Join Rick Hughes on The Flatline as he takes you on a profound journey through the concept of death, redemption, and eternal life. Discover the transformative power of faith in Christ and how it offers victory over the finality of death. Through biblical parables and scriptures, gain insight into the Christian understanding of the afterlife and the promising hope of a resurrection body.
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 01 :
Good morning and welcome to The Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, please stick around. Just a short time of some motivation, inspiration, education without any type of manipulation. No, we’re not trying to hustle anybody, not trying to raise money. We’re not trying to sell you something. We just want to give you some good news. Hopefully, the Word of God will help you to orient and adjust to God’s plan for your life. I hope so. But the great news is Christ is the anointed Son of God, and he’s redeemed us out of the slave market of sin. Our debt to God has been paid, and we are now free from the penalty of death and the power of sin. So when we receive Christ as our Savior, we are in effect accepting the offering that he, Jesus Christ, made on our behalf. It’s a free gift, compliments of the grace of God. The Bible says, For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It’s a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We always give you this information, hopefully, that you will make that decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and receive eternal life. Today I’d like to talk to you about something that’s interesting. We’d like to talk about something that’s going on across our country everywhere. We’re seeing a lot of it in every city. We’re being afraid of it. We’re being told it may happen to us. It’s called death. We need to understand death and I’d like to talk about that today if you don’t mind. It’s not exactly an easy subject to broach and not exactly an easy subject to talk about but it is something that every one of us sooner or later will face. It’s the hardest thing in life to accept. And if you have lost a loved one, a friend, a spouse, a mother, a father, it’s terrible. Sometimes it happens way too soon. Could be a terminal illness or even an accident as we’ve known. But how it happens is not really the issue. The tough thing is it happens. And sometimes it’s completely unexpected. The Bible clearly says in Hebrews 9, 27, it’s appointed unto man once to die and after that, the judgment. You know, a few of us can picture life without our parents or close friends to speak with daily. I’ve lost my mom. I never knew my father, so I don’t know if he’s living or not. and lost a good close friend last year, just like many of you have lost your parents and your friends. And we try to imagine what it’s like to never see them again, never speak to them again, but it happens. If this thought is overwhelming, I’ve got some good news for you today. Here’s the good news. The Bible gives evidence that the person that we’re missing is not really dead. Simply remove from this time continuum. They’re somewhere else, but they’re not dead. They’re not here, and they’re not dead. Ecclesiastes 127 says, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. You know, you’re made up of a body and a soul and a spirit. And this body was never designed to last for all eternity. There’s another body called a resurrection body. And when you die, when anyone dies, the soul and the spirit leave the body. And they go to be with the Father, excuse me, to be granted a resurrection body in the future, a body much like that of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the earthly body is infected with sin, and it has to be destroyed. It goes back to the dirt, back to the ground, back to dust, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. That happens to all of us. So let’s remember that. The soul and the born-again spirit are indestructible. Nothing can destroy the soul and the born-again spirit. They cannot die. The old sin nature infected body has to die, as I told you that. in order for us to put on the new body, to have that new body that we’re looking forward to possessing in the future. So death is going to happen sooner or later. It’s going to happen to all of us. It happens every day to people with the coronavirus. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, 53, corruptible must put on incorruption and mortal must put on immortality. So when corruptible shall it put on incorruption, and the mortal shall it put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass a saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O death, 1 Corinthians 15, 55, where is your sting? And O grave, where is your victory? There is victory over death for the believer. For the unbeliever, the disadvantaged person that doesn’t have eternal life, it’s the end of the road because they will be cast eventually into the lake of fire. But the resurrected body of the Christian is proof that death has been defeated for us. Our Lord demonstrated this when he walked out of the tomb alive after the third day. In John 11, 25, Jesus said to this woman, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? So the question I’d like to ask you is if your departed loved one or your friend that you lost could speak to you, what would they say? What would they tell you? Well, in the book of Luke, we have a parable given by the Lord Jesus Christ of just that sort of thing. He goes on to say in Luke 16, 14, 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 which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked on his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, the Lord Jesus Christ said in this parable, And was carried by the angels into Abram’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment. And seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, he cried