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 stay with me. It’ll be a brief time of motivation, some inspiration, some education, and I promise you no manipulation, no solicitations for money, nothing asking you to join anything, nothing like that. This show is simply about giving accurate information. The information is from the canon of Scripture called the Bible. It’s designed to help you verify and identify the plan of God for your life. And if you can do that, you have the privacy, you have the freedom to orient and adjust to the plan if you’d like to do so. That’s really up to you. But my job, as always, is to be accurate, not to manipulate you, but to be accurate, give you the information, and you and God the Holy Spirit can sort it out. The Flotline Radio Show is designed to remind you of biblical truths, how you can build a main line of resistance in your soul. The whole idea is using God’s wonderful problem-solving devices that we’ve put into 10 unique problem-solving devices, something my pastor taught me years ago, so that you can stop the outside sources of adversity before they ever become the inside sources of stress. That’s why we say adversity is inevitable and stress is optional. Because adversity is what circumstances do to you and stress is what you do to yourself. But it all starts with the good news that Christ, the anointed Son of God, has indeed redeemed us out of the slave market of sin. And our debt to God has been paid in full. And we are now free of the penalty of death and free of the power of sin. So anyone who receives Jesus Christ as their Savior, like I did many years ago, we are in effect accepting the offering Christ made on our behalf. It’s a free gift from the compliments of God the Father. That’s why the Bible says, for by grace you’re saved through faith and not of yourselves. It’s a gift of God and not of works. lest any man should boast about it. In Titus 3, 5 through 7, not by works of righteousness which we’ve done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now listen to the next part of the verse. That being justified by means of his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope or the confidence of eternal life. That’s where it all starts, coming to know Christ as your Savior. The Bible says if any man’s in Christ, he’s a new creation. Old things are all passed away and all things become new. And it is possible for you to start a new life this morning. In spite of what you may have done in the past, it’s possible to have the slate wiped clean. When you come to the Lord Jesus Christ and receive him as your Savior, you are in effect saved. being born again spiritually. Not physically, you’re still the same body, still the same soul, still the same looks, but inside there’s a spiritual birth where your dead human spirit that was dead in trespasses and sin is made alive by means of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit who lives in you and gives you the opportunity to fellowship with God the Father. When this happens, then you begin a lifelong journey of learning, understanding, growing, so that you might serve your Heavenly Father and that you might glorify your Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that’s your objective. I hope that’s what you plan on doing. Today we want to talk about opening the door to doom. Opening the door to doom. This is a subject that I started several weeks ago. We changed the name of it to calling it The Door to Doom. And we’re going to use a scripture verse from Genesis 4, 6 through 7. In that verse, the Bible says in verse 6, So the Lord said to Cain, Cain is the first human being born into this world. He was the son of Adam and Eve, the oldest son. He said, why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. The door, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. There is a door that you can walk through, a metaphorical door to doom in your life. By making a series of bad decisions and the worst decision that Cain made here was to murder his brother Abel because he was jealous of him and angry with God for accepting Abel’s offering but not accepting his. Sin has a desire to control you. The Hebrew word in that passage, the desire to control you, is the word tashukah. It’s an interesting word, teshukah, because it’s the same word used for the woman in Genesis 3.16 where it says that she will desire to control her husband, her teshukah, to control him. So you must remember this as a male believer in Christ Jesus, you must make two key decisions in your life. Number one, you cannot allow sin to control you. You cannot allow your sin nature to dominate you. And if you’re married, don’t let your female control you. You must be the leader in the family. You must be the leader in the home. You must be the one who carries it forward in your life. So don’t let her control you. This is exactly what Adam did. He let Eve manipulate him and control him and induce him to eat the fruit of of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we know what happened from that. Most females are smarter than men. They’re certainly better looking than us men. And they are amazing, amazing gifts from God. But they were not designed to manipulate or control the man. They were designed to be a helpmate for the man. So I hope you can understand that. It’s in her nature to control you if you’ll let her. When God told Cain, doing well, if you’ll do well, then everything will be fine, this means that if he would follow the proper prescribed procedure. You see, Abel brought the correct offering. He brought an innocent animal that was sacrificed, which was in fact a picture of the Redeemer to come. The same thing