of heaven. Citizenship is an interesting Greek word. It’s not the word in English, it’s the Greek word politouma. Our politouma, and that’s our commonwealth, our administration of civil affairs. Your name’s on the record book of heaven. You have a place in heaven. You have a lodging in heaven. You’re responsible for being in heaven because you have trusted in Jesus Christ to save you. And then the word heaven, two key words, our citizenship, politouma, our commonwealth. And heaven, the Greek word for heaven is ouranos, ouranos, O-U-R-A-N-O-S. And that’s the vaulted expanse of the sky, the complete abode of God. Now, you might not realize this, but there are three regions of the universe. The first heaven is called the atmosphere, you know, that blue stuff over the head of us. the oxygen that we breathe, the atmosphere. So when the astronauts go up to the space station, they look down on the blue planet and they’re seeing the first heaven. And then the second heaven is the stars of the universe. That’s where the Hubble telescope and all these other telescopes can look out into the universe and see all the galaxies and see all of one thing and another. And then the third heaven is the abode of God. It’s the presence of God. So Matthew 6, 9 says, our Father, which art in heaven? And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ taught the disciples to pray. Sometimes people say, can I pray to Jesus? The answer is no, you pray to the Father. He showed you right here. When you pray, pray, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. In Ecclesiastes 5, 2, don’t be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few, or be laconic, be a man of few words. When you get to heaven, you will meet God. If I told you God was outside standing on a street corner, would you want to go out there and meet him? Probably you’d say, well, sure, yeah, I’d like to go meet God. Unfortunately, the Bible says no man can see God and live in this earthly body. So you will meet God, and it’s probably not what you think. See, God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient. He’s immutable, he’s veracity, he’s personal love, he’s impersonal love, he’s justice, he’s sovereignty, he’s righteousness. What God is, you might not understand. If you got a vision of a big gray bearded man sitting on a throne with a crown on his head, that might not be what you find. And I’ll tell you something else. You might not be as familiar with God in heaven as you think you’re going to be. You might not walk up and slap him on the back and say, hey, God, it’s me, Herbie. I made it today. Not going to happen. There’s protocol in heaven, just like there’s protocol on earth. There’s protocol in heaven. And you want to be introduced to the court of God, and you want to hear, this is my well-done servant right here. You want the Lord Jesus Christ to introduce you. So let your words be few. God’s in heaven. He’s watching, he’s listening, and you are headed there if you have believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior. But frankly, nobody can know exactly where it’s located. I mean, I can tell you this, it cannot be seen with any man-made telescope. I mean, you can look and look and look and search through the second heaven, the universe, and you’ll never see the third heaven because it’s the spiritual realm. So you can see what’s in the first heaven, the atmosphere. You can see what’s in the second heaven, the universe, but you cannot see what’s in the third heaven. And oh, by the way, the first heaven and the second heaven will be destroyed. I’ll show you that. So listen, old Satan, AKA the devil, he was originally in heaven, but he was cast out because of his sin. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 14, 12 through 14, how are you fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning? How are you cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations? For you have said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of the congregation. His original sin was his arrogance. He thought he could replace God. He thought he was equal to God. He thought he could judge and rule as good as God. and he lost. He’s condemned to the lake of fire. He doesn’t want to go there. He will try to use you to get out of it if he can. If he can vindicate his evil actions by showing God that you’re a loser, that you claim to be a Christian and look what you do. And if you love him, how could you not love me? If you could forgive him, how can you not forgive me? That’s the old argument that Satan’s been throwing for years, but he’s already been tried, judged, and condemned. And the fact that we’re here is sort of like an appeal trial. It’s the angelic conflict. He wants to use you to get out of going to the lake of fire, but it’s not going to happen. So he got into some arrogance, assumed that he could take over the throne of God. And he was cut down to the ground and cast to the earth. And this is where he is. This is why we know it’s his domain. We don’t belong here. Our domain is in Uranus or heaven. Now, what about heaven? What’s it look like? I mean, we got all kind of visions. Well, heaven is beyond description, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2, 9. I don’t care what people tell you. It says, the eye has not seen, nor has the ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love him. There’s no descriptive analogy that’ll tell us what heaven is like. I can tell you this, there’ll be colors you’ve never seen. There’ll be sounds you’ve never heard. There’ll be images you’ve never dreamed of. That’s what heaven is like. It’s the abode of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is there. And any believer who has trusted in Christ from the Old Testament to the New Testament, they are there as well. Remember in the Old Testament, people got saved by looking far to the cross. In the New Testament, you get saved by looking back at the cross, but it’s the same cross. