Join Rick Hughes in this compelling episode of The Flotline as he unravels the mystery of physical and spiritual death, urging listeners to understand the importance of having ‘peace with God’. Through an engaging dialogue grounded in scripture, Rick clarifies the biblical assurance of life after death for those who trust in Christ. Emphasizing the gravity of the second death and the comforting promise of eternal life, this episode inspires hope and encourages listeners to put their faith in Christ without delay, reminding them of the joy and fulfillment that come from living a life anchored in divine wisdom.
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 stick around. It’ll be a short time of motivation, some inspiration, some education, all without any type of manipulation or solicitations, nothing like that. We’re just trying to give you some accurate information that’ll help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life. Remember, God gave you two ends, one of those ends you sit on and one end you think with. And success in your life is going to depend on which one of those you use. So heads you win, tails you lose. My job is to give you the information. Your job is to decide what to do with it. But I want to remind you of some biblical truths and introduce you to a unique way of studying and learning the Word of God. And that’s my job. Do it here on this radio show and hopefully to find you, wherever you may be, and one of those 66 radio stations across America, maybe you’ll respond to this. Maybe you’ll say, you know, that guy’s got it together, and I enjoy listening to what he’s saying. I hope you will. Our radio show is also podcast daily on daily podcast venues with Spotify or Apple iPod or Anchor or any of these other podcast venues. And if you just simply go to something like Spotify and type in The Flotline, you’ll find all our radio shows with podcasts. transcriptions with them as well. We can offer the transcription of the show. If you hear it and you want to have some more information, just contact us through our website. We offer all sorts of material free of charge, books and DVDs and MP3s, different messages, all free of charge. Nothing is for sale on this radio show or in this ministry. I’ve always believed if God’s in it, God will pay for it so we don’t ask people for money. Now, today I want to talk about something that’s very serious. We’re entering into the new year, 2021, and who thought they’re going to be alive in 2021? I bet you didn’t. I know I didn’t. 2021 here we go the question i want to ask you this morning is are you living on borrowed time are you living on borrowed time it’s kind of a tough question to answer but let’s give it a shot and see what happens here this morning the bible says in james 4 14 for what is our life just a vapor appears for a little time and then vanishes away if you’ve ever been out in the yard in the afternoon and seen the vapor trail of the stratospheric jets as they streak across the sky you know they leave a distinct vapor trail for a while and then it fades away and life is like that that’s what the bible is saying using an analogy here that our life is like a vapor It appears for a little time and then vanishes away. And people forget. People move on. People don’t stop to think about us 24-7 like they do when we’re alive. So we know we’re not going to be here forever. This is not our eternal home. In Hebrews 9, 27, and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment. So we know we’re going to die. The question is, when do we die? Is it this year? Is it this week? Is it this month? Are we living on borrowed time? In Psalm 89, 48, For what man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Every man that lives will see death. Every man, every woman, every child, every boy, every girl. We all must die. We weren’t created to live eternally in this body. So we have to get a different body. So let’s look at what the Bible talks about this and let’s think about this. Because as we come into the year 2021, are you pushing your luck? Are you pushing it too far? Have you been putting off the single most significant decision you could ever make in your entire life? And that is to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You know, life is full of temporal life, temporal futility, you know, it doesn’t last. But there are eternal values as well. And so let’s start with a verse like 1 Peter 1.24. All flesh is like grass, and the glory of the man like the flower of the grass. But the grass withers and the flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. These verses that I’m quoting to you this morning, James 4.14, Hebrews 9.27, Psalm 89.48, 1 Peter 1.24, they are all the word of the Lord. They are of a divine origin, and they will last forever. The word of God lasts forever. I’m not talking about having a Bible in heaven. I’m talking about the decreed word of God lasts forever. And so it’s been my honor to conduct a lot of funerals. I have done my fair share of funerals. And I learned something at funerals. People actually listen. They don’t listen at a wedding, but at a funeral they listen because it could be them next. So in the funerals that I’ve done, I’ve done some funerals of mature believers. And I’ve also been called upon to conduct funerals for people that are totally unbelievers. And it’s a very hard thing for me to do because I don’t know how to approach it sometimes. And so what I simply say, if I’m dealing with a person that is an unbeliever who’s never trusted Christ, I will say, let me tell you what so and so would like for you to know if they could speak to you today. And I would give them the truth of the message of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But for the mature believers’ funerals, it’s always a promotion. It’s always a wonderful time. It’s never a sadness or sorrow. It’s always