the father did in the garden when he shed innocent blood and he made coats of skin from Adam and Eve because they were trying to hide behind some fig leaves. Cain did not bring the correct offering. He brought the work of his labor, the fruit of the ground. So the principle is this, that it is possible that all of your offerings to God could be rejected just like Cain’s was rejected if you do it in the wrong way. A right thing done in the wrong way is always wrong. And it is right to bring an offering to God, but there’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. I’ll give you an analogy. Is it right to give money to your church? Yes, it is, you should. Is there a right way to give money to your church and a wrong way to give money to your church? Yes, there is. Anytime you make an offering to your church, If you do it under the energy of the flesh, and by that I mean you have unconfessed sin in your life, then you’re doing a right thing, but you’re doing it in the wrong way. And you are accumulating for yourself what the Bible calls in 1 Corinthians 3, wood, hay, and stubble. It was the right thing to do, but you did it in the wrong way, and thus it’s not rewardable. This is what’s possible. You can have your offerings to God rejected because you did it with sin in your heart. Just like the Bible says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Prayer, again, I’ve said it before, prayer is the right thing. But if you’re praying in the wrong way, it’s not going to get past the ceiling. So well-meaning people assume that they are fulfilling a spiritual obligation, but in reality, sometimes they simply do the right things, but very, very often they do it in the wrong way. I mean, Cain did a legitimate thing. He brought an offering to God, but he did it in the wrong way since it represented his work for acceptance and not God’s prescribed offering, as done in the Garden of Eden, like I told you. The sacrifice of the innocent one was a picture of the redeemer that would come and shed his blood for the remission of sin. So when the father rejected Cain’s offering, it caused anger in Cain’s life, anger at God and jealousy of his brother. And his solution was to simply get rid of the competition. That’s his solution. And the next verse, to lie to his brother and tell him, let’s go out in the field. I want to show you my champion kumquat. I grew out here. I’m just making an analogy. I don’t know what a kumquat even looks like. But his intention was to kill him in the field. And the father knew what went on. So Cain was the first person born into sin. Adam and Eve were created minus the sin nature, but they chose to sin and they died spiritually in the garden. And thereafter, their babies, their children that came later, were born spiritually dead, just like you, just like me, born spiritually dead in need of a Savior, and they had to be saved just like we do. It’s the frightening possibility that every parent since Adam and Eve faces. We all have high hopes for our children. We all want them to grow up and live productive, happy lives. But since the fall of man, as someone put it, there’s a worm in the fruit. The worm in the fruit is the sin that resides in the heart of every newborn child. That’s sin nature. For by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and now death has come upon all for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Even babies can die. No one wants that to happen, but babies are born sinners just like I was born a sinner, you’re born a sinner. We’re born into the endemic race. Now some people say, what if a baby dies? Well, obviously, they’re not at the age of accountability and they go straight to be with the Father, immediately, face to face with the Father. So it’s not even a question of God’s grace. God doesn’t reject innocent children that pass away. They’re in heaven, so don’t worry about that. That’s not the point. The point is that we have children and we want them to grow up and trust in Jesus Christ and we want them to learn how to check the power of sin. Because sin lies at the door. Remember the verse? If you don’t do well, sin lies at the door, and its desire is to control you. But you should rule over it. learning how to check the power of sin by means of trusting in Jesus Christ and learning his word, if you don’t learn how to do that, if your children don’t learn how to do that, if they don’t learn God’s word and get it in their heart, they will ruin their life and sometimes ruin the lives of others. And the story of Cain and Abel tells us all about that very thing. No amount of self-justification can override the plan of God. None. And obviously, Cain thought his offering was worthy of being accepted. But eventually… All sin is life-threatening. All sin is destructive. So thank God for his grace that gives us the victory over sin and the victory over death in Christ Jesus our Lord. This episode is the second incident of direct rebellion to God in the book of Genesis. The first was obviously Eve eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then inducing Adam to eat of it. But jealousy and bitterness was the motivation to destroy the godly and on Cain’s part and even deny the responsibility for doing it. because the Father knew exactly what he had done. This is something you need to remember. You don’t hide anything from God. Whatever you’re doing, he sees it. The supreme court of heaven is always open, and God is always aware of your nefarious activities, I assure you. So you can do it under the cover of darkness, but God the Father knows. Jeremiah 17, 9 says, “‘The heart is deceitful above all things.'” And it’s desperately wicked. Who could even know