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God without spot and without blemish. John himself, the apostle John, wrote about going to heaven. In Revelation 4, verse 1, he said, after these things I looked, and behold, a door stood open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking to me, saying, come up here. And I will show you things which much take place after this. The book of Revelation deals with the second advent of Christ. It deals with the tribulation. It deals with the millennial reign of Christ. There’s so much to study in the book of Revelation. And so John was given a vision of what it was like and told to come up, take a look around, write about it. And he wrote about it. And it’s a place where you and I want to be. This is why we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. to vindicate God’s grace, to vindicate God’s justice, to demonstrate to Satan that God was indeed fair, and we have eternal life with the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. John wrote about it, Revelation 4.1. So when you get there, assuming you’re going, assuming you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you, have you done that? Have you made the most critical decision of your life? Have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? I’m not saying have you been a good person, and I’m not saying did you work hard, and I’m not saying were you faithful in church attendance, and did you tithe, and did you sing in the choir? I’m not saying that. I’m saying did you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Why would I make it like that? Because the Bible says God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. The Bible says he that believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Do you hear it? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul told the Roman jailer, and you will be saved. So many people want to add something to it. The issue is this. Is he the son of God? Is he the redeemer? Did he pay for your sin? If you can put your faith and trust in that and simply go to the Father and say, Heavenly Father, I believe your son Jesus died for me and I’m willing to accept his forgiveness and accept him as savior. That’s the ticket to heaven. That’s how you get there. It’s just that simple because you can’t earn it and you can’t buy it. You don’t deserve it. It’s a free gift from God. That’s why the Bible says for by grace, Are you saved through faith? It’s a gift from God, not of works, unless anyone should brag about it. So are you going to recognize your loved ones when you get there? Well, here’s what the Bible says. 1 Corinthians 15, 35 through 49, all flesh is not the same flesh. There’s one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. And there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. Terrestrial bodies are things that refer to the earth and celestial are things that refer to space. So there are bodies on the earth and bodies in space. So again, there are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies, but the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is the other. There’s one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differs from another star in glory. And so also is it in the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it’s raised in incorruption, it’s sown in dishonor, it’s raised in glory, it’s sown in weakness, it’s raised in power, it’s sown in a natural body, and it is raised in a spiritual body. There’s a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so it’s written, the first man Adam became a natural body, a living being, and the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and after that, the spiritual. The first man was of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust. And is the heavenly man, so are those who are made of the heavenlies. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. That’s for those of you that believed in Christ. So we’re not all the same in heaven. There are differences. We’re sown in honor. We’re sown in dishonor, raised in glory. We’re sown in weakness, raised in power. That’s our birth. Natural body is not the spiritual body. The heavenly body is a spiritual body. You probably won’t recognize it. You probably don’t know what it looks like. You may run into me and you may say, you know, I recognize your voice, Rick, but you don’t look like what I thought you were going to look like. Well, I’m in a resurrection body. That’s why I’d be in a perfect body, a body like that of Christ. Because that verse says, if we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. In heaven, we will have a body like Christ’s. Dr. David Jeremiah of the famous Turning Point ministry says this, there are nearly 700 references to heaven in the Bible. Did you know that in the Old Testament, believers, when they passed away, didn’t go directly to heaven, they went to paradise. There they awaited the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then he took them to the third heaven at his resurrection. I’ll read it to you so you can understand it in Ephesians 4, 8 through 10. Therefore he says, therefore he says when he ascended on high, that’s the resurrection, he led captivity captive, that’s taking those out of paradise, took them to heaven, And he gave gifts to men. Those are different communication gifts, spiritual gifts. Now this, he ascended. He ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. And he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens. That’s universe one and the earth and the universe. So they might fill all things. So heaven is beyond the first heaven, beyond the second heaven to the third heaven. When our Lord Jesus Christ said, it is finished. He gave up his spirit. He descended into paradise, and he took all those believers with him that were there in paradise, and he took them to the third heaven. And what was left is a place of torments, and that’s what we call hell today. So please understand that. He descended on high, and he led captivity captive. Anybody who dies today doesn’t go to paradise. They go straight to the throne of God, straight to heaven, straight to the third heaven. Okay, so Luke fills us in on those who died prior to Christ’s arrival. This is where it comes from, what I just got through telling you. Listen to what Luke said about it. There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus full of sores who was laid at his gates, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And so it was that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom. That’s paradise. And the rich man died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and he saw Abraham afar off. There was a gulf between the two. And Lazarus was in his bosom, in the bosom of Abraham, being comforted by Abraham. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he can dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, son, do you remember that in your lifetime you received your good things and likewise Lazarus evil things, but now he’s comforted and you are tormented. And beside all of this between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed so that no one can go from here to there. Those that want to pass from here cannot go, and those that want to come from there cannot come to us. And then the rich man said, I beg you, therefore, Father Abraham, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers that he may testify to them and tell them lest they come here too. Abraham said to him, They have Moses, they have the prophets, let them listen to them. And he said, No, Father Abraham, but if one goes back from the dead, they will then repent and listen. And Abraham said, no, they won’t. If they don’t hear the voice of Moses, They don’t hear the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead. And that’s true today. If someone walked out of the grave and said, listen, I’ve been to hell and here’s what it’s like and you don’t want to go there, nobody’s going to listen to him. He’s just going to try to sell a book. And there’s a lot of that going on today, isn’t there? I died and went to heaven. I died and heard Jesus. I died and went to hell. Everybody got a book to sell. Don’t buy it. That’s not true. The Bible says there’s no man that has ability to retain the spirit in the day of death. And when Paul did go to heaven and did take a look around, I’ll read that to you here in just a second, he was told not to tell anybody what he saw. God is watching you from heaven. Remember that. Again, I remind you of that. Psalm 14, 2. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand him or who seek him. That’s all God wants you to do, to understand him. learn about him, learn what he is, and seek him, seek to please him. Why is that so hard? Because you don’t believe in God? Because you don’t think God exists? You say you’re an atheist, is that right? Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not defensible. See, to be an atheist, you gotta be God yourself, because you gotta say, I’ve looked everywhere in all the universe, and there’s no God. And the only person that could do that is God himself. So you have to say as an atheist, I don’t believe God exists. As a Christian, you say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Both of them are faith-based decisions. The atheist makes his decision based on faith and so does the believer. So God is watching, looking to see who wants to know him, checking us out, wanting who wants to understand me. Now, the Apostle Paul, as I told you, talked about going to heaven in 2 Corinthians 12, 2 through 4. He said, I know a man in Christ 14 years ago, whether he was in the body, I don’t know, or whether he was out of the body, I don’t know. Only God knows that. But such a one was called up to the third heaven. There’s where I get the word the third heaven now. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I don’t know. God knows. He repeated it. how he was called up into paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. He was not allowed to repeat it. He was not allowed to say what he saw and what he heard. So remember that when someone tries to sell you a book about going to heaven. Now, believers, when do we go to heaven? We go to heaven at the point of death or the exit resurrection, one of the two. In 1 Thessalonians 4, 17, the exit resurrection called the rapture of the church. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we will always be with the Lord. Always, always. Not for a period of time and sent back. Always. Once you go to heaven, that’s your eternal abode. In heaven, believers in Christ have a higher rank than angels. Did you know that? Once you get there as a New Testament believer, a church age believer, a member of the royal family of God, you’re higher than angels. Ephesians 2, 5 through 6, even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. No angel is in Christ Jesus. You are. Christ in you, the hope of glory. In heaven Christ sits at the right hand of the Father, Ephesians 1.20, which he worketh in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. So your divine promise about this, Jesus said in John 11.25, I am the resurrection, I am the life. Whoever believes in me, though he may die, he will live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die again. Do you believe this? This is what it’s talking about. You don’t go through the second death in Revelation 20 talks about it. You will live eternally with God in heaven forever and forever and forever. That’s a divine promise. In the eternity future, the earth and this universe will be destroyed and replaced. The first heaven and the second heaven will be done away with. Where do I get that? 2 Peter 3.10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. And then again in 2 Peter 3.12, God will replace it with a new heaven and a new earth. 2 Peter 3.12 and 13, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, that’s the second heaven, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, listen carefully now, we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. The new heaven and the new earth is your eternal resting place. In Revelation 21, one through five, the Bible says, now I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had done away with, and there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city called the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is now with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and he will be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eye and there should be no more death, no more sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. The former things will be all passed away. And then he who sat on the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, John, write these words down. They are faithful and they are true. That’s heaven. That’s what you have to look forward to. There’s a lot to study there if you’re interested in the future prophecy and things like that, but that’s where you’re headed if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ. Without believing in Christ, I hate to tell you where you’re headed, but you’re headed for hell and eventually the lake of fire. And that is not a very nice place to be. You don’t want to be baking in that lake, I assure you. So I hope you’ve paid attention and I hope you’ve listened. It’s critical that you make that decision of leaving Christ today while your life is still kicking. Don’t put it off, not even for a second. Until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Floodline.
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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.