a time of joy and hope. And the difference is stunning. One with eternal hope and confidence and one with no hope and eternal condemnation. Matthew 10, 28 says, Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear the one that can destroy both body and soul in hell. And when you die without Jesus Christ as your Savior, this is what you’re looking at. You’re looking at eternal damnation in the lake of fire. Because you were so arrogant, you would not accept Christ as your Savior. The free gift of eternal life that God gave you, you stuck your nose up at it. You walked away from it. because you thought somehow or another that God would expect you to change your life and act a way that you can’t possibly act, and that’s not it at all. That’s not what being saved is about. When I accepted Christ, I didn’t change anything. Now, my life did change in many, many ways, But I did not deliberately say, okay, now that I’m a Christian, I can never do anything but go bowling and sing in the choir for the rest of my life because I don’t like to bowl and I don’t sing in the choir. So I’d be in trouble. So anyhow, there is life after death. And without Christ, it’s hopeless. It’s life in the lake of fire forever. And that’s not what you want to do. So if you’re living on borrowed time this year, I suggest you get this taken care of immediately, please. Because there’s a question I have to ask you today. Here it is. If this was the last year of your life, If this is the last year of your life, are you confident in your eternal salvation? Or are you just hoping that you’re going to go to heaven? A lot of people don’t know that they could be confident, that they could know it for sure. But the answer is absolutely yes, you can have absolute confidence that you’re going to heaven when it becomes your time to die. And then you will be face to face with the Lord. Listen to 1 John 5, 11. This is the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. So there’s your answer. This is the record God gave you, eternal life, it’s in his Son. If you have the Son, you have eternal life. If you have not the Son of God, you do not have eternal life. You have life in the lake of fire. It’s just that simple. So answer the question for me. If you die today, would you go to heaven? Have you trusted Christ to save you? You know, the Bible is very clear that our eternal life is anchored in Jesus Christ. It’s him. It’s not our good deeds. It’s not what we do while we’re on this earth, the good deeds that we do. It’s in Christ. John 8, 24, I told you, this is what he said, I told you that you would die in your sins for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins. There’s no way to go to heaven apart from Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 5.1, the Bible says, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I can tell you about peace with God. The greatest peace I ever knew was the day after I accepted Christ. As my Savior, the night I went to bed after having believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, I slept like a baby because I had, for the first time, peace with God. Do you have peace with God? If you’re living on borrowed time, can you say, I’m absolutely confident that if I die today, I will go to heaven. Can you say that? Your eternal security is anchored in Jesus Christ. All of us must embrace that fact. We can’t live in this contaminated body forever. We have to put it off someday through physical death. And the reason is so that we can inherit our eternal body through the resurrection. Now, the Bible talks about a lot of different deaths mentioned in the Bible. But the most destructive of it all is called spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God in time because of the imputation of Adam’s original sin to us, to our genetically formed sin nature at birth. So when we are born, we are born physically alive and spiritually dead. Adam’s original sin is imputed to us, as the Bible says, for by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and now death is passed on all. For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6.23, Romans 5.12. So we are born physically alive. We have a soul, we have a body, we have a consciousness and a self-consciousness, but our human spirit is dead. We’re spiritually dead. It’s possible that you are a walking dead man today. Yes, you’re alive physically, but spiritually you’re dead to God in Christ. So the Bible is very clear about that being a walking dead man. It’s a shame, but it’s true. In John 3, 16, God so loved the world, the verse you’ve heard all your life, that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not, and listen carefully, he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Spiritual death. You are born spiritually dead. You’re already condemned to the lake of fire apart from Jesus Christ. You’re under condemnation and there’s no need to be. There’s no need to live like that. God made provision for us, made provision through his son’s sacrifice on the cross to redeem us out of the slave market of sin and reconcile us to himself. So there’s a death sentence on each of us. We’re going to die. We know that. But we don’t have to have the second death in the lake of fire the Bible talks about. So we’re born spiritually dead, we can be made spiritually alive through faith alone in Christ alone. But your physical death, now that’s a matter of the sovereignty of God based on his very own omniscience, all the facts, he knows the facts. He knows everything and he knows the time and the manner and the place of our departure. In Psalm 6820, he that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the Lord belongs the issues from death. Yep, because of his perfect sovereignty, he’s able to pick out the perfect time, the perfect place, and the perfect conditions of our death. And God predestined all of this in eternity