it? That’s us. That’s me. That’s you. We have a deceitful, wicked, sin nature. And only through the new birth and by means of the power of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine residing in your soul can you even have a fighting chance to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. So Cain’s anger was against God who rejected his offering since it did not conform with the intent of God. And your works and your production may not be pleasing to God either, especially if you’re trying to work your way to heaven. If you think for one minute that since you have been a nice person and a good person and you haven’t treated people wrong and you haven’t stole and you haven’t been unfaithful and You’ve done this and that, and you’ve been very moral. If you think for one minute that that will get you into heaven, you are wrong. You are wrong. It will not. Your works and your production are not pleasing to God for your salvation. Just as Cain’s production did not please the Father, there’s only one thing that will please the Father, and that was the death of the innocent one, Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, who took away the Son of the world. When you put your faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, then your Father will be well pleased. In Mark 7, 20 through 23, the Bible says, and he said, that which cometh out of man defiles man. For from within, out of the heart of man, proceeds evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man. This is the same murderous attitude that you have today, I have today. This originated from Satan’s revenge. Satan’s revenge in John 8, 44, you are of your father, the devil, and the lust of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. He did not abide in the truth because there’s no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of all lies. So you must not travel down Cain’s path of rebellion and destruction. Jude verse 11 says these words, speaking of the door to doom. Woe to them that have gone the way of Cain. Woe to them that have gone the way of Cain. When you go that way, when you make a decision, when you violate the protocol plan of God and you in your heart give in to the desire of your sin, woe to you. Cain insisted on worshiping God his way. He attempted to gain the approbation of God with his fruit of the labor that he brought. Grace orientation was not demonstrated in Cain’s offering. Cain’s appreciation for God’s provisions was only on the surface, but he mixed it with his personal works. So God’s rejection of Cain’s offering recognized the insufficient recognition of his amazing grace through Christ Jesus. And those who reject Christ go the way of Cain. In 1 John 3, 12, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother’s were righteous. So Cain’s source of motivation was inspired by the enemy, a.k.a. the devil. The greatest door to doom in life is the rejection of Christ as savior. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ooh, I O U a is the Greek word. Whoa, whoa. To them that have gone the way of Cain Jude verse 11. So judgment is coming. When that word woe is used, it means you’ve walked through the door to doom and you are in a disaster. a life of gloom and doom. So the jealousy of Cain concerning his brother Abel is the motivation for his eventual murder. Murder. And the Lord spoke directly to Cain and questioned his reason for him being bitter. Apparently, it seems that Cain understood the principles of freedom. He understood the difference between right and wrong because God said in Genesis 4-7, is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? I’m sure his mother and dad, Adam and Eve, taught him, don’t do what we did. Don’t mess up like we messed up. I mean, they had to tell their children what happened in the Garden of Eden. So the divine warning was given. The divine warning in Genesis 4, 7, if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door and it desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it. Is it possible that you today have been dominated by a particular sin? maybe not motivated by anger against god maybe not motivated by jealousy of your brother maybe something else but has it controlled you has it taken over your life can you not break free from it woe to you because you’ve walked through the door to doom there’s only one way out of the door and that’s the same way you came in and therefore you have to rebound The number one problem-solving device for any Christian is this. If we confess our sin, then he’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And you, like me, must go to the Father and confess your sin straight up. Tell him honestly what you’ve done or what you’re doing because you are not hiding it. He knows it. And he will be faithful and he will be just to forgive you. And then once you’ve done that, you have to grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You must grow. And the only way to grow is to do what the Bible says. Study to show yourself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. If you can get under the ministry of a good, well-qualified pastor and he teaches you the word of God and you learn it and apply it into your life, you will, in fact, be able to break out of the sin that controls you. You can go back through the door. You do not have to live in gloom and doom. if you will listen to what I’m telling you. That figurative language sin is crouching at the door is a picture of an animal, perhaps a lion, waiting for the right moment to spring out and kill its prey. So there’s a definite moment in time, some serious time in your life, when you will make a decision that could lead to death