out and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and son Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I’m tormented in these flames. And Abraham said, Son, you remember the good life that you lived? You had all the good things, and Lazarus likewise evil things. But now he’s comforted, and you are tormented. And beside all of this, besides us, there’s a great gulf between us, so that they which would pass over here cannot pass. neither can they pass to us and we can’t go to you. Then he said, well, at least in verse 27, Father Abraham, please, would you send them into my father’s house because I have five brothers and let him testify unto them lest they come into this place of torment also. And Abraham said, they have Moses, they have the prophets, let them hear them. And he said, no, Father Abraham, but if one went back from the dead, they would listen. And he said unto them, if they will not hear Moses and they will not hear the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though someone walked out of the dead. And that’s so true. I mean, today, if someone walked out of the dead, out of the grave and went back and said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you’ll be saved and You’ll be spared hell. They wouldn’t believe it. They wouldn’t even trust it. You see, no one in hell would wish this on their worst enemies. In fact, God himself does not wish hell for any of you either. His love for us was so great that he provided his uniquely born son to pay the penalty for our sin, as I told you earlier in the show. So anyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross has eternal life. In fact, it’s much like walking through a gate, the Bible says. In John 10, 9, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. What a wonderful provision and a wonderful promise that is. Because of this verse, we know that our departed loved ones who have believed in Christ are face to face with their Savior. Here’s what Jesus said in John 14, 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and I’ll take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. And then Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 and 18 concerning when he does come back. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do, the ones that have no hope. For since we believe that Christ died and rose again, even so Jesus, God will bring with him those who’ve fallen asleep. For this we declare unto you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive who are left behind until the coming of the Lord will not go before those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of the command of the voice of the archangel with the sound of the trumpet of God And the dead in Christ will rise first. And then we who are alive, who are left behind, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. This is called the exit resurrection. Some people call it the rapture of the church. But this could happen today. This is the next great prophetic event on the calendar. No man knows the hour. No man knows the day. But when it occurs, it will take place in the snap of a finger, in the twinkling of an eye. And anyone who is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will disappear. They’ll meet the Lord in the air. It’ll be a great mystery, a great dilemma. Where did all these people go? Do you think our loved ones would want us to have the same opportunity they had and the same results? Yeah, sure they want you to believe in Christ. Sure they want you to accept him as your savior. But the Bible warns us that not all church-going people will be in heaven. You know, the great controversy with the coronavirus is when will they open the churches? When will they open the churches? Churches are not good luck centers. They’re not cruise ships for entertainment. They’re a place where we go to study and learn and apply the word of God into our life under a well-qualified pastor. But not everybody that goes to church is a Christian. In Matthew 7, 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Let me read that again. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. If that’s the case, and it is, then what exactly is the will of the Father? If I have to do the will of the Father to go to heaven, what is that? Well, here is when the Lord Jesus Christ made it very plain. In John 6, 40, for my Father’s will is this. For my Father’s will is this, that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. You didn’t see anything about joining a church. You didn’t hear anything about being baptized. You didn’t hear anything about giving up booze and quit smoking and quit overeating. Whoever believes in him. Remember, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. What happens when we believe in Jesus Christ? Well, it’s clear the Bible says we’re born again. In John 3, 3, Jesus replied, Verily, verily, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. You know, a lot of great evangelists have led a lot of people to Christ. They’ve been born again. That means this, that they were born physically dead spiritually speaking. When we’re born, we’re born with a body, a soul, and a dead spirit. The body’s alive, the soul is alive, but the human spirit is dead. And the reason it’s dead is we are born spiritually dead because we’re infected with Adam’s original sin. The Bible says, for one man, sin came into the world and death by sin. And now death is passed on all for all have sinned and the wages of sin is death. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ told Nicodemus he needed to be born again, Nicodemus in John chapter 3 didn’t quite understand it, but what it referred to was this. You have a body. It cannot be born again. It’s going to go to the grave. You have a soul. It’s everlasting. But that human spirit, in order for you to have fellowship with God, the Holy Spirit must indwell the human spirit, and you are born again. That’s why the Bible says if any man’s in Christ, he’s a new creature. Old things are passed away and all things become new. So when you die as a Christian, your body goes to the grave, your soul and your spirit go to be with the Father and await the resurrection body. It’s the new body that you’ll get. Even though we cannot see heaven or begin to understand the scope of God’s abode, Our departed loved ones are basking right now in his glorious provisions and enjoying their new environment to the fullest. But here’s a wonderful thing. The Bible says we’ll be back on this earth for 1,000 years during the millennial reign of Christ. And at the end of that 1,000 years, this earth will be destroyed and there’ll be the new heavens and the new earth with the new Jerusalem. And that’s where we’ll reside forever. So we’re not going to be floating around on clouds. Our lost loved ones who’ve gone to be with the Lord right now, your mother, your father, your grandmother, your grandfather, your spouse, they’re having a wonderful time. They are there in an interim body awaiting the resurrection body. And they’re enjoying the glorious provisions that they’ve been given. And they would not, I repeat, they would not come back to this earth even if they were allowed. They would not return to the cesspool called earth. That’s what we are. We live in a cesspool. In 2 Corinthians 5, 8, we are confident. Yes, well pleased. We are happy to be absent from the body and to be face to face with the Lord. That’s why Paul said in Philippians 1, 21, for me to live is Christ and to die, that’s great profit. That’s gain. That’s gain. What a wonderful thing. So the real question is this. Will you join them in heaven when you depart from this life? Will you do that? See, here’s the truth. Either you’re going to be born twice or you’re going to die twice. And the first birth, you didn’t have anything to do with it. You just showed up one day, and your dad or your mom said, it’s a boy, it’s a girl. Hallelujah. Everybody have a cigar. They’re born again. Here we go. And then… That’s the first birth. The second birth is when you’re born again. And that’s the second birth in John chapter 3 that Jesus told Nicodemus, you need to be born again. Either you’re born twice or you die twice. It’s just that simple. The first death, it’s appointed unto man once to die and after that to judgment. The second death, well, that’s the lake of fire in Revelation 20. Whoever’s name was not found written in the Lamb’s book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So you’re going to have either two births or two deaths. So I have to ask you the first question. Have you been born again? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as God’s anointed son? Have you believed that he is the son of God? Not did you join a church. Not did you give up drinking. Not did you turn over a new leaf. As the Bible says, for by grace are we saved through faith, not of yourselves, it’s a gift of God. The gift of God was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And being saved is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe that he is the Son of God, to believe that he did die for your sin, and to put your faith and trust in that alone, faith alone in Christ alone, not trusting in something you did, not trusting in your church membership, not trusting in your amount of tithe that you give, not trusting in your good works, but trusting in what he did, He who knew no sin, the Bible clearly says, was made sin for us so that we may be made the righteousness of God through him. Wow. Hebrews 9.27, and as it is appointed unto men to die once, after this, the judgment. There are two judgments taught in the Bible. The judgment seat of Christ is for believers in 1 Corinthians 3, and the great white throne of judgment is for the lost in Revelation 20. If you haven’t had those two births, you’re going to be at the second judgment. and your name will not be in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and you will be thrown into the lake of fire. If you have had the second birth, you’ll be at the first judgment. The first judgment is not a basis of your salvation. It’s a judgment based on your deeds and your rewards. The wood, hay, and stubble, the gold, silver, and precious stones, 1 Corinthians 3, 11 through 16. What did you do with the spiritual life God gave you? Are there rewardable items that he can bless you with? Or like many Christians, did you just accept Christ as your savior like the fire escape and then go on down the highway? You know, a lot of people say, well, he couldn’t really be saved if he did that. If he got saved, he’d have to show it. He’d have to act good and he’d have to do good deeds. And that’s not necessarily true. When James says faith without works is dead, that’s not what he’s talking about. Many people have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and gotten saved at crusades and revivals and evangelistic meetings and never grown spiritually, never went past page one of the Christian life. After they accepted Christ, they got distracted soon after that. And yes, they knew they were saved. Yes, they knew they were going to heaven, but they never pursued God’s plan. and they will be at the judgment seat of Christ, and they will have a lot of wood, hay, and stubble. Yes, they tithed. Yes, they sang in the choir. Yes, they went on mission trips, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But they did all the right things in all the wrong ways. Remember, God has protocol, and protocol demands that a right thing be done in a right way. That means that for you and me as Christians, we must stay filled with the Holy Spirit, which is our problem-solving device number two, We must use rebound when we sin, which is problem-solving device number one. And we must learn how to operate under the faith rest drill, which is problem-solving device number three. So I’m sure your departed loved ones are counting on you joining them in heaven because they already know the love of God provided for you just like he did it for them. And they know you are wise and you might consider these things we’re talking about. Maybe. Maybe. please do not gamble with your eternal future believe in the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says and you will be saved it’s just that simple it’s just that clear it couldn’t be any more clear than that it’s not believe and join believe and give up it’s believe in the Lord Jesus Christ In 1 Corinthians 15, 42 through 44, so it is with the resurrection of the dead, that which is sown is perishable, and what is raised is imperishable. It is sown with dishonor and raised in glory. It is sown in weakness and raised in power. It is sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body. And if there is a natural body, there’s also a spiritual body. That’s what I’m talking about. That’s the body you’re going to live in and reside in forever. Can you imagine that? No more sickness, no more sorrow, no more pain. The old things are all passed away. A resurrection body. How did you get it? You believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. You put your faith and your trust in him. That’s all you did simply. You believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. You didn’t get it by joining. You didn’t get it by tithing. You didn’t get it by being good and eating certain foods and drinking certain drinks. You got it by faith alone in Christ alone. And we know the Bible says, 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. It’s just that simple. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you’ve been saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, anyone should brag about it. Now, let’s make one thing clear before we wrap it up today. Let’s talk about that little three-letter word called sin. A lot of people think you go to hell because you commit sins, and that’s not true. All sins were paid for on the cross, past, present, and future. What people go to hell for is refusing to believe that Jesus Christ is the anointed Son of God. Listen, he that believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. And he that believeth not, the wrath of God abides on him already, John 3, 18. That’s the sin. The sin that sends men to hell is the sin of unbelief, not the sin of drunkenness, not the sin of fornicating, not the sin of lying and cheating. Not those sins. That’s part of your sin nature identification. But it’s the sin of unbelief. That’s why the Bible says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That’s the only way to be saved. That’s the only way to have eternal life. That’s the only thing that’ll take care of this sin, the sin of unbelief. That’s the sin against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven, rejecting Christ as your Savior. You must understand that. Either he was and is and always will be the Son of God, or he was, as some people like to say, a complete fake liar phony. And we know that’s not true because we know of the resurrection. It is guaranteed proof. Too many people saw him. He walked out of the grave alive. He’s alive today. And the most wonderful thing that you can ever understand is he will come and live inside of you. Some people like to quote the verse in Revelation 3.20 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. That’s actually a verse for a rebound when we sin and get out of fellowship with God, but it’s a good application. When you receive Christ as your Savior, he comes to live inside of you. He lives in you, and the Holy Spirit lives in you. God the Father lives in you, all indwelling within you. And what a wonderful way to live. Paul wrote it, called it the mystery doctrine of the church. He wrote about Christ in me, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And when Christ lives in us, what does that mean? It means the Holy Spirit resides within us. And as we take the word of God from the Bible and the mind of Christ, which is the word of God, 1 Corinthians 2.16, the Bible is the mind of Christ. When we learn it and apply it, we take on his mentality. We don’t take on his humanity. We take on his mentality. We take on his intentionality. We become like he is in the way we’re thinking with divine viewpoint, with a lifestyle of humility, which is Philippians 2, 5, and 6 talks about. That’s how we replicate the life of Christ in this planet. Learning God’s word, applying God’s word, staying filled with the Holy Spirit, and replicating the life of Christ, Christ in you. So that when your friends see you, well, what do we want them to see? We want them to see Christ. You know, the people in Jesus’ time kept saying, show us the Father, show us the Father. And he said, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. And it’s true in your time as well. Show us Christ. Show us Christ. And you can say, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Christ. Because I am replicating the life of Christ. That’s what you should be doing. It’s my prayer you’re listening. It’s my prayer you’re understanding. It’s my prayer that you have a great handle on death and the victory over death that we enjoy through the resurrection and the life that Christ gives us. If I can help you in any way, don’t hesitate to write. Don’t hesitate to call. Go to our website, rickhughesministries.org. You can order any of the transcripts of these messages that you’d like to order. I thank you for listening today. We’ll be back next week, if the Lord allows. We’ll be back on the same channel, the same time, same place. So I hope you’ll come and I hope you’ll join me again next week. So until that time happens, I’d like to say that we’re praying for you during these times of pandemic. Trust that God is blessing your life. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