past. If you’re like me, you’ve had family members that passed away. You’ve had friends that passed away. And you grieve those people and you miss those people tremendously. And that’s understandable. We all do. But it was nothing unfair on God’s part, even though it could have been sudden or premature in your mind. It’s not. God always knows the perfect time, the perfect place, and the perfect conditions for our departure. So don’t worry now about how you’re gonna die. That’s not even an issue. But you need to worry about the second death. That is really the issue. In Revelation 20, 14 through 15, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. And this is the second death. And whoever was not found written in the Lamb’s book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Wow. See, the book of life contains the name of every individual ever born. When you die without having accepted Christ as your Savior, your name is blotted out of the Lamb’s book of life. And you are minus that. So there are other books. The Bible says the books of works are opened up, and you can try to justify why you should come to heaven. But remember the Bible says there are none that are good, no, not one. All of our righteousnesses are like a filthy rag in God’s eyes. So in spite of how morally good you may be, how decent you may be, that’s not going to get you into heaven. And you, like any other person, will wind up in the lake of fire apart from faith alone in Christ alone. Whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, Revelation 20. So why don’t you just settle the issue today? That would be a wonderful thing to do, wouldn’t it? in your car, in your home, in your study, why don’t you settle it? I mean, I had to do it at one time in my life and you must think about this because you may in fact be living on this borrowed time. Maybe God’s giving you just a little bit extra time Now is the perfect time for us to come to the Lord. Now is the perfect time for you to admit your sin of unbelief, not your sins that you’ve done. Everybody’s done a bunch of those, but your sin of unbelief. That’s what sends a person to hell. He that believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And he that believeth not the wrath of God abides on him already. You’re already under the wrath of God. So, settle the issue. Admit your unbelief. It’s the perfect day to begin the rest of your eternal life in Christ by being born again. And you can express that in a prayer. You can simply pray and tell the Father you are believing in Jesus Christ. You can tell the Father you’re a sinner and you acknowledge that and I want to accept Christ as my Savior. Your words are your words. That’s between you and God. But at some point in your life, you have to do this. Or you’re going to face the second death in the lake of fire. So if 2021 is your borrowed year, if God’s going to give you one extra year, then let’s settle it today. Paul wrote it this way. For me to live is Christ and to die, well, that’s profit. For me to live is Christ, and to die is profit. So by being born again, living is living in Christ, and dying is gain, is profit. We leave this body, we go to heaven, we have no more tear, no more sorrow, no more pain. The old things are passed away. We have an eternal inheritance. We’ll see all that here in a minute. In Amos 5.8, the Bible encourages us, seek him that maketh the seven stars, an Orion, and the one that turns the shadow of death into the morning. Yes, there’s a new day dawning in your life when you accept Christ as your Savior. A brand new day and a brand new life, as the Bible says, if any man’s in Christ, he’s a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things become new. It’s your spiritual birthday today. Spiritual death day when you’re born in Adam. Spiritual birthday when you’re born again in Christ. So the plain truth is you have to be born twice or you’re going to die twice. The first death is appointed and the man wants to die. After that, the judgment. The second death, whosoever’s name was not found written in the Lamb’s book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. So born twice or die twice? What about you? Where do you stand with this? Have you had the second birthday? Have you? Has God turned the shadow of death in your life into the morning? Has he made the day dark with night that calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth? His name is the Lord. Now listen, if you are in fact already a believer and you’ve already received the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you’re in a wonderful place. You can have great peace and great comfort knowing that God has it all under control even if this is your year to go to heaven. It could be. It could be my year. It could be your year to go to heaven. Who knows? But Psalm 103, verse 17, the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who respect him. And his mercy is wonderful for you and for me. You know, here’s some principles for death of us that are believers in Christ. The believer’s death is God’s decision. Therefore, our physical death is God’s victory. My pastor taught me these things a long time ago. A wonderful little booklet he did on victory over death. And this was out of that book. I’m quoting him now. The believer’s death is God’s decision. Therefore, our physical death is God’s victory. Point two, nothing can remove you from this life until God decides it’s time. So you don’t have to be afraid if you’re a believer. You don’t have to be upset. You can just live by faith and trust the Lord’s timing, perfect timing, always perfect timing. You’re not going to catch him by surprise. He knows what’s going on in your life. And nothing, nothing, no tornado, no flood, no storm, no murder, nothing will remove you until God says it’s time. So point three, since God is perfect, his timing is perfect in all