and destruction. Joshua 24, 15 says it this way, and if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, then choose this day who you will serve. whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood are the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now dwell. But as for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord, Joshua said. You must make that same decision. What God do you serve? Who controls your life? What doom do you face because you walked through that door voluntarily on your own using your own volition You made the decision, and now you think no one knows about it. And your Heavenly Father is aware of it this very moment. And this very moment that you’re listening to me is a moment for you to recover. That moment for Cain was the premeditated murder of his brother. He hatched a scheme to lure him into the fields alone. In Genesis 4, 8, Cain said to his brother, hey, hey, hey, let’s go out into the field. I want to show you, and I’m paraphrasing here. Let me show you my champion kumquat. He didn’t want to show him anything. He wanted to kill him. He wanted to get him out there alone and assassinate him. Remember, there will be a moment of time for you when you will decide to walk away from everything that you know is right. Everything your pastor teaches you is right. Everything your parents taught you is right. You will walk away from it. You’ll say no. You’ll think you’re smarter than they are because you’ve listened to some idiot somewhere who claims to be a genius. And you’ll believe his lie. It takes more faith to believe that junk than it does to believe what’s in the Bible. But you’re going to drink the Kool-Aid. You’re a sucker for it. And you will walk through the door to doom in your life. And you will have one miserable life. And even worse, one miserable death. The only good thing is if you’ve trusted in Jesus Christ as a young person, you will go to heaven. The bad thing is if you haven’t trusted in Christ, you will go to hell. It is a literal, real place. Not because God designed it for you. It never was designed for you. It was designed for Satan and the fallen angels. But that’s where you’ll wind up. It’s called the lake of fire. And it’s torments forever and ever. Because you and your arrogance figured you were smarter than God. You didn’t believe all that stuff in the Bible. You didn’t need all that stuff in the Bible. You found somebody that gave you a better deal, that told you a better way to live. And now you’re beginning to find out that they were wrong, they were liars, they misled you, they manipulated you, and they used you. Once you open the door and enter the door to doom, there’s no returning from the mistakes you made. And you just simply have to rebound, confess your sin, and bear the consequences and the scars of what happened. A lot of times people listen to me on this radio show that are incarcerated. in different institutions around America. Maybe this message could be for you. You know exactly what I’m talking about. The decision that you made, the moment in time, when you opened that door and walked into the door of doom, and now you wish you’d never done it. But if you’ll confess your sin to God, if you’re still alive, he hasn’t forsaken you. He still has a plan for your life. He still loves you, and he can forgive you through Christ Jesus if you’ve never trusted Christ. If you did accept Christ as a child and now you’ve wandered down the my way highway and you committed some grievous act of sin and now you’re incarcerated because of it, confess it to God. Ask him to cleanse you from it. Find out how you can get into some serious Bible study so you can grow because, and here’s why, The sin leaves scars in your soul. It’s kind of like driving a nail into a board. You can take the nail out, but the hole’s still there. Scar tissue is a tough thing to deal with because it’s the memories of the sin. And the only way to fill it in is to fill it in with the Word of God, to cover it up with the Word of God, to saturate your soul to be washed from the inside out with God’s Word so that you begin to think in terms of divine viewpoint, not human viewpoint, so that you begin to live this unique lifestyle that God had for you regardless of where you may be living it. Incarcerated or free, it doesn’t make any difference. You can live a life of no worry. You can live a life of no guilt. You can live a life of no fear. You can live a life of no pain in circumstances and details of life abandoning you. I mean, you can live the Christian life, the wonderful life in Christ. It’s yours and it’s free. It’s a grace gift from God. All you need to do is to make a conscious decision to walk through the door of salvation. Jesus said, and it’s really not a salvation verse, but it’s a good verse. It says, behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and sup with him. You shut the door to Christ if you’re a believer. If you rebound your sin, you’re opening the door, inviting Christ back in. And if you’re not a Christian, you’ve never trusted Christ, then you can open the door to your heart and welcome him in by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You, like me, can say, Father, I believe Jesus Christ is your son and I’m willing to accept him as my savior. That act of faith, those simple words, is a demonstration and a proof to God the Father that you are believing that Jesus is his anointed son. And that is the moment of your salvation. I hope you’re listening and I hope you’re paying attention. And I hope you will come back. Until next week, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:12

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.