manners of life, including the death of the believer. His timing is perfect. Point four, since the death of the believer is a wise and gracious decision of God, then none of us has the right to question that decision, to question God’s perfect wisdom in any manner. Have you done that? I’ve seen people get angry with God because they lost a spouse. I’ve seen people get angry with God because they lost a loved one, a child. or lost a dear friend, or lost whatever. Listen, you don’t know the circumstances. You have no idea what’s going on. You have no right to question God’s perfect wisdom at any time in any matter in your life. Neither historical disaster, nor natural disaster, nor war, not an accident, not a disease, not an earthquake, not a flood, not even a hurricane can remove you apart from the divine consent of God, and that includes COVID-19. Do not be afraid because death is God’s victory for the believer. And for the believer, the death has no sting. The grave has no sting for the believer. Did you know that? Listen to Psalm 116. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ and 2021 is your year to go to be with your Lord, it’s a very precious year and God will welcome you with open arms. In 1 Corinthians 15, 55, O death, where is your sting? And O grave, where is your victory? There is no victory for the grave, for the believer, because the grave can’t hold you. You are guaranteed to have a resurrected life. The grave won’t keep you down. You will live in Christ Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 5, 8, the Bible says, when you leave this body, you will be face to face with the Lord. Isn’t that amazing? So if 2021 is your year to be promoted, you’ll be promoted face to face with your Lord. The disciples had questions about all of this, and Jesus, our Lord, told them he was going to be crucified and killed, and they didn’t know what to think about it. And here’s what he told them in John 14. He said, don’t be afraid. Don’t be troubled. If you believe in God, and they did, then believe also in me. Because in my Father’s house are many mansions, and if it were not so, I would have told you. And I’m going to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you. into or unto myself, so that where I am you may be with me also. Wow, what a tremendous promise. And Paul wrote about this in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13, the return of Christ. He said, I would not have you be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you have sorrow, not like others who have no hope. For if we, that’s believers, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not go before those that are asleep, that’s dead. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we, the ones that are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. This is referring to the exit and resurrection. 2021 could be the year that jesus christ comes back at the rapture of the church the exit resurrection we know a lot about it we understand how it works in this dispensation and we know that we if we’re alive and it takes place we’ll just disappear we’ll just we’ll go just like a whisper of wind we’ll be gone face to face with the lord in the air to meet him And then we know about the judgment seat of Christ in heaven during those seven years until he returns to this planet to set up his millennial reign. So it’s all in the Bible. It’s all taught. It’s all clear. So listen to this. Comfort one another with these words. Don’t be afraid. Revelation 21, 4, And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death. No more sorrow, no more crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for all those former things will be passed away. That’s a wonderful promise from God. So if you’ve listened to this broadcast, you should be encouraged. There is forgiveness for you and the gift of eternal life through the act of Christ on the cross. Please don’t gamble with the eternal destiny by putting this off. It’s the single most significant decision you could ever make. What think ye of Christ? Because today, this Sunday, in the year 2021, could be the first day of the rest of your new life. Because the Bible clearly says if any man is in Christ, he’s a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things become new. That doesn’t mean you’re going to get a different body, you’re going to have different eyes, you’re going to have different arms and legs. It doesn’t mean that. It means that you are born again internally and spiritually made alive in Christ. And then there’s two of you living in there. There’s your physical body, And so that’s physical life, and now you have spiritual life. That’s God, the Holy Spirit, living inside of you and dwelling in you, equipping you spiritually, and so we have a war that begins. The flesh, the body, wars against the spirit, and the spirit wars against the flesh. They’re contrary one to the other, the Bible says. And it’s an eternal thing as long as we’re on this earth. As long as we’re alive, we have that battle with the flesh and the world and the devil. We have three enemies. But thank God the victory is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And as we learn God’s word and apply it into our soul, convert what we hear from knowledge into wisdom, then we have the ability to see through the facade, the ability to see the smoke screen that Satan throws our way. You have a wonderful life in front of you. You have a wonderful opportunity in front of you. And you have the opportunity to blow it all. Don’t do it. Make this the year or the day that you will trust Christ to save you. Put your faith alone in Christ alone and settle the issue and let me know you did it. Tell me, write to me and say, Rick, I accepted Christ as my Savior today. That’s the greatest news I could hear. Until next week, I